PSU

TEACHER WORK SAMPLE

TEMPLATE

Your First and Last Name:

Storm Shaw

Date Submitted:

11/10/14

District where you completed

the TWS:

Lawrence USD 497

Name of School Building

where you completed the
TWS:

West Middle School

Content Area of your TWS:

English Language Arts

TWS Unit Topic:

Reading Closely, and Writing to Learn

Grade Level of the

Classroom / Students in
Which the TWS Unit Was
Completed:

8th Grade

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I. Contextual Information and Learning Environment Factors

A. Narrative General Contextual Information for Community, District, and School (limited to 1 page)
From My limited Experience in this school, it appears the Parents are involved with certain bigger decisions regarding school spending, however, it also seems
there is a lack of funding for many of the extracurricular activities, such as sports, art, and tech. The community prides itself in being unique, and therefore many
of the afterschool programs and parent involvement attempts strive to be engaging in unique ways. It is also a more liberal community than one may find
throughout the rest of Kansas, which result in many minority group outreach and clubs that teachers and parents are very involved with.
The school is fairly racially diverse. The district is 69% Caucasian, 6% African American, 9% Hispanic, 2% Native American, 4% Asian, 10% Multi-Ethnic.
Lawrence West Middle School is 66% Caucasian, 8.5% African American, 7.5% Hispanic, 3.4% Native American, 4.6% Asian, 10% Multi-Ethnic. Therefore, it is
an accurate depiction of the district as a whole.
In Terms of Gender, the class that is the subject of this study is 52% male and 48% female. District USD 497 is 53% Male and 47% Female. Therefore the sample
class is also reflective of the district.
According to the last year of recorded statistics (1998-99) 112 students out of 581 at Lawrence West Middle School were eligible for free or reduced lunch, which
is 19%. After discussing the more recent statistics with the administration, it is speculated that the numbers are closer to 25%. This is a more troubling increase
than a first look suggests because the number of students attending the school has increased from 581 to somewhere around 629.93. This means that closer to 160
students are now eligible for free or reduced lunches. In comparison to the entire state, the National Center for Education Statistics reports that 46% of Middle
School students in Kansas qualify.

Table 1.1 Class Contextual Information (limited to 1 page)

Grade level ___8th____ Content area (e.g., mathematics) __English ___________
Topic (e.g., geometry)_____________
Age range of students _13-14______________
Number of male students _____13______
Total number of students __25__________
Number of female students __12________
Percentage of students receiving reduced lunch ___60%_______
Percentage of students not receiving reduced
lunch_____40%_________
[if free/reduced lunch information not available for class, provide school percentages]
Area in which students live (check all that apply) Urban __X___ Suburban _X_____ Rural ______
Ethnicity of students (give numbers)
___2___ African American or Black
__4____ Hispanic or Latino
__0____ Native American/Alaskan Native
__17____ White
___2___ Asian or Pacific Islander
___0___ Other (specify) __________
Language proficiency of students (give ___21___ Fluent English Proficient
__4____ English Language Learners
numbers)
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Identified special needs categories

represented (give numbers)

___2____ Specific Learning Disability

____0___ Hard of Hearing
____0___ Deaf
____0__ Deaf-Blind
____0_ Other Health Impaired
____0___ Multiple Disabilities
____0__ Brain Injury
____0__ Established Medical Disability (0-5 yrs)
____0__ At risk for developmental disabilities

___0____ Speech/Language Impaired

____0__ Visually Impaired
___0___ Orthopedically Impaired
___0____ Emotionally Disturbed
___0___ Autism
___0____ Mental Retardation
___0___Gifted
___0___ Developmentally Delayed
___0___ Other (Specify)_______________

Provide appropriate charts/graphs to display demographic data for district, school, and classroom in Appendix A.

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Table 1.2 Student Characteristics for Whole Class (limited to 1 page)

Student Characteristics
Intellectual Characteristics
- Including readiness,
cognitive abilities, learning
needs, developmental levels,
etc.
Previously demonstrated
academic performance/
ability:
% Above standard _35%__
% Meets standard _50%___
% Below standard _15%____
Social Characteristics
- Including emotional,
attitudinal, motivational, etc.

Personal Characteristics
- Including physical, social,
individual experiences,
talents, language, culture,
family and community
values, etc.

Specific Descriptions
In General, the class is ready for the unit, and is exhibiting the skills required to approach the new material. 85% of
the class has met or exceeded the state math and reading standards on Assessments. Except for a few students, the
class seems to demonstrate the requisite skills required for the Unit. They are also all on track developmentally
according to grade level standards.
A majority of the class has met or exceeded the Standards on the State Math and Reading Assessments.
Those that didnt, still have exhibited the requisite skills in order to be successful in the upcoming unit.

The class exhibits a positive attitude regularly, with a slightly above average work drive. They stay enthusiastic with
lessons slightly more than Id have expected. Despite the diversity in the class the students interact well and dont
seem to let that affect their day-to-day communication. They rarely allow their social interactions to become a
disruption, however, transitions tend to cause the class to get off task at times, and thus requires some corralling in
order to stay on task. They stay more on task in work group when the genders are evenly dispersed among all
groups.

As a class these students are all of average physical construct. They all have basic social skills, if at times slightly
socially awkward due to developing understanding of social cues. Many students are very artistically talented
through various mediums. They are kind, and friendly, which actually leads to class disruptions because they want to
be involved in each others lives frequently. There is a general expectation of equality and acceptance for all types of
people that is inspired by the attitudes of many Lawrence residents. There are gay-straight alliances even at the
middle school level. It is a mostly all inclusive culture, but some students are still ostracized for some of the more
classic tropes, such as perceived nerdiness or if their personality goes against the current trends of what is cool.

