Running head: EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

Evidence of Student Learning:

Signature Assessment #5
Alex Furman
Towson University

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

Part A: Learning Context, Topic, and Objectives

The school taught in for this project is Woodholme Elementary School. It is only eleven
years old and contains Kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms. The lower grades,
Kindergarten through second grade, are located on the bottom floor, while the rest of the grades
are located on the second floor. There are three trailers outside used for special areas such as art.
Woodholme has a gym, cafeteria, a stage, a library, and before and after school care through a
third party program. This school is completely based on the continuum classroom (formerly
known as inclusion) model and has no regional programs such as Functional Academic
Learning Support (FALS.)
The class used for this project is managed by a resource teacher and utilizes interventions
for those who need support in English/Language Arts (ELA.) These students have been identified
by their homeroom teachers as struggling with keeping up with the regularly paced first grade
ELA curriculum in a large classroom setting. This means that their oral and written language
development is behind that of their peers. The class is made of seven students in the first grade,
all pulled from their homerooms during their Reading and Language Arts time, from 9:00 AM to
11:30 AM. Six of the students in this class are from one classroom and the seventh is from a
separate class. There are five boys and two girls. One boy in this class has an Individualized
Education Program (IEP) and another boy is in the process of referral for a potential IEP. Four
students, two boys and two girls, have cultural backgrounds from Central America and have
learned or are learning English as a second language. These four students receive English as a
Second Oral Language (ESOL) classes and services.
In the Maryland College and Career Readiness Standards (MCCRS) there are learning
objectives highlighted as being essential for students to have as they progress through their

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

educational career. The essential skill chosen for use in this project falls under the Common Core
State Standards (CCSS) Grade 1 Reading Literature (RL)2: Retell stories, including key
details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson. The specific essential
skill, written by the MCCRS division, the unit goal was formed around is, Retell story events in
a logical sequence. This was the logical choice to make for this unit seeing as the book we were
using had resources and was written to be aligned with sequencing activities and discussions.
The lessons were formulated around curriculum Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) use
for Elementary ELA. In this curriculum, sequencing was the skill designed to go with this weeks
unit.
The unit goal was Students will be able to sequence the events of a text by using text
and picture evidence from the text. Under that goal, this unit had three daily objectives to go
with the three lessons that were taught under the scope of this project. The objective for the first
lesson was Students will know the meaning of sequencing and practice its principals after
watching a video on the process of apple selling. The objective for the second lesson was,
Students will use sequencing by using their text to order the events of Apples from Farm to
Table. The last objective for the third lesson was, Students will independently answer
sequencing questions by looking back and using text and picture evidence of a story read to
them. These three objectives purposes were to lead to reaching the goal of the unit previously
stated.
These objectives are demonstrated through formative and summative assessments
conducted through each three lessons. All three lessons contain formative assessments that will
guide instruction to show where students require more guidance or instruction. For the first
lesson, the formative assessment was to review the concept of sequencing and having a class

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

discussion about what it means to put things in order. After doing that, the class used a video
about selling apples to practice using sequencing as a form of reviewing information. As a class,
it was discussed why sequencing is important. Once students appeared comfortable in the
concept of sequencing, they would be ready for the next lessons activity. The second lesson was
similarly assessed. The class read the book, Apples From Farm to Table (AFFT) and discussed
the events in order using our sequencing words. Discussing with the class where to find
something that comes first, next, then, and last led to a class discussion about looking back in the
text to find information. Once it was seen that students could demonstrate this skill, we could
move on to the next lesson. The final lesson consisted of a review of sequencing and how to use
the information in a text and the order the information appears. Once it was assessed that the
class could express what sequencing is and how to use a text to answer sequencing questions, we
were ready for the summative assessment.
Part B: Assessment Plan
The summative unit assessment is comprised of one short story about how pumpkins are
grown, harvested, and used, followed by five multiple choice questions to assess students ability
to use sequencing and reviewing the order of events in the text. A copy of the summative
assessment is attached to this project, labeled Summative Assessment. This assessment aligns
with the CCSS and the MCCRS because it allows students to retell the events and details in a
story using sequencing. The questions use sequencing words such as first, then, after, last, and
next. Also, it is encouraged repeatedly in giving this assessment that students may look back in
their text to help them recall details and the order of events.
The pre-assessment for this lesson also revolves around sequencing. The students had
recently attended an Agricultural Lab where they learned about dairy cows and what we use

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

their milk for. This pre-assessment utilized that recent experience by asking students what the
order of events is in obtaining and using milk. There were four pictures described by one
statement each. Students were required to order these pictures from first to last using the
numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4. The statements are to be read to the class twice so that they can listen the
first time and then focus on sequencing during the second reading. If a student requires
assistance with recalling what a statement read, they may ask for it to be read again. This preassessment will determine students learning needs by observing if students can understand that
the events on the paper are not in order and they need to adjust the order. If a student recognizes
that, they showed an attempt at sequencing. If a student does not change the order of the events,
he or she may be unclear how to correctly order events. If a student correctly labels all pictures,
that student is to be utilized as a resource during the next few lessons to be a peer model if he or
she continues to show an understanding of this concept.
As previously stated, there were individual learning objectives for each of the three
lessons and formative assessments that aligned with them. The objective for the first lesson was
Students will know the meaning of sequencing and practice its principals after watching a video
on the process of apple selling. For the first lesson, the formative assessment was to review the
concept of sequencing and having a class discussion about what it means to put things in order.
After doing that, the class used a video about selling apples to practice using sequencing as a
form of reviewing information. As a class, it was discussed why sequencing is important. Once
students appeared comfortable in the concept of sequencing, they would be ready for the next
lessons activity.
The objective for the second lesson was, Students will use sequencing by using their text
to order the events of Apples from Farm to Table. The last objective for the third lesson was,

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

Students will independently answer sequencing questions by looking back and using text and
picture evidence of a story read to them. The second formative assessment involved a
discussion with the class. We examined where to find something that comes first, next, then, and
last led to a class discussion about looking back in the text to find information. Once it was seen
that students could demonstrate this skill, we could move on to the next lesson.
The last objective for the third lesson was, Students will independently answer
sequencing questions by looking back and using text and picture evidence of a story read to
them. This was assessed through a review as a class. Students were to explain what they
believed sequencing was and as a class we practiced it with a hypothetical scenario. The class
then used books to show where to find certain information when looking for details used for
sequencing. Once it was formatively assessed that the class could express what sequencing is and
how to use a text to answer sequencing questions, we were ready for the summative assessment.

