Discuss with a Partner

• Why did I find some cartoons humorous and others not funny?

• Relate a time when you felt like an “outsider” in a group because you did not understand what was being talked about.

SIOP – Spicing up instruction

1. Preparation2. Building Background3. Comprehensible Input4. Strategies5. Interaction6. Practice and Application7. Lesson Delivery8. Review and Assessment

Content Objectives• Recognize the importance of connecting

students’ personal experiences to lesson concepts

• Identify strategies for linking past learning with new information

• Incorporate a variety of vocabulary development activities into lessons

• Share one experience regarding how you utilized building background in your classroom

Language Objectives

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What’s Going On?

The questions that p______ face as they raise ch_____ from in_____ to adult life are not easy to ans_____. Both fa_____ and m______ can become concerned when health problems such as co___ arise any time after the e____ stage to later life. Experts recommended that young ch____ should have plenty of s_____ and nutritious food for healthy growth. B____ and g____ should not share the same b_____ or even sleep in the same r_____. They may be afraid of the d_____.

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What’s Going On?

The questions that pxxxxxxxxx face as they raise chxxxxxx from inxxxxxxx to adult life are not easy to ansxxx. Both faxxxxx and mxxxxxxxx can become concerned when health problems such as coxxxxxxxx arise any time after the exx stage to later life. Experts recommended that young chxxx should have plenty of sxxxxxxxx and nutritious food for healthy growth. Bxxxxx and gxxxx should not share the same bxxxxxxx or even sleep in the same rxxxx. They may be afraid of the dxxx.

oultrymenickens cubation

wer rmers erchants

ccidiosis gg

icks unshine anties

eese arnyard

oost

ark

Building Background

• 1) Link concepts to students’ background experiences

• 2) Bridge past learning to new concepts

• 3) Key vocabulary emphasized

Building Background

• Most reading material assumes common prior knowledge

• Vocabulary knowledge correlates strongly with academic achievement and reading comprehension

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What is known about poor readers…

They read less often because reading is difficult and frustrating.

Poor readers don’t read enough to improve their vocabulary knowledge.

Poor comprehension is a result of not reading.The cycle results in a gap between proficient

and non- proficient readers that grows exponentially.

Being a poor reader may lead to school drop out.

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Reading Across Content Areas

• “One of the most persistent findings in reading research is that the extent of students’ vocabulary knowledge relates strongly to their reading comprehension and overall academic success.”

-Lehr, Osborn and Hiebert, 2005

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Is it worth it?

• An average student learns about 3,000 words per year.

• For students who learn only 1,000 words per year, a gain of 300 words equals a 30% increase

• This is significant if repeated year after year.

- Stahl, 1999

Greater Retention for all Learners

People retain:

• 10% of what they read

• 20% of what they hear

• 30% of what they see

• 50% of what they see and hear

• 70% of what they say

• 90% of what they say as they do or teach something.

Source: E. Dale

We Learn…

Building Background

• 1) Link concepts to students’ background experiences

• 2) Bridge past learning to new concepts

• 3) Key vocabulary emphasized

1) Link Concepts to Students’ Background Experiences

• Discuss students’ previous personal and academic experiences to help bridge meaning

• Question students’ backgrounds to preview an upcoming topic

• Following discussion, relate students’ input and directly apply it to the new concept

Ways to Link Students’ Background

• Realia (REAL OBJECTS), Photos, and Illustrations: Teachers and/or students bring in “real items” to bring the new concept to life.

• Anecdotal Accounts: Teachers and students share personal experiences through oral, written or drawn explanations. Teacher may prompt through questioning.

2) Bridge Past Learning to New Concepts

• Integrate new information with what the learner already knows

• Build a bridge from previous learning to new concepts for students to cross over

• Not all students have the ability to make

connections on their own and benefit from teacher’s explicitly modeling connections

Ways to Bridge Past Learning to New Concepts

• KWL Chart: Have students individually or as a class create a KWL chart to refer back to throughout the unit

• Questioning: Ask a simple question, “Who remembers what we did yesterday?” and solicit responses

• Student Journals: Have students write or draw what they have learned in a journal or notebook

3) Key Vocabulary

• The most effective way to teach vocabulary is when it is presented in the context of new concepts, not in isolation.

• Students should be actively involved in their own vocabulary development and make it personal.

• Students should be immersed in a vocabulary- rich environment.

Why Not Just Use Glossaries and Dictionaries?

• iambic pentameter:  a common meter in poetry consisting of an unrhymed line with five feet or accents, each foot containing an unaccented syllable and an accented syllable

• mi·to·sis: the usual method of cell division, characterized by the resolving of the Chromatin of the nucleus into a threadlike form, which condenses into chromosomes, each of which separates longitudinally into two parts, one part of each chromosome being retained in each of two new cells resulting from the original cell.

• lon·gi·tude: angular distance east or west on the earth's surface, measured by the angle contained between the meridian of a particular place and some prime meridian, and expressed either in degrees or by some corresponding difference in time.

• the·o·rem: a theoretical proposition, statement, or formula embodying something to be proved from other propositions or formulas.

Vocabulary

• Planet• Numbers• Noun

• Compare• Predict• Collect• Share• Discuss

Content – key words related to the subject/topic

Process – words related to what the students are to do

To be successful while learning content and language simultaneously, teachers must systematically teach content vocabulary, process/function vocabulary, and how word structure impacts word meanings.

• Highlight• Underline• Summarize• Respond• Match

Be careful when words have multiple meanings.

Turn right at the next hallway.

Are you alright?

You are right!

Write a sentence about school.

Vocabulary

Ways to Teach Key Vocabulary

• Vocabulary Self-Selection: Encourage students to select vocabulary words that THEY feel are essential for their understanding.

• Word Wall: Display vocabulary words related to the new concept being taught.

• Four Corners Vocabulary: Gives the students the opportunity to identify, illustrate, define and contextualize a vocabulary word.(word, picture, word in context, definition)

• Word Quest – Looks for an interesting word, write it on a word card, with group, read the word using technique cards

Classroom Walls

Leave your walls for vocabulary and activating prior knowledge.

Schools are like airport hubs; student passengers arrive from many different backgrounds for widely divergent destinations. Their particular takeoffs into adulthood will demand different flight plans.

Mel Levine, 2002

Content Objectives• Recognize the importance of connecting students’

personal experiences to lesson concepts.• Identify strategies for linking past learning with

new information

Language Objectives• Incorporate a variety of vocabulary

development activities into lessons. • Share an experience regarding how you utilized

building background in your classroom

Thanks to: www.selah.k12.wa.us/.../SIOP/2%20Building%20Background/SIOP-Building%20Background.ppt

www.selah.k12.wa.us/ADM/SIOP/ 

www.documents.cms.k12.nc.us/dsweb/Get/Document-13425/SIOP.ppt