Contextual Factors

Community – Woonsocket, SD

Woonsocket, South Dakota is a small, rural town situated between Huron and Mitchell. The

town is mainly known for the produce grown and sold all around which are muskmelon, watermelon,

and pumpkin. Woonsocket is the county seat of Sanborn County and has a population of 680 according

to the 2017 Population Estimates through the U.S. Census Bureau. The median household income for

people living in Woonsocket is $39,948, and the percent of persons below the poverty level is 9.4%. The

unemployment rate of Woonsocket was at 2.4% in September of 2015. According to the 2010 census,

the ethnicity makeup is 97.4% White, 1.5% Hispanic, and the rest being small decimal percentages of

Native American, Asian, and two or more races (City Data – Woonsocket, SD , 2015).

School District/School – Woonsocket School District, Woonsocket Elementary

Woonsocket School District encompasses only one building in town where all k-12 students

learn. In this district, there is a total of 337 enrolled. The ethnic makeup of the district includes 93%

White, 0.4% Hispanic, 0.3% Multi-Racial, and undeterminable percentages of Native American, Asian,

African American, and Pacific Islander students. The school district records an 88.68% rate of students

attending school 94% or more of enrolled days. The teachers in the school district claim an average of 12

years of experience with 91.67% of instructional staff earned Bachelors degrees and the remaining

8.33% earning Masters (Woonsocket School Report Card, 2017).

Woonsocket participates in the Common Core State Testing and the entire district is classified as

“progressing”. The school only has two sections, being the high school and elementary; the 7th and 8th

grade middle school classes are taught by the high school teachers and follows the high school schedule.

Woonsocket School District had a 45.38% proficiency in English-Language Arts (ELA) in 2016-2017 and
42.86% proficiency in Math of the same year. Woonsocket is a Title I school and also participates in the

Backpack Program which provides students in need with a bag of food to take home over the weekend.

Classroom and Student Characteristics– 4th Grade

I am teaching in a 4th grade classroom with Mrs. Dunn, my cooperating teacher. For most of this

year, our class had 13 students with 8 boys and 5 girls. We just recently had a boy move away and the

following week, we received a new student. Our class remains at 13 students but now has 7 boys and 6

girls. The classroom consists of all Caucasian students with the exception of 3 students, two of them

being African American and one being Latino. Of the 13 students, 2 students are part of the Backpack

Program and takes home a bag of food for the weekend. In this classroom, there are no students who

receive special education or Title services. One student does receive services for speech therapy.

The age ranges in this class range from 9-10 years old. The reading skills of the students in this

class range from Levels Q through W, or roughly 3rd grade to 6th grade. As for math, 4 students are on

level for 4th grade while the other 9 students are at the level for the end of 3rd grade to the beginning of

4th grade.

In this classroom, the schedule is very structured and always on display for the students as are

the four classroom rules and expectations. Students have a set seating chart in the shape of a U with the

main emphasis being on focusing and silence during lessons. There are set routines for lessons,

transitions, walking in the hallway, and preparations for the beginning and end of the day which have

been very consistent throughout the school year.

Implications for Instruction

The math skill in the 4th grade classroom is not spanned greatly between the 13 students,

however, there is a distinguishable divide between 4 students who are on level and the 9 students who
are still progressing from the 3rd grade level. With this, my math lessons will be a combination of whole-

group, small-group, and individual instruction. I will be strategic with my grouping as to have one on-

level student in each group to help answer questions from the below-level students. Some students

often need one-on-one reteaching after math skills are taught and I have found it useful to have peers

try to explain it in their own words to possibly guide others.

My cooperating teacher, Mrs. Dunn, purchased a new math curriculum from Teacher Pay

Teacher this year and so it is still new to both of us. The curriculum breaks down units by standard as to

only teach one standard at a time. I will be teaching the unit on 4th grade Operations and Algebraic

Thinking with an emphasis on multiplying and dividing multi-step word problems (4.OA.2). Provided in

this curriculum pack are an assessment, worksheets, vocabulary and example posters for each unit, and

answer keys for each worksheet. No teacher guide is provided. My cooperating teacher also has many

manipulatives available in her room including whiteboards for each student, dice, base ten blocks,

counters, and flashcard sets for one-digit by two-digit multiplication. Flexible seating is also an option

during classwork.

The students in 4th grade know the expectations for classwork which includes working silently

and raising their hand for help which makes working with students one-on-one or in small groups easier

and more productive. The majority of the students work best with movement and hands-on activities

with a few preferring to work alone at their desks. For this reason, I will try to have manipulatives

available for use during math lessons which students can use if they choose to.

A motivator in the classroom are my cooperating teacher’s “Dunn’s Dollars” as the class

monetary reward system where they can earn and accumulate “Dunn’s Dollars” with the intention of

being able to “buy” something from class store with price options being $3, $5, and $10. This reward

system is not used very frequently but the students still understand the possibilities of rewards for hard
work and good behavior. Another motivator for math lessons is the opportunity to participate in a

guided dance activity from the website GoNoodle.com after the math lesson, before we transition to

our writing lesson.

 References

Woonsocket, South Dakota. (2015). Retrieved October 12, 2018 from

http://www.city-data.com/city/Woonsocket-South-Dakota.html

US Census Bureau. (2014, December 13). Search Results. Retrieved October 12, 2018, from

https://www.census.gov/search-

results.html?q=Woonsocket,SD&page=1&stateGeo=none&searchtype=web&cssp=SERP&_chars

et_=UTF-8

Woonsocket School Report Card [PDF]. (2017). South Dakota STARS