Develop Effective Lesson Plans with Sheltered Instruction & SIOP Programs

"Failing to prepare is preparing to fail"

Lesson preparation is essential to meeting the diverse needs that a classroom of individual students have. The best way to make sure you get to where you want to go is to decide where that is and map the best route to that destination.

It's not a coincidence that the SIOP framework begins with these necessary steps to setting ourselves and our students up for success.

The purpose of the SIOP component is to encourage teachers to consciously plan how they are going to support student learning. Everything begins with lesson preparation, and this SIOP component is no different.  The six features found under this component do more than set the students and teacher up for success.  They set the tone for the entire Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) framework.  Take a look at these features to notice just how they set the tone for a successfully lesson and the SIOP Framework.
 

1. ​Write content objectives clearly for students: SWBAT
2. Write language objectives clearly for students: SWBAT
3. Choose appropriate content concepts
4. Identify supplementary materials to use
5. Adapt content to all levels of student proficiency
6. Plan meaningful activities that integrate the 4 skills

The biggest thing that separates the SIOP framework from others is its conscious attention to language and the role language plays in understanding and interacting with the content of the classroom.  SIOP begins by asking the teacher to address two objectives:  the content objectives and language objectives.  Since everything flows from the lesson's objectives, it makes sense to begin there.  It also makes sense to qualify not just what content the students will encounter and internalize but also the language they will need to confidently and competently express themselves and their learning.

It is so important to consider, as educators, the language that is needed to access and express the content of the classroom.  For many students, language may be the barrier between understanding and not understanding.  Teachers can create a bridge that allows students, especially English learners, to access content more easily by considering the specific language students will need.

There are several things that fall under the category of language.

• Vocabulary that may be unique: content specific terminology
• Grammatical patterns that may be unique:  passive language versus active
• Language tasks:  restating/rephrasing, interviewing, taking notes, summarizing
• Language skills:  speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

It's abundantly clear that there are far many more resources to make content and language clear and accessible than are found in the text we use with our students.  Many teachers have become adept at finding videos and other visual media online that pertain to the topic they are teaching.  Other teachers understand the value of identifying manipulatives and other ways to get the students physically involved in their own learning.  

Lesson Preparation, the first of eight SIOP components, is all about setting students up for success.  For the teacher, this component captures the things that they should consider as they plan their lesson.  The most important features of SIOP are the first two:  content and language objectives.  After all, if you don't know where you're going, it's hard to know when you've arrived. The remaining four features help the teacher decide on the activities and materials students will use to meet the objectives.

Why should you choose TESOL Trainers to give professional development on SIOP to your K-12 teachers?  Here are a few good reasons:

• TESOL Trainers uses the principles of experiential learning to highlight practical strategies and techniques.
• TESOL Trainers engages all participants from the beginning to the end of the PD.
• TESOL Trainers provides educators with model lessons that they can use the next day without any or little preparation.
• TESOL Trainers empowers educators to take content from the PD back into their classroom contexts.
• TESOL Trainers inspires teachers to become better for themselves and for their students.

TESOL Trainers is an education consulting company based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  They operate around the world with K-12 schools and institutions of higher education.  Our main goal is to support excellence in teaching and learning through professional development, peer coaching, metacognitive mastery, and other support tools that lead to teaching and learning transformation. Contact John Kongsvik if you'd like to learn about how TESOL Trainers can set you up for success.