B. Narrative: Implications for Whole Class Instruction Based on Information from Table 1.2 (limited to 1 page)
They are a close-knit and mostly supportive class, which has its benefits and inherent flaws. The positive side of this is that they are mostly
respectful to each other and me. Most of the behavioral issues arent due to friction between students; rather they tend to be from students acting out
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to receive recognition from their peers because they are all friendly with each other. Therefore it is a class that needs clear procedures and
expectations outlined, and reinforced in order to stay on task. Saying phrases such as Ill wait for you when waiting for interruptions to cease is not
a good strategy with this class because they will take this as an invitation to finish their mode of acting out. Therefore it is more effective to use
practiced hand signals that show them what I perceive and what I expect as a result. Staying in control of this class is important because once they
feel they have gained control they are extremely difficult to rein back in. When it comes to group work, which is difficult but effective with this
class, a teacher presence that takes up the whole room is important because they work well together and come up with great discoveries when kept
on task, but stray easily from the material. It is best to preselect the groups for the students because they will pick friends who they struggle to stay on
task with. This class accomplishes a lot of astounding work when they are focused.

Describe this
subgroup/student using
information from Table 1.1
SUBGROUP
or
Male or
FOCUS
Female students
STUDENT

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Why was this

subgroup/student
selected?
I selected Gender as the
subgroup students
because they split the
class almost into perfect
halves. This is important,
not so much for any
perceptible way in which
a female student might
perform differently than

What was learned about this subgroup/student?

Intellectual
The students didnt perform differently in terms of their gender. Some
students out performed others but there was no correlation suggests that males
performed better, or that females performed better as a result of gender.
Social
When participating in group activities, all female groups tended to work more
effectively together than the all male groups. This was remedied early on by
preselected groups of mix genders.

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SUBGROUP Low SES students (Free or

or
Reduced Lunch qualifiers)
FOCUS
STUDENT

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a male student, but rather

how I as a teacher
interact with females as
compared to males. My
personality and style at
times tends to favor male
students, which could
inversely effect the way
that females in class
obtain the objective in
these lessons.

Personal
As students they dont tend make gender a primary concern in terms of how
they view their peer and therefore it wasnt a large contributing factor to
performance in the students eyes. Personally as a teacher, it feels as though I
naturally interact more effectively with male students, which could have led to
focusing my attention more on them, thus affecting the females performance
from lack of attention. However, because I focused on this subgroup I
challenged these habits.

I selected Low SES

students because it has
been speculated that this
status can often affect
reading skill levels
because parents often
didnt have time to read
to their children when
they were young, due to
increased workloads.
Considering this unit is
largely comprised of
close reading, and
analyzing what has been
read in order to draw
further conclusions, it
seemed like an important
subgroup to observe.

Intellectual
While several of my Low SES students meet or exceed the standards for the
reading and math assessments, several of them are below the standards. In fact,
my only students that fall below the standards qualify for free or reduced
lunch, which shows me that there is some correlation to my speculation.
These students scored some of the lowest scores on both the pretest and posttest. There was significant growth in terms of their own scored, but the posttest scores were still low in regards to some of the other students.
Social
These children actually tend to band together, while this is sometimes affective
at creating an accepting environment in which to increase their skill level of
reading, sometimes it stunts their growth because they attempt to identify as
lower achieving students together in order to legitimize themselves and
remove the stigma they feel for their lower performances.

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Personal
Individually these low SES students want to improve, but suffer a lot of
frustration and motivation loss when they compare themselves to their other
classmates. The most effective method I have found for inspiring effort in
these kids is to get them reading something that is pleasurable to them, even if
it has pictures or is in a comic book style, the more they read for pleasure and
practice honing their skills the more they grow. It is when they are allowed to
give up on themselves because they think they have to catch up to their peers,
instead of letting them develop their skills exactly where they are at, that stunts
their growth the most.

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C. Sub- Groups/Students Information

D. Narrative Implications for Sub-Groups/Focus Students Instruction (limited to 1 page)
With the sub-groups I have selected I have to keep several things in mind in terms of whole classroom instruction. With the gender-based
subgroup, I have to make sure males and females are intermixed during group work in order to achieve the most effective outcomes. With the low
SES sub-group I have to assign work and design lessons that will challenge these students, while not losing them entirely, or frustrate them to the
point of quitting because of demanding reading. At the same time I cant let the other students be assigned work that is too easy, or not enough
reading and analysis. Therefore I will likely use differentiated instruction that adapts certain activities to the level of each student, while still working
towards the same goal at different paces. Keeping my low SES students focused and positive about their work is extremely important or their skills
will continue to fall behind or deteriorate. In terms of gender I need to be conscious of my interactions and make sure I am distributing instruction
and questions evenly.

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II. Instructional Design

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A. Narrative Description of Range of Objectives and Rationale for Selection (limited to 1 page)
The range of objectives in this unit will be kept narrow because the skills that well be developing are difficult, and take a lot of work to begin perfecting. If we
were to approach it with any more than 4 objectives we would begin to water down the effectiveness of each objective. We will utilize The Hunger Games in
order to develop our close reading skills. This will be done by several activities (keeping reading journals in which we summarize chapters, and list three of our
favorite quotes from it) Then once we have read we will learn how to pull information from the text, and utilize it in order to support an argument, or apply it to a
theme we have been discussing. Then we will attempt to hone analytical skills through activities that require the students to make a new statement based off of
their close reading, and gathered textual information. The Hunger Games was chosen for its textual complexity (for the 8 th grade level) and because many of the
themes (Isolation, fear of failure, relationship struggles, etc.) are relatable topics for many 8 th grade students.

