Classroom routines are designed for efficient management of classroom tasks and procedures. Instructional routines are intended for learning academic content. Both types of routines are useful for all students, but they are critical for English learners.
Most individuals like structure and are more comfortable knowing what to expect in a given situation. The bell schedule provides schools with a structure or routine. Students and teachers alike know what to expect when the lunch bell sounds, right? Imagine working in a school without a routine or schedule. I bet the unknown would create a fair amount of discomfort and anxiety.
Classroom routines are important because they let students know your expectations. Students will likely perform better academically when they know the parameters of the day or class period. Class should begin the same way each day and follow consistent routines for tasks such as collecting homework, passing back student work, distributing materials, moving from whole class to small group, checking out technology, assigning roles in small group discussions, and so forth. For English learners, knowing classroom routines provides comfort and security thus lowering their affective filter. Predictable patterns become familiar to English learners which means that they don’t have to try to make sense of oral instructions for each task or transition. Classroom routines also save valuable time that can be spent on instruction.
Instructional routines — the way that a lesson or activity unfolds — are important for English learners so that they can focus their intellectual resources on learning content and language rather than trying to figure out what the teacher said about what to do. The SIOP Model advocates for beginning each lesson by reviewing posted content and language objectives. Objectives make the focus of the lesson transparent for students and draws attention to the specific language to be learned and/or practiced. Another feature of SIOP encourages teachers to clearly explain the lesson’s tasks and activities, writing the steps for students’ reference. This practice minimizes students’ confusion because they can refer to the board for “next steps” in the lesson.
The following are additional instructional routines that support English learners. To encourage use of academic language during discussions, the teacher explicitly teaches key vocabulary words at the outset of the lesson. By using the key words during discussion routines, English learners reinforce their understanding.
- Take a Stand. The teacher begins by making a statement to the class related to a current event or the lesson’s text such as, “Arctic and Antarctic animals do not differ significantly.” Allow quiet time for thinking and then give the cue, “Take a Stand,” asking students to stand if they agree with the statement and stay seated if they disagree. Students must be prepared to explain their rationale for agreeing or disagreeing with the statement. For students who need scaffolding, provide the following sentence frames for student responses: “I respectfully disagree with because .” “I agree with because .” Take a Stand can also be a team activity with four to six students per team. The team first discusses the statement made by the teacher, comes to consensus on whether they will sit or stand, and on cue, the entire team stands or stays seated. They then explain their rationale for agreeing or disagreeing. An adaptation to this discussion routine is to allow students themselves to create the statements used for agreeing or disagreeing and ask the rest of the class to respond.
- Think-Pair-Square. This discussion routine adds a twist to Think-Pair-Share by increasing accountability and participation. Sometimes teachers ask students to turn to a partner and share but the “share” is superficial. With Think-Pair-Square, the teacher asks an interesting question and students think about their answer, then they discuss their answer with a partner. Finally, the partners turn to another partner pair and share what they discussed. This process requires more complex thinking as each student listens to a partner’s input, asks for clarification as needed, compares it with one’s own ideas and if the partner’s ideas differ, they discuss their different perspectives. Then they turn around and explain what they discussed to another group, all of which adds depth of understanding and provides a higher level of language use.
- Elbow Partner Exchange. Initially, two students engage in a discussion about a topic related to the lesson. In math, for example, students are given a problem and together they list questions they have about the problem or note possible solution strategies. They sign their names on the paper and then exchange their information with another set to partners who address the notes the previous pair wrote. So, they might answer the questions listed or add their own ideas to the solution strategies. They sign their names next to their contributions. As the teacher reviews the Elbow Partner Exchange sheets, he can zero in on what the students know and what they still need to learn. The benefits to this discussion routine are that students practice using academic language and they clarify their own thinking as they hear the perspectives of their peers.
- Show What You Know. This routine requires a topic that has 2 to 4 possible dimensions or qualities (e.g., animals, food, aspects of a historical event). In this example, the Food Pyramid is the topic. Each dimension, such as protein, fats, dairy, fruits, vegetables, grains, is assigned to a specific area in the classroom and is labeled with pictures or words representing the dimension. The class is divided into six groups and assigned to an area where there are resources related to the topic’s dimension (e.g., protein). Students use the resources to learn about their particular food group so that they become experts on the topic. After they’ve read together an article or other material about their food group, students use the information to create a small poster that explains the food group. Each group of “experts” will Show What You Know by teaching the rest of the class about their food group. After presenting what they know to the class, their poster is added to the whole-class chart on the Food Pyramid.
Routines are beneficial because students have done the activities before, and since they know what to do when, who is expected to talk when, and when they are expected to write something down, they don’t have to spend much mental energy on how to get it done. The structure of the routine frees them up to focus on the academic task at hand and in so doing, they also practice using academic English in purposeful ways.
Based on:
Echevarria, J., Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2016). How to Reach the Hard to Teach: Excellent Instruction for Those Who Need It Most. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Vogt, M. & Echevarria, J. (2008). 99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners with the SIOP® Model. Boston: Pearson.