Beginners

1. Create a safe space for your beginners. Smile. Be mindful of where they sit and who might provide support nearby.
2. Slow your speech and use simple present tense words and short sentences when speaking.
3. Respect their privilege to listen, and be silent. Give them wait time, and avoid pressured moments in front of others.
4. Use TPR (total physical response - see below) Also use visuals, images, sounds, and realia during lessons to support content ideas.
5. Give the group time to Think Pair Share, and talk in small groups.
6. Consider modifications for seating.
7. Allow them to add pictures and images to their work rather than text.
8. Include actions to circle, sort, draw, label, point and make their responses.

**Identify if students can read in their own native language?

Much effort has been put into teaching Beginner students phonics instead of building their oral vocabulary and site word recognition. Students who have not yet learned to read in their own language will not understand how to construct language and use phonetic sounds, vowel blends, and digraphs...

If they know how to read in their language:

• teach letters, letter sounds, use translations, read-aloud and dictionaries to support the text. Teach language as though they were beginning to read.

If they do not yet read in their own language:

• teach content words, everyday conversational words, academic words in context to build oral language. Once they have the ability to understand, then introduce reading and writing.

Modifications : flashcards, music, Total Physical Response, use pictures with questions, letter/image flashcard games, drawings and word banks, conversation with sentence stems, patterned sentences and oral practice repeated over and over.

Creating Lesson Plans

Best plans come from a plan or structure. Have a purpose for your lesson, what is the objective you are trying to teach, define what you want. How will you demonstrate this concept? What language and strategies will you use? So you have the appropriate scaffolds in place to relay the lesson intent?

This is the beginning of SIOP.