In order for our interdisciplinary unit plan to be accessible to all learners, we have included accommodations for English Language Learners as well as students with disabilities within our activity designs. These accommodations range from method of groupings, as well as modifications to individual activities to provide greater support for the learners.
Flexible Groupings
When it comes to the learning groups for the settlement design projects, the teacher will arrange the groups beforehand. One of the reasons for this is that a primary outcome of this project is for students to learn to work democratically with each other, whether they choose who they work with or not. Secondly, the teacher will be able to structure the groups so that ELL students are supported either by another student who speaks their first language, or if that is not possible, strong students who would be able to act as a leader and support for those ELL students. Within these learning groups, the teacher can help students divide the work so that ELL students may contribute in aspects better suited to their level. This differentiation method benefits all students since including a variety of student levels and strengths in a group contributes to a sense of respect between group members (Alberta Education, 2010) and promotes many of the competencies this unit strives to develop including problem solving, collaboration, and communication (Alberta Education, 2016). Furthermore, since many of the activities in the Settlement Design activity and the final Settlement Proposal Design include elements that are not exclusively print based, ELL students will have more opportunities to participate with other strengths and interests they may possess. Another method we used to support ELL students through grouping was having brainstorming activities in small groups or pairs. Flexible groupings allow students "opportunities to work in a variety of contexts" (Alberta Education, 2010, p.66) and thus students have greater access to engage with the material.
Activity Modifications
Depending on the severity of the need, ELL students can be provided with more visual representations of concepts. Even for the benefit all students, the videos watched in the Society Design activity are a combination of spoken explanation and cartoon visuals. In addition, tasks can be modified so ELL students can use graphic organizers or webs to represent their ideas, instead of written reflections. Volunteers can work as scribes to help students record their thoughts, and help edit written work. ELL students may also utilize speech to text technology and have volunteers, other students and/or the teacher help with editing. Another modification suitable for some ELL learners would be to have students write responses in their first language and have volunteers, family members, or online technologies help with translating in the production of multi language texts. It is important that students have the opportunity to "show their learning in different ways" (Alberta Education, 2010, p. 5) For students requiring other methods of differentiation, accommodations can be made for utilizing speech-to-text technology, allowing students to type responses instead of handwriting, enlisting the help of scribes to take down ideas, or utilizing graphic organizers and webs. Furthermore, teachers can help students formulate strategies for participating in groups and coming to consensus democratically in groups.