Why Should I Use SIOP?

SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) is an instructional framework that has been used in K-12 schools since the 80s.  

While SIOP was developed originally as a support tool for English Learners, educators quickly found that its 8 components and 30 features supported all learners in the classroom.

Let's examine why teachers should use SIOP and how TESOL Trainers can help.

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What is SIOP?

SIOP is a framework for instruction that encourages teachers to set students up for success by consciously connecting them to the content, the language, and one another.  In all, there are 30 SIOP features that are categorized into 8 components.  Teachers should consider these before, during, and after they teach.  

The 8 components of SIOP are:

1. Lesson Preparation
2. Building Background
3. Comprehensible Input
4. Strategies
5. Interaction
6. Practice/Application
7. Lesson Delivery
8. Review/Evaluation

Under each component is a set of features that define how a teacher can meet the objectives of that SIOP component.  For example, under the SIOP component Strategies are the following features:

13.  Provide ample opportunities for students to use strategies (e.g. Problem solving, predicting, organizing, summarizing, categorizing, evaluating, self-monitoring).
14.  Use scaffolding techniques consistently throughout lesson.
15.  Use a variety of question types including those that promote higher-order thinking skills throughout.


While 30 of anything may sound like a lot, most of these SIOP objectives tend to be second nature to many teachers.  In fact, take a look at the list of SIOP Components and Features and see how many of them seem to be solid for you.

Using the SIOP framework, its components and features as a means of framing our jobs as educators can have a powerful, lasting effect on teaching and learning.  

As we examine why K-12 teachers should use SIOP, we will look at it from three important angles:  

1. How can SIOP help connect my students to the content?
2. How can SIOP help connect my students to the language?
3. How can SIOP help connect my students to one another?

SIOP helps connect students to the content

Sheltered Instruction's aim is to make content more accessible to students, especially English learners.  Throughout the SIOP instructional framework we see lots of ways to connect students to the content.

The most obvious example is the third component of SIOP, Comprehensible Input.  The whole focus of this component is to make the content more accessible.  There are three features that fall under this SIOP category:

Comprehensible Input

• Use speech appropriate for students’ proficiency level.
• Explain academic tasks clearly.
• Use a variety of techniques to make content concepts clear (e.g. Modeling, visuals, hands-on activities, demonstrations, gestures, body language).

There are more examples of how SIOP tries to bridge the gap between the student and the content.  Here are 4 features that strive to help connect students to the classroom content:

1. SIOP Component: Building Background:   The first two features in this SIOP component ask the teacher to connect the students to the content of the classroom.  This is always a good place to start learning. The last one pertains to vocabulary development which is critical to all content classes.
2. SIOP Component: Strategies:  All of the features under Strategies help students connect to the content.  The first one deals with learning strategies.  The second feature pertains to scaffolding.  The final feature of this component is higher order thinking skills which also support understanding content.
3. SIOP Component:  Practice/Application:  The first feature challenges teachers to gives students hands-on ways to interact with the content.  The second feature of Practice/Application reminds teachers to give students plenty of chances to apply their content knowledge.
4. SIOP Component:  Review/Evaluation:  Finally, this component asks teachers to review the content with the students and to somehow assess their progress.  Both of these features also help connect the students to the content.

TESOL Trainers offers highly interactive professional development on all aspects of SIOP in traditional ways and in online, remote formats.

SIOP helps connect students to the language

The SIOP instructional framework is full of examples of how important language is to learning.  In fact, directly or indirectly, every component somehow supports language learning.  

The main reason why language is so prominent in the SIOP framework is because of the crucial role it plays in learning content.  After all, to get to the language, you have to go through content and to get to content, you have to go through language.

Content and language  go together and both deserve equal time as SIOP points out.  Regardless of what we teach, we are fundamentally language teachers first.  SIOP shines light on that by giving language such a visible presence in the framework.  Note the direct ways that SIOP addresses language specifically:

1. SIOP Component - Lesson Preparation:  In this first SIOP component, teachers are asked to write language objectives in addition to the content objectives they are so used to writing.
2. SIOP Component - Building Background:  The final feature in this SIOP category is emphasizing key vocabulary.
3. SIOP Component - Comprehensible Input:  Apart from all of these features supporting the connection between students and language, the first one specifically asks teachers to make sure their speech is comprehensible.
4. SIOP Component - Strategies:  Learning strategies such as using context clues to guess the meaning of unknown words is an important aspect of learning language.
5. SIOP Component - Interaction:  The first feature here asks teachers to make sure students have a chance to discuss things.  This promotes oral language development.
6. SIOP Component - Practice/Application:  This feature suggests that teachers provide plenty of opportunities to apply the language.  It also is the second time (the first time happening in Lesson Preparation) where teachers are asked to integrate the four domains of language (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) as a means of stimulating learning.
7. SIOP Component:  Review/Evaluation:  Finally, this component asks teachers to review and assess the language with the students.

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SIOP helps connect students to one another

Another beneficial outcome of using SIOP is how it supports student-to-student learning.  Getting students to interact with one another has a host of benefits.  First, the teachers need to do less of the the work.   Secondly, students learn more from one another.  Finally, it's just more interesting to work with students than with the teacher.

The SIOP Component, Interaction, deals explicitly with this. Take a look at the features that fall under this aspect of SIOP.

Interaction

1. Provide frequent opportunities for interaction and discussion between teacher/students and among students about lessons concepts, and encourage elaborated responses.
2. Use group configurations that support language and content objectives of the lesson.
3. Provide sufficient wait time for student responses consistently.
4. Give ample opportunities for students to clarify key concepts in L1 as needed with aide, peer, or text.

Apart from this obvious connection, there are others.  For example, integrating the four skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing) requires that teachers get students to speak (to one another).

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What's the benefit of using SIOP?

There is no doubt that content supports language and language supports content.  The two were just meant to go together.  The same can be said for student-student interactions and the learning of content and language.  As teachers, we know that students learn more from one another than they do their peers.  The effective teacher is the one whose instruction reflects this truth.

Because there are more students in the classroom than teachers (usually) it makes mathematically sense that the best way to practice the content and language is with other students.  Encouraging these kinds of academically meaningful activities can have a profound impact on all types of learning.

Finally, students want to be with other students.  The social angle of learning is the one they enjoy.  Getting students to work effectively with one another is not only necessary at their age; it's also a life skill.  To summarize:

SIOP helps teachers connect their students to three the things:

1. the content
2. the language
3. their peers

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TESOL Trainers can help your teachers master SIOP

If you'd like to learn how your teachers can become comfortable and competent at using SIOP to plan, teach, and reflect on their lessons, contact John Kongsvik of TESOL Trainers.  TESOL Trainers provides all kinds of professional development in teacher training in SIOP and Sheltered Instruction.

Author

John Kongsvik, the Director of TESOL Trainers, works with educational institutions around the world on SIOP, TESOL and much more.