B. State Objectives Here: Focus should be on student performance not activities. What will students know or be able to do? (limited to 1 page)

Close reading skills for a fictional text

Level(s)
(e.g. Blooms
Taxonomy)
Remembering,
Understanding

Pulling info from the text (quotes)

Applying

Utilizing quotes in a way that bolsters and argument or gives meaning to a theme in the novel

Analyzing, Evaluating

Create a new argument based on the close reading and analyzed text

Creating

Obj.
No.
1

Unit Objectives

5
etc

C. Identify State Standards Benchmarks Addressed by Unit Objectives How do objectives address these standards? (limited to 1 page)

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Standard 1: The student shows an understanding of key Ideas and Detail

Benchmark 1: The Student can determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its
relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
Benchmark 2: Student can cite textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn
from the text.
Standard 2: Student understands the integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Benchmark 1: Student can cite relevant evidence when offering interpretations whether they be oral or written making their thinking and reasoning
clear. They are also able to evaluate the citations of others. They can develop inferences from the citation in order to construct new thoughts.
While one or two other standards may be addressed in the unit, they will not be the primary focus. Standards one and two, with their various
benchmarks of success will be the goals we set out to accomplish. Objectives 1 and 2 accomplish Standard 1 because they will be able to determine
theme and development while completing the close reading assignments. Objective two will teach students to properly cite textual evidence.
Objective three will partially address standard one, but will more effectively accomplish Standard two.
Standard 2 will be accomplished by objectives 3 and 4. These objectives have to do with developing meaning from cited text, and evaluating the
meaning of others cited text. Furthermore, objective 4 requires that student develop new meaning and inferences about the text which accomplishes
standard 2.

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Describe the assessment to be

used

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Explain rationale for choosing

this assessment

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Which
Identify how the assessment will be
objectives scored and/or the criteria to be
does this
used for evaluation.
assessment
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address?

Pre-Assessment
(Diagnostic)

Written Test (identification of

terms)

Formative Assessment
- Informal

Formative Assessment
- Formal

Summative
Assessment

Citations and explanation

Inference and meaning

(Conclusion) quiz

Written Test (essay) and

Identification of Themes
(explanations)

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The rationale for the written test

(identification of terms) was to see
how well the students knew the
foundational vocabulary that would
be required to approach the new
lessons. We would be using theme
as a means for close reading and
introspection of the text and I needed
to establish where to begin the
lesson.
I chose this because it is an early
step in working with this new
material, but it is important. It is
also an activity that I think all
students can do well at if properly
instructed. This will be a skill they
will need for future academic
writing.
For this I had the students use the
skills we have been covering the last
several days and take a quiz
selecting true or false whether or not
the passage explanation was
effectively concluded. They then
briefly explain why they think so or
think not.
The final assignment will function as
the assessment for this. Therefore it
is more of a procedure test. The
student will synthesize the skills
(theme identification, supporting
quotes, explanation, and conclusion)
into a simple analytical essay.

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1,2,3

This pre assessment will be graded from

0-10. There are 5 terms they need to
properly define. They will get two points
for pulling a quote from the story, two
more for explaining why they selected it
and a final point for attempting to select
a theme. The goal here is to score around
a 70% and I anticipate most of the
difficulties coming from the terms and
identifying a theme.

1,2,3

This too will be graded from 0-10. The

two quotes will be two point apiece (4
points total) each explanation of the
quotes will be worth the same (4 points
total) The theme they selected will make
up the final two points.

1,2,3,4

1,2,3,4

There were three conclusions written

from different perspectives based on
The Clown. Two of them had
reasonable inferences made. One was off
the mark. The quiz is graded out of 30
points. 5 points for the yes or no answer.
And 5 more for an explanation of why it
is a good or bad conclusion.
This will be scored from 0-50 points.
Theme Identification, the quotes, and
conclusion will be scored from 0-10
points. The explanation of the quotes
will be scored from 0-20 points because
it is the largest part of the assessment.
Therefore if each skill is completed
correctly the student will get all points
and create a simple analytical essay.

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II. E.
Why are the lessons sequenced in this
manner?

The lessons are sequenced in this way in order to establish an understanding of the skills the students
already hold or dont hold. From there we build skills one layer at a time in order to teach analytical
writing skills that will culminate in a extremely simple essay (we will further these skills in the next unit).

II. F.
What learning strategies were incorporated
into this unit?
How do the instructional strategies/activities
address the learning objectives for this unit?

The Strategies used were Teacher demonstration (when addressing new material) and Group work (pairs)
paired with student demonstration to solidify the new skills and reduce confusion. Finally, individual
psychomotor work was a large part of this unit due to this needing repetitious practice in order to acquire
them.
These strategies address the objectives for the unit because they allowed for the instructor to first model the
skills, then to work together in pairs in order to address confusions with close reading and citing quotations.
Then they got the hands on experience with explaining quotes and making inferences from their
discoveries. These are skills that come hard at first, but become manageable with repetitious work.

II. G.
How will critical thinking and problem
solving strategies be implemented? Give
specific examples of use.
II. I.
Explain the reading strategies that will be
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A Large part of this unit will be accomplished through the use of critical thinking and problem solving
strategies. Students will have to consider a theme, which is something determined from implications. Then
they have to find puzzle pieces from the text that reflects the image they see. They will have to figure out
how to convince a reader that the puzzle pieces or quotes they selected as evidence are valuable. The
most difficult critical thinking activity will be making inferences based off of all the information they have
collected and created.
Close reading and inference will be the two reading strategies primarily used in this unit. They will provide

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used throughout the unit. Give specific

examples. (Remember that using text is not a
reading strategy)
How will technology be integrated within the
unit? Explain both teacher use and student
use.
How does the unit demonstrate integration of
content across and within content fields?

the information required to do the writing aspects of this unit.

