Purpose: decide what to teach next from Days 51–60. This is a formative sample, not a diagnosis, report-card grade, whole-year achievement judgement or mathematics/social-skills score. Proposed ACARA v9 Foundation links: AC9EFLA09, AC9EFLE05, AC9EFLY01, AC9EFLY04, AC9EFLY05, AC9EFLY06, AC9EFLY07, AC9EFLY09, AC9EFLY10, AC9EFLY11, AC9EFLY12, AC9EFLY13. Human educator, local curriculum and accessibility review pending.
Run it fairly
Day 60's 25-minute lesson supplies shared oral and work-sample evidence. Hear each learner read links and unseen words in a private approximately seven-minute check during independent-work rotations across Days 56–60 or a longer window if needed. Do not infer individual reading from a group chorus. Preserve the exact first response before any content hint; then model, retry and record the retry separately. A repeated direction is allowed and recorded. If an accessible check did not occur, mark not observed rather than zero.
Offer large or tactile print, movable/digital letters, quiet space, extra response time, AAC, signing, pointing, typing or handwriting as appropriate. For a phoneme task where hearing or oral production is not a valid response route, plan equivalent evidence and interpretation with the learner, family and relevant specialist. A motor action, picture match, teacher-read passage and adult-scribed wording are not independent decoding. Keep identifiable work in the school's approved local system.
Adult-read story and ordered meaning
Read oral story D twice with its print hidden. Ask the same four questions, without adding answer words to the prompt:
- “What did Ari ask before moving the pieces?” Expect asked Dev first; exact words are not required.
- “What did Dev say?” Expect wait while I check this row or a clear equivalent. Accept AAC, signs, home language with verified interpretation, drawing or ordered objects.
- “What did Ari do while waiting?” Expect drew another row on paper.
- “What did they change after counting together, and who saw it?” Expect one crowded space, then a new user. Ask “How do you know?” to distinguish stated details from imagined additions.
This story is fictional. Do not score counting ten or agreement to move a real peer's items here. Note whether the learner can locate the request, reply and order independently; if a learner adds plausible but unstated detail, ask which part was actually said.
Oral sounds; print hidden
Use the intended local pronunciation and no letters. The slash notation is for the adult.
- “Say the sounds in quit, in order.” Expect /k/ /w/ /ɪ/ /t/, four sounds. These are not one /kw/ phoneme.
- “Say the sounds in moth, in order.” Expect /m/ /ɒ/ /θ/, three sounds.
- “Put /p/ /æ/ /k/ together.” Expect pack.
- “Which rhymes with moth: cloth or mud?” Expect cloth by sound. The word cloth is adult spoken only; do not offer it as child print here.
- “Say spot. Take away the first /s/. What word?” Expect pot. An object or AAC selection route can demonstrate the change.
An accent or speech difference should not be scored as missing sound awareness if the learner shows the distinction through an agreed route. Record item-level responses and any route adjustment.
Print links and fresh transfer
Shuffle q-u, th and ck cards and three prior known links chosen from sh, ch, x, a, is, g. Ask for the practised sound(s) and a word using each. For q-u, expect /k/ then /w/ in two sound boxes while the two printed letters remain together in the starting sequence. For th in this pack expect one /θ/; for final ck, one /k/. The sample is diagnostic; do not make a single total score a pass line. If an earlier link is uncertain, record which one.
Present these five unseen printed words individually, without image or context. They have not been child-reading cards in Days 51–59. Ask “Show the letters or team, say the sounds we have learnt in order, and blend.” Explain an unfamiliar meaning after the attempt.
| Word | Exact sound route | Meaning after reading |
|---|---|---|
| quilt | /k/ /w/ /ɪ/ /l/ /t/; q-u starts two phonemes | A sewn covering; no spelling value for standalone u /w/ is implied. |
| thick | /θ/ /ɪ/ /k/; th and ck are each one phoneme | Wide from one surface to the other, relative to what is compared. |
| dock | /d/ /ɒ/ /k/; final ck is one phoneme | A platform by water. |
| check | /tʃ/ /ɛ/ /k/; ch and ck are each one phoneme | Look to make sure. |
| best | /b/ /ɛ/ /s/ /t/; adjacent consonants stay separate | Most suitable by a chosen measure; there can be different choices for different users. |
Also show the fresh controlled sentence A duck is on a mat. Ask for an independent read and “What is on a mat?” The capital A is the previously taught article /ə/ and is is /ɪz/. Do not reveal an illustration first. Note exact independent words, self-corrections and adult-supplied words.
