Running Head: SIOP LESSON PLAN

SIOP Lesson Plan

Savanna Marino-Poulson
Florida State University

SIOP LESSON PLAN

2
SIOP Lesson Plan

Context: This is a 7th grade regular English class in a middle school in Central Florida. This middle
school has a heavy academic focus and has been working hard to improve the average test score for
Florida's statewide standardized assessment in English. As such, English classes last 65 minutes as
opposed to the regular 50 minute class time. The class consists of 21 students; 18 of the students are
native English speakers (four of the students are bilingual but have English as their native language)
while three of the students are ELLs. The first ELL student is a girl named Alya whose native language
is Spanish. Alya has been living in the United States for all of her life, but until she started attending
school the only language she knew was Spanish because that was the only language spoken in her
household. She is at level 3 (developing) in her English proficiency, and while she as great basic
interpersonal communication skills and reading skills, she struggles with academic language and
writing. She also often does not complete homework due to having to watch her younger brother when
she gets home from school, as her parents work two jobs and are out of the house often. Alya loves to
play soccer and swim, and has made several friends in the class. Miguel, another ELL student in the
class, is also at the level 3 English proficiency level. He moved to the United States from Spain with
his family, which consists of himself and his parents, when he was six years old and his native language
is Spanish. His mother speaks both English and Spanish while at home, while his father only speaks
Spanish. Miguel has great reading skills and emerging writing skills but his speaking skills are in need
of improvement, he also is very shy and does not have many friends in the class. However, Miguel
loves to draw and watch TV, which he frequently does by having closed captioning on so that he can
practice reading in English. Uta is the final ELL student, a girl who moved from Switzerland four years
ago whose native language is German. She is also at the level 3 English proficiency. Uta has difficulty
reading and writing in English and her BICS are good but could be improved. Uta's dad speaks English
at home in order to try and help his daughter learn the language. Uta's family consists of herself, her
dad, and their dog; the family's socio-economic status is the upper-middle class. Uta enjoys taking
photos and watching soccer games with her dad. All three students are at level 5 proficiency with their
native languages. Alya is a visual learner, Miguel is an Auditory learner, and Uta is a kinesthetic
learner. All three students have an above average level of motivation; they really want to learn, though
for different reasons (Alya and Miquel love English class while Uta is determined to get good grades to
make her father proud) and despite the areas of improvement that they have, they all try in the class.
This lesson takes place during the beginning of the school year. The class is about to begin a
unit on poetry which will include learning about what poetry is and what it is comprised of. The unit
will culminate with students creating their own poems. For this lesson, students will start with learning
some of the basics of poetry; figurative language.

Theme: Figurative Language

Lesson Topic: Similes and Metaphors

State Standards:

SIOP LESSON PLAN

LAFS.7.L.3.5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and

nuances in word meanings.
1. Interpret figures of speech (e.g., literary, biblical, and mythological allusions) in context.
2. Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., synonym/antonym, analogy) to
better understand each of the words.
3. Distinguish among the connotations (associations) of words with similar denotations
(definitions) (e.g., refined, respectful, polite, diplomatic, condescending).

(SIOP Feature 3: Content concepts appropriate for age and educational background.)

Content Objectives (SIOP Feature 1: Content objectives clearly defined, displayed, and reviewed
with students.):
Students will be able to identify similes and metaphors.
Students will be able to explain the use of figurative language in a poem.
Language Objectives (SIOP Feature 2: Language objectives clearly defined, displayed, and
reviewed with students.):
Students will be able to discuss with each other the use of similes and metaphors.
Students will be able to write three similes and metaphors.
Students will be able to actively listen to their partner.
Key Vocabulary:
Simile
Metaphor
Figurative Language
Materials (SIOP Feature 4: Supplementary materials used to a high degree):
The Cat in the Hat book
Projector
Examples of figurative language, simile, and metaphor comics (three)
Computer
Scavenger hunt items (papers with illustration examples of figurative language, simile, and
metaphor; 12 total)
Electronic response units (class set)
Song involving figurative language (three songs)
Motivation video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoSBVNUO2LU )
Poem for review activity
Practice song for music activity (one)
Motivation (5 minutes):