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

Part C: Instruction
In these three lessons, there are lesson objectives used for each section of class. Before
beginning one section of class, we will review what our objective is as a class. I will ensure to
deliver this and write it on the board in student-friendly language. This means that there will be
repeated academic vocabulary, but not complicated or long sentences and the objectives will
mainly focus on what activity we will be accomplishing. After a section of the lesson is
complete, I will ask students to confirm or disagree that we met our objective. Usually, this will
be done by showing a thumb up or a thumb down, but I would be welcome to hear how students
felt like we met our objective.
In reviewing the pre-assessment data, it is clear that starting with the basics and
foundation of sequencing is the right choice for this class. Since the majority of the students got
50% of below on the pre-assessment, I felt comfortable teaching what sequencing is and
providing purpose and background knowledge because it was unclear if these students had ever
received any instruction or knowledge about sequencing.
My plan to motivate and engage students stems mostly from their positive reinforcement
star charts. When a student is showing me that he or she is following along, being a good
listener, an active participant, or any other positive behavior is being exhibited, I can give this
student a star. Once a chart, with 16 spaces for stars, is filled up, the student gets to go to the
prize box at the end of the lesson at 11:00 AM. This not only motivates the student being given
the star to continue to behave well, but it motivates other students to exhibit the same behaviors
so that they can get stars, too. Otherwise, I plan on staying animated and positive to maintain
attention of my students so that they do not become bored. This may look like giving a funny

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

description, telling a funny story, or using a funny voice. This should be equally checked and
balanced with an attitude where classroom behaviors are still maintained.
In the lessons below, it can be seen how I plan to deliver my lessons and how I plan on
prompting responses to give specific praise and feedback to. It can also be seen how assessments
are used and aligned with the objectives and goal of this unit. After each lesson is a reflection
where I discuss what I gained from each lesson and some brief observations. Lastly, it can be
seen how I plan to provide variability to meet the needs of my students at their individual level of
proficiency.
Lesson 1
Description
This class schedule follows the outline of:
-Phonics
-High Frequency Words
-Vocabulary
-Reading
This occurs over the course of 1.5 hours (9:30-11:00)
This class is composed of 7 students. There are 2 girls and 5 boys. 1 boy has an IEP. There are 4
students who have cultural backgrounds from Central America.
Prerequisites
Students should be able to break apart words into their sounds and consider how sounds make up
a word.
Students should know what the words First, next, then, and last means
Estimated Time: 1.5 hours
Purpose: Classroom Instruction
Grade: 1st Grade
Common Core

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

English Language Arts

Reading: Literature

Key Ideas and Details

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.2 (grade 1): Retell stories, including

key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or
lesson.

MCCRS Essential Skill

Retell story events in a logical sequence.

Unit Goal
Students will answer questions involving the sequence of events by using a story and its text and
picture clues.
Lesson Objectives
Phonics - Students will identify the short "u" sound and the short "oo" sound in written words
once they are read.
High Frequency Words - Students will identify and spell sight words as a group
Vocabulary - Students will match vocabulary to identifying pictures
Reading - Students will learn the meaning of sequencing and practice its principals after
watching a video on the process of apple selling
Variability
Phonics

If students are having trouble reading and sounding out a word, give the student the
individual sounds for them to repeat and ask them to put these sounds together to form a
word
If a student is struggling with a particular sound or has difficulties with Letter-word
identification (S.G.P. or D.J) you may want to give smaller words to break down
If a student appears bored, try writing words on the board with blends, three syllables, or
another sort of challenge to engage these students

High Frequency Words

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

If students are having trouble reading or identifying a word or correctly identifying the
sounds, they may call on a classmate to help them
When students are reading the words on their own, provide context support first after
about 10 seconds and after another 5 seconds, give them the word to repeat

Vocabulary

Assist students with words or picture where there may be less background or previous
information

Reading

If class cannot read the sequencing key words (first, next, then, and last) give the context
of each word (If Im looking at the beginning of the book Im looking at what comes
and then the beginning sound.
If needed show pieces of the video a third time so that students can use it as a reference

Formative Assessments
Phonics Students will identify the short "oo" sound in written words once they are written on
the board and read.

Assessed thumbs up/thumbs down

Have students give a thumbs up or down if they think that the underlined part of the word
is correct or not
Also assessed through having students identify the sounds in the words
o Students should be making the correct sounds after underlining them
o If they do not, make note of this to give further support throughout the lessons

High Frequency Words Students will identify and spell sight words as a group

Assessed through Big Arms activity

Determine that students are using their arms to spell each word correctly with the class so
that they are practicing making these words

Vocabulary Students will match vocabulary to identifying pictures

Assessed through observation

Observe if students can match the pictures to the given words
Have students explain what is in picture to ensure that they understand why it matches up
with the word

Reading Students will learn the meaning of sequencing and practice its principals after
watching a video on the process of apple selling

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Assessed through class discussion

Keep track of those who understand that SEQUENCING is putting things in order
o Ask individuals What does sequencing mean?
Lead the discussion and prompt students to think back to the video for details

Summative Assessments
SEQUENCING Done in Lesson 3

Pumpkins story, read to students, and the five questions

Collect for data

PHONICS
Give objective: Today we will use our sound of the week to sound out words and we will find it
in the words on the board.

