El pretérito: cambios de ortografía y raíz iy, ei, & ou

The Preterit Tense: iy, ei, & ou Spell and Stem Changes

Robin Rondash

Spanish 3

Grade Level: 10th

Carmel High School

Cooperating Teacher: Paul Lobbe

Fall 2012

Context and Objectives

a. I taught three sections of Spanish 3 during my student teaching experience at Carmel

High School in Carmel, NY. Carmel is a suburban community in Putnam County approximately

sixty miles north of New York City. The total population living within the boundaries of the

Carmel Central School District according to the 2010 census was 30, 273. The total number of

students enrolled in the high school during the 2009-2010 school years was 1, 588 students. The

cultural background s of the student body at Carmel could be broken down into the following

percentages: 83% White; 13% Hispanic or Latino, and 4% Asian, Black or African American

descent. During that enrollment year, there were no recorded students of American Indian,

Alaskan Native, Hawaiian Native, Pacific Islander, or students from more than one racial

background. 51% of the student body is male and 49% of students are female.

While still considered a small town and school district compared to other cities and

communities in the tri-state area, enrollment in the high school has been growing to

accommodate the growth in the surrounding community. For example, enrollment during the

1998-1999 school year was 1,280 students. This means that in eleven years, the number of

students attending school in the same building had grown by 308 students. In the same time

period, the number of teachers increased from 87 to 112. Using eligibility for free or reduced

price lunches as an indicator, 11% of the high school student body can be considered to be at an

economic disadvantage. The number of students with special needs requiring an IEP or 504

plans was not available on school websites. Special needs students in the classes I taught

generally required accommodations limited to being given extra time during quizzes and tests.

After viewing the students’ IEP’s, I also knew that for certain students, I may have to repeat

things a little more slowly or one extra time. Of the ELL’s present in my classes, none was

unable to understand basic instructions and all would be considered at least proficient in English,

if not fluent. One disadvantage I noticed these students showed in their work was the tendency

to not read written instructions on quizzes and assignments thoroughly, oftentimes conjugating

verbs in the present tense when we were focusing on the conjugation of the preterit tense and this

was the tense students were instructed to use on the assignment, for example. After seeing this

happen on one quiz, I made sure to review all instructions before any assignment. I would also

give the student a reminder if while circulating the room I saw them continuing the pattern. I

also ensured that students encountering any issues related to their special needs or English

language learning were seated in an area of the classroom more accommodating to their learning

style.

The set-up of the classroom was conducive to the learning objectives present in the unit.

The seats were arranged into six rows, with each row having up to five seats in it. Depending on

the amount of students in the class, the rows were either completely filled up or there were a few

extra seats left over at the back of the classroom. The class sizes ranged from 19 to 27 students.

Every seat was taken up during third period, which had the largest amount of students. In the

least populous class, the students were situated in the front and middle of the classroom, with one

of the front desks being left unoccupied.

The classroom was on the on the third floor, but four stories above ground level outside

the windows. The classroom could become quite warm, but it was easy to make the students

comfortable due to the large amount of windows and constant breeze from the outside. All

student desks faced away from the windows located on the back wall. They were able to directly

face the Smart Board, as well as a generously sized white board. There was also a second white

board on the student’s right-hand side of the room, which was often used during classroom

activities. Not only was I able to write notes on this board visible to the entire class, it also

served as a way for students to share answers on the board without being crowded into one

central area. I felt that the setup of the classroom increased the on-task behavior of the students,

mostly because of the classroom’s position in the hallway (very few people walked by the door)

and the arrangement of the classroom. The only adjustments I could foresee helping in the future

are more teacher-related than student-related. The first row of desks tended to inch closer to the

front as the day progressed, giving me very little to move around as freely as I would have liked

in front of the class. Also, access to the teacher’s desk and computer was limited to one side,

meaning that in order to access the computer during a lesson one would have to walk to the end

of one of the rows in order to go behind the desk. It would be better to have access from the

front of the classroom to save time and make classroom responsibilities, such as attendance,

easier.

b. The learning objectives for my unit plan are aligned with those of the New York State

Learning Standards for Languages Other Than English (LOTE). The high school also models it's

curriculum after the guidelines provided for by the state and does not offer any alternative

interpretations of these guidelines on their school or district websites. Lessons in Spanish 3 were

planned and taught according to the guidelines for Checkpoint B, which state that students will

be able to use a language other than English for purposes of communication and will develop

cross-cultural skills and understanding.