SIOP LESSON PLAN

The teacher will show students a video that consists of a short animation and a song about
similes and metaphors. This will get students to start thinking about what similes and metaphors are, as
well as activate their prior knowledge on hearing exaggerations or phrases that could potentially be
similes or metaphors sometime in their lives. Once the video is finished, the teacher will ask students if
they have ever heard any of the phrases in the video at all at some point during their lives.
(SIOP Feature 7: Concepts explicitly linked to students' background experiences) (SIOP Feature
8: Links explicitly made between past learning and new concepts) (SIOP Feature 14: Scaffolding
techniques consistently used, assisting and supporting student understanding)
Presentation (3 minutes):
The teacher will inform the class that they will be starting a unit about poetry and that today
they will be learning about figurative language. Content and Language objectives will be written on the
board for students to see. The teacher will also read the objectives out loud twice; once by themselves
and once having the class read them out loud with them.
Procedures:
For pre-assessment, since this is the start of the poetry unit, the teacher would activate students'
prior knowledge by first asking them if they know what a poem is and if they can give an example of a
poem (the teacher would have a copy of the book The Cat in the Hat to give as an example if they
could not think of one). Once an example has been provided, the teacher would then ask students what
they think makes it a poem as well as what kind of devices the poem uses. The teacher will then define
figurative language, simile, and metaphor and what their purposes are, providing examples using comic
illustrations shown through the projector (SIOP Feature 9: Key vocabulary emphasized).After
students are taught about figurative language, metaphor, and simile and before the first activity, the
teacher will ask students if they have any questions and will help clarify any misconceptions students
may have. During and after the activities, the teacher will perform checkpoints where they will ask
the students questions in regards to figurative language and will facilitate discussion based on it to
gauge students understanding (7 minutes).
For the first activity, the teacher will have students get into four groups of four (and one group
of five) and give them directions for a scavenger activity where students are to find examples of these
terms and label them as simile or metaphor hidden on pieces of paper in the classroom. Each group is
to find at least one example of each of the terms, take those scavenger items that they found back to
their desks, then work together to label the items correctly as a simile or a metaphor and write them
down on the scavenger items. As the activity nears the end of the given time, the teacher will go around
to each group and check their answers as well as ask them the following questions: Define simile,
metaphor, and figurative language, what were the examples of simile and metaphor that you found in
the classroom?, what are some examples of similes and metaphor that you've heard at home or on
television?, and what is the difference between a simile and a metaphor? For students that are ready to
move on, the teacher will let them move on to the next activity, while students who are struggling with
a certain component will be put into a group so that the teacher a review the mini lesson with them.
Those students will then be asked to demonstrate understanding of the content by redoing the
scavenger activity, and if they show proper understanding (being able to define the terms and figure out
which examples go with which term) then they will be able to move on. If there are students who are

