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Quote: "When listeners understand an explanation, they tend to be interested and engaged" (Vogt 69). This stood out to me as the "whole point" of the introduction. If we are able to present what we want our students to know in multiple ways that help increase understanding, they will be more interested and therefore learn more.

Example: From the text I really like the strategy "Recording Google Slides with Closed Captions." Speaking always seems to be the hardest area when I watch my students - this activity lets them practice their speaking in a low risk scenario and still receive feedback. They can also use the info on the slides to supplement what they may not be able to yet verbally get across.

Comment: I really enjoyed the youth Ted speaker - she said "I want to be fantastic though I have no idea of it" when discussing learning new languages. This can be applied to so many things - we have to be willing to fail and make mistakes to become fantastic at something.

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Quote: "Student learning is enhanced when teachers activate student's prior knowledge, make explicit links to past experiences and learning, and locate and fill in gaps where knowledge and experience are lacking" (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022). This quote stood out to me because not only is it crucial to activate prior knowledge, but to connect their prior knowledge to the current knowledge is really what makes it stick in our student's brain.

Example: One example from the text that I liked and already do a version of is on page 40-41, Go to your corner. Students get to choose a topic they are familiar with and work with their peers to complete an activity verbally to activate prior knowledge. I really like this activity because it lets students have choice and they can go were they are most confident.

Comment: I would like to comment on the video that shows the teacher in action with her students. She is shown trying to activate their prior knowledge during the lesson, and probably doesn't even realize she is cuing the students, but =by doing that, she is helping them take the next step in their work.

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Quotation: "It is not enough to speak loudly-your students will hear you very well, but still may not understand what you're saying. You need to speak at an appropriate pace...,enunciate clearly, and use gestures and body language, when appropriate...It is also important that you make your explanations very clear." (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022 pg 49-50) When I read this quote, I instantly thought of the phrase "they can hear you but do they HEAR you?"

Example: Although the SIOP text presents many ideas, I think a great example of this comes from the demonstration of comprehensible input. Valentina Gonzalez (n.d.) demonstrates that just talking or talking loud is not going to help when a person doesn't understand the model. By pointing, using slower speech, providing opportunities to follow along, modeling, repeated use of vocabulary words and providing facial expression, she was able to make her instructions clear for all to understand.

Comment: I liked the quote that Moe pulled out which is "the goal is not to simplify the content but to make it understandable for students." Rigor is important and presenting lessons clearly should always be the goal. This quote makes me reflect on my own teaching and think about ways that I can present information in a way that all students understand while upholding content level standards.

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Quotation: "It is important therefore, that teachers not only activate students' prior knowledge, but also build background for those who have these gaps in their understanding and background knowledge" (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022 p 24)

Example: One idea/activity for building background that I really think would prove beneficial to helping build background is the creation of a personal dictionary. I think one way to modify the example provided in the text would be to have vocabulary/language from previous units or texts and have students fill in sentence starters "I remember this word from when we read about ________, I remember what this word means from when we read about ____________" and use it to help gauge what students remember and what words need more explicit teaching. This could be a good activity to use prior to beginning a lesson which would also help lesson plan and build vocabulary. (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022 p 35).

Comment: I like Casey's example of using four corners for community helpers unit. Pairing students intentionally helps build peer relationships as well. Understanding the language for community helpers is very important to daily living and is something that students in our high school life skills classes learn. We have some multi-lingual learning in our lifeskills program. This activity would benefit entire classes.

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Quote: "The goal is not to simplify the content but to make it understandable for students."

Example: When teaching a lesson on the water cycle, instead of just explaining evaporation and condensation, I would model each step with pictures, gestures, and simple diagrams while thinking out loud.

Comment: I liked the reminder that I don’t have to lower the rigor for my multilingual learners. I just need to be more intentional about how I present the lesson by using visuals, modeling, and clear directions so every students can have access to the content.

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Quote: "Effective teachers explicitly link new concepts with students' background experiences." Before I jump into something new, I need to meet them where they are and help them connect it to what they already know. When I can connect to what my students already know and have experienced, especially my multilingual learners, they can be more engaged in the learning and it will make more sense.

Example: Students create their own vocabulary dictionary by writing the new word, a student-friendly definition, drawing a picture, and using the word in a sentence. This gives multilingual learners repeated exposure to academic vocabulary and helps them make meaningful connections to new words.

Comment: One thing I want to improve is being more intentional about activating prior knowledge at the beginning of every lesson. Even a quick discussion, picture, or question can help students make connections before we jump into new content, especially for my multilingual learners.

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Quotation: " We cannot expect ELs to master new content learning by just listening; They need demonstrations, photos, illustrations, and models to make sense of the words you are speaking. And this is what it means to provide input that is comprehensible." (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022). I chose this quotation because it supports the foundation of this component: English learners need more than spoken explanations to understand new concepts. Effective instruction combines clear speech with visual supports, modeling, gestures, and demonstrations so students can connect language to meaning.

Example: One example from the reading is Framed Outlines. In this activity, the teacher provides students with a partially completed outline of a lesson or a text, leaving out key words or concepts for students to fill in as they read, listen to instructions, or watch a video. Framed outlines provide differentiation because teachers can adjust the amount of scaffolding by leaving clues such as the first few letters of vocabulary words or adding illustrations. Students can also refer back to the Framed Outlines later in the lesson or during future lessons, so it is an effective on-going instructional tool.

Comment: To Brittany’s point, AI has been helpful in addressing comprehensible input in my lessons. I will ask AI where an EL student might be having difficulty understanding or I might ask it for suggestions on incorporating comprehensible input in my lesson. It even does a decent job creating a foundational template of a Framed Outline for me to tweak and edit to better fit my (and my students’) needs.

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Quotation: "Research supports teachers' explicit activation of students' prior knowledge, and the building of background for those students who may lack prior knowledge of a particular content topic. These linkages of 'schemata' help us all learn new information by helping us connect what we know and experience to what we are learning" (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022). I chose this quotation because it supports the foundation of this component: all learners learn better when they can connect new learning to what they already know. And teachers need to consider how their students’ schema can be different given all the different experiences bring to the classroom and how to effectively build background given these differences.

Example: One example from the reading is the tried-and-true KWL chart. It is tried-and-true because it is an effective visual for both the student and teacher to ascertain background knowledge. Before beginning a unit or a lesson, students record what they already know as well as identify what questions they have. Then, the KWL chart can be referred to throughout the unit or lesson to add new learning and correct misconceptions. The KWL chart also gives students ownership over their learning by allowing them to help shape the direction of the lesson.

Comment: The quotation that Jordan posted resonated with me as well. I think that in general, teachers have a misconception about the background knowledge that students bring to the classroom, both in what they already know versus what the teacher thinks they will already know, as well as the different schemas from student to student, and how they need to prepare their lessons to effectively address background knowledge in their lessons.

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Quotation: "Research supports teachers' explicit activation of students' prior knowledge, and the building of background for those students who may lack prior knowledge of a particular topic. These linkages of 'schemata' help us all learn new information by helping us connect what we know and experience to what we are learning" (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022). I chose this quotation because it shows the foundation for this component: all learners learn new information better by connecting it to what they already know, and teachers need to keep in mind that students will not all have the same schema. This is an important consideration for lesson planning.

Example: One strategy highlighted was the tried-and-true KWL chart. There is a reason this one is tried and true-- it clearly shows what students already know about a topic and identifies the questions that they have. It can be used effectively by revisiting the KWL chart throughout the lesson to add new learning or correct misconceptions. It also gives students ownership of their learning by letting them shape the direction of the lesson.

Comment: The quotation that Jordan posted also resonated with me. I think that a lot of teachers have a misconception surrounding their students' schema and how different that can be from student to student, and what they should be preparing for in each lesson to effectively address background knowledge for all students in the class.

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Key Quote: “We cannot expect English Learners to master new content by just listening. They need demonstrations, multimedia, illustrations, and models to make sense of the words you are speaking” (Vogt, 2022, p. 69).

Example: Valentina Gonzalez provides us with an example of modeling comprehensible input. She gives us directions to follow in Serbian but without any gestures, manipulatives, or modeling. She repeated the directions again but with explicit modeling, visuals, and gestures. We repeat her words, using tonal changes to demonstrate emphasis.

Comment: As a high school ELD teacher, I get the opportunity to push into many different classrooms. I see how often teachers lecture and provide few opportunities for comprehensible input. Students are expected to listen for most of the lesson and then complete a task. We know that all students are extremely motivated by multimedia. Vogt writes that “using multimedia helps ML develop a clear and precise understanding of an unknown word or unclear concept” (2022, p. 81). In addition, we are able to use AI to create meaningful supports for our students to build comprehensible input.

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Key Quote: “Developing students’ background knowledge… to activate what they already know…consider having the questions translated into their home language (L1)… you’ll have a much broader understanding of what your students know, have experienced, and are thinking. (Vogt, 2022, p.50-51). Using students’ L1 is a great way to gauge their familiarity with the topic, so you can plan accordingly. Will you need to plan in depth for content and language, or mostly for language, so students can demonstrate the content/background knowledge they already have?

Example: In the video by Colorín Colorado, Ms. Ali brings her students realia so they can build an understanding of how to make tortillas. She brings in the items used to make tortillas, and the students build their knowledge using these visuals and their tactile learning. They can then ask questions about the objects.

Comment: I found the list of questions on page 51 of Vogt’s 99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners to be very helpful. I think this could easily be an anchor chart that teachers can keep in their classroom. They use it to pose discussion questions, and the students can use it to ask each other questions too. Depending on the proficiency level of your ML students, you may want to provide generic sentence frames so students can continuously make a habit of using academic language. For example, “Q: What do you think of when you see ____? Why? A: When I see ____, I think of _______ because _______.”