More detailed learning objectives are listed under the heading Standards Addressed found

in each day’s individual lesson details. (Lessons 1 – 4, Thursday – Tuesday)

Pre-Assessment & Analysis

a. To evaluate the students’ prior knowledge before the beginning of the lessons on iy

spell-changes and ei/ou stem changes in the 3rd

person preterit, I chose to give them a small

quiz on the first day of the lesson. I explained to the class that this did not count toward their

grade and was similar to the SLO pre-test they had taken earlier in the year. I also informed the

students the purpose of the pre-test was to help me as a new teacher to see how well I was able to

teach them the topic. By showing them that the pre-test was important to me, I hoped to

decrease the amount of students who did not show their true abilities on a test they knew was not

going to count for a grade.

The quiz consisted of a half-sheet of paper with two sections of questions. The top part

was five written questions that required a change to or from the third-person conjugation of an

iy, ei, or ou verb in the preterit. Three of the five questions required the student to change

from irregular to regular spelling and four of the five required a change in subject. Only one of

the first five questions could be answered without a conjugation or subject change. The second

half of the pre-assessment consisted of four fill-in questions, with a total of five blanks to be

filled in.

The pre-assessment allowed students to demonstrate prior knowledge of –er and –ir verbs

with spell changes in the conjugated ending or original root of the verb in the third person

preterit tense. The pre-assessment also gave me the opportunity to see how strong each student’s

foundation in Spanish had been laid. It is possible to see if the student knows the original form

of the verb in the question. I also saw how well the students knew the different preterit verb

endings, something that they had been taught in the previous level of Spanish. I was also able to

tell which students had trouble answering in the correct tense and were interpreting the questions

differently than intended. If students did have prior knowledge or an idea on how to conjugate

the verbs on the pre-assessment, I was able to see how they applied or misapplied the

information they already knew.

Pre-Assessment Example

b. After viewing the Spanish 3 pre-assessments, I was able to detect several patterns.

Students that did well on the test were more likely to know the correct preterit verb endings. On

occasion, the –ar verb preterit endings were used instead of the –er/-ir endings, but these were

anomalies and existed on the same test where the student conjugated a similar verb correctly on a

different question. All these students shared the ability to conjugate the preterit tense endings

correctly. Misuse or lack of accent marks was a common mistake amongst these and all students

taking the pre-test.

Some students showed an indication of knowledge on the topic and were still able to

perform fairly well on the pre-assessment. Students of the medium performance group often

knew that there was a change in conjugation necessary, but were more likely to conjugate

incorrectly, answer the question from the incorrect point of view, and make the same mistakes

consistently. These students had a fairly strong foundation, but would need more examples to be

able to apply the spell and stem changes. They would not be able to memorize a formula since

the changes would not be necessary in every situation.

Students that performed poorly on the pre-assessment tended to leave more questions

blank or leave answers half written. Those who did not perform well on the pre-test followed

some of the same patterns as those who did slightly better. While they were more likely to leave

answer boxes completely empty, they also tended to repeat the same mistakes over and over

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again. This showed me that there was effort being made by some, but that the foundation was

weakly laid and the students did not know the correct way to change the verbs and/or answer the

question in a comprehensible manner.

The graphs below illustrate the students’ collective performance on the pre-assessment.

Sixty-seven students took the pre-assessment, with eight students being excluded from the data

because the pre- or post-assessment was missing due to absence on one of the two days the

assessments were administered.

The first graph shows the different ways that the students answered the first five

questions of the pre-assessment. Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, and Q5 represent the number of the question.