Have children take their seats once entering the classroom

Review the types of behavior that will allow students to receive extra stars on their star
chart

Have students recognize that raising hands quietly, not calling out, keeping bodies still,
and keeping attention on the lesson are important things to remember if they want EXTRA
STARS

hook

Pre-assess:
Write these words one at a time on the board and see who can read them. Record who can
read and who may struggle with the words with this phonetic pattern:
book

cook

foot

wood

look

hood

Explain that we have new sounds that we are working with this week

"We will be working with new sounds this week. This sound is /oo/ as seen in "wood" or "look."
It comes in the middle of a word, not the beginning or the end.
I will say the sound and then you all will repeat it after me. Ready? /oo/"

Have students repeat the sound together

"Where are these letters that make this sound in a word? In the beginning, middle, or the end?"

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

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Call on a student to answer

Ensure that the students recognize that this sound come in the
MIDDLE of a word and that is shown on our card because there are lines before and after
our spelling of the sound

Have that student tell the rest of the class where this sound occurs

Have other students repeat to confirm that they heard it

Explain that we will watch a video to learn more about this sound

Show :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdM2LUkBQzk

Write the words one at a time on the front board and have students read them and come
up to the front and underline the sound we are working on, /u/ :

hook

book

cook

foot

wood

look

hood

Have students give a thumbs up or a thumbs down to see if they agree with the part of the
word that was underlined
Do we think that this is our sound?
What sound is it?

Review Objective: Did we find the short /oo/ sound in words and learn what the sound is?
Sight Words
Give objective: Today we will learn new sight words and spell them with our arms to help our
muscles and our minds remember them.

Explain to students we will be going over new sight words this week

Tell students that they will be listening to the pronunciation of each word and they are to
repeat it after they listen

After the class has repeated the word, we will use our "whole arms" to draw out the
spelling of each word in the air

Let class know that those who are following along well will earn stars

After this, see who can try to read the words independently

Record the success of those who attempt this

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Review Objective: Did we learn new sight words by spelling them in the air?
BREAK TIME
Vocabulary
Give Objective: Today we will be learning our new vocabulary words for the week by matching
the words to the pictures that represent them.

As students return from break, have two students who were following along well during
the previous parts of the lesson hand out the vocabulary lists for the book, "Apples From
Farm to Table" (AFFT)

After handing out the vocabulary lists, begin handing out the pictures for the vocabulary
matching activity

Explain to students that those seen sitting quietly and respectfully will get extra pictures

Once pictures are handed out, explain to students they will be listening to the
pronunciations of each word and then repeating them after they hear them

Once the class has repeated a word together, ask the class to look at their pictures to see if
they have the picture that matches the word

The student with a matching picture may come up to the front and stick their picture on
the whiteboard next to the word

Repeat this for each vocabulary word

Review Objective: Did we learn new vocabulary words by using pictures to match to our
words? Did we discuss new definitions?
READING

Take down the vocabulary words and the pictures to be able to show the video

Make sure students are out of the way of the projector's light

Explain to students that we have a new "Essential Question" this week

"Our question is, 'How do we get our food?' Does anyone have information that they feel applies
to this question?"

Pre-assess:

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

Explain to students that one way we get food is "How we get milk"

As that is being said, hand out the worksheet, "How we get milk"

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Explain that on this worksheet, we will put a 1 next to the action that comes first, a 2 next
to the action that comes second, a 3 next to the action that comes third, and a 4 next
to the action that comes last in the 4 steps it takes to get milk.

Have students review this as a class to ensure they comprehend the expectations for this
assessment

Explain to students that they should not be sharing their answers because this is
something IMPORTANT.

"I really need your help guys. This paper is for a project of mine for college and it will only work
if you guys don't share your answers and you use your own thinking. Thank you all so much for
your help."

Read the items on the worksheet to the students once

After reading through them once, explain to students they will listen to them being read
again, but they should be thinking about which one of these actions comes first, second,
third, and last.

Read through the actions again

Circulate through the room to provide any assistance with reading as needed

Once some students have handed in the worksheets, begin playing the opener video for
this week:

Go to: Reading Wonders ---> Unit 3 Week 5 ---> Whole Group Reading ---> Introduce
the Concept ---> Weekly Opener Video

Make sure that the Closed Captioning is OFF (it does not sync up to the audio correctly)

Once the video plays, ask students to listen to it again and think of what they could learn
based on this video or what connections could they make

Play the weekly opener video again

Ask students what they learned from the video

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

14

As the discussion progresses, explain to students that we will be working on

SEQUENCING this week as a skill.
Begin the discussion on sequencing based on the video:

"When we think about this book and how we get apples, what happens first?"

Write the word "First" on the whiteboard with an arrow next to it to write down what
students come up with

Students should say something similar, "Flowers fall off the apple trees to plan new ones"
OR "The apple trees grow"

Write the word "Next" on the board under this

Ask students, "What happens next in this process?"

Students should say something similar to, "Workers pick the apples." OR "Apples are put
on trucks"

Write the word "Then" on the board under this

Ask students, "Then what happens?"

Students should say something similar to, "Apples are waxed to keep fresh." OR "Apples
are put in boxes to be shipped."

Write the word "Last" on the board under this

Ask students, "What happens last?"

Students should say something similar to, "Apples are put in stores for people to buy."
OR "Apples are stacked in the store."

As the discussion closes, explain to students that we just described the SEQUENCE of
what occurred in the video that we just watched

Explain to students that SEQUENCING is "putting things in ORDER"

Have students review this concept as a class to ensure comprehension

Review objective: Did we practice sequencing by watching a video and using its information to
learn SEQUENCING, or, putting things in ORDER?

