Learn about Peter and the Cat

Learn about Peter and the Cat This document contains explanations of the App s screens and directions for implementing the assessment. 1

Confidentiality Keeping children s personal information confidential is extremely important. Safeguards have been built-in to the Peter and the Cat App, but it is the responsibility of the ipad User and their organisation to ensure these are used. Every user of the App has to sign in with a unique user name and password. Ensure you use a strong password and do not share it. Users can only see the data they have entered. The password and user name cannot be recovered, remember them or keep them safe. Sign Out or task away from the App if you are not using it, or you are leaving the ipad accessible to others. The App will lock automatically if the ipad goes to sleep but do not rely on this to maintain confidentiality. The information in the App can be backed up using icloud. Ensure you have a strong Apple ID to avoid compromising your data. Please ensure your use of Peter and the Cat complies with your agency s security and confidentiality guidelines. If you have any doubts discuss it with your manager/i.t. department. We recommend you use the ipad s password protection. Avoid sending information entered in this application over an unsecured connection, e.g. public wifi. Do not use any online speech to text facility e.g. ipad Dictation, Dragon Dictate for any information that would identify the child being assessed. This App uses the services of flurry analytics to track usage in order improve the performance of the App. All data is anonymised, for more information go to www.flurry.com/resources/privacy.html. Black Sheep Press Ltd and Machindo Apps are not responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of information entered in, or sent from this App. 2

Part 1 : Main Menu Your home screen This shows the flow through the assessment. This is where you select the child you want to work with. Help is available on every screen, but for detailed advice read this document In the list for assessment Children who have heard the story and retold it are here Tap to see/export completed reports 3

Part 2.1 : Start Assessment Set Up Additional information about the child can be added here. However, stay within your organisations guidelines on confidentiality The story pages can be turned by arrows or by dragging/flicking. If you only want to use the arrows, turn page dragging off here If you want to read the story yourself, turn sound off here Choose the voice-over for the story, spin to see the options Tap to start assessment and go to the story 4

Part 2.2 : Play Story Child listens to the story as the pages are turned. Starts the voice-over Curled corner shows voice-over has finished and page can be turned Goes to previous page and plays it Goes to next page (after voice-over finishes) and plays it Back to Set Up Replays current page 5

Part 2.3 : Record child s re-tell Child looks at the pictures and tells the story. Starts recording. Once recording has started a recording indicator appears at bottom left of the picture. Goes to previous page. Goes to next page. Back to Set Up Starts recording, and changes to a pause button. 6

Part 3.1 : Transcribe Play the child s re-tell and transcribe it. Back to Main Menu Tap here to start. Keyboard will be displayed. Tap to see description of what should go in each section. Play length indicator Plays recording of child s re-tell Dictation, only available on New ipad & with an internet connection. *Ensure use does not breach your organisation s confidentiality guidelines! 7

Part 3.1 : Transcribe Screen view as the child s re-tell plays. Goes to Analysis and Scoring section Recording of hesitation and prompts in brackets Move to select a point in the recording. Play length indicator, shows time remaining Pause 8

Part 3.2a : Analyse & Score Macro analysis - Story Structure Profile. Levels - Compare with content of transcription & score Transcription Tap and type to add comments. Move slider to appropriate level The Story Content Profile is in the same format. 9

Part 3.2b : Analyse & Score Micro analysis - Vocabulary Profile. Tick words that appear in the transcript. Add comments at the bottom of the list. Need to scroll to see all words in some profiles Transcription Description of the levels. Match to the child s retell and score accordingly. Tap the number to see the description of each level. Move slider to score. All the other micro profiles have a similar format. 10

Part 3.3 : Draft Report Bringing together the assessment and the analysis. Export Draft Report and recording by email/dropbox. The report is in plain text and can be formatted and modified in any word processor. Complete report Information from: Set Up Information from: Scores Information from: Comments fields Information from: Ticked words in microanalysis Play recording This is only a partial view of the report, it also includes the full transcript. 11

