Week 4 Field Work

Caleb Ricks
ITL 528
Evidence of Student Learning
● Student answers introductory lesson

● Student answers during lecture

● Student answers and contributions during group work and

reading

● Student answers on graphic organizer

● Student answers when groups share answers in front of

class

● Student answers during exit question

Visuals given at the
beginning of the lesson:
Examples of Assessment
Analysis: Assessment and Student Learning
This lesson utilized both informal and formal assessment to assess students’ knowledge and understanding:

● Introductory question allowed me to assess students’ prior knowledge regarding theme

● Close reading and group work allowed me to assess students’ understanding of story and its key elements

● Informal checks for understanding during group reading

● Graphic organizer allowed me to assess if students see how textual clues point to theme and if they chose relevant clues

● When working in groups, students’ and groups’ answers were another form of informal, formative assessment that allowed me to

identify and correct gaps in student understanding before concluding day’s lesson

● Informal and formative assessments were presented and discussed via class collaboration on the whiteboard in front of all

students
Reflection: Assessment and Learner Achievement
Based on the assessment data from both the informal and formal assessments, I am confident that my students have achieved the
learning target for this lesson. When designing this lesson plan, I wanted my students to be able to refer to details and examples in a text
when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text and to determine a theme of a story, drama, or
poem from details in the text. From analyzing my students’ answers during the group read, collaboration, and completion of the graphic
organizer, I am confident that the students have achieved the standards I outlayed in this lesson plan. My students were be able to
identify the theme of “Why the Sky is Far Away” by using close reading to support their claims with textual evidence. They were able to
define theme both orally and in writing and cite textual examples from the story to support their ideas regarding the story’s lesson. Not
only that, but Students were also able to demonstrate the appropriate social skills, speaking skills, reading skills, and listening skills by
working in groups to come to a common understanding of the material. Students were able practice their public speaking skills in front
of the class while demonstrating their knowledge. Through the analysis of all of the informal and formal assessments, these students
have achieved the standards set before them and have met the learning target.
Reflection: Unpacking the Standards
The English standards require that students be fluent in the language that they are reading. The students I worked
with for this lesson are able to read English, but are not necessarily at the level to draw inferences from the text or
discuss and determine points where the text leaves matters uncertain. These are skills acquired by more proficient
readers, so these ELL students and intermediate English speakers will need to develop the cognitive skills of
analyzing a text before they are able to draw inferences from the text, as this will require them to compare and
contrast ideas, question the text, and examine the text. However, stating what the text says explicitly will not require
as high a level of thinking, and that part of the standard can be achieved once the ELL students have a clear grasp on
the text. I have unpacked the standards for this lesson to highlight areas that require critical thinking and high levels
of thinking. Furthermore, unpacking the standard allowed me to discern ways in which I can help my students build
their skills as readers and writers.
Reflection: Unpacking the Standard
Original Standards:
CCS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.1: Refer to details and
examples in a text when explaining what the text says
explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
CCS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.2: Determine a theme of a
story, drama, or poem from details in the text;
summarize the text
How I Unpacked the Standards:
CCS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.1: Refer to details and examples in a text
when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing
inferences from the text.
A. Use context (dialogue and narration in text) as clues to
determining theme
B. Use graphic organizer to map, organize, and cite examples
C. Describe how dialogue gives clues about characters and
theme
D. Find evidence in the text
CCS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.2: Determine a theme of a story, drama,
or poem from details in the text; summarize the text
A. Use close reading skills to identify clues to the theme
B. Examine words and actions of Osato and the people and
their significance in the story
C. Understand story by summarizing key plot points
D. Identify and classify important details
E. Read fluently and define academic vocabulary
Reflection: Design and Delivery
When I shared my lesson plan with Ms. Pendleton, she was impressed with the structure and clarity of the lesson plan, and by the

objective and standards it addresses. At first, I thought the standards I chose were too simple, but Ms. Pendleton reassured me that these

standards are on par with her instruction and her students’ skill. I believe it is important here to mention that most of Ms. Pendleton’s

students read far below a fourth grade reading level. In fact, there a couple of students who read at a first grade reading level and are

required by their IEP to meet with a special education teacher during language arts instruction. Some of my peers mentioned that the

story chosen for this lesson plan appears to be below grade level, but “Why the Sky is Far Away” is a featured story in the instructional

book Ms. Pendleton and her fourth grade department use. This is why it is so important for teachers to know their students, both

personally and academically. Ms. Pendleton is aware of her students’ abilities, both from personal observation and from academic

records, she as the teacher can make the decision of how to best teach her students.
Ms. Pendleton enjoyed my use of collaboration in this lesson plan. She liked that I had students work together to complete a single

graphic organizer rather than individually complete their own. This encourages students to assign roles with their groups, such as note

taker, reader, writer, speaker, and presenter. She also liked my use of informal, formative assessments. Ms. Pendleton stressed that not

every assessment needs to be a test per se, and that this lesson plan provides multiple opportunities to assess student learning. In terms

of what I can improve, Ms. Pendleton stated that having the students collaborate in pairs may not be the best usage of time. If I had all of

my students present as pairs, the lesson may take far longer than it should, and students will grow bored and therefore will be less

engaged. Instead, Ms. Pendleton suggested that I have students work in their table groups to complete a collaborative graphic organizer.