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

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Closing

When I give you directions, do we think it is helpful if I give them in order or can I give
them to you in any way I want?
Why might my directions make more sense if I tell them to you in order
Explain how sequencing makes sure that we are explaining things so that they make
sense and that others can understand what we are talking about
If we listed events at random, no one would know what we are talking about
Who can tell me one thing we did today?

Reflection for Lesson 1

During this lesson, I made sure to explain to the students that they were going to be
helping me with an assignment of mine by completing this pre-assessment for me. They enjoyed
being able to help me with my work. In explaining what the requirements of the pre-assessment
were, a lot of students seemed to quickly grasp the concept of putting a number 1 next to what
comes first, a 2 next to what comes next, and so on. I reviewed the instructions of the preassessments three times and repeatedly asked questions of the class to ensure understanding. One
student in particular, whose initials are DJ for the purpose of this reflection, seemed to lack the
understanding that since there are four steps, there is more than just first and last. He was
insistent that after what happens first, we have what happens last. I had members of the class
help me with their own understandings to see if they could help me with a classroom discussion
of the instructions of this pre-assessment.
The results of the pre-assessment were surprising, but that will be discussed later in this
paper. The main take-away for me today was that it never hurts to constantly review expectations
and check for understanding. This makes sure that no one is going unnoticed that everyone is
engaged. After the pre-assessment, we discussed our answers and what the correct sequence of
events was. Some students were not surprised they got questions wrong, while others admittedly
acknowledged that they forgot how milk is produced and that they guessed. I explained that

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

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this is okay and we will be going over how to make sure we are making sense when we order
things. I enjoyed our multiple class discussions today. They felt meaningful and felt like it gave
the lesson a purpose to the students.
Finally, I enjoyed how receptive the students were to the learning objective. They were
thoroughly confused by the concept of sequencing at first, but once they started to get it, we had
a wonderful discussion about how we met the objective for the day. Once I got everyone to
repeat that sequencing is just a big word for putting thing in order student were more receptive
to talking about it.

Lesson 2
Description
This class schedule follows the outline of:
-Phonics
-High Frequency Words
-Vocabulary
-Reading
This occurs over the course of 1.5 hours (9:30-11:00)
This class is composed of 7 students. There are 2 girls and 5 boys. 1 boy has an IEP. There are 4
students who have cultural backgrounds from Central America.
Prerequisites

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

17

Students should be able to break apart words into their sounds and consider how sounds make up
a word.
Students should know what the words First, next, then, and last means.
Students should know that oo can make the short /oo/ sound as in foot
Estimated Time: 1.5 hours
Purpose: Classroom Instruction
Grade: 1st Grade
Common Core
English Language Arts
Reading: Literature

Key Ideas and Details

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.2 (grade 1): Retell stories, including

key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or
lesson.

MCCRS Essential Skill

Retell story events in a logical sequence.

Unit Goal
Students will answer questions involving the sequence of events by using a story and its text and
picture clues.
Lesson Objectives
Phonics students will demonstrate understanding of sounds within words using this sound to
match words to pictures and phoneme manipulation.
High Frequency Words students will spell and read high frequency words by using flash card
resources.
Vocabulary students will demonstrate understanding of meaning of vocabulary words by
discussing a classroom definition.

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

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Reading students will sequence events by using their text to order the events of Apples from
Farm to Table
Variability
Phonics

If students are having trouble matching words to their pictures, emphasize that we are
using the short /oo/ sound, so the word we are matching with have that sound in it
If a student is struggling with a particular sound or has difficulties with Letter-word
identification (S.G.P. or D.J) you may want to give smaller words to break down
If a student appears bored, try writing words on the board with blends, three syllables, or
another sort of challenge to engage these students

High Frequency Words

If students are having trouble reading or identifying a word or correctly identifying the
sounds, they may call on a classmate to help them
When students are reading the words on their own, provide context support first after
about 10 seconds and after another 5 seconds, give them the word to repeat

Vocabulary

Assist students with words or picture where there may be less background or previous
information
If a student comes up with a definition or information on their own have other students
confirm they were listening by repeating the information

Reading

If class cannot read the sequencing key words (first, next, then, and last) give the context
of each word (If Im looking at the beginning of the book Im looking at what comes
and then the beginning sound.
For those who struggle with looking in their book for assistance for answering questions
or finding details, have students who are modeling this well show them what it looks like

Formative Assessments
Phonics students will practice using the short /oo/ sound by matching words with this sound to
pictures and using phoneme manipulations

Assessed through worksheet

If a student finishes early, they may practice writing words that rhyme with Look on
the back of their paper
If a student needs support, they may work with a partner

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High Frequency Words students will spell and read high frequency words

Assessed through anecdotal notes

When students are reading the list of sight words independently for the class, keep track
of words that students succeed and struggle with

Vocabulary students will use vocabulary words to create sentences to demonstrate

understanding of their meaning

Assessed through observation

Observe if students can retain pertinent information that applies to the words and relating
pictures.
Have students review the information that others say to ensure they are listening.

Reading students will sequence events by using their text to order the events of Apples from
Farm to Table

Assessed through discussion

Keep track of those who understand that SEQUENCING is putting things in order
Lead the discussion and prompt students to look in their books to find the answer
Those who do this earn stars, and tell those who do not that they should look in their
book for information so that they can earn stars too.

Summative Assessments
SEQUENCING Done in Lesson 3

Pumpkins story, read to students, and the five questions

Collect for data

Phonics - 9:35-9:50
Give Objective: Today we will be using our sound of the week to match words to pictures and
to make new words out of other words.

