Session 6: mini SIOP lesson on volcanoes
For our sixth week of class, we completed a sample mini-lesson about a common topic: studying volcanoes in a 7th grade earth science class. Although we all worked on the same lesson plan outline and topic, each of my classmates approached the lesson differently. In this sample lesson you can see that I am beginning to practice writing language objectives using Form and Function. This is a very direct method of planning language instruction that includes students using and understanding forms of language. Echevarria & Graves (2005) recommend that teachers of English learners provide direct instruction of vocabulary and language usage for the benefit of academic proficiency for all. I have designed the lesson so that students have a purpose for writing and using vocabulary. By using language objectives in this step I am beginning to learn how to provide more sheltered instruction for English learners within my general education classroom.
SIOP Lesson Plan Outline
Date: 2/23/2014 Grade/Class/Subject : 7th grade Earth &
Space Science
Unit Theme: Volcanoes Standards: Science Standard 4 Benchmark 1
Lesson Objectives:
Content Knowledge: By the end of the lesson, ESOLs will:
1. understand that the structure of the earth system is continuously changing due
to earth's physical and chemical processes.
2. be able to summarize in
writing the activity that causes volcanic eruption such as Mt. St. Helens using
vocabulary from the lesson correctly.
3. be able to identify verbally
that volcanoes are a constructive process and what effects volcanoes have on
their surroundings.
Language Objectives: By the end of the lesson, ESOLs will demonstrate
increasing proficiency in the performance of the following functions and their
forms:
Function(in –ing form, eg. “Retelling a story” )
+
Form (grammatical term and/or example, eg. “Past Tense: ‘The boy went to
see his grandfather;’”)
1) Sequencing + transition words and adverbs of time
2) explaining cause and effect + descriptive sentences with past tense verbs
3) summarizing + compound sentences
Vocabulary Objectives: By the end of the lesson, ESOLs will demonstrate
an understanding of the following vocabulary words:
Content Vocabulary
(new vocabulary to be explicitly taught that is
critical to an understanding of the content)
volcano
magma
eruption
mantle
dormant
extinct
vent
volcanic
ash
Academic
Vocabulary
(vocabulary that may need to be taught or emphasized
that is critical to participation in academic tasks, such as “categorize”,
“list”, describe”)
sequence
compound sentence
cause and
effect
identify
structure
Cohesion Words
(vocabulary that may need to be taught or
emphasized that link concepts in meaningful ways, such as conjunctions and time
markers)
adverbs
sequence/transition
conjunctions for forming compound sentences (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
Special Cross-Cultural Considerations for ESOLs:
Some students may be familiar with what a volcano is but may not be familiar with English terms
for volcanoes and their activity. Other students may not know much about
volcanoes but may be familiar with geysers, earthquakes, or other natural
physical features. Some of the vocabulary may be familiar to students in other
contexts besides science so we should build upon their knowledge of these terms
by connecting them to volcanic activity.
Materials:
class set Volcano: the Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens by Patricia Lauber
Lesson Sequence (This may be adjusted as necessary to accommodate unique
lesson plan features)
MOTIVATION: (Describe how you will build background and the specific
strategies that you will use to ensure the participation of
ESOLs.)
Students will generate the first column of a KWL about
volcanoes in pairs or small groups. Then the class will combine their Knowledge
and generate questions about Mt. St. Helens on the KWL chart. The teacher will
provide videos or photos of erupting volcanoes to motivate
students.
PRESENTATION: (Describe the specific techniques you will use to make your
presentation of new material comprehensible to ESOLs, to provide opportunities
for interaction through appropriate questioning, and to assess whether or not
ESOLs are “getting it”.)
Students will view a diagram of an erupting volcano and recreate it in their
notes. Vocabulary words which are not on the chart will be defined as a class
and added to our notes. Students will coach a partner in writing sentences about
the events of volcano eruption that are shown on the diagram by writing using
sequence/transition words and adverbs.
PRACTICE/APPLICATION: (Describe the activities you will
use to allow for meaningful interaction and practice using ALL language skills,
the strategies you will use to ensure full participation by ESOLs, and the
techniques you will use to assess their success in the
activities.)
Students will read the text Volcano: the Eruption and
Healing of Mount St. Helens by Patricia Lauber individually or while listening
to an audio recording of the teacher reading the story.
Students
will complete the L column of their KWL while reading the story as a form of
note-taking. Students will be encouraged to generate new W questions during and
after reading.
Students will use content vocabulary words to create a poster
warning nearby people of the effects of the volcanic eruption. Their poster must
use summarization to retell what took place during the eruption of Mt. St.
Helens.
EXTENSION: (Describe additional follow-up activities you will use with
ESOLs to address any areas that you deem need further explanation or practice to
ensure their mastery of the content and language objectives.)
Students could go on to investigate another historically active volcano and
create an oral report or visual aid (scale model of volcano in environment?) on
the effects of the eruption to share with the class. The activity could be
completed in pairs or small groups.
ASSESSMENT: Students will be evaluated on their use of vocabulary correctly
when summarizing the volcanic activity that took place on Mt St Helens. Students
will show their understanding of the cause and effects of volcanoes through
their writing and recreating a diagram.
