EDUC 450: PROFESSIONAL CLINICAL PRACTICE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY TEACHER UNIT WORK SAMPLE TEMPLATE

Candidate: Nakita Manigault Mentor Teacher: Ms. G. Kennedy Academic Year: 20122013 District: Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5 School: Whittaker Elementary School Grade Level: 4th Subject: English Language Arts Dates of unit: 2/4/2013 2/15/2013 Section I: Unit Title and/or Description: Main Idea Section II: Description of Students: Describe (1) the number of students, (2) demographics of the students, and (3) any other special features or important information that you included in your Long Range Plan as you described your students. There are a total of 86 students. There are 45 males and 41 females. There are 42 African American males and 41 African American females; 1 Caucasian male; and 2 Hispanic males. There are four resource students one of which is a speech only resource student. These students receive additional help from the resource teacher during instruction. There are also two ESOL students. One of the two ESOL students is very strong in reading and has a high average in English language arts. The other ESOL student has difficulties with certain words while reading and this difficulty causes problems while reading assignments independently. Overall, the SES status is below poverty, which may slightly affect student performance. If presented with any difficulties, I will do my best to accommodate students as necessary. As reported on Whittaker Elementary Schools 2012 report card, 33.8% of students results were exemplary, 50.6% of students results were met, and 15.6% of students results were not met for English Language Arts. Section III: Contextual Factors: Describe the contextual factors, including the (1) relevant student characteristics from Section II, as well (2) as other factors related to the community, district, school, classroom or students, that are likely to impact instruction and/or student learning with regard to the selected instructional unit. Include a (3) description of the ways in which each of these factors will be taken into consideration during unit planning and instruction. As stated above, there are 86 students that I will teach during my Main Idea unit. This information is pertinent to my unit because these students come from diverse backgrounds and have different learning styles. After consulting with the resource teacher, I know that three of my students receive additional assistance during instruction, and one student only receives assistance for speech. This is important information because I have to adjust my lessons and teaching strategies to accommodate these students to maximize learning. There are also two Hispanic students that are ESOL. One of these students is very strong in ELA, and the other has a few difficulties but is still receiving good grades on assignments. According to the cafeteria manager, the most of the students are living in poverty and receive free or reduced lunch. These factors may affect my instruction, but if a problem arises, it will modify and adjust my lesson as necessary to accommodate each student.

Section IV: The Unit Plan Section IV A: Major Unit Objectives (Key Element 2.A) (1) List the unit objectives and (2) indicate the corresponding state standards. (Remember objectives must contain 4 parts: performance, product, conditions and criterion.) Unit Objectives Key Element 2.A 1. 80% or more of the students will be able to analyze the details that support the expression of main idea in a given literary text after being familiarized with content. Correlated Standards/Expectations

4-1.1 Analyze the details that support the expression of the main idea in a given literary text. 4-2.1 Summarize 2. 80% or more of the students will be able to summarize evidence that supports the evidence that supports the central idea of a given central idea of a given informational text. informational text. Section IV B: Unit Plan (Key Element 2.B) Describe your instructional plan that is, the (1) sequence of steps that you need to follow if your students are to achieve the unit objectives. (2) Describe the key instructional activities, strategies, materials and resources including instructional technology), and indicate the unit objectives (numbered according to the order in which they are listed in Section IV A) that are addressed. Instructional Plan for the Unit Key Element 2.B Activities/Strategies/Materials/Resources (Key Element 2.B) Bell Ringer: Students will be presented with a short passage and will be required to find the main idea and a supporting detail. Prezi.com Presentation: Students will view a Prezi presentation that reviews Main Idea. Students will take notes on the presentation. Guided Practice - together we will read and review PASS like passages and identify the main idea and its supporting details. Independent Practice Students will complete the activity Anne of Green Gabels on their own to demonstrate comprehension of lessons content. Students will interact in a review game for main idea and a spiral review of other standards. Are you smarter than a 4th grader? Weekly Assessment 4-1.1 Bell Ringer: Students will be presented with a short passage and will be required to find the central idea in a given literary text. Prezi.com Presentation: Students will view a Prezi presentation that reviews central idea. Students will take notes on the presentation. Guided Practice - together we will read and review PASS like passages and identify the central idea of a given text. Independent Practice - Students will complete PASS like questions Unit Objective Number(s) 1 1 1 1

