Purpose: choose next teaching after Days 31–40. This is a formative sample, not a standardised test, diagnosis, grade or proof that the Foundation English achievement standard is complete. Proposed ACARA v9 Foundation links: AC9EFLA03, AC9EFLA09, AC9EFLE05, AC9EFLY01, AC9EFLY05, AC9EFLY06, AC9EFLY09, AC9EFLY10, AC9EFLY11, AC9EFLY12, AC9EFLY13. Human educator and local curriculum review remain pending.
Set-up and fair interpretation
Day 40's 25-minute class lesson gathers the oral text, spoken pattern, dictated spelling and created-sentence evidence. Check four new printed links and five unseen printed words privately, about 7 minutes per learner, during ordinary independent-work periods across Days 36–40. At five learners per day, a class of about 25 needs roughly 35 extra minutes each day outside the mini-lesson; use a longer window if that time is unavailable. Mark a missed or inaccessible item not observed, never zero. Keep a learner's first independent attempt before any content hint, then teach and retry after recording.
Repeat a direction once if requested and note it. Offer large/tactile print, movable/digital tiles, a quiet space, speech, AAC, pointing, typing, drawing or handwriting as appropriate, and record the route. Do not count a picture answer after adult reading as decoding. If hearing or speech access changes what an English-sound task can show, co-plan a valid route and interpretation with the learner, family and relevant specialist. This sample is one piece of evidence within normal teaching.
Exact prompts and answer notes
A · Fresh notice, story and purpose
Read the fresh assessment notice and The Puppet Beat aloud with print hidden. Read the notice once and the story twice. Ask:
- “Which text asks people to do something now? What is the action?” The notice asks people to keep the space beside the puppet table clear so others can pass.
- “What beat did Teo make?” Tap, clap, tap, clap; accept a matching two-part repeating pattern shown by cards, taps, speech or AAC.
- “What went wrong with Rani's cards?” Two clap cards were placed together instead of alternating.
- “How did Teo and Rani fix it?” They compared cards with the beat, moved a card and performed the pattern again.
Offer blank event boxes or two kinds of blank cards without pre-filling an answer. Record open responses separately from adult choices or hints. Do not ask for real personal safety experiences.
B · Spoken sound awareness, all print hidden
- “Which rhymes with ship: chip or shop?” Expected chip.
- “How many beats in puppet?” Expected two syllables; two taps/counters are valid.
- “Say the sounds in chat, in order.” Expected /tʃ/ /æ/ /t/; ch is one phoneme.
- “Put /ʃ/ /ɪ/ /p/ together.” Expected ship.
- “Say ship. Replace the first sound /ʃ/ with /tʃ/. What word?” Expected chip.
Use the learner's local pronunciation where a rhyme remains clear. Note any equivalent version used; do not silently change a scored prompt.
C · Four new print links
Shuffle y, x, sh, ch as separate printed cards. Ask “What sound, or sounds, does this spelling show in our words?” Expected y /j/ at a word's start; final x /k/ then /s/; sh /ʃ/; ch /tʃ/. The x response has two phonemes, while sh and ch each have one. Accept an accurate sound selection/sequence through AAC or pointing if oral production is inaccessible. Separately sample the prior 23 lower-case links m, a, s, t, p, i, n, c, e, r, d, o, g, l, f, b, u, h, k, v, w, j, z; record a count out of 23 as continuity information, not part of the four-link level. Recognition of capitals Y/X is optional extension evidence, not a hidden requirement in the four-link result. Letter names and sounds are recorded separately.
D · Transfer to five unseen printed words
Show yelp, fix, cash, chug, slip separately, without pictures. These exact printed words do not appear on child-reading lesson cards. Ask “Touch the letter or letter team, say its sound or sounds, then blend the whole word.” All sound values were taught before the check:
| Word | Sound path | Teaching note after the attempt |
|---|---|---|
| yelp | /j/ /ɛ/ /l/ /p/ | A short, sharp cry; four sounds and a final two-consonant sequence. |
| fix | /f/ /ɪ/ /k/ /s/ | Repair; one x writes the last two sounds. |
| cash | /k/ /æ/ /ʃ/ | Money in notes or coins; sh writes one ending sound. |
| chug | /tʃ/ /ʌ/ /g/ | Move or sound like a slow engine; ch writes one starting sound. |
| slip | /s/ /l/ /ɪ/ /p/ | Slide unexpectedly; four separate sounds. |
Note whether the learner sounded through, guessed, self-corrected or received a hint. Word meaning is discussed after the attempted blend, not supplied as a decoding cue.
E · Encoding from spoken words
Dictate yam, box, fish, chat, one at a time, with their print hidden. Say “The word is ____. Say its sounds. Write or choose letters for the word. Read what you made.” Repeat the whole word once on request without segmenting it for the learner. Expected written sequences are y a m; b o x; f i sh; ch a t. In box, four phonemes use three letters; in fish and chat, three phonemes use four letters. Record the exact output, prompt level and reread. Accept movable/tactile letters, accessible typing or handwriting.
