SIPPS lessons follow a coordinated instructional sequence that begins with foundational skills routines and ends with application routines. This sequence promotes immediate application and ultimately leads to mastery and independence.
When teachers and students are initially learning the SIPPS routines, expect that lessons might take longer than 30 minutes (particularly in Extension Level and Plus). For the first 4–6 weeks of instruction, set a goal of teaching at least 2 full lessons every 3 sessions.
Once the routines have been internalized, teachers should aim to teach a full SIPPS lesson each day. Because the lesson steps are closely coordinated, it is important that students experience both the foundational and the application routines within each lesson; it is particularly important for them to have the opportunity to practice the skills they are learning in reading connected text.
If SIPPS lessons are taking longer than 30 minutes, first consider where you might increase efficiency by reflecting on the following considerations:
- Are your materials prepared ahead of time such that both you and your students can access them quickly and efficiently during instruction?
- Are you ensuring that teacher talk is kept to a minimum by sticking to the verbal prompts provided in the program?
- Are your transitions to and from instruction efficient?
- Are you strategic in choosing content to review during the high-frequency sight word and phonics routines?
If teaching a complete SIPPS lesson in 30 minutes continues to be a challenge, consider how to strategically reduce the content from select routines to be able to teach all routines within a lesson in approximately 30 minutes. You might approach this differently depending on the needs of your group:
- If the group is demonstrating strong mastery of the content you are teaching, consider cutting the list in half, while maintaining the 50/50 ratio of old skills and new. This allows you to ensure the full lesson structure remains intact while cutting down the time spent on each step.
- If you are working with a group that needs more support in mastering content—for example, you engage in more corrective feedback, and/or they score less than 80% on mastery tests—consider teaching a lesson with the "A" list one day and then only use the first half of the story in the "Reading a Story" routine. The following day, teach the lesson with the "B" list, using the second half of the story. This allows you to teach a lesson over two days for students who benefit from more practice opportunities while still ensuring each routine is taught every day.