Getting Started - important detail The Peter and the Cat Narrative Assessment complements the more formal assessment tools available to the speech-language therapist/pathologist or teacher. We are constantly striving for time-efficient but theoretically sound ways to sample the language skills of the school-aged child at the discourse level. Narrative sampling allows us to capture key skills required in the transition to a literate style of language so critical for school success. In addition, sampling oral language beyond the sentence level provides information on broader communicative competence. Peter and the Cat is not a norm-referenced test but a task that yields a descriptive profile of the child s development of key narrative competencies. The profiling methods and developmental continua bring together understandings of narrative from the literature and from the data collected during the development of the assessment. Peter and the Cat can be used with children aged five to nine years. Although the tool s primary use is with children who have language delay and disorders, the assessment can also be used for more general screening purposes in the mainstream setting. If you need a narrative assessment for younger children, Black Sheep Press - Squirrel Story (WIG8) is appropriate for children aged 3-6 years. Objectives Peter and the Cat can be used: 1. To develop skills in assessing and profiling narrative skills; 2. To analyse narrative data and plan developmentally appropriate goals; 3. To link goals to individual, group and classroom programmes; 4. To monitor individual and group progress; 5. To integrate speech-language therapy and classroom objectives; 6. To facilitate a collaborative team approach to intervention; 7. For general research e.g. comparison of clinical populations; 8. As a professional development tool. Why use a Narrative Assessment? Narrative refers to a form of discourse in which a story is related with respect to the real or imaginary world. There are many different types of narrative (e.g. oral anecdotes, newspaper reports, fantasy tales) but all share the basic characteristic of relating a series of events in temporal order. Narrative ability is one of the cornerstones of language competence in the school-age years. Oral narrative is highly predictive of success in reading/writing. It provides essential developmental bridging from the co-constructed talk in the here and now that typifies early conversational language to the independently constructed, cohesive and literate-style language that emerges in the transition from home to school. In contrast to conversational exchange, the speaker producing an oral narrative does not receive immediate feedback regarding the success of the communication. Hence, the narrative needs to be focused and explicit, clearly specifying the relationships between narrative elements such as characters, setting and events. The speaker s awareness of his/her audience is also reflected in a distinctive style or register of language use that engages and entertains the listener. Narrative sampling is one of the most time-effective and informative methods for assessing the communicative competence and emergence of literacy-related oral skills in the preschool or school aged child and allows change to be measured. 12

Analysis of Narrative Skills Narrative provides a window onto a wide range of language competencies. These can be broadly grouped as macro skills and micro skills. Macro Skills At the macro level stories can be analysed in terms of their structure (sometimes referred to as the story grammar ) and their content (sometimes referred to as the story schema ). Stories have a conventionalised structure. Although there are a variety of story grammar models proposed in the literature, in essence, all follow a similar form. Narratives begin with an introduction which incorporates scene setting (i.e. when and where) and introduces main characters (i.e. who) as well as outlining the first event or situation that initiates the story sequence (what). The middle section of the story relates a sequence of actions or events that are connected in a temporal or cause-effect manner. The action is propelled by a problem that requires resolution. At the end of the story a solution is provided. The story may also include a coda element such as a moral or an epilogue. Stories also have a content element. Story content is the engine that drives the narrative plot and enables a coherent story to be told. Temporal and physical logic give rise to predictable cause-effect relationships in the story (e.g. Peter yells and the man hears him). Cause and effect can also be present at the psychological and moral level (e.g. Peter loves animals so wants to rescue cat). This puts into context the motivations characters have for their actions and their emotional response to narrative events. Micro Skills At the micro level we can examine the linguistic devices (semantic and syntactic) the speaker brings to the task of storytelling. The language used in narratives is highly explicit and more syntactically formal and complex than conversational discourse. This is the type of language critically important in the literate setting of the classroom. Linguistic features of narrative include: Pronouns and referencing devices for cohesion (e.g. at first Peter didn t know where it was...he looked behind him..); Conjunctions and adverbial connectors (e.g. finally, after a long time ); Embedded phrases and clauses (e.g. hanging on very tight, so he wouldn t lose his balance ); Descriptive language (e.g. being a kind boy ); Linguistic and cognitive verbs, i.e. verbs that talk about internal mental states (e.g. he wondered what to do) or speech acts (e.g. Peter explained what had happened); Adverbs of time, place and manner which orientate the listener (e.g. one day when Peter was walking home after school); After administering and transcribing Peter and the Cat your analysis will encompass both the macro and micro level of description. This provides a platform for goal setting and instructional planning. 13

