The Color Vowel® Journey

Elective workshops vary in topic and theme. All workshops are practical and are designed around a performance-based outcomes. Elective Workshops include:

• Readers Theater: Rehearsing for fluency – Readers Theater is a group read-aloud in which individuals perform level-appropriate scripts to tell a story cooperatively. Participants learn how to guide students through a Readers Theater project from preparation to presentation. We explore ways that maximize the repetition and noticing necessary to improve fluency in both reading and speaking while gaining a deeper understanding of suprasegmental skills such as thought groups, focus words, linking, reduction, and intonation.
• Teaching Vocabulary: Beyond word lists – Do you dread having to teach vocabulary? Do your students seem to forget vocabulary as soon as you move on to the next unit? In this 4-session workshop taught by Jennifer Campion, we approach vocabulary from a sound perspective to appreciate how word learning intersects with pronunciation, collocation, and the aural context. Participants gain practical strategies to boost learner retention through both incidental and deliberate teaching.
• Sound Awareness: Ear training for language teachers -Phonological (sound) awareness is a person’s awareness of the sounds, rhythms, and intonations they use when speaking and when listening to the speech of others. In this practice-based workshop, Dr. Robin Barr leads participants through a series of discovery activities and mini-lectures aimed at increasing teachers’ sound awareness for the purpose of English language teaching.
• Colorful Integrations: Bringing textbooks to life – Does your textbook have you feeling text-bound? Are your students looking at language more than using it? Karen Taylor and Shirley Thompson will introduce strategies that help you make the most of your textbook through Color Vowel mark-ups, activity integrations, and more.
• What About Consonants?: Prioritizing feedback for comprehensibility – English has 24 distinct consonant sounds. It’s easy to think that we should teach each one of them, but what if you discovered that some consonants matter more than others? In this workshop taught by Karen Taylor, participants learn which consonants matter most and under what circumstances they should receive priority while gaining effective strategies for helping learners with tricky consonants.
• Teaching Literacy: Enhancing Phonics with Color Vowel – Low-literacy English learners need interventions that boosts their oral/aural word recognition as they learn to make use of the English spelling patterns presented in a high-quality phonics program. With Dr. Robin Barr, workshop participants learn what a phonics program does — and doesn’t– provide learners while experimenting with Color Vowel® strategies that support literacy development and success.

View upcoming workshop dates and times.

Apply what you learned in Color Vowel Basics while gaining teaching experience with guidance from a Color Vowel Master Trainer.

1. CV Coaching Practicum: Gain pronunciation coaching experience and insight throughout this 6-week experience as you support participants in our Speak Confidently pronunciation workshop. Working closely with your practicum mentor, you will lead select class activities and provide feedback for up to 3 students enrolled in our pronunciation workshop.
   • Prerequisite: Completion of all Level 2 Core workshops.
2. CV Teaching Practicum: This Level 2 capstone experience  involves working closely with a Practicum Mentor over the course of 6-8 weeks as you develop a Color Vowel® integrated lesson plan, record yourself teaching that lesson*, and complete a detailed reflection on your own teaching.
   • Prerequisite: All Level 2 workshops and the Level 2 Coaching Practicum must be completed before you engage in the Level 2 Teaching Practicum.

*Teaching Practicum candidates must currently be teaching (online or in person) in order to participate in the Teaching Practicum, and they must be prepared to acquire permission from their students and/or their institution to provide Color Vowel/ELTS with video recorded lessons that show teacher-student interaction.

To fully prepare the Color Vowel® Teacher Trainer, we have created a three-part apprenticeship consisting of:

• Coaching Apprenticeship: Serving as a practicum coach for Color Vowel® Basics Complete or a comparable course;
• Training Apprenticeship: Teaching a round of Color Vowel® Basics Complete;
• Capstone Project: Here, you will work closely with ELTS to make a substantive contribution to Color Vowel® resources, training materials, or learning resources.

You are provided with the support of a Master Trainer throughout the Level 3 Apprenticeship.