The Boardmaker Project

The Boardmaker Project 

A Resource Package assembled by 

Darcy Allen 

Rita Bouchard 

Priscilla Fortier 

Bonnie Lamb 

Rob Watt 

2004–05 

A joint project of the BCTF, the PGDTA, and School District 57 

Funded by 

The Prince George District Teachers’ Association 

http://www.bctf.ca/TeachingToDiversity/BC-projects/boardmaker.pdf

2 

The Boardmaker Project 

A Resource Package assembled by Darcy Allen, Rita Bouchard, Priscilla Fortier, Bonnie Lamb, and Rob Watt 

Funded by the Prince George District Teachers’ Association 

Boardmaker is a collection of standardized picture symbols used for communication with 

students who are strong visual learners. This includes those with autism spectrum 

disorders, Down Syndrome, speech and language disorders, and behavioral disorders. It 

also works remarkably well with typical students, so is appropriate for whole class use, 

minimizing both the atypical student’s differences and facilitating classroom management. 

Boardmaker is easy to use and relatively 

inexpensive ($400 in 2005). At the right 

is a list of the categories covered by 

Boardmaker. There are literally 

thousands of pictures in an easily 

searchable database: just type in a word 

and all the pictures related to that word 

appear. 

This document is a transition package to 

help you get started and show you why 

you NEED Boardmaker when you work 

with children who benefit from visual 

supports. 

You may use any of the materials in this 

package free of charge, provided you 

retain the copyright information at the 

bottom of the boards. You may copy, 

share, bend, spindle, fold, or mutilate 

without fear. 

At the end of the document are two lists 

of online resources: one for those less 

familiar with website navigation, and 

another for the advanced user. 

The committee would like to thank the Prince George District Teachers’ Association for 

their support in funding the time needed to research and assemble this resource, and 

School District No. 57 for providing facilities, equipment, and encouragement. 

Special thanks are owed to Saima Fewster for developing the vision and keeping us on 

track. 

The Picture Communication Symbols TM © 1981-2005 by Mayer Johnson LLC. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Used with permission. 


Introduction 

For many students, verbal communication is not the most effective means to 

receive or express information. Visual supports like picture symbols can help these 

students make sense of the world of verbal information and printed text. The 

primary purpose of these visual tools is to enhance student understanding, and the 

value of their use is that they work. They can be essential in assisting students 

with communication difficulties to become active, successful participants in the 

learning process. 

Picture communication symbols can also be used by classroom teachers for creating 

materials to enhance language and literacy skills instruction for all students. Using 

the Boardmaker program, picture/word cards can be generated for a wide range of 

topics or student activities. Picture symbols are useful for making classroom 

charts, emergent reading materials, interactive storybooks, or big books with 

matching picture cards. The cards can be used in pocket charts or with individual 

students for vocabulary development and comprehension in reading and writing 

activities. 

The Boardmaker Program 

Mayer-Johnson’s Boardmaker program is a flexible and easy-to-use software 

program that provides endless possibilities for creating visual classroom materials 

and student communication tools. With a database of over 3,500 Picture 

Communication Symbols, you can make materials by using the templates included 

with Boardmaker or by creating your own customized resources. The pre-made 

templates include grids, calendar formats, schedule formats, and templates to fit 

commonly-used speech devices. Some templates and program tutorials are 

downloadable from the Mayer-Johnson website. To view sample boards and 

available “add-ons,” or for more detailed program information, visit 

http://mayerjohnson.com/ 

The Picture Communication Symbols TM © 1981-2005 by Mayer Johnson LLC. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Used with permission. 3 


Ready-to-Use Materials 

The following pages provide samples of Boardmaker materials currently used by 

classroom teachers and resource teachers in School District #57. 

4 

Sample Page 

� Routines 

o Calm down 5 

o Toileting 6 

o Hand Washing 7 

o Line Up 8 

o Show Ready 9 

o High Five - One 10 

o High Five - Two 11 

o COWS Think 12 

� Individual Picture Instructions 

o Walking Feet, Raise Hand, Listen, Quiet Working, 

Turn Taking, Sit Down 13 

o Quiet, Do As Asked, Hands To Self, Working, 

Listening, Respect Others’ Things 14 

� Community Places and Helpers 15 

� Visual Instructions 

o School rules 16 

o Daily agenda 

� Individual 17 

� Classroom 18 

� Calendar 19 

� Literacy Activities 

o Sentence Builder – Who, Is doing, What, Where 20 

o Story Plot Chart/Reading Strategies 21 

� Student Communication 

o Non-Verbal Communication Board for the Office 22, 23 

o Emotions Wheel/Feelings Chart 24, 25, 26 

o Home/School Communication Planner 27, 28 

o Choice Boards 29 

o Sequence Scripts 30 



Calm Down Routine 

This is a visual cueing 

routine to help a student 

regain control when he 

becomes disregulated. The 

sequence is taught prior to 

problems occurring so that 

the student is more able to 

follow the steps when he is 

upset. 



