Upper Elementary Developmental Activity

North Carolina State University

Master Degree in School Administration Northeast Leadership Academy Spring 2011

Northampton County Schools Upper Elementary Developmental Activity

By Mark Barfield Mark Long and Gonzalo Pitpit Course Information: ELP 651A (604) Spring 2011: Internship In Educational Leadership And Program Evaluation For Dr. Bonnie Fusarelli & Dr. Matthew Militello Professors May 10, 2011

Upper Elementary Developmental Activity

I. District Context II. District Programming Information

A. B. C. D. E. Programs Vocabulary Parents Community Connections Curricular Scope and Sequence

Upper Elementary Developmental Activity A. Programs: In an interview with Mrs. Myrna Goldberg, the districts instructional coach for the elementary department, she stated that the district follows different programs depending on what grade level the students are on. With third grade reading, Northampton uses the Imagine It series. She averred that the district is involved in a research project with McGraw-Hill. She said that this is unique in this area because we are probably the only school system that uses this program, and added that the closest school system that uses this program is Nash County in Rocky Mount. For fourth grade through fifth grade, the district uses Scott Foresmans Reading Street series. The difference between the two, Mrs. Goldberg added, is that Reading Street is a traditional guided reading program with a phonics component while Imagine It is not. Imagine It is based on the same foundation as Reading First phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, comprehension, and fluency. The whole district in all grade levels is involved with the Reading 3-D assessments. Mrs. Goldberg indicated that this new program originally was designed to replace K-2 reading assessment. Because the district has been involved with Reading First and because of the states initiative, we have taken the 3D assessments up through fifth grade; the bottom 20% of fourth and fifth graders is involved in this program. The purpose of this program is to assess students fluency and comprehension. Teachers use the results as bases in working with those students using intervention strategies, and then reassess to measure any growth. Mrs. Goldberg also mentioned about Writing from the Beginning, a writing program for all grade levels, but she is not sure if theres still a school that implements it. In terms of
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Upper Elementary Developmental Activity some computer programs, she said that some schools implement Education City and 4 SuccessMaker. Schools are also using the technology component of Imagine It. For math, the district is using the enVision math series from K through 5th grade. Teachers are also encouraged to use the strategies and indicators from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website. 3rd through 5th grade levels do not do the math assessments. These grade levels use the benchmarks, which are administered three times a year, and are created by Eduware. It is hoped that teachers use the benchmark outcomes as tools to analyze the progress of students both in reading and math. Some schools in the district also use ClassScape, a math program that helps assess students mastery of concepts. B. Vocabulary Mrs. Goldberg stated that with the Imagine-It program, we have strategies that were trying to get students to use into reading summarizing, visualizing, making connections, asking questions, predicting, monitoring and adjusting reading speed, and clarifying. She clarified that the district is trying to make students learn these strategies, not skills. Teachers model these strategies when they are teaching, and try to get students to apply them when reading in the content subject areas such as science and social studies. Mrs. Goldberg added that research has proven that using those strategies with students help them (the students) better in understanding and comprehending what they are reading. In math, we teach the EOG (end-of-grade) vocabulary. For example, we have a fifth grade teacher in Conway Middle School who teaches both math and science. She has actually gone through the ClassScape data base and pulled out science specific words that are not in their science textbooks, but that she knows will be used in the EOGs. The same teacher uses these words anywhere in the playground, and talk about clouds - making students use those

Upper Elementary Developmental Activity words not only memorizing them but also internalizing them and using them in writing. 5 Students may also use a math journal and use the vocabulary in their writing - while they become familiar with the words, each word also becomes part of them. C. Parents

Family Fun Day D. Community Connections

4th Graders Attend Animal Ag Day

E. Curricular Scope & Sequence Mrs. Goldberg stated that two years ago, the district revised 3rd through fifth grade pacing guides for science, social studies, math, and language arts. They are aligned with the standard course of study. She added that she has not heard any complaints from teachers, and

Upper Elementary Developmental Activity we always have the option to revise it as needed. Third grade wanted some revisions on their 6 math last year, and those were made. In addition, a fifth grade teacher asked her if they could move patterns after division because a lot of our patterns include division pattern problems, and they did. A pacing guide is not something that is set in stone; we dont make it and keep it that way for five years. As teachers teach is, they need to jot down notes, make recommendations at the end of the year to revise them. The curriculum guides are posted on the webpage under the elementary education webpage. Each grade level has its own webpage. In 2012, the state is going to implement the common core standards. Its the first time in the history of North Carolina that every single curriculum area is getting a new standard course of study. The district will begin the process this summer of training the trainors, and the trainors will begin the process of training the teachers to go back in and look at what we are doing, how were doing it, and how were going to change. By June of 2012, we will have to go back and rewrite the pacing guides and the curriculum maps for every subject area.

