Capstone Example #1

1. Dimensions of
Diversity:
Capstone
Project
Modified from Heather
Smiles
Format Credit: Heather Smiles

2. Contents
Part 1: Synthesis of Concepts
Part 1: Synthesis of Concepts
I Used to Think… Now I Think… So Next I
Will
I Used to Think… Now I Think… So Next I
Will
Part 2: Communicating with Families
Part 3: My Instructional Portfolio
3T: Gif-tionary
3T. Vocabulary - Use Technology
Reflection
4C: Reading Create Learning Materials
4C. Reading - Create Materials
Reflection
3P: Vocabulary Lesson Plan
3P. Vocabulary - Plan Lessons Reflection
School Profile Infographic
Progression of my Learning

3. Part 1: Synthesis of Concepts
Important concepts and ideas I took away from this course emerged mostly from a coaching
perspective and what tools and tricks I can pass on to my future colleagues who may need more
literacy support with regards to their ELLs. Many of the activities that I personally valued the most
were ones that surrounded conversation and collaboration, which is essential to offer to our students
who are ELLs. This includes all of our share outs, discussion protocols, and the zooming activity
where students feel comfortable enough to take risks. I will carry with me “Rhonda’s Routines” and
the understanding that culture is created. I leave this course with a more solidified understanding of
WIDA and Massachusetts policies on teaching ELLs. I will confidently be able to bust myths when I
hear others using them, and I will incorporate appropriate scaffolds like sentence stems

4. Part 1: Synthesis of Concepts
- Home language is a strength, not a barrier
- Strategies benefit ALL students, not just ELLs
- Infographics tell us a story and are NOT JUST DATA
- Language objectives!
- Variation among ELLs isn’t just home language & English
proficiency
- BICS & CALP: BICS = top of the iceberg, CALP is least
visible
- Confirm or Contribute
- Tiers of vocab
- Zooming in
From our last
class’s think
time!

5. I Used to Think… Now I Think… So Next I Will
I Used to Think Now I Think So Next I will...
Content area teachers want to
pawn off the responsibility for
literacy teaching on ELA teachers
and specialists.
Content teachers WANT to know
about these literacies and
methods to best meet the needs
of their students.
Consider what this looks like for
me as a future reading specialist
in elementary grades.
That choosing vocabulary words is
HARD.
That choosing vocabulary words is
intentional, predictive, and drives
learning.
Consider my own practices when
choosing words for my Guided
Reading groups and tutee.
It is helpful for educators to
understand trends in specific
cultures of our students.
Each student is an individual with
many cultures.
Try to look beyond the
demographic background/family
life of my students to see the
whole child.

6. I Used to Think… Now I Think… So Next I Will
I Used to Think Now I Think So Next I will...
That I wasn’t entirely interested in
teaching and learning at the high
school level.
That the experiences faced by HS
students are probably more similar
to the experiences of my younger
ELLs than I had originally thought.
Take the experiences I heard
about and remember to teach the
whole child. Discover students’
funds of knowledge and bring
those as strengths to the
classroom and learning!
Physical/artistic activities (see
Task 4C) would cut down on
instruction time.
Learning must be more tactile,
and learning experiences like
these are more memorable and
students are creating their own
learning tools. (also builds fine
motor muscles!)
Make the time to incorporate more
doing for students in my Guided
Reading and Word Study lessons.
Seek out more activities that are
relevant and memorable.
WIDA was just an obligatory
education consortium.
They truly care for and consider
the strengths that ELLs bring to
their school communities.
Consider WIDA’s “Can Do”
Philosophy and standards when
planning for all students,
especially ELLs.

7. “Students would have more
opportunity to use academic
language through meaningful
small-group tasks.”
(Fisher, Frey & Nelson, 2012, p. 556)
“Since language is one of the most
intimate expressions of identity, indeed
“the skin that we speak,” then to reject
a person’s language can only feel as if
we are rejecting him… if we cannot
understand and even celebrate the
wonders of the language these
children bring with them to the
school—then we have little hope of
convincing them that we hold their
best interests at heart.”
(Delpit, 2002, pp. 56)

8. Part 2: Communicating with Families
In this class, students will be challenged with texts and materials that are both relevant and engaging. Your student will be
supported through pre-reading activities such as previewing vocabulary, activating background knowledge, and by setting a
purpose for reading that sparks motivation. Students will be provided with academically rigorous content to push your
student’s skills beyond where they currently are. This is done through incorporating specific language objectives in lessons
that support all four domains of literacy (listening, speaking, reading and writing).I will devote myself to learning and
recognizing the first language strengths of your child, ensuring that I appropriately incorporate their background knowledge
and experiences and use of cognates. Supports such as leveled texts, speech-to-text programs, a help desk, and Google
translate are available to students in this environment, as well as clear directions for all students to have a jumping off point to
independently tackle their work. Use of ongoing assessment and adjustments from results are essential to meeting all students
where they are. I cannot stress enough what a gift it is to be bilingual or multilingual, and any student who enters the room
with such diversity will benefit all learners in the room, including the teachers. Students in this class will safely take risks and
have ample opportunities to communicate orally through peer discussions to ensure growth in English acquisition. After all,
“oral leads to reading leads to writing.” (Bondie, 2019). Not only will English acquisition improve, students will build
confidence in communicating in English and increase their autonomy. Although high expectations are set in this room, content
is universally accessible to all students. ELL students bring an important and special element to the classroom culture.

