The Core Language Program

Common Core Aligned
Language Intervention Curriculum
Kindergarten – 5th Grade

Pre-Made LessonsDirect InstructionSupportAHA! Moments for Children with Language Delays

Oral Language Skill Instruction for
Small Group or 1:1 Intervention

Our 16-week program will explicitly teach each oral language skill in the Common Core Curriculum for one grade level. Can be administered by classroom teachers/staff as a Tier 2 intervention or in speech/language therapy as a Tier 3 intervention.

No Prep! No cutting, no laminating, and no bulky manipulatives to keep track of. Just print the student workbook and put it in a binder. That’s all you need to do!

Click Here to Download a Free Sample Lesson

how to help students boost oral language skills in the classroom

Confidently Teach Language Skills to Struggling Learners

Everything you need to help children get back on track with Common Core aligned language skills
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Who is this Program for?

Speech-Language Pathologists and Professionals

No-Prep Language Therapy

Use this program as a foundation for your language therapy sessions. Our pre-made, no-prep lessons will make your therapy sessions simple and effective. Plus, we’ll include training on how to modify these lessons to meet the needs of every student during your therapy sessions.

Educators

Tier 2 Intervention for Struggling Readers

Use this program to help boost language skills for your struggling learners. This program will allow you to document Tier 2 supports being administered to those students who are behind.  Aligned with the Common Core Curriculum for evidence-based support.

Parents and Caregivers

Help Your Child Catch Up

Simple lessons you can do at home with your child to boost their language skills and help them catch up to their peers.  This program includes the student workbook along with an instruction manual to show you exactly how to teach each skill.  No cutting or laminating, simply print and go!

Catch Up in Speaking, Reading, and Writing

Pre-Made Lessons for Improving Underlying Language Skills:

During the pandemic, children fell behind in their learning and many have not yet recovered from that learning deficit (source). However, schools and educators are struggling with staffing shortages and budget cuts that make it hard to help these students catch back up.

Language delays can impact a child’s speaking, reading, and writing. When a child with a language delay is struggling in the classroom, it falls on the teachers and speech-language pathologists to help them catch up on those skills. But our educators and specialists are overworked as well and it’s not always clear how to help these children.

Fortunately, there is now a program that will get these children back on track! Our language curriculum contains pre-made lessons and activities to explicitly teach all of the language skills for an entire grade level in just 16 weeks. That means that in one school year, a child can catch up on two grade levels worth of language skills.

Each Grade Level Comes With…

Student Workbook

16 no-prep lessons that will directly teach every oral language skill from the common core curriculum for one grade level.  Print as many student workbooks as you need and put them in a binder for each child.  No cutting or laminating necessary.  Available in color or black-and-white.

Instruction Manual

Each of the 16 lessons comes with complete instructions on how to run the lesson.  The instruction manual matches up with each page in the student workbook and will give you ideas for what to say, how to teach the skill, and when to offer breaks.  The instructions are clear enough that anyone can implement the program, even if they haven’t run the other lessons.

Progress Monitoring Tool

Each grade level comes with a progress monitoring checklist that includes all of the oral language skills from the Common Core Curriculum for that grade level.  The items on the list indicate which oral language skills the child should have mastered by the end of that grade level.  Classroom teachers can track progress using the checkboxes on the checklist to ensure that students are making progress toward their goals.

Training and Support

Watch our full training videos and learn the ins and outs of how to teach oral language skills to children.  You can also chat with other program facilitators in our discussion board to ask questions and share tips for implementing the program.  Or, chat directly with Carrie Clark inside the online platform.  Access these tools whenever you need them in our 24-hour access platform.

Purchase Options:

Already a member of The Hub?  Click Here to Add the Core Language Program to your Plan

Individual Grade Levels(Kindergarten-5th)

$99each
Choose a grade level below to continue

Full Program(Kindergarten-5th)

$450
Purchase the Full Program

Core Language Program +Lifetime Membership to The Hub

$800
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Individual Grade Levels:

Kindergarten Only

$99
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1st Grade Only

$99
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2nd Grade Only

$99
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3rd Grade Only

$99
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4th Grade Only

$99
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5th Grade Only

$99
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We Accept Purchase Orders!