Upper Elementary Developmental Activity

III. Child Development (Grades 3-6)

A. B.
C.
D. E.

Physical Development Cognitive Development

Language & Literacy Development
Self-Concept, Identity, &Motivation Peer Relations & Moral Development

Upper Elementary Developmental Activity

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A. Physical Development during upper elementary school

B. Cognitive Development during upper elementary school

Meece & Daniels (2008) explains that cognitive development focuses on how students construct their understandings of their environment. In my interview with two third grade students - Hunter, 8 years old and Emily, 9 years old, construct meanings quite similarly particularly in math. When asked to describe some solid figures, Emily picked out a sphere, and Hunter picked out a cylinder, both described their own respective solid figure using attributes such as number of faces, corners (vertices), and edges. Somehow, I would like to attribute this similarity to the fact that during the interview, these students were learning solid figures in their math class. To determine the possibility that children differ in their cognitive development, I have decided to use a reading selection.

Upper Elementary Developmental Activity In reading, Hunter and Emily showed differences in their cognitive development. With 9 Hunter, it was very evident in his response that he could construct meanings from written texts more meaningfully than Emily, who struggled in terms of fluency; thus, affecting her comprehension of the text. To illustrate, when asked about what the story, How the Chipmunk Got His Stripes, is all about, Emily started by saying, It was about the bear and a chipmunk; the bear couldnt keep the sun down Hunter, on the other hand, said, I think is a story about that thought he could do anything. To find out if this is the same that children differ in their cognitive development - in a higher grade level, I have interviewed two 12-year-old sixth grade students Jamunta and Halley. When asked what the selection was all about, the two might not have given me the same words, but they both meant order or sequence, which was actually the answer to my question. Although I noticed that during the application part, Jamunta was able to sequence the events correctly while with Halley, she struggled a little bit particularly with identifying the second sentence in sequence. To gather more data, I observed a third grade class and a fourth grade class. In the third grade class, students were so eager to participate and show their work to the whole class. Wood (2007) explained that with 8-year-old children, you would hear from them, I have a great idea! which could describe them as energetic, imaginative, and sensible students. On the other hand, as Wood (2007) pointed out, it was also evident that these students could easily get bored especially when they were given not-so-challenging and fun activities. (I should know that because I am a third grade teacher.) After I observed the fourth grade class, Mrs. White, the teacher, mentioned that although her students would obviously show that they do not like some of their classmates, they would always try their best to learn the concepts

Upper Elementary Developmental Activity being taught to them. She said that they also love doing the food pyramid project in science as 10 they do not only show the different food groups, but also get to cut pictures from magazines, flyers from grocery stores, and old newspapers. Wood (2007) stated that this behavior is typical among 10-year old children particularly in math and science. C. Language and Literacy Development during upper elementary school