Each answer fell into one of the following categories: Both, which represents that both verb

conjugation and comprehension of to whom the question was directed were correct; V Only,

which represents that the verb was conjugated and spelled correctly but was in the wrong person

indicating a lack of comprehension; C Only, which represents that the question was answered in

the correct person but the verb was not conjugated or spelled correctly; None, which represents

that both verb conjugation and comprehension of the question were incorrect; and Blank, which

indicates that the student left the answer space blank.

Below are the results of the four fill-in questions on the pre-assessment. In every

category, more students answered the question incorrectly than correctly.

The pre-assessments helped me approach aspects of Spanish that students of all abilities

were likely to misunderstand. Many students were unable to answer questions being asked in the

singular and plural forms of Usted correctly. The most common mistake was to interpret Usted

as another way to say ‘he’ or ‘she’ and Ustedes as a way to say ‘they’ in a formal manner.

Almost all students knew that these forms were formal, but they often misinterpreted who was

being asked the question. It was more common that the student answer the plural form

incorrectly, answering using Ustedes instead of nosotros.

After viewing the results of the pre-assessment, I explained at every opportunity the

reasoning and logic behind the usage of accent marks. This was especially difficult for students

to grasp with verbs ending in –uir, but with practice and reiteration of the reasons for using

accents, students began to perform better. I found it especially helpful (and I think the students

did as well) to have one classmate rephrase the reason why we did or did not use an accent in a

given situation. I also used this technique whenever I noticed that students were starting to get

carried away with their accents or spell changes. Some students tended to learn how to do a

spell- or stem-change and then run with it, applying it to every verb they saw afterwards. An

explanation behind the reasons why these changes are necessary helped the students make better

decisions when placing their accent marks.

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Lesson Plans

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Thematic Unit: Camping/Stem and Spell Changing Verbs in the 3rd

Person Preterit

Checkpoint: B

Learning Objective: Students will review –er/-ir preterit endings and take notes on iy, ei,

and ou stem and spell changing verbs.

Behavioral Objective: Students will be able to conjugate iy spell changing verbs in the 3rd

person during in-class exercises and on individually assigned practice sheets.

Standards Addressed:

1. Students will be able to use a language other than English for communication.

Reading and writing are used in languages other than English for the

purposes of socializing, providing and acquiring information, expressing

personal feelings and opinions, and getting others to adopt a course of

action.

2. Students will develop cross-cultural skills and understanding.

Effective communication involves meanings that go beyond words and

require an understanding of perceptions, gestures, folklore, and family and

community dynamics. All of these elements can affect whether and how

well a message is received.

Anticipatory Set/Do Now: Students will take the pre-assessment that will allow them to

demonstrate any prior knowledge of these particular spell and stem changing verbs.

Instructional Process:

1. Do Now

2. Note taking on verbs that change their spelling or stem in the 3rd

person preterit.

3. Presentation on Peru and Machu Picchu with various examples of iy spell changes.

4. Discussion about Peru, community dynamics of the descendants of los conquistadores

and the native Indian peoples. Students will be encouraged to share their personal experiences

comparable in travel to Machu Picchu.

5. Exit Slip: On a half sheet of paper, tell me two things that a friend or family member of

yours did one time, using at least two verbs we practiced with today and your vocabulary sheets

to help you.

Independent Practice: The exit slip and the assigned homework sheet.

Below are copies of the exit slips completed by Students A, B, & C. A blank of example

of the homework assignment is followed by the individual students’ work (if handed in). The

pre-assessment can be found in the section entitled Pre-Assessment and Analysis.

Exit Slip – Student A

Exit Slip – Student B

Exit Slip – Student C

Homework #1 – Thursday

Homework #1 – Student B

Homework #1 – Student C

Friday, October 12, 2012

Thematic Unit: Camping/Stem and Spell Changing Verbs in the 3rd

Person Preterit

Checkpoint: B

Learning Objective: Students will be given in-class practice time on iy spell changes and other

spell and stem changing verbs. Students will practice their vocabulary usage in context by

starting their writing assignment in class.

Behavioral Objective: Students will be able to conjugate a variety of the spell and stem changing

verbs during in-class practice, as well as apply the verbs and their vocabulary while they begin

their writing assignments.