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1 Key Quote

"We cannot expect English learners to master new content learning by just listening" (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022)

1 Example

"Think, Jot, Pair, Share" is an activity leanred from the book 99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners with the SIOP Model, where students have the opportunity to practice the domains of writing, speaking, and listening. In this activity, when a topic is being introduced, students would first have the opportunity to write their background knowledge on a sticky note, share with a peer, listen to other classmates and possibly share with the entire class. This activity can be implemented in all content areas in various ways. To implement into my classroom, I could use it as a number routine to start in math class where I write a number on anchor chart paper. Students can jot various ways to show that number on their sticky note, by drawing math pictures, writing math equations that equal the number. Then, students would have the opportunity to share with a partner, then with the class. Students sticky notes would then be placed on the anchor chart paper. This activity offers multilingual learners to show their thinking in a variety of ways. Additionally, it gives students the chance to share and learn from their peers.

1 Comment

After reading the materials provided, a quote that stuck with me was from the TED Talk, "Learning a Second Language". Shinyoung Grace Kim explains that what holds people back is the fear of failure. However, learning from failure is an effective way to learn. This reminds me of the importance of creating a classroom environment where multilingual learners are comfortable taking risks, and expectations are explicitly taught. By providing opportunities for multilingual learners to fail in a low-stakes environment, they can practice and develop their linguistic skills. Strategies such as engaging in turn-and-talks, implementing multimedia during instruction, hand gestures, and modeling will support multilingual learners.

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Key Quote: “When steps  to processes and procedures are written, orally presented, and modeled, English learners (and other students) are more likely to meet their content and language objectives” (page 69, Vogt & Echevarría, 2021). It is important to always use a variety of techniques when teaching, but more so when teaching MLs. The sooner we can start using these tools to help students retain information, the better it will be for them as they move forward in school.

Activity: The Move It! Activity is a great way to use movement and gestures to engage students. The example that was used in the text was greater than (>) and less than (<) symbols for math. I think every teacher on my 1st grade team has their own visual they use for showing greater than and less than, and using the analogy that the “mouth opens for the greater number”.

One Comment: Jordan, I like that you emphasized the TED Talk analogy! I always felt like every topic in the TED Talks I have listened to were easy to comprehend and follow, but I never thought about why that is. They speak concisely  and at a slower pace which is a perfect example of how teachers should speak to their students, especially MLs.

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1 Key Quote

"The linking of schemata with the development of new schemata enables students to process and retain newly learned information." (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022)

1 Example

"Go To Your Corner" is an activity stated from the book 99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners with the SIOP Model, where students have the opportunity to connect their background knowledge to the content they are learning in class. This activity consists of 4 corners, with each corner having a dimension to investigate. Students can choose their corner, and on chart paper, they generate a list with their peers about everything they know about the topic. To implement this activity into my 1st grade classroom, I would introduce it into our community helpers unit. Each corner can display a community helper, such as garbage truck drivers, firefighters, construction workers, and doctors. I would intentionally pair multilingual learners with bilingual students so they are able to make connections, using their home language if needed. Then, as a group, students would discuss and write about their background knowledge, or experiences with the designated community helper. This is a great activity to introduce a topic, because it values each students background knowledge by giving each student an opportunity to contribute. Additionally, it engages students in expanding their assets and experiences to new content being learned.

1 Comment

After watching the video "Component 2: Building Background", Vogt emphasizes the importance of teaching academic language. Through explicitly teaching students the vocabulary using images, anchor charts, and providing examples, students can expand their background knowledge. In the Being A Reader Curriculum, vocabulary cards with definitions are provided to be taught before introducing a book. To support multilingual learners, I prepare slides where visuals, and the definition is provided. Then, students engage in. a turn-and-talk to use the vocabulary word in a sentence or discuss their knowledge about the word. As a class, students then share what they discussed and we create a list of the vocabulary word used in a sentence.

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Key Quote: “Student learning is enhanced when teachers activate students’ prior knowledge, make explicit links to past experiences and learning, and locate and fill gaps where knowledge and experience are lacking” (page 35, Vogt & Echevarría, 2022). I find that with young learners in particular, they are always eager to talk and share things about themselves. By asking students about themselves and their experiences as it relates to academic content, you can start having them make connections.

Activity: Questions to Activate Students’ Prior Knowledge. This activity relates to the quote I mentioned above and can be used for any age group and for any lesson. I would probably ask questions like “Have you ever seen a…?” or “How would you feel if…?” for my 1st graders they are simple enough and will allow them to think about their own experiences.

One Comment: Kristen, I like how you made a connection with the quote about how we should not assume students lack academic language and an experience you had with a student of yours. You discovered that your student from El Salvador enjoyed drawing and used that to facilitate his understanding of key concepts. You helped bridge the gap for your student by letting him use what he enjoys to build on his English proficiency.

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Key quotation: “Finally, TED Talk speakers use techniques to augment their talk, such as gestures and visuals” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022). I appreciated the TED Talk analogy because it activated our prior knowledge to understand why “acting out” our teaching is necessary, not silly.

Example: The “Move It” activity not only links physical movement to learning, but it gives repeated exposure and practice to a concept and forces students to directly interact with the content. When reading They Called Us Enemy, we used physical movement to understand and remember the terms “relocate” and “relocation.” For the rest of the year, we ended up using the word “relocate” when we needed students to move away from each other or choose a different seat.

Comment: Natalie, it’s awesome that your students are using these databases! If you have Britannica in your school system, it has three different reading levels for most of the articles which has been helpful for me to use for shorter research with general facts since the lower levels remove information. I’m wondering if the information was presented differently (more visuals, less words and complex sentences) would students still be able to access the same scope of information?

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Key Quotation: “All students come to school with varied academic backgrounds and experiences, but English learners may have a mismatch between what they know and have experienced, and what they need to know to be successful in school” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022). The quotation reminds educators that while students may have a “language barrier,” they are likely to have additional obstacles in contextual or cultural understanding. Therefore, for nonnative English speakers, we need to build additional background information beyond vocabulary to support effective learning.

Example: The “Jumpstart Your Engines” activity is designed specifically to both assess gaps in knowledge for specific students (these could be MLLs or other struggling learners) and provide a preview for more complicated lessons. This bridgs the gap between the authors’ described “mismatch.”

Comment: Kristen, I also liked the Surprise Book activity. I will often do novel previews, but never in a way that feels as focused and engaging. I’m wondering what could be added to help scaffold critical thinking and direct connections to past knowledge. Beyond “I think this book will be about ______ because _________,” could there also be support to explain what previous connection they made to their observation that led to their prediction?

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"It is critical for ELs to have instructions presented in a step - by step manner, preferably modeled or demonstrated for them" (Echevarria, Vogt, Short, 2008). As a teacher of kindergarten it is common place for me to give step - by - step instructions and to demonstrate in details what the students need to accomplish. However, I did not realize how helpful it was until I watched the video by Valentina Gonzalez, and had no idea what to do when she first gave the instructions! With her showing the steps and slowing the pace down it was manageable even though I could not understand the language she was speaking.

An activity that resonated with me from 99 Activities for Teaching English Learners with the SOIP Model was Move It! on page 79 (Vogt, Echevarria, 2022). I liked this activity because I am always trying to find ways to add movement into my lessons. Kindergarten students love to move, so having them show what they know with movement is a win win for me. By having the students move and connect the learning with movements they will be engaged and have a physical representation to go back to if they need the reference.

Ashley wrote "Having hands on activities helps the learners make connections to prior knowledge." I think that this is so benifical for all learners. I often bring in realia for my students to explore, and use through out the day if we have some downtime. I often see them take out the objects and talk about them during unstructured time, and use what we have learned when talking to their peers.

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"It is important that we not assume that all students lack knowledge of academic language; some may know academic language well in their native language, but not in English" (Echevarria, Vogtt, Short, 2008). I chose this quote because I think that it important for teachers to remember that just because a student does not have the English words, for what they are learning they may have them in their native language. I worked with a students who came from El Salvador, and he only attended school for a short time while there. When he arrived in my class he spoke no English. It was challenging to find ways to connect and have him share what he knew, but eventually I found out he liked to draw and that is how we connected the vocabulary and other academic language to his native language. I would show him a picture he would draw it then we would give both the Spanish word and the English word.

Surprise Book is an activity that is included in the 99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners (Vogt, Echevarria, 2022). I like this activity because you can use it for a number of topics and can be used across all subject areas. For this activity the teacher wraps an interesting picture book about the leaning content. Then slowly day by day takes a little more wrapping paper off, and allows the students to discuss what they see. This activity can be supported with language frames and would also be very engaging.

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“We cannot expect English learners to master new content learning by just listening. They need demonstrations, multimedia, illustrations, and models to make sense of the words you are speaking” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022).

A framed outline can be a helpful comprehensible input strategy, especially for students whose reading level is more proficient than speaking and listening. A teacher can “create and save a completed outline of a text’s or lesson’s content” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022). The outline creates a framework for understanding oral text. The outline can contain more or less information, both written with words and/or use of pictures and symbols, depending on the level of support needed.

Nicole, I agree with you that idioms can be very challenging for ML. Explicit instruction to understand idioms can benefit all students because often native speakers don’t entirely understand idioms as well. Students could be challenged to use idioms in their own writing.

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“Finding out what your students know about a particular topic can help you figure out how to make meaningful connections to their experiences, which is an important step in making your instruction more culturally responsive” (Breiseth, L., 2021).

Jumpstart your engines! is an activity that introduces key concepts and vocabulary before the start of a lesson. Giving ML learners the opportunity to become familiar with words and concepts prior to learning builds background knowledge before the content is introduced making it easier for ML to access the content. This “helps students be ready for the subsequent lesson” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022).

