Lindsey Cohen

Prof. Reilly
13 May 2015
Live SIOP Reflection
1. What were your objectives for the lesson? Do you feel like you achieved your objectives?
How do you know?
Objectives for our SIOP lesson plan consisted of state where you have heard chemical or
physical reaction in the past, predict what will happen after the Mentos are dropped into the
soda, and why, verbally compare a chemical reaction to a physical reaction and connect
what was learned throughout the class to real world situations. Each one of our objectives was
very accurately met. This is evident because the student excelled at demonstrating each one.

2. The goal here was to challenge the students vocabulary/language development. Do you feel
that you challenged them in this regard? How do you know?
Although we taught a student who was fluent in English, an English language learners
vocabulary and language development would certainly be challenged. We made reasonable goals
and expectations for our lesson regarding ELL students. We provided visuals for almost every
part of the lesson, but encouraged ELL students to write phrases and communicate verbally to
engage in the lesson. Vocabulary of all 3 tiers was present in our lesson so the ELL student would
certainly have to remain focused and motivated throughout instruction.

3. Was there a part of the lesson that you realized was too difficult or too easy? What adjustments
could you make if you were to do this lesson again?

It was very easy asking a student who speaks fluent English what her existing knowledge
was of the topic. In addition, we explained to the student what a KWL chart was prior to using it.
I thought of how difficult it would be if she spoke little to no English. I do not think it would
have gone as successfully as it did if this was the case. I would certainly have to talk much
slower, pay close, individual attention to the student and demonstrate everything I expected to be
completed. I asked our student to draw pictures of almost everything we learned rather than
writing it. I think this is a great way for ELL students to express themselves, but I think I should
have also encouraged them and motivated them to write their thoughts and communicate their
thoughts, verbally. When writing the lesson, I found myself really accommodating the lesson for
someone who doesnt speak English rather than teaching the student how to speak English.

4. I realize that communication was not an issue since they are both English speakers. If you
were to repeat this lesson with an ELL student of the same age (student has a basic
understanding of the English language and lacks foundation of content knowledge) what changes
would you have to make?
We successfully implemented a ton of visuals into the lesson, however, we rarely
referenced them. With an ELL student, I believe we would have to rely on the visuals much
more. We barely had to use any gestures since we could communicate verbally, but with an ELL
student, hand gestures are extremely helpful and beneficial. I think it would behoove an ELL
student if we handed out a vocabulary sheet consisting of simple definitions and pictures. In
addition, ELL students would really benefit from demonstrations are representations of each task
and experiment.