Show long phonetic cards on the front board

Ask if any students remember the sound that we are working on

If needed, prompt students to do what they may remember from the video yesterday

Ask students to put their hands on their throat and make a small hole with their lips

Ask again what the sound we are working on is

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

Have students collectively say the short "oo" sound as in "put" or "hook"

Hand out the "Vowel digraphs (oo)" worksheet to the class

Hand pencils out to the class

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Have students listen to each word that the picture represents and then have them circle
the word that was said for numbers 1-6

For 7-14, have students do numbers 8 and 9 with the teacher's guidance

Explain that we will be taking the 'g' in 'good' and changing it to a 'w'.

Show this on the board

Have someone come to the board to help with number 9

Tell students to do the rest of this worksheet on their own

Go over the answers as a class

Review Objective: Did we use our sound to make new words and find the words for pictures?
High Frequency Words
Give Objective: Today we will be listening to each other spell words and we will have to figure
out what word is being spelled. This will give us practice identifying our sight words.

Have students try to read the sight words (go in order)

Have students repeat the reading of the sight words together

Point to a sight word and have students raise their hand to try to read it (select these at
random)
Have one student pick a word and spell it for the class
Have that student call on someone who is raising their hand quietly and respectfully to
answer what word was spelled.

Repeat this process until all of the words have been spelled and read

Have students one at a time try to read all of the sight words independently

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

Promise those who try TWO stars and those who get them all right get THREE stars

After each student tries, mix up the words so that they are not in the same order

Repeat this for every student that wishes to try

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Review Objective: Did we spell our sight words and practice reading them based on their
spellings?
Vocabulary - 10:05-10:15
Give Objective: We will be reading our vocabulary words and practicing them so that reading
them is easier.

Hand out word lists for vocabulary for Apples From Farm to Table (AFFT)

Have students touch word number 1

"Who can RAISE THEIR HAND QUIETLY and read this word for me?"

If needed, put the picture support on the board

After the student reads the word, put the magnet version of the word on the board

Repeat this process for the rest of the list

"Next, we are going to read the words all together and discuss what they mean"

Start with pointing to the first word and point to the class collectively to elicit a response
from the entire class Place the picture support next to the vocabulary word
Have a student give information about the word using the picture

As students give information, summarize their information to discuss what the words
mean

Continue until all of the words have been read and all classroom made definitions have
been reviewed

Review Objective: Did we read our vocabulary words and create definitions with information
we already know and pictures?
BREAK TIME - 10:15-10:25

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22

Reading - 10:25-11:00
Give Objective: We will be reading our books Apples From Farm to Table and reviewing the
information in it by SEQUENCING, or, putting things in order.

Pass out AFFT books

Have students keep the books closed and point to the title

Have one student read the title to the class and then have the class read the title together

"Open your books to page 2 and point to the first word on the page"

Pick one student to start the rotation and have them read page 2 the best that they can
independently

Then the person to their left will read the next page

Continue this until the book is done

"Now that we have completed the book, I want to practice our sequencing skills"

"I want you to use your book to find what happens first in the process of getting apples"

"Once you have found the information that tells you what comes FIRST, point to that
page and quietly raise your hand."

Wait until everyone's hands are raised before calling on someone to answer what comes
FIRST.

"I want you to use your book to find what happens after that OR NEXT in the process of
getting apples"

Wait until everyone's hands are raised before calling on someone to answer what comes
NEXT.

"I want you to use your book to find what happens after that OR THEN in the process of
getting apples"

Wait until everyone's hands are raised before calling on someone to answer what comes
THEN.

"I want you to use your book to find what happens LAST in the process of getting
apples."

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23

Wait until everyone's hands are raised before calling on someone to answer what comes
LAST.

As students are giving these answers, write their responses on the board next to the
keywords bolded and underlined above.

Review Objective: Did we use our books to help up find the sequence of events in making and
selling apples?
Closing

Who can tell me what SEQUENCING is? What are we doing when we SEQUENCE
things?
Guide the discussion to Putting things in order and Going through events to show
what happens
Can someone name something we did today?

Reflection for Lesson 2

Today I noticed how delivering positive reinforcement and specific feedback can create a
cohesive learning environment where students are more easily engaged and actively
participating. I saw that with the more I acknowledged those who were following along and
giving answers to questions, the more that students wanted to show me that they could impress
me. I felt that the students responded extremely well to grappling with the new concept of
sequencing, but it was greatly alleviated by positive reinforcement.
Students also seemed to mimic my energy and attitude when I speak about things. When I
introduced our book for this week, Apples From Farm to Table I was enthusiastic and spoke
about how much I enjoyed this book. Immediately, students seemed excited to read it themselves
and they were expressing how it looked interesting and cool. I did not actually think this book
was anything special, but I was conveying positivity as a routine that I try to maintain. In doing
this, it seemed contagious and got students excited about reading and learning. It made me feel
really great to do that.

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

24

Finally, this lesson showed me how when shown positive reinforcement, how quickly a
behavior will increase. I know from simple behavioral models that reinforcement will increase
behavior, but it really impressed me that with my reinforcements, students were eagerly showing
me the skill I wanted them to practice, which was looking back in their text to find information. I
feel that this was great practice to show me that utilizing this strategy is important with these
students if I want them to focus and practice a specific skill. I hope that students will be able to
generalize this skill and use it on the post assessment.

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

25

Lesson 3
Description
This class schedule follows the outline of:
-Phonics
-High Frequency Words
-Vocabulary
-Reading
This occurs over the course of 1.5 hours (9:30-11:00)
This class is composed of 7 students. There are 2 girls and 5 boys. 1 boy has an IEP. There are 4
students who have cultural backgrounds from Central America.
Prerequisites
Students should be able to break apart words into their sounds and consider how sounds make up
a word.
Students should know what the words First, next, then, and last means.
Students should know that oo can make the short /oo/ sound as in foot
Estimated Time: 1.5 hours
Purpose: Classroom Instruction
Grade: 1st Grade
Common Core
English Language Arts
Reading: Literature

Key Ideas and Details

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.2 (grade 1): Retell stories, including

key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or
lesson.

