Colourful Semantics

Making sentences make sense

 What are common difficulties the students you work
with have when it comes to making up sentences
(both oral and written?)
Dont know what to write
Sentences dont 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
Colourful
the name
come from?
Semantics
 What is 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)
 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 Monros 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 bone
2. Think of a verb to represent the concept - eg. bury
3. 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 garden
5. 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: is
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)
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 how doing

- 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
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 neighbours
My brother and I were kicking the football to our next door neighbours
My 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 SPIDER

Incy wincy spider climbed
up the water spout. Down
came the rain and washed
poor Incy out. Out came the
sunshine and dried up all the
rain 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???