What is Comprehensible Input? A Found Poem

What Is Comprehensible Input?

Comprehensible Input Is…

Communication made clear

--it’s all about comprehension--

&

Can be achieved by:

--enunciating

--speaking more s-l-o-w-l-y

--reducing the complexity of speech with simple sentence structures

(subject-verb-object) 

“You circle the answer” NOT “Circle the correct answer.  Only choose one.  Eliminate some answer choices” –at least not for beginners

OR

CONFUSION ensues!

--avoiding idioms

--paraphrasing (say it another way)

--repetition

--oral and written directions (crystal clear expectations)

modeled, step-by-step

--teaching homographs & homophones, synonyms & cognates

--using multimedia, gestures, body language, pictures,  & objects

--previewing material

--providing graphic organizers, taped texts, & sentence strips

Comprehensible input is

--repeated exposure

--in a variety of ways

--in a variety of contexts

Comprehensible Input is—

“Say it another way.  Show it.”

A found poem  

 Bobbi Faulkner

 9-28-2011  Lenoir, NC 

Education Center Board Room (SIOP training)

So Comprehensible Input Is...

• the end goal of the SIOP model, which stands for Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol, and this model is an instructional model developed for ELLs (English Language Learners)
• According to this model of instruction, there are two types of language proficiencies: academic and social.
• Students gain social proficiency well before they gain academic proficiency.

How can educators bridge the gap between these two proficiencies, providing ELLs with the support they need to learn material in a language that is not their first?  SIOP is the answer!  Using this model, a content teacher provides sheltered instruction in which (s)he modifies the portion of the class known as teacher talk in order to provide comprehensible input.  Other ways teaching is differentiated for ELLs according to this model in an effort to provide comprehensible input is to provide easier to read texts, simplified answer choices on tests, proper scaffolding, and graphic organizers for example.

SIOP Works!

As a former SIOP teacher, I can attest to the remarkable outcomes of this approach in my classroom.