Instead of pairs, there will be five groups of five students presenting. I believe that this is a great suggestion and have made the changes

to my lesson plan and instruction. Also, I believe this lesson would be better as a two day lesson. I would like to have spent time after

the initial lesson practicing going back to the text to support the thematic claims we made as a class. We were running out of time and

had to summarize some of the textual evidence rather than citing it verbatim, but I would like to have the students practice extracting

exact evidence form the text.

Reflection: Design and Delivery
● Some English Language Learner had problems with vocabulary, reading aloud, and citing textual evidence when determining theme.
However, collaboration, word banks, and support allowed them to grasp the learning target. Though there were language barriers, there were
students who worked with others to translate and facilitate classwork.
● Students were performing at various levels of language proficiency and reading ability. Despite their differing levels, these students loved to
collaborate and assist one another, which helped to close gaps in understanding amongst students.
● Working in groups and pairs has increased class inclusivity and I have seen less bullying as a result.
● Some students in the class were advanced while others were below level. This is why I have created heterogeneous groups to work together
and help one another learn. To focus more on lower-level students, I met them as a group at a table and went over the story with them.
● There was a select group of students with IEPs and multiple ELLs that needed extra academic support. The more advanced students were
willing to help those in their groups with the tasks at hand. By having ELL students grouped and paired in heterogeneous groups, I saw an
improvement of these students’ skills when responding orally to questions and discussing the lesson and texts.
Reflection: Implementing UDL
Implementing UDL in this lesson was seamless. I began the lesson with a short YouTube video providing the fable of
The Tortoise and the Hare. In this short clip, students were able to engage with the material in both an auditory and
visual manner. We then moved to the story and I read it aloud (auditory) while my students followed along (auditory
and visual). After reading the story twice, I then pulled up a graphic organizer on the Smartboard (visual) that
outlined three important questions the students should be asking themselves when determining theme. I then had the
students move about the room in groups (kinesthetic, collaborative) and work on the graphic organizer together.
After the students had their three pieces of evidence, they shared their results in front of the room as a group (oral,
kinesthetic, auditory).
Reflection: Practice and Cognitive Approach
● I guided my students’ learning by teaching students to build knowledge structures and use reasoning
● I encouraged my students to actively engage in the learning process
● I found the most effective way for the students to learn through UDL (visual, auditory, etc.)
● Students learned to see the “big picture” and how all parts of the text constructed the whole
● I ensures the students understood the concepts rather than merely memorizing answers
● Because the Cognitive approach uses the student’s preferred and most successful approach to learning, a I used
Universal Design for Learning which includes providing multiple means of presentation, expression, and
engagement. This included students with IEPs, which I was follow and adjust instruction accordingly.
Reflection: Practice and Cognitive Approach
What I emphasized during my instruction:

● Social Learning & Peer Interaction: Students learn through joint interactions with teacher and peers (collaboration,
peer-editing, writing stations)
● Scaffolding: Assisted learning where teacher guides instruction so that students master the skills that allow higher cognitive
functioning. Teacher will provide essay scaffolds and paragraph scaffolds so students move from current level to independent
mastery and capability. The graphic organizer was used as a scaffold.
● Self-Regulated Learning: Students will learn to guide their own learning by breaking down complicated texts independently
and in groups
● Writing Instruction: Students will be taught writing process models (scaffolds) and will work in groups and help one another to
plan, draft, edit, revise, and “publish” work
● Reading Instruction: Students will be given choice of texts and will be given hands-on activities in relation to text. Students will
collaborate on reading, question author, dissect themes, etc.
● Top-Down Processing: Students start with complex problems/ideas and work, with teacher’s guidance, the basic skills
required to solve these problems.
To Sum It Up:
MY PERSONAL REFLECTION

What new information did I get about my students in relation to their learning preferences?

In this lesson I learned a little more about how my students collaborate and interact with one another. I was also be able to determine that my class
benefits from visual learning (videos, graphic organizers, scaffolds, modeling). For future lessons, I would stress using visuals and collaboration as
this brings about the most success.

How will I use this information to plan my future instruction?

Depending on the outcome of the informal assessment data, I will be able to either continue with the current method of instruction or change to
incorporate different models of teaching to help all of the students in the class.

How effective were my practices? What will I keep, what will I improve and what will I discard?

Students worked well in the group assignments. For the ELL students, the visuals and video helped by showing the themes, ideas, and ways to gather
textual evidence. Next time, I will make groups of four rather than pairs to make the sharing aspect of the lesson less repetitive and therefore more
engaging.