Natalie, I thought about the discussion you had in PD about the importance of using more specific questions to activate background knowledge. If a broad question is posed it often does lead students too many different questions and is not a valuable use of time. By proposing more specific questions it can help students focus on sharing more relavent background knowledge.

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Chapter 4

1 key quote from the reading

“SIOP teachers adjust their speech so that it is understandable, and they provide clear explanations regarding what students are to do and how they are to do it. When steps to processes are written, orally presented, and modelled, English learners (and other students) are more likely to meet their content and language objectives.” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, pg.69 )

1 example

An example from the text is recorded texts for understanding. “One of the greatest advantages is that English learners can listen to the text repeatedly to improve comprehension, develop fluency, and increase their English proficiency” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, pg.69). In my class, the students do a lot of research activities utilizing databases such as PebbleGo and Worldbook Kids that have read aloud features. I have noticed that these databases are especially useful for my ML students because they like to listen to the content over and over again to comprehend it. In addition, I use detailed directions in Wixie where I utilize visuals and I record my voice, so that the students can listen to the directions over and over as needed.

1 comment on anything already posted

Stephanie - I like how you described how to use the board game strategy and how it would be beneficial to have the students actually play various board games prior to creating one. That is an excellent way to build background knowledge about board games to make the assignment more meaningful for the students.

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1 key quote from the reading

“All students come to school with varied academic backgrounds and experiences, but English learners may have a mismatch between what they know and have experienced, and what they need to know to be successful in school.” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, pg.35)

1 example

The “Play It Again” instructional strategy “provides students with a brief but effective review of previous content” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, pg.46). The vocabulary words and/or images are displayed to represent content concepts in sequential order of when they were taught. This is a routine that reinforces the vocabulary and/or visuals from the previous lesson and then helps the students make connections to the new vocabulary that is being taught that day. This would help ML make connections to the concepts being taught throughout the whole unit, and may help them utilize these concepts in their written assignments.

1 comment on anything already posted

Tom Mazor, I like how you mentioned that we could start talking about topics and asking students about what they already know about a topic. Yesterday during our Summer PD in BCPS, we reflected on how it is so vital to try to ask students questions and tap into what they already know before starting a new text. Some teachers were reflecting on how starting with the broad question of “what do you know about ______” led them down a spiral of a lengthy discussion and then had difficulty with time management and staying on task. In particular, I liked how during our PD we learned about how to prompt effortful thinking in our students by asking questions that require deep processing and then will hopefully help them make meaningful connections to build background knowledge.

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1 Key Quote: The comprehensible input component includes... clear explanations of academic tasks." (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, pg. 69) This is simple, but vital. It encompasses academic vocabulary, content vocabulary, and routines. The teacher must intentionally think about exactly what they want the student output to be and how to explicitly structure the assignment to get that output.

1 Example: Having students create a board game to show they understood the cause and effect relationships of actions in a novel is an interesting task. But the teacher in that case is making a lot of assumptions, most importantly that students have played a board game before. The teacher needs to make sure the assignment is comprehensible - have students play some board games. Model examples of how cause and effect could be represented in a board game. Provide visuals of board games created by students in other classes. The strategy "Recording Google Slides with Closed Captioning" could be a great follow up to these activities, as the teacher could create a step-by-step process for creating a board game, using the examples and visuals from the background building to reinforce the concepts. It would provide an excellent reference to the exploration activity as students create their own project.

1 Comment: Reading Corrine Pohlner's description of how she would use Think-Jot-Pair-Share made me consider how the strategy could be used with the activity I described. Once students have built background knowledge, they could use TJPS to brainstorm ideas for their own games. Actively promoting multiple domains (reading, writing, speaking, listening) in a small group setting will benefit MLs.

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Building Background Knowledge - Stephanie Bohn

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Building Background Knowledge - Stephanie Bohn

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1 Key Quote: "It is critically important that teachers explicitly and intentionally develop English learner's vocabulary knowledge to foster their comprehension of text and to promote their oral language proficiency." (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, pg. 35) While this quote is very broad, it addresses a factor of vocabulary instruction I feel many teachers miss: vocabulary instruction must be explicit and intentional. Too often, teachers of content other than reading expect students to pick up vocabulary from context. And for key vocabulary in many middle school texts, where key vocab is highlighted and paraphrased within the text, this is entirely possible! But for a ML, it's all of the other academic vocabulary that is related to key terms that are the issue. Therefore, teachers must intentionally preview texts with their students' proficiency levels in mind to identify vocabulary that may result in comprehension gaps, and then explicitly teach it to build understanding.

1 Example: In grade 6 World History, one of the early topics is the agricultural revolution. The terms "agriculture" and "revolution" are explicitly taught to all students, along with terms like "domesticate," "nomadic," and "sedentary." In the past, I have noticed MLs have difficult with other terms, like river valley, settlement, ox, and artisan. Using a strategy like "Play It Again" from the book 99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners with the SIOP Model, would allow MLs and native English speakers to work together to create multiple opportunities to view images related to vocabulary, connect new learning to prior learning, and connect tangential words to the key vocabulary. I could see this being used as a warm up to the lesson to review the prior lesson's learning or as a cool down to connect that day to the prior day.

1 Comment - Jess Koslowski's description of the Jumpstart strategy would work well in combination with my use of Play It Again. This strategy could help students less inclined to participate to pre-identify images that could be added to the visual map of the Play It Again activity at the end of the class.

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Once Key quote:

In the book 99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners with The SIOP Model, this paragraph resonated with me as I reflected of the students that I taught math this year:

“Please remember that students at lower levels of English proficiency are not necessarily functioning at lower levels of cognitive ability… these students are able to use higher level thinking skills in their primary language but have ab more difficulty time understanding academic content and expressing their knowledge in English” (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2012, p. 52)

I had a student this year that would participate in class when he understood the content, but when he did not understand the new concept and did not have help unlocking the content, he would give up and put his head on his desk.  He would become disengaged with the lesson and getting him back to instruction was nearly impossible.  This student was very smart, but he could not access his higher-level thinking skills because he could not understand the academic content.

One Example:

In the book 99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners with The SIOP Model, I could see myself using the “Move it!” Activity.    In this activity, students get the chance to move their bodies physically to learn.  The book relates this to moving with science and the planets as they orbit around the sun (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2012, p. 52).   In my classroom, I would modify this activity for math.  I have whiteboards on the walls, and I would model a problem on the One Screen then have the students practice solving different problems on the board.  I would have the student’s “orbit” the room as they moved from board to board, checking their peers work and practicing different problems.

Comment:

As I was reading Ashley Gerke post she highlighted the quote, “Slower rates and simple sentence for beginners is an important component for comprehensible input” (pg. 69) She said that we feel pressure as educators to get the content to the students instead of thinking about the rate of speed that we are talking.  I know I am guilty of this as well.  When I feel the pressure of the clock and teaching the students all that they need to know for the lesson, I find that I talk fast and loudly.  I often forget to slow down and do one less problem so that the students understand the content.  As the year progresses, and I build relationships with students, they tell me when I am moving too fast.

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Building Background Knowledge - Kelly Ena

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Building Background Knowledge - Kelly Ena

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One Key Component:

In the video MaryEllen Vogt talked about 3 key features used to build background knowledge.  I like her first feature, which was “using and connecting knowledge with the content knowledge with the content being taught.” She said that background knowledge can be anything, whether it is from the present or from when students were in their home country.  You want the students to connect with anything so that they better understand a little bit about what they are going to learn (Vogt, 2011)

One Example:

In the book 99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners with The SIOP Model, I could see myself using the 4-Corners Activity to help student understand the vocabulary better.  The book said that the purpose of this activity is to help students contextualize words by creating a chart with an illustration, a sentence, a definition, and actual vocabulary word (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2012, pg. 40).  I use a model like this with my Algebra classes when I teach them quadratic equations.  I give them a problem (like the vocabulary word), have them write the equation, show the answers as a table of values, and show the answers graphically to build understanding of the term quadratic equation.  In the “math world” we call this “the rule of 4”.

Comment:

As I was reading Daisy Santiago’s quote from MaryEllen Vogts video, “To enable students to meet grade level content standards, some SIOP teachers find it beneficial to offer a mini-lesson, or “jump start”, to help fill in gaps” (Vogt and Echevarria, 2008) I forgot how much this quote spoke to me.  I find that I build in “mini lessons” all the time with my ML students in my classroom because while they are bilingual, they do not understand the vocabulary.  I find that the “mini lessons” are part of responsive teaching and the more you know your students you can anticipate the words that they will struggle with before they learn the material.

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According to vogt and echevarria ( 2022) " Slower rates and simple sentence for beginners is an important component for comprehensible input" (pg.69). I think sometimes as educators we are feeling pressured to get the content to the students instead of thinking of the rate of speed we are talking. Processing for students varies. So it is important we are talking at a slower rate so all students understand. Personally I know at times, if someone is talking to me fast I can't recall everything they said and I am not an ELL student.

"The article also states having a variety of techniques used to make content concepts clear" (vogt and echevarria 2022). I think having hands on activities helps the learners make connections to prior knowledge. Also, body language can be helpful in any language such as hand raising, using your hand for the stop signal. Gestures can be across multiple languages.

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1) Key Quote

According to Vogt and Echevarria (2008), English Learners (ELs) can't master new content just by listening. The authors state that teachers should provide comprehensible input, explaining that "they need demonstrations, photos, illustrations, and models to make sense of the words you are speaking." It makes me think on how comprehensible I make my lessons and what areas I can improve. Incorporating visuals, subtitles, repetition, cognates, chunking information, slowing down speech, using graphic organizers, cognates and other techniques are effective practices to make the material more comprehensible.

