Context for LearningFirst Name: Caroline

Age: 15

Gender: Female

Grade Level: 10th

Primary Language: English

List any type of augmentative or alternative communication used by learner.

______NA_____________________________________________________________

Provide information about the context in which you teach so that another educator can understand your teaching decisions for the instruction in the learning segment. Address the following:

Type of setting (e.g., first grade classroom in an elementary school, self-contained classroom, a home, etc.)10th Grade classroom, resource room setting

Your role in the focused learner’s instructional program

I am currently working with this student on a provisional license.

The schedule for instructional time with the focus learner for the learning segment focus (e.g. Tuesdays for 15 minutes, Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 20 minutes a day, etc.)Tuesday Wednesday, and Thursday at 7:00 for 15 minutes intervals

The primary language of instruction if other than EnglishNA

Describe any district, school or cooperating teacher requirements that might affect your planning or instructional delivery. (e.g., prescribed reading curriculum).

They are currently using the Houghton Mifflin reading series.

Identify any textbook or instructional program you primarily use for instruction for the learning targets. If a textbook, please provide the title, publisher, and date of publication.

I will not be using the students textbook for instruction, instead, I will be using reading passages from the website englishforeveryone.org.

If group instruction, describe the size and composition of the group (e.g., 6 special education learners; 3 learners with IEPs and 23 general education learners). I will be working with one student who is classified as a student with an IEP.

Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA)   

Student Consent FormDear Parent/Guardian:

As a student teacher in your child’s classroom, I will be evaluated using the Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA), an instrument that is currently being developed for use in Ohio and other states.  The primary purpose of this assessment is to develop a valid and reliable assessment that can measure the performance of future teachers and lead to improvement of the programs that prepare them.

Although the purpose of the assessment is to evaluate my teaching, the project will include short video recordings of lessons taught to your child, as well as samples of student work. The video recordings will be used solely for purposes of evaluating my instruction and for improving teacher preparation programs.   The only people who see them will be teachers at the school and university faculty and supervisors. The recordings will not appear on the Internet or in other public settings. Any samples of student work that I collect for this assessment will not contain the student’s last name.

Sincerely,

__Benjamin M Williams_________________(Teacher Candidate Signature)

My Learning Targets1. Reading Comprehension2. Vocabulary acquisition

Baseline Student Knowledge

Caroline is currently a tenth grade student with a reading comprehension level below her 10th grade level. Her comprehension level is at the 7th grade level. She has received special education services as a student with significant delays in the area of language and communication. She is a very hard worker who enjoys learning all subject areas.

Learning segment #1 (15 minutes)

Standard

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.10 By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Objectives:1. After reading a 10th grade reading passage, Caroline will answer literal,

inferential and evaluative questions to demonstrate comprehension in 2 of 3 work samples with 70% accuracy.

2. After reading a 10th grade information reading passage, the student will be able to write about the main characters personalities in her own words with 75% accuracy.

Body of Lesson

Ask the student what she knows about the Civil War. Discuss where and when it took place, who fought in it, why the two sides were fighting, and some of the major players in the war to establish background knowledge.

Give the student a 10th grade reading passage about the Civil War. First, read the passage aloud to the student. Model good oral fluency as you read. Ask the student about the main "characters" (Robert E. Lee and Joe Hooker) and their characteristics. Are they similar or are they different? Ask her how she knows that. Then I will tell her that understanding these differences with help her with the next part of the lesson. She will be creating a "It Says, I Say" chart.

This chart is a graphic organizer that will have the student take ideas from the reading and put it into her own words. This chart will concentrate on the

personalities of the two main people in the passage. She will write four statements about the characters.

Learning segment #2 (15 minutes)

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.10 By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Objectives:3. After reading a 10th grade reading passage, Caroline will correctly define

100% of the words assigned using a dictionary.4. While reading a 10th grade information reading passage, the student will

be able to correctly replace the vocabulary words in the passage with her own words on 7 out of 9 words.