9. Part 3: My Instructional
Portfolio

10. Submitted?
Put a ✔ once
completed
Date
What is your goal for
when you will turn in
the assignment?
Assignment
Which personalized
task are you
completing?
Possible Points
How many points is the
assignment worth?
Link to Assignment
✔ 2/15 3T 10 3T: Gif-tionary
✔ 3/2 4C 10 4C: Foldable Book
✔ 3/21 3P 15 3P: Vocabulary Lesson
3/24 3R 5
6P 15
4T 10
4R 5
2A 10

11. 3T: Gif-tionary
1. The number of points the assignment is worth (5, 10, or
15 points) what kind of feedback you would like
(Teacher, Peer, or Self): 10 points, Teacher
2. The type of thinking that you did to complete this
assignment. (See Ron Ritchhart's “Seven Types of
Thinking” for examples.): This was my first creative task
that I completed and the first task where I felt confident
in my work. I had such a blast exploring giphy for my
vocabulary words (math related, who would have
thought?!).
3. What you learned or your most significant take away
from the assignment: It occurred to me that if learning is
meant to be joyful, why can’t planning be joyful too? It
felt only appropriate to include a vocabulary gif on this
slide!
4. To learn more, what might your next steps be?: More
GIFs! Click to access gif-tionary

12. 3T. Vocabulary - Use Technology Reflection
Gif-tionaries and Word Maps
1. Explain how the lesson materials support students in monitoring their growth in learning language and content. Connect your
explanation to examples in the work you are uploading or linking to.
a. By connecting vocabulary to images/shows they may be familiar with, it is easier for children to connect the "new" with the
"known." In the classroom, instead of using the new vocabulary in isolation, students can be reminded of the GIF or make the
mental image in their mind. For instance, when the teacher says "above," he/she can imitate the basketball player pointing with
his fingers. When talking about "circumference," students can remind each other, "like the dog in the kiddie pool!"
2. Explain how the technology tool will support students (Connect your explanation to examples in the work you are uploading or linking
to): Describe how the gif-tionary or word map supports student language development
a. By using a giftionary, we are connecting the new with the known. We are giving learners (especially ELLs) visual input that
they can use to connect to the vocabulary. ELLs already receive so much auditory input in the school day that may not make
sense to them, but a moving picture provides the visual input to support learning.
3. What challenges, if any, did you encounter? Describe how you addressed the challenges.
a. None
4. Reflect on your learning from this assignment. Complete the sentence: I began thinking… and now I think… so next I will (question
or next step action)
a. I began thinking I don't know how to make a gif-tionary and now I think this is easy and applicable to any subject so next I
will recommend the process to content area teachers I support in the future as a coach

13. 4C: Reading Create Learning
Materials
1. The number of points the assignment is worth (5, 10, or 15
points) what kind of feedback you would like (Teacher, Peer, or
Self): 10 points, Peer
2. The type of thinking that you did to complete this assignment.
(See Ron Ritchhart's “Seven Types of Thinking” for examples): I
particularly enjoyed this task because it was something I needed in
the moment. It wasn’t a hypothetical lesson I was creating for
invisible students that I had never met; my first graders have been
struggling to read contractions and this was easy and applicable
for me! It was something I was able to show other people when
describing what I was doing to help my students, and have since
been able to point out to others how few materials are actually
involved.
3. What you learned or your most significant take away from the
assignment: Upon reflection, I recalled that my own favorite
activities from school were ones where I got to create things, and
those were the most memorable for me as a child. This was
something I could see myself both teaching and learning from.
4. To learn more, what might your next steps be?: I want to work on
integrating this into my lessons in different ways with different
tiers of vocabulary and syntax learning.
Click to access this task

14. 4C. Reading - Create Materials Reflection
Create a Foldable Book
1. Explain how the lesson materials support students in monitoring their growth in learning language and content. Connect your explanation to
examples in the work you are uploading or linking to.
a. Contractions are not often seen in other languages. When coming across contractions, students may be confused as to why there is a
comma in the middle of the word, at the top of the word. That's why contractions must be explicitly taught to ELLs. This could help
students who may come across these words in a text and not know what to do with them. ELLs still learning the English alphabetic
system could be confused by the apostrophe in the middle of the word and this would assist their understanding of contractions. This
will eventually lead to comprehension of texts when there may be many contractions used. Contractions can be seen as a type of
sight word, and when these are learned and known by students, their bank of recognized words grows larger. Doing this activity is a
hands-on, minds-on way for students to commit these contractions to memory so they are able to recognize them with automaticity
when it comes to their reading. Visual learners and tactile learners would benefit from this activity.
2. What challenges, if any, did you encounter? Describe how you addressed the challenges. Reflect on your learning from this assignment.
a. I didn't encounter any challenges.
3. Complete the sentence: I began thinking… and now I think… so next I will (question or next step action)
a. I began thinking an activity like this would cut down on instruction time and now I think learning must be more tactile, and learning
experiences must be more memorable so next I will do this with my first graders who are reading "don't" as "do not"