Standards Addressed:

1. Students will be able to use a language other than English for communication.

Reading and writing are used in languages other than English for the

purposes of socializing, providing and acquiring information, expressing

personal feelings and opinions, and getting others to adopt a course of

action.

o Students write short notes, uncomplicated personal and business

letters, brief journals, and short reports.

o Students write brief analyses of more complex content when given

the opportunity for organization and advance preparation, though

errors may occur more frequently.

Anticipatory Set/Do Now: Students will conjugate three verbs; three of them volunteer to put

their conjugations on the board. Pedir, dormir, and desoír are the verbs to be conjugated. They

may use their notes to help them since one of these is unfamiliar to them.

Instructional Process:

1. Do Now

2. Group completion of a practice worksheet that has all three types of stem and spell

changing verbs currently under study.

3. Explanation and expectations for writing assignment.

4. Time to work individually on the writing assignment. I circulate the room helping

students who need help or have questions. Assignments are to be collected and proofread by me

over the weekend, with students expected to re-write them with corrections before they are

handed in the following Thursday.

Independent Practice: Students will start to work individually on their writing assignment

rough drafts.

Below is a blank copy of the worksheet completed in class as a group, as well as the start

of the rough drafts completed during class Friday by Students A, B, & C.

Writing Assignment Rough Draft – Student A

Writing Assignment Rough Draft – Student B

Writing Assignment Rough Draft – Student C

Monday, October 15, 2012

Thematic Unit: Camping/Stem and Spell Changing Verbs in the 3rd

Person Preterit

Checkpoint: B

Learning Objective: Students will practice their listening skills, identifying the iy spell

changing verbs in a spoken passage (Después de la tormenta) from the Realidades textbook.

The students will also work in groups of two to complete a writing exercise also from the

textbook.

Behavioral Objective: Students will practice listening for the different perspectives used and

their respective verb formations during the listening exercise. Students will be able to listen for

and write correctly the verbs from the passage that they have become familiar with over the past

few days. The students will be able to conjugate stem and spell changing verbs in the 3rd

person

preterit in Actividad 14, En el bosque, a reading and grammar activity from the Realidades

textbook.

Standards Addressed:

1. Students will be able to use a language other than English for communication.

Listening and speaking are primary communication goals in modern

language learning. These skills are used for the purposes of socializing,

providing and acquiring information, expressing personal feelings and

opinions, and getting others to adopt a course of action.

o Students comprehend messages and short conversations when

listening to peers, familiar adults, and providers of public services

either in face-to-face interactions or on the telephone.

o Students understand the main idea and some discrete information

in television, radio, or live presentations.

Reading and writing are used in languages other than English for the

purposes of socializing, providing and acquiring information, expressing

personal feelings and opinions, and getting others to adopt a course of

action.

o Students write short notes, uncomplicated personal and business

letters, brief journals, and short reports. .

Anticipatory Set/Do Now: Students will answer three questions in the Do Now section of their

notebooks, each of which will require a spell or stem changing verb to be conjugated from the

third person into the first person. One question is a translation from English into Spanish, with

the grammar focus being a part of the translation.

Instructional Process:

1. Do Now

2. Review of Do Now

3. Review of new sheet for students outlining the three main 3rd

person stem and spell

changes we have been learning. This was made to help the students study and categorize the

three kinds we focus on, as well as to give examples of proper conjugation and reasons why (if

any) the word undergoes a spell or stem change.

3. Listening Activity #15, Después de la tormenta, p. 30 of Realidades textbook.

4. Writing Activity # 14, En el bosque, p. 30 of Realidades textbook.

5. Hand out of homework started as a class in order to start students on the right foot.

Independent Practice: Students will complete a practice sheet on iy spell changes. The sheet

also contains some review words from the previous lessons on 1st person preterit spell changes (-

car, -gar, -zar).

On the following pages are a blank sample of the homework and a copy of Student A’s

homework, the only sample of the three students’ I was able to collect and copy.