Toileting Routine 

6 

The Toileting and 

Handwashing strips 

are disseminated and 

posted in the 

appropriate settings 



Hand Washing Routine 

The Toileting and 

Handwashing strips 

are disseminated and 

posted in the 

appropriate settings 



Line Up Routine 

This routine can be posted as a 

reminder wherever students line up. 

8 



Show Ready Routine 

Show Ready, High Five, 

and COWS Think (pp. 8 – 

10) are cueing routines. 

When one of these verbal 

prompts is given, students 

refer to the visual cue 

card. A large copy is posted 

in the classroom and small 

portable cards can be made 

to place on desks or taken 

to various locations with 

the student. 



High Five Routine - One 

10 



High Five Routine - Two 

- on student’s desk (try Velcro) and/or a large class hand 



COWS Think Routine 

12 



Individual Picture Instruction Samples - One 

Large cards can be laminated and posted for whole class use, and smaller 

portable versions carried to other locations with the student. 



Individual Picture Instruction Samples - Two 

14 



Community Places and Helpers 

The sample board shows a few examples from the Community and Occupations 

categories. The Community Places symbols are useful for mapping activities. The 

Occupation cards are terrific for role-playing as the picture cue helps non-readers. Both 

can be used for sentence-writing starters, vocabulary-building, and other activities. 



School Rules 

16 

Large cards can be laminated and posted in the classroom and other 

areas of the school, and smaller portable versions made for 

individual students and staff. 



Daily Agenda - Individual 

This is a sample board. For use, laminate symbols individually and use with 

Velcro or a pocket chart to accommodate changes. 



Daily Agenda - Classroom 

18 

Sample classroom agenda - to be enlarged, separated, laminated, and used as 

daily classroom tool. 



Daily Agenda - Calendar 

Symbols can be removable for the students to place on the calendar. 



Sentence Builder Activity 

20 

Picture/Word cards are colour-coded with different colours for the “who” 

nouns, the verbs, and the “where” nouns. Students use the cards to generate 

oral or written sentences. This can be done in a pocket chart or organized in a 

file folder for individual and small-group use. The sample page below shows a 

very few of the pictures that could be used in this activity. 



Story Plot Chart/Literacy Strategies 

Boardmaker symbols can be used to create charts or reminder cards 

specific to individual classrooms. The following are examples of 

reading-strategy reminders. 



Non-Verbal Office Communication Board 

The Office Communication board is for office personnel, playground supervisors, 

teachers, and teacher assistants to use when dealing with a non-verbal or 

extremely upset student who needs help. The board is secured to bristol board and 

laminated. When a student has a problem and the adult finds it difficult to 

understand the student, the adult can point to the questions while talking to the 

student and have the student communicate by pointing to the correct pictures. For 

example: 

Adult: “What happened?” 

Student points to ‘fall’ 

Adult: “What’s wrong?” 

Student points to ‘bump on head’ 

Adult: “What do you need?” 

Student: points to ‘ice cube’. 

(Non-Verbal Office Communication Board on Page 23) 

22 



Non-Verbal Office Communication Board 



Emotions Wheel 

Both of these examples are tools the student can use to tell others how he is 

feeling. 

The Emotion Wheel is portable and can be Velcroed to the back of the student’s 

visual schedule or his communication binder, or left in an easily-accessible, 

consistent place in the classroom or workspace. To make: cut two identical circles 

from bristol board. Glue the “I feel” card to the front of one circle and cut a 

window in the circle to the right of this card. Place the emotions around the edge 

of the second circle checking to make sure they will be visible through the window 

when this circle is placed behind the first circle. Glue permanently to the circle. 

Laminate both circles. Put circles together poking a hole in the centre of each and 

fasten with a small bracket. Put a piece of Velcro over the ends of the 

bracket to prevent it from coming out and for attaching to schedules, etc. 

(Emotions Wheel Board on Page 25) 

Feelings Board 

The Feelings Board can be posted on the student’s desk, in his workspace or in a 

specific place in the classroom. The laminated board is made of 12 squares in a grid 

and one answer square at the top of the page with a piece of Velcro in each 

square. The individual emotion cards are laminated with a piece of Velcro 

attached. All the emotion cards are placed in the squares and when the student is 

asked how he feels, or wishes to tell someone how he feels, he moves the 

appropriate emotion to the square at the top of the page next to the question. 

(Feelings Board on page 26) 

24 

Large Emotion Wheels or Feelings boards can be used to generate class 

discussions. 



Emotions Wheel 



Feelings Board 

26 



Home/School Communication Planner 

The planner page provides opportunities for the school, parent, and child to 

communicate about their day. At the top of the page is a space called Home 

Update. This is for the parent to let teachers and teacher assistants know about 

special events, concerns, appointments, etc. In the My Day section in the middle of 

the page, are pic-syms used in the student’s visual schedule each week. When the 

student completes an activity he matches his visual schedule pic-sym to the 

corresponding planner pic-sym, then uses a bingo dabber, crayons, or X to indicate 

the completed activity. Not all activities will be done each day. At the bottom of 

the page is the Today I box, which is filled in at the end of the day. The teacher, 

teacher assistant, or student can write a specific comment about one or two of the 

activities he particularly enjoyed that day. 

e.g., Today I: 

- made a pirate ship with my Reading Buddy. 

