Notes on Introduction to Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) & Lesson Preparation

1. Notes on Introduction to Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) & Lesson Preparation Reference: “Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners” by Jana Echevarria, MaryEllen Vogt, and Deborah J. Short By: Candice M. de Ausen-Jungao

2. The SIOP Model • SIOP: Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol

3. Objectives for the Session • Content: • Use SIOP as a tool for instruction • Integrate SIOP Lesson Preparation in lesson plans • Distinguish between Content and Language Objectives • Language • Develop a lexicon derived from the SIOP Model • Give examples of Content and Language Objectives • Cite examples of ways to adapt content and make experiences “authentic”

4. Useful Definitions • SIOP: Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol • Operationalizes sheltered instruction by offering teachers a model for lesson planning and implementation that provides English learners with access to grade-level content standards • SDAIE: Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English • ESL: English as a Second Language • School English or Academic English • Using English, students must be able to read and understand expository prose such as that found in textbooks and reference materials, write persuasively, argue points of view, and take notes from teacher lectures or Internet sites. • They must articulate their thinking skills in English – make hypotheses and predictions, express analyses, draw conclusions and so forth.

5. Useful Definitions • Academic Literacy • Combination of three knowledge bases • Knowledge of English (school English) • Knowledge of the content topic • Knowledge of how tasks are to be accomplished (i.e. read maps and charts, generate the format of an outline, negotiate roles in cooperative learning groups, etc….) • Scaffolding Instruction • A way for teachers to guide students to construct meaning from texts and classroom discourse • Teachers pay careful attention to students’ capacity for working in English, beginning instruction at the current level of student understanding, and moving students to higher levels of understanding through tailored support.

6. Useful Definitions • Scaffolding Instruction • A way for teachers to guide students to construct meaning from texts and classroom discourse • Teachers pay careful attention to students’ capacity for working in English, beginning instruction at the current level of student understanding, and moving students to higher levels of understanding through tailored support. • Ways on how to do this • Adjust speech • Paraphrase • Give examples • Provide analogies • Elaborate on student responses • Facilitate student comprehension and participation in discussions where otherwise the discourse may be beyond their language proficiency level • Adjust instructional tasks so that they are incrementally challenging • Preteach vocabulary before a reading assignment • Have students write an outline before drafting an essay

7. Useful Definitions • Objectives • Goals, purposes, competencies • Could start with any of these words • Content Objectives • Identify what students should know and be able to accomplish • Based on DepEd’s minimum learning competencies (MLCs) • Basically from Bloom’s Taxonomy • In FHMS, based on APSA skills • Language Objectives • Plans and techniques that support a student’s language development

8. Lesson Preparation Objectives • After reading, discussing, and engaging activities related to this chapter, you will be able to meet the ff. content and language objectives. • Content Objectives: • Identify content objectives for English Learners (ELs) that are aligned to standards • Incorporate supplemental materials suitable for ELs in a lesson plan • Select from a variety of strategies for adapting content to the students’ proficiency and cognitive levels • Language Objectives: • Identify source for language objectives • Explain the importance of meaningful academic activities for ELs • Discuss advantages for writing both language and content objectives for a lesson and sharing the objectives with students

9. Lesson Preparation • Planning is critical to both a student’s and a teacher’s success. • Planning must produce lessons that enable students to make connections between their own knowledge & experiences and the new knowledge being taught.

10. Content Objectives • Should be concrete • For English learners, these have to be stated simply, orally and in writing, and they need to be tied to specific grade-level content standards. • If students have gaps in their educational background, these could be pulled from earlier grades to provide foundational knowledge needed to perform on-grade-level work successfully. • Limit to only one or two per lesson to reduce the complexity of a learning task • For examples, see www.siopinstitute.net

11. Language Objectives • Should be stated clearly and simply • Students should be informed of them, both orally and in writing. • May focus on various skills • Developing a student’s vocabulary • Reading comprehension skills practice • The writing process • Helping students to brainstorm, outline, draft, revise, edit, and complete a text

12. Language Objectives • Could highlight functional knowledge use • How to request information • How to justify opinions • How to negotiate meaning • How to provide detailed explanations • Could be tied up with higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) • Articulating predictions or hypotheses • Stating conclusions • Summarizing information • Making comparisons • Could be about grammar • Learning about capitalization • Learning about correct use of punctuation marks • Learning about parts of speech • Learning about Subject-Verb (S-V) Agreement

13. Language Objectives • Teaching language structure to help ELs develop new vocabulary • Looking at prefixes and suffixes and what they mean when added to words • Identifying English words through analogy, recognizing similarities in English structure to develop new vocabulary • Ex. “photo” – look for other words with the meaning of “light” such as photography, photosynthesis, photogenic

14. Language Objectives • Multi-level responses depending on students’ level of proficiency • Group response techniques (e.g. thumbs-up/thumbs-down) for students in the early stages of English language development • For more proficient English speakers, use partner work and small group assignments. • Accept approximations and multiple word responses rather than complete sentences because this supports English development. • It is appropriate to require ELs, depending on their level of proficiency, to give answers in one or two complete sentences. This lets kids move beyond their comfort zone in using English.

