Libby and I practiced the phrase "eat please".

We practiced this phrase extensively during class.

She would repeat the phrase several times. Then we would take a short break (30 seconds or less) and she would attempt to use the phrase.

She did an excellent job of repeating the phrase in succession with essentially no break. However, once we would take the 30 second break, she would forget the phrase.

So, we started to build strategies for her. She tied this phrase to other similar phrases like drink please and bathroom please.

She was able to cement thank you into her brain first. The next strategy was to break the word comer (eat) into two sounds co and mare and then tie those sounds to images of English words.

By the end of class Libby was able to use the phrase much more independently than when we started.

However, we will continue to work on it in the future to help her build complete mastery.