Here is a video example of the focus funnel in action in a lesson. This is Level 3 TAGteacher Keri Gorman and her son Max. Max is a typically developing child, but the thought process of the teacher is the same regardless of developmental stage or whether the child is verbal or non-verbal.

Keri’s goal is to improve the neatness of Max’s writing. She thinks to herself, “What does that look like? What is some feature of the printing that is important for neatness?” She decides that having the letters on the line would result in considerable improvement. The way to get the letters on the line is to have the pencil touch the line with each letter.

Keri talks to Max about it and they come up with the tag point “target”, which is Max’s term for “letters touch the line”. Talking about it and encouraging the child to name the tag point is a great strategy to use with a verbal child.

Keri lets Max teach her first. Another great way to get more involvement and focus from the child.

The lesson: neater writing

The instructions: print the words I give you with the letters on the line

The tag point is… target