Due to the unit revolving around reading and interpreting text there is not any required technology that will
enhance the material itself. However, in terms of instruction the smart board will be used to model close
reading (underlining important material). In terms of the students, reading may be done on an ipad or Ereader. The writing may be done on a computer using a word processing program.
This unit will integrate certain social studies topics in the reading that we will use. The Hunger Games
takes place in a world that has a lot of social unrest and political implications. These will likely be
discussed at length when approaching themes.

II. J.
What specific adaptations or differentiated
activities were used to accommodate
individual learning needs for the whole class?
What specific adaptations or differentiated
activities were used to accommodate
individual learning needs for the identified
sub-groups / students?

Accommodations were made to aid in the reading portions of the unit for the whole class (due to different
reading levels) so that students who required help could read out loud with a group led by a Para educator.
This helped make sure they catch important details of the story that are crucial for finding quotes and
explaining them.
The accommodations for the sub groups were similar. There were arenas in which reading help or direction
was offered. In terms of gender there was no explicit differentiation, but I did watch myself and make sure
that I was available for all students equally. For the Low SES students, the reading adaptations were the
most helpful. There were also times when the Para educators or I provided some guided thinking with them
in order to encourage their ideas in regard to the themes or quotes they thought might work.

Provide a copy of two complete detailed lesson plans in Appendix B.

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III. Teaching and Learning

A. Narrative: Daily Teaching Reflections (limited to 4 pages)
Day 1: Today was a little difficult in terms of time because I introduced the new unit and material we would be covering, and we had
to tackle a 3-page story with a short assignment. There was some confusion I had to clear up before we could start, but it seemed like
there was a general consensus after we finished the introduction (it took about 15 minutes). I modeled how to close read on the smart
board for the first paragraph of the story, and told the students to keep their eyes out for important or repetitive details. Then we began
reading the story from the book called The Clown it is a short story telling Pats a memory of his best friend Slick who was the class
clown and how he tried to make Pat laugh in a very strict teachers class. The students read (a few were offered a reading group in the
hall with the Para Educator). This took about 15 minutes. Then the students had 15-20 minutes to complete the pre test work sheet.
Everyone finished in time, and I can see there will need to be clarification about what a theme is.
Day 2: Today went well. Due to some confusion about theme I included a definition on the worksheet they did in class in order to
remind them what a Theme. I also gave them a bank of possible themes the first three chapters of The Hunger Games might be. I
modeled how to properly cite a quote for an in text citation. This took a large section of the class time (roughly 30 minutes) because it
is a rather confusing concept the first time through. I stressed not to worry about perfection at first, but to see how the text can support
or imply the idea of a theme. The students then had the latter half of the class to assign themes to the first three chapters, and find one
quote to support each. I dont have them explaining their quotes yet because I just want to see them making connections between their
opinions and the text itself.
Day 3: I noticed a lot of confusion in todays lesson. Several students got bored near the end and almost didnt finish the assignment.
I started by re-explaining how to quote an in-text citation. I did notice a growth in understanding with this skill when I had several
students write quotes on the board. There were very minor issues, which actually served to answer questions the whole class had. I
then used one of the student quotes on the board to introduce the next step for our work today. I assigned a theme for a previous
chapter and explained how the quote shows us this theme in the chapter. This required a brief review of inference so that students
could adequately explain their quotes. The part of class where many lost focus was when they were given time to search for their two
supporting quotes in Ch. 4. I think this may have something to do with people who didnt finish their reading homework assignment.
Once we found the quotes, I was pleased with the explanations they came up with. This shows me that they were already considering
how the quotes imply a theme or blatantly suggest one. I stressed at the end how important close reading was for this and up coming
assignments.
Day 4: Today was a tough lesson, but I anticipated there would be some difficulties. I introduced the concept of a conclusion in an
analytical paper when reading literature. The main goal I wanted to express here was that I dont want the students just rehashing what
they already wrote in the paper. The conclusion should be used to draw an actual conclusion. Make one last statement of belief, take
the text and say something new with it. Therefore I modeled what I expected on the board with the previous chapter from The Hunger
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Games. I picked a Theme, quote, and explanation that a student had been working on. I then compiled all of this information and
opinion, and created a conclusion paragraph where I not only summed up what had been said but I made an inference that implied
what the author was attempting to accomplish by using this theme and what that means for the audience. I received many scratched
heads and blank stares. So then I had the students partner up and work a similar activity with a partner at their desk over The Clown
that we read earlier this week. A lot of great conclusions were made. Some still struggled but I helped them as we moved into the main
activity. I had the students pick a theme from chapter 5 of The Hunger Games find a supporting quote and explain it. Then they had
to create a conclusion for their opinion based on what they just gathered. I would then check to make sure they make sense together,
and redirect students who were confused. All in all pretty good lesson.
Day 5: I instructed the students to select a theme that runs through all 5 of the first chapters and mark possible supporting quotes as
homework. Today the students were given their test over the material. It basically was them accomplishing the four skills we have
been working on (Theme identification, Supporting Quotes, Explanation, and Conclusion). They had to approach chapters 1-5 of The
Hunger Games and select one theme that ran throughout them. They could then utilize the quotes they marked as homework in order
to support this theme. 3-5 quotes were what I asked for. Ideally they would select 1 quote for each chapter ( I let them do this part at
home because I know it is a lot).The then had to explain their quotes, and draw a conclusion from all their information. I noticed some
frustration, but no one seemed completely lost.
B. Classroom Management Plan (rules, procedures, preventative strategies, supportive strategies) (limited to 1 page)
For rules and procedures, we constructed a list as a class at the beginning of the year that consisted of basic outlines such as (respect each others physical and
academic property, come to class ready to learn, etc.) The class with, my final approval, constructed these, and then every student signed the poster board these
rules were written on. It is in front of the classroom and serves as the first level reminder for all classroom disruptions. I remind students in most scenarios that are
causing a disruption to mind their signature. This usually gets students back on task. In cases where I need to go further than this I tend to move from eye contact
with the disruption, to mentioning the name of the offending student as I continue instruction, then Ill relocate the student if they still dont stop. They know that
this will cost them a certain amount of their class money that they can use to purchase privileges. This tier of preventative strategies is what I use first so that I can
continue with instruction. If there is a more serious matter that I need to handle I will move the students and have a mediated discussion after class so that both
parties get to share their perspective. Depending on how the meeting goes (a compromise is usually reached, and more serious punishment is avoided). The main
supportive strategy I use is to catch students being right more often than catching them doing something wrong. What I mean is that 80% of my verbal
observations of the class are thanking certain students for being on task or performing a specific action in the way that I requested. This not only makes the student
who is acknowledged feel good, but it implies incentive to the students who are not achieving my recognition. I have found it to work better than simply putting
out fires with negative recognition every time someone is misbehaving. I intend to make my classroom a place that is safe and respectful so that I can raise the bar
academically and personally for all of my students. I want them to know what I expect from them so that I can challenge them.