Date: 2/23/2014 Grade/Class/Subject : 7th grade Earth &
Space Science
Unit Theme: Volcanoes Standards: Science Standard 4 Benchmark 1
Lesson Objectives:
Content Knowledge: By the end of the lesson, ESOLs will:
1. understand that the structure of the earth system is continuously changing due
to earth's physical and chemical processes.
2. be able to summarize in
writing the activity that causes volcanic eruption such as Mt. St. Helens using
vocabulary from the lesson correctly.
3. be able to identify verbally
that volcanoes are a constructive process and what effects volcanoes have on
their surroundings.
Language Objectives: By the end of the lesson, ESOLs will demonstrate
increasing proficiency in the performance of the following functions and their
forms:
Function(in –ing form, eg. “Retelling a story” )
+
Form (grammatical term and/or example, eg. “Past Tense: ‘The boy went to
see his grandfather;’”)
1) Sequencing + transition words and adverbs of time
2) explaining cause and effect + descriptive sentences with past tense verbs
3) summarizing + compound sentences
Vocabulary Objectives: By the end of the lesson, ESOLs will demonstrate
an understanding of the following vocabulary words:
Content Vocabulary
(new vocabulary to be explicitly taught that is
critical to an understanding of the content)
volcano
magma
eruption
mantle
dormant
extinct
vent
volcanic
ash
Academic
Vocabulary
(vocabulary that may need to be taught or emphasized
that is critical to participation in academic tasks, such as “categorize”,
“list”, describe”)
sequence
compound sentence
cause and
effect
identify
structure
Cohesion Words
(vocabulary that may need to be taught or
emphasized that link concepts in meaningful ways, such as conjunctions and time
markers)
adverbs
sequence/transition
conjunctions for forming compound sentences (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
Special Cross-Cultural Considerations for ESOLs:
Some students may be familiar with what a volcano is but may not be familiar with English terms
for volcanoes and their activity. Other students may not know much about
volcanoes but may be familiar with geysers, earthquakes, or other natural
physical features. Some of the vocabulary may be familiar to students in other
contexts besides science so we should build upon their knowledge of these terms
by connecting them to volcanic activity.
Materials:
class set Volcano: the Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens by Patricia Lauber
Lesson Sequence (This may be adjusted as necessary to accommodate unique
lesson plan features)
MOTIVATION: (Describe how you will build background and the specific
strategies that you will use to ensure the participation of
ESOLs.)
Students will generate the first column of a KWL about
volcanoes in pairs or small groups. Then the class will combine their Knowledge
and generate questions about Mt. St. Helens on the KWL chart. The teacher will
provide videos or photos of erupting volcanoes to motivate
students.
PRESENTATION: (Describe the specific techniques you will use to make your
presentation of new material comprehensible to ESOLs, to provide opportunities
for interaction through appropriate questioning, and to assess whether or not
ESOLs are “getting it”.)
Students will view a diagram of an erupting volcano and recreate it in their
notes. Vocabulary words which are not on the chart will be defined as a class
and added to our notes. Students will coach a partner in writing sentences about
the events of volcano eruption that are shown on the diagram by writing using
sequence/transition words and adverbs.
PRACTICE/APPLICATION: (Describe the activities you will
use to allow for meaningful interaction and practice using ALL language skills,
the strategies you will use to ensure full participation by ESOLs, and the
techniques you will use to assess their success in the
activities.)
Students will read the text Volcano: the Eruption and
Healing of Mount St. Helens by Patricia Lauber individually or while listening
to an audio recording of the teacher reading the story.
Students
will complete the L column of their KWL while reading the story as a form of
note-taking. Students will be encouraged to generate new W questions during and
after reading.
Students will use content vocabulary words to create a poster
warning nearby people of the effects of the volcanic eruption. Their poster must
use summarization to retell what took place during the eruption of Mt. St.
Helens.
EXTENSION: (Describe additional follow-up activities you will use with
ESOLs to address any areas that you deem need further explanation or practice to
ensure their mastery of the content and language objectives.)
Students could go on to investigate another historically active volcano and
create an oral report or visual aid (scale model of volcano in environment?) on
the effects of the eruption to share with the class. The activity could be
completed in pairs or small groups.
ASSESSMENT: Students will be evaluated on their use of vocabulary correctly
when summarizing the volcanic activity that took place on Mt St Helens. Students
will show their understanding of the cause and effects of volcanoes through
their writing and recreating a diagram.
Amanda's reply to another student:
Hi Kaylee. Thanks for posting your lesson plan. I identified some of the same content vocabulary and academic terms that you did. I think sequence words work well in this unit because of the cause and effect nature of volcanoes. Cause & Effect is also a major skill emphasized in middle school (at least it was when I was teaching 6th grade) so I included this in my academic vocabulary also.
I really appreciate the way that you took into account the English Learner students' potential to be leaders in this discussion of background knowledge because of their experience with other geographies. I agree that providing them an opportunity to prepare in advance would be wise. Then they can be the experts on a specific region of the globe and introduce it to their classmates. One thing to think about is that not all students are familiar with locating countries on maps, so what a great opportunity to use Google Earth or other resources to point out the location of volcanoes and nearby landmarks and learn together.
The stations are a great idea and they would accomplish your standards nicely. Also the "draw-with-me" is a good way to get students to make their own concept map, learn to study it for complete understanding and be able to recreate it on their own. This is a way to strengthen vocabulary skills rather than memorizing definitions.