In-Class Review ‘Handy Sheet’ – Day 3

Homework #2 – Day 3

Homework #2 – Student A

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Thematic Unit: Camping/Stem and Spell Changing Verbs in the 3rd

Person Preterit

Checkpoint: B

Learning Objective: Students will practice their listening, writing, and comprehension skills

utilizing the verb forms and vocabulary being focused on. Students will collectively complete a

practice review sheet in class to prepare for their upcoming quiz on Thursday.

Behavioral Objective: Students will partake in the ‘ABC activity’. They will be able to

transcribe the question being asked by me, as well as answer the question in a complete sentence.

Students will be able to apply their knowledge of spell and stem changing verbs during the in-

class practice session. Students will show their understanding of the different verb conjugations

on the exit slip given before the end of class.

Standards Addressed:

1. Students will be able to use a language other than English for communication.

Listening and speaking are primary communication goals in modern

language learning. These skills are used for the purposes of socializing,

providing and acquiring information, expressing personal feelings and

opinions, and getting others to adopt a course of action.

o Students comprehend messages and short conversations when

listening to peers, familiar adults, and providers of public services

either in face-to-face interactions or on the telephone.

o Students understand the main idea and some discrete information

in television, radio, or live presentations.

Reading and writing are used in languages other than English for the

purposes of socializing, providing and acquiring information, expressing

personal feelings and opinions, and getting others to adopt a course of

action.

o Students write short notes, uncomplicated personal and business

letters, brief journals, and short reports.

o Students select vocabulary appropriate to a range of topics, employ

simple and complex sentences in past time frames, and express

details and nuances by using appropriate modifiers.

Anticipatory Set/Do Now: Students will conjugate the verb desayunarse in the Do Now section

of their notebooks, which will allow me to explore and explain the topic of reflexive verbs, as

well as verbs that use reflexive pronouns to add to the meaning of a verb’s action.

Instructional Process:

1. Do Now

2. Review of Do Now

3. ABC Activity: A – Student writes down the question that I repeat two times.

B – Student translates the question into English.

C – Student answers the question in Spanish.

We share our answers and review what the questions were asking and how they would be

written. I call on students to volunteer their answers to the question.

3. In-class group completion of iy practice sheet. Each section of the classroom is

assigned a different question, and then we review them as a class with one or two people from

each row giving their answers. They are written up on the Smart Board, where there is a copy of

the sheet.

4. Exit Slip – Students must conjugate competir, dormir, and destruir on the pre-made

exit slip paper. To be handed in upon exiting the class.

Independent Practice: Students are to study their notes, practice sheets, and corrected homework

assignments to prepare for the exam on Thursday.

On the following pages are copies of the blank exit slip sheet, a copy completed by

Student B, and a blank copy of the in-class practice sheet completed by the entire class.

Day 4 – Exit Slip

Day 4 Exit Slip – Student B

Day 4 – In-Class Practice Worksheet

Formative Assessments

Formative assessment was crucial to check my students’ levels of understanding as we

moved through the lessons and built upon what we learned the day before. The easiest way to

check for student understanding was to provide between three and five questions or conjugations

for students to do as they entered the classroom. While students completed the short assignment,

I was able to take care of attendance and then walk among the rows of students to answer

individual questions and check student progress on the questions. By looking at the student

work, I was able to decide which students would be able to go up to the board. Often, I would

allow a student to volunteer to put their answer on the board and at other times I would choose a

student who had figured out the answer and tell them I was going to have them put their answer

up. Some students needed encouragement and I would reassure them their answer was correct

after steering them in the right direction and double-checking their work. If student work hadn’t

been checked individually, I took advantage of any opportunity to teach the class which mistakes

were most common and how to avoid them. If a common mistake had not been made on the

board but I did see it on some student work, I brought this up as if it were just part of the lesson

without calling any specific attention to those who may have committed the error.

Exit slips (either printed or written on loose leaf) helped to see who had understood the

lesson that day. I also assigned and collected homework regularly. These helped me to address

misunderstandings and common mistakes before the quiz or test, as well as think about why the

student may have left the classroom with the wrong impression. Student performance on the

homework and other formative assessments rarely disrupted the plans and activities set up for the

following lesson. However, they allowed me to broach topics or aspects of the language that I

may have overlooked had I not seen a student make an error. Seeing their work allowed me to

get inside their heads and understand their thinking processes. It also brought to my attention

aspects of the language that can be confusing to new learners, aspects that I had long figured out

and knowledge that I had taken for granted after I had learned it. Examples of formative

assessment used can be found in each day’s lesson plan.