C. Student Interaction and Engagement (Strategies for promoting student to student interaction and student motivation) (limited to 1 page)
With the material we will be covering in this unit student interaction and engagement are important and difficult. I plan on modeling a lot of the new material and

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then having students work in partners to work out any confusion they will initially experience. We will then do a lot of student modeling, and cooperative learning
techniques to comprehend the new skills before they work individually on the assignments. I will also do some kinesthetic learning (tactile learning) activities
where the students will vote by moving around the room in order to learn how to properly quote from the text. Popcorn reading may be employed, as well as some
other group reading techniques to keep the class engaged with the material. However, since a majority of the reading will be done as homework these will be used
earlier in the week in order to foster some close reading techniques. There will also be incentives for students who read the chapter at home and right a short
synopsis as homework. This will not only increase the homework completion rate, but also the close reading skills will improve as a result. The incentives will
vary, but the students who act on this will do better with the rest of the material as well as receiving physical prizes and incentives.

D. Student Communication (detailed description of appropriate strategies to encourage student to student communication) (limited to 1 page)
We will rely on a lot of partner work and discussion, with mild amounts of group work because this class has a hard time staying on task in groups 3 or larger.
Students will confer with each other in pairs, and then swap partners and convey what they discussed with their original partners. This will disseminate information
while encouraging communication without allowing the students to get off task. We will also do class votes when students are modeling skills on the board, where
they stand in a corner of the room depending on if they think the model is right or wrong. This will allow for communication during the voting process. The
students who disagree with the model will discuss how to fix the issues they see. This class struggles with student led discussion, so I tend to mediate the
discussions, but open the floor to share viewpoints on new material.

Narrative: Analysis of Assessment

E. Pre-Assessment

Overall analysis of results.

Discuss the results in reference to

the learning objectives.

On this first assignment only 30% of the class passed the quiz (and that is on a scale where 60% is passing). The
highest score on the pre-test was a 70%, which tells me that there is a lot of foundation that needs to be laid before we
can approach the new material. In terms of the sub-groups, four out of thirteen male students passed the pre-test
(30% of males passed). In terms of Female students, four out of twelve female students passed the pre-test (33%
passed). These were closer than I anticipated, and while the scores are lower than Id like them to be, I am glad that it
didnt differ greatly between the genders, as I feared my biased (at times) instruction might have caused. In terms of
low SES students, two out of fifteen students passed the pre-test (only 13%). I will make sure to make adaptations in
light of this performance.
They seem to know very little about close reading. They need a lot of work when it comes to understanding how to
determine a theme from a story. They have a basic idea of how to quote a part of a story, but due to their struggles
with theme, Ill have to keep an eye out for how well they can make inferences from quotes they pull. The scores
were lower than I would have liked, so they will likely need some prepping before the new concepts.

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Describe how pre-assessment data

was used to proceed with instruction
for all students.
What is the plan to differentiate for
all learners?

The pre-assessment scores show me that I need to re introduce and expand upon the idea off Theme in literature. I
will begin here in order to clarify confusion. This concept is important to understand because many of the skills
revolve around identify themes in various text, and then explaining how they arrived at their conclusion.
There seems to be a wide range of reading skills, and interpreting text. Therefore, I will offer reading aid for the
lower reading level students. I will also provide opportunities for students to bounce ideas off of each other when we
begin dealing with new material because there seems to be a general struggle with understanding theme. Since we are
all working on the same skills, I plan to intermix students with different skill levels so that students can help each
other.

F. Formative Assessment

Overall analysis of results.

Discuss the results in reference to

the learning objectives.
Are students learning what was
intended they learn?