- listened to The Three Bears at Circle Time. 

In the Comments section, the teacher or teacher’s assistant can write a note to 

the parent about upcoming field trips, newsletters, needs for equipment, meeting 

dates, or other reminders. 

(Home/School Communication Planner on Page 28) 



Home/School Communication Planner 

28 



Choice Board Example 

Choice Boards are used to give students a choice in activities, food items, etc. In 

our example the Choose card is placed at the top of the board and the choices 

below. You can use Velcro or paper clips to hold the choice cards in place. With 

Velcro, the choice card is removed and placed in a container, pouch, or envelope 

until needed again. With paper clips, the choice card is turned over. In both cases, 

when all choice cards have been used they can be placed back on the board to start 

the process again, or new choice cards can be put on the board. 



Show-and-Tell Sequence Script 

Sequenced scripts are used to remind students of the steps needed to 

communicate stories, wants and needs, routines, strategies, etc., and to prepare 

them for what is likely to happen in a situation. Our example is of a Kindergarten or 

Primary Show-&-Tell Script. The student can have the script on a card in front of 

him, on three cards on a ring, or three cards in a flip book. He can then read 

and/or use the pic-syms to guide himself through the verbal requirements of 

sharing something with the class or another person. First he tells. Then he asks or 

waits for any questions he needs to answer. Last, he answers the questions that will 

probably be about who, where, what, and why. 

30 



Boardmaker Online Resources 

Compiled by Rob Watt 

The following is a selection of Boardmaker resources available online, culled from 

literally thousands. If these don’t give you what you want, Google your own, then 

SHARE. 

The Boardmaker home page: http://www.mayerjohnson.com/ 

Mayer-Johnson is the maker and distributor of Boardmaker. Be sure to look around 

the site for addendums, extra symbol libraries, sharing forums, and downloadable 

extras. 

Select a tutorial from this page to get started in Boardmaker: 

http://www.mayerjohnson.com/TipsAndTricks.aspx?DirID=Boardmaker 

Special Education Technology-BC (SET-BC): 

http://www.setbc.org/res/equip/boardmaker/files.html 

Scroll nearly to the bottom of this page for a set of 12 useful boards. You can 

download and print them. This is a very useful site, with loads of free resources. 

National Autistic Society: 

http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=297&a=3642 

This article presents research on why Picture Symbols work. 

BCTF Teaching to Diversity web site: http://www.bctf.ca/TeachingToDiversity/ 

A new site with a variety of resources and ideas for special populations. 

Augmentative/Alternative Communication Intervention: 

http://www.aacintervention.com/boardmaker.html 

A wealth of information: everything from downloads to tips, to tutorials, all 

organized in an easy-to-find format. 

National Service Dogs: http://www.nsd.on.ca/ 

Using Service Dogs to assist people with ASD. 

4 Paws for Ability: http://www.4pawsforability.org/autismdogs.htm 

Using Service Dogs to assist people with ASD. 



University of Edinburgh’s Communication Aids for Language Learning (CALL) 

Centre: 

http://callcentre.education.ed.ac.uk/About_CALL/Publications_CAA/Quick_Guid 

es_CAB/BoardMaker_CAC/boardmaker_cac.html 

Useful information, sample boards, and links – all in downloadable PDF format. 

Burnaby Teachers’ Templates: 

http://schou.sd41.bc.ca/district/boardmaker.htm 

A set of 12 templates; all are in Boardmaker format, so you must have the program 

to use them. 

Teacher-created resources: 

http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/pep/teachercreate.html#bfiles 

A selection of downloads in Windows format on the Montgomery County Public 

Schools (MD) web site. 

National Institute of Mental Health (US): 

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/autism.cfm 

Detailed background information about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). 

Using Picture Symbols: 

http://www.csun.edu/cod/conf/2001/proceedings/0073williams.htm 

Stephanie Williams’ conference paper on using communication symbols for language 

learning. 

Glossary of terms: http://www.d.umn.edu/~mmizuko/5230/symbols.htm 

A glossary of terms related to the use of Picture Symbols, from the University of 

Minnesota Duluth. 

The Autism Shop: http://www.autismshop.com/ 

The full spectrum of what’s available to buy. Offers a wide variety of Boardmaker, 

PECs, and other ready-made visual supports. 

Integrating Boardmaker and Kid Pix into an Emergent Literacy Program: 

http://www.startechprogram.org/technology/chris.html 

From the STAR Tech site, a feel-good story about how one teacher used 

Boardmaker to promote early literacy in a real classroom. 

Note: the web references above are current in August 2005, but sites change over 

time. 

32

The Boardmaker Project

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