Ask Your School to Pay for This Program! Ready to use this program with your entire school or district? We offer discounts on multiple licenses. Click the button below to download a handout that you can share with your administrator.
Download the Purchase Order Flyer

Skills Covered:

Each lesson targets…

  • Following Directions

  • Asking and Answering Questions

  • Retelling Narratives or Information

  • One of Three Conversational Tasks: Telling a Narrative, Giving Information, or Stating an Opinion

  • One Specific Language Skill from the Common Core Curriculum (Listed Below) ⬇️

Foundational Language Skills:

1. Ask and Answer Questions (Download the Free Sample!)
2. Understanding and Telling Narratives
3. Understanding and Providing Information
4. Understanding and Stating Opinions

Syntax Skills:

5. Using Frequently Occurring Nouns
6. Forming Regular Plural Nouns
7. Using Frequently Occurring Verbs
8. Understanding and Using Question Words (Interrogatives)
9. Using the Most Frequently Occurring Prepositions
10. Producing and Expanding Complete Sentences

Vocabulary Skills:

11. Identifying New Meanings for Familiar Multiple-Meaning Words
12. Using the Most Frequently Occurring Affixes (-s, -ed, re-, un-, etc.)
13. Relating Common Words to their Opposites (Antonyms)
14. Sorting Common Objects into Categories
15. Distinguishing Shades of Meaning Between 2 Similar Verbs
16. Identifying Real-World Connections Between Words and their Use

Foundational Language Skills:

1. Ask and Answer Questions
2. Understanding and Telling Narratives
3. Understanding and Providing Information
4. Understanding and Stating Opinions

Syntax Skills:

5. Using Common, Proper, and Possessive Nouns + Determiners (Articles, Demonstratives)
6. Using Singular and Plural Nouns with Matching Verbs
7. Using Personal Possessive and Indefinite Pronouns
8. Using Past, Present, and Future Verbs
9. Using Adjectives
10. Using Conjunctions and Prepositions

Vocabulary Skills:

11. Using Context to Understand Unknown Words (Including Multiple Meaning Words and Feeling/Senses Words)
12. Understanding and Using Affixes
13. Understanding and Using Root Words and Inflectional Forms
14. Sorting Words into Categories and Defining Words with Key Attributes
15. Identifying Real-World Connections Between Words and their Use
16. Distinguishing Shades of Meaning Between Similar Words

Foundational Language Skills:

1. Ask and Answer Questions
2. Understanding and Telling Narratives
3. Understanding and Providing Information
4. Understanding and Stating Opinions

Syntax Skills:

5. Using Collective Nouns and Irregular Plural Nouns
6. Using Reflexive Pronouns
7. Using Past Tense Verbs
8. Using Adjectives and Adverbs
9. Using Compound Sentences
10. Understanding and Using Formal vs. Informal English

Vocabulary Skills:

11. Using Context to Guess at Unknown Words
12. Understanding and Using Prefixes and Root Words
13. Defining Words Using Glossaries and Dictionaries (Including Multiple Meaning Words)
14. Using Compound Words
15. Identifying Real-World Connections Between Words and their Use
16. Distinguishing Shades of Meaning Between Closely Related Verbs and Adjectives

Foundational Language Skills:

1. Ask and Answer Questions
2. Understanding and Telling Narratives
3. Understanding and Providing Information
4. Understanding and Stating Opinions

Syntax Skills:

5. Using Regular and Irregular Nouns and Abstract Nouns
6. Using Regular and Irregular Verbs + Simple Verb Tenses
7. Using Proper Subject/Verb and Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
8. Understanding and Using Possessives
9. Using Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs
10. Using Coordinating and Subordinating Conjunctions + Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentences

