Lesson Planning in SIOP from Theory to Practice
Introduction
The Sheltered Instructional Observational Protocol (SIOP) is a model that was developed to make content area more comprehensible in the English language learner’s classroom. The practicum experience gives students an opportunity in converting theoretical information learnt in class to the actual set-up in the teaching field. During practicum, student-teachers are exposed to various reflections such as observation and tutoring. In the observation reflection, the teachers to be are exposed to various procedures and strategies which other teachers employ during lessons to emphasis on content delivery. The tutoring reflection gives the students a hands-on experience to apply the theoretical knowledge into practice in content delivery.
Elements of the SIOP lesson
Preparation
One of the key elements of a SIOP lesson is preparation. When a teacher is preparing for a lesson, the most important part is to clearly define and understand the content objectives (Echevarria, Short and Vogt 2003). In Science, different topics require different objective as some involve practical activities. The teacher should thus, outline the objective inline with the nature of lesson and the activities that will accompany the lesson. The teacher should also prepare the appropriate supplementary materials that will be used during the lesson. If for example the lesson is about respiration in animals, the teacher should come up with several equipment and animals which will exhibit the process more vividly. The other aspect of preparation is ensuring that the content is relevant to learners in seventh grade (Gottlieb, 2008). The topics in science are usually very broad and the teacher should be guided by the level of learning to come up with the appropriate content. During practicum, students are advised to identify the various activities that teachers may employ in the lesson to enhance concept integration. When preparing for the actual lesson, teachers should include these meaningful activities and strategies so that the content will be well delivered and understood.
Instruction
After preparing, it is now time for a teacher to deliver the content to learners. It is crucial that during introduction of any lesson, the teacher creates a link between past learning and the new concept in that lesson. This helps learners to link concepts to their backgrounds as well as helping in revision. New terminologies should be introduced early enough and emphasized throughout the lesson so that they are better understood. When conducting a lesson, teachers should always ensure that the level of language and terms used are appropriate for seventh graders. Application of technical scientific terms at this level may make learners perceive the subject as being difficult. The teacher should engage learners throughout the lesson by asking a variety of questions concerning the topic (Gottlieb, 2008). However, the mode of asking questions and content delivery should be varied to avoid monotony. In the course of content delivery, the teacher should present an opportunity to learners to practice and apply the learnt concept. If the lesson is on breathing, learners should be asked to breathe in and out while observing the changes that occur in their bodies at each particular instance. As learners are applying the newly learnt concept, the teacher should present enough opportunities for clarifications to increase the level of conceptualization. This is an appropriate time for the teacher to identify slow learners and other who might need remedial coaching.
Teachers should be wary of learner’s ability so that he/she may adjust their pace as well as adjusting the speed of content delivery. It is critical to note that the most important objective of any lesson is to increase the knowledge of learners each time they attend a lesson. Thus, it would not be logical for a teacher to deliver a lesson yet none of the learners has understood anything. The participation of learners should be 100% at all times as through participation the teacher will be able to note the challenges and progress of the lesson.
Review and Assessment
This is the last stage of any lesson which is used to analyze a lesson so that a teacher can rate it as well as gauging learners’ level of understanding. At this point, a teacher reviews learner’s ability to comprehend the key terminologies highlighted during the lesson. The key concepts are also highlighted and in case of any difficulty with a concept or vocabulary clarifications are made. Teachers should provide regular and appropriate feedback to learners on any query posed to them as suspension of feedback may cause more confusion. Competitive and individual quizzes are often issued at this stage to enable the teacher identify content mastery of learners together with the level of comprehension (Echevarria, 2003). A quick overview of the whole lesson can also act as an assessment whereby the teacher asks about each item that was discussed during the lesson. It is at this point that a teacher can determine if the lesson objectives that were stated during lesson preparation were met. If all the objectives are met during the lesson, a teacher should go ahead and estimate the extent to which they were achieved. This assessment presents an opportunity to a teacher to establish the next move, whether the lesson should be redone or if learners can proceed to the next topic.
