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EDU 603 EDU 603 Final Project: Kindergarten World Languages Novice

Bridget Sandoval

Post University

Course number: EDU 603 Curriculum 2.0

Associate Faculty Dr. Jennifer Wojcik

April 26, 2024

© 2021 Post University, Waterbury, CT

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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EDU 603 Final Project: Kindergarten World Languages Novice

Part I: Executive Summary

Objective:

The Social Reconstructivism and Critical Theory is about educators overseeing the educational

system and being able to shape it to meet society's needs and for its betterment. It is a student-

centered model that focuses on democratic principles, ethics, and civic education. It promotes

critical thinking skills, analysis, research, and conflict resolution. It emphasizes strategies for

coping with real world problems with dialogue, questions and looking at many different

viewpoints into the problem (Post University, n.d.). Schools are about preparing students for the

needs of society. In a Social Reconstructive system students learn about controversial issues and

self-awareness and reflection along with critical thinking skills needed for social responsibility

and reform or reconstruction (Mcgregor, 2022).

Summary of Findings:

The United States school system is still competitive with worldwide school systems but for it to

reach all students so non are left behind, more work needs done. Standardized testing and the

current model might have worked well long ago but the time for change has long passed. Social

Reconstructive theory follows the ULD by putting the learner first in a student-based learning

environment, while also addressing the needs of society and ensuring that education remains at

the front of what the country’s citizens need. Shared social values are more important than the

needs of the individual (Mcgregor, 2022). Students are encouraged to research and work on

action projects that deal with injustice and inequality (Jenks, et al., 2001). Much about why

students are not learning is in part to do with the curriculum and whom it is geared for and
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another part due to social and economic issues learners and their caregivers face. This system

helps empower them to face challenges in the social environment at the time and to explore any

changes or improvements they feel are needed from their own personal experiences and research

of others in the same situations.

Analysis:

Social learning can be traced back to Vygotsky and Bandura. Vygotsky’s theory of social

learning and scaffolding falls in line with students discussing and analyzing real-world social

issues that affect and will affect them as they grow. Bandura has demonstrated how young

learners are influenced by what they see going on around them with his Bobo the doll experiment

(Education Center, 2022) Students require relevant real-world problems to help analyze and

process content they are learning in an educational setting. Perkins talks about how learners need

to be in the driver's seat and to learn the whole game (Perkins, 2009). Learning the whole game

is about not just learning what others did but learning by being part of the process, like with

driving. Driving does require some passive skills and knowledge beforehand but then it requires

just as much if not more quality hands-on experience. Perkins talks about the whole game of

education in metaphor with baseball and how watching baseball and playing baseball with

friends and playing baseball in a competitive regulated environment vary but how all are

required to understand the whole game. For students to understand education they need some

passive and some real-world experience both in a formal and informal situation.

Recommendations:

Students require engagement to maximize learning. Many students may feel lost as to how

current education meets their real-world needs. A student-centered learning environment that
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centers on the social issues they face day to day and how to best cope with them can create an

environment of social learning and community culture with unity. Students can feel they are

learning something that they are living and can apply now and are also learning skills they can

use to change or keep aspects that not just help them but society.

Conclusion:

Social Reconstructivism and Critical Theory is about real life and the real-life struggles and

challenges that students and their peers are facing and how they can face and reform or remake

what is their present and will be their future. The current structure of education and its educators

(white middle class) does not meet the needs of the students and the country (diversity) (Jekins et

al., 2001). Student centered learning puts the student first. Students in the driver's seat mean that

students are learning and empowering themselves in ways they feel will help them grow and

prosper in their world. One of predominate issues with learners today are social economic issues,

a Social Reconstructivism system not only engages the majority who are in poverty and want

change and engagement, it brings up the nations learning, and educational scores compared to

the rest of the world.

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Part II: Rationale of Curriculum

I would like to teach communication and follow the Colorado Department of Education

Academic Standards for World Languages, Novices (CDE, 2020). The students are kindergarten-

age. A large majority are on free or reduced lunch, with over half the population being Hispanic

origins and the other half white origins with a small population from other races. Males just

outnumber females by a small percentage. There is a smaller percentage of ELLs also. There is

also a small percentage of IEPs and students with learning disabilities not on IEPs. Student

learning will be different as a group will be from the Head Start Program and another from the

school district's new preschool program and some were in a daycare setting, a few were not in

any formal schooling. In an area that has lots of poverty, some students might have social-

emotional challenges.