MCCRS Essential Skill

Retell story events in a logical sequence.

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

26

Unit Goal
Students will answer questions involving the sequence of events by using a story and its text and
picture clues.
Lesson Objectives
Phonics students will demonstrate understanding of sounds within words by breaking apart
words into their sounds and identifying sounds correctly.
High Frequency Words students will spell and read high frequency words by using flash card
resources.
Vocabulary students will demonstrate understanding of meaning of vocabulary words by using
them in sentences orally.
Reading students will independently answer sequencing questions by looking back and using
text and picture evidence of a story read to them
Variability
Phonics

If students are having trouble breaking apart a word or correctly identifying the sounds,
they may call on a classmate to help them
If a student is struggling with a particular sound or has difficulties with Letter-word
identification (S.G.P. or D.J) you may want to give smaller words to break down
If a student appears bored, try giving a word with a blend, three syllables, or another sort
of challenge to engage these students

High Frequency Words

If students are having trouble reading or identifying a word or correctly identifying the
sounds, they may call on a classmate to help them
When students are reading the words on their own, provide context support first after
about 10 seconds and after another 5 seconds, give them the word to repeat

Vocabulary

Assist students with grammar, do not tell them they are wrong
If a student comes up with a sentence on their own, ask another student to repeat it to
maintain engagement throughout the activity

Reading

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

27

If class cannot read the sequencing key words (first, next, then, and last) give the context
of each word (If Im looking at the beginning of the book Im looking at what comes
and then the beginning sound.
For those who struggle with looking in their book for assistance for answering questions
or finding details, have students who are modeling this well show them what it looks like

Formative Assessments
Phonics students will break apart words into their sounds to demonstrate understanding the
sounds in them.

Assessed through observation. If a student seems to be struggling with this sound, make
note that this student may require smaller words or less challenging words with this
sound until he/she gets a better understanding

High Frequency Words students will spell and read high frequency words

Assessed through anecdotal notes

When students are reading the list of sight words independently for the class, keep track
of words that students succeed and struggle with

Vocabulary students will use vocabulary words to create sentences to demonstrate

understanding of their meaning

Assessed through observation

Observe what words on the list make students most confused and whether students can
use these words correctly in a sentence

Reading students will independently answer sequencing questions by looking back and using
text and picture evidence of a story read to them

Assessed through Summative Assessment

Read the story twice through and prompt students to look in their books to find the
answers to the five questions
Those who do this earn stars, and tell those who do not that they should look in their
book for information so that they can earn stars too.

Summative Assessments
SEQUENCING

Pumpkins story, read to students, and the five questions

Collect for data

Phonics

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

28

Give objective: For phonics, we will be breaking apart words into their sounds so that we can
understand the sounds in them better.

Begin phonics with a practice of how to make our sound and what our mouths should
look like when we make it

Model for the students - "You should be making a small hole with your lips and when you
touch your throat when you make this sound, you should feel it vibrating"

Show students what you want them to do as they say the sound /oo/ as in put" or "look"

Once students have shown they can make the sound, move on to breaking apart the
sounds in words

Write these words on the board and have students break apart the sounds before reading
the word

brook

pull

hook

hood

foot push

look

Ensure that the students are recognizing the short /oo/ sound

Review objective: Did we break apart words into their sounds to read and understand them
better?
High Frequency Words
Give objective: We will be doing out student teacher activity to spell our sight words and
practice reading them written.

Begin student teacher activity by explaining that one student will be the teacher at a time

That student teacher will write a word on the board as the teacher spells it

After the student teacher has correctly written the letters of the word on the board, they
may call on one of their students to read the word for them

Ask: "Who has been following along so well and is willing to be our first student
teacher?"

Choose someone who has been respectful and has obeyed the classroom rules to go first

Choose a word

Spell the word slowly for that student

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

29

After they spell it, they call on someone to read the word

Once someone has read the word, the student teacher gets to decide who will be the next
student teacher

Repeat this process until everyone has had a turn to be the student teacher and all the
words have been done

After this activity, see who is willing to try and read all of the words independently

Have a student try to read all the sight words one by one for a bonus TWO STARS (This
ensures that everyone will probably try)

Once one student has tried to read all of the words, quickly mix them up and have another
student try

Repeat this until everyone who wants to try has a turn

Keep track of who reads all of the words and what words students struggle with or
needed prompting with

Review objective: Did we learn how to spell, write, and read our sight words by completing our
student teacher activity?
Vocabulary
Give objective: We will be reading our vocabulary words and creating sentences with them to
practice using them.

Pass out the laminated vocabulary lists to students

Instruct students to put their reading fingers on word number 1

Explain to students that they should be pointing to all of the words as we go through
them.

"This will show that you are following along, and when you are following along, you get
bonus stars"

Give stars to those who you see showing consistent following along and readiness

Begin with the first word

Call on a student to try and read the word

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

If they need it, provide the picture support on the board to assist with remembering what
the word is

Have the student that first attempted to read the word make a sentence for the word

Have only ONE SENTENCE per word. If more than one person get a chance for a
sentence, then it gets out of hand and ends up taking longer to complete this activity

30

Repeat this process for the entire vocabulary list

Review objective: Did we practice reading and using our vocabulary words by making
sentences with them?
Reading
Give objective: Today we will be reviewing sequencing by putting events in order to make them
make sense.

Ask students if they remember what needs to happen if they want to sell their apples in
the grocery store

Have students think about this scenario while passing out the Apples From Farm to Table
books

Explain to students: "Imagine you had an apple orchard, and you wanted to sell your
apples in the store. What would you need to do and in WHAT ORDER to sell your apples."

Remind students "You SHOULD be using your book for support"

Write FIRST on the board

"Who can tell me what this word is?"