Learning theories supporting instructional design
Instructional design involves the various approaches that are used by teachers during the tutoring session. Different teachers use different designs because they are no ideal design and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Learning theories enable us to understand why some learners are able to understand some concepts more easily that others. They also give us a wider scope of understanding the whole ideology about comprehensiveness and application of content. Teachers should provide a broad perspective for learners to identify their capabilities as well as encourage creativity so that lessons are converted into discovery rooms (Gottlieb, 2008).
Constructivism theory in supporting instructional design
During the practical science lesson, several students were able to develop various ways of understanding the mechanisms that accompany breathing. Some came up with very easy ways of carrying out the task which proved to be even easier to demonstrate and implement than the one the teacher had prepared. Learners in this case were to understand the aspect in their own way and develop a procedure which would help them comprehend the content quiet well. The ability of learners to conceptualize ideas in their on way and later on apply the idea in the day-to-day activities is an essential part of instilling knowledge on learners (Echevarria, 2003).
A teacher should work towards encouraging this form of constructive thoughts to supplement her/his teaching methods as well as making the lesson more concrete and enjoyable. Learners who are quite fast in understanding concepts should be encouraged to develop more examples and share with others to increase the level of understanding. Consequently, learners should be advised to broaden their way of interpreting ideas and facts by relating them to everyday experiences.
Cognitive as a learning theory
Despite that fact that encouraging creative thoughts and conceptualization boots understanding of content, learners should be guided into making appropriate ideologies. It is important for a learner to demonstrate how breathing occurs and the procedures that follow each aspect of breathing: however, it is equally important for the learners to understand that the procedure may not be the same for all animals. The health condition of human beings may also affect the normal mechanism involved such that the idea may be correct but the application may be wrong (Gottlieb, 2008).
Acknowledgement by the teacher should thus, be accompanied by relevant corrections and the appropriate set-up demonstrated t avoid any form of confusion. Otherwise, the teacher’s examples and demonstration should be used as a guideline when generating other examples. The aim of the cognitive theory is to allow learners to understand and apply task in the same way to promote consistency.
Behaviorism as a learning theory
Behaviorism is a learning theory used in supporting the delivery of content by manipulating the behavior of learners during a lesson. During the tutoring sessions of practicum, learners responded promptly and enthusiastically to the teachers questions as they were keen to please the new teacher. They were not used to the new teacher and the nature of her punishment if a learner failed in one way or another. Thus, learners were eager to answer questions such that even those who were not known to participate in class discussion made their contributions. In this case, the behavior of the learners was altered / dependent on the introduction of a new teacher. The learners were used to their teacher so much such that they saw no need of extraordinary participation in class but the introduction of a different teacher provoked increased response. The goals that had been set by learners motivated their participation as they were not sure on what to expect if they failed to be actively involved in their learning. This led to automatic response to the cues presented by the goal (Gottlieb, 2008).
The unavailability of the appropriate stimulus (unknown punishment) reduces learner’s participation during the lesson while the availability of appropriate stimulus leads to prompt participation.
Conclusion
Learning whether in languages or in other subject involves, the same procedure, preparation and assessment. However, the mode of content delivery varies from subject to subject due to different contents and level of learning. The active participation of learners during a lesson is an indicator of the level of understanding and ability to comprehend the content. Teachers should thus, encourage participation so that learners are made responsible of their learning. This way, they will be more enthusiastic creating the appropriate atmosphere for learning. The information obtained during practicum is crucial in the preparation of the actual lesson plan. Similarly, practicum provides a good opportunity fro identifying other people’s weakness so that we do not repeat the same.
References
Echevarria, J., Short, D. and Vogt, M. (2003), Making content comprehensible for English learners: the SIOP model. Allyn and Bacon. Inc
Gottlieb, M. (2006), Assessing English Language Learners: Bridges from Language Proficiency to Academic Achievement, Corwin Press, Inc. (Chapter 9).
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