Body of Lesson

Show the student a short video clip about the Battle of Chancellorsville. This will give the student some background knowledge and put visual images in her head to help her with the reading.

Give her the Civil War reading passage again. Explain to the student that understanding vocabulary is an essential component of understanding what you read. Go through the passage and point out vocabulary words that may be difficult to understand. For this passage, these words would be: somber, measured, strapping, vanity, egotism, devout, rollicking, propensity, and buoyed.

The student will use a book dictionary or online dictionary to look up the definitions of the words. After she has found the definitions, we will read back through the passage, orally replacing the words with their definitions to make sense of the reading.

Learning Segment #3

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Objectives:5. After reading a 10th grade passage, the student will apply reading

comprehension strategies, including making predictions, comparing,

contrasting, recalling, summarizing, making inferences and drawing conclusions with 70% accuracy.

6. After reading a 10th grade information reading passage, the student will be able to write a 3 to 4 sentence summary about what she read.

Body of Lesson

Review the main ideas of what the reading passage is about: Civil War battle, the personalities of the two leaders, and how those personalities contributed to the end result of the Battle of Chancellorsville.

Go through each paragraph of the passage with the student. Read each one individually and stop at the end to ask what that paragraph was about. Model for the student writing down what the paragraph was about either in full sentences or bullet points. Read the next paragraph and have the student orally tell what that paragraph was about. Have her write that down on the paper. Continue doing this through all paragraphs of the passage.

Explain to her that these notes/little summaries will be used to create a summary of the passage. Combine each of these points to make a three to four sentence summary paragraph about the reading passage.

Communication Demands

The student needs to be familiar with Civil War vocabulary words, such as Union, Confederacy, battle, Chancellorsville, etc. No augmentative devices are being used.

Assesments:

The score of the comprehension questions will be used to assess how well the student understood the passage. The summary will also be used to see if the student can take the reading and put it into her own words.

Instructional Strategies

Multisensory—I will be a video about the Battle of Chancellorsville.

Chunked up activities—the activities are chunked up into small parts of only a few minutes at a time to keep her attention

Interest—The subject is one that interests the student.

Generalization:

If I were able to work with this child in the future, I would continue doing comprehension drills but with different types of reading materials, such as books she would want to read on her own time.

Resources and Materials:

Reading passage and questions

Video about Battle of Chancellorsville

"It Says, I Say" chart

Dictionary (online or book)

Notebook paper

Focus Learner’s InformationIdentify the two learning targets selected for the learning segment.

7. Reading Comprehension8. Acquisition of Vocabulary

Describe the focus learner’s exceptionality (strengths and challenges) and it’s potential impact on instruction for the learning targets.

Caroline is currently a tenth grade student reading who comprehends reading material well-below grade level. She is diagnosed as having learning disabilities and has trouble understanding what she reads and making connections. Caroline is a hard worker who loves to learn, especially about social studies.

List the goals and benchmarks in each focus learner’s individual education plan relevant to achieving the learning targets.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

For each focus learner, list any special accommodations or modifications in the learning environment, instruction, or assessment required by the IEP and relevant to the learning targets.

The reading passage will be read aloud to the student.

One-on-one instruction will be used to help the student reach her goal.

Describe any behavior management plans.

A reading passage on the Civil War will be used since Caroline likes history and social studies. The activities will be chunked up to ensure that the student will not become bored and lose interest.

Knowledge of Focus Learner to Inform Teaching of the Lesson Segment

For each of the categories listed below (3a–d), describe what you know about each focus learner as related to the lesson objectives of the learning segment in relation to BOTH of their learning targets.

What does each learner know?

Caroline is a 10th grade student who comprehends what she reads at a 5th grade level.

What can each learner do?

She can answer three out of nine comprehension questions for a passage at a 10th grade reading level.

And, what is s/he learning to do?

She is looking to increase her comprehension accuracy and word knowledge through acquisition of vocabulary.

a. Prior learning and experiences, including prerequisite knowledge and skills related to the lesson objectives. When relevant to lesson objectives, refer to baseline data obtained prior to the beginning of the learning segment.