With students coming together from many different cultures and a few, different languages

used at home, learning how to communicate with each other is very important. ULD will help

make sure all the different needs that each student has will be met. Working with younger

students ULD needs the educator to know their students so they can create a path that considers

their needs when achieving goals (Post University, n.d.). With the diversity of the students, goals

will include academic, social-emotional, or behavior.

Students will learn basic communication skills in their native language and in a language that

is not native and about verbal language. Students will share how they greet each other in their

cultures and learn how other cultures around the world greet each other. This will expand to

other topics such as how one communicates the need to use the bathroom to eat or ask for help.

Short videos, books and photos (online on a big screen or in print) will be used to either

introduce or reinforce what is talked about. Students will give examples of their communication
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and the educator will share and guide to what is acceptable communication at home and at

school. With a large community of Spanish-speaking citizens, Spanish will be taught alongside

English along with ways to communicate non-verbally. Games art projects and play scenarios

will be used to assess learning. Students will be grouped with strong language users from each

language so they can scaffold their skills to those who need more help. Those that need extra

help will have teacher support for their needs.

Knowledge

Students will know how communication is different for different people and cultures.

Skills

Students will be able to communicate greetings and basic needs with someone from a different

language either in their language or in a nonverbal way.

Understanding

Students will understand that everyone communicates differently but everyone still

communicates some of the same basic needs.

Class Kindergarten

World Languages Novice

Goals

1. Academic
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Students will be able to greet others, introduce themselves, and answer simple questions in an

interpersonal mode of communication.

Students will learn how to ask questions that meet their needs or address their situation. They

will be able to exchange ideas and information. They will be able to express, react, and support

preferences and opinions in conversation.

2. Behavioral

Students will learn words and phrases they feel are necessary in their everyday interactions. They

will use gestures and body language to help support language. They will build simple words into

phrases and sentences. They will work with other peers and teachers sharing knowledge they

know of their native language while asking questions about other’s language to efficiently

communicate within the school environment.

(CDE, 2020).

Universal Design for Learning UDL

UDL is about teachers working with students to set instructional goals in a process-oriented

framework. Teachers get to know their students and their individual needs as they work together

setting a route to those goals. While the goals are meant to be instructional, they can address

academic, social-emotional, or behavior goals (Post University, n.d.).

Instructional goals and relationship to UDL principles

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The first goal is to get to know everyone and their language knowledge. UDL tells us that

teachers need to know their students and their needs so they can work together in setting goals

(Post University, n.d.). Basic words will be modeled in both languages (Spanish and English)

along with what they look like written. The classroom will be labeled in both languages and with

photos when necessary. Students will memorize certain words and phrases they can use and

build on for everyday use in the classroom. This includes asking questions, expressing needs,

and greeting others and introducing oneself.

The second goal is students will pick words and phrases that they want to learn and use for

greetings, asking questions, and daily interactions. These can be added to as they master the

words or need new words. Students are learning a new language, but they still need to express

themselves in ways that reflect who they are. Guiding them through different and acceptable

ways to communicate within the school environment. While it is important to keep each student's

language and culture whole, students will learn when to use their native language and when to

use school language to meet their needs.

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Part III: Unit Pl

Stage I

Kindergarten: Communication, World Languages Novic 1.1

Communication is important and in today's multi-cultural world, communication can vary in

each household. Young learners are not in control of where their caregivers might take them
and what language or different means of communication are in place. Students will explore
different ways of communicating through different media and peer sharing to meet basic
needs and share information. They will share what they learn through group and individual
projects that they choose.

STAGE 1- STANDARDS/GOALS
What should students understand, know, and be able to do? Stage one identifies the desired
results of the unit including the related state content standards and expected performances,
enduring understandings, essential questions, knowledge and skills.

Content Standard(s)

Generalizations about what students should know and be able to do.

Content Standards Primary Expected Performances

Provide information by answering

simple questions on very familiar topics
using practiced or memorized words
and phrases, with the help of gestures or
visuals.
Students will be able to greet others,
introduce themselves, and ask or answer a few
simple questions using another language with
gestures if necessary.
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Express some basic needs using Students will be able to ask for basic needs
practiced or memorized words and such as water, food, and directions using
phrases, with the help of gestures and another language with gestures if necessary.
visuals.

Express basic preferences or feelings

using practiced or memorized words
and phrases, with the help of gestures
and visuals.
Students will be able to communicate basically
about their feelings or another's feelings.
Students will be able to ask for things by size or
color.