2) Example

From the book by Vogt and Echevarria, (2008), I liked the example of using taped texts for scaffolding. In my classes I always have readings to adapt and I believe this idea of making a simplified and recorded version of the reading or listening task can be very beneficial. I could use this strategy in a second reading or in a second listening phase.

3) Comment

I can related with Kulson Kahn's post about talking too fast and then feeling guilty about it. After taking the SIOP training, that is something I started to work on. I have to admit that occasionally I forget to slow down my speech and that's something I could improve.

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After watching the clip "Using Realia to Build Background Knowledge," I learned a lot. The instructor engaged students by asking about their experience with thoria, then used real materials to enhance understanding. It was eye-opening to see how hands-on learning can deepen knowledge about familiar dishes. (Colorin Colorado, 2013)

According to Colorin Colorado, " Background knowledge and ELLs: What teachers need to know (2024). It states that the teacher should look for places, names, daily activities that they know the students know and can learn through their concept." (Colorin Colorado, 2024). This also relates back to building relationships with your students. If you do not build the relationship then you will not be able to know background knowledge of your students.

In order to help get to know the students the article states some great strategies I am going to use in my classroom. Particularly the ones that mentioned Inviting students to write their own questions about a topic and asking students to share what they know through a drawing or writing" (Colorin Colorado, 2024) I think this is a great idea especially for those students who might be shy to speak and communicate better through drawing or writing. Also, inviting students to write their own questions about a topic lets the student show their background knowledge and helps the teacher build off of that.

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1) Key Quote

"To enable students to meet grade level content standards, some SIOP teachers find it beneficial to offer a mini- lesson, or "jump start", to help fill in gaps" (Vogt & Echevarria, 2008). I can relate to this quote because in my practice, I almost always incorporate background knowledge and retrieval activities. It helps students who struggle or were absent to class. In this way, I eliminate assumptions about students' knowledge and support them to make connections to the class material.

2) Example

In the book is presented Realia, Photos and Illustrations as an idea and activity for building background. In my classes a "jump start" can be a set images that represent vocabulary studied on previous classes or images that relates with the new learning. It helps students activating the knowledge and to make connections.

3) Comment

I really liked Jess Koslowski's example about the jumpstart group where students that are strategically chosen and can benefit from the support. I can see how effective it could be for ELs students to receive material ahead and get the idea of the lesson before being taught.

Last year, I read an article about ways to support ELs and it mentioned that students could benefit from receiving a list of terms ahead and Jess Koslowski's example aligns well with that idea.

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Quote- In the PearsonSIOPModel Youtube video, the educator explains that she often gets asked “is this the background knowledge before these English Learners came to the United States or are we talking about their background since they’ve come?” and she always says it's BOTH! Whatever type of connections students can make is important and beneficial.

Example- She goes on to explain that students can show background knowledge by connecting things between one unit and another, and teachers can initiate that by saying things like “remember when we learned about ___?” and move forward with letting the students have that precursor idea before they learn something new.

Comment- Colorin Colorado explains three ways to allow EL students to build background knowledge. The first way is to have turn and talks in their home language and reporting back in English. The second way is to share knowledge through drawing or writing in their home language. The third way is to use KWL charts. Clearly a teacher must differentiate and decide which of these is most appropriate for their specific students, and one question I have is- how would students report back in English what they talked about, if they aren’t proficient in English?

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Quote- In Grace Kims Ted Talk, she explained that oftentimes the hardest part of learning a new language is not learning how to speak it or how to write it, but just accepting that you might be wrong, and failure will take place. She explained that failure has actually proven to help us learn things faster.

Example- As a self to world comparison, I would like to bring up my old struggles with my addition problems, whenever we had to do them promptly, as quickly as we could. I would almost always mess up on “7+8”, and that was the only one I had to take the time to count my fingers in order to get the correct answer. This would slow me down and make me lose my groove. Because I had “failed” the question so many times, it was actually easier to remember it from then on. It was 15, and because of the repetition I experienced, I was able to master that question.

Comment- Valentina Gonzalez touched on this, and how comprehensible input involves a conscious effort to make the lesson understandable through a variety of means. While I used repetition in the example above, other means include pointing, slower speech, pausing, and physical positive reinforcement such as smiling and nodding. These are things to definitely keep in mind when working with ELs.

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Key Quote

On page 85, Vogt and Echevarria share the benefits of watching TV with closed captions on when characters are speaking in an unfamiliar accent. "In the same way, teachers' explanations can be difficult for English learners to understand when they are delivered at a rate that is faster than the students can process."

Example

Recording Google Slides with Closed Captions is a great way to scaffold while providing audio along with the text. Talking at a slow rate, pausing in a meaningful way, and enunciating will give MLs a chance to process the language. Creating slideshows could be an early finisher activity for students to demonstrate their learning. This would provide review of the content and practice with reading fluency for native speakers while giving MLs a chance to hear "varied inflections and intonations." (page 84)

Comment

I agree with Kristen that we need to provide opportunities for students to move, participate in hands-on activities, and provide visuals. Just listening to the new information isn't enough to make it stick.

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Building Background Knowledge - Terri Mohr 

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Building Background Knowledge - Terri Mohr 

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Key Quote

According to Vogt and Echevarria, "High-implementing SIOP teachers systematically and purposefully activate students' prior knowledge, determining what they already know and can do related to the topic, and systematically and purposefully develop background information when there is a mismatch or gap." Taking the time to talk to students and pre-assess prior knowledge provides teachers with valuable information to plan effective lessons to build background knowledge. One presenter at a recent meeting referred to this as velcro. You need something for the new learning to stick to.

Example

Chapter 3 includes many wonderful activities to support building background knowledge. The one that stood out to me was "Jumpstart Your Engines!" This pre-teaching activity will help build confidence as students get a chance to connect with the new material before the whole group lesson. They will be more engaged in learning and more confident since they were exposed to the content already.

Comment

I agree with Kelly Grothe about the importance of developing a robust vocabulary. Think & Link is a fun way to practice using vocabulary and making valuable connections between the words and the content. Students will learn the vocabulary and also develop language skills as they compose sentences together.

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A Key quote from the reading:

According to Vogt and Echevarria, " SIOP teachers adjust their speech so that it is understandable, and they provide clear explanations regarding what students are to do and how they are to do it. They need demonstrations, multimedia, illustrations, and models to make sense of the words you are speaking." The video where Valentina Gonzalez spoke in Serbian with no other supports was challenging for me- I had no idea what the lesson/activity was. When she added gestures, modeling, visuals, and more, it was much easier to understand the lesson.

Example of a Lesson: I like "Idiom Match-Up" because idioms are fun yet challenging for everyone. They are a key part of the fifth- grade curriculum standards. The practice allows students to use words and illustrations to understand the idioms. This will be helpful when writing narratives and tall tales, as well as reading novels/stories. Creating a game board captures the ideas in a meaningful way for students. They can also share idioms from their native language.

Jess, the "Google Slides with Closed Captions" is a great activity that is fun to implement. I agree that seeing and hearing words is beneficial for learning and developing vocabulary. These slides can be used for review of content for all students.

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In the text, it tells us that "Learners with robust vocabularies are more likely to be successful academically. " (Vogt and Echevarria, 2002, page 35) I took a really good vocabulary course a while ago based on a book called Bringing Words to Life: Creating Robust Vocabulary- several of the activities in our class text are similar to ones I learned in the previous course. This leads to one of my favorite activities.

Example: I liked the activity "Concept Card Sort. " There are a lot of ways to use this activity, and I like the suggestion of using it to make better sense of content vocabulary and to connect it to events as they are learned. This is very effective in Social Studies, but it can also be terrific for connecting grammar concepts.

Comment: I like Nicole's choice of "Go to Your Corner." I agree that more movement is helpful in the classroom and is great for engaging everyone. The use of initial expert groups to interact with the class and share more information is fun. The chart paper becomes a valuable resource for all students.

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Building Background Knowledge

A quote that stuck out to me was from the video, Teacher Anne Formato: How vocabulary can get in the way of a solving a math word problem. Formato says, "Know your students and knowing what they'll know and trying to move them forward."

It is very similar to anticipating any misconceptions students may have and plan for those without giving too much information or the answers. Analyzing student work (both formal and informal assessments) will help to proactively identify your students' knowledge. The use of anticipation guides (especially in reading) would help to anticipate these misconceptions and plan ahead.

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I hit publish too soon!

My idea about anticipation guides is very similar to Kulsoom's idea of using questionnaires to activate prior knowledge.

I think this could also be used as an anticipation guide to gage prior knowledge.

This is also similar to a pre-test which is used in math classes as formative assessments. This helps to plan ahead.

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The demonstration of comprehensible input by Valentina Gonzalez is a perfect example of how small movements, visuals, body language, and speech patterns can have a huge impact on students' ability to comprehend. This doesn't have to a whole separate lesson or "pull out" for ELLs, with deliberate planning these small steps can bee seamlessly embedded into all lessons.

In Vogt's book, 99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners, she reviews the Move It strategy as a way to increase comprehensible input. I was drawn to how teachers could use this in the secondary math classroom. Addition- pointing up, subtraction pointing down, division chopping into smaller bits etc. will not only help the students remember what the word means but they can also make better estimates if they understand that in a division problem the whole will be broken into smaller parts. If the teacher then uses the same gestures throughout the unit, the students will become more automatic in not only completing the math process but also making estimates and drawing conclusions.

