SIOP and EEL

This paper will analyze a Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) lesson plan and Essential Elements of Instruction (EEI) lesson plan. The SIOP lesson plan is about the English proficiency level from beginning to advanced (kindergarten). The EEI lesson plan is on fifth-grade language arts (reading, writing and listening).

First, the objectives of the SIOP lesson plan align with the academic standards of the grade. For instance, the lesson plan is about health standards of learning. The standards entail the primary goal of making healthy food choices by children in Grade K. The content objective “the students will be able to identify healthy and unhealthy foods” includes what students should know and do about the expected health standards.

In the EEI lesson plan, there lacks a listing of academic standards. As a result, we assume that the objectives, for example, discussing the themes and illustrations as a group, are in line with the standards stated by the school or state.

In the SIOP lesson plan, the assessments are explicitly clear and align with the objectives. For instance, the language objective of “listening to a story and telling a friend if food is healthy” directly links with the assessment activity of “asking students to turn to a friend and tell what healthy means using own words”. If the student succeeds in the assessment activity, then there is evidence (by observation and listening) of mastery of knowledge and skills.

In the EEL lesson plan, the assessments are also clear and align with the objectives. For instance, the individual activity of “composing a response to the story” aligns with the objective “individuals will respond” to the story. If the student successfully composes a story in response to the reading, then this will indicate achievement of the objective.

In both lesson plans, the learning experiences are relative to the objectives, including all the suggested activities. For instance, in the SIOP lesson plan, the students will view a picture splash of large color pictures of healthy and unhealthy foods. This visual aid will help students grasp the notion of the two kinds of food. In the EEL plan, constructing of the Venn diagram by each student will enable further understanding of the lesson story. In addition, there are various methods of differentiating the instruction. The picture splash will aid learners with moderate hearing disabilities to comprehend the lesson. Besides, the teacher will ask the students to show the thumbs up or down sign to indicate if the food is healthy Incorporation of the group and individual practice activities or not. This may enable children with hearing impairments like the deaf or dumb to take part in the class. The use of diagrams, like the Venn diagram, will also help students with hearing impairments. The activities that support learning modalities, gender or cultural groups in the lessons are participation in group activities, sharing books and taking turns to read.

There are frequent and multiple ways of checking for understanding in both lesson plans. In the SIOP plan, there is group work (which involves listing new healthy and unhealthy foods on the smart board), use of gestures (asking students to give thumbs up or down signs indicating healthy or unhealthy foods) and asking students to discuss what they understand by healthy foods. In the EEI plan, methods include brainstorming sessions and turn-taking in group discussions. Further methods of checking understanding would involve giving written informal and formal assessment tests.