15. 3P: Vocabulary Lesson Plan
1. The number of points the assignment is worth (5, 10, or 15
points) what kind of feedback you would like (Teacher, Peer, or
Self): 15 points, Teacher
2. The type of thinking that you did to complete this assignment.
(See Ron Ritchhart's “Seven Types of Thinking” for examples.):
In complete honesty, this was a task that was difficult for me to
begin independently as I didn’t feel confident that I would do it
correctly. When we were given the invitation to begin a
vocabulary lesson plan during class time with oral directions, I
felt more comfortable to tackle this lesson plan. Not only was I
able to bounce ideas off of my table mates, the directions were
provided in a way that made sense to me and my own learning
needs.
3. What you learned or your most significant take away from the
assignment: I think about how this must mirror the experiences
of ELLs who may need the physical support systems nearby to
even begin doing work. The additional in-class time to do this
was so helpful for me that I can only imagine how beneficial it
would be for a student who is constantly code-switching and
taking longer to read and produce understandings in a second
language.
4. To learn more, what might your next steps be?: I think in the
future I will be more conscientious of the vocabulary I teach and
the benefits of adding in more movement so students really can
commit words to long term memory.
Newsela Article:
Eye Contact Is a Crucial Part of the Dog
and Human Connection
Click the link for lesson plan
Click the link for
vocabulary presentation

16. 3P. Vocabulary - Plan Lessons Reflection
Use Total Physical Response in a Lesson Plan
1. Explain how Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) strategies are used in this lesson plan. Connect your explanation to examples in the work
you are uploading or linking to. Specifically elaborate on SEI in: Total Physical Response
a. The focus of my lesson was on vocabulary using a nonfiction article. Objectives were very vocabulary based and there was plenty of
room for naturally occurring scaffolding to happen. Explicit instruction is utilized when the tier II words needed to access to article
were explicitly taught in the beginning of the lesson, yet they were mainly discovered by the student through investigation when she
would look at the gif and use prior knowledge of word parts and known words to make sense of the word (e.g. prefix pro- in
"prolonged"). The relevance of the text to my student is that it is her lexile level and she has shown interest in animals, especially
dogs.
2. What challenges, if any, did you encounter? Describe how you addressed the challenges.
a. Challenges: this challenged me to think of my OWN synonyms and word connections for when I couldn’t find a gif that perfectly
matched the word.
3. Reflect on your learning from this assignment. Complete the sentence: I began thinking… and now I think… so next I will (question or next
step action)
a. I began thinking Vocabulary instruction can be fairly limiting and now I think there are a plethora of tools and methods to teach new
words so next I will continue looking for new ways to preview vocabulary in a way that makes sense to students and STICKS!

17. School Profile
Infographic
This project was one in particular that I was really excited
about. My first year working at this school I was a
teaching assistant in the kindergarten ELL cluster and I
didn’t know most of this information! As a resident of the
town, I was aware how continuously diverse Bedford was
becoming but to see the numbers and predominant
languages spoken was both exciting and eye opening.
Because no one in this K-2 school takes the MCAS, it was
really informative speaking with the ELL coordinator
(who happens to be one of my best friends) about the
progress shown by these wonderful and hardworking
students!
Click to Access Infographic

18. Progression of my Learning
Why I chose the tasks I did:
I chose tasks that I was confident that I could (and
would) replicate in my future job or that were relevant
to me now. For instance, the contractions sheet used so
few materials (markers, scissors, paper) that I felt
certain I would remember this and be able to
differentiate it for other concepts such as compound
words! I chose tasks also that challenged me
technologically so that I could improve my skills in,
say, Google Slides and basic internet functions (why
can’t I just copy and paste a Gif??). Tasks that I chose
were ones I felt tested me enough, but didn’t frustrate
me, because I wanted to want to create these materials
again in the future!
How it shows my progression of learning:
This is a tougher question for me, as I feel like I jumped
around a lot in the task table! I’m not confident that the tasks
necessarily show a progression of my learning, but they more
so aided in or supplemented my learning. Several of the tasks I
chose were aligned with what I was doing in other classes that
week, e.g. vocabulary, so it felt comfortable and appropriate to
challenge myself to consolidate my “new” with my “known”
(thanks, Vicki Jacobs!). I think my understandings either got
stronger or solidified after certain activities or events. For
instance, when the Chelsea High School visitors I had a
greater understanding of ELLs in the older grades that was a
very foreign concept for me in my own Early Childhood
Context!