Elementary Literacy

Task 1: Context for Learning Information

TASK 1: CONTEXT FOR LEARNING INFORMATION

Respond to the prompts below (no more than 4 single-spaced pages, including prompts) by typing your responses within the
brackets following each prompt. Do not delete or alter the prompts. Pages exceeding the maximum will not be scored.

About the School Where You Are Teaching

1. In what type of school do you teach? (Type an X next to the appropriate

description; if other applies, provide a brief description.)

Elementary school: __X__
Middle school: _____
Other (please describe): _____
Urban: _____
Suburban: __X__
Rural: _____
The school where I teach contains 449 students who are enrolled for the entire
school year. There are 33 teachers; twelve of them have advanced degrees. The
average amount of teaching experience is 19.4 years.
2. List any special features of your school or classroom setting (e.g., charter, coteaching, themed magnet, intervention or other leveled small group instruction,
classroom aide, bilingual, team taught with a special education teacher) that will
affect your teaching in this learning segment.
[ The school where I teach has a population of 449 students. Of the 449 students,
30% receive free and/or reduced price meals, while approximately 7.9% receive
special education services. Knowing this, I realize that not all my students receive or
have the resources they need to complete online work at home. Therefore, most of
the work for my learning segment will be done in class. Also, although more than
half of the student population is Caucasian at 53.9%, this is a diverse school. The
other major ethnic groups of the student population include: Native Hawaiian at
23.9%, African American at 2.4%, Chinese at 2.6%, Filipino at 3.2%, Japanese at
5.9%, and Hispanic at 2.6%. This affects my teaching because, as I will mention
below, with a small amount of students being ethnically Japanese, I will need to
teach about Japanese history and culture prior to my segment. Additionally, this
school has an accelerated gifted and talented (AGT) program for English Language
Arts (ELA) for grades four to six, and an intervention behavioral plan for specific
students when applicable.
The classroom that I work in contains 23 students. Majority of the students are
Caucasian, but there is one student who is African American, a couple students who
are Native Hawaiian, and a small group of students who are a mixture of ethnicities
including Caucasian, Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino. Throughout the year, I have
made note of the students backgrounds, interests, learning styles, and
social/economic experiences to learn more about them. I use this information to
inform my planning and instruction. For example, students tend to be engaged
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Elementary Literacy
Task 1: Context for Learning Information

during group work, which is why I include partner, small group, and/or whole group
activities in each lesson. A second example is that students were lacking
background knowledge when reading and discussing, Under The Blood Red Sun.
Knowing this I am, prior to teaching this learning segment, providing students with
appropriate academic language supports, and background knowledge specific to
World War II and Japanese culture.]
3. Describe any district, school, or cooperating teacher requirements or expectations
that might affect your planning or delivery of instruction, such as required curricula,
pacing plan, use of specific instructional strategies, or standardized tests.
[
The district that my school is in, requires that the curriculum aligns to the
Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Therefore, my mentor teachers ELA
curriculum and my ELA learning segment are completely aligned to the CCSS.
Additionally, this district strongly recommends that teachers to use the Wonders
Reading curriculum for their ELA reading instruction. However, my mentor teacher
has used literature text sets in the past, and has given me permission to use a
literature text set as my ELA instruction for this learning segment.
As a school, this years Professional Improvement Plan (PIP) focuses on text
evidence and text dependent questioning. My teacher has been frequently aligning
her ELA lessons to meet these areas of focus. I will focus my learning segment on
gathering text evidence to help my students improve in this area of focus. This
school also uses a specific attention grabber called the high five. When using this
attention grabber, students have been taught to become quiet and focused on the
speaker within a countdown from five to one
My mentor and her cooperating teacher that also teaches fifth grade have
established a pacing guide for the school year. My mentor has made an exception
for this learning segment to be taught for one week during the third quarter.
However, I am working with my mentor to ensure I am covering the same major
topic(s) and/or strategies that are being covered with the Wonders curriculum and
pacing guide.]