Enduring Understandings Essential Questions

Insights learned from exploring
generalizations via the essential questions
(Students will understand THAT…)
K-12 enduring understandings are those Inquiry used to explore generalizations
understandings that should be developed
over time, they are not expected to be
mastered over one unit or one year.

Overarching Enduring Understandings: What if nobody understood what I said?

Students will understand that there are
many ways of communicating. What if I could not understand anybody?

Students will understand that it takes many Why is language and communication
traits to communicate effectively. important?

Can language sound the same but mean

different things?
Unit Specific Enduring Understanding

Students will understand that certain

gestures and words can mean different
things for different people.

Students will understand that even if things

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are different that they can be the same.

Knowledge and Skills

What students are expected to know and be able to do

Knowledge
The students will know…
There are many different languages and ways of communicating.
That people are different but the same.
Skills
The students will be able to…
Use clues, gestures, or memory to pick up on key words, phrases, and gestures to
communicate basically.

Some students will know:

More than one way of communicating efficiently.

Even if the language is the same at times it can mean different things to different people.

Most students will know:

How to communicate basic feelings and preferences.

While some might seem different that humans have the same needs.

How to play or work on a project with just gestures and basic words.

All students will know:

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Everyone communicates differently, either a bit or a lot.

How to say hello and goodbye.

How to introduce themselves.

How to ask for the bathroom.

How to ask for food and or something to drink.

How to ask for help.

The world has become very mobile, lots of migration and relocating of families around the

country and world has brought many different cultures together in the same classrooms. The

ratio of the ELLs can vary depending on location and type of educational setting. It is important

for young learners to get some formal education in communicating with others from different

cultures with an emphasis on those whose home language is different than the school language.

Starting at a young age gives early exposure to tolerance and getting to understand those that are

different. This creates a community that shares the same values inside the classroom instead of

individual needs (Mcgregor, 2022). Having students share language and learning about each

other also helps the educator know about their students. Being able to visually see them struggle

and succeed with communicating allows the educator to better assess the students' needs while

getting to know them. This falls into the UDL model of keeping the student and their needs at the

forefront of the process (Post University, n.d.)

Question?

Can learning to communicate with others in their language help create empathy and social unity

within the classroom?

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Stage 2

Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence

Performance Task
Through what authentic performance task will students demonstrate the desired
understandings, knowledge, and skills? (describes the learning activity in “story” form.
Typically, the P.T. describes a scenario or situation that requires students to apply knowledge
and skills to demonstrate their understanding in a real life situation. Describe your
performance task scenario below)
By what criteria will performances of understanding be judged?
GRASPS Elements of the Performance Task
G – Goal GRASPS
What should students accomplish by
completing this task? World Language Novic, Kindergarten
R – Role
What role (perspective) will your
students be taking?
A – Audience Goal:
Who is the relevant audience?
The goal is for the student to use nonverbal communication to
S – Situation
The context or challenge provided to get someone to help them find their classroom.
the student.
P – Product, Performance Role:
What product/performance will the
student The student's role is of a new student to a school that does not
create? speak their language.

Audience:

The audience is an adult that will play the role of a student that
does not understand the language being spoken.

Situation:

The student is new in a new school where they do not speak the
majority language and they have to communicate they are lost
and need help finding their classroom.

Product, Performance, and Purpose:

The student will be able to use nonverbal skills to successfully

get their message across.

Standards and Criteria for Success:

Students will be able to get the person to take them to where

they need to go.
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S – Standards & Criteria

for Success Place your rubric in your appendices following your reference
Create the rubric for the list.
Performance Task

Other Evidence Student Self-Assessment

Through what other evidence (work samples, How will students reflect upon or self-assess
observations, quizzes, tests, journals or other their learning?
means) will students demonstrate achievement
of the desired results? Formative and
summative assessments used throughout the
unit to arrive at the outcomes.

Children love to play games and role play. This will allow them to role play with an adult that

will help model the behavior and help set the mood of communicating nonverbally in a real-

world situation. Being young students, learning about communication with different cultures and

languages in today's mobile world is very important. Living in Southwestern Colorado where

there are large numbers of ELLs and students with learning disabilities who might include

language barriers, being able to successfully communicate with others is important. Allowing

students to mock practice RealWorld situations is much like their roleplaying of teacher or store

or doctor that young children have been doing for generations. Changing this game into

communicating with others who don't talk the way you do is using a proven tool of play learning

in a different way. If young leaners can communicate with each other even with a language

barrier, and that model is followed into high school graduation of that k to 12 programs, could

that communication taught and modeled and reenforced year after year help slow and prevent not

just discrimination but misunderstanding between students and educators and possible help

prevent bulling and bias due to culture and language differences?


