Keep study aids available at home. Listen to the child. This activity is a great motivator. Even non readers know a few simple words or environmental print. Have the students cut words they know out of magazines or find them in other places.
Students can keep adding to their paper the more words that they learn.
These could also be made into a dictionary book format and used for student's writings. Such a simple activity really has a positive effect on student's self-esteem. Regardless of the effectiveness of a student's communication, convey that the message is important. React first to the content of a student's message because it is most important in the communication process, and then correct the syntax error. When attempting to expand a young child's utterances, provide one or two additional words to the child's spontaneious utterance for the child to repeat rather than impose adult structures that are difficult to imitate.