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Not long ago, some teachers asked me to explain to them what I thought
sheltered instruction meant.
Simply stated, sheltered instruction is a teaching method.
It employs a wide variety of strategies that the teacher uses to modify their
instruction so that students can negotiate the value of the lesson,
the language, and the concepts.
The best way to teach a language in school is to provide meaningful context.
And the simplest way to provide meaningful
context in schools is to embed it in content.
English speaking teachers that teach math and science and
social studies are employed in this process, because simply,
they are the best resources that we have to teach meaningful content.
After that explanation, teachers often tell me they believe sheltered instruction
then is just good teaching.
And I won't argue that it's good teaching, but
it goes well beyond that particular realm.
Teachers must understand the application of language,
the acquisition of language, the stages of language development,
what influences productivity, what influences negative productivity.
Teachers must also understand how cultural influence student behaviors and outcomes.
Sheltered instruction lesson planning revolves around four cornerstones,
hands on activities, guarded vocabulary, visual clues and cooperative learning.
But beyond that, I must also consider some linguistic expectations.
I must make sure that listening and speaking skills always precede reading and
writing skills.
That I don't depend too often on first language components
called concurrent translation, I must guard against that kind of thing.
And maybe the most important element is to understand where my students are relative
to their language development.
What level are they actually on?
I need to make sure my students are actively participating,
part of my task is to make sure I get language out, not language in.
Which means that when I pose questions, I must be prepared to scaffold those
questions so that all language learners can actively participate.
Inevitably, every component of the lesson needs to be carefully considered and
planned.
To sum up, sheltered instruction is a teaching method that uses a variety of
applications that surround four cornerstones.
The purpose is to provide meaningful context so
students can negotiate the language and learn the content.
While at the same time promoting active participation so
that students provide language, or language out, and not language in.
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