The SIOP Method
Preparing for Effective Instruction
Activating Prior Knowledge & Building Background
While creating a SIOP lesson, you can activate prior knowledge and build background using best practices. First, you must select activities that correlate with the lesson being designed. Strategies might include related pictures, group discussions, video clips, "Remember when..." activities, graphic organizers (KWL), or student shair-pair discussions. Students need to be actively engaged in the processing of information. We must remember that "...those learning experiences that are critical to understand new content should be identified and highlighted by teachers" (Marzano, 2007, p. 31).
Connecting to Past Learning
While creating SIOP lessons, students can become actively engaged by making connections to past learning. This may be learning that took place in their native countries or in their native languages as pointed out in the Lesson Preparation video, Vogt (n.d). It can also reference learning that took place in a prior lesson, unit, or curriculum level. Connecting the past helps students engage, and according to Marzano, "Actively processing information is the beginning point of learning" (2007, p. 59).
Identifying and Teaching Key Vocabulary
In the lesson preparation video, Vogt (n.d) explains that having a "very focused attention to key vocabulary" help teachers identify which vocabulary words and what academic language students will need. This vocabulary needs to be taught explicitly and many times. Allowing students to write the vocabulary word, draw a picture, use it in a sentence, write their native language equivalent, find synonyms, create personal links, or create definitions using in their own words are all ways to help students increase and retain new vocabulary.
Brandi Lund
Week 2 - Assignment 2 EDRL 474 A03