Overall as a class I was pleased with the progress that has been made since the pre-test. 84% of the entire class
scored an average of at least 70% (although most scored higher) on the two formative assessments. In terms of the
Gender subgroup, 12 out of 13 (92%) passed the formative assessments (on average) with a score of at least 70%.
10.5 out of 12 (87%) female students passed the formative assessments (on average) with a score of at least 70%. In
terms of the low SES students, 11 out of 15 (73%) passed both formative assessments. This was a substantial increase
since the pre-test.
The students are achieving scores that imply a comprehension and achievement of the learning objectives on
assignments I designed to teach and measure whether or not they can accomplish these tasks. They now clearly know
how to identify theme within literature, and most of the students can quote properly, and explain why their quotes
prove their speculations. There is still some issues as to whether or not they have grasped the skill of inferring
meaning from this collected information. All in all, students are learning the skills they are intended to learn.

Discuss any adaptations based on the

results of formative assessments.

I realized after the first several lessons that they grasped the material best when working in partners for a bit before
they set out for their individual work. Therefore I start each lesson by modeling, and then having partners replicate
the steps, and finally having several partners share what they came up with. Only after this do I have the class
separate into individual work time. It has increased understanding on some of the lower performing students to see
their own classmates model it in language they can better understand since it is jargon free.

Identify differentiation needed to

help all students meet the goals and
objectives of this unit.

The partner conferences before they start their own work have been the most helpful, especially when the
partners are engaging with the content on different skill levels. It helps higher level students to teach the
material to the students who are struggling, and it helps the struggling students to be re-taught the material
several times.

G. Summative Assessment

What did the disaggregated data of

the assessment reveal?

72% of all of my students passed the summative assessment with a score of 80% or higher. This shows me a
substantial increase in understanding from the pre-test. It also shows me an average overall understanding of the new
material. It also showed that the male and female students performed quite similarly, which I hope reveals a success
in my conscious effort to provide equity in my time and efforts. In terms of low SES students, 6 out of 15 (46%)
achieved lower than an 80% on the assessment. This was discouraging especially in light of their perceived growth on
the formative assessments.

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Discuss the results in reference to

the learning objectives.
Did all students learn what was
intended they learn? Explain.

The substantial increase in scores, and average number of students who scored 80% or higher reflects that the
learning objectives were acquired by most of the students, especially when considering the assessment was them
performing the skills we have been working on in this unit.
Not all students because we four students score a 60% or lower. I see this as a failure to acquire and perform the skills
that we have been covering. This opinion is justified when observing these four students scored on the previous skill
assessments and seeing a trend of low scored throughout, which would imply that they did not learn what I intended
for them to learn in this unit.

Provide a copy of pre-assessment document and the corresponding scoring key/rubric in Appendix C.
Provide a copy of one formal formative assessment document and the corresponding scoring key/rubric in Appendix C.
Provide a copy of one informal formative assessment document and the corresponding scoring key/rubric in Appendix C.
Provide a copy of the summative assessment document and the corresponding scoring key/rubric in Appendix C.
H. Visual Representation of Disaggregated Data
Chart/Table/Graphs of disaggregated data for the Pre-assessment should be included in Appendix C.
Due to the varied nature of data collected by the teacher candidates, each candidate is asked to create a chart/table/graph that includes data for the
Whole Class, Subgroup, and Focus Students. Title the table/chart/graph and use labels to accurately portray the data.

Chart/Table/Graph of disaggregated data for the Summative Assessment should be included in Appendix C.
Due to the varied nature of data collected by the teacher candidates, each candidate is asked to create a chart/table/graph that includes data for
the Whole Class, Subgroup, and Focus Students. Title the table/chart/graph and use labels to accurately portray the data.

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IV. Self-Evaluation and Reflection

A. Narrative description of Successful Activities and future implications
Based on the analysis of all the assessment
results, identify TWO learning objectives
from the unit students were most successful.
Objective 1: Close Reading Skills

Objective 2: Pulling info from the text (quotes)

Give more than one reason for each of the successes identified.
This was a foundational skill that many of the students have some experience in. It needed
practice rather than being a new input experience. I think the students also succeeded at this
because we practiced it in class together frequently, and it is a skill that is easy to develop once a
student is exposed to it.
We struggled with this at first, but eventually got quite good at it. It is a skill that is more
mechanical, meaning it is something that can be confusing, but once the method is learned a
student can perform this skill consistently and accurately. I think we also succeeded at this
objective because a lot of practice with this was done as partners, and this group of students does
extremely well when working as partners.

Discuss at least TWO things to do differently in the future to extend these successes to continue students academic growth.
I think I would spend more class time and model close reading techniques. Since we did most of the reading at home it impeded the growth of these skills
because I wasnt present to remind the students to practice. I would also have more repetitious practice of citing quotes and focus on the MLA formatting
rules.

B. Narrative description of Least Successful Activities and future implications

Based on the analysis of all the assessment
Give more than one reason for each of the least successful objectives identified.
results, identify TWO learning objectives
from the unit students were least successful.
Objective 1:Utilizing quotes in a way that
This skill wasnt a failure by any means, but considering that we only approached this unit
bolsters and argument or gives meaning to a
working with four learning objectives it was less successful in comparison. I think this was
theme in the novel
because it tends to get subjective and requires individual thought, which most of the class struggles
with due to a community based mindset. I think it was also a struggle because we initially
struggled with the concept of theme.
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Objective 2:new Create a argument based on the This was by far the least successfully achieved learning objective in this unit for several reasons.
close reading and analyzed text
The first being that it was truly a new input experience. It took time to understand and practice the
skill. It was also a poorly grasped skill because it is extremely personally subjective, which goes
against some of the schooling the students have had up until this point which emphasizes relying
on facts. This takes on a new angle where the students have to create new meaning, which
requires them to use the facts to stretch forward in meaning.
Discuss at least TWO things to do differently in the future to improve students performance.
I would definitely extend the unit longer than five days to practice these skills. It was crunch time to approach them with such a narrow window. I would
also tie in some explanations of how this will tie into more complex essay writing in the future.

