Running head: DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE INSTRUCTION 1

Developmentally Appropriate Instruction

Faith Ferrulli

Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2021

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Introduction

Developmentally appropriate instruction is a rather broad term that encompasses many

features, including awareness of grade-level standards, cultural, learning styles and needs, and a

hands-on aspect. For this competency, I broke down the understanding I have with my two

different groups of students. My morning group students are all ELLs and are on the lower end

of reading ability and comprehension. Despite that, they still must reach the grade-level

standards. By incorporating hands-on and developmentally appropriate activities that support

their cultural background, their interest in the topic being discussed increases alongside their

ability to comprehend the material. For my afternoon group, the second artifact pertains to them

and the morning group regarding the hands-on activity that stimulated their understanding of the

standards.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

Artifact One

The first artifact that I chose for this competency demonstrates a cultural awareness of

my ELL students whose primary language is Spanish and tend to mix the English and Spanish

alphabet to decode words. The artifact is the sound wall in my classroom and used in a whole

group manner for my morning class to help them understand how to produce the sounds in the

English alphabet. The wall focuses on the production of sounds rather than pointing out the

names of the letters of the alphabet. The process of using the sound wall interactively starts with

an understanding of how air moves through our throat and mouth, the placement of our tongue,

the position of our teeth, and the movement of our lips to produce a given sound.

For instance, the other week, we focused on /s/ and /z/. For /s/, students were instructed to

put their hands on their throat as they pushed the air out of their mouth while their teeth were
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slightly apart, mouth slightly opened, and tongue on the bottom of their mouth to see that there

was no vibration but just air pushing through. For /z/, the same process was done, but they were

producing a vibration that they could feel in their throat as now the sound made the air vibrate in

their throats as it was pushed out. I make sure that I am more than six feet away from the

students for all of the sounds before I pull down my mask so they can see how their mouth

should look as they produce the sound. In a non-Covid world, they would have mirrors where

they could watch themselves produce the sound. There are photographs of how their mouths

should look on the wall, but I demonstrate them so they can see the movement. After we

successfully produce the sound, they are challenged to write down a word with the specific

sound at the beginning, middle, or end of a word. This activity enforces the understanding of the

sound production with the letter or letters. This activity is developmentally appropriate for my

ELL students because it heightens their understanding of the English language sound production

while also challenging them to expand their vocabulary by understanding the words with those

specific sounds.

Artifact Two

The second artifact highlights the hands-on aspect of this competency that demonstrates

developmentally appropriate instruction. This artifact is an activity titled “Trash Talks” where I

generated six different types of “trash bags” using brown paper bags and slips of paper with

items on them to package for students. I gave each student a “trash bag” and a packet to

complete. To start the activity, I gave the scenario that they received new neighbors, and the only

way they can figure out who they are is by going through their trash. That comment alone

increased their interest and excitement for the activity. They then took the items out of the paper

bag and created inferences about their new neighbors. After they went through all items, they
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summarized what they found and who they think their new neighbors are or are like based on the

items. The activity was produced to help enhance their ability to make inferences and summaries

as they few days prior revealed they needed more practice. The artifact addresses the hands-on

aspect of the competency in that they had to physically dig through their “trash bags” and read

the items while recording their thoughts on a graphic organizer and packet.

Reflection on Theory and Practice

To successfully adapt to the cultures present in the classroom and use them for fuel to

enhance understanding, there must be “consideration of what that practice would look like and

feel like in your school, culture, and environment. This provides a sharper focus with which to

view the concept developmentally appropriate” (Noe, 2017, p. 44). Teaching ELLs may look

different from classroom to classroom as the level of fluency and comprehension ranges from

student to student. In my morning classroom, they all function around the same level, and the

sound wall not only meets them where they are at in their ability to produce sounds, but it

enhances their comprehension of word meanings through the understanding of the sounds. This

skill is pivotal in their education, especially in 3rd grade, where more independent tasks are

required of them as they get closer to standardized testing.

ELLs’ cultural awareness aspect often results in whole group differentiation that is a

product of sheltering techniques (Baecher, Artigliere, Patterson, & Spatzer, 2012, p. 15). At the

beginning of the year, the two classes we not seated like they are not with one ELL cluster. Due

to the ability to provide ELL assistance by my cooperating teacher, who is bilingual, they

rearranged the classrooms to have one with only ELLs. This setup allows for a greater

enhancement of my students’ cultural backgrounds in each lesson.

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The hands-on activities that I incorporate into their learning, including the “Trash Talks”

activity, aim to generate their interests, so they take a more significant role in their education and

learning. Due to the physical actions required by hands-on activities, there is an increase in

interest and ability to make deeper connections with the materials (Zahorik, 1996, p. 560). After

all, a fruitful purpose of hands-on activities is to “establish and maintain student interest”

throughout the lesson or activity (Zahorik, 1996, p. 555).

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References

Baecher, L., Artigliere, M., Patterson, D., & Spatzer, A. (2012). Differentiated instruction for

English language learners as "variations on a theme": Teachers can differentiate

instruction to support English language learners. Middle School Journal, 43(3), 14-21.

Retrieved March 28, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23074855.

Noe, L. (2017). Returning home from international experiences: My new understanding of

developmentally appropriate practices. YC Young Children, 72(4), 43-48. Retrieved

March 28, 2021, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/90013704.

Zahorik, J. (1996). Elementary and secondary teachers' reports of how they make learning

interesting. The Elementary School Journal, 96(5), 551-564. Retrieved March 28, 2021,

from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1001849.