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still struggling then depending on the time of the class, the teacher will suggest that they stay after
school for tutoring (15 minutes).
(SIOP Feature 5: Adaptation of content to all levels of student proficiency)
For the next activity, students will be given a sheet of paper with excerpts of three songs on it.
The teacher will explain to the class that their task is the following; students will listen to the music that
the teacher will play and read along the words on the provided paper, they are to look for similes and
metaphors in each excerpt. The teacher will first provide a model of the activity by demonstrating it for
the class (meaning the teacher will listen to a song and underline the similes and metaphors in the
song). The teacher will then play each part of the songs a few times and then give the students some
time to read the lyrics without the music. When finished, the teacher will facilitate a class discussion
where the teacher asks the students what similes and metaphors they found and have them justify their
answers. Afterwords, the teacher will transition to the review activity (15 minutes).
(SIOP Feature 6: Meaningful activities that integrate lesson concepts with language practice
opportunities) (SIOP Feature 10: Speech appropriate for students' proficiency levels) (SIOP
Feature 11: Clear explanation of academic tasks) (SIOP Feature 12: A variety of technique used
to make contents concepts clear) (SIOP Feature 13: Ample opportunities provided for students to
use learning strategies) (SIOP Feature 14: Scaffolding techniques consistently used, assisting and
supporting student understanding (SIOP Feature 15: A variety of questions or tasks that promote
higher-order thinking skills) (SIOP Feature 23: Content objectives clearly support by lesson
delivery)(SIOP Feature 24: Language objectives clearly supported by lesson delivery)(SIOP
Feature 25: Student engaged approximately 90% to 100% of the class period)(SIOP Feature 21:
Activities provided for students to apply content and language knowledge)(SIOP Feature22:
Activities that integrate all language skills)
During this lesson, the teacher will practice comprehensible input. Some examples of
praciticing comprehensible input is to avoid idioms (especially as the class is just learning about
figurative language) and to enunciate words clearly and possibly speaking at a slower pace, depending
on the proficiency levels (however, it should not be slow enough to the point where it is too obvious
and could insult or embarrass the students). Group configurations will be varied with the ELLs in
different groups, with native English speakers and possibly a bilingual student (permission has to be
granted by the bilingual student and the ELL for them to be put together) to help them practice their
BICS and CALP skills. ELLs will also be given copies of the directions for each activity in their L1.
(SIOP Feature 16: Frequent opportunities for interaction and discussion)(SIOP Feature 17:
Grouping configurations support language and content objectives for the lesson)(SIOP Feature
18: Sufficient wait time for student responses consistently provided) (SIOP Feature 19: Ample
opportunity for students to clarify key concepts in their native language) (SIOP Feature 20:
Hands-on materials and/or manipulatives provided for students to practice using new content
knowledge)
(26: Pacing of the lesson is appropriate to students' ability levels)
Review and Assessment:
The review activity is the following: Students, with the electronic response units provided by
their teacher, will each input a simile, metaphor, or figurative language example from a poem provided
by the teacher. The teacher will provide sufficient wait time for students to think of and input their
responses. After the polling is complete, the teacher will show the anonymous responses on the
projector and move on to the next part of the activity which will have students get into the small

SIOP LESSON PLAN

groups. In their small groups, students will discuss why they think the responses shown on the projector
were chosen as examples. After that, the class will come together and have a class discussion with the
teacher facilitating about the responses and the answers the students came up with to the responses (15
minutes). This would be the review and informal formative assessment of the lesson. The teacher
would then tell students that they will be having a quiz on the assignment at the end of the week, which
will be their summative assessment. At the very end of class, the teacher will have each student
complete an exit ticket where they write what figurative language is and their own simile and metaphor.
ELLs will be given a bilingual dictionary for this activity for assistance. This will act as the formal
formative assessment to check students' comprehension on figurative language, similes, and metaphors
(5 minutes). (SIOP Feature 27: Comprehensive review of key vocabulary)(SIOP Feature 28:
Comprehensive review of key content concepts)(SIOP Feature 29: Regular feedback provided to
students on their output (during lesson and after lesson))(SIOP Feature 30: Assessment of
students comprehension and learning of all lesson objectives throughout the lesson)
Follow-up Home Learning Assignment:
For homework, students are to find a song that is a part of their home culture and identify similes and
metaphors in it and write down what they are supposed to mean. Students should choose the song
together with their parents and the parents will assist them in figuring out the meaning of the similes
and metaphors if needed. Students will bring their song in to class the next day and explain why they
chose it, as well as share some of the similes and metaphors and their meanings with the class.
Rationale:
This lesson is appropriate for ELL students as it uses multiple types of activities to help students
comprehend the concept of figurative language, specifically similes and metaphors. The activities
appeal to the different learning styles of the students and are multisensory as well as focusing heavily
on social interaction with the teacher and classmates as students practice using the key vocabulary.
Students are able to practice their BICS and CALP skills along with reading and writing in an open
environment where the focus is on learning the content, not getting a good grade.