Sheltered Instruction: Making Content Comprehensible for ELLs

1. Sheltered Instruction: Making Content Comprehensible for ELLs London Middle School April 18, 2008

2. What is SIOP? • Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol • Teaching grade level curriculum strategically that makes content concepts comprehensible while promoting academic English development. • Uses non sheltered techniques (strategies) while considering ELLs needs • A model developed to provide consistent delivery of sheltered instruction techniques. • What to consider in planning a lesson or cycles of lessons • Collaborative teaching to plan and organize lessons to cover what is necessary. • Has 8 components

3. Warm Up • Use the four square to list: • the advantages of having ELLs in your classroom • the challenges of having ELLs in your classroom • the needs of your ELLs • your needs as a classroom teacher • Moving Lines: • We will share our ideas/responses using moving lines.

4. Advantages Strategies used helps all kids learn Forces us to differentiate Teachers and students have a greater understanding of language acquisition. ELLs’ needs Use of L1 More time to process language Opportunities to use and practice language Challenges Multi leveled proficiencies Can’t read text Getting students to interact with one another “gen-ed students do all the work” Appears to have lower skill level Teacher needs Strategies Understanding of language acquisition Anticipated Answers

5. Overview of the 8 Components • Read something Say something • Read each component one at a time • After each component, say something to your partner • Something you do already in your classroom • Questions you may have • Purpose for the strategy or technique • Rate yourself as to how often you use this feature in your teaching/classroom.

6. Lesson Preparation • Write content objectives clearly for students • Write language objectives clearly for students • Choose content concepts appropriate for age and educational background level of students • Identify supplementary materials to use (graphs, models, visuals.) • Adapt text to all levels of student proficiency • Plan meaningful activities that integrate lesson concepts with language practice opportunities for reading, writing, listening, and/or speaking.

7. Language and Content Objectives • Sort the sentence strips into two groups: language objectives and content objectives. • Be prepared to defend your answer.

8. Adapting Text • Choose 2 texts. • Use one of the 7 ways to adapt each text. • Use a different way to adapt text for each passage. • Share at your tables.

9. Building Background • Explicitly link concepts to students background and experiences • Explicitly link past learning to new concepts • Emphasize key vocabulary (introduce, write, repeat, and highlight) for students.

10. Traveling Puzzles • Sort the nine activities into the 3 categories included in building background. • Travel to other puzzles to see how other teams of learners have sorted their activities • Discuss what other ways you build background in your classroom.

11. Mix and Match • Each participant will receive a card. • Each card will have either a word, definition or picture/example. • Participants need to find their threesome and complete the following sentence frame: “Our word is ______. The definition is _____. An example is/looks like….

12. Comprehensible Input • Use speech appropriate for students’ proficiency level • Explain academic tasks clearly • Use a variety of techniques to make content concepts clear (modeling, visuals, hands on activities, demonstrations, gestures, body language)

13. Strategies • Provide ample opportunities for students to use strategies (problem solving, predicting, organizing, summarizing, categorizing, evaluating, self monitoring.) • Use scaffolding techniques consistently • Use a variety of question types including those that promote higher order thinking skills throughout the lesson

14. Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to Create a Variety of Questions • Find a partner who teaches the same grade and content area as you. • With your partner, create six questions, one for each of Bloom’s categories. • Consider what you would need to do to prepare your ELLs to be successful in answering these questions.

15. Interaction • Provide frequent opportunities for interactions and discussion between teacher/student and among students, and encourage elaborated responses. • Use group configurations that support language and content objectives of the lessons. • Provide sufficient wait time for student responses. • Give ample opportunities for students to clarify key concepts in L1.

16. Three-Step InterviewPart I. Personal Reflection • Use the Three-Step Interview handout to reflect on your experiences promoting interaction in the classroom (answer questions A,B, C and D in Part 1). Write your responses.

17. Interviews • Find someone who is wearing the same color as you. • Use Part 2 of the Three-Step Interview handout to learn about their interaction experiences. • Listen for the clapper.

18. Interviews • Now, find someone who has a birthday in the same month as you. • Use Part 3 of the Three-Step Interview handout to learn about their interaction experiences • Listen for the clapper.

19. Fan and Pick • Participant 1 fans the question cards • Participant 2 picks a card and reads the question. • Participant 3 answers the question. • Participant 4 paraphrases the answer. • Repeat the process, changing roles. Challenge: Create your own fan and pick cards for you classroom.

20. Practice/Application • Provide hands-on materials and/or manipulatives for students to practice using new content knowledge. • Provide activities for students to apply content and language knowledge. • Provide activities that integrate all language skills. (reading, writing, listening and speaking).

21. Lesson Delivery • Support content objectives clearly. • Support language objectives clearly. • Engage students approximately 90-100% of the period. • Pace the lesson appropriately to the students’ ability level.

22. Round Robin Writing • Round Robin Writing • In groups of 4, answer the questions on the four pages. Write an idea and pass. Continue to write and pass until we say stop. You may write more than one time on each page. You can read what others wrote.

23. Round Robin Writing Get into groups of 4 • Each participants answer a question on one of the four pages. • Pass your papers clockwise and answer the next question. • Continue to write answers to each question and pass until we say stop. You may write more than one time on each page. Helpful Hint: You can read what others wrote to help you respond.

24. Review/Assessment • Give a comprehensive review of key vocabulary. • Give a comprehensive review of key content concepts. • Provide feedback to students regularly on their output (I.e., language, content, work). • Conduct assessments of student comprehension and learning throughout lesson on all lesson objectives.

25. Exit Slip • Graffiti • Go around the room and answer the questions on the posters. • Graffiti is a good strategy to use as students enter the classroom, transition to another activity/class, or as an ending activity.