By Gary Lloyd
PINSON — The Jefferson County Board of Education last week approved Sheltered Instruction and Observation Protocol training for Rudd Middle School and selected teachers in the Pinson feeder pattern.
SIOP is teaching with strategies that allow students for whom English isn’t their first language to be able to learn the content of their classes while they’re still learning the English language, said Rudd Middle School Principal Susan Whitehurst.
Rudd Middle School needs the training because it’s a focus school for the English as a Second Language program. Whitehurst said the training is part of the school’s three-year plan and that the Pinson feeder pattern has a large population of students who speak English as their second language.
Trainings this year will be Oct. 21-24 and Nov. 13-19. Trainings in 2015 will be Jan. 20-23 and Feb. 9-13.
“The strategies include using visuals, pre-teaching difficult vocabulary, providing opportunities for students to read, write, and speak in class daily, and many other strategies,” Whitehurst said. “The strategies help all students to learn.”
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.