Transcript Slide 1

Creating Comprehensible
Input for ELLs
Kristen Lindahl
Presented to the PCSD
Based on Making Content Comprehensible for
Elementary English Learners: The SIOP Model
(Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2008)
THEORETICAL BASE OF
COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT
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Stephen Krashen (1983): The Monitor Model
Consists of 5 hypotheses about L2 acquisition
 Public school educators have latched on to two of them
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Comprehensible Input
Provide input to the student at a level slightly higher than
they are able to understand (challenge but not overwhelm)
 Abbreviated as “i + 1”
 Necessary for L2 acquisition to occur
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Affective Filter
Outside stressors cause the student to have less “room” for
attention to cognitive tasks
 A reduction of these stressors enables
the student to focus more on cognitive tasks
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COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT IN THE SIOP
MODEL
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SIOP Indicator #10: Speech Appropriate for
Students’ English Proficiency Levels (E, V, & S, 2008)
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Rate and enunciation
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Complexity of Speech
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Slow down
Pause at thought groups
Enunciate clearly
Use Simple Sentence Structure
Avoid Idioms
Idiom Examples
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Roll the Dice
Kick the bucket
Need a hand
Touch base
Zip it
Big Cheese
Cut to the chase
Out of this world
Hit the road
Get the hang of it
See eye to eye
Put your foot down
COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT IN THE SIOP
MODEL
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SIOP Indicator #11: Clear Explanation of Academic
Tasks
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Step-by-Step Instructions (no more than 3-5 steps)
Provide a model, or model/demonstrate, visuals
Think-Alouds
Match oral directions with written ones
Comprehension Checks
Example of step-by-step instructions
Differentiate between behavioral and cognitive
instructions.
 “Read the text. Summarize the information in your
graphic organizer.”
 Steps in summarization:
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1.
2.
3.
4.
Read the text.
Decide what is important (what to keep).
Decide what is less important (what to delete).
Communicate the important parts in your own words.
COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT IN THE SIOP
MODEL
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SIOP Indicator #12: A Variety of
Techniques used to Make Concepts Clear
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Gestures, body language, pictures, & objects
Model processes, tasks, and assignments
Preview material/concepts
Allow alternative forms for expressing understanding
Use multimedia/technology
Provide repeated exposures to words, concepts, and
skills
Chunk information into smaller bits… “Chunk &
Chew”
Graphic & advance organizers