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# The Use of Songs & Actions

|| The use of gestures/actions when teaching phonological awareness is a strategy PLD employs during initial sound awareness learning. 
 
The PLD **actions are brief 1-second gestures** that should **not** interfere with sound awareness learning.  The purpose of them is to provide young children with movement whilst seated during mat sessions.  During trials within schools, PLD observed that the movement of the actions facilitated attention during mat sessions (especially within schools with low entry levels).  The actions are the least important element of the teaching and learning process; the emphasis MUST be on the mouth and articulation of the sounds.

||| The gestures/actions that PLD incorporate into early instruction can be removed and alphabet sounds can be taught without them.
|||