SIFE Curriculum:
Going Deeper
July 9, 2014
Purpose
Participants will be able to:
● Describe the purpose and features of
each of the three SIFE curricula
strands.
● Connect each strand of the curricula to
the instructional needs of SIFE.
Agenda
• Review highlights from Session 1
• Zoom In: Purpose and features of the
three curriculum strands
• Zoom Out: Looking across the three
strands
• Reflections
Session 1: Highlights
• What are the characteristics of SIFE?
• How do they differ from the larger ELL
population?
• What are the instructional needs of SIFE?
• What are the challenges for schools?
• How do we deal with the challenges?
4
How does the SIFE program design meet
the instructional needs of learners?
COURSE 2
COURSE 1
FLL
ELA
Foundational Language & Literacy
For all SIFE reading
at or below 3rd grade level in L1
45 minutes
•Build new conceptual
understanding and
academic language
using more complex,
rich text
For a subset of SIFE reading
at or below 1st grade level in
L1
45 minutes
•Learn to read through
small group Guided
Reading
•Practice and apply new
content and skills in rotating
learning centers
45 minutes
• Develop oral English
and build foundational
literacy skills
PARTNER SORT:
What are the purposes and features
of each curriculum strand?
6
PARTNER SORT:
What are the purposes and features
of each curriculum strand?
Directions:
1. Review the purpose of each curriculum strand
with your partner.
2. Read each strip.
3. Discuss and decide where to place each strip in
the chart. Provide evidence for your choice.
7
Debrief
Overall
• What do you notice?
• What do you wonder?
8
Deeper Analysis
• Why are all three courses necessary
given what you understand about the
learners?
• How do the strands work together to
accelerate learning for SIFE?
9
How is the SIFE design modeled on
the NYS K-2 curriculum?
STRAND
Strand 1
Strand 2
Strand 3
PURPOSE
Teach
foundational
skills explicitly &
systematically.
Build content
knowledge &
oral academic
language.
Match texts to
readers through
guided and
independent
reading.
NYS K-2
CURRICULUM
Skill Sequence
Listening &
Learning
GRAIR*
FLL
ELA Part 1
ELA Part 2
Core Knowledge
NYS SIFE
Curriculum
Annie & Suzanna
*Guided Reading and Accountable Independent Reading
10
How do we balance the cognitive load on
students across the strands?
ELA Part 1
ELA Part 2
FLL
New Content
High
Med
Low
Complex Ideas
High
Low
Low
Critical Thinking
High
Med
Low
Academic Tasks
High
High
Med
Academic Language
High
Med
Low
Foundational Literacy
Low
High
High
11
What are the practical constraints of
implementing this three-stand SIFE model?
12
Key Points
• Full participation in school and the world requires
literacy.
• Each of the 3 strands is necessary, but not one is
sufficient alone.
• This design provides 1 year to develop readers and
writers in a new language when children in the U.S.
have 3 years to emerge into literacy in their home
language.
• Instruction must accelerate SIFE learning of
conceptual knowledge, language, and literacy through
targeting different cognitive resources in the different
strands.
13
THINK-WRITE-PAIR-SHARE
Reflections
1. Read and think about the questions.
2. Write your responses.
3. Share your responses to #1-2 with your
partner.
4. Share with the whole group.