D. Self-concept, Identity, and Motivation during upper elementary school

E. Peer Relations & Moral Development during upper elementary school

Upper Elementary Developmental Activity In our lower elementary developmental activity, we tried to answer the question, 11 How would you explain Amys behavior? Meece and Daniels (2008) asked this question to initiate the discussion on peer relations and moral development. Amy displayed negative peer relations might be because she experienced rejection in her early years which resulted to aggressive, hostile and disruptive behaviors in later years. Wood (2007) added that this behavior is observable among twelve through thirteen-year olds, particularly thirteen year olds because life for them seem to be very confusing, and thats how they appear to their parents and teachers. Peer relations and moral development are essential elements in a childs development. Meece and Daniels (2008) explained that middle childhood students (between 6-10 years old) prefer small and selective peer groups while early adolescence (between 10-14 years old) start forming cliques of 6 to 9 peers. Daniels, Beaumont, & Doolin (2008) explained that the kind of relationships that students have with their peers and friends play an important but critical roles in their development. These three authors added that students more likely to show positive behaviors in school when they are accepted by their peers and at the same time shown positive behaviors, too. It is very interesting to note that in my interviews before for the lower elementary developmental project with Caleb, a 2nd grade student and Sarah, a kindergarten student at Willis Hare Elementary School, and now for the upper elementary developmental project with Dequesia, a fourth grade student at Willis Hare, and Jamunta and Halley, sixth grade students at Conway Middle School all five children pointed out that people treat you the way you treat them. All of them expressed that friends respect them when they also show respect; they also said that if you treat them nicely, they would also treat you nicely.

Upper Elementary Developmental Activity

IV. Data Collection

A. B. C. Interviews Classroom Observations Reflections
A. Each Fellow will conduct two observations: One period in a third grade classroom and another in a grade 4-6 setting. You may choose to conduct additional observations if you want or need to. B. Use an observation guide your group decides on or develops. Make sure you incorporate into your observation notes what milestones children should have reached at this age and corresponding, developmentally appropriate teaching strategies and activities - if what you observed matched what you learned in compiling part III. Include the completed observation guides from each Fellow in this section of the report. You may also include copies of any additional field notes.

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IV. Data Collection

Upper Elementary Developmental Activity C. Each Fellow will conduct an interview with a grade 3-6 student (parental consent required) with a specific tie to one of the developmental aspects in part III. D. The Superintendent really wants to know more about Literacy at this age, but welcomes learning more and about any of the developmental areas in part III. Fellows may choose to conduct additional interviews with: a. Teachers of upper elementary grades (grades 3-6) b. Elementary Principals and Assistant Principals c. District Officials d. Parents of upper elementary school aged children e. Community Organization/Child Advocates E. Individual Reflection: Each Fellow will individually write a short reflection on the observation/interview experience(s). What did you learn about child development at this age? Include the written reflections in this section of the final report. OPTIONAL: As an alternative to the written self-reflection, your group may choose to create a short digital story that describes both individual and collective (group) learning. If you choose to create a digital story, please upload it to the NELA channel on the NCSU College of Education video Web site and include in the bound report a page that provides the link to the video.
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V. Putting it Together

Upper Elementary Developmental Activity Did what you saw and heard in part IV match what you learned in Part III? Pull together a narrative that links these two sections. Reflect on: Is what should be happening for children at this developmental age happening for students in your district? Can you identify any resources that are missing/needed in your district? Use evidence from your field experiences and from the readings to support your response. LINK TO THE DIGITAL STORY: http://cedvideo.ncsu.edu/video/2280/NCS
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VI. Implications for Practice Given what you now know, add a reflective narrative piece about how you (as an elementary school principal) might use this knowledge in your leadership practice. This section can be completed individually (each Fellow completes their own and they are all included in this section of the report) or collectively as a group.

OPTIONAL: As an alternative to the written implications for practice piece, your group may choose to create a short digital story. If you choose to create a digital story, please upload it to the NELA channel on the NCSU College of Education video Web site and include in the bound report a page that provides the link to the video.

VII. Resources and Citations

Upper Elementary Developmental Activity References Covey, S.R. (2004). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Free Press Interaction Associates. (1997). Facilitative Leadership: Tapping the Power of Participation. Return on Involvement. USA: Interaction Associates, Inc. Patterson, K., Grenny, J., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2002) Crucial Conversations. USA: The McGraw-Hill Companies Scope and Sequence Any additional Resources or Toolkits
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VIII. Product: Executive Summary The Superintendent is eager to read your full report (Sections I-VII) and she wants to share your learning with the school board and with new elementary school teachers. However, she wants the information you submitted in the full report condensed into a "user friendly" format that is helpful and informative, but is not too cumbersome to read. She wants you to create an executive summary that "gives back" to the district/community/schools by sharing/showing what you learned about upper elementary child development. This final product must be helpful and informative to your target audience (school board members and new elementary school teachers). You may for example want to create a color brochure or a pamphlet.