Have someone read this word

Who can tell me what comes FIRST when you want to eventually sell your apples?

Do the same for NEXT, THEN, and LAST.

Collect students' books

Discuss with students what they think sequencing is

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

31

Have them recognize that sequencing is PUTTING THINGS IN AN ORDER THAT

MOST MAKES SENSE.

Once the concept has been reviewed, pass out the POST ASSESSMENT

Read the POST ASSESSMENT story to the class.

Explain to students that they should be listening to the story to answer the five questions
that come after it

Reread the story to the class and attempt to make sure that students are following along
with their reading fingers (GIVE STARS TO THOSE WHO ARE)

Read each of the assessment questions and the choices that students have to choose from

Reread any choices that the students request

Repeat this for all five questions

Once students are finished, collect the assessments for data

Review Objective: Did we review sequencing and figure out how to use it by thinking about
our own apple orchard?
Closing

"Can someone tell me why sequencing, or, putting things in order, is useful? Why?"
Lead the discussion to --> We need to make sense of what happens in a story, we need to
use it to know what order things happen in, and it helps us make sense of a story.

Reflection for Lesson 3

In this lesson, I learned the value of a review before an assessment. I am confident in
saying that without the review, I am unsure that these students would have done as well as they
did. Even though we have been practicing sequencing for the past two days, there was a lot of
other information that was being given in these lessons, not to mention the massive amounts of
other things that students are practicing and learning throughout the school days. I say this
because in the review, the students started off struggling to recall the concept of how to sequence

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

32

and what sequencing is. Once the review started, we reminded ourselves that sequencing is
putting things in order and we practiced in a hypothetical sequencing activity. I asked students
if they could tell me what we would have to do first, next, then, and last if we owned our own
apple orchard and we wanted to grow and sell our own apples. The students did well with this
activity. We also practiced looking in a text for information used for sequencing. Students
seemed sure of themselves in looking at the beginning of a text for what happens first, and then
the following information would follow. I knew that after this review, students were certainly
more prepared to take the summative assessment.
There was not much more about sequencing in this lesson other than the review and the
post assessment. However, another take-away for me during this lesson was the importance of
clearly expressing what each question is asking. Students seemed to feel comforted that I read
through the questions and their answers twice for them. I also gave stars on the students star
charts when I saw them looking back in their text during the assessment. This was a good
strategy to keep reinforcing the behavior I wanted to see from the students to ensure they did the
best on their summative assessments. As it turns out, the students who looked back the most got
the best scores on the assessment. I was not surprised by this, but it was a definite observation for
me.
Finally, I enjoyed our closing discussion about why sequencing is important. I enjoyed
giving a purpose for these lessons. Sometimes it feels like students do not know why they are
learning things, so when students can answer why a skill is important to know, it feels like they
may be retaining it more. If there is not purpose or importance, I would not expect students to
retain the information. I used the closing discussion as a chance for students to prove to me that
they saw some sort of purpose in what we were accomplishing. Students would answer the

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

33

closing questions and use that as a way to line up for the end of the lesson. Students seemed to
understand that sequencing is important because without it, we would not know what the order is
to things. If we did not know the order of things, we would be confused and not know how to do
many activities.
Materials Needed for All Lessons

White Board
Dry Erase Markers
Sight word flash cards
Phonics cue card
Vocabulary Lists (x8)
Apples From Farm to Table books (x8)
Post Assessment (x8)
Privacy boards (x8)
Pencils (x10)
Star charts (one for each student)
Wonders Curriculum Guide
Computer
Weekly Video Opener

Internet

Assessments Administered
Pre-assessment

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

34

Summative Assessment

Questions:

1. What happens FIRST?

A. Pumpkins grow on vines
B. Pumpkins are put on trucks
C. People Pick the big pumpkins
2. RIGHT AFTER pumpkins are sent to the
plant, they are __________.

A. Picked off the vines

B. Put on big trucks
C. Chopped up

3. AFTER the pulp from a pumpkin is cooked, it

______________.
A. is picked
B. is put in cans
C. Goes to a plant
4. What do people do AFTER they buy cans of
pumpkin?
A. The put pumpkins in cans
B. They pick pumpkin off the vine
C. They use pumpkin to make things to eat
5. What happens LAST in the story?
A. People are making pumpkin bread

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

B. People are selling pumpkin bread

C. People are picking pumpkins

Short Selection of Data Collected

35

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

36

Part D: Analysis
and Instructional
Decision Making
In examining
student work, I
determined
student
achievement
through how
students scored on

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

37

the pre-assessment and compared the results to how well they scored on the post assessments.
Most students showed growth, while two students showed regression and one student did not
take the pre-assessment, but passed the post-assessment with an 80%, or 4/5 questions answered
correctly. The table below shows the scores for each assessment for students.
Student Initials

Pre-assessment

Summative Assessment

JB

N/A

4/5

DJ

4/4

3/5

CS

0/4

4/5

MA

2/4

2/5

MC
VP
OG

0/4
0/4
0/4

2/5
1/5
2/5

The chart below shows each students percentage growth over the three lessons. The first
student, JB, could only be assessed with the summative assessment, so his percentage growth is

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

38

based on his summative assessment results.

100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
-20%
-40%
-60%

The two students who showed regression were DJ and MA. DJ showed regression
because he scored 100% on the pre-assessment and for the first two questions of the summative
assessment he did not look back for information in the text. After one of the many reminders that
were given to the class, DJ began to look in the text for the rest of his answer and got them all
right. I concluded that if he were to have looked back in the text for the answers to the first one
he may have gotten a score that did not show regression. The other student showed regression
due to what appeared to be a lack of mastering the concept of sequencing.

