The final feature of the SIOP model is Review and Assessment. It is important to review the objectives from the beginning of the lesson at the end. The students need to recognize that they have learned the goals for this unit of instruction.
Of course assessment can be informal and ongoing. Most teachers can see who understands the material and who doesn't by roving the room, listening to conversations, and looking over shoulders at student work. This helps me know if I need to reteach the whole group, review with a small group, or just make an adjustment for a student or two.
Because of the system we are in, at some point I need to give a final assessment for a grade. It is important that students know what they are expected to do to earn a particular grade. Because I have separated the language and content expectations at the beginning, I can assess each and communicate the results with students and families.
To review all of the posts in this series, please click here or the tag marked "Comprehensible Content." I would love to hear how you incorporate this strategies in your classroom.
When teaching a lesson to students learning English, I incorporate three features that I would use with any students: supporting content objectives, promoting student engagement, and pacing. The fourth feature is unique to an ELL lesson: supporting language objectives. Other students who are behind in language might benefit from the strategies listed in this chapter.
Besides "Think-Pair-Share" there are two strategies that I want to try when presenting new information. One is called "Roam and Review". After I have been teaching for about 10 minutes, students walk around the room and discuss the information with their classmates. I also want to have students write headlines to summarize important information.
Have you missed the other posts in this series? Click the tag Comprehensible Content to find all of them.
I'm continuing my series on the book Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners. I have tagged all of these posts "Comprehensible Content" and I plan to do a wrap up post, so if you missed one you can catch up. (Or just use this series for reference.)
Component six of the SIOP model is Practice and Application. This includes using hands-on materials, activities for students to apply both content and language, and activities to practice all language skills.
When I was helping a student from El Salvador with math, I brought out the base ten blocks. I did this more so that I could show rather than tell what she needed to do to solve the problems in class. I showed her step by step on paper, but also used a model to demonstrate what I was saying.
Anchor charts are another useful tool for all students, but especially students learning English. The charts we create as a class need to be accessible--either on the wall or in a handout for a notebook.
What ways do you make sure your students are getting meaningful practice?
In a traditional classroom, the teacher is the one who gets most of
the language practice. ELLs need opportunities to practice reading,
writing, listening, and speaking in English using both conversation and
academic language.
I developed sentence frames for the topics I was teaching. As we practiced speaking and writing, students had some words supplied for them and they completed the remainder. Click on the links below for more information and printable copies.
Days of the Week
Five Senses
Cause and Effect
Another way to get students to interact more is cooperative learning. I set up mixed ability groups and then walk from group to group to listen and coach the interactions. I find this is more effective than pulling all my English Learners into one group or teaching lessons to the whole class at once.
The ESOL Odyssey Blog has some other suggestions for cooperative learning strategies here.
What strategies do you find most helpful for promoting classroom interaction?
This post is the fourth in a series about the SIOP model. I encourage you to either take the class or buy the book for a more in-depth study. I found myself adapting lessons for my ELL students as a result of this class.
If you are reading my series and you missed a post, I have tagged all of the posts "Comprehensible Content."
The fourth component of the SIOP model is called Strategies. Strategies are not merely activities the teacher plans for a class. Students need to have learning strategies that they can use to access new information. Teachers may provide scaffolding in the form of graphic organizers, anchor charts, or think alouds. Students who are learning English must be presented with higher order questions or tasks, so they can keep up with their peers.
The ESOL Odyssey blog has a summer series on questioning techniques for ELLs. This post gives you some strategies to try.
All students need strategies to think deeply about content and take ownership for what they learn.
This is the third in my book study series on Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners. I have tagged each of these posts "Comprehensible Content" so if you miss a post or two, you can easily find them.
The third component of the SIOP model is called Comprehensible Input. Effective teachers match their rate of speech and vocabulary to their students' level of English. They clearly explain academic tasks with modelling, visuals, and completed sample tasks. They communicate in many different ways through gestures, anchor charts, and graphic organizers--to name a few. They use repetition because students need multiple exposures to new vocabulary words.
In the online version of this class, one of the instructors taught a lesson in Mandarin. She used the techniques in this chapter to emphasize how important rate of speech and gestures are to learning something in a different language.
This summer I am reading Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners and sharing my thoughts here on Artistry of Education. The second component of the SIOP model is Building Background. Building Background happens in two parts: making connections with the student's life outside of school and making connections with previous learning.
When a student has been in school for a year or two, it's easier to find out about their previous experiences inside and outside of school. I can have conversations about family and hobbies. I can ask about traditions and celebrations. I can walk down the hall and find out from a previous teacher what the child learned the previous year.
When a student has just moved to the U.S., it may be more difficult. I started using online images with one student just to help him choose his lunch everyday. This grew into communicating with pictures about other events.
This year, I used Google Translate with a student about key words -- both academic and non-academic. She had attended school for several years in El Salvador and had many skills that would transfer.
In Making Content Comprehensible, the authors include word lists to prioritize vocabulary to be included in lessons. They distinguish between academic and social language.
What experiences have you had building background with English Learners?
This is a series of book study posts about Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners. I'm glad I'm spending some time this summer to reread this book and share what I'm learning here. I took the SIOP Model class this spring, but there is a lot to remember and implement.
I plan to focus on the chapter for each of the eight components of this model. This week I read Chapter 2 Lesson Preparation.
Lesson Preparation is broken down into six features:
- content objectives
- language objectives
- age-appropriate concepts
- supplementary materials
- adaptation of content
- meaningful activities for language practice
Most of these are features of any well-designed lesson. I was reminded that students who are learning English need to have materials that are age-appropriate and not watered down. They also need intentional practice with listening, speaking, reading, and writing in every lesson.
Many classrooms have their learning targets displayed prominently. When I prepare an ELL lesson, I need to consider what vocabulary they will need and how they will practice this.
I feel like my strength is using supplementary materials to illustrate the concepts I am teaching. I have never been a fan of highly scripted lessons.
What works well for you?
What questions do you have?
This spring I took an online class about the SIOP model. This is a protocol for helping ELL students master academic language. I enjoyed the class and learned a lot. I want to review this text and prepare some new lessons and adapt others over the summer.
For the next eight weeks, I plan to read a chapter and write about it here on Artistry of Education. I hope you join me.