1 1 2 2 2 2

on their own to demonstrate comprehension of content and utilize strategies learned during lesson. Weekly Assessment 4-2.1 w/ spiral review of 4-1.1 2 Reflect on the instructional plan for the unit: How does this instructional plan (1) establish a balance between grade-level academic standards and expectations and the needs, abilities and developmental levels of individual students? (2) Discuss the strategies used to teach students on varying levels. (3) Discuss how you designed your instructional plan using students characteristics, needs and learning contexts. The instructional plan for this unit sets forth a balance between grade-level academic standards and expectations and the needs, and abilities and developmental levels of individual students in various ways. The standards and indicators are set forth by the OCSD 5 Pacing guide. The time frame allotted to teach each standard allows for students on various developmental levels to comprehend the content in the amount of time given to ensure mastery. Each standard is covered over a maximum of two weeks, and each standard is spiral taught. There are times when students will have bell ringers on previous standards. Also, standards will be spiral taught to keep students current with prior content taught. While students are completing independent practice assignments, I will walk around the classroom to check thought processes as well as check for understanding while working independently. To accommodate students with lower reading levels and students who are resource and ESOL students, I will provide opportunities in class for them to receive additional assistance with reading passages or understanding questions on assignments. To accommodate students who have mastered the content and have finished early, I will give students the task of identifying the main idea of their favorite movie or television show and the supporting details to prove the main idea. For students who have not mastered the content, if it is a small group, I will hold a small group session to review the standards not understood. If the entire class has not comprehended the content taught, I will reteach the standard, modifying the strategies I used.

Section V A: Unit Assessments (Key Element 3.A) - List the key unit assessments. Type of Assessment (Check one for each assessment) Teacher-Made Commercially (A copy of each Available teacher made assessment must be attached to this plan.) x x

Key Unit Assessments (Key Element 3.A)

4-1.1 Analyze the details that support the expression of the main idea in a given literary text. 4-2.1 Summarize evidence that supports the central idea of a given informational text.

Reflect on the unit assessments: (1) How did you determine that your unit assessments are valid and reliable for all students? (2) How did you use your prior understanding of students skills to plan your instruction? The assessments are both valid and reliable because they are based on questions from Study Island. Study Island has a database of questions that are directly related to state standards and common core standards. These questions are similar to questions that will be seen on the PASS examination in May. I know that the assessment is valid because the questions assess skills learned during the lessons taught. During the lessons, students were kept current with previous skills taught by spiraling information as it relates to the current lesson. The assessments I used were commercially available, but I was able to utilize questions that relate to what I taught in the classroom and properly assess the skills learned. Students are familiar with tests that a similar to PASS questions, so I created a multiple choice assessment to help students become more comfortable with the type of testing.

Section V B: Assessments (1) Describe and attach the assessments for each unit objective. (2) Include descriptions of any necessary accommodations. For each assessment, (3) include the evaluation criteria (i.e., describe and/or attach each appropriate scoring rubric, observation checklists, rating scales, item weights and the like). (4) Attachments must be clearly labeled to indicate their relationship to the elements in the table below. Assessments (Key Element 3.A) Unit Objective 1: - 4-1.1 Analyze the details that support the expression of the main idea in a given literary text. Pre-Assessment(s) - Main Idea Bell Ringer Post-Assessment(s) - Weekly assessment Other Assessment(s) - Guided Practice - Independent Practice - Homework Assignment - Individual Student Teacher Conferences Unit Objective 2: - 4-2.1 Summarize evidence that supports the central idea of a given informational text. Pre-Assessment(s) - Bell Ringer on Central Idea Pre Assessment: (formative evaluation reviewed as a group) Post Assessment: Multiple Choice assessment. Each item will weigh Accommodations (Key Element 3.A) Evaluation Criteria (Key Element 3.C) Pre Assessment (formative evaluation reviewed as a group) Post Assessment: Multiple Choice assessment. Each item will weigh approximately 8.3 points. Total points possible will be 100. Assessment Attached

Post-Assessment(s) Weekly Assessment

approximately 8.3 points. Total points possible will be 100. Assessment Attached

Other Assessment(s) - Guided Practice - Independent Practice - Homework Assignment - Individual Student Teacher Conferences Section V C: After administering the pre-assessment(s), (1) analyze student performance relative to the unit objectives. (2) Attach one or more clearly labeled tables, graphs, or charts that depict the results of the pre-assessment(s) in a format that allows you to find patterns of student performance relative to each objective. (3) Summarize the results of the pre-assessment(s) and describe the implications of these results on instruction.