During every class period, I remembered to implement observation as formative

assessment. It amazed me how visible the overall level of student understanding was when

standing at the front of the classroom. After an assignment or quiz had been handed out, the

facial expressions and body language of the students was a dead giveaway as to how comfortable

they felt with the material and how willing they were to demonstrate their knowledge of the

topic. Often, students were not hesitant in the vocalization of their perception of the level of

difficulty of an assignment. The reactions and comments of the students often served as a clue to

me who needed an individual explanation, who should come to extra help, and when I needed to

backtrack or explain something more clearly or in a different way.

My goal was to give feedback to the students as soon as possible. It was possible to give

immediate feedback during lessons, activity reviews and individual student work time. I enjoyed

reinforcing student effort and performance through the use of praise. I found that most students

enjoy receiving praise, as long as it was genuine and not for something that they already

mastered and found easy. I found my praise to be most effective when expressing my pride in a

student’s improvement after an extra help session or one-on-one conversation, especially with

students who seemed to be struggling or perceived themselves as not being able to do the work.

Occasionally, I found that praise was ineffective in that it did not change a student’s overall

effort. Perhaps the student thought the praise was insincere or was unable to see their own

abilities through their acceptance of failure as the norm. In no instance did I notice that my

praise toward a student ever caused their behavior or performance to change for the worse.

Post-Assessment & Analysis

a. Below is a copy of the post-assessment given to the students.

b. The post-assessment results were positive in that many students demonstrated a changed

and improved understanding of many of the focal points of the lesson. Many students who were

not able to understand to whom a question was being asked were later able to show their

comprehension by answering the question in the correct person. Many students were able to

improve their use of iy spell changes and ei and ou stem changes. However, there were

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still a handful of students that still used incorrect preterit endings or fell into the habit of making

a mistake and repeating it multiple times throughout the assessment.

Below is a graph showing the results of questions 1 – 5 on the post-assessment.

It is encouraging to see that the number of students who wrote the verb correctly and

answered in the correct person increased for all five questions. The number of students who left

answer spaces blank decreased dramatically. Many students were still only able to comprehend

the question yet were not able to form the verb correctly. This shows me that while overall

comprehension increased due to my focus on who was being asked the question during class,

there was still work that needed to be done on forming the verb correctly.

Below is a graph showing the performance of the students on the four fill-in questions.

While in three out of four of the categories, more students answered the question incorrectly than

correctly, the increase in the number of students who answered correctly is encouraging and

shows improvement of student understanding.

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The chart below shows the overall increase of students who answered both parts of the

question correctly, the decrease in students who left the answer blank, the less drastic changes in

the number of students who only comprehended the question but wrote the verb incorrectly

(slight decrease) and the number of students who answered both aspects of the question

incorrectly (slight increase).

This final graph compares the number of students who answered the fill-in questions

correctly on the pre-assessment and later, the post-assessment. More students answered these

questions incorrectly than correctly on both the pre- and post-assessment. While this result is not

the final goal for a good teacher to have, it is highly encouraging to see that the amount of

students who were able to answer the questions correctly increased roughly 67%.

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c. Three students were chosen out of the sixty-seven that participated in the pre-assessment

at the beginning of the unit. This task was very difficult due to the various levels of

improvement or stability in the learning and application of language strategies and

comprehension. Students A, B, and C all showed different levels of learning. Following are

brief descriptions of the students and the changes in their performance between the

administration of the pre- and post-assessment.