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Stage 3
Learning Plan (Stage 3)
Where are your students
headed? Where have they been?
How will you make sure the
students know where they are
going?
How will you hook students at
the beginning of the unit?
What events will help students
experience and explore the big
idea and questions in the unit?
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W Where is the unit headed and where are the students
going and what is expected.
Being that the students are Kindergarten learners they
are entering the lesson with no formal knowledge. Some
might have limited experience dealing with language
barriers as they might be migrants and have had
experience communicating with someone who does not
know their language or perhaps, they have seen someone
in that situation. Rare few might have hearing or
speaking disabilities or family that does. Being young
learners, it is not expected that they will master
nonverbal communication or a second language within
the time. What is expected is some tolerance and effort
in understanding communication from those whose
culture communicates different from one’s own culture.
While some role playing might lead to some comical
situations, from the audience point of view, by the end
all will have some empathy for all the roles as they will
all know the roles of the watcher, the one asking, and the
one being asked.
H How will students be hooked, and their interests kept.
The hook will be that the students will be in control of
how the lesion progresses. With the first question they
get, if you could not be understood, how would you
communicate something you wanted? What will keep
them interested is that they will be able to role play their
ideas to see how well their ideas of communicating will
work. They will also have a chance of being on the other
side of the coin and having someone try to communicate
something to them.
E How will students be equipped for success. How will
they explore and experience the ideas being presented.

How will you equip them with
needed skills and knowledge?
How will you cause students to
reflect and rethink? How will
you guide them in rehearsing,
revising, and refining their
work?
How will you help students to
exhibit and self-evaluate their
growing skills, knowledge, and
understanding throughout the
unit?
How will you tailor and
otherwise personalize the
learning plan to optimize the
engagement and effectiveness of
ALL students, without
compromising the goals of the
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Having students actively learning will keep them
interested. Having the educators model the first role play
will set the example of what is expected. They will also
be encouraged to ask at home if any of their family has
had experience with communicating with those who do
not speak the same language. Being younger a few short
videos and short explanations will be provided to guide
them but for the most part, the students will be actively
exploring their ideas and learning from trial and error in
funs hands on ways.
R Rethinking, Revisiting, and Revise their own work.
Throughout the lesson, students will be able to try
new ways of communicating. Students will have the
freedom of trying what they think will work. They will
be asked about how things went for them and if they can
think of anything they would try differently if they could
redo it. Then they will be given the chance to try the
different thing(s).
E How will understanding be expressed by students and
self-evaluation.
At the end of each lesson students will be asked self-
assessment questions such as how do you feel you did;
did you feel you got your message across; would you try
anything different next time and why? With students
doing roll playing with real time results that everyone
will see, self-assessment will be built into the lesson as
each time they will asked how it went and they will be
encouraged to try different things to as each person they
encounter will be different and the solution for one
person might not be the solution for the next person.
T How will instruction be tailored for different learners.
One learning level is assessed, students will be
grouped into smaller units that have a variety of learner
strengths and weaknesses. Students will then be allowed

unit?
How will you organize and
sequence the learning activities
to optimize the engagement and
achievement of ALL students?
# Lesson Title
6
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to observe and critique each other and scaffold learning
from peers with stronger skills. Those who struggle with
peer-to-peer learning will get one on one with teachers
to assess where the hurdles are and what options are
available to overcome them.
O Organization of learning experiences.
Young learners love to ask questions. To start them
thinking, the lessons will start with questions about what
they would do. From there they will start brainstorming
ideas and then implementing them and refining them till
they start to work. Then after they start to work, they
will start thinking of ways to get them to work better. It
will be like a small snowball that students push around
and with time will grow. The students will be allowed to
control the flow and speed of the lessons with the
educator guiding and helping keep focused as needed.
Being young learners, most of the experiences will be
some kind of role play or hands on activity.
Lesson Activities Resources
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Checking for UDL Principles

Assess and Reflect (Stage 4)
Considerations Comments
Required Areas of Study:
Is there alignment between yes
outcomes, performance
assessment and learning
experiences?
Adaptive Dimension: For struggling students:
Have I made purposeful
adjustments to the For students that struggle they will be grouped with students who have a range
curriculum content (not of knowledge they can scaffold from.
outcomes), instructional
practices, and/or the
learning environment to
meet the learning needs and
diversities of all my
students?

For students who need a challenge:

For those that need extra help, the educator will take time to assess where thr
Barror is and then provide a model and or provide extra support such as video
to help with understanding.

