Professional Learning Goals

• Learned about the developmental continuum of oral language and located and/or developed observational and assessment tools to determine student placement on the continuum
• Developed specific practices designed to move students along the continuum
• Used iPad technology to modify or redefine oral language learning opportunities
• Collaborated with Speech Language Services to further align goals and to enhance integration of service into the classroom

Activities and Resources

Activities:

• The ELK team researched oral language development and reviewed the board’s speech language resource binder in a session with school board Speech Language Pathologist, Michelle Desgroseilliers
• The ELK team purchased copies of two resources recommended by Ms. Desgroseilliers and used them to explore oral language with a specific focus on the continuum of phonological awareness development, and to implement a range of specific phonological awareness practices to integrate into daily activities and routines
• The ELK team researched, located and tested oral language assessment tools to determine the most appropriate tools and specific uses for those tools
• The ELK team invited board Communicative Disorders Assistant, Amy Barker, into their classrooms in order to identify opportunities for integrating more explicit oral language teaching into daily activities
• The ELK team researched, located and purchased student resources for phonological awareness development in the classroom
• The ELK team purchased iPad cases to make technology use more student-friendly and familiarized itself with two iPad apps available from the board (Explain Everything and Green Screen)
• The ELK team scaffolded student use of Explain Everything to document and share learning through independent inquiry
• The ELK team commissioned the creation of two classroom green screens and spent a half-day session with Provincial Lead for Technology for TELO (Technology Enabled Learning Ontario), Tony Calarco, to learn how to use the Green Screen app to enhance students’ oral dramatic play, re-enactment, retelling, and reporting

Teacher Resources Purchased:

• Four copies of Oral Language at Your Fingertips: Kindergarten and Primary Grades by the Ontario Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists
• Two copies of Learning Language and Loving It (a Hanen Centre publication) by Elaine Weitzman and Janice Greenberg (book and DVD)
• Two durable iPad cases for teacher devices to facilitate oral language documentation and to facilitate student technology use for oral language development

Existing Teacher Resources Used:

• The Kindergarten Program 2016, Ontario Ministry of Education
• Speech and Language Resource Binder, Near North District School Board
• Kindergarten Teacher’s Resource Book, Nelson Language Arts
• Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners by Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church and Karin Morrison
• First STEp Screening Test for Evaluating Preschoolers, Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1993
• Sutherland Phonological Awareness Test by Dr. Roslyn Neilson, 1995

Student Resources Purchased:

• Two classroom green screens (fabric, adhesive velcro, sewing services)
• Eleven shockproof iPad cases with handles/stands to facilitate independent student technology use
• Visual resources for oral language development (“Roll a Story” dice and picture-/object-based CVC kits)

Human Resources Consulted:

Michelle Desgrosseilliers, Speech Language Pathologist, Near North District School Board

Amy Barker, Communicative Disorders Assistant, Near North District School Board

Tony Calarco, Provincial Lead for Technology for TELO (Technology Enabled Learning Ontario)

Unexpected Challenges

• Coverage for Release Time: The team originally planned for monthly meetings one-third of a day long, but a short occasional teacher list for early childhood educators made it impossible to get coverage for initial meetings, which led to a revised schedule following the first three sessions (two half-day and one full-day session). There were also glitches with the procurement of occasional teachers and Early Childhood Educators for release time throughout the project.
• Current Resources: The team was surprised at the scarcity of current oral language assessment resources and the lack of a more specific oral language continuum. Given the advances in developmental neuroscience in the past 10 years, we expected that observation and assessment tools for early language development would have also evolved in this time, but assessment tools located were copyrighted in 1993, 1995 and 2000.
• Locating Visual Resources: When looking for picture-based resources for use with phonological awareness activities, the team found it extremely difficult to find pictures for consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) nouns that did NOT also include text.

Enhancing Student Learning and Development

The moves made by ELK staff to be more explicit with oral language instruction, and to focus on moving students along a continuum of phonological awareness skill development, have made an impact on student progress. Team members have identified tools to assess different facets of oral language development and to identify specific areas of need. We have also developed a basic table of practices for use in a variety of settings (large and small group, daily routines, etc.) that will evolve on an ongoing basis as the team continues to hone their skills and to seek more input from board experts. Students are showing an awareness of the phonological skills taught and they demonstrate them during both play and while completing specific language tasks. Team goals for next year include:

1. Using appropriate assessment tools throughout the year to identify individual needs as areas of instructional focus, and
2. Introducing regular language routines using technology starting in September (sharing using Explain Everything; weekly green screen dramatic play) so that they simply become a part of kindergarten life.

Sharing

The ELK team shared its project with the three Grade 1 to 2 teachers and the two primary team educational assistants at Evergreen Heights Education Centre in a 100-minute workshop on May 9, 2017. The team provided an overview of identified student oral language needs and project goals and activities. Resources were shared and technology was demonstrated. The team was then given time to delve further into the resources and technology independently and to seek further information from project members. The workshop closed with a brainstorming session and further planning regarding a more explicit focus on phonological awareness from junior kindergarten to Grade 2.

Collaboration with the NNDSB’s Speech Language Department has also resulted in the beginning stages of a proposal to strike a multi-disciplinary committee that would create a brief, teacher-friendly resource focusing on integrating oral language instruction (including explicit phonological awareness instruction) into daily Early Learning Kindergarten programming. We hope to complete this project next year.

Project Evaluation

While the ELK team embarked on this project in order to build a solid foundational understanding of oral language development, we felt that our focus may have been too broad in finding ways to apply this understanding in the classroom. We identified and used resources to help us develop the aforementioned understanding, and we also made meaningful contact with important human resources who will assist us as we continue our work at a school and, perhaps later, a board level. Yet, attempting to build and implement new assessment, instructional and technological practices all within the scope of this single project was, perhaps, a slightly lofty goal. We did address each of these areas, but we were unable to delve into each of them as deeply as we would like. Moving forward, the team hopes to focus on one of these areas at a time in order to build efficient, successful and sustainable practices. We also hope that we may continue to expand our professional interactions with board speech language pathology department staff in order to both hone our techniques and to find new and better ways to collaborate in order to apply invaluable SLP knowledge and skills usually applied only in isolated, time-limited therapy chunks to daily classroom activities. We are also very excited about the prospect of creating a classroom-ready resource for kindergarten teachers throughout our board.