Caroline loves history and social studies. She has background knowledge to complete the lesson, but will probably need an introduction of concepts of vocabulary about this particular battle and the people involved.

b. Social and emotional development (e.g., impulse control, ability to interact and express themselves and their feelings in constructive ways, ability to engage and persist in individual and collaborative learning, social connectedness). When relevant to lesson objectives, refer to baseline data obtained prior to the beginning of the learning segment.

Caroline can be hard on herself when she is not successful. Too much work can be overbearing and fill her with anxiety.

c. Personal, family, community, and cultural assets (e.g., each focus learner’s interests and strengths, relevant lived experiences, and self-

management skills; family supports or resources; cultural expectations; community supports or resources)

Caroline has a strong family unit that supports him in his school and academic journey. She participates in extracurricular activities like track that require her to have good grades.

d. If relevant, any other information about the focus learner that will influence your instructional planning (e.g., other needs and strengths in areas such as motor skills or language/communication). When relevant to lesson objectives, refer to baseline data obtained prior to the learning segment.

NA

Supporting LearningRespond to prompts 4a–e below. As needed, refer to the instructional materials you have included to support your explanations. Your explanation should address both learning targets for your focus learner. Use principles from research and theory to support your explanations, that is, explain why your plans will support learning for each focus learner and describe how they provide challenge that is appropriate for each learner.

a. Explain how the following guided your choice of the lesson objectives, learning tasks, materials, and supports, including any adaptations, modifications, or accommodations.

The focus learner(s)’ prior learning and experiences

Caroline has an extreme interest in history. She will often watch the History Channel and sites her social studies classes as her favorite to go to.

The focus learner(s)’ interests and personal/family/cultural/community assets

Caroline likes watching the History Channel with her father in the evenings. Her family encourages her to pursue her interests and become more knowledgeable about anything that interests her.

The focus learner(s)’ individual education goals and benchmarks. If you selected an objective that addresses a support skill not reflected in the individual education plan, justify why it is appropriate for the focus learner(s) at this time. (If academic, you can use a state standard here)

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

b. If there is not at least one learning target linked to the general education or early childhood curriculum, justify why that is not appropriate for the focus learner(s), given the learning needs. NA

c. Explain how your choices provide your focus learner with the appropriate level of support and challenge needed to access and engage with the curriculum and instruction. I will read aloud the passage to help her gain an understanding of the passage. According to her IEP, Caroline is to develop comprehension skills for reading passages at her grade level (10th grade) despite being slightly below grade level in comprehension.

d. Explain how the plans for instruction are sequenced in the learning segment to build connections between each focus learner’s prior learning and experiences and new learning. Each lesson segment begins by doing an activity that reminds her of her prior learning. She is given the chance to discuss what she already knows about this topic.

e. Explain how, throughout the learning segment, you will help the focus learner(s) to generalize, maintain, or self-manage the knowledge, skills, and supports, as appropriate. She will learn strategies and skills to help with comprehension. Putting the passages into her own words, organizing thoughts, and understanding vocabulary are all skills that will help her be a better reader as she grows.

Monitoring Learning

Explain how the assessments and the daily assessment record for each focus learner will provide evidence of

Progress toward the lesson objectives

Progress will be assessed by comparing the scores of the pre assessment and the post assessment.

Generalization and maintenance, or self-directed use of learned skills

I will see if she can generalize what he has learned by checking her reading in other types of texts, such as fiction, textbooks, internet sites, etc.

The conditions under which each focus learner was or was not successful

If the student does not reach 70% accuracy on the comprehension questions, she is not successful in the task.

Instruction Commentary

Write the Instruction Commentary after watching your video clip by providing your response to each of the prompts below.

1. Which lesson or lessons are shown in the clip(s)? Identify the lesson(s) by lesson plan number. For the clip I used lesson number 1.

