• Supports development in most learning areas, including reading and writing skills, and can be used as a tool to teach in any subject area.
• Can be integrated with all curricula and syllabi in schools with learners of all abilities.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.   

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

"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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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. 

"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.

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 _______.” 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.