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Background building can be based on information that students already came into class knowing or background that is pre-taught prior to the lesson/activity. In the, Colorin colorado article titled, Background Knowledge and Ells, the information can be gathered by pre-teaching parts of the text. For example, if a social studies teacher was teaching about the Colonial Period the teacher could begin the unit with realia or representations of realia including pictures of Kings, soldiers, treaties, and a map. Allow the students to first build off of their own ideas- kings= power, colonies = East Coast area of country etc. Once this background is made the pictures can be part of the unit board as a reminder to the connections that were already made. In addition, the teacher can also pre-read/analyze any texts that students may have to read. By looking at the text features (bold words, glossary, subheadings, titles etc.) the students will feel better prepared to tackle the text once they are given it.

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A key quote from the reading is, “It is not enough to speak loudly—your students will hear you very well but still may not understand what you’re saying” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2008, p. 49). I’ve noticed this in my own classroom—students hear the words, but they often struggle to make sense of the full sentence.

An important example from the text for supporting English Learners (ELs) is the Idiom Match-Up comprehensible input activity. Idioms can be confusing for Els and younger students in general. That’s why explicit instruction on idioms is so important when learning a new language.

I agree with what Lexie said there’s more to understanding new content than just hearing the sentences.

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1 key quote from the reading:  According to Vogt, “All English learners (EL) come to school with varied experience, but not all of their background knowledge matches what they need to know to be successful in U.S. schools” (2008). This quote helped me realize that while EL students do bring valuable background knowledge, their experiences might not always line up with what's expected or needed in U.S. classrooms

1 example: I really like the “Go to Your Corner” background-building activity. Students these past few years seem to need more movement than ever to help them stay engaged and focused during instruction.

1 comment on anything already posted for this specific component: I really liked how Sarah pointed out that students use classroom posters as a resource. I create and post anchor charts so students can refer back to them whenever they need support.

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Vogt and Echevarria (2022) point out that "teachers' explanations can be difficult for English learners to understand when they are delivered at a rate that is faster than the students can process" (pg. 85). The authors point out that we may used closed captioning for a show or movie featuring an accent to make the show more comprehensible, such as some of the characters in "Ted Lasso". Students are sitting in our classrooms struggling to make sense of what the teacher is saying. The "Recording Google Slides with Closed Captions" is a easy to implement activity to make classroom discussions more comprehensible. While presenting a Google slideshow, there is a CC Captions icon that will provide captions of the conversation. Being able to see and hear the words makes the input more comprehensible.

Davlyn, your quote stood out to me, too. I agree that the idea of presenting information in multiple ways is not stressed enough and also an area of focus for improvement for myself as well.

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A quote that struck me was "High-implementing SIOP teachers...systematically and purposefully develop background information when there is a mismatch or gap" (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, pg. 35). It is our responsibility to make sure our students have the foundational knowledge and understanding to access the new academic learning both in really knowing our students and building on existing experience and then also providing exposure if they do not have background knowledge. The activity, "Jumpstart Your Engines!" is a great way to build students' background knowledge. The Jumpstart group is a strategically-chosen set of students who would benefit academically, emotionally, etc. from a vocabulary and key concept introduction just before the lesson. The Jumpstart group reviews the lesson objectives for the next lesson, the key vocabulary, the resources being used, the tasks being completed, or any other preview that would support their engagement and access to the following lesson. Jumpstart students can also be helpers to their classmates in the lesson, sharing what they learned in their preview.

Anuradha, your comments about building cultural background is so important and so easily overlooked. Culture impacts the examples, words, symbols, color schemes, etc. that we use. As someone who was born and raised in the United States, it is hard to recognize culturally-dependent phrase or saying.

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“When steps to process and procedures are written, orally presented, and modeled, English learners (and other students) are more likely to meet their content and language objectives” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2023). I remember my first years of teaching, using a personal checklist when planning and creating lessons, including information to remember to have written instructions, visuals, and or an example to show my students while explaining orally. Now that it comes more naturally, I use it as an ice breaker on the first day of class to make students confident while I speak in the target language. I start speaking fast and not making any gestures while giving instructions. Once they start looking confused, I say exactly the same, but this time speaking slower, including comprehensible input, gestures, and doing what I want them to do. I love seeing how their faces change as they understand what to do, even when I am still speaking Spanish. Then I make them reflect on what I did, and I talk to them about the importance of feeling confident and paying attention in order to be successful in class.

An example of Comprehensible Input that I found interesting and that connects perfectly with Building Background is Homographs, Homophones, and Synonyms. Comprehensible input has to do with making clear any aspect of English that may be confusing for students who are learning the language. Therefore, English learners will benefit from explicit instruction of and practice with homographs, homophones, and synonyms (Vogt & Echevarria, 2023).

Anuradha Kapur mentioned something that I will keep in mind. “When we want someone to understand something, we tend to speak loudly”. I feel proud of using gestures, images, and GIFs in my presentations, to adjust my speech and everything I can do to stay in the target language, but I don’t pay enough attention to the tone of my voice, and I know I can be loud often. I will now keep it in mind.

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A key quote that, in my opinion, gives Building Background higher value for MLs is: “All students come to school with varied academic backgrounds and experiences, but English learners may have a mismatch between what they know and have experienced, and what they need to know to be successful in school.” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2023) It is important that we help students understand concepts within the context of the lesson to avoid confusions like what we saw in the video of Moises with the word “blocks” in module 3.

As a student, one of the strategies I identified that helped me prepare for a test was explaining to my classmates when we were having discussions, and they had something to clarify. Therefore, I consider the example included on page 48, Pretest with a partner, a great way for students to assess their knowledge. “Pretest with a partner allows English learners as well as other students the opportunity to preview and self-assess at the beginning of a lesson or unit the content material that will be assessed at its conclusion working together partners read discuss and answer pretest questions related to the topic at hand this activity gives both students and teacher an indication of what students you know and don't know about a topic.” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2023)

Comment for Emmalynn Pace’s post – I agree with your quote as well. We both chose quotes that mention the importance of building background to avoid mismatches. While all students benefit from making connections, MLs will have mismatches and gaps aligned with their language proficiency that could be easily addressed by building background.

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There were a couple of concepts which stood out to me. The first is something quite basic but overlooked, often by myself. Adjusting the rate of speech makes a huge difference in student retention. "SIOP teachers adjust their speech so that is is understandable, and they provide clear explanations regarding what students are to do and how they are to do it. When steps to processes and procedures are written, orally presented, and modeled, English learners (and other students) are more likely to meet their content and language objectives" (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, p. 69).

As educators in general (and especially when teaching students of ESOL), we need to be aware of adjusting speech so that our audience (students) can comprehend at their current level. This means a slower pace and clear enunciation when giving instruction.

As a fast talker, I am guilty for not being better aware of my pace. Reflecting on my students' confused looks, I wind up reiterating my directions. If I were to begin my instruction at the beginning with a slower more deliberate pace then I would likely not have to repeat my directions.

The other concept I enjoyed pondering was over the TEDx talk, Learning a Second Language. The speaker emphasized a point that teachers can emphasize to students of ESOL. The lesson is not to be afraid of failure. "By failing, you can make great progress. Learning from failure is much more efficient than just mechanical memorization" (Learning a Second Language, 2:36). It is human nature to feel afraid in making a mistake or being wrong. However, it is also human nature to learn from our mistakes.... correcting our mistakes make new neurological pathways which result is stronger reinforcement and learning.

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One idea which I really liked from this week's reading is activating students' prior knowledge before starting a new lesson.

"An important step in developing students' background knowledge about a topic is to activate what they already know about it. We can do this by determining what students know and what they're experienced related to a topic so they can forge connections between their prior knowledge and new learning" (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, p. 50).

I like the concept of using a simple questionnaire to get an understanding of where students are. This is a great reinforcer of what students CAN DO. When students fill out the questions, their confidence is boosted where they see what they are already familiar with, giving further confidence when they go into a lesson. As we know, this is especially important for ML learners when participating and engaging in classroom discussions and group work, etc.

When this is successfully done, not only does it yield success for students but also teachers in the sense that educators will have a broader comprehension of what their students already know and have learned.

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"Now reflect on those times when, despite teacher explanations, you just didn't 'get' what you were supposed to be learning" (Vogt & Echevarria, 2008, p. 49). This quote sticks out to me because as a "late bloomer" in school, I have felt this way many times.

I love the idea on page 60- Every Student Gets a Chance. Sometimes, in school, I just needed someone to really clearly ingrain in me what the point of what we were learning was. Giving as many students as are willing the chance to repeat aloud the idea or new concept we are about to tackle is such a good way set the stage for new learning.

I like how Sarah mentioned the importance of have organized learning spaces and decluttering walls so that students are not distracted with too much information. This is a great way to visually make sure that the most important elements are being focused on and more likely retained.

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"It is critical that teachers systematically and purposefully activate students' prior knowledge (determining what they already know and can do related to the topic), and systematically and purposefully develop background information when there is a mismatch or gap" (Vogt & Echevarria, 2008, p. 24)

Before reading the examples, I was confused on how we "activate prior knowledge" and "develop background information". The Pretest with a Partner activity from page 30 seems like a great way to do this. I have issued pre-tests before, which have informed how I will go about teaching a unit. Doing this with a partner seems even better, especially for ML's because they can use their partner to as a buffer to try out ideas they have related to the subject in a low-stakes environment. Teachers can get an idea of what experiences students already have with the subject as they both review the partnerships written work circulate the classroom as they complete it.

Lexie's connection to the video of pulling out past student assignments or visuals that relate to an element of what you are currently teaching them, is a great idea as well because building background is all about connecting past and present knowledge for each individual student.

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It is human nature that when we want someone to understand something we tend to speak loudly. The quote on page 49 in 99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners with SIOP Model, “It is not enough to speak loudly- your students will hear you well, but still may not understand what you are saying”, stood out to me as it proves that speaking loudly is not a comprehensible output.