About the Class Featured in this Learning Segment

1. How much time is devoted each day to literacy instruction in your classroom?
[Approximately two hours is devoted each day to literacy instruction in my
classroom. Normally, the first half hour of this time is devoted to silent reading time
where students read a best fit book, and/or conferencing with students who have
finished reading their book. Modifications that my mentor and I have made before
include: students silently reading an assigned text for a specific purpose, and/or
teacher(s) meeting quietly with a guided reading group(s) (usually on Wendesdays
and Thursdays). ]

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Elementary Literacy
Task 1: Context for Learning Information

2. Is there any ability grouping or tracking in literacy? If so, please describe how it
affects your class.
[There is ability grouping in the reading groups during the main language arts class,
and tracking for the three AGT students in my classroom. The ability grouping of
students for the guided reading groups are based on three reading levels (below
grade level, at grade level, and beyond grade level).The students are aware of their
group and have a vague idea of their peers grouping based on their observations.
This range in ability levels requires my instruction to be differentiatied as much as
possible for all my students. I must plan for the individuals who complete tasks
quickly and make accomodations for those who struggle to compete assigments.
Generally, the three AGT students are present in my classroom during every
language arts period.]
3. Identify any textbook or instructional program you primarily use for literacy
instruction. If a textbook, please provide the title, publisher, and date of publication.
[There is a textbook for this class. The title is Wonders, the publisher is McGraw Hill,
and the date of publication is 2014. This Wonders program is the adopted reading
curriculum for the state of Hawaii. However, during the year my mentor supplements
this curriculum with her own professional resources and literature classroom set
books.]
4. List other resources (e.g., electronic whiteboard, classroom library or other text sets,
online professional resources) you use for literacy instruction in this class.
[There are many sources that are used by my mentor teacher in her classroom.
Resources that are used in this classroom include: a smart board, a whiteboard, an
elmo projector, a classroom set of chrome books, four desktop computers, graphic
organizers, various classroom text sets, Wonders leveled readers, IXL Lanugauge
Arts computer program & other online professional resources, an ELA journal, a
classroom library, and the school library.]

About the Students in the Class Featured in this Learning

Segment
1. Grade-level(s):
[ 5th grade]
2. Number of
students in the class: _23_
males: _9_ females: _14_
3. Complete the charts below to summarize required or needed supports,
accommodations, or modifications for your students that will affect your instruction in
this learning segment. As needed, consult with your cooperating teacher to complete
the charts. Some rows have been completed in italics as examples. Use as many
rows as you need.

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Elementary Literacy
Task 1: Context for Learning Information

Consider the variety of learners in your class who may require different strategies/supports or
accommodations/modifications to instruction or assessment (e.g., students with Individualized
Education Programs [IEPs] or 504 plans, students with specific language needs, students
needing greater challenge or support, students who struggle with reading, students who are
underperforming or those with gaps in academic knowledge).
For Assessment Task 3, you will choose work samples from 3 focus students. At least one of
these students must have a specified learning need. Note: California candidates must include
one focus student who is an English language learner.1

Students with IEPs/504 Plans

IEPs/504 Plans:
Classifications/Needs
Example: Visual processing

Number of
Students
2

Supports, Accommodations,
Modifications, Pertinent IEP Goals
Close monitoring, large print text, window
card to isolate text

IEPs

504 Plans

Preferential seating, No Tears

handwriting program, Writing Goals, PT
EA when needed (mainly for P.E. and
Music)
Bag check (stack and pack), chunking,
movement breaks, preferential seating,
sticker chart

Students with Specific Language Needs

Language Needs
Example: English language
learners with only a few
words of English

Example: Students who

speak a variety of English
other than that used in
textbooks

Number of
Students
2

Supports, Accommodations,
Modifications
Pre-teach key words and phrases through
examples and graphic organizers (e.g.,
word cluster, manipulatives, visuals)
Have students use pre-taught key words
and graphic organizers to
complete sentence starters
Make connections between the language
students bring and the language used in
the textbook

Students with Other Learning Needs

Other Learning Needs
Example: Struggling readers

Number of
Students
5

Supports, Accommodations,
Modifications
Leveled text, targeted guided reading,

California candidatesIf you do not have any English language learners, select a student who is challenged by academic

English.

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Elementary Literacy
Task 1: Context for Learning Information

ongoing reading assessment (e.g.,

running records, miscue, conferencing)
Struggling Readers

Behavioral Support Plan

Targeted Guided Reading, ongoing

reading assessment through
conferencing, three students are chosen
each quarter to receive Response to
Intervention (RTI) with Mrs. Wills
Repeats back what was stated, bag
check (stack and pack), study buddy,
visual reminders

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