Main and Central Idea

81 80 79 78 77 76 75 74 73 72 Perkins Robinson Kennedy Catlin

The pre-test results were gathered during the bell ringer, prior to beginning the lesson. I knew that students were familiar with Main Idea and Central Idea, so I knew that students would demonstrate moderate score results. The pretests consisted of one major question on main idea and central idea and students were to support their answer by identifying the supporting details. Although students have room for improvement, I can see that the students are capable of learning more and making concrete what they have already learned.

Section VI: Analysis of Student Learning) Key Elements 3.B and 3.C) Once you have completed the unit, analyze all of your assessments and determine your students progress relative to the unit objectives. (1) Did the information increase your understanding of individual students performance? (2) Attach clearly labeled tables, graphs or charts that depict student performance (strengths and weaknesses) for the entire class, for one selected subgroup and for at least two individual students. For each visual representation, (3) provide a descriptive narrative that summarizes your analysis of student progress and achievement. Finally, (4) explain the ways in which you have assigned student grades (or other indicators of student performance), and what were the overall results? Based on the overall results, (5) did the students gain from this unit all that you expected? Why or why not? (6) Include a description of the ways in which these results have been recorded as well as how and to whom they have been reported. The information gathered from this unit helps me better understand students capabilities. I now know that each of the students, even resource and ESOL students are capable of showing their best work. Students learned proper skills for identifying main and central idea, and they showed it by scoring well on the assessment. Students who did not perform well were not focused and off task during assessment, and continued to be off task even with redirection. Most of the students have intrinsic motivation for performing well. They want to succeed and do their best. I motivate students by reminding them that they are preparing for the PASS exam and also by giving them lots of praise, during testing for focusing and staying on task or underling important parts of the question and in the passage.

95

90

85 Pretest 80 4-1.1 4-2.1 75

70

65 Perkins Robinson Kennedy Catlin

Prior to the test, students were familiar with main and central idea. I knew that the students would have moderate scores on this assessment, and they would have some knowledge of main idea and central idea. The chart above shows students average score for demonstrating mastery of skills taught during the lessons. Each class

received a score of 80% or better which meets the minimum standard held for students across OCSD 5.
100 90 80 70 60 Pretest 50 40 30 20 10 0 Student 1 Student 2 4-1.1 4-1.2

The two students represented in this chart, are two resource students. These students need assistance when reading to ensure comprehension. During the test, I took these students to a separate classroom to read passages, questions and answer choices to help them show mastery on their test. The results proved that the modification helped them demonstrate what they learned. I am very proud of these two students because I knew they could focus and make an excellent grade. Scores will be recorded in the grade book on the schools Power School database. Students will receive grades according to the districts grading scale (attached). Each test will be reviewed once each student has completed the test and students will switch papers and grade their elbow partners assessment. These scores will affect their overall average, but with most of the students receiving moderately high to high scores, their overall grades will increase. The results will be sent home in student folders that are sent home every two weeks to show students progress. Overall, I believe that students gained much of the information taught during the unit. Students were able to demonstrate the skills taught, and they were also able to define main idea and central idea in their own words which shows me that the skills were internalized.

Section VII. Reflection and Self-Assessment (Key Elements 3.B and 2.C) (1) Reflect on and describe the relationship between your students progress and achievement and your teaching performance. (2) If you were to teach this unit again to the same groups of students, what, if anything, would you do differently, and why? (3) What specific aspects of the instruction need to be modified? - I think that during this unit, I was very confident and effective in teaching my students. The reward for me was seeing students test scores and seeing that students showing they learned information from what I taught. Students performed well on both standards I taught, and I believe they did so because each standard is closely related, and the skills are the same. Students were given adequate notes and practice time both with me and independently to ensure mastery of skills. If I were to teach this lesson again to the same group of students, I would make sure my directions are more explicit so that students can understand exactly what they are expected to accomplish. I would also find a way to extrinsically motivate students who were off task and not focused, so that they would have higher test scores and master the content.