Vocabulary Skills:

11. Using Sentence Level Context as a Clue to the Meaning of an Unknown Word or Phrase
12. Using Affixes and Root Words
13. Using Glossaries and Dictionaries to Define Words
14. Understanding Literal vs. Non-literal Meanings
15. Identifying Real-World Connections Between Words and their Use
16. Distinguishing Shades of Meaning Between Similar Words

Foundational Language Skills:

1. Ask and Answer Questions
2. Understanding and Telling Narratives
3. Understanding and Providing Information
4. Understanding and Stating Opinions

Syntax Skills:

5. Using Relative Pronouns and Adverbs
6. Using Progressive Verb Tenses
7. Using Modal Auxiliaries
8. Using Proper Order for Adjectives in a Sentence
9. Using Prepositional Phrases
10. Producing Complete Sentences and Recognizing Fragments/Run Ons

Vocabulary Skills:

11. Using Context to Figure out Unknown Words
12. Understanding and Using Greek and Latin Affixes
13. Using Reference Materials to Define Unknown Words
14. Understanding and Using Similes and Metaphors
15. Understanding and Using Idioms and Proverbs
16. Understanding and Using Antonyms and Synonyms

Foundational Language Skills:

1. Ask and Answer Questions
2. Understanding and Telling Narratives
3. Understanding and Providing Information
4. Understanding and Stating Opinions

Syntax Skills:

5. Explaining the Function Conjunctions, Prepositions, Interjections
6. Using Perfect Verb Tenses
7. Using Verb Tense to Convey Times, Sequences, States, and Conditions
8. Recognizing and Correcting Inappropriate Shifts in Verb Tense
9. Using Correlative Conjunctions
10. Expanding, Combining, and Reducing Sentences

Vocabulary Skills:

11. Using Context to Identify Word Meanings
12. Understanding and Using Greek and Latin Affixes and Root Words
13. Using Reference Materials to Identify Unknown Words
14. Understanding and Using Similes and Metaphors
15. Understanding and Using Idioms
16. Understanding and Using Synonyms, Antonyms, and Homographs

Sneak Peek Inside the Curriculum:

How to Use the Core Language Program for Teletherapy :

Frequently Asked Questions:

While this program has not been specifically used in any research studies, the entire program is built upon evidence-based practices.

First, the skills selected for inclusion in each grade level of the Core Language Program come directly from the Common Core State Standards developed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.  These standards relied on a variety of evidence to establish ages at which each skill should be taught and learned.  You can read more about the evidence used to develop these standards here.

Each skill is then targeted using direct instruction, repetition, and visual learning which research shows are all highly effective teaching strategies.  In addition, this program uses two other evidence-based practices: scaffolding and task analysis. 

Scaffolding is when we provide supports and modifications to make a skill easier to obtain by a child.  Then, we gradually reduce those supports and modifications so that the child is able to complete the skill with increasing independence. 

Task Analysis is when we break a larger task into a step-by-step plan to make it more manageable to achieve.  By combining these approaches with our knowledge of how children tend to develop yes/no questions naturally, we can break down the skill to its easiest form and then build their independence step by step.

By combining these different strategies together, we are able to form a full evidence-based program that explicitly teaches oral language skills through the use of multiple teaching strategies.

This program fits into a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework to improve language skills in struggling learners.

Tier 1:
Identification

In Tier 1, children learn from the general education curriculum. If a child is struggling in Tier 1 with speaking, reading, or writing skills, the informal screeners in this program can identify which underlying language skills may be missing.

If there are underlying language delays, that child moves on to Tier 2.

Tier 2:
Small Group Intervention

In Tier 2, a teacher, para, aide, or other educator will administer The Core Language Program to provide explicit instruction and additional practice for grade-appropriate language skills.

Data is collected during the first 8 weeks of the program. If the child is not making sufficient progress in the program, they are then referred on to Tier 3.

