Elementary Education - Literacy

Task 1: Literacy Context for Learning Information

TASK 1: LITERACY CONTEXT FOR LEARNING INFORMATION

Respond to the prompts below (no more than 3 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: _____
2. List any special features of your school or classroom setting (e.g., charter, co-teaching,
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.
[There are two teachers in addition to myself in my Kindergarten classroom at all times. There is
the host or supervising teacher, a paraprofessional, and myself as a student teacher. Each
Kindergarten classroom has a certified teacher and a paraprofessional. Additionally, this
particular class is an inclusion class there is two students with IEPs, two students with
behavioral contracts, and there are different RTIs in place for all of the students. Those that are
able to work independently after being introduced to a concept are in tier one, those that needs
additional help has been placed in tier two. Students that need additional help are pulled out to
address their specific needs with special education specialists. ]
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 Kindergarten team works together and divide tasks for each subject lesson planning and
other weekly planning and documentations that is required of them. For example, one teacher is
responsible for writing and distributing ELA lesson plans for the entire grade level, and each
teacher has the ability to independently decide what they would like to do in small group stations
in reference to the focus of instruction(s) for that week. Therefore, there is a pacing plan. In fact,
the teachers collaboratively decide if they would like to continue to review material rather than
moving forward at a pace that they may believe is too rapid for the students understanding and
development. ]

About the Class Featured in This Assessment

1. How much time is devoted each day to literacy instruction in your classroom?
[In my classroom the amount of time devoted to ELA instruction varies. According to the
intended schedule ELA instruction is supposed to begin at 9:00 and end at about 10:25,
indicating that ELA instruction is about an hour and twenty five minutes each day. However, this

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Elementary Education - Literacy

Task 1: Literacy Context for Learning Information

is not the case on the daily basis. Each day the students are given about twenty minutes to work
in small group stations. Additionally, writers workshop is about thirty minutes each day. ]
2. Is there any ability grouping or tracking in literacy? If so, please describe how it affects your
class.
[There are four small groups that work collaboratively in ELA stations. Each group has been
organized by the students abilities. In each group there is a higher level student and at least one
lower level student, and the other two are students that are at an average level. The overall
intention for this method is for the higher level student to have the ability to work with the lower
level student and/or vice versa, displaying peer leadership and collaborative learning. I have
found that it has become a natural behavior for the higher level students to provide assistance
even when the teacher desires for the other students to work independently. Also, I have
witnessed it being almost distracting and/ or overwhelming for higher level students when the
lower level students heavily on their assistance. ]
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.
[ Jouneys ]
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.
[ Readers Notebook, text sets, overhead projector ]

About the Students in the Class Featured in This

Assessment
1. Grade-level(s): [ K ]
2. Number of

students in the class: __22___

males: __15___ females: __7___
3. Complete the chart below to summarize required or needed supports, accommodations, or
modifications for your students that will affect your literacy instruction in this learning
segment. As needed, consult with your cooperating teacher to complete the chart. Some
rows have been completed in italics as examples. Use as many rows as you need.
Consider the variety of learners in your class who may require different strategies/supports or
accommodations/modifications to instruction or assessment (e.g., English language learners,
gifted students needing greater support or challenge, students with Individualized Education
Programs [IEPs] or 504 plans, struggling readers, underperforming students or those with gaps
in academic knowledge).

Students with Specific Learning Needs

IEP/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

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All rights reserved.
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The edTPA trademarks are owned by The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. Use of the edTPA trademarks is
permitted only pursuant to the terms of a written license agreement.

Elementary Education - Literacy

Task 1: Literacy Context for Learning Information

Other Learning Needs

Example: Struggling readers

Number of
Students
5

Supports, Accommodations,
Modifications
Leveled text, targeted guided reading,
ongoing reading assessment (e.g., running
records, miscue, conferencing)

Copyright 2014 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.

3 of 3 | 3 pages maximum
All rights reserved.
V3_0914
The edTPA trademarks are owned by The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. Use of the edTPA trademarks is
permitted only pursuant to the terms of a written license agreement.