EDUC 4206 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 4: TEACHER AS INQUIRER
Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA)
INQUIRY PROJECT PROPOSAL
How can I improve my practice to provide
differentiated literacy experiences in a
reception class to develop children’s phonemic
awareness?
KOBI KEELEY
110198338
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Inquiry project proposal ................................................................................. 1
CONTEXT FOR LEARNING ................................................................................... 3
THE COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS AND CASE STUDY CHILDREN (300 words) ... 3
TOPIC (600 words)................................................................................................. 4
Phonemic Awareness
Differentiation
Perspectives that inform and guide this inquiry
Perspectives from the learning community
The guiding inquiry question
PLAN OF ACTION (1000 words) ........................................................................... 5
Pedagogy and curriculum planning
Research design and methodology
Timeline
Data Collection points
ANALYSIS (1000 words) ......................................................................................... 8
Analysis of evidence
Impact of pedagogical approaches
Student 1
Student 2
Communication with students and families
Moderated assessment of learning
DISCUSSION (1500 words) ........................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Overall findings
Implications for future practice
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 9
APPENDIXES ............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Appendix 1- Jolly Phonics Sequence Outline
Appendix 2- Unit Plan
Appendix 3- SPELD Assessment
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CONTEXT FOR LEARNING
School A is a non-government Catholic reception to year 6 school. School A
co-educational and is dedicated to making school a happy and safe
environment. With 207 students enrolled, School A fosters a love of learning
and students are given the opportunity to grow in all dimensions of their life
(School A 2020). Located approximately 7km south of the Adelaide city centre,
this school is committed to Gospel values and believe that children learn
through interaction, therefore are provided with opportunities to collaborate
and play (School A 2020). At School A (2020) educational programs cater for
the diversity to ensure all students can adequately access the Australian
Curriculum.
School A’s (2020) strategic goal is to improve the achievement of student
learning in English, evolving around high quality literacy programs including;
phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, oral language and comprehension
(School A 2020). Enacting a Multi-Sensory structured literacy approach, School
A (2020) encourages the use of visual, auditory and kinaesthetic opportunities
to enhance learning. School A (2020) was rewarded as an Apple Distinguished
Accredited School as utilising digital resources to assist teacher capacity and
learning opportunities for students is considered vital.
53% of families are in the top quarter of socio-economical advantage, 45% are
considered in the middle quarter and only 2% are in the bottom quarter.
Student attendance rate is 94%
THE COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS AND CASE STUDY CHILDREN
This group of learners includes of 19 receptions consisting of ten boys and
nine girls. 60% of students have English as an additional language (EALD),
therefore the linguistic and cultural diversity within this classroom is
widespread. The age difference and maturity between students ranges as five
students were involved in a mid-year intake and therefore have only begun
school this term. Three students within the classroom are speech impaired,
two students are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and one
student identifies as Indigenous.
The first case study student, Student 1, comes from an Indian background and
has English as their second dialect. This student represents the natures of the
class as 60% of the class are EALD students and of those students, 50% are
from an Indian background. My supervising teacher informed me… which
informed my decision…
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Student 2 is the second case study student selected…. This student… My
supervising teacher informed me that this student is undergoing assessments
to determine any intellectual disabilities that may be influencing her
development. This information informed my decision as from observations, it
is clear there is a few children in this class who are in similar circumstances.
Student 2 represents the (lower) part of the class.
TOPIC
Phonemic Awareness
The concept of phonemic awareness was carefully selected as a focus for this
classroom due to the linguistic diversity as phonics exposure is the most
effective way to develop poor literacy abilities and support EALD students
(McArthur et al 2018). McAthur et al (2018) labels phonemic awareness as the
most important literacy skill to have as it involves the ability to identify,
distinguish, and apply speech sounds. Phonics is a method of teaching
students to read and Spell the English language, involving the relationship
between letters and sounds (Phonics Australia 2020). Phonemic awareness is
the understanding of sounds and the ability to recognise discrete sounds
within spoken words (Jones 2016). The English language consists of 44
sounds, however, there are only 26 letters in the alphabet, therefore, students
need to understand that letters combined represent sounds too (Phonics
Australia 2020). Understanding phonics provides students with the skills and
knowledge to comprehend English, which to 60% of these students, is their
second language and therefore, it requires extra practise. Teaching phonemic
awareness fosters an understanding of printed word recognition and therefore
is a vital part in the development of learning to read, write and spell (Arshad
et al 2009; Jones 2016; NRP 2000; Phonics Australia 2020).
Differentiation
Providing differentiated literacy learning in this reception class is a significant
teaching practice to implement due to the apparent diverse learning abilities.