Student A

Student A is friendly and easy-going, while still respectful and on task during class

activities. He completes and hands in his homework, often doing very well on these

assignments. It is obvious that he studies the material, since his performance on quizzes, tests,

and other assignments falls in the mid to high 90’s. Once in a while, he expresses self-doubt in

how well he will be able to do, once stating before a quiz that he was going to fail and if he could

just receive a zero, it would be easier for the both of us. He ended up earning 95% on that very

quiz. Student A seems to easily grasp the topics covered during my time at the high school and

is able to correct his mistakes while participating in class or on assignments after corrections had

been made.

We can see that on the pre-assessment Student A already had existing knowledge of when

and where accents would be used with this category of preterit verbs and was already somewhat

familiar with iy spell changes. However, he left two questions blank and kept the third person

stem-change in the nosotros form of dormir in the first question. This shows that he was aware

of the need for a stem-change (it is given in the question) and that the Ustedes form is answered

with nosotros, but the application of the stem-change was mistakenly used outside of the third

person conjugation.

Taking a look at the post-assessment, it is easy to see that Student A applied what was taught

during the lesson to different situations. Verbs that had not been practiced or previously seen

during class were conjugated correctly by him. He was able to demonstrate that the rules we

learned can be applied to similar situations given in practice examples. He was also able to

avoid an over-application of what was learned, something that was common among students. He

was also the only student to get every answer on the post-assessment correct.

Student B

Student B was very quiet in class. He would answer when called on, but rarely if ever

volunteered to answer questions posed to the class on his own. However, he never caused any

disruptions, had friends within the class, and was known to crack a smile every so often.

Student B’s performance on the pre- and post-assessments showed an average amount of

improvement. This student completed the test except for two questions. One question was asked

using the vosotros form and the other was asked using the Ustedes form. Both of these require

an answer in the nosotros form. It seems that many students struggle to recognize to whom these

questions are being asked. This student was also unable to answer the first question correctly,

using the Ustedes form to answer a question asked in the same form. The student was also

unable to do any iy spell-changes, had an overabundance of accents where they were not

necessary, and used an –ar verb yo form ending instead of an –er/-ir ending. However, he was

able to recognize that Usted questions are answered in the yo form, which is a good start for

learning the proper meaning and usage of nosotros and Ustedes.

On the post-assessment, Student B did show much improvement, but there remained

some evidence of confusion concerning certain aspects of the language. Student B, much like

Student A, often showed improvement between the beginning and end of a lesson. While he

picks up on many parts of the lessons, there is sometimes evidence remaining that his reading

comprehension and understanding can still be improved. The student used his accent marks

correctly four out of five times, although he still used the –ar preterit ending with an –ir verb in

one of the questions. He was able to use the iy spell change correctly two out of two times,

something he had been unsuccessful at during the pre-assessment. He was able to identify the

need for an ei stem change one out of three times, while still conjugating the rest of the verb

correctly. He was also able to successfully answer each question in the correct form. While his

comprehension was still a little bit off in the first and fourth questions (the questions were not

exactly answered in a way that made complete sense), they were answered using the correct form

and conjugation which could be seen as an improvement. The change in how Student B

answered his Ustedes directed questions shows me that I was able to successfully teach the

students how to answer these questions, something that many pre-assessments showed they

misunderstood.

Student C

Student C is a friendly and quiet girl who keeps to herself during class but has a large and

diverse group of friends outside of class. This student has an IEP and is allowed extra time

during quizzes and tests, although she frequently does not take advantage of this

accommodation, perhaps not wanting to hurt her pride. The student shows tremendous effort and

improvements are visible over time. However, she still struggles with many concepts of the

language and has to work very hard to maintain grades that tend to fall in the 70’s and 80’s. The

results of Student C’s pre-and post-assessment are a good example of a student who has

difficulty applying concepts correctly in new situations. Difficulty in comprehending what a

question is asking also seems to be a hindrance for Student C’s success in the language. The

amount of effort she puts into the work is inspiring. Time does make a difference though, as I

had noticed that assignments completed at home or that were due after a few days (like a writing

assignment given during the unit) contained less errors than unannounced formative assessments.

Her performance on quizzes was mediocre, with differing grades depending on the amount of

grammar being tested. Student C performed better on vocabulary related assessments compared

to those with a large focus on grammar.

