Making Content Comprehensible for English Language Learners

1. Making Content Comprehensible for English Language Learners SIOP Model Sheltered Instruction for Academic Achievement Bilingual/ESL Department

2. If You Didn’t Know???? • 25% dropout rate for English learners and higher (33%) for "Long-term English learners." • “73% of teachers have no EL professional development.” • 59% of secondary school ELs are "Long-term English learners." (more than 6 years) (Pearson, 2013)

3. The Challenges • Providing content area instruction that is accommodated to the needs of ELLs at all levels • Integrating academic language instruction into content area instruction • High expectations for academic success of ELLs in all content areas

5. Definition of Sheltered Instruction A variety of strategies, techniques, and materials for making grade-level core curriculum (reading, science, social studies, math) more accessible for English Language Learners while at the same time promoting their English language development.

6. What is SIOP? Purposefully teaching of the language necessary for English Language Learners to understand the content. But, these strategies are good for all types of learners.

7. Preparation Building Background Comprehensible Input Strategies Interaction Practice & Application Lesson Delivery Review & Assessment The SIOP Model - The Eight Components of SIOP(Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2008)

8. The SIOP Model • shares many features recommended for high quality instruction for all students, such as: • cooperative learning • strategies for reading comprehension • emphasis on the writing process • differentiated instruction • accommodates the distinct second language development needs of ELLs

9. The SIOP Model • contains key features for the academic success of ELLs, such as the: • inclusion of language objectives in every • lesson • development of background knowledge • acquisition of content-related vocabulary • emphasis on academic literacy practice • allows for some variation in classroom implementation

10. Making Content Comprehensible –LESSON PREPARATION Ensuring rigor and relevance http://vidego.multicastmedia.com/player.php?p=wzsf4417

11. clearly defined content objective (TEKS) write on board state orally Objectives • clearly defined language objective • (ELPS) • write on board • state orally *Students need to know what they will be learning and how they will be learning it

12. Objectives, objectives…. • Content objectives are based on a….. • Standard – State/Common Core • They should include what concepts students will learn • Language objectives should include how students will learn the concepts • Four areas of language: reading, writing, listening and speaking

13. Objectives, objectives… • A “To Do” list or schedule is not an example of an objective • Objectives should be written in student friendly formats and create a clear understanding of what and how learning will occur

14. Content Objectives… • Are directly tied to the standards • Must guide teaching and learning • Are written in student-friendly language • Are written in terms of what students will learn or do • Must be stated simply, orally and displayed in writing in the classroom

15. Lesson Preparation • Sample verbs for writing Content Objectives: • Identify • Solve • Investigate • Distinguish • Hypothesize • Understand • Select • Draw conclusions about

16. Content Objective Samples • Students will demonstrate knowledge of the life cycle of an amphibian. • Your job is to identify and describe areas of classification within a taxonomy. • You will classify words from your reading passage into homographs, homophones, or synonyms.

17. Now you Practice Writing a Content Objective for your Particular Discipline.

18. Language Objectives Are directly related to what you want your students to know. • Are how students are going to learn the content. • i.e. how will they be learning the content • through reading, writing, speaking or • listening • Are written in student-friendly language • Are based on YOUR students’ needs and what they are working on • Must be stated simply, orally and displayed in writing in the classroom

19. Lesson Preparation • Sample verbs for writing Language Objectives: • Listen for • Retell • Define • Find the main idea • Compare • Summarize • Write • Persuade • Rehearse • Illustrate • Label

20. Language Objectives….. • cover a range from process-oriented to performance oriented statements. • provide students with a chance to explore, practice and demonstrate mastery. • state what kind of learning will occur. • must be stated simply, orally and in writing. • provide meaningful activities that integrate lesson concepts with language practice opportunities – reading, writing, listening, and/or speaking, and are measurable.

21. How Do I Write a Language Objective? • Look at the content objective. • Determine which of the 4 domains of language (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) students will use to accomplish the objective. • Use your students’ levels of proficiency to assist you in developing appropriate language objectives.

22. Language Objectives • Reading – text, vocabulary lists, notes from board/overhead • Writing – vocabulary lists, notes, predictions, answers to comprehension questions, logs, journals, shared writing • Listening – to the teacher, to students, to CD’s, videos • Speaking – orally answering questions, discussion with partner, group members, Think-Pair-Share, safe, low risk learning environment

23. Language Objective Samples • Students will use sentence structure that compare and contrast word pairs to determine if the words are synonyms, homographs or homophones. • Your job is to read “The Metamorphosis: From Tadpole to Frog”. • With a partner, you will illustrate and label each stage of the life cycle of a frog using chart paper.

