Understanding Phrases
Aims
This activity is designed to:
- test your child's understanding of phrases
- encourage your child to pay attention and join in a learning activity for short periods of time
When to start
You can use this activity with children who understand the keywords in the phrases - even if they cannot read the sight words yet.
For children who can read the keywords in the phrases, this activity should be started when they have shown they understand these words (Activity 5).
For children who cannot yet read the keywords in the phrases, you can start this activity if they understand the keywords.
Selecting phrases
Choose phrases including keywords that your child understands.
At first, start with two phrases. As your child learns the activity and learns more sight words, you can increase the number of choices.
Four choices is optimal for testing your child's understanding of many of the phrases. For example, presenting "girl is climbing", "dog is climbing", "girl is swimming" and "dog is swimming" as choices requires your child to understand both keywords in each phrase. (If presented with the choice of "girl is swimming" and "dog is swimming", your child can identify the correct answers if they can read "dog" and "girl" and not necessarily understand the whole phrase.)
Modelling and prompting
At first, model the activity. Demonstrate the steps in the activity, encouraging your child to watch and listen.
When your child starts the activity, prompt them as needed to help them complete the task successfully.
Steadily reduce your prompts as your child becomes more confident.
Instructions
| 1 | Show your child the phrase picture cards | |
[Cards]: Select corresponding phrase picture cards and phrase cards for each of the words you wish to work with. Place the phrase picture cards in front of your child. Vary the order and position of the cards each time you work on this activity. ::: ::: ::: |
[Apps]: From the Main Menu screen, select Activities > Understanding Phrases. Select the phrases you wish to work with and the number of cards to present (start with 2). Tap the start button. ::: |
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| 2 | Attract your child's attention Say "let's put words with pictures". Encourage your child to look at the phrase picture cards. |
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| 3 | Present a phrase card to match | |
[Cards]: Hand your child the first of the phrase cards to match. ::: ::: ::: |
[Apps]: Tap the card to 'turn over'. ::: |
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| 4 | Ask your child to match the phrase -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Point to the phrase card that you are asking your child to match and say "put the words with the picture". If your child cannot yet read the keywords in the phrase, read the phrase for them - say "[dog is climbing] - can you put [dog is climbing] with the picture?" Point to the words on the card as you read them. At first, you may need to prompt your child while they learn the activity. Point to the phrase card that corresponds to the card presented. Help your child to place the card over the corresponding card. If your child correctly matches the phrase, say "yes - [dog is climbing] - this is [dog is climbing]" If you are modelling or prompting, repeat the word after you have matched the picture together - say "this is [dog is climbing] - [dog is climbing]" [Apps]: Your child can drag the presented card over the matching card or simply tap the matching card to indicate their selection. |
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| 5 | Present the next phrase card to match | |
[Cards]: Hand your child the next card to match. ::: ::: ::: |
[Apps]: Tap the card to 'turn over'. ::: |
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| 6 | Repeat steps 4 and 5 Repeat steps 4 and 5 until your child has matched each card. |
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:::Apps settings
The apps include the following settings that control how the activity is presented:
- Number of choices - sets the number of cards to be presented for matching.
- Number of answer attempts - sets the number of incorrect answers that can be given before prompting the correct answer.
- Time to wait for answer. Initially, this is indefinite to allow you to demonstrate and explain the activity.
- Enable applause - enables/disables playing applause at the end of the activity.
Recording progress
You can record your child's progress using the Understanding Phrases record.
Record the dates your child first started to practise putting each phrase with the corresponding picture, and the dates your child first linked each phrase with prompting and then independently (Figure 5).
Moving on
You can move on to See and Learn Sentences 1 when your child can show they understand all of the phrases in See and Learn Phrases 3.
Figure 5 | Example Understanding Phrases record sheet