Instructions for the Narrative Assessment PART 1 1. The tester enters the child s name/reference on the Main Menu, taps Done. The child s name will be transferred to the list of those awaiting narrative assessment of their speech. PART 2, Start Assessment 2. It is preferable to sit next to or at right angles to the child, rather than opposite, to encourage joint focus and book sharing. Tester and child share the ipad. Do not attempt to make notes while the child is speaking. Instead, be an interested listener. Joint involvement of the child and adult in the task enhances the quality of the child s performance. 3. The tester taps the child s name in Section 2 of the Main Menu. On the Set Up page add any additional information necessary, change any default settings, and press Start Assessment button. 4. Explain to the child what you and s/he are about to do, as follows: You are going to hear a story. I want you to look at the pictures and listen. After the story has finished I m going to ask you to look at the pictures again and tell the story so I can record it. Then I can write it down later. 5. Tap the Play button. Make sure that the child is listening and looking at the ipad. The green arrow on the right will darken and the page corner will flick up when the narrative has finished and the page can be turned. Tap the green arrow on the right to turn the page, or drag the page to turn it. 6. When the story has finished, the Record child s retell section starts. The tester says: Now it s your turn. Use the pictures to help you. I ll turn the recorder on and you start when you re ready. 7. Press the Record button. The tester or the child can turn the pages by pressing the green arrow on the right, or drag/flicking the pages over. 8. When the child has finished, thank him/her for telling you the story and turn off the recorder by pressing the Stop recording button. Important notes regarding prompting Minimise the number of prompts given during the retelling. Use non-specific prompts to encourage production (e.g. mm, yes ). Avoid using leading prompts (e.g. what happened next?). Occasionally, it may be difficult to elicit a narrative due to the child s reluctance to participate in the task or very poor language skills. In this situation specific prompting cannot be avoided (e.g. Who can you see in the picture? What are they doing? What s happening now?). Discontinue prompting as soon as possible, if this is feasible. Ensure that all prompts are included in the narrative transcript and appear in brackets. 14

PART 3.1, Transcribing the child s re-telling of the story 1. The Transcription screen is divided into three sections corresponding to the main story components, each section has its own help button,, tap to see the corresponding story text. 2. Listen to the recording of the child s re-tell and transcribe it into the appropriate sections of the screen. 3. Transcribe everything the tester and child say, including any additional prompts employed by the tester or extraneous comments made by the child. Important notes regarding transcribing 4. Transcribe prompts in brackets to provide a quick visual check of the amount of scaffolding required. 5. Do not correct or fill in the child s production with guesses about what s/he said. The transcription should stand as an accurate record of the child s narrative production. 6. Note pauses and their approximate duration, e.g. (pause 5 seconds) 7. Record repetitions or restarts of utterances. 8. Unintelligible utterances can be marked with X. (If possible estimate how many syllables or words are included in the unintelligible utterance, e.g. X XX used to denote two words of one and two syllables respectively.) PART 3.2, Analyse and Score The analysis identifies macro-level and micro-level features of the child s re-telling. This allows a detailed analysis of the child s skills to be scored on the developmental profiles and used to plan the narrative programme. The analysis requires a number of scans to be made through the transcription. 3.2a: MACRO-LEVEL ANALYSIS - Story Structure Profile The first scan provides you with the information to map the child s performance onto the macro-level continua: Story Structure Profile. Compare the content of the transcript with the levels given on the left of the screen and score accordingly on the slider at the bottom of the screen. This may correspond exactly with the criteria outlined at a particular level, or you may feel that the child is making a transition between levels. The numbers corresponding to each level can be used as a rough guide, however the placement of the score provides greater sensitivity in capturing the child s performance. The score will now inform your goal-setting. The child may need consolidation of skills at a given level or extension of skill development along the continuum. Additional comments can be added by tapping the Add Comments box at the bottom of the screen. These will appear in the final report. MACRO-LEVEL ANALYSIS - Story content Profile Similarly match the content of the transcript with the levels given on the screen and score accordingly. Additional comments can be added by tapping the Add Comments box at the bottom of the screen. 15

