Silvia C.

Parker
July 3, 2018
Version 1

4.3 Diversity, Cultural Understanding & Global Awareness: Candidates model and facilitate the
use of digital tools and resources to support diverse student needs, enhance cultural
understanding, and increase global awareness. (PSC 4.3/ISTE 5c)

Artifact: ELL Report and Field Experience

The artifact that I chose to demonstrate mastery of Standard 4.3 Diversity, Cultural
Understanding and Global Awareness was the ELL Report and Field Experience written for
ITEC7430 Internet Tools in the Classroom. The artifact describes a kindergarten unit of study.
The topic of the unit is day and night. The students had to complete several activities that
required, among other things, the use of technology.

The ELL Report and Field Experience demonstrate mastery of Standard 4.3. For this artifact, I
had to model, facilitate a unit of study that included the use of digital tools to support the needs
of diverse students. In order to create a unit that would use differentiation, I had to self-reflect on
my views on differentiation which included the characteristics of students who don’t speak
English, best practices for ELLs, and the impact testing has on diverse students.

The ELL Report and Field Experience demonstrates mastery of Standard 4.3. The artifact was
designed for a kindergarten class in which the majority of the students were ELLs. The setting in
which the unit was facilitated was the science classroom. While making this unit a success, I had
to adjust the content, the process, and the product in order to support the needs of diverse
students. Moreover, I also had to base my unit on differentiation strategies such as preferential
sitting, access to native language, explicit vocabulary instruction, kinesthetic learning, literacy,
as well as the use of research based strategies such as comparing and contrasting. Additionally,
formative and summative assessment were given throughout the unit. There were six objectives
for the unit, and each objective was assessed formally or informally. The assessments required
the students to express their ideas about the concepts of day and night, to sort vocabulary into
categories, to create pictures and explain them, to create a model of day and night, etc. The
students had several opportunities to collaborate with classmates throughout the unit which
helped create a positive learning environment.

I learned a lot by completing this unit. It is always a rewarding experience to create something
that will help students learn a new language while also learning academic content. I was also
very pleased with the way technology was integrated within the unit. The students were good at
following directions and at completing the activities online.

This unit was built upon differentiation strategies which required careful and purposeful planning
and intense research. WIDA (https://www.wida.us/) and Colorincolorado
(http://www.colorincolorado.org/) were two of the resources that I consulted while completing
this unit. The information available in the WIDA included a language continuum which was very
useful since it helped me determine the different stages of language acquisition the students had.
Based on that information, I was able to create learning activities that were appropriate for their
level of English. Colorincolorado was another resource I consulted for ESOL research-based
strategies. This also helped me create the unit since I was able to implement several strategies
that supported students learning.

The impact of this unit can be measured through the results of the individual formative
assessment in which the students had to sort a variety of pictures in order to show understanding
of the concepts of day and night. Moreover, as the students worked on the different activities,
they became aware of the importance to support and encourage one another.