2. If applicable, provide any additional information needed to understand the learning environment or interactions seen in each clip. This was taken before the school day started in a one-on-one setting.

3. Promoting a Positive Learning Environment Refer to scenes in the video clip(s) where you provided a positive learning environment.

How did you demonstrate mutual respect for, rapport with, and responsiveness to enhance self-determination and support engagement in learning for each focus learner, individually and/or as part of the group?

By talking with the student, and asking her questions about topics she liked, which was history and the Civil War, I developed rapport with the student. I was able to support and enhance self-determination skills by showing him how much she had improved from the pre assessment to the post assessment.

4. Engaging and Motivating the Focus Learner(s) Refer to examples from the clip(s) in your explanations.

a. Explain how your strategies engaged and motivated each focus learner to develop and apply the targeted knowledge and skills. Relating the characteristics of the people in passage to people she may know and chunking up my instruction helped keep Caroline on task. Since each activity only lasted a few minutes, she did not get easily bored. When she worked on the It Says, I Say assignment and vocabulary, she was interacting with the teacher and relating concepts to her own life, which kept her engaged.

b. Describe how your instruction linked each focus learner’s prior learning and personal, family, cultural, and/or community assets with new learning.

Because caroline showed an interest in history, and had already studied the topic in school in social studies and watched programs at home with her family, she was easily able to link it to the new learning we were doing in the classroom.

5. Deepening Learning during InstructionRefer to examples from the clip(s) in your explanations.

a. Explain how you elicited and responded to each focus learner’s performance to promote application of learning. When I asked Caroline to put parts of the passage in her own words and she did I said "Great work! That's exactly right. Go ahead and record that on your It Says, I Say.”

b. Describe opportunities provided to each focus learner to apply feedback to improve performance. “You are understanding the characteristics of the leaders in the passage! Good job. Try to compare them to people you know to help you understand.”

6. Supporting Teaching and Learning Refer to examples from the clip(s) in your explanations.

a. For each focus learner, explain how your materials, supports, and instructional strategies support his/her learning in relation to the lesson objectives and how they reflect the learner’s development, age, and needs. The score of the pre assessment and post assessment allowed the student to see how much she grew over the lessons. Chunking the learning into small bits helped her stay on task during the lesson. Using real life examples and similar situations, videos, models and other objects allowed her to make the information her own and connect it to her prior knowledge.

b. For each focus learner, describe how your instructional materials and instructional and support strategies facilitate the development or application of a self-directed learning strategy.As we worked on the It Says, I Say, Caroline became more confident in understanding the passage and its meaning she. I modeled good strategies at first but she began to do it independently and with confidence.

7. Analyzing Teaching

Refer to examples from the clips in your explanations.

a. What changes would you make to your instruction to better support learning of each focus learner? Support your explanation with evidence of your focus learner’s performance and principles from theory and/or research as appropriate.

If I could make any changes, I would add more activities and practice before we worked on the post assessment. I feel that there was some tough vocabulary that was important in the passage that may have hindered Caroline from reaching her potential in comprehending the reading passage.

Data—(Include any charts are anecdotal records you took during the lesson.

What were the results of your lesson segments?

By the third lesson segment, on the comprehension post assessment, Caroline reached 66%, which is not quite her goal of 70%. This fell short but she showed great improvement in her understanding and comprehension of reading passages at her grade level.

What are the continuing needs of this learner?

This learner would benefit from continued comprehension strategies and skills at a 10th grade level with reading passages that interest her. She also needs vocabulary instruction.

What feedback did you give the student? (Verbal, written, etc.)

I shared the student’s scores on the comprehension post assessment and verbally told her that she was successful in the It Says, I Say activity and vocabulary lesson.

How do you know the student understood the academic language of the lesson?

We talked about the topic at the beginning of each lesson segment to make sure Caroline understood the words that related to the Civil War and the Battle of Chancellorsville that were used in the reading passage.

Attach one work sample of the student to this page.

http://englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/10_Battle_of_Chancellorsville_Free_Sample.pdf