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

39

The four students who I do not feel met the unit objectives to a standard I felt acceptable
would be OG, VP, MA, and MC. I feel that one appropriate intervention may include a more
clear chinking of text. The text is already chunked so that different information is on different
pages and pieces of the text separated by pictures, but in collaborating with another teacher, I
learned that she completed an assessment where she numbered each of the paragraphs so that
students would be reminded that there is information that may help answer questions in one of
the numbered paragraphs. For instance, if the question asks about what comes first, a student
may be reminded about the numbered paragraphs and go look at paragraph 1. Another
intervention I would feel appropriate would be to more clearly model and have students
demonstrate how to find information in a text. Even though this was gone over during these
lessons, this intervention would include more modeling and more following along and explaining
thinking to demonstrate the understanding of the concept.
To address the fact that only three out of the seven students in this class successfully
answered over 50% of the summative assessment questions correctly, I would suggest that the
instruction for sequencing continue into the next week. I believe that the book used in the next
unit, which is set up for sequencing, can be used to reinforce the strategies and concepts covered
in this weeks unit. I believe that the lessons that involve sequencing in the next unit should go
into further detail about how to find information in a text. Have students practice using page
numbers to realize where information is found in a text. For example, if I ask about what comes
after the information on page 2, where should you look next? If I wanted to know what happens
last, where would I look? Having students think critically about these questions and their
solutions will continue to develop the skill of looking back in a text for information. I feel that

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

40

this is the most useful tool that these students can utilize when learning this concept and essential
skill.

Part E: Reflection and Self-Evaluation

Evaluating the success of the lessons can be done in two different ways. In one way, we
see that five out of seven students showed growth, one student showed reasonable regression,
and one student showed regression that showed lack of improvement. Another way to evaluate
the success is to examine that only three out of the seven students scored over 50% on the
summative assessment. This means that over half of the class did not reasonably meet the
learning objective for this unit. I feel that this reflects on my instructional strategies in two ways.
In the first way, it can be seen that the students understanding of sequencing overall improved.
This is shown by the majority of the class improving on answering sequencing-based questions.
The other way the data reflects on my instructional strategies is that using the text as a resource
for information for answering questions was not fully received by the students. I feel that this
may have been because there was not enough practice with this skill and repeated exposure to the
material used for the assessment. If we had used the book they had been reading for the past two
days, Im sure the assessment results would have been much higher for all students. This is
because we practiced sequencing the events in this book thoroughly at least twice.
The language and cultural differences in this classroom have a wide range. There is no
one skill or identifying characteristic that each student is proficient in. This is a truly diverse
classroom. I feel that my instruction was differentiated through various forms of support and
adjustments made based on the ability level of each individual student. Some were given more

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

41

one-on-one attention, verbal supports, and picture cues to enable success in the lessons. Others
were pushed to try more challenging work revolving around the same concepts. This is done to
maintain engagement and to extend the learning of those who have better mastered individual
skills or objectives. In these ways, I feel that my lessons met the various needs of each student.
In completing this instructional activity project, I found that I could make two specific
adjustments to my future lessons. First, I would emphasize skills and critical thinking that are
necessary to complete learning objectives. I found that a major need in my lessons was to
emphasize how the skill of looking back in the text could have greatly helped students meet the
learning objective. So in the future, I can more clearly define the skills needed and how to use
them to meet objectives for my students. The second way I can improve my lessons is to
designate more time to the essential skills of a lesson. I feel that I achieved each of my objectives
for each lesson, but I could have gone deeper into the concept with further practice and greater
generalization of the skill. This would have taken more time during the lesson as a result. This
was shown to me because I was shown that students more quickly grasped the concepts of
phonics and high frequency words than they did with sequencing. This could have been a
formative assessment for me and could have showed me that I needed to spend less time with
phonics and high frequency words and more time with sequencing. In the future, I will try to
make this an effort to include in my formative assessment data.
In examining student success, I discussed how the homeroom teacher of most of these
students finds ways to meet the needs of such a diverse group of students. This homeroom
teacher collaborated with me to come up with various supports that can be given throughout
lessons and assessments that will allow for greater understanding, but not just give the students
the answers. We concluded that picture supports, writing prompt answer choices, further

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

42

chunking text, and extended practice would be the best interventions and supports to give to
these students. This was both useful and important in informing how to proceed with
instructional strategies in future lessons with these students. It was a great experience showing
how collaborating with other teachers who have knowledge of their students can greatly impact
how you reach and teach students. The experience this teacher has had with these students and
with diverse classrooms in general is invaluable and shows me that seeking out the help of a
more veteran teacher can help with some outside perspective to instruction.
Finally, I feel that I achieved two learning goals that are based on the Council for
Exceptional Children (CEC) standards in completing this instructional activity and reflection.
The first is CEC standard 6, in which it states, Beginning special education professionals use
foundational knowledge of the field and the their professional Ethical Principles and Practice
Standards to inform special education practice, to engage in lifelong learning, and to advance the
profession. I feel that this was accomplished through examining the various needs of my
students and adapting the way I teach each lesson to meet each of them at their strengths and
needs. In interacting with multiple cultural backgrounds, language and speech differences, and
multiple exceptionalities, I needed to constantly examine how well each students needs were
being met and what I could do next to better improve. The next CEC standard I achieved a goal
in was standard 7, in which it states, Beginning special education professionals collaborate with
families, other educators, related service providers, individuals with exceptionalities, and
personnel from community agencies in culturally responsive ways to address the needs of
individuals with exceptionalities across a range of learning experiences. I feel like this was
accomplished through the two conferences I had with teachers who have more experience than
me and know these students better than me. One was my mentor teacher, who has been running

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

this Reading class for the rest of the year prior to this. The other was the students homeroom
teacher. I got a lot of useful information on how to better meet the needs of these students with
various instructional strategies and interventions that have specifically worked with this group.
In collaborating with these two professionals, I learned the importance of gaining others
perspective to better meet the needs of the students.

43