Colourful SemanticsMaking sentences make sense

• What are common difficulties the students you work with have when it comes to making up sentences (both oral and written?)– Don’t know what to write– Sentences don’t make sense– Produce brief sentences without details– Have trouble expanding on ideas– Sentences consist of grammar mistakes

Colourful Semantics• Colourful Semantics was developed in the UK by Speech

and Language Therapist Alison Bryan

• It was brought to Victoria by Speech Pathologist Andrea Hewett (Bairnsdale)

• Presentation adapted from that developed by Marcella Van Mourik (CEOM Speech Pathologist)

Where does the name

come from?

Colourful

Semantics

• A method of teaching children how to understand and construct sentences (syntax vs. morphology – grammar is modeled not explicitly taught e.g. ‘the, -ing, auxiliary verb is’)

• A therapy technique that uses colour-coded cue cards that ‘show’ the structure of a sentence; each card represents a word or part of a sentence– Tunes the child into key words in sentences

(oral/written)

What is ‘Colourful Semantics’?

Activities aim to help children to:• Understand instructions and sentences

• Follow discussions and to communicate their own ideas effectively

• Reduce problem behaviours such as anger and aggression in the classroom (if this is the result of frustration associated with language difficulty)

• Use different modalities to learn about making sentences (Children with SLD are usually stronger visually and kinesthetically - hands-on)

• Develop competent use of simple and complex sentence structure

• Develop a concept of narrative (e.g. what makes up a ‘story’)

• Produce grammatically correct sentences in speaking and writing

• Develop literacy skills by building a strong foundation in oral language:

John Monro’s ‘multiple levels of text processing' (MLOTP) model outlines the importance of using existing oral language skills to comprehend text.

http://webraft.its.unimelb.edu.au/472697/pub/literacy/ contents/underrd/framework.html

ACTIVITY 1:Select a word from the bucket

Decide which group your word belongs to: nouns verbs

adjectives adverbs

conjunctions prepositions

pronouns

Form a group with others who have the same word type

ACTIVITY 2:In groups, brainstorm ideas about:

What a sentence is?

What things should be included to make a sentence?

What is a sentence?

• Can be a one or more clauses joined together• So what is a clause?.....It is a unit of meaning that

contains a verb and a subject (noun)• For example….

– ‘The dog jumped’

What is a sentence?

• More information about the noun is added through the use of adjectives

• More information about the verb is added through the use of adverbs

• For example….– The lazy brown dog jumped over the log quickly

How is a sentence made?1. Think of an idea - eg. visualise a dog burying a bone2. Think of a verb to represent the concept - eg. bury3. Determine the other parts needed in the sentence and choose

a main word for each part – eg. WHO (the dog), WHAT DOING (bury), WHAT (a bone) and WHERE (in the garden)

4. Add the grammar – eg. The dog buried a bone in the garden5. Add the motor plan – eg. sounds, sequencing, body language,

intonation, etc.6. Say the sentence

Colour Cue Cards‘WHO’ = orange = nouns Can include:

– people e.g. man, baby, Grandma– animals e.g. horse, dog, butterfly– occupations e.g. clown, hairdresser, doctor– pronouns e.g. he, she, it, they– describing words e.g. big man, brown horse, sad girl

?

‘WHAT DOING’ = yellow = verbs• Can include:

– ‘stand alone’ verbs e.g. run, sit– verbs associated with an object e.g. wash (car), brush

(hair)– different tenses (past, present, future)– ‘is’ (copula) verb ‘to be’ e.g. Boy is tall

(other times, ‘is’ = auxiliary verb e.g. Boy is running; in this context ‘is’ is modeled, not explicitly taught)

is

‘WHAT’ = green = objects/nouns- e.g. brush dog, wash car

‘WHERE’ = red- e.g. on the car, in the cupboard, outside, at the park

‘WHEN’ = purple- e.g. yesterday, last week, on the weekend, tomorrow

‘HOW DOING’ = white = adverbs- e.g. quickly, gently, like a monkey, in a silly way, well

‘WHAT LIKE’ = blue = adjectives• Can include:

- Feelings e.g. angry, scared, hungry- Physical attributes e.g. old, tall, pretty

how doing

?

