Shape and Colour Coding
Sheila Davies and Lisa Davies
History
» Originally just colour coding – adapted from
schemes by John Lea and ICAN’s colour coding
used within the Language through reading scheme
[LTR].
» Shape was later added by Speech Therapists Carol
Kaldor SLT and Catherine Redmayne’s.
» Recently adapted by Wrexham Speech Therapists
Matthew Cruse, Katie Monk and Helen Still.
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding
What is Shape and Colour Coding?
» A simple, visual, structured means of supporting
language development and sequencing sentences.
» A method for discussing and analysing
grammatical forms and structures with young
children.
» Concrete, tangible and visible, it can therefore
support children’s auditory and visual memory.
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding
Who can Shape and Colour Coding be used
with?
» Children who have delayed or disordered language
development
» Children who benefit from the use of visual
strategies to support auditory memory and
processing.
» EAL children, particularly in instances where the
home language uses alternative grammatical
structures
» All pupils who benefit from additional support to
develop understanding and use of spoken or written
language
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding
Developmental Progression of Questions
» There are seven core question words that are used in shape
and colour coding and these are:
» Who? What doing?
» What?
» Where? When?
» What like?
» Shape and Colour Coding aids children’s understanding and
response to the above questions
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding
Starting Points - Oral Language Development…
Who?
» Start with ‘Who?’
» Hold up the shape whilst talking
about the person
» Use a clear red circle to discuss
and identify the ‘Who’ in pictures,
stories, games, role play areas
etc
» Can be used to reinforce and
teach pronouns – he, she, they
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding
Adding verbs
» What … doing?
Who
?
What … doing?
» Get the children to do actions
whilst holding up ‘What ..doing?’
shape
» Again, use visuals, stories,
games and curriculum based
activities
» Sorting ‘what doing’ and ‘who’
pictures
» Introduce the simple sentence
structure - Who is it? What are
they doing? What is he/she/it
doing?
» Start with the present
continuous – The boy is reading
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding
What?
» Introduce the ‘object’ of the
sentence, through progressive
questioning
» What?
» Who is it? The boy
» What is the boy doing?
reading
» What is the boy reading? the book
Who
?
What … doing?
What?
» Use the sequence of shapes to
develop this sentence structure.
» The boy is reading the book
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding
Practical
Materials:
Book
Large, clear colour-coded shapes.
Activity:
In pairs, practice asking and answering questions about
the pictures using the appropriate shapes.
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding
Adding ‘Where?’
» Again, use this question
independently at first, prior to
introducing it within a sentence.
» This introduces prepositions e.g.
on, in, under, at, behind, in
front…..
» Where is the boy reading?
» ‘The boy is reading the book in the
park’
Where
?
Who
?
What … doing?
What?
Where
?
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding
Practical
Materials:
Dice
Small colour-coded shapes.
Activity:
» In groups of 4, take turns to throw the dice.
» After each throw select the corresponding shape and colour
card.
» Think of an appropriate word to match the shape.
» Continue until you have sufficient shapes to sequence and
say a sentence
» The winner is the first person to make a sentence with at least
3 different shape and colour cards
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding
Adding ‘When?’
» When?
When?
Who
?
Who
?
What … doing?
What … doing?
When?
» This introduces the concept and
language of ‘time,’ including the
correct use of tenses.
» E.g. yesterday, this morning, last
week, tomorrow, after school,
before dinner, on Saturday, at 3
o’clock, in March…..
» It is an abstract concept, which
benefits from the use of
sequential images, time-lines,
real life situations.
» Can be situated at beginning or
end of a sentence e.g.
‘Yesterday Sam went swimming.’
‘Sam went swimming yesterday.’
Examples
Sam is running.
The bell is ringing.
The boy is behind the tree.
The girl is reading the book.
Yesterday Jane went swimming.
Oral Activities
 Throw a ‘shapes’ dice in turn, (pick up corresponding card
and provide a word / leading on to building sentences).
 Select shapes from a feely bag – make a sentence.
 Talkabout pictures e.g. answering Who? What? Where?
When? Questions.
 Shapes can be used during plenary/whole class activities to
support the discussion and questions asked by the teacher.
 Encourage story telling, providing a bank of pictures /
symbols displayed on corresponding shape and colour.
 Silly Sentences.
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding
Practical
Activity:
» In groups of 4 discuss how shape and colour
coding could be used to develop literacy skills.
» Feedback ideas
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding
Using Shape and Colour Coding to Support Literacy –
» Once familiar with the visual sequence, pupils may be more
successful at understanding and constructing grammatically
correct sentences.
» Shape and/or colour code phrases/words within a text
» Use this to highlight and explain the different grammatical and
sequential structures of different text genres. e.g – The use of
verbs in instructional writing.
» Focus on specific grammatical concepts within a text, and use
colour coding to discuss where/how they have been used. E.g
Vocabulary related to time, Prepositions
» To improve comprehension and assess understanding of the
text, ask the questions using the colour coded shapes. These
are developmental.
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding
Using Shape and Colour Coding to Support Literacy
» Build up a word bank of colour coded words.
» Practice making sentences using the above words, following
a specific pattern or structure.
» Worksheet planning. A story board can be produced using
the shape coding.
» Practice interchanging one part of the sentence to create
new/better meanings – e.g replacing verbs for stronger
examples, running…sprinting
» The shapes can be used for marking written work – for
example by adding corrections with the appropriate shape i.e
if a verb is missing/in the wrong place a yellow rectangle can
be added
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding
Using Shape and Colour Coding to Support Literacy
» Use the ‘What like?’ cloud
to introduce adjectives and
adverbs into pupils writing.
Who?
What
like?
What
like?
What …
doing?
Who?
Who
?
The horse galloped
The black horse
galloped
What …
doing?
What …
doing?
What
like?
The black horse
galloped quickly
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding
Using Shape and Colour Coding to Support Literacy
» At a higher level, colour coding can also be used to
demonstrate and encourage the correct use of
conjunctions and clause structures.
Conjunction/connective
Sam
is running
because
he
is
late
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding
Practical
Materials: Written texts
Activity:
» Use shape and colour coding to explore and
discuss the structure of a text.
Acknowledgements to Wrexham S and L Therapists for their advice re. Shape and Colour Coding