CPOL at St Anthony’s Alphington

What have we been doing differently in classrooms since attending CPOL?  Colourful semantics – while this strategy was introduced at our school some years back, new staff were trained by Tracey Rowe and there was a greater focus.  Phonological Awareness – 5 minutes each day before the big book using John Munro’s Assessing and Teaching Phonological Awareness  Rime/Rhyme activities  Focus on syllables in literacy groups  Emphasis on activities that promote improvement in oral language  Explanation of new vocabulary when reading aloud  Alliteration  Segmenting 1,2,3 sound words and building to 4,5,6,7 sound words

Oral language focus & Teaching strategies in 2014  Literacy Planners have components of ICPALER model  5 minutes of phonological knowledge every day before reading big book  A different ICPALER focus each week  Colourful semantics – PLT with Tracey Rowe as well as a follow up visit and modelling. Most teachers began to use this in their classrooms.

Oral language behaviours we observed students developing.  Improvement in student Confidence  Expanding sentences  Using language we had read in texts earlier that day/week.  Answering in full sentences  Improvement in the pronunciation of sounds  Varied use of vocabulary in their writing

Unexpected results/outcomes during activities implemented  Students were answering questions using more complex language  Students were expanding sentences using a large range of colourful semantic components. They didn’t necessarily stick to one or two colours.  Confidence in responding to questions  Learning through immersion

Challenges  At times during planning we felt it difficult to include all components of ICPALER  5 minutes of phonological knowledge each day at times was difficult due to time constraints.  At times, the rhyme/rime activities were deemed boring for more competent students.  A lot to incorporate during planning.

Useful Resources  Colourful semantics  Assessing and Teaching Phonological Knowledge manual – John Munro  Picture chats from picture books and big books

What we noticed about the students  Students are becoming more expressive with their oral language  Students have begun to write more detailed sentences following colourful semantic activities  Most evident use of skills was in oral language activities  Students are more confident when decoding – utilizing strategies modelled

Plans for 2015  Begin year with phonological focus as a follow on from last year.  Implement phonological awareness in prep earlier  Continue with Colourful Semantics