TESOL Trainers: K12 Education Consultants
Connect
  • Home
  • English Learner Institute
    • Sign up with a credit card
    • Sign Up with a Purchase Order
  • K12 Professional Development
    • Remote Teacher Training >
      • Remote K12 Professional Development
    • SIOP Professional Development
    • TESOL Strategies Professional Development
    • Engaging Students in the Classroom
    • Scaffolding Professional Development
    • Active Listening Strategies
    • Academic Vocabulary Professional Development
    • K12 Best Practices Professional Development
    • Peer Coaching Professional Development
    • Working With English Learners Professional Development >
      • Strategies for ELs in Content Classes Professional Development
    • Reflective Teaching Practices Professional Development >
      • Reflective Teaching Practices For K12 Teachers
      • Conscious Competence Learning Matrix
    • ESL and World Languages Teachers Professional Development
  • SIOP
    • SIOP Professional Development
    • SIOP Components and Features
    • SIOP Lesson Preparation >
      • SIOP Feature 1 Write content objectives clearly for students
      • SIOP Feature 2 Write language objectives clearly for students
      • SIOP Feature 4 Identify Supplementary Materials to Use
      • SIOP Feature 6 Plan meaningful activities that integrate lesson concepts with language practice
    • SIOP Building Background >
      • SIOP Feature 7 Explicitly link concepts to students backgrounds and experiences
      • SIOP Feature 8 Explicitly link past learning to new concepts
      • SIOP Feature 9 Emphasize key vocabulary for students
    • SIOP Comprehensible Input >
      • SIOP Feature 10 Use Appropriate Speech for Students Proficiency Level
      • SIOP Feature 11 Explain Academic Tasks Clearly
      • SIOP Feature 12 Use a variety of techniques to make concepts clear
    • SIOP Strategies >
      • SIOP Feature 13 Provide ample opportunities for students to use strategies
      • SIOP Feature 14 Use scaffolding techniques consistently throughout lesson
    • SIOP Interaction >
      • SIOP Feature 16 Provide frequent opportunities for interaction and discussion
      • SIOP Feature 17 Use Group Configurations that support language and content objectives
      • SIOP Feature 18 Provide sufficient wait time
    • SIOP Practice and Application >
      • SIOP Feature 20 Provide hands-on materials and/or manipulatives for students to practice using new content knowledge
      • SIOP Feature 21 Provide activities for students to apply content and language
      • SIOP Feature 22 Provide activities that integrate all language skills >
        • Four Domains of Language Speaking
        • Four Domains of Language Listening
        • Four Domains of Language Writing
        • Four Domains of Language Reading
    • SIOP Lesson Delivery >
      • SIOP Feature 25 Engage Students 90-100% of the Time
      • SIOP Feature 26 Pace the Lesson Appropriately to the Students Ability Level
    • SIOP Review and Evaluation >
      • SIOP Feature 27 ​Give a comprehensive review of key vocabulary
      • SIOP Feature 29 Provide feedback to students regularly on their output
  • Other Programs
    • Teacher Training for TESOL Programs
    • Professional Development for Higher Education >
      • SIOP for College Faculty
    • Multicultural Education Professional Development >
      • Intercultural Competence Training Programs
      • The Culture of US Academia
    • NM TESOL Endorsement >
      • Getting Your TESOL Endorsement
    • International Schools Professional Development
  • CONTACT
  • More...
    • Setting Students up for Success Tour
    • Resources >
      • TESOL Trainers K12 Resources
    • About TESOL Trainers
    • RSS Feed and Forum
    • Careers with TESOL Trainers
  • Reviews of TESOL Trainers

Writing language objectives clearly for students:  SWBAT...

It's by no accident that the first two SIOP features have to do with writing clear objectives.  The fact that writing language objectives is addressed apart from writing content objectives hints at its importance.

Considering the language objective(s) that accompanies each content objective demonstrates how important conscious attention to language development is in the SIOP framework.

TESOL Trainers SIOP PD

SIOP Feature #2:  Write language objectives clearly for students

In addition to determining the content objective, SIOP asks us to turn our attention to the language that is connected to the class content.  Writing a language objective serves two purposes.  First, it makes the teacher (and students) more conscious of the exact language the students will own in addition to the lesson's content.  Rather than just 'winging it' and supposing that students will learn some language, SIOP has teachers decide exactly what that language is.  Secondly, beginning the entire process with clear content & language objectives anchor their importance in planning and teaching.  Indeed, language & content objectives are explicitly mentioned in 5 of the 8 components of SIOP and implicitly mentioned in the rest.

What's the difference between a content objective and a language objective?

Content Objective:  Create and label correctly a bar graph that represents data from the class survey.
Language Objective:  Explain to a partner what the bar graph shows using the phrases correlation, sample, bias, probability, outlier.

Notice the difference between the two:  The first one, the content objective, deals with content only (create and label a graph) where as the language objective explains how the students will interact with that content (by using specific language to describe the graph to a peer).

Language Objectives

TESOL Trainers John Kongsvik SIOP K12
The language objective has two distinct parts.
  • First, there's a language task:  (Speaking) Explain your graph to a partner.
  • Next, there is specific language:  correlation, sample, bias, probability, and outlier.
While a language objective may take on many forms, the inclusion of language objectives in a lesson plan differentiates SIOP from most other teaching approaches and frameworks.

Considering what specific langauge task students will do and what specific language they will use to do it can profoundly impact learning in the classroom.  

The key word is specific.  English learners can't leave anything to chance.  Their needs are too great.  We teachers should do the same.

Content & Language Objectives are important to SIOP

Having the content and language objectives help both the teacher and student get off on the right foot.  Since both of these objectives begin with the students in mind (SWBAT or Students Will Be Able To), it makes sense that teachers consider what their students will need in order to attain the objectives that they laid out.  

The beauty of the language objective is it encourages teachers to consciously consider specific language outcomes for the students.  

​Writing effective objectives is challenging.  Ask any teacher.  S/he'll tell you about the struggles in satisfying the requirement.  If you ask an administrator, s/he'll say something similar.  

TESOL Trainers can help your faculty write effective objectives that meet the needs of every student.  Contact TESOL Trainers to learn about K-12 staff development opportunities for SIOP, TESOL strategies, and more.  John Kongsvik and his team of trainers will design the perfect training program for your teaching staff.
SIOP Component Lesson Preparation
SIOP Components and Features
SIOP Component Building Background

TESOL Trainers offers remote teacher training workshops

Our teacher training workshops can help educators see how online synchronous platforms like Zoom and Google Meet can engage their students.  We provide teachers with tips on how to use tools like Pear Deck, Near Pod, Jamboard, Kami and a lot more to make learning more meaningful and more engaging.  

TESOL Trainers trains teachers on how to use Google Classroom in synchronous and asynchronous ways that support all students, regardless of their backgrounds.  Our ideas are practical, novel, and inspiring.  Teachers leave our PD with confidence and competence!  

Contact John Kongsvik for more information.  

TESOL Trainers Quick Links

  • Download TESOL Trainers SIOP Information Packet
  • Contact John Kongsvik for more information
Copyright © 2023. All Rights Reserved.
Written by Dr. John Kongsvik - TESOL Trainers
Designed by: Ciego Productions