I agree with Kelly that English learners are better supported with visuals and hands on support. A strategy in the book that connects to that is “Move It”. As a teacher, using hands, body, or facial expressions can definitely emphasis the key points in the lesson. While teaching rotation and revolution, I have had students rotate and revolve around their desks to show the different movements of the earth. This not only helps our ML students but is a great learning experience for all students.

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A quote that stood out to me was “All English learners come to school with varied experience, but not all of their background knowledge matches what they need to know to be successful in US schools.”  (Vogt & Echevarria, 2008). This quote resonates with me as it highlights the cultural gaps an English language learner student might face.  A student from Nepal might not understand what “Thanksgiving” or “Christmas” is and the foods associated with it. Similarly, foods and vegetables that all American children connect to might be new to them such as broccoli or peanut butter. If a text is making references to anything that a ML student is not already exposed to, they might have trouble understanding the text. Hence it is important to meet ML students where they are and transform potential barriers into opportunities for making connections. Using realia is a great strategy for teaching English learners to better develop unknown word or concepts. This builds on what Taylor said in her post that making the time to build that background knowledge will benefit everyone.

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The quote from the book, "We cannot expect English learners to master new content learning by just listening," (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022 pg. 69), was the one that stuck out to me the most. I lean into this quote because our English learners need visual and hands-on supports to learn new content. We must model, demonstrate, repeat, use realia, and have students participate along with the teacher. In the video, Valentina Gonzalez really showed how hard it was to learn and listen with just being spoken to. She was speaking in Serbian at first and I knew nothing that she was saying, but when she incorporated multiple means of comprehensible input, I knew exactly what she was meaning, and I learned some words in Serbian as well! An example from the book of comprehensible input is "Move It!" Vogt & Echevarria, 2022 pg. 79. This strategy sounds very much like TPR and I love doing total physical response with my students especially when learning new vocabulary words. In this example students are mimicking the alligator's mouth for the greater and less than symbols in math. I have done this with my students in the past and it works to help them remember which way the greater number goes, because the alligator always eats the bigger number, thus the symbol is always going the right way when we point the mouth to the bigger number!

Kristen Burge and I chose the same quote and the same example from the text. Kristen states that having students move to act out concepts, gets their bodies moving and also provides time for a movement/brain break. I think that is a great way to incorporate movement for learning and movement for getting ready to learn again. Students love creating their own movements for vocabulary words and concepts, because then they will own those movements and own that learning.

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Building Background Knowledge -Kelly Grothe 

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Building Background Knowledge -Kelly Grothe 

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One quote that stood out to me was "Learners with robust vocabularies are more likely to be successful academically," (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022). I think this is integral to learning content and making connections to readings and writing about your topic. You cannot write about content without using the connected vocabulary. My team and I spent a great deal of time this year and last year explicitly teaching vocabulary to our students using a variety of methods. One example from the book on pages 56-58 is "Think & Link." In this strategy, students play a dice game with vocabulary words and they have to make linkages between words that are randomly generated via the dice. It is a fun way to make connections between the important words in the content and the text they have read. This shows that students have an abstract understanding of the words and not just filling in blanks or matching definitions of words.

I agree with Kristen Burge's quote on the Padlet about students and their schemata. I am a big proponent of making connections to student's prior learning and helping them forge connections to new learning. This is also how we learn and make new neural pathways in our brains and help our brains grow. So, when we help students make connections to past and new learning, their little brains grow bigger!

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Valentina Gonzalez's video was very powerful. The use of movement with visuals and words made me comprehend the task that was asked to complete. The use of the explicit modeling helped me to understand what was expected of me and the repetition of certain words will also help me to remember them in the future.

I found this activity very similar to TPR (total physical response) especially with vocabulary. Students could repeat the word with an action related to the meaning in order for lasting retention.

I agree with Kelly that students cannot just learn by listening; they need to be doing. She and I had very similar thoughts, especially about vocabulary! I also would to incorporate the Move It! strategy in my classroom now.

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The quote that stood out to me was "We cannot expect English learners to master new content learning by just listening. They need demonstrations, multimedia, illustrations and models to make sense of the words you are speaking." (Vogt & Echevarria, 2020) It is so important to use models, visuals and hands on activities in all lessons with MLs. This is how they will be able to understand what their teachers are saying.

One example of comprehensible input is Think, Jot, Pair, Share on page 87 of 99 Ideas and Activities. In this activity teachers distribute sticky notes to each students. Students write their thoughts about a certain topic for 1 minute or more if students need more time. ML students who are newcomers could draw what they know about the topic. Then students share what they know with a partner or group. This activity promotes listening, speaking and writing all in one. It's also good for those students who may be too shy to raise their hands and speak in front of the whole class or group.

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One quote that stood out to me was "All students come to school with varied academic backgrounds and experiences, but English learners may have mismatch between what they know and have experienced, and what they need to know to be successful in school." (Vogt & Echevarria, 2020) This stood out to me because students come to us from all different backgrounds and we need to be cognizant of ALL our learners. We need to realize certain topics may be sensitive for some of our students. This is why it is so important to develop strong relationships with our students.

One example of building background knowledge is the Think and Link activity on page 56 of 99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching EL learner. For this activity pairs of students need to demonstrate understanding of key vocabulary by writing down sentences that connect two or more vocabulary words. This activity helps the teacher identify who needs more help developing key vocabulary words.

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The quote I chose is: "Teachers must slow down their rate of speech, avoid idioms or explain them, and clearly enunciate when working with English learners" (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, p. 43). This really connected with what Valentina Gonzalez emphasized in her video about comprehensible input—that it's not about dumbing down content but about making it accessible. Speaking clearly and intentionally can make a huge difference in how well students understand what’s being taught.

One example that stood out from the reading was the use of gestures and facial expressions to support language. I’ve noticed that when I exaggerate gestures while explaining vocabulary—like pretending to "chop" when introducing the word or concept in a lesson—students not only remember it better but also engage more. This aligns with the Gonzalez video too, where she mentions using body language and visuals to help bridge the language gap without reducing the complexity of the content.

I also really appreciated the point in the Colorín Colorado video about how background knowledge isn’t just about academic vocabulary—it’s about understanding the context of what we’re learning. That reminded me how important it is to pause and check in with students often, using things like think-pair-share or visual cues to make sure they’re connecting with the content and not getting left behind due to language barriers.

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The quote I chose is “It is important that teachers are aware of the critical role that background knowledge plays in learning, especially for English learners, who may not have the same experiences or prior knowledge as their native English-speaking peers” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, p. 24). This quote reminded me how important it is to consider what students bring with them before diving into new content. I’ve noticed that when I assume students know certain things—especially in science or social studies—it can leave them feeling lost from the start. Making time to build background knowledge helps create access to the lesson for everyone.

One strategy from the chapter that stood out to me was the use of brining in real-world objects to support students' understanding. For example, during a lesson on measurement, using actual tools like rulers, measuring cups, and scales helps students visualize and interact with the vocabulary in a hands-on way. This has been especially helpful for my English learners, who benefit from seeing and touching the materials while hearing and using the new vocabulary words.

I also thought the idea of using picture cards for lesson objectives was such a smart, simple strategy. It’s easy to assume students understand the goal just because it’s written on the board, but pairing it with a visual makes it so much more accessible, especially when language could be a barrier.

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Comprehensible Input - Alexis (Lexie) Aris

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Comprehensible Input - Alexis (Lexie) Aris

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Just speaking at an appropriate voice level may not be enough for every single student to understand the content material being taught. "For English learners to understand your instruction, it is imperative that you implement techniques to improve comprehensibility." (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, p.49). In my classroom, I like to use movement and gestures to respond, show their level of understanding and to help support content being taught. On page 53 in our textbook, it gave the idea of having students move their hand like an alligator mouth in a greater than and less than math lesson. I have used this strategy every year so far when teaching that lesson in math. It really helps solidify students understanding of greater than and less than while also allowing me to gather data by looking at their gestures for responses. In the video, MaryEllen Vogt, shared how sometimes we have to give students information orally, so being able to pair it with another mode is helpful. For example, with the greater than and less than lesson; we have to orally teach the phrases "greater than" and "less than" but pairing it with the signs > and <, as well as concrete manipulatives and gestures, the students get to hear/see and take in the content in many ways.

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Building Background - Alexis (Lexie) Aris

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Building Background - Alexis (Lexie) Aris

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Not all of our students come to school with the same background knowledge, and some of those students may not even have a sufficient amount of background knowledge to be successful in the grade level content. That is why "It is important therefore, that teachers not only activate students' prior knowledge, but also build background for those who have these gaps in their understandings and background knowledge." (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, p.24). One strategy to help build background is the use of a KWL chart, like shown on page 28 in our textbook. I use this strategy quite often in science and social studies and we revisit it multiple times throughout the unit. In the video, when MaryEllen Vogt shared how you might pull out an old transparency sheet for the overhead that was used in a previous lesson to help make connections and build background, it reminded me of how we create, use and go back to our anchor charts in the same exact way.

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In the video it puts focus on broadening the idea of being comprehensible Instead of just speaking slowly and clearly, they are adding other things such as how they are organized and using photographs or visuals. They can use the internet to help their learning as well. It is so important for the students and teachers to be organized so that the learning environment is held to a higher standard. In our school we make sure our walls are not super cluttered because it can become overwhelming and a distraction. So, some wall space should be blank. In the video she also talked about the use of graphic organizers. These can also help students organize their work and keep their ideas in a neat way. In the video it also talked about how students can work together by reading and then the other students then paraphrasing what they said. This way they are both held accountable for their learning. In the text it states, “It is very important that teachers determine the English language acquisition levels of their students” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, p.51). By doing this, you can help them learn at their current level and push them to do their best. Knowing where your students are and how you can help them learn and grow the best is so important to be able to have a lasting impact on these students' educational careers.