15. Content Concepts • Use the curriculum, APSA skills, MLCs • Ensure that although materials may be adapted to meet the needs of English learners, the content is not diminished. • Consider the ff. in planning lessons around content concepts: • The student’s first language (L1) literacy • Their second language (L2) proficiency • Their reading ability • The cultural and age appropriateness of the L2 materials • The difficulty level of the material to be read

16. Content Concepts • Reflect on the amount of background experience needed to learn and apply the content concepts • Rather than defuse content, use prior knowledge that students have and then include explicit background information that builds a foundation for their understanding of the lesson • Providing adequate background requires teachers to perform task analysis – a process in which you carefully analyze the requisite knowledge a student must possess in order to understand what is being taught • Purpose: lessen the gap between what a student knows and what s/he must learn • It is inappropriate to teach students curriculum intended for younger children simply because of their limited English proficiency. • Provide scaffolding to enable everyone to meet the grade-level standards.

17. Supplementary Materials • Support the core curriculum & contextualize learning • Important for students who do not have grade-level academic backgrounds and/or who have language and learning difficulties • Enhance meaning and clarify confusing concepts making lessons more relevant • Students can see, hear, feel, perform, create, and participate in order to make connections and construct personal, relevant meanings. • Provide real-life context and enable students to bridge prior experiences with new learning

18. Supplementary Materials • Examples: • Hands-on manipulatives • Realia • Pictures • Visuals • Multimedia • Demonstrations • Related Literature • Adapted Text

19. Adaptation of Content • “watering down” text to the point where all students can read it – content concepts frequently lost • ELs cannot be expected to learn all content information through listening to lectures. • Find ways to make the text and other resource materials accessible for all students, adapting them so that the content concepts are left intact

20. Adaptation of Content • Suggestions for adapting content to make it more accessible: • Graphic organizers • Schematic diagrams that provide conceptual clarity for difficult information • Help students identify key concepts and make relationships among them • Provide students with visual clues they can use to supplement written or spoken words that may be hard to understand • Can be used as a guide and as a supplement to build background for difficult or dense text • Ex. timelines, Venn diagrams, story or text structure charts, story or text maps, discussion webs, word webs, clusters, thinking maps

21. Adaptation of Content • Outlines • Equip students with a form for note-taking while reading dense portions of text • Can be added to as a child reads on • Can be used as a guide for reading and understanding text • Leveled Study Guides • For students who can easily understand material, these extend and enrich subject material and include challenging questions or tasks. • For others, these lead through material with “hints” for unlocking the meaning and include less challenging questions and tasks. • For struggling ELs, these include brief summaries of the text along with more manageable questions and tasks.

22. Adaptation of Content • Highlighted Text • Overriding ideas, key concepts, important vocabulary, and summary statements are highlighted (by the teacher or other knowledgeable person) prior to the students using the books. • Students read highlighted sections first then work on the rest of the material as confidence and reading ability improve. • Purpose: reduce reading demands while still maintaining key concepts and information • Taped Text • Key portions or the entire text is recorded and the students are encouraged to listen to the tape while they follow along in the book.

23. Adaptation of Content • Adapted Text • Involves rewriting selected sections of text that contain key concepts and information • Information is organized in small sequential steps, avoiding long, dense passages. • Short, simpler sentences are rewritten from long, complex ones. • Rewritten paragraphs should include a topic sentence with several supporting details. • Jigsaw Text Reading • Cooperative learning • For difficult-to-read text • “expert” groups learn text first then teach others by reviewing and discussing what was read by the other small groups

24. Adaptation of Content • Marginal Notes • Print marginal notes directly in the margin of the textbook pages or duplicate notes on a handout that students can put alongside a page they are reading. • Should include hints for understanding the content, key concepts, and/or vocabulary and definitions • Notes are the same as the ones in the teacher’s guide. • Reduce ambiguity and reading difficulty of the text making it more accessible and less intimidating • Native Language Texts • Texts written in the native language may be used to supplement a textbook or clarify key concepts. • Native language websites may also be consulted.

25. Meaningful Activities • Success: Connection between what is known and what is being learned is made. • Meaningful experiences: “authentic” because they represent a reality for students • Classroom experiences mirror that which actually occurs in the learner’s world. • Learning becomes situated rather than abstract.

26. Summary • Preparation and instruction are interrelated. • ELs need sensitive teachers who realize that curriculum must be grade-level appropriate, based on content standards and learning outcomes. • Effective sheltered teachers provide background knowledge and experience with content concepts through explicit instruction. • Student learning is enhanced with appropriate supplementary materials. • Teachers scaffold by adapting dense and difficult text. • Teachers situate lessons in meaningful, real-life activities and experiences that involve students in reading, writing, and discussion of important concepts and ideas. • Principles of effective sheltered instruction should be reflected in teachers’ lesson plans.

27. Workshop • Choose a subject and a level. • Choose a topic. • Write content (2-3) and language (2-3) objectives for your lesson. • The lesson should be good for one period.