Similar to Students A & B, Student C left two of the questions on the pre-assessment

unanswered. This was not common to the entire class; many students completed all the

questions on the pre- and post-assessments. However, it was a reaction to not knowing an

answer that could be found across many ability levels. Student C’s pre-assessment shows little

to no understanding of how to conjugate verbs in the preterit tense. Some answers us present-

tense –er/-ir endings, others have present-tense –ar endings, and some are not even completely

conjugated. The student is aware of the need for accents in the preterit tense, but an

understanding of when and why to use them does not seem clear to the student.

The post-assessment taken by Student C shows modest improvement compared to the

pre-test, but there is still a high level of misunderstanding evident in how the questions are

answered and the verbs are conjugated. Student C improved on using the correct ending for the

verb as well as when to use and not use accents in the preterit tense. However,

misunderstandings are still evident in the fourth and fifth questions of the first part, with

questions posed in the vosotros and Ustedes forms answered in the yo form. This is not the

common misunderstanding where the question is often answered in the same person. Student C

understands that the question is being asked to ‘you’, she just needs to learn and practice the

difference between questions being asked to ‘you’ in the singular and plural forms. The spell-

and stem-changes focused on throughout the lessons were not applied to conjugations on the

post-assessment, but improvement was still made from the pre-assessment.

It is good to see a visible improvement and that with extra help the student has the

potential to become more proficient in Spanish. Unfortunately, not all students who are at the

same performance level of Student C show her enthusiasm for learning, trying, and making an

effort. Something that Student C knows that other underperforming students may not is that

effort can and will make a difference in performance.

Reflection

The critical examination of my students’ pre- and post-assessments was a learning

opportunity for me and the students. The most important thing that I learned was how much of

an impact I can have on my students’ learning simply by examining the results of their work so

that I can effectively modify and differentiate my instructional strategies during lessons in the

most helpful ways possible. I also learned that once a student learns something incorrectly it can

take effort to get them back on the right track. However, I also noticed that when a student has

learned something and had ample practice time, the results are favorable.

The most successful part of the lesson on stem and spell changing verbs in the 3rd

person

preterit was the fact that many students were able to grasp the reasons for the necessity of the

spell changes. While some stem changes do not have a logical explanation behind them, the

spell changes do and can be applied to many situations. To be able to help the students

understand why, instead of just expecting them to learn a rule and repeat it with examples, was

very important to me. Once the students see the logic behind such changes, I believe they will be

able to see this underlying logic in other parts of the language – at least when it comes to spelling

and how words are formed. I believe this aspect of the lesson was successful because of certain

tactics I used, such as having the students reiterate the explanations that I gave to them. Students

also provided me with feedback, including the fact that they found the stem and spell change

review sheet I made for them to be very helpful because they were able to have all the

information they needed in one place. Another success that came from extra attention provided

during the lessons was the fact that many students were able to see the true meaning of Usted and

Ustedes, leading to an increase in comprehension of materials used throughout the lessons.

One aspect of the lesson that I would view as being unsuccessful is the one concerning

correct formation of the verbs, as well as students being able to produce the correct endings for

different categories of verbs. The majority of students were able to use the correct endings for –

er and –ir verbs. However, after the completion of the lesson there were still a large number of

students that were unable to form the verb correctly. Either they were unable to apply the stem

and spell changes taught in class or continued to use incorrect endings for the verbs. The biggest

mistake that a student made in this category was to use –ar present or preterit tense endings with

–er and –ir verbs. This is a habit that I will try to break in the future by doing a quick review

lesson of how the endings have similarities but also differences that must be kept in mind in

order to be understood in the target language. I feel like this remained an unsuccessful aspect of

the lesson topic because of the lack of clarification and review at the beginning of the lesson.

The students had reviewed the –ar preterit endings in the previous lesson and obviously still had

those endings stuck in their head. A quick review activity or exit slip could have aided me in

pinpointing what the students were having trouble with.

In the future, I will be able to take the lessons learned from this unit plan to affect my

future teaching. The most important changes that I will make will be to make mini-lessons on

other parts of the language the students are struggling with, instead of focusing solely on the

topic currently