Tier 3:
Special Education

Those few children who don’t make progress with Tier 2 supports will be referred on for a full special education evaluation.

At this point, the speech-language pathologist or professional can continue to use The Core Language Program with additional modifications and differentiated instruction depending on the needs of each individual child.

One of the hardest parts about working with children with language delays is knowing what to target in therapy or intervention. This program has been designed so that every lesson will help every student.

We’ve incorporated a variety of language skills into each lesson so that even if a child only has language deficits in a few areas, he will still benefit from every lesson.

Each lesson includes: following directions, asking and answering questions, using grammatically correct sentences, and telling/retelling one of the three discourse types: narrative, informational, opinion (we target one of these per lesson and rotate through).

And best of all, the lessons build upon each other. You may only target pronouns during one specific lesson, but you’ll then get to practice those pronouns throughout the other lessons. Plus, the same language skills are targeted in each grade level but at a higher level. Students will benefit even more when they go through multiple grade levels of the program.

This program is designed to be administered for 30 minutes weekly. This could be broken up into two shorter sessions or done all at once. Some children may benefit from repeating the 30-minute lesson twice weekly.

Each grade level contains 16 weeks of lessons so that you can cover two grades worth of language skills in 1 school year.

This program is intended to be a supplement to the classroom instruction that is already happening in the general education curriculum. Targeting language skills once per week is not enough time to teach new concepts from start to finish. This should be administered in addition to the regular education instruction that is already happening.

This program is also not intended to replace language therapy by a licensed speech-language pathologist (SLP), although it can be used by an SLP in therapy. If a child is able to learn language skills by going through this program with a teacher or aide, then that child simply needed additional practice on these skills and would not have needed a full referral to special education/speech-language pathology. If children are not making progress in the general education curriculum, referrals to speech-language pathology should be provided.

This program can be used for either! In a multi-tiered support system, we often see interventions used first in a small group setting with either the classroom teacher, instructional aide, or speech-language pathologist.

If the child does not make progress in the small group setting, he/she may be more moved to individual intervention so that the program can be modified to meet his/her needs. This will likely be done by the speech-language pathologist or professional.

When a child is struggling with language skills in the regular classroom, this program can be administered “as is” in small groups or in 1:1 intervention. However, if the child does not make progress with this approach, a speech-language pathologist will be best suited to modify and adapt this program to meet that child’s needs.

Some of the ways a speech-language pathologist may modify this program include:

  • Intensity/Frequency: Some children may require multiple sessions per week on the same lesson to make progress
  • Setting/Structure: Some children may require a 1:1 setting in a quiet environment to make progress
  • Additional Instruction: Some children may require additional instruction on certain aspects of the program (such as answering questions) before being able to make progress with the rest of the program

Not every child will be identified with a language delay at the same time. This program is designed so that a student could drop into a group mid-year and still be able to make progress in the program.

Each lesson targets a specific language concept but will also include asking and answering questions, following directions, retelling stories/information, and conversational skills. Since these skills are being addressed every week, students can join the group whenever they are referred or identified.

At the end of the 16-week intervention, if the student hasn’t mastered all of the language skills (due to joining halfway through), they can repeat that grade level with the next group to go through it.

In order to simplify ordering, we ask that you purchase one program/license per speech-language pathologist or professional that will be administering the program.

That means, if you would like to use this program for your whole school and you have two speech-language professionals on staff, you would purchase two licenses. This would allow you to use this program for any student in the school who needs it. You will still be allowed to have classroom teachers or instructional aides use the program to work with the child, you will simply pay based on how many SLPs will be administering the program.

To purchase multiple licenses with a discount, please email us at Carrie@SpeechAndLanguageKids.com and let us know how many licenses you would like to purchase. We also accept purchase orders.

If ordering through purchase order, please include the name and email address of the person who will receive the digital copy of the program.

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Help your struggling learners catch up!
Purchase K-5th Grade Programs Now!