TABLE 4.1 Communication Log

Date

Person Contacted

Method of
Contact

Reason for Contact

Follow Up
(if
necessary)

Result or Impact on
Instruction

Add rows as needed

C. Narrative Reflection on Impact of Communications (limited to 1 page)

I would utilize e-mail and posting something to a class website I would construct using Weebly.com which I would use to post updates about our class as well as
upcoming units and ways parent can be active participants in their childrens education. It would be helpful to send home information regarding the upcoming unit
(close reading techniques) so that parents could help their students begin using these before we start. It could also be helpful because parents will know what their
children are learning and can be prepared to open discussion about how class is going and help with homework. If a student were having difficulties with the unit I

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would take a more personal approach and call the parents to let them know. Calling might also provide me with insight to how I might better reach their student. I
would communicate with my colleagues while creating this unit because many of them likely have more experience than me and might have some pointers
regarding techniques that are effective or not. I would also confer with my colleagues who teach different subjects so that we might coordinate some overlap in
topics or objectives. This repetitious exposure to similar objectives is what ingrains certain skills.

D. Narrative Reflection on Future Professional Development (limited to 1page)

Identify at least TWO aspects of instruction that could be improved.
Explain reasoning.

What specific professional development opportunities/activities will

help to acquire that knowledge or skill?

Aspect 1: identify learning objectives to teach with this unit

Meeting with other colleagues might help come up with more learning
objective to add to the unit. I went with only four for the sake of
simplicity, but I think there are some more things that could be tied in.

Aspect 2: Incorporating more diverse teaching techniques

I went with a narrow range of teaching techniques for this unit because I
assumed that repetition and exposure to the skills in a similar way would
be effective. I think it might be more effective to vary the instructional
methods so that the students could see it from more angles. I will attend
professional development opportunities that offer insight into new
teaching techniques. I will also review some textbooks on teaching that
offer insight into different teaching techniques.

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REFERENCES

KSDE.GOV

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APPENDIX A

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APPENDIX B

Name: Mr. Shaw

Lesson: Close Reading and interpreting themes in literature
Grade Level: 8th Grade
State Standard(s)/ Benchmark(s): Standard 1: The student shows an understanding of key Ideas and
Detail.
Benchmark 1: The Student can determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the
course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of
the text.
Benchmark 2: Student can cite textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Lesson Objectives:
1.Close reading skills for a fictional text.
2. Pulling info from the text (quotes).
3.Utilizing quotes in a way that bolsters and argument or gives meaning to a theme in the novel.

Materials: The Hunger Games, and Worksheet over theme.

Instructional Input/ collaborative work, and modeling: We will review the definition of
theme, and how to determine a theme for literature. Several themes will be listed on the board,
and the instructor will use various books the students have read in previous years of school.
The students will work as partners to come up with a theme for the various examples. Then the
instructor will call on several partners to share their ideas and explain why they decided upon
their answer. The instructor then models how to cite a quote from text in the MLA format.
Then, explain that citing quotes is how you justify your answer of a selected theme just like we
did as a class.
Activity/ Assignment: The students will then split up to work individually on the Theme
worksheet the instructor will provide.
The goal here is to:
Review the chapters (1-3) that students read the previous night using close reading
techniques previously covered
Using the examples of possible themes for each chapter the students will select one for
each chapter (they may select the same theme for each chapter as long as they justify
their answer).
Once a theme has been selected for a chapter, the student will cite a quote from the
chapter in order to justify their choice.
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Adaptations: For the students with lower reading ability, there is an aided reading group led by
the Para educator. For the two learning disability students specific adaptations have been made,
such as only answer for the first two chapters instead of all three.

Closure:
What are some things we are looking for during close reading?
Why do we assign themes the literature?
What is the purpose of citing quotes from the text itself?
Evaluation/ Assessment: The way I will evaluate todays class is by checking the worksheet
we worked on in class. If they performed the skills sufficiently then they are ready to move
forward. I will also be traveling around the room making sure people are on task and answering
questions.

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Name: Mr. Shaw

Activity: Close Reading and interpreting themes in literature
Grade Level: 8th grade
State Standard(s)/ Benchmark(s): Standard 1: The student shows an understanding of key Ideas and
Detail.
Benchmark 1: The Student can determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the
course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of
the text.
Benchmark 2: Student can cite textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Standard 2: Student understands the integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Benchmark 1: Student can cite relevant evidence when offering interpretations whether they be oral or written
making their thinking and reasoning clear. They are also able to evaluate the citations of others. They can
develop inferences from the citation in order to construct new thoughts.

Lesson Objectives:
1.Close reading skills for a fictional text.
2. Pulling info from the text (quotes).
3.Utilizing quotes in a way that bolsters and argument or gives meaning to a theme in the novel.