Instructional Approaches:
Do I use a variety of teacher
directed and student
centered instructional yes
approaches?
Resource Based Learning:
Do the students have access
to various resources on an yes
ongoing basis?

FNM/I Content and

Perspectives/Gender
Equity/Multicultural
Education:
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Have I nurtured and Yes the questions will reflect learning and the actions will be graded on
promoted diversity while accomplishments not on repeating the same as everyone else.
honoring each child’s
identity?
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References

 Education Corner. (2022). 15 Learning Theories.

 Jenks, C., Lee, J. O., & Kanpol, B. (2001). Approaches to multicultural education in

preservice teacher education: philosophical frameworks and models for teaching. Urban

Review, 33(2), 87–105.

 Mcgregor, S. L. T. (2022). How Educational Philosophies Shape Family and Consumer

Sciences and Home Economics Education: A Commentary. Journal of Family &

Consumer Sciences, 114(2), 40–48.

https://doi-org.postu.idm.oclc.org/10.14307/JFCS114.2.40

 Perkins, D.N. (2009). Making learning whole: How seven principles of teaching can

transform education. Jossey-Bass

 Post University. (n.d.). Educational Philosophy and Theory, EDU603-Curriculum 2.0.

https://post.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-8470723-dt-content-rid-85434400_1/xid-

85434400_1

 Colorado Department of Education (CDE), 2020, Colorado Academic Standards Online.

https://www.cde.state.co.us/apps/standards/10,21,22

 Mcgregor, S. L. T. (2022). How Educational Philosophies Shape Family and Consumer

Sciences and Home Economics Education: A Commentary. Journal of Family &

Consumer Sciences, 114(2), 40–48.

https://doi-org.postu.idm.oclc.org/10.14307/JFCS114.2.40

 Post University. (N.D.). Developing Instructional Goals: Universal Design for Learning

Instructional Model. https://post.blackboard.com

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 Colorado Department of Education (CDE), 2020, Colorado Academic Standards Online.

https://www.cde.state.co.us/apps/standards/10,21,22

 Post University. (n.d.). Developing instructional goals: Universal Design for Learning

instructional model. https://post.blackboard.com

 Colorado Department of Education (CDE), 2020, Colorado Academic Standards Online.

https://www.cde.state.co.us/apps/standards/10,21,22

 Post University. (n.d.). Developing instructional goals: Universal Design for Learning

instructional model. https://post.blackboard.com


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Appendices

Evaluation Rubric for Blogpost #3,

Stage 2 and Using GRASPS for Authentic Performance Tasks/Creating a Rubric for Assessment

Criteria Needs help 1 Developing 2 Understands 3 Points possible

4/12
Participation Did not Participated but Understood role
participate did not and attempted
understand role one or more
ways to get their
message across
Use of gestures Did not use Used some Used lots of
and body langue gestures or gestures or body body language
body language language but kept and gestures or
that was using same ones were creative in
understandable or kept trying to their way of
to their request use language getting their
message across
Composure Did not Attempted Were able to
participate or assignment but overcome or get
showed could not get into past roadblocks
frustration with role or other enough to fully
role emotions got best attempt
of them ie participate and
excessive were able to gain
laughing control of
distractions and
emotions
Creativity Did not Participated Tried different
participate repeated same tactics once they
tactics knew the one,
they were trying
was not working
Total points _/12

Part 2
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Criteria Needs help Room for Understanding Total Points

1 improvement 2 has been reached
3
Is the No essential Is an essential Understanding is /3
understanding understanding understanding essential
essential. but is vague or
off topic
Is knowledge Knowledge is Some Most or all /3
transferable not transferable knowledge is knowledge is
transferable transferable
Do essential No essential Some essential Essential /3
questions align questions or do questions align questions align
with goals not align with with goals but with goals
goals not all or they
are vague
Are there Only one way of Two ways of Three or more /3
multiple ways of understanding understanding. ways of
understanding understaing
presented.
Is GRASPS GRASPS is not GRASPS is GRASPS is /3
present present present but present
missing
elements
Is the goal clear No goal or Goal is present Clear goal /3
for the learners unclear goal but needs some
explanation
Real world No real world Some real world Real world /3
experience experience experience experience
present present present present
Is the work Work is not Some of work is All of work is /3
revisable revisable revisable revisable
Is the learning Learning plan in Learning plan Learning plan is 3
plan coherent not needs some understandable
and understandable work to be
understandable understandable
Totals /26