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Overall, this chapter really gave many great examples on how to help students using many different strategies. A quote from the reading that stood out to me would be “English Language learners routinely refer to posters which are hung in the classroom” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, p.37). This stood out to me because in my school we use many anchor charts as a tool for students to help create and leave up for continued use. These charts are so important for all learners. An example that I really liked was the four corners vocabulary for building background. This allows the student to have a visual, see it used in a sentence, see the definition of it and the actual vocabulary word. Students need to be able to have visuals to make more connections and to help remember. This video really puts an emphasis on the idea that it is not only about what they already know but it is about making future connections. Using visuals such as maps to help activate thinking is the way the video is shown as well.

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According to the text, "SIOP teachers adjust their speech so that it is understandable, and they provide clear explanations regarding what students are to do and how they are to do it (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022). One activity that can help students in regards to comprehensible input is "Every student gets a chance". This activity uses repetition to help students to learn new concepts. This activity/ strategy has students repeat things that students and teachers have said in order to help them to comprehend what is being taught and explained. This kind of activity can be done in any kind of content class to ensure that students are digesting what the teacher and other students are saying.

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While reading the text, I learned many different ways to enhance a student's background knowledge. Once way that a teacher can help build a student's background knowledge are flip books. Flip books are another way of incorporating vocabulary cards to help students make connections to words that they already know. These flip books should include synonyms and antonyms for the words that the students are learning. They can also include images to help the students to understand what thew word means. A quote that stuck out to me was, "Teachers often use vocabulary cards for review, and the cards can also be used to introduce or frontload vocabulary at the beginning of a lesson. This process helps students build on background knowledge and increase comprehension of a lesson or unit being studied' (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022).

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The quote from the text that stuck out to me is, "We cannot expect English learners to master new content learning by just listening" (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, p. 69). This quote stuck out to me, because students need to do more than just listen to instruction to learn. Multilingual learners need to see visuals, demonstrations, and models in order to be sucessful. It is important for teachers to provide lots of opportunities for hands-on activities and learning to help students grasp new content.

An example that stuck out to me was "Move It!". The teacher adds a movement or gesture to new vocabulary to help students learn the lesson. Students are able to act out the word or phrase and it gets their bodies moving. I love this for the younger kids since we need to build in movement breaks for the kids anyway.

Comment: The Guiding Questions for Comprehensible Input is a great list of questions to support teachers with planning lessons for MLs. The questions will help for planning for how teachers will deliver the lesson and explain new concepts to ML students.

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A quote from the text that stuck out to me was, "The linking of schemata with the development of new schemata enables students to process and retain newly learned information" (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, p. 35). This quote stuck out to me because its important to remember that students learn through making connections. Students need to connect new learning to prior learning in order to retain the information.

An example that stuck out to me is "Play it Again". The teacher carefully plans out visuals to use at the beginning of every lesson to remind students of connections in the materials. The visuals help students build upon knowledge learned in each lesson. Students will be able to make a path of visuals to represent their learning by the end of the Unit.

Comment: I like the Lesson Objective picture cards that can be used as a visuals with objectives. The use of visuals is so important to help students with understanding vocabulary words, so using pictures to match the Language objective words would be very helpful.

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In chapter 4, Vogt and Echevarria writes, “ We cannot expect English learners to master new content learning by just listening.  They need demonstrations, multimedia, illustrations, and models to make sense of the words you are speaking” ( Vogt and Echevarria, 2022, p.69).  This quote stood out to me because rarely do I encounter lessons where there is a focus on lesson delivery as a tool to support comprehension.  Furthermore, most lessons will have a singular delivery medium, usually orally.  As an educator I need to be mindful of this and look forward to learning strategies that can enhance comprehension.

Idiom Match -Up – In this fun game, students match idioms and idiomatic expressions to their meaning.   I like this activity because it allows for meaningful practice since Language Learners usually struggle with this concept.

Lesson Delivery – Multiple Meaning Words – In this video the teacher helps students learn the different meanings of the word ‘draw’.  Students had multiple opportunities to use  and interact with the word.  They drew pictures to demonstrate the meanings, read sentences aloud that illustrated the meanings, saw an anchor chart with pictorial description of each meaning and of course heard the teacher explain the multiple meanings of the word.  I appreciate that there were multiple ways to students to learn this concept.

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“Learners with robust vocabularies are more likely to be successful academically” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, p.35). This quote reinforces the need for and importance of explicitly and regularly teaching vocabulary.  Effective vocabulary instruction bridges previous learning (background knowledge) to new concepts. Therefore, students need multiple opportunities to interact with and practice key vocabulary as they build critical content and improve their oral language.

Two Truths and a Trick is a fun and impactful way to help learn and reinforce key concepts.   Groups of students are presented with 3 statements and must decide with two are true and which is the trick (false).  Students then correct the trick statement. Since most students have some familiarity with the game, it is easy to implement. Furthermore, this strategy can be used as a pre-unit activity to determine background information.

The example of the Personal Dictionary Template that was posted is an easy tool to incorporate into lessons so that students are learning important vocabulary concepts.  I like that the template editable which lends itself to multiple grade levels.

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Quote: The goal is always comprehension in a lesson, and a scaffolded approach with movement is an excellent way to engage learners and clarify meanings. “TED Talk speakers use techniques to augment their talk, such as gestures and visuals” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, p. 69).

Example: On page 79 it outlines the activity Move it! I love this idea of using physical expression of moving their bodies to comprehend a lesson. When students repeat movements in a lesson it aid in comprehending new vocabulary and recall. What a great way to also cultivate an engaging and active classroom environment.

Comment: There is no doubt that learning a new language is difficult. In the video for this week she mentions that you can take 3 steps for learning a new language. For the first step she mentions that you have to not be afraid to fail. This is so true and giving our students safe and engaging environments to try, even if they fail is the most successful way to learn!

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A key quote from the reading is that ELLs “ need demonstrations, multimedia, illustrations, and models to make sense of the words you are speaking” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, ch. 4). Teachers cannot just lecture students because students won’t fully understand all of the information without seeing visuals, using graphic organizers, paraphrasing, and more.

Example: An example from the text of making content more comprehensible for students is the use of framed outlines. I remember writing my own outline notes in high school and college. This is something that helped me memorize but also fully understand what I was learning in order to apply it to test taking. Specifically in science, social studies, and health, I have my students take notes with me in different formats, whether it’s in bullets, fill in the blanks, or in graphic organizers. I feel it’s important for my fifth graders to be able to take notes especially as they are getting older and will eventually need to be able to do this on their own.

Comment: In the Youtube video, MaryEllen Vogt stated, “if they are not using English, they are not learning English.” This quote resonates with me because I have a group of boys in my class this year that speak in Spanish constantly. Two of the boys know English very well, while the other two boys do not, so Spanish is easiest for them to communicate. My ELD co-teacher and I encourage all of our students to speak English with one another inside of the classroom as well as at lunch and recess, especially these boys. Considering one is a newcomer and the other has special education services, it's important for them to learn English before we send them off to middle school soon.

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The video of MaryEllen Vogt starts off by depicting what comprehensible input use to look like, which was essentially talking slower to make sure was enunciate words, hoping to help children understand, but she stating that that has grown to include showing models or visuals, providing supports, or scaffolding to truly enhance comprehension. While I do agree that speaking slowly and more clear is very important (something that I have worked on myself for numerous of years) I think that I love the shift in including all of the other supports as well and how vital it is for true understanding. Repetition is a big strategy that I use all the time for comprehension and is something that can be added quickly to any lesson with no extra effort. Whether it's adding vocabulary and repeating the word and definition, or a math rule or strategy, repetition can enhance the learning experience and the output as well. Another strategy I use daily is modeling. I find that if I model writing a paragraph or setting up our notebooks for the day, I find that it is much easier for students to complete the task at hand. I keep my guide always on the board for those who need help along the way. A strategy that I would love to implement more is the recorded text strategy. The text states, " One of its greatest advantages is that English learners can listen to the text repeatedly to improve comprehension, develop fluency, and increase their English proficiency" ( Vogt & Echevarria, 2022). Since our school is one to one with iPads, I could record myself slowly and clearly reading the chapter or the pages (or use a platform like Sora) and have them have the option to listen for added comprehension.

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A key quote from the reading is that “it is critically important that teachers explicitly and intentionally develop English learners’ vocabulary knowledge to foster their comprehension of text and to promote their oral language proficiency” (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, ch. 3).

Example: In my school’s new literacy curriculum, Amplify CKLA, there are built in “pausing point” days that my grade level utilizes almost every Friday. We use these days to pre-teach content, especially for our ELLs. Like in a Jumpstart activity from Chapter 3, we teach students important vocabulary words that will be in the subsequent whole class lessons during the following week. We also introduce the text that will be read so ELL students are able to be more engaged and have a greater understanding of what they are learning since it’s been pre-taught to them.

Comment: I really enjoy the Personal Dictionary example for developing students' understanding of vocabulary. While reading the word study journal section in chapter 3, I got to thinking about how I can pre-teach vocabulary more explicitly in my upcoming literacy unit. During a planning session last week, my teammates and I created visual slides for the vocabulary words for our last 2 remaining literacy units. Instead of just teaching students the words and definitions, I will have students copy down the word, part of speech, definition, illustration, and sentence into their journals like in the Personal Dictionary example. This will give my students a word study journal they can refer to during the entire unit.

