SIOP Protocol

From: Echevarria, J., Vogt, ME.,  Short, D. & Toppel, K. (2023). Making Content Comprehensible for Multilingual Learners: The SIOP Model 6e. Boston: Pearson.

The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) 

Lesson Preparation

  1. Content objectives clearly defined, displayed and reviewed with students
  2. Language objectives clearly defined, displayed and reviewed with students
  3. Content concepts appropriate for age and educational background level of students
  4. Supplementary materials used to a high degree, making the lesson clear and meaningful (e.g., computer programs, graphs, models, visuals)
  5. Adaptation of content (e.g., text, assignment) to all levels of student proficiency
  6. Meaningful activities that integrate lesson concepts (e.g., interviews, letter writing, simulations, models) with language practice opportunities for reading, writing, listening, and/or speaking

Building Background

  1. Concepts explicitly linked to students’ background experiences
  2. Links explicitly made between past learning and new concepts
  3. Key vocabulary emphasized (e.g., introduced, written, repeated, and highlighted for students to see)

Comprehensible Input

  1. Speech appropriate for students’ proficiency levels (e.g., slower rate, enunciation, and simple sentence structure for beginners)
  2. Clear explanation of academic tasks
  3. A variety of techniques used to make content concepts clear (e.g., modeling, visuals, hands-on activities, demonstrations, gestures, body language)

Strategies

  1. Ample opportunities provided for students to use learning strategies
  2. Scaffolding techniques consistently used, assisting and supporting student understanding (e.g., think-alouds)
  3. A variety of questions or tasks that promote higher-order thinking skills (e.g., literal, analytical, and interpretive questions)

Interaction

  1. Frequent opportunities for interaction and discussion between teacher / student and among students, which encourage elaborated responses about lesson concepts
  2. Grouping configurations support language and content objectives of the lesson
  3. Sufficient wait time for student responses consistently provided
  4. Ample opportunities for students to clarify and discuss key concepts in Ll with peer, aide, teacher, or L1 text

Practice/Application

  1. Hands-on materials and / or manipulatives provided for students to practice using new content knowledge
  2. Activities provided for students to apply content and language knowledge in the classroom
  3. Activities integrate all language skills (i.e., reading, writing, listening, and speaking)

Lesson Delivery

  1. Content objectives clearly supported by lesson delivery
  2. Language objectives clearly supported by lesson delivery
  3. Students engaged approximately 90% to 100% of the period
  4. Pacing of the lesson appropriate to students’ ability levels

Review/Assessment

  1. Comprehensive review of key vocabulary
  2. Comprehensive review of key content concepts
  3. Regular feedback provided to students on their output (e.g., language, content, work)
  4. Assessment of student comprehension and learning of all lesson objectives (e.g., spot checking, group response) throughout the lesson