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Benefits of Using The SIOP Model As a Teaching Framework

Introduction

• Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) is vital for teachers in the preparation of their students for their college and future careers.
• The model supports teachers in planning as well as delivering high quality instructions (Kareva & Echevarria, 2013).
• This presentation will provide a discussion of the key benefits of the various components of SIOP model as a teaching framework.
• Major Educational Policies
• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: prohibited discrimination based on race, colour, or national origin.
• Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1968 (The Bilingual Education Act): established bilingual education for economically disadvantaged minority students (Mikow-Porto et al., 2004).
• Lau v. Nichols 414 U.S. 563 (1974): US Supreme Court held that lack of supplemental language violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
• Equal Educational Opportunity Act (EEOA) of 1974: school districts required to take actions towards students’ equal participation (Marschall, Rigby, & Jenkins, 2011).
• Title III of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002: requires state education agencies (SEAs) to fund ELL programs (Mikow-Porto et al., 2004).
• Socioeconomic Influences for ELLs
• Students in low-income schools are less likely to have well-qualified teachers.
• Higher or middle socioeconomic status positively affect language development (Jiménez-Castellanos & García, 2017)..
• Socioeconomic status affect students performance and greatly influence students’ language development.
• Political Influences on Instruction For ELLs
• Policies pertaining to instructions for ELLs are made by the political class.
• Regulations made by political actors are determined by their political goals as opposed to the needs of the ELLs (Marschall, Rigby, & Jenkins, 2011).
• Instructions for ELLs are reflective of the goals and aspirations of the political class (Jiménez-Castellanos & García, 2017).
• Legal Influences On Instruction For Ells
• Instruction for ELLs are pegged on the existing legislative policies and guidelines such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1968, and Equal Educational Opportunities – Act of 1974, among others (Mikow-Porto et al., 2004).
• Court cases such as Lau v. Nichols (1974) and Castañeda v. Pickard (1981) are regulations and guidelines that direct and impact on ELLs instructions (Marschall, Rigby, & Jenkins, 2011).
• Lesson Preparation
• Application: this component is applied in formulating, displaying, and orally reviewing content and learning objectives
• Teaching example: a teacher asks learners to read aloud the course objectives.
• Benefit: students have a plan at the start of each lesson and thus focus on the core aspects of the plan in the learning process.
• Building Background
• Application: teachers use the component to connect new concepts with students personal experiences as well as past learning (Kareva & Echevarria, 2013).
• Teaching example: a teacher aligns the lesson with rhymes and songs that the learners have previously learned or experienced.
• Benefit: ensures quick reception of course content as teachers bridge past learning with the new learning.
• Comprehensible Input
• Application: used in the oversimplification of both spoken and written language through various ways (Echevarria & Vogt, 2010).
• Teaching example: teachers using visual representations, restating key points, and repetition.
• Benefit: enables teachers to explain academic tasks and exercises in a clear and procedural manner and hence easier understanding for the learners.
• Strategy
• Application: applied in arousing the cognitive and metacognitive processes of the students and thinking beyond the obvious.
• Teaching example: a teacher asks students questions which do not just require a “yes” of “no” answer to ensure that they express themselves.
• Benefit: enables teachers to equip their students for academic learning both in and out of the classroom (for academic and career purposes) (Kareva & Echevarria, 2013).
• Interaction
• Application: interactive activities involving less-proficient and more-proficient language learners to have a balance in classroom discourse.
• Teaching example: in pairs and small groups , a teacher requires the learners to complete various tasks through discussions and exchange of ideas (Echevarria & Vogt, 2010).
• Benefit: helps the students to both develop and deepen their content knowledge and support their speaking, reading, and writing skills.
• Practice and Application
• Application: used in experiential learning to ensure application of theories into practice.
• Teaching example: a teacher initiates learning through hand-on materials, group assignments and even partner projects.
• Benefit: enables the mastery of skills as it ensures that course concepts are practiced and applied (Kareva & Echevarria, 2013).
• Lesson Delivery
• Application: applied in informing the students the tasks , activities, and teaching support which will exist in the course of the classroom.
• Teaching example: a teacher uses teaching strategies which appeal to the students and which provide wait time for the students to process the concepts.
• Benefit: ensures a comprehension of the key concepts by the students as the teachers have clear routines to follow which are known to the students.
• Review and Assessment
• Application: applied to identify areas where the course objectives have not been met and gauging the comprehension level of the course concepts.
• Teaching example: a teacher starts a lesson with a review of previous learning by asking questions related to the last concepts learned.
• Benefit: ensures increased student comprehension of course concepts through additional explanations and re-teaching (Echevarria & Vogt, 2010).
• Importance of Ongoing Learning
• SIOP is vital to helping teachers evaluate how effective they are working with ELLs.
• However, the teachers should continuously engage in ongoing learning to establish ways that they can effectively apply SIOP in their classrooms (Echevarria & Vogt, 2010).
• Ongoing learning will empower teachers to pinpoint he actions they need to take to make their teaching more effective and student’s learning more efficient.
• Ongoing teaching will make teachers high reflective individuals who will consider what helped and what hindered learning and, therefore, take concrete steps to improve their teaching.
• Considerations About Meeting ELL Needs
• It is a big challenge to address all the needs of the ELLs within the same classroom as they have varied first languages and their language proficiency levels (Echevarria & Vogt, 2010).
• Instructional technologies such as PowerPoint slides and picture stories should be used to address the diverse needs of the ELLs’ classroom.
• Teachers should collaborate with other school professionals such as bilingual assistants to ensure that the needs of the diverse classroom members are met (Kareva & Echevarria, 2013).
• Appropriate resources for adopting instructional technologies and ensuring an interactive classroom will be vital in meeting the needs of the ELLs.
• Conclusion
• The SIOP model supports teachers in planning as well as delivering high quality instructions.
• The eight components of the model are vital in to helping teachers evaluate how effective they are working with ELLs.
• Teachers should, however, engage in ongoing learning as to the ways in which they can effectively adopt SIOP components in their classroom.
• They should also consider ways of meeting the ELLs needs such as using instructional technologies and bilingual assistants who can help interpret difficult vocabularies.