24. Now you Practice Writing a Language Objectives for your Particular Discipline.

25. Remember • When beginning to write objectives… • Start small – one subject area • Stay focused on standards • Stay focused on student needs • Collaborate with colleagues • Refer to SIOP Resources • Visually post, and orally state objectives

27. How can I lessen the gap?How can I differentiate? • Adaptation of Content • Supplementary Materials

28. Adaptation of Content to all levels of student proficiency (B,I,A,AH): • Make texts accessible to all students without “watering down” • differentiating same content objective, different input/output/process • scaffolding • adjusting content to various learning styles and intelligences

29. Examples of Adaptation of Content • Thinking Maps/Graphic Organizers – schematic visuals that help students grasp the “wholeness and parts” of a concept • Outlines – help students take notes in an organized manner • Highlighted Text – highlighted key concepts, important vocabulary and summary statement in text helps reduce stress yet maintains key concepts • Marginal Notes – notes in the margins help focus attention on important ideas, key concepts, key words and definitions or important supporting facts

30. Examples of Adaptation of Content • Taped Text – allows for multiple exposures to text which improves reading and understanding • Adapted Text – helps students get access to the same text, but with shorter, simpler sentences they can comprehend better • Leveled Study Guides – guides that accompany textbooks that may include: a summary of the text, leveled questions, important facts, etc…

31. Supplementary Materials • Use supplementary materials to make the lesson clear and meaningful • support core curriculum make content concepts “concrete”: tangible, visible, understandable • contextualize learning make it real • support learning styles • support multiple intelligences

32. Examples of Supplementary Materials • Hands-on manipulatives and realia – connects abstract concepts with concrete experiences and student’s own life • Pictures, Photos, Visuals – provide support for harder concepts • Multimedia – film clips, songs and chants, posters, computer games, etc… - related to concept solidify concepts into the students’ deep memory • Demonstrations – model step-by-step completion of tasks or model language to use with presentations – scaffolds and enhances learning • Related materials – leveled books both fiction and nonfiction that supplement the theme of what is being taught

33. Making Content Comprehensible –BUILDING BACKGROUND http://vidego.multicastmedia.com/player.php?p=ttygb29a

34. Building Background 1) Link conceptsto students’ background experiences • Discuss students’ previous personal and academic experiences to help bridge meaning 2) Bridge past learning to new concepts • Integrate new information with what the learner already knows 3) Emphasize key vocabulary • The most effective way to teach vocabulary is when it is presented in the context of new concepts, not in isolation • Students should be actively involved in their own vocabulary development and make it personal • Students should be immersed in a vocabulary-rich environment

35. Focus on Key Vocabulary: • contextualizing key vocabulary • vocabulary self-selection • personal dictionaries • content word wall • concept definition map • cloze sentences • word sorts • word generation • visual vocabulary • vocabulary through songs

36. Making Content Comprehensible –COMPREHENSIBLE IMPUT What is Comprehensible Input? http://vidego.multicastmedia.com/player.php?p=d832qs79

37. 3 Features of Comprehensible Input • Clear explanation of academic tasks • Speech appropriate for students’ proficiency level • Variety of techniques used to make content concepts clear

38. Comprehensible Input • Explanation of Academic Tasks • present instructions in a step-by-step manner and/or with demonstrations • peer modeling • Scaffolding • verbal scaffolding – paraphrasing, think-alouds, reinforcing contextual definitions • procedural scaffolding explicit teaching modeling practicing applying Increasing Independence

39. Comprehensible Input • Questioning – using a variety of question types • Interaction • variety of grouping structures (partners, triads, teams, etc…) • vary group configurations from day to day • Wait time (effective teachers wait 20 seconds or more – ELLs may need longer than that) • Clarifying key concepts in first language – allow students to confer with each other, teacher, or para-professional in their native language about subject matter to support understanding

40. Comprehensible Input • Application of content and language knowledge (projects) • discussing and doing make abstract concepts concrete • reporting out orally (opportunity to practice English) • Integration of language skills – develop reading, writing, listening and speaking in an integrated manner • Review of key vocabulary – multiple exposures to new vocabulary • Assessment of lesson objectives using multiple methods

41. Making Content Comprehensible –STRATEGIES http://vidego.multicastmedia.com/player.php?p=d7y4u441

43. Making Thinking Visible • From the video we viewed yesterday: • Think Puzzle Explorer (creates thinking, asking questions, collaboration, and exploring additional ideas and themes). • Explanation Game (establishes thought about a topic students want to know more about, makes students explain and provide evidence, and initiates discussions about alternatives and helps to answer the questions of why)

44. More Making Thinking Visible • Synthesizing information • Headlines (reflect on something that has already been done, what captures the aspect or core ideas, sharing ideas, and then invites further sharing by telling stories and making connections) • I used to think…Now I think (original thought and thoughts after experience or experience)

45. Metacognitive Strategies“thinking about your thinking” • predicting/inferring • self-questioning • monitoring/clarifying • evaluating • summarizing • visualizing

46. Cognitive Strategies“active learning” • previewing/rereading • establishing a purpose for reading • making connections • reading aloud • highlighting • taking notes • mapping information • finding key vocabulary • mnemonics

47. Social/Affective Strategies“interactive learning” • interaction/questioning • cooperative learning • group discussion/self talk • i.e.. think/pair/share

48. Teacher Behaviors • The Big Picture • Building Background • Self-Correcting • Self-Evaluation • Peer Interaction • Imitation • Native Language Resources

49. A Model of Scaffolding

50. Strategies • Graphic Organizers • Comprehension Strategies • Rehearsal Strategies • GIST • PENS • SQP2RS • Mnemonics