Chat box responses: Session 1

Pre-school teacher in an international school.

Academic vocabulary

SIOP model will assist us in providing strategies to aid our second language learners. Not
sure as how these strategies can be helpful for preschoolers. Very excited to learn them and
apply it to my second language learners.

I do have students from China, Korea and Japan with no English.

Responses to the video:

1. Teachers need to build healthy relationships with SSL to give them confidence to
speak in class and ask their questions. She can also provide different strategies to
convey their message such as through actions or visuals. Less words and more sign
language is the key. Simple directions ( 2 step ) will also be helpful. In my situations I
asked the parents the simple vocabulary that I can use in their language to make
them feel comfortable.
2. Everyone ( All students need academic language practice)
3. Nurturing is more like making them independent and Coddling is spoon fed.
4. Building background is like KWL ( its very helpful for older kids as they can express
what they know about the topic and will also conveys an idea to teachers as their
prior knowledge).

Response to video on BICS (Basic interpersonal communicative skill) and CALP (cognitive
academic language proficiency)

The video is quite helpful and surprised me with the idea that students who speak good
English may not have good hands on academic language. If I look at my experience, it is
actually make sense as I had student in grade 2 where they speak good English as English
is their first language but often make mistakes in writing a well-structured sentence.

WIDA: Haven’t seen the levels before

Different strategies described in SIOP model to improve the communication as well as
cognitive language will support the quality if my instructions and lesson plan.
The most important thing I learned about the SIOP model is that it is beneficial for all the
students academically as well learning language in a more meaningful way because I do
have students who know how to communicate in English language but are not good at
using it to write a well-structured sentence.