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
  Stephen Krashen (1983): The Monitor Model
  Consists of 5 hypotheses about L2 acquisition
  Public school educators have latched on to two of them
  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
  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
COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT IN THE SIOP
MODEL

  SIOP Indicator #10: Speech Appropriate for

Students’ English Proficiency Levels (E, V, & S, 2008)
  Rate and enunciation
  Slow down
  Pause at thought groups

  Enunciate clearly

  Complexity of Speech
  Use Simple Sentence Structure
  Avoid Idioms

  Idiom Examples
  Roll the Dice Cut to the chase
  Kick the bucket Out of this world
  Need a hand Hit the road
  Touch base Get the hang of it
  Zip it See eye to eye
  Big Cheese Put your foot down
COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT IN THE SIOP
MODEL
  SIOP Indicator #11: Clear Explanation of Academic
Tasks
  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:
  1. Read the text.
  2. Decide what is important (what to keep).
  3. Decide what is less important (what to delete).
  4. Communicate the important parts in your own words.
COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT IN THE SIOP
MODEL
  SIOPIndicator #12: A Variety of
Techniques used to Make Concepts Clear
  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