3.2b: MICRO-LEVEL ANALYSIS The second scan through the transcript identifies the linguistic features that the child has included in his/ her re-telling. This provides you with the information to map the child s performance onto the five micro-level continua: Vocabulary Profile Connectors Profile Adverbials Profile Referencing Profile Story Register Profile Read through the transcript and on each of the above micro-level profile screens tick examples that the child used in the category. Make comments on any unusual/interesting features. Score the profile by tapping each number on the slider to see the description of the level, and moving the slider up to the appropriate score. Use the scores to inform your goal-setting. PART 3.3, Draft Report The Draft Report is generated automatically from the scores and comments you have entered as you analysed the child s retelling of the story. You can go back and change scores or add comments at any time before you press the Finalise Report button. Once that button is pressed the report will be added to the list of Completed Reports. Draft and completed reports can be exported by email or Drop box. They are in plain text and can be edited in any word processor. 16

CASE STUDIES Pre and post intervention The following pre and post-intervention narrative samples, using the Peter and the Cat assessment, were kindly provided by Specialist Speech and Language Therapist Bec Shanks. The samples clearly demonstrate developments in both macro and micro level skills following targeted intervention. The post intervention samples were recorded following 8-10 weeks of sructured input using the Narrative programme devised by Bec Shanks and now published by Black Sheep Press. ( WIG1, Speaking & Listening through Narrative (2011) Third edition.) This is a pack of activities and ideas targeted at developing the narrative skills of children functioning at Key Stage 1 (approximately 5-7 years old). 1 The narrative intervention approach outlined in the pack, and used to provide the intervention in the following samples, is highly structured and intensive. The sessions are developed for groups of up to 6 children but the activities can also be adapted for use with individual children. The sessions can be run by a speech and language therapist/pathologist (SALT) in a clinic or a school, or can be run by an assistant at a school. In this case, the SALT visits once a week to demonstrate activities and therapy ideas, which are then carried out at two other times in the week by a classroom assistant (who is trained by the SALT). Class teachers are required to observe at least one of the sessions to enable them to see how the approach can be transferred into the classroom. The intervention usually lasts between 8-10 weeks and the children can be screened before and after intervention using Peter and the Cat. The approach is flexible according to the needs and ability level of the children in the group. For example, with one group the focus may primarily be to develop the children s listening skills using narrative as the medium. With another more able group, the focus may be to help the children to use the framework to develop and structure their ideas for their own stories. PETER AND THE CAT - CASE STUDY 1 Pre-intervention, Child A.D., Age 6:2 Climbing up the tree Help Help Why was you so late? Post-intervention, Child A.D., Age 6:5 One day there was a boy called Peter He went for a walk A cat went meow And he looked behind him And the cat went meow again, loud And he saw it up the tree So he climbed up the tree and rescued the cat But he was scared cos he didn t like the tree cos it was very tall He shouted help A man heard him shout help And the man got a ladder and got Peter and the cat down And the little boy said to the man thank you And his mum was very cross cos he went home very late And he explained it to his mum And he said mum a cat was stuck up the tree And he asked his mum can we keep it? And his mum said OK 1 For more detail on the pilot study which describes the implementation of this approach, refer to: Shanks, R. (2000) Telling Tales. RCSLT Bulletin, 583, p. 9-10. Shanks, R (2003) Only a Story. Speech & Language Therapy in Practice, Spring 2003 Shanks, B. & Rippon, H. (2011) Speaking and Listening through Narrative (WIG1), Black Sheep Press. 17