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In the text it states, " The linking of schemata with the development of new schemata enables students to process and retain newly learned information" (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022). Accessing prior knowledge is a great way for teachers to gain a better understanding of where to go next as well as allow students to make connections going forward. In my class, I have seen students display their background knowledge by just telling me what they know about a word, a picture, or event. For instance, I recently asked my students about the American Revolution, since that is our new unit in reading. I showed the The Boston Massacre painting as well. I had them complete what I call musical partners (like musical chairs but finding a partner when the music stops rather than a chair). And then at the end, we can share somethings we heard as a class. This made it easier for my students to open up their prior knowledge and share what they already know, but also really connect with each other one on one as well and build that sense of community. Many students pulled from our social studies lesson talking about the colonies, simply based on the painting and what the people were wearing. Simply by asking a question, teachers are better able to reach all students easier.

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According to the video of MaryEllen Vogt, she states that it is important that whatever we are teaching to students must be comprehensible. Initially, the focus was to slow down our speech and make sure we are enunciating carefully. However, today, we focus on not only doing those tasks but also being comprehensible by providing students with visuals while teaching, ensuring the texts they read have support materials, providing graphic organizers to allow ELL to structure their learning, or provide study guides for older students. Teachers can also provide ELL students with shortened passages and have students paraphrase or repeat information to allow the teacher to see if the student is grasping the concept. As a teacher myself, these strategies I find to be important and eye-opening. I have always tried to work on making sure I am not speaking too quickly and am enunciating words as clearly as possible, but I never thought of how it could really impact EL learners if I am not. We do not have many EL learners at my school, because most of them are sent to another school for an ESOL program. However, there have been times where parents have rejected the ESOL program and students have been at my school who have very little to no knowledge of English; so, I believe these strategies are very important to learn about and use whether you have ELLs in your class or not. The textbook states, “we need to recognize that as students learn English, they must also develop strategies to critically analyze and effectively learn (Echevarria, J., Vogt, M. E. & Short, D. D. 2008, pg. 69).” MaryEllen Vogt discussed some very important strategies that we as teachers can use to teach students, as well as what students can use when doing independent work.

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According to the text, "learners develop understandings through connecting what they know and have experienced to what they are learning" (Vogt, M. & Echeverria, J. Pg. 70, 2022). A good way to help build up this background knowledge scaffold is to ask students about what they already know. Whenever we start talking about a topic, we always start with what we already know about a topic. We connect that knowledge we already know to the new things we are learning. If we are learning about animal habitats, we can discuss things we already know about and have seen. We can talk about bird nests, we can even talk about houses as well. Pictures would be put along with this to help students visualize it, and make a connection to something they may have seen themselves.

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Repetition is being clear are key parts to make sure that my EL students can access all the materials. I can include a lot of discussion in the assignments because "students are hearing the same input over and over from other students rather than from the teacher, so they will hear other pronunciations, inflections, and intonation" (Vogt, M. & Echeverria, J. Pg. 70, 2022). This way, students can hear the same things in different ways and can make more sense of it. They also get to practice repeating what they hear. Another way to make instructions comprehensible is to make sure I am working on my enunciation and being clear with my communication. I need to make sure I am not slurring words, using slang, or just not enunciating right. I need to use vocabulary that is not too complicated or too hard for students so that they can spend more time trying to understand the directions rather than trying to understand the words in the directions. To help make directions accessible, pictures can be used when available or when it makes sense. As we saw with Moises, he was able to match the word run with a picture of it. Pictures can help students understand directions, and match a word to an action for the future. These are all strategies that can be used to help make content clearer to students.

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Building Background Knowledge- Ashley Leonard

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Building Background Knowledge- Ashley Leonard

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According to MaryEllen Vogt, background knowledge is important because it allows ELL's to make connections based on prior and/or future experiences. Building background knowledge allows teachers the chance to build connections between units that have already been taught and new upcoming units. Providing visuals for students can be extremely beneficial. For example, in the video, a teacher used a pull-down map to activate prior knowledge from a previous lesson. She used that map to show how what they learned will connect with what they will learn next. Building background knowledge also activates key vocabulary as well as academic language that will be used across lessons and units.

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A key quote from the text: "High implementing SIOP teachers systematically and purposefully activate students prior knowledge, determining what they already know and can do related to the topic, and systematically and purposefully develop background information when there is a mismatch or gap (Vogt & Echevarria, 2022, p.35).

Example: From the text, I like the example activity on page 52 for a Surprise Book. It is a fun and engaing activity that helps students to make predictions by seeing the cover of a book. After predictions they take a picture walk and read aloud together. While there is the fun factor of a surprise they are given the chance to tap into their own background knowledge in order to make a prediction.

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Ensuring that I am speaking and delivering the academic content that I am required too in a way that is accessible for all of my students is something that I am actively working on. The idea that "all student, especially English learners, need repetition when it comes to learning new vocabulary, the explanation of an idea, a math or science process, instructions for completing a task..." (Vogt, M., & Echevarria, J., 2022). These ideas are all ones that I have been working to enact in my class as I have many students with learning disabilities and in addition to my EL students they benefit from me slowing down, using hand gestures, annunciating my words. Something that I am currently doing in my class is having students create interactive notebooks, I am modeling this practice with them and as we are nearing the end of 5th grade, they are working to use the skills they have been taught and imposing them with supports that they need in order to be successful learners. I model explicitly with lots of prompting and note taking, drawing visuals in my notebook in order for the students to see how to do it and then they work in groups and eventually get to independently applying these skills. I will also always keep my notebook, so students can reference it as a guide or take elements from mine that they feel will help them to build their understanding. I want to make a connection to Amber's post as I agree with her in the sense that this is helping our students engaged and accountable of their learning. As teachers we must model these behaviors in order for our students be able to pick them up and apply them outside of our classroom as well.

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Sparking Prior Knowledge - Megan Proefrock

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Sparking Prior Knowledge - Megan Proefrock

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"Student learning is enhanced when teachers activate students prior knowledge... The linking of schemata with the development of new schemata enables students to process and retain newly learned information" (Vogt, M., & Echevarria, J., 2022). Something that has helped my students make connections with priorly learned knowledge is to looked at our content vocabulary words and break them down with prefixes, suffixes, and roots and making a prediction definition. Then they are given a photo reference and they can add to or adjust their definition. Then we will read our text or complete our activity and students then are instructed to confirm or adjust their prior to reading definition. This has helped them then have that knowledge built by themselves as we move forward in our units, so it is making them responsible for creating the connections. I have noticed that most of my students hold onto their definitions and are successful in using these content area vocabulary words in their work. I feel that this is connected to teachers and their lesson prep, the visuals need to be relevant and connected to the students and the learning. If teachers are not prepared for this, it won't be successful in helping students in building or connecting background knowledge.

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"When learners understand an explanation, they tend to be interested and engaged" (Vogt, M., & Echevarria, J., 2022, p.69).

Under the "Questions to guide your thinking when planning comprehensible input" section, it poses a question about making explanations of tasks clear for students. Somethings that I currently implement in my class is verbally explaining the expectations while modeling what I expect students to do. I also frequently have a list of steps that break down my explanation for students to follow. One thing that I could do to make this more comprehensible for students would be to add pictures next to the items on the list. For example, a picture of a student reading to symbolize re-reading a piece of text, a picture of two students talking to symbolizing sharing their thoughts with a partner, a picture of the turn in bin for when they are finished an activity, etc.

An idea presented in the book for helping with comprehensible input is "Recorded Texts for Understanding" (P.83). Although in the text, the idea is specifically referencing reading things like stories, articles, and chapters, I feel this idea could be beneficial when it comes to making expectations clear. By recording myself reading the check list out loud and inserting small reminders of what each item on the list means, this would help make my expectations clear, keep students on track with the task, and boost engagement and motivation.

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"Learners with robust vocabularies are more likely to be successful academically" (Vogt, M., & Echevarria, J., 2022, p.35).

In the video of MaryEllen Vogt attached to this chain, she talks about the importance of making "...explicate links to past learning" and how that helps students to see that "...there is a connection between what I'm learning today and what I learned in the past". This not only makes the learning meaningful for the students, but it also helps expand their background knowledge of the content and vocabulary that will help them make connections with the new material as well as make deeper connections with the old material.

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•Role-play (jury deliberations)
•Explain a math problem to a partner      •Think-Pair-Share
•Expert Stay and Stray
•Inside/Outside Circle
•Conga Line
•Describe a picture from a text
•Word Play
•Retell a story using puppets or dramatic play
•Small-group discussion of books by the same author
•Turn and Talk
•Carousel
•Dictate a story

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Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP Model

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Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP Model

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This 3-column template requires students to first record their own ideas about a given topic, then collect ideas from others, and finally decide on a list of shared ideas.

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TESOL Trainers: K12 Education Consultants

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SIOP Components & Features TESOL Trainers K-12 PD

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SIOP Components and Features - lesson preparation, building background, comprehensible input, strategies, interaction, practice application, lesson delivery, review and evaluation. TESOL Trainers gives teachers a solid understanding of the components of

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TESOL Trainers: K12 Education Consultants

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SIOP Component #7:
Lesson Delivery

After 6 SIOP components, we are now talking about teaching the lesson. The Lesson Delivery component of Sheltered Instruction invites the teacher to consider how every step in the lesson moves the students closer to the lesson's objectives.

TESOL Trainers provides teacher training on strategies and techniques to make lesson delivery more efficient and effective.

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After 6 SIOP components, we are now talking about teaching the lesson. The Lesson Delivery component of Sheltered Instruction invites the teacher to consider how every step in the lesson moves the students closer to the lesson's objectives. TESOL Trainers provides teacher training on strategies and techniques to make lesson delivery more efficient and effective.

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Extension projects such as:
● diorama
● poster
● fancy file folder
● collage
● abc books
Any creative ideas students can come up with to demonstrate additional understanding of a concept.