October 18, 2024

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Happy Friday! I hope everyone has had a great week. This week, I'd like to focus on SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) teaching strategies and how we can effectively incorporate them into our high school classrooms. SIOP is a research-based instructional model that has proven effective in addressing the academic needs of English language learners (ELLs) while also benefiting all students.

Key SIOP Strategies for High School Classrooms

  1. Content Objectives: Clearly define and display content objectives for each lesson. This helps students understand what they're expected to learn and why it's important.
  2. Language Objectives: Alongside content objectives, set language objectives that focus on academic vocabulary and language skills students need to master the content.
  3. Background Knowledge: Activate and build upon students' prior knowledge before introducing new concepts. This can be done through quick writing prompts, think-pair-share activities, or class discussions.
  4. Comprehensible Input: Use various techniques to make content more accessible, such as visual aids, demonstrations, gestures, and simplified language when necessary.
  5. Interaction: Promote student-to-student and student-to-teacher interactions through group work, pair activities, and class discussions. This helps develop language skills and deepens understanding of the content.
  6. Practice and Application: Provide ample opportunities for students to practice new skills and apply their knowledge through hands-on activities, projects, or problem-solving exercises.
  7. Lesson Delivery: Maintain student engagement by pacing lessons appropriately, using a variety of activities, and aligning content with objectives.
  8. Review and Assessment: Regularly review key vocabulary and concepts, and use both formal and informal assessments to gauge student understanding and adjust instruction as needed.

Implementing SIOP in High School Classrooms

  • Science: Use visual aids, hands-on experiments, and collaborative lab work to make complex concepts more accessible.
  • Math: Incorporate word walls for mathematical terms, use manipulatives, and encourage students to explain their problem-solving processes.
  • English: Utilize graphic organizers for literature analysis, incorporate peer editing sessions, and use multimedia resources to support comprehension.
  • History: Implement jigsaw activities for group learning, use primary source documents with guided reading questions, and incorporate visual timelines.
  • Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS): Use cooking demonstrations with step-by-step visual guides, create bilingual recipe cards, and implement hands-on nutrition labs with labeled food models.
  • Automotive: Utilize labeled diagrams of car parts, create visual step-by-step repair guides, and implement hands-on demonstrations followed by guided practice sessions.
  • Manufacturing: Develop visual safety posters with key terms, use video demonstrations of manufacturing processes, and create collaborative project-based learning opportunities.
  • Construction: Develop safety procedure posters with visuals, use step-by-step building plans with labeled diagrams, and implement hands-on demonstrations followed by guided practice with peer support.
  • Business: Implement role-playing exercises for business scenarios, use graphic organizers for business plans, and create multilingual glossaries of business terms.
  • Art: Utilize visual demonstrations of techniques, create word walls with art terminology, and implement gallery walks with guided critique sessions using sentence frames.
  • Instrumental Music: Use visual representations of musical notation, implement peer teaching for instrument techniques, and create multilingual music vocabulary charts.
  • Vocal Music: Utilize physical warm-up exercises with visual guides, create phonetic lyric sheets for songs in different languages, and implement collaborative listening activities with guided questions.
    •

Remember, SIOP strategies benefit all learners, not just ELLs. By implementing these techniques, we can create a more inclusive and effective learning environment for all our students.

Important Reminders

  1. End of the quarter is Monday
  2. Grades are due Tuesday morning by 8:00 am
  3. 2nd Quarter begins on Tuesday
  4. Trimester 1 ends on November 15/Tri 1 Pass Plans are due October 25
  5. Pass Plans are due November 18

Thank you for your continued dedication to our students' success. If you have any questions about implementing SIOP strategies or need support, please don't hesitate to reach out.


Enjoy the weekend!

Mark

Assistant Principal's Happenings

Hello and Happy Friday --  and Happy Crocktober!  Thank you to the SSFC for doing the behind-the-scenes work to help us have some occasional fun.


We've made it through Q1!  Congratulations!


Some Boys Town items that I am reminded of this past week:


The "POP" method: 


Problem
Options

Plan


What is the problem?  What are our options?  What is our plan of attack?


I've found myself using this a couple of times this week.  It turns out that once I get the problem more accurately defined, the options and plan tend to become more obvious.  Let me know if you want to brainstorm and talk through some POP options.



Grateful, 

Moss


Upcoming Activities


Friday, October 18
4:15 pm Freshmen Football @ Denison 
7:00 pm Varsity Football @ Denison

Saturday, October 19
TBD - Varsity Volleyball @ SC Heelan Classic
12:00 pm Girls Swimming @ Lewis Central
5:00 pm MenuMasters

Monday, October 21
End of 1st Quarter
5:00 pm HS Speech Kickoff Event
6:00 pm JV Football vs. Denison

Wednesday, October 22
National FFA Convention
Inservice
TBD - Varsity Cross Country State Qualifying - TBD
6:30 pm Girls Swimming @ Spencer

Thursday, October 23
National FFA Convention
4:30 pm Girls Swimming vs. Carroll @ SC West

Friday, October 24
National FFA Convention
4:15 pm Freshmen Football vs. Storm Lake
4:30 pm Girls Swimming vs. Carroll @ SC West
5:00 pm Music Boosters Soup and Pie Supper
7:00 pm Varsity Football vs. Storm Lake
Halftime - HS/MS Mass Band Show

Saturday October 26
National FFA Convention
All-State Music Auditions

Monday, October 28
7:30 pm HS Vocal and Orchestra Concert

Tuesday, October 29
7:30 pm HS Indoor Marching Band Concert

Thursday, November 7
8:00 am Picture Retakes
7:00 pm HS Musical - Little Shop of Horrors

Friday, November 8
7:00 pm HS Musical - Little Shop of Horrors

Saturday, November 9
8:00 am NWI HS Honor Band Auditions @ Sioux Center HS
7:00 pm HS Musical - Little Shop of Horrors

Tuesday, November 19
4:00 pm Girl Wrestling @ Western Christian

Thursday, November 21
All State Music - Ames

Friday, November 22
All State Music - Ames

Saturday, November 23
All State Music - Ames
10:00 am Girl Wrestling @ Ridge View

Tuesday, November 26
10:00 am Girl Wrestling @ Humboldt

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