PETER AND THE CAT - CASE STUDY 2 Pre-intervention Child L.P., Age 6:0 Peter loved animals He heard a cat meow He climbed up a tree Peter yelled for help A man heard him yell down the street The man put a ladder up and rescued the cat and Peter Peter asked his mum if he can keep the cat Post-intervention Child L.P., Age 6:3 One day when Peter was coming home from school, a cat said meow And Peter looked behind him and at the side of him But he didn t see anything And then the cat meowed louder meow And he saw it So he climbed up the tree And Peter got stuck as well And he said help to see if anyone would help him At last someone heard him Someone was watering his flowers, in the garden, up the road So he got a ladder and ran to the tree and helped Peter and the cat down He thanked the man And his mum said you are late and he explained And he said can I keep the cat? And she said well OK but it is very dangerous to climb up trees. Next time get an adult to help you. PETER AND THE CAT - CASE STUDY 3 Pre-intervention, Child E.R., Age 6:9 One day Peter loved animals And he heard a meow And he looked And he couldn t see it And then he saw meow, meow And then he saw him And the boy, he climbed up the tree And when he got up in the branch, on the tree, he was frightened And he said maybe if I shout help, so they ll hear me And then they ll get a ladder and help me to get down And he shouted help loudly And when a man was watering his garden And he heard a help sound And he got a ladder and helped the boy and the cat get down The boy said thank you And when he came home And his mum said you are late And then he explained what happened Post-intervention, Child E.R., Age 7:0 One day a boy loved animals He had a parrot, a dog, a lizard and a mouse And when he was walking home from school, a cat said meow And he looked behind him but there was nothing there Then the cat did a louder meow, meow And he saw it up in the tree And he put his bag down and climbed up the tree And when he got to the branch, he was very scared of heights And he said ah And he was afraid of them high places so he thought to shout help So he went help After a long time, a man was watering his garden to make the plants grow and bushes and grass And he said help as loud as he could And the man heard him And he said I wonder who that is? So he went outside, tied his gate and saw them, the cat and the boy and got a ladder as quickly as he could and helped them get down And the boy said thank you and went home And the mum said you are late, you silly boy, you should have been here 20 minutes ago And the boy explained that he found the cat up in a tree And he was shouting for ages when he got up the tree And the boy said can we keep the cat? And the mum said hmmmmmm And she said yes And then she said but next time get a grown up to get the cat down 18

NARRATIVE INTERVENTION LINKING GOALS TO RESOURCES Black Sheep Press produces a number of resources in addition to the KS1 Narrative programme described in the previous section. The following table provides some suggested links between narrative intervention goals and resources. Many of the activities are flexible and can be used to target a range of areas across the continua. Macro and Micro Continua Catalogue reference Linguistic goals Story Structure Story Content Vocabulary Connectors *WIG1, 3rd edition, Speaking and Listening through Narrative *WIP1, 6, & 7-2,3 and 4 part sequences *WIG9, From Oral to Written Narrative *WIG5 Story Starter *Prag1, Emotions and Facial Expressions *Prag3, Speech Bubbles *SS1, Identifying and Describing *LIP7, Sentence Builder *WIP2, 2a, 3, 3a, 5, Vocabulary builders, adjectives, prepositions and syntax, comparative *LIP12, Action Words *WIP1, 6 & 7, 2, 3 & 4 part sequences *LIP8, Why..because *LIP13 & 14 Conjunctions Story/event structure, temporal sequencing Adjectives, descriptive language, exploration of characters Perspective taking, character development Adjectives, attributes such as function, location, descriptive language, complex language structures Temporal sequencing, causality, verbal reasoning, use of conjunctions. Adverbials *CIP1 16, e.g. Before/after, Parts of Day, First/next/last, Now/soon/ early/late, Rate *LIP2, Prepositions Concepts, adverbials of time, place and manner Referencing *LIP3, Pronouns Pronouns Story Register *LIP5, 9, 10, Verbs, Regular Past, Irregular past Verb tense 19