Materials: The Hunger Games, and standard classroom supplies

Instructional Input/ collaborative work, and modeling: We will continue to build upon the
skills we covered the last several days. We will start by having students model the proper
method of citing quotes in MLA format on the board to review this fairly complicated skill. I
will give a theme and a quote that they should properly cite. The class votes if they think the
example is right or wrong by standing on opposite sides of the room. The students who voted
that it was done right will select a spokesperson to explain why the quote properly supports the
theme. We will do 3 student examples.
Activity: After this whole class work we will split back up for individual work time. This will
look a lot like the previous lesson. The student will only work with one chapter today (4)
They are to find two quotes from the chapter that justify their theme they have assigned.
Then they have to explain in their own words (1 paragraph or more each) why the
selected quote proves the theme they assigned to the chapter.
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Adaptation: For the students with lower reading ability, there is an aided reading group led by
the Para educator. For our two learning disability students we allow them to only find one
quote to support their theme and explain it.
Closure:
How does theme relate to the text (quotes)?
Why did we use more than one quote today for this chapter?
What is the point in explaining how the quote proves the theme?
Evaluation/ Assessment: Students will turn in their work from the class today, and I will grade
it to determine if they can perform the new skill of explaining their textual evidence. I will also
be watching them work during class and observing their level of understanding.

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APPENDIX C
Pre-test
Name:
Directions: Determine the basic elements of the story The Clown below. Then select your
favorite part from the story and cite it as a quotation below.
Setting:

Characters:

Tone:

Conflict:

Theme:

Quote:

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Pre-test Key
Name:
Directions: Determine the basic elements of the story The Clown below. Then select your
favorite part from the story and cite it as a quotation below.
Setting: School, Miss Bindles classroom, the main characters childhood.

Characters: Pat, Slick, Miss Bindle, The Principal

Plot: Pat has never laughed in the mean Miss Bindles classroom, but his best friend Slick is the
class clown. Slick promises to make Pat laugh in Miss Bindles class. Slick puts pencils up his
nose, slicks his hair forwards with bear grease, and sips some ink pretending to be a walrus. Pat
laughs and Miss Bindle tries to take Slick to the office but cant grab him. Then Pat and Slick
get sent to the office and the Principal scolds them. Pat hears mean Miss Bindle laughing in the
coatroom after class and realizes she has a weird sense of humor.

Conflict: Pat wants to make it through the whole school year without laugh in Miss Bindles
math class. He makes the mistake of telling his best friend (the class clown). Slick sets out to do
everything he can to get pat to laugh. Pat is afraid if getting in trouble.

Theme: Humor can be dangerous

Quote: anything from the story (13).

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Proving Theme in The Hunger Games

Name:
Theme: Main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work that may be stated directly or indirectly
Ch. 1 possible themes
-Power
-Society and Class
-Politics

Select one theme that best fits the first chapter and then find a quote from the chapter that
justifies your answer.
Ch. 1 Theme:
Quote:
Ch. 2 possible themes
-Strength and skill
-Politics
-Appearances

Select one theme that best fits the second chapter and then find a quote from the chapter that
justifies your answer.
Ch. 2 Theme:
Quote:
Ch. 3 possible themes
-Competition
-Sacrifice
-Politics

Select one theme that best fits the second chapter and then find a quote from the chapter that
justifies your answer.
Ch. 2 Theme:
Quote:
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Proving Theme in The Hunger Games-Key

Name:
Theme: Main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work that may be stated directly or indirectly
Ch. 1 possible themes
-Power
-Society and Class
-Politics

Select one theme that best fits the first chapter and then find a quote from the chapter that
justifies your answer.
Ch. 1 Theme: Any theme is acceptable if the quote justifies it.
Quote: Any quote will work here if it justifies the previous answer (pg#).
Ch. 2 possible themes
-Strength and skill
-Politics
-Appearances

Select one theme that best fits the second chapter and then find a quote from the chapter that
justifies your answer.
Ch. 2 Theme: Any theme is acceptable if the quote justifies it.
Quote: Any quote will work here if it justifies the previous answer (pg#).
Ch. 3 possible themes
-Competition
-Sacrifice
-Politics

Select one theme that best fits the third chapter and then find a quote from the chapter that
justifies your answer.
Ch. 3 Theme: Any theme is acceptable if the quote justifies it.
Quote: Any quote will work here if it justifies the previous answer (pg#).
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Identifying and justifying Theme in The Hunger Games

Name:
1.Select one possible theme for chapters 1-5 in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
2. Find at least one quote from each chapter that will help to justify the theme you selected
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
3. Explain (Use separate sheet if you need more space) how each quote expresses the theme you
selected in question 1.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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4. Write a concluding paragraph that addresses the points you have already made. Make sure to
include at least one definitive statement about the meaning of this theme and how it affects the
novels audience.

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Identifying and justifying Theme in The Hunger Games- Key

Name:
1.Select one possible theme for chapters 1-5 in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
Any themes we have discussed in class are acceptable (power, politics, strength and skill,
sacrifice).
2. Find at least one quote from each chapter that will help to justify the theme you selected
1. Any quote will work here if it justifies the previous answer (pg#).
2. Any quote will work here if it justifies the previous answer (pg#).
3. Any quote will work here if it justifies the previous answer (pg#).
4.Any quote will work here if it justifies the previous answer (pg#).
5.Any quote will work here if it justifies the previous answer (pg#).
3. Explain (Use separate sheet if you need more space) how each quote expresses the theme you
selected in question 1.
1. Answer here must elaborate upon why the corresponding quote conveys theme
and why this is important.
2. Answer here must elaborate upon why the corresponding quote conveys theme
and why this is important.
3. Answer here must elaborate upon why the corresponding quote conveys theme
and why this is important.
4. Answer here must elaborate upon why the corresponding quote conveys theme
and why this is important.

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5. Answer here must elaborate upon why the corresponding quote conveys theme
and why this is important.

4. Write a concluding paragraph that addresses the points you have already made. Make sure to
include at least one definitive statement about the meaning of this theme and how it affects the
novels audience.
Answer here is subjective, but must make an attempt to say something definitive about the
text as a reference to the previous answers. Student must reflect upon their overall
answers to say something about the text.

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