Findon Primary School

Laura Sansonetti (Year 1) Mary Zaikis (Year 1)Stephanie Maxwell (Foundation)Tenielle Curtiss (Foundation)

Reflections about your teaching practice• We have been encouraging the students to speak in full sentences• We have been using the colourful semantic cards to promote detail in

conversation by introducing one card/concept at a time and asking students to self reflect on the amount of detail they have provided

• We have incorporated colourful semantics into our Writer’s Notebook program

• We had the opportunity to share our successes using our colourful semantics with the whole staff

• During shared reading we focus on new vocabulary, word meaning, synonyms and antonyms and responding in full complete sentences

• Picture walks have been included into our regular reading sessions• Students are given opportunity to participate in role plays• 5w’s and 1h questioning • Phonemic awareness activities- syllabification, rhyme, blends, onset and

rime with a particular focus on phonograms through our Write 2 Read program

Using Colourful Semantics in Writing

Reflections about our students

• Students developed new words in their vocabulary• They have begun to respond in full sentences • They have shown improvement in using correct tenses• It has become more natural for the students to repeat the

teachers modelling of correct sentence structure• Students are more engaged in writing• They understand what is expected• They write with more detail than previously • Students are able to identify the concepts taught with

colourful semantics and can apply them to what they are reading

• EAL students are becoming more proficient in speaking in English

Planning for 2015:

• Printed and sent home colourful semantic bookmarks in their reading satchel so parents can reinforce language at home

• Continue planning for the use of the colourful semantics cards during reading and writing sessions

• Embed questioning and thinking into all areas of the curriculum • Experiences to promote language

• Oral Language Brief• Synonyms test (later on)