BACKGROUND Servicing a population of school age students with speech and language impairment presents many challenges. One dilemma faced is the existence of a body of research literature supporting the links between oral language and literacy skills yet a lack of assessment tools and intervention strategies that support the theory. The current edition of Peter and the Cat has a history closely inter-twined with that of a broader assessment - the School Age Oral Language Assessment (1993). The S.A.O.L.A. was developed by two speech pathologists (Leanne Allan and Suze Leitão) in collaboration with teachers and the principal (Marie Donovan) of a Language Development Centre in Western Australia. The School Age Oral Language Assessment, published in 1993, built on five years of work which piloted tasks on forty five Mainstream and sixty Language Development Centre children of primary school age. During a second stage, data were collected on a further fifty mainstream and forty Language Development Centre students (Leitão & Allan, 1991). The data samples were used to refine the developmental continua for profiling the data. The S.A.O.L.A. continued to sell in Australia throughout the 1990s, with some copies making their way to the UK. The S.A.O.L.A. was recently used in an intervention study promoting communication skills in children with emotional and behavioural difficulties (Law & Sivyer, 2003). The S.A.O.L.A. is now out of print but there have continued to be requests for copies of the assessment tasks included in the pack. As a first step the narrative assessment has been revised. This second edition of Peter and the Cat has been updated with new pictures and more information on task administration and data profiling. Some modifications have been made to the profiles based on feedback from many users of the first edition. Also included are samples of profiles, case studies and links to intervention resources. References Allan, L., Leitão, S. & Donovan, M. (1993). The School Age Oral Language Assessment. Language-Learning Materials, Research & Development Co.(This assessment is now out of print) Law, J., & Sivyer, S. (2003). Promoting the communication skills of primary school children excluded from school or at risk of exclusion: An intervention study. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 19(1), 1-25. Leitão, S. & Allan, L. (1991) The Carawatha L.A.T. - Assessment of the School Age Language Disordered Child. Australian Communication Quarterly Vol II Winter 1991, 18-19. Authors Background LEANNE ALLAN B. App. Sci. (Speech and Hearing Science) Grad. Dip Arts (Reading Studies) Master of Education (Hons1) Leanne Allan has twenty years of experience as a speech pathologist working with specific learning disabled students in the educational setting. Leanne has also acted as a consultant for the Education Department in Western Australia and worked on numerous special projects in the early childhood field. The First Steps Oral Language Modules developed and written by Leanne have been used widely across Australia and in the U.K. In 1994 she was awarded the Elinor Wray award in recognition of her services to the speech pathology field in Australia. 20

SUZE LEITÃO B. Med. Sci. (Speech) Grad. Dip. Speech Path.PhD Suze graduated from Sheffield University in the UK in 1983. She has worked in a variety of paediatric settings since she moved to Western Australia in 1986, mainly in the area of school age language, including six years at a language development centre. She completed her PhD in 1998 in the area of phonological processing, speech and literacy difficulties. She works as a part-time lecturer in the School of Psychology and Speech Pathology at Curtin University, and has a small clinical practice specialising in school age children with speech and literacy impairment. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Suze and Leanne would like to thank Marie Donovan, Principal at Carawatha Language Development Centre and all the teachers in the Western Australian Metropolitan Language Development Centres who were instrumental in the evolution of the original School Age Oral Language Assessment. Thanks also to Bec Shanks for the case study examples and Mike Phillips for his great illustrations. In the case of this ipad version, thanks also go to Preston Spalding and David Haynes at Machindo Apps for their great programming and development work and to Ricardo Ortega at Keepituseable for his usability advice. Thanks also to the staff and students of the University of KwaZulu-Natal for the South African voice-overs. 21

Story Script : PETER AND THE CAT 1. Once there was a boy called Peter who loved animals. 2. One day, when Peter was walking home after school, he heard a cat go miaow. At first Peter didn t know where the cat was. He looked behind him but he couldn t see it. Then the cat miaowed again, louder this time, and Peter saw it stuck up a tree. 3. Being a kind boy, Peter decided to climb up the tree to rescue the cat. 4. When he got to the top though, Peter was very frightened. It was a tall tree and Peter was afraid that he would fall. He sat on a high branch with the cat, hanging on very tight so he wouldn t lose his balance. 5. Peter wondered what to do. Maybe if I call out loudly someone will come and rescue me he thought. So Peter yelled as loudly as he could. He yelled again and again but no one heard him. 6. Finally, after a long time, and when Peter was nearly exhausted, a man, watering his garden down the street, heard him. 7. When he saw that Peter was stuck up the oak tree the man quickly got a ladder and helped Peter and the cat to get down. 8. Still shaking with fright Peter thanked the man and went home. 9. When Peter got home his mother scolded him because he was very late. Peter explained what had happened and asked her if he could keep the cat. His mum said, OK, but climbing tall trees is dangerous. Next time get an adult to help you. 22