Teacher Candidate ____Lisa White____

Subject:__English Language Arts_________Grade:__7___

Standard I: Classroom Contextual Factors (DM1): Complete this information and
put it in your TWS Standard I Section.
You will need to use differentiation (modification/adaptations) in your lesson plans,
instructional strategies, and assessments that are based on student contextual factors. To
help you determine what types of accommodations are needed, identify the information
below.
1. Demographics: Identify the gender, race, language proficiency, exceptionalities, and
number of students.
a. Students: Total #____25__

Males: ___16___

b. Ethnicity:
White: __17____

Hispanic/Mexican: __7___

Asian: ______

Native American:__1_____ Other: ______

Females:____9_

African American:______

3. Language Proficiency: Identify the number of English Language Learners and

languages in your classroom.
Four students are ESL, two of whom are advanced. The other two students are low
proficiency and struggle with reading comprehension. These two students also have IEPs.
Spanish is the alternate language for all four students.
4. Exceptionalities: Identify the number and type of exceptionalities in the class.
Eight students have IEPs in this classroom. One student has cerebral palsy with low
motor skills. Two students are emotionally disturbed. One of these ED students
occasionally tries to cause injury to himself to gain attention from his peers or to disobey
the teacher. Also, this student will occasionally fall asleep in class as a side effect of
medication. The other ED student can become violent toward others if pressured too
much in class.
One IEP student has autism. Other IEP students have learning disabilities and struggle
with reading comprehension. One student has a low IQ but is performing on-level and
does not qualify for an IEP. Another student is slow cognitively, possibly as a result of
the home environment, but he does not qualify for an IEP at this time. The two low-level
ESL students also have IEPs for learning disabilities.
One student struggles with social cues and boundaries but does not qualify for an IEP.

5. Social Economic Status (SES)

A broad spectrum of SES in the classroom. Some students in the class are in foster care,
others come from single parent homes. Some students live in homes while others live in
apartments or are in-between homes. Some students have parents with a history of
alcohol or drug abuse. Others come from emotionally and financially secure families.
6. Academic Knowledge (If available): Describe the academic data results of the students
thus far (grades, attendance, discipline factors, core tests. etc.).

Students are on a broad spectrum and range from level one to level four SAGE results.
Approximately 30 percent of students were proficient at the sixth grade SAGE test, but
only sixteen percent showed proficiency during the seventh grade interim test taken in
January. Some students read at a very low reading level (around 3rd grade), while other
students read above level (as high as 9th and 10th grade).
One of the low ESL students is absent frequently. Two students in the class are constantly
disruptive and the mentor teacher has had to refer these students to administration. If
given a group activity where students are able to choose partners, four particular students
will form a group and become immediately disruptive.
7. English Language Learners: Describe ways you can incorporate tools of language
development and reading content into planning and instruction for these students.
Example: ELED- SIOP/ WIDA; SCED-reading content.
Read some of the assigned readings aloud to the students to give them an opportunity to
hear how the words sound. Provide definitions for terms used in academic language that
may be unfamiliar to them. Provide opportunities for students to use new vocabulary and
check for understanding throughout the lessons. Spend a few minutes with ESL students
and have them read assigned material aloud. Ask them questions to gauge their
understanding of the text and evaluate their ability to read the text presented.

8. Multicultural Perspectives: Identify ways you can use culturally responsive curricula
and teaching that meets the needs of all students.
I will provide reading material on a variety of subjects to increase student interest. I also
need to be aware that students from different cultures will have different degrees and
varieties of background knowledge. This could impact students ability to use inferencing
skills and context clues. They might reach different conclusions than their peers when
using these skills. I will need to keep this in mind during formative and summative
assessments.
9. Prior Knowledge: Elementary-Describe the criteria used to determine the reading and
mathematics prior knowledge and give a percentage of the number of students in these
different levels for reading and mathematics such as Below, Basic, or Advanced.
Secondary- Review the prior knowledge needed of students to be successful in learning

the content knowledge for the TWS unit and how you will implement content reading
into your unit (Ex. Common Core Strategies, etc.).
Essentially, my TWS unit will be a review of some of the reading skills that students
have learned at the beginning of the year. However, it has been several months since the
information was covered, so I will be covering many concepts as if they are brand new.
However, there is some prior knowledge that is required for my unit. Using the skills of
inferencing and context clues requires students to rely on their background knowledge,
which is something that will vary from person to person and from culture to culture.
Therefore, I will try to find scenarios that should be familiar to all of my students and be
understanding if students who lack background knowledge arrive at a slightly different
conclusions than mainstream students.
Prior to my unit, students have also been reading one informational article each week and
annotating it according to specific guidelines set by the teacher. Students will need to
take the prior knowledge learned from practicing the skill of annotation and reading each
week to apply it to new articles that ask the students to look for new elements within the
articles and apply new skills.
10. Exceptionalities: Describe student exceptionalities that are identified in the class
contextual factors. These exceptionalities can include; (a) development of physical,
social, and emotional needs; (b) special education; (c) ethnicity; (d) gifted/talented; (e)
ability differences, etc. Briefly describe ways to make modification/ differentiation for
planning, instruction, and assessments.
The student with cerebral palsy needs a Chromebook to complete assignments because
handwriting is difficult. This student will also need additional time to complete written
assignments.
One student who is emotionally disturbed craves attention from his peers. He is difficult
to keep on task, but warning him that he will have to work alone usually quells most
disruptive behavior. The other student who is emotionally disturbed can get very angry if
pushed too hard. It is important to keep this student on task and working while avoiding
stress that could result in an angry episode.
The two low-level ESL students will benefit from hearing articles read aloud and may
also need opportunities to privately ask questions. These students do not usually ask for
help, so it is also important to ask them comprehension questions and have them discuss
with me how much progress they have made on assignments.
The student with autism benefits from simple but firm reminders to stay on task followed
by positive praise for completing work.
Many of the IEP students with learning disabilities will be unable to complete tasks as
quickly as their peers. Therefore, I have two options that my mentor teacher has used.

The first is to evaluate how much work has been completed and verify that the student
understands the concept by reviewing the work or talking verbally with the student. Then,
at the end of the class period, I can accept work that is partially or mostly done as if it
was complete. A second option is to pull students into small groups to give them time to
finish assignments during independent reading time. Neither option should be used
exclusively.
The students in this class also have vast variations in reading ability. I will need to offer
texts that are both interesting and accessible for all students. Students who have very low
reading levels will need more assistance with reading than other students. These students
will benefit from working in groups or pairs and hearing the articles read aloud. I will
also need to check these students for comprehension the same way that I am working
with the low-level ESL students.

10. Identify sub-groups of students: Based on your contextual class factors- identify the
sub-groups you will need to address in differentiation/modifications for your instruction,
assessments, and analysis of student learning (e.g., gender, ELL, special education,
ethnicity, gifted/talented, ability differences, or other contextual factors listed above, etc.)
Subgroup data will be compared to each subgroup and the whole class.
Sub-groups include ESL students, IEP students, male/female students, and ethnic
minority students.