F · Make a new story sentence and find its boundary
Give taught tiles Sam / Kit / Val / Jem / can / help / got / wet / dash / shop / chat / . and a blank strip. Ask “Make a new story sentence that tells an idea about a person. Read or explain it. Show the capital at its start and the mark that ends it.” Fresh valid examples include Val can help. and Jem got wet. Do not model an answer until after the independent attempt. Record meaningful order, capital name/start, full stop, and whether printed words were independently decoded. Then ask the learner to point to the adult-read notice that gives a direction; this purpose answer belongs in A, not the sentence score. An unrestricted oral idea may be adult-scribed as separate creative evidence.
Analytic rubric
Mark each domain independently. Do not add a total score or set a pass line. “Independent” means after the standard direction and permitted non-content access route, without an answer hint. If the check was missed or an access route was not valid, record not observed and arrange another opportunity. Zero applies only after a completed accessible check. Keep item-level notes; a level cannot identify the exact sound or purpose to reteach.
| Domain | 0 · No independent evidence in completed check | 1 · Emerging | 2 · Developing | 3 · Secure in this small sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Text purpose and story meaning | No purpose or story element communicated independently. | One of four prompts answered independently; others need choices or content hints. | Two or three prompts answered independently. | All four prompts answered independently, including notice purpose, beat, mistake and repair. |
| B. Spoken sound pattern | 0 of five items independent. | 1–2 of five independent. | 3–4 of five independent. | All five independent. |
| C. Four new print links | 0 of four correct independent. | 1 of four correct independent. | 2–3 of four correct independent. | All four correct independent, including two-sound x and one-sound sh/ch. |
| D. Unseen-word decoding | 0 of five independently sounded and blended. | 1–2 of five independent. | 3–4 of five independent. | All five independent; note any self-correction. |
| E. Encoding | 0 of four correct letter sequences independent. | 1 of four correct independent. | 2–3 of four correct independent. | All four correct independent and at least one word reread. |
| F. Created sentence | No meaningful sentence independently made through the accessible route. | Meaningful sentence only after adult model or answer hint. | Meaningful sentence made independently but needs a prompt for word order, capital or full stop. | Meaningful sentence made, read/explained, and bounded by a capital name/start and full stop independently. |
Local individual record
Learner code: __ Date(s): _ Teacher:
Response route and access supports: _____
Adult-read texts: fresh puppet notice and The Puppet Beat; print hidden
| Evidence | Exact response or item marks | Independent, repeated direction or content prompt? |
|---|---|---|
| A1 notice/action; A2 beat; A3 error; A4 repair | ||
| B1 rhyme; B2 syllables; B3 segment; B4 blend; B5 sound change | ||
| C y / x / sh / ch; prior-set ___ of 23; optional Y/X | ||
| D yelp / fix / cash / chug / slip | ||
| E yam / box / fish / chat; reread? | ||
| F child-made sentence; capital; full stop; meaning |
A–F levels, or not observed: __ / _ / / / /
Exact strength shown: _______
Next teaching move and recheck date: _____
Access or source question for human review: ______
Decide what to teach next
| Pattern in evidence | Next instruction and a fresh recheck |
|---|---|
| Notice purpose and story events are confused | Read two new, original adult messages about one event. Ask “Act now or tell what happened?” Use blank props and fade adult choices. Keep reading and purpose scores separate. |
| Earlier 23 links are uncertain | Revisit the actual missed links before more child-read words; keep the learner included in richer oral stories and meaning work. |
| y /j/ and earlier j /dʒ/ are confused | Model yes /j/ versus jet /dʒ/ with mouth and cards; blend each, then recheck a fresh regular word. Record the actual sound chosen. |
| Final x is treated as one phoneme or as /z/ | Place four counters for /f/ /ɪ/ /k/ /s/ in fix, then reveal three letters; recheck an untaught printed tax after modelling. Explain its meaning only after blending. |
| sh/ch are split or swapped | Put each printed team in one sound box, contrast ship/chip aloud and in print, then recheck shut and chap with meaning explained after the blend. |
| Adjacent consonants collapse in yelp/slip | Use four counters and touch each printed letter in step/help, then try fresh slid without a picture. |
| Spoken rhyme or beat is hard to show | Check hearing/communication access first. Offer a valid oral, tactile or visually supported pattern route and document exactly what it can show; do not infer a phonological deficit from an inaccessible prompt. |
| Words decode but the sentence loses meaning | Reread after blending, act/point to who and what happened, and distinguish a printed fact from a picture-based guess. |
| Sampled work is secure | Extend with new regular combinations and richer adult-read texts. Explicitly teach any new letter value, digraph, vowel pattern or irregular word before asking for independent decoding. This does not complete Foundation English. |
Code links use the ACARA v9 workbook. The check–respond cycle is informed by AERO Monitor progress. Local alignment, assessment design and accessibility remain pending human educator review.