Running head: PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION, ASSESSMENT

Planning, Preparation, Instruction, and Assessment of Learners

Audrie Lofay
Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2015

PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION, ASSESSMENT

Before a teacher can teach, she must first plan and prepare. This planning and
preparation is based off of standards to be learned as well as assessments of her students. Once
the teacher has planned what objectives she wants her students to achieve and has prepared ways
to meet their individual needs, she then uses various tools during instruction reach that goal.
Continuous assessment then becomes a teachers biggest resource to determine the next step in
the childs learning process. This competency will discuss how I planned a lesson, what
assessments I used to prepare, what resources I used to implement instruction, and how I adapted
my lessons to better engage my students.
Rationale for Selection of Artifacts
The artifacts I have chosen for this competency were used during a unit on spring. This
unit is based off of SOL K.9, The student will investigate and understand that there are simple
repeating patterns in his/her daily life and SOL K.10 The student will investigate and
understand that change occurs over time and rates may be fast or slow (Science Standards,
2010). The first artifact is a T-Chart that I created that served as both a pre- and post-assessment
tool. On the first day of the unit the students brainstormed everything that they knew about
spring. During interactive writing, we recorded our answers on the left column labeled What I
Know About Spring. The majority of these answers were things the students could see. This
drove my planning to create a 4-Suare Chart on spring about things the students could hear, see,
feel, and smell during spring to expand their thinking. To engage my kinesthetic learners, on the
last day of the unit the students had to write a sentence about one new thing they learned about
spring on a post-it note and then come up to the chart and add it to the right column labeled
What I Learned About Spring. This time, data showed that the majority of the answers were
things the students could feel.
The second artifact is the Spring 4-Square Chart that we filled in during day two through
five of the unit. The chart was used for my visual learners to ease organization and understanding

PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION, ASSESSMENT

of the information. Each day we read our chart so that by the end of the week even my struggling
readers could read along. To engage my auditory learners during instruction, I made sure I read
the students a book daily about different topics in spring such as plants, weather, people, and
animals. These books are the third artifact. The students listened to the books and then we would
discuss things that we could hear, see, feel and smell based on what we had read. During
interactive writing, students would write what they learned on the chart. I differentiated during
this time by choosing students to write words that I know they can sound out. For students that
are not as advanced with their letter sounds, I helped them by pointing to the alphabet chart
before they wrote their word. I used the data from the 4-Square chart to drive my lessons, as I
took note of specific vocabulary that we had read in the books that the students did not mention.
For example, I wanted the students to think more about what humans did and wore outside
during spring. During the read aloud the next day, I prompted these responses to encourage them
to share those facts during the interactive writing lesson.
Once we completed the 4-Square Chart, I decided that the students needed practice filling
in a 4-Square Chart individually. Another artifact for this competency is a students completed 4Square Chart. On the sixth day of the unit, we reviewed what we learned about spring and then
recalled facts and wrote them on the SMART Board. The students then had to choose one fact
from each category on the chart to create their own 4-Square. All of this was based on the data I
continuously collected through the Spring 4-Square Chart in order to see what my students
already knew, allow myself to determine if my students were understanding what I was
presenting to them, and to reflect on the effectiveness of my lesson in order to adjust my teaching
for future lessons.
Reflection on Theory and Practice

PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION, ASSESSMENT

Overall, I thought this lesson was well planned out; I was prepared for changes, the
instruction went well, and the students really learned new information about earth patterns,
cycles, and change through scientific reasoning and logic. I planned my lessons a week ahead of
schedule to give myself time to decide what direction I wanted my lessons to go in and to
determine what resources I would use to get there. I felt as though my plans were engaging and
effective, and this is because the activities were hands-on, were built on real-world challenges,
and were done in an environment where students werent afraid to take risks (Wiggins &
McTighe, 2005, p. 195-6).
Though the instruction was done during whole group, much of the support I gave to my
students was individually during independent work. This seemed to be more effective in that I
could show them exactly what they needed to work on. It also allows for a more personal touch,
as the student can tell that I truly care about their success, and gives me a chance to individually
monitor students progress. I always try to make sure I give them instruction in a loving way
because optimal learning is achieved when students feel understood and safe.

PLANNING, PREPARATION, INSTRUCTION, ASSESSMENT

References
Science Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools. (2010, January). Retrieved from
http://doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/science/2010/k-6/stds_scienceK.pdf
Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. (2nd Ed.) Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.