Four exact dictations
Hide print. Give the short spoken context, then repeat only the target without saying its component sounds. Learners may use letters, tactile tiles, typing or pencil. Record the exact first sequence and whether they reread it.
| Spoken context and target | Expected printed response | Diagnostic point |
|---|---|---|
| “A friendly question game can be a quiz. Write quiz.” | q u i z | Two starting phonemes kept in q-u order. |
| “An imagined insect in our story is a moth. Write moth.” | m o th | Final th is one /θ/ phoneme. |
| “Place safe paper counters in a box: pack. Write pack.” | p a ck | Final ck is one /k/ phoneme. |
| “Our board has ten marks. Write ten.” | t e n | Cumulative known word; this is spelling, not a counting check. |
Make an ordered card
After an adult offers class-owned safe box or bag, counters and mat, give the learner taught text tiles and a blank three-step strip. Say “Make a card another user can follow. It may use the box or bag. Read it to me. What does it mean in each line?” The target model is Get a box. Pack it. Set it on a mat. or the controlled bag variation. An independently arranged and read two-step card can be valid emerging evidence; a copied model is recorded as copied. Accept child-chosen drawing, tactile mark, AAC explanation, typed or dictated addition beside the controlled print, with adult words identified. Ask a willing user or puppet to follow the card, then “Which step would you keep or change?” Do not test a real child's willingness to surrender an object. A missing item or unsafe action means use a paper simulation.
Analytic rubric and record
Rate each domain separately; do not add the numbers. Independent means after standard directions and a non-content access route without an answer hint. A completed accessible check with no independent evidence is 0. A missing/inaccessible check is not observed.
| Domain | 0 · No independent evidence | 1 · Emerging | 2 · Developing | 3 · Secure in this sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Adult-read story meaning | 0/4 exact prompts | 1/4 | 2–3/4 | 4/4, including request, reply and ordered revision |
| B. Oral sound work | 0/5 items | 1–2/5 | 3–4/5 | 5/5, including four distinct sounds in quit |
| C. Print-link boundaries | None of q-u, th, ck independently identified | One of three | Two of three | All three with q-u as two sounds and th/ck each as one; prior links logged separately |
| D. Unseen-word transfer | 0/5 sounded and blended independently | 1–2/5 | 3–4/5, or 5/5 with the fresh sentence/meaning still needing a prompt | 5/5; fresh sentence read and meaning answered independently |
| E. Dictated encoding | 0/4 exact sequences independently | 1/4 | 2–3/4 | 4/4 and at least one self-reread |
| F. Ordered card and user meaning | No independently assembled readable step | One readable step or a card copied after a model | Two clear steps independently arranged/read; it or revision needs a prompt | Three clear steps independently arranged/read, it refers to the offered object, and learner names a useful keep/change after user trial |
Learner code: __ Date(s): _ Teacher: Access/format: _____
| Evidence | Exact first response / support / retry |
|---|---|
| A1 request; A2 reply; A3 while waiting; A4 change and new user | |
| B1 quit; B2 moth; B3 pack; B4 rhyme; B5 remove /s/ | |
| C q-u; th; ck; three earlier links and which were selected | |
| D quilt; thick; dock; check; best; sentence; meaning | |
| E quiz; moth; pack; ten; reread | |
| F ordered text, independent/copied, it, actual user trial/alternate route |
A–F level or not observed: __ / _ / / / /
Observed strength with item: __ Next teaching move and recheck date: __
Adult-read/child-read boundary or review question: _____
Choose the next teaching move
| What the exact evidence shows | Teach and recheck |
|---|---|
| q-u is called one sound or u alone is called /w/ | Put q and following u in two adjacent sound boxes for quit; say /k/ then /w/; contrast with one-box th. Recheck unseen quilt or another verified controlled q-u word after teaching, marking the retry separately. |
| th is split into /t/ /h/ or voiced /ð/ is overgeneralised | Model one /θ/ in thin and moth with a single tile/box. Keep the/this/that teacher-read. Recheck thick after practice. |
| Final ck is two phonemes, omitted or guessed | Count /p/ /æ/ /k/ for pack, place ck in one final box and compare back/dock. Do not claim every final /k/ uses ck. |
| Earlier ch, short vowel or adjacent consonants block check/best | Return to the exact missed link or sound position, model with two known words and a new controlled word; retain other secure links. |
| Print is read but story or it reference is unclear | Set adult story and child procedure side by side. Rehear one adult sentence, then point to the printed line and offered object. Ask a literal question before inviting an invented addition. |
| Card order works only after an adult model | Use two text strips, let a user act them after permission, then offer three strips and ask the learner to choose the order and explain the change. Keep adult-scribed additions separate. |
| Evidence is secure | Continue the year sequence with new explicit correspondences, richer adult-read texts and independent controlled sentence creation; continue spaced review. This small check does not certify the whole Foundation year. |
Source boundaries: ACARA v9 workbook, ACARA English and AERO Monitor progress inform proposed mapping and practice only. No external passage, test, worksheet or image is reproduced.