Sheltered Instruction

There are many ways in which to shelter instruction so that comprehension is more easily attainable for all students. Here are some of the strategies I used:

Pre-reading strategies:

• Explicitly state the focus of the lesson - Make sure the students know what they are doing and the rationale for each lesson. Keeping this goal in mind ties the pieces of the lesson together, making them more understandable.
• Pre-teach vocabulary - Even though my lesson was primarily focused on teaching social studies standards, pre-teaching vocabulary such as canal and pioneers was essential to understanding the lesson. I used pictures of the vocabulary that was introduced and offered synonyms of each word. Then, the students worked together to construct a sentence using the new terms. 
• Activate prior knowledge - I began my lesson by asking an open-ended question: "What do you know about transportation on water?" This question has students retrieve information in their brain that was not at the forefront. By asking this question, I am preparing students to make connections to knowledge they already have, which deepens comprehension.

During reading strategies:

• Give specific directions and repeat directions if necessary - Students need to be following along in order to gain from the lesson.
• Model reading strategies as reading - This part makes me think that...
• Make sure the lesson is not about me. The more involved students get, the more they learn. So any chance I could, I turned the talking, the actions, the teaching over to them. 
• Use non-linguistic representations - By acting out the Erie Canal simulation cards, the students got a deeper understanding of events that occurred in the past.
• Give specific feedback - "Your expression while reading your part was excellent. I heard your voice go up and down. Very exciting to hear!"

After reading strategies:

• Give students opportunity to try skills on own - I had students reflect on their learning in their Regions notebook.
• Discussion - We talked about what happened in the past involving the Erie Canal, why the Erie Canal was important, and how this helps people today. I had the students involved through partner talk rather than me talking the whole time.

These are some strategies that really hone in on instruction that deepen comprehension for all learners, including English Language Learners.