‘WHO TO’ = pink = indirect objects

- e.g. The girl gave flowers to her mother.

Joining words = brown = conjunctions

- e.g. and, because, after, although

‘Not’ = red circle cut out- e.g. not verb, not adjective(N.B. ‘never’ = ‘how doing’ (adverb); ‘does/did’ etc. = auxiliary verbs

e.g. ‘Boy did not run’)

Suggested strategies for Colourful Semantics….

• Use colour cue cards• Use signs where appropriate (i.e. children with more

severe comprehension difficulties)• Use Choice and Contrast questioning • Use Recasting & Remodelling to promote grammar• Use lots of praise, encouragement and

reinforcement

Using Colourful Semantics

1. Teach ‘WHO’- Establish the colour link by explaining ‘who’ words are

orange and present the orange card - Use real objects - Identify real people in the class, home, school- Identify people and animals in storybooks, photos and

magazines- Make a poster with pictures or photos

- Expand vocabulary and oral language by using occupations activities (e.g. ‘Who am I?’)

- Students may experience difficulty with gender (e.g. he, she)

2. Teach ‘WHAT DOING’- Establish the colour link by explaining ‘what doing’ words

are yellow and present the yellow card- Use stand alone verbs at this stage (e.g. running,

walking, jumping, sleeping, sitting, standing, falling, crying, laughing, swimming, sleeping etc.

- Use pictures from magazines, books, photos etc. and encourage the student to identify the ‘what doing’ word

- Make a poster with pictures or photos

- A variety of tenses can be used (e.g. past, present, future) (e.g. using ‘Tense Sequencing cards’)

- Students may experience difficulty using verb tenses and may need more assistance with this step

- It is important to remember that prompts need to change as different tenses are worked on. E.g.:- PAST TENSE: What did the girl do? (jumped)- PRESENT TENSE: What does the girl do (jumps)

4. Teach ‘WHO’ + ‘WHAT DOING’- Use stand alone verb pictures- Place action picture in front of the student- Place ‘who’ and ‘what doing’ cue cards in front of the

student- Point to the orange ‘who’ card and ask ‘Who is in this

picture?’ (boy)- Point to the yellow ‘what doing’ card and ask ‘What is the

boy doing?’ (sleeping)- Ask “What is the complete sentence?” (The boy is

sleeping)

4. Teach ‘WHAT’ (in conjunction with ‘WHAT DOING’ words)- Establish the colour link by explaining to the student:

‘what doing’ words are yellow (present the yellow card)‘what’ words are green (present the green card)

- Identify actions in the classroom, at home or at school- Identify actions in story books, photos or magazines- Use ‘what doing’ words that can be associated with an

object (e.g. reading (a book), throwing (a ball) etc.)

It is important to ensure that the student understands the distinction between ‘what doing’ and ‘what’ words in

this context

For example:When asked “What is the boy doing?”, a child will often respond with ‘reading a book’. This is incorrect.

‘reading’ is the ‘what doing’ word‘book’ is the ‘what’ word

5. Teach ‘WHO’ + ‘WHAT DOING’ + ‘WHAT’- Place action picture in front of the student- Place ‘who’, ‘what doing’ and ‘what’ cue cards in

front of the student- Prompt student as outlined previously:

- ‘Who is in the picture?’ (a boy)- ‘What is the boy doing?’ (reading)- ‘What is the boy reading?’ (a book)- ‘What is the complete sentence?’ (The boy is reading

a book)

ACTIVITY 3:In pairs, ask each other comprehension questions for these pictures….

It is important to remember that colourful semantics builds on the concept of ‘meaning

words’ rather than specific grammatical structures. Therefore, if a student responds

with “The boy reading a book” reward the student for including all parts of the sentence,

but recast the sentence back to the student using the correct grammar.

6. Teach ‘WHERE’- Establish the colour link by explaining to the

student that ‘where’ words are red (present red ‘where’ card)

- Present the student with pictures and ask the student to identify the ‘where’ words (e.g. under the chair, in the box etc.)

Use the following activity ideas to teach ‘where’:• Play hiding games – ask ‘where’ things or people

are hidden. Consider the following hierarchy:life size objects → toys → photos → drawings

• Play barrier games and/or use picture scenes – give each other instructions (e.g. put the bike on the road’ etc.)

• Students may experience difficulty understanding concepts

7. Teach ‘WHO’ + ‘WHAT DOING (IS)’ + ‘WHERE’8. Teach ‘WHO’ + ‘WHAT DOING’ + ‘WHERE’9. Teach ‘WHO’ + ‘WHAT DOING + ‘WHAT’ + ‘WHERE’

10. Teach ‘WHEN’11. Teach ‘WHO’ + ‘WHAT DOING’ + ‘WHEN’12. Teach ‘WHO’ + ‘WHAT DOING + ‘WHAT’ + ‘WHEN’

13. Teach ‘WHAT LIKE’14. Teach ‘WHO’ + ‘WHAT DOING (IS)’ + ‘WHAT LIKE’15. Teach ‘WHO’ + ‘WHAT LIKE’ + ‘WHAT DOING + ‘WHAT’

16. Teach ‘WHO TO’17. Teach ‘WHO’ + ‘WHAT DOING + ‘WHAT’ + ‘WHO TO’

18. Teach ‘HOW DOING’19. Teach ‘WHO’ + ‘WHAT DOING + ‘WHAT’ + ‘HOW DOING’

ACTIVITY 4:

On the weekend I played soccer at the sports oval.On the weekend I played soccer at the sports oval.My brother and I were kicking the football to our next door neighboursMy brother and I were kicking the football to our next door neighboursMy sister spoke well during the school performance.My sister spoke well during the school performance.The whale was as big as a house.The whale was as big as a house.

20. Teach ‘JOINING WORDS’- Present the brown card to the student and explain

that ‘joining words’ are brown- Explain to the student that we can join sentences

together to make longer sentences. We join sentences with a joining word (point to the brown card)

- Give the student some examples, then ask them to formulate sentences using the cue cards (2 sets)

- Teach ‘joining words’ one at a time, making sure you explain the joining word to the student and provide them with examples and modelling

- Present the student with pictures and photos, as well as the colour cue cards

- Encourage the student to formulate each sentence individually before joining them

- Check that the student understands the concepts by asking questions, such as ‘What did the boy do first?’ etc.

- Ensure that tense is consistent

because

The boy went to the doctor The boy had a pain in the stomach

Using Colourful Semantics in the classroom

• Have large copies of cue cards stuck on blackboard or wall, ready to use.

• Put up posters or butchers’ paper containing brainstormed words/pictures for each cue.

• Use colour cards as cues during ‘Show and Tell’• Use colour cards during writing demonstrations or story

writing activities

• Gesture to cue cards as a story is read and/or discussed to assist with comprehension

INCY WINCY SPIDERIncy wincy spider climbedup the water spout. Downcame the rain and washedpoor Incy out. Out came thesunshine and dried up all therain so Incy wincy spider climbed up the spout again

• Have students find the key words in a sentence, text or picture underline them in colour etc.

• Write a sentence on the board and have students match up the words with the cue cards. Encourage the students to make the sentence ‘more colourful’ by adding a word or sentence part.

• Add appropriate labels to the cue cards e.g. ‘who’ = noun/subject; ‘what doing’ = verb; ‘what’ = noun/object Students can then use the colour cards to refer to if unsure about a label e.g. adverb, adjective

• Use colour cards as cues during narrative, essay, report, debate, sentence formulation etc.

Questions???