Delivering differentiated activities will cater for the school’s values of an
inclusive environment where every student can access a part of the curriculum
and it will foster the encouraged multi-sensory approach. The NRP (2000)
recognises that students will differ in their abilities to comprehend phonemic
awareness and that some students will require more instruction than others.
The guiding inquiry question:
How can I improve my practice to provide differentiated literacy experiences
in a reception class to develop children’s phonemic awareness?
Kobi Keeley 110198338 4
PLAN OF ACTION
The learning area of English within the Australian Curriculum will guide the
inquiry to ensure students are reaching or working towards the foundation
year level achievement standards.
Through the inquiry students will:
• Recognise and name all upper and lower-case letters (graphemes) and know the
most common sound that each letter represents (ACELA1440) (ACARA 2018).
• Write consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words by representing some sounds with
the appropriate letters, and blend sounds associated with letters when reading CVC
words (ACELA1820) (ACARA 2018).
• Read decodable and predictable texts, practicing phrasing and fluency, and monitor
meaning using concepts about print and emerging contextual, semantic,
grammatical and phonic knowledge (ACELY1649) (ACARA 2018)
o Elaborations: reading aloud and attempts to work out unknown sounds by
combining contextual, semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge
• Produce some lower case and upper-case letters using learned letter
formations (ACELY1653) (ACARA 2018).
Piaget’s (1936) developmental theory will influence this inquiry as activities
and tasks have been planned in relation to children’s developmental stages.
My pedagogy of differentiation takes into account Piaget’s (1936, cited in
Marwaha et al 2017) belief that intellectual abilities differ and occur at different
stages as each child’s way of thinking and understanding the world differ.
Developing student’s phonemic awareness is most effective when it is
introduced systematically, it is beneficial to start with a few sounds and build
words with those sounds before moving onto the next group of sounds
(Phonics Australia 2020; Ariati et al 2018). Ariati et al (2018) found that one of
the most effective methods for developing student’s literacy skills is through
Jolly Phonics. This classroom employs the Jolly Phonics program into their
literacy program and therefore the sequence of learning will follow the Jolly
Phonics sound structure (appendix?). Ariati et al (2018) explains that teachers
should adapt the phonics program based on student’s abilities and given the
linguistic challenges within the classroom, it will be necessary to minimise the
amount of sounds taught at once to some students. Ariati et al (2018) suggests
introducing 1-3 sounds per week is appropriate to encourage students to
confidently engage in activities.
Knowledge of letter sounds is the first skill that needs to be understood, along
with practise of letter formations (Ariati et al 2018). The most common vowels
and consonants should be taught first, through to more complex alternative
spellings (Phonics Australia 2020). The NRP (2000) clarified that alternative
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forms of instruction and no instruction during play improves student’s
phonemic awareness. The classroom will have a range of diverse phonics
activities available that will cater for different learning levels throughout
students designated play time. During this time, I will be monitoring,
observing and modelling and providing more explicit instruction where
required. Tasks to improve student’s phonemic awareness will involve
recognising initial sounds in words, identifying common and odd sounds in
words, blending sounds to form a word, segmenting words by identifying the
sounds in a word and deletion, distinguishing what word remains when a
sound is removed (McArthur et al 2018; NRP 2000). Phonics Australia (2020)
advocates that word-building is the most effective way to teach students to
apply phonemic awareness to read and spell. Building CVC words (consonant,
vowel, consonant) is a practical way for students to recognise sounds and how
they can be blended to form a word (Phonics Australia 2020; McArthur et al
2018).
Ariati et al (2018) found that a multisensory approach to phonics caters for all
student characteristics, this involves delivering information and experiences
through sight, sound and kinaesthetic approaches. A range of different
resources will be used to engage students through different sensory
approaches including interactive games on the iPad, practicing letter
formation on whiteboards, flashcards to revise sounds, matching games…
• Phoneme awareness skills can also be developed through practice and
recognition of alliteration, rhyme (McArthur et al 2018).
• In learning to write, the children were required to have phonemical
awareness, where they could listen for the spoken words, identify, and write
the sound in that word. (Ariati et al 2018)
•
• Ariati et al (2018) implies that literacy development is a crucial requirement
for students to be successful in both educational and social settings.
Teaching strategies
• Differentiation
• Effective literacy instruction involves the teacher engaging in rich
conversations with children through phonics activities (Ariati et al 2018)
• Scaffolding
Practitioner inquiry as a research design and case study as a methodology
• This research will be conducted through an ongoing and cyclical process of
planning, acting, reflecting and observing (Kemmis and McTaggart, 2005,
cited in Killmier, C 2010).
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Throughout the entire five weeks, I will be listening to children read their
decodable texts and red flag words. I will use a checklist table to ensure …..
(check for levels)..
Data Collection
Week 1 • Phonics Assessment
• Listen to reading and tricky words – check for level of readers and words
• Work samples of phonics or writing– provide feedback to students
• Photographs and written observations during play
Week 2 • Listen to reading and tricky words– check for level of readers and words
• Observations of learning during Phonics lessons
• Work samples of phonics or writing– provide feedback to students
• Phonological Awareness Screening Test (PAST) Form A
Week 3 • Listen to reading and tricky words– check for level of readers and words
• Work samples of phonics or writing– provide feedback to students-
analyse phonemic awareness development
• Photographs and written observations during play
Week 4 • Listen to reading and tricky words– check for level of readers and
words
• Observations of learning during Phonics lessons- take notes
• Work samples of phonics or writing– provide feedback to students-
Week 5 •
• Listen to reading and tricky words– check for level of readers and words
• Work samples of phonics or writing– provide feedback to students-
analyse phonemic awareness development
• Photographs and written observations during play
Data collection and Analysis
The NRP (2000) and Piaget’s (1936, cited in Marwaha et al 2017) highlights
that teachers should assess student’s phonemic awareness before beginning
phonics instruction as understanding what students know will help indicate
which students need more instruction and which students require more
advanced phonics development. Early assessment strategies have been
informed by Piaget’s (1936, cited in Marwaha et al 2017) idea that in order to
plan for a community of learners, it is essential to understand each individuals’
intellectual levels (Piaget 1936, cited in Marwaha et al 2017).
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At three checkpoints the case study students will be assessed on letter-sound
identification, reading regular and tricky words and forming lower case letters
correctly (Appendix 3) (McArthur et al 2018). The learning and assessments
are based on the five skills of Jolly Phonics; understanding the letter sounds,
learning letter formation, blending words for reading, identifying sounds in
words for writing and recognising tricky words (Ariati et al 2018).
Work samples will be another leading data collection- to see how they have
developed (writing, phonics activities etc)
ANALYSIS
• Qualitative data (lambert 2012)
• The research will be interpretative as it is analysing the connection
between differentiated phonics learning during play and student
development
• The outcomes of the research will be drawn from collected data, for
this to be successful, the data has to be accurately analysed (Lambert
2012).
• Lambert (2012) advises that when analysing data, reflection on what
people have written or said, or what you have observed should be
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REFERENCES
• Ariati, N, Padmadewi, N & Suarnajaya, I 2018, ‘Jolly phonics: effective
strategy for enhancing children english literacy’, SHS Web of
Conferences, vol. 42, p. 32.
• Arshad, Mahzan & Chen, Wu Hsueh 2009, ‘Vygotsky’s socio-cultural
theory of literacy Scaffolding children to read and write at an early
age’, Wacana (Depok, Bogor, Indonesia), vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 319–334.
• Campbell, S 2016, ‘Playing with phonics: Teaching letters and
sounds’, Every Child, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 10–11.
• https://dataworks-ed.com/blog/2016/02/six-components-of-an-effective-
literacy-
program/#:~:text=Six%20Components%20of%20an%20Effective%20Literac
y%20Program%201,3%20Vocabulary.%204%20Fluency.%205%20Comprehe
nsion.%206%20Writing.
• Jones E, 2016, ‘Six Components of an Effective Literacy Program’,
Classroom Strategy, Dataworks Educational Research, California, United
States, viewed 5th August 2020,
• Killmier, C 2010, ‘Programs, Partnerships & Placemaking: A
Communtiy Development Framework & Toolkit’, Community-Centred
Library
• Lambert 2012
• Marwaha, Sugandha, Goswami, Mousumi, Vashist & Binny 2017,
‘Prevalence of Principles of Piaget's Theory Among 4-7-year-old Children
and their Correlation with IQ’, Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic
Research, vol. 11, no. 8, pp. ZC111–ZC115.
• McArthur, G, Sheehan, Y, Badcock, N, Francis, D, Wang, H, Kohnen, S,
Banales, E, Anandakumar, T, Marinus, E & Castles, A 2018, ‘Phonics
training for English-speaking poor readers’, Cochrane Database of
Systematic Reviews, vol. 2018, no. 11, p. CD009115.
• National Reading Panel [NRP] 2000, ‘Phonics Awareness Instruction’,
Alphabetics, National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read, Chapter 2,
pp 2/1-2/45, viewed 5th August 2020,
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pubs/nrp/Docume
nts/report.pdf
• Phonics Australia 2020, Why Phonics?, Phonics Australia, Intervate PTY LTD,
viewed 5th August 2020, https://www.phonicsaustralia.com.au/
• School A 2020, ‘Our School’, School A, Colonel Light Gardens, South
Australia, viewed 20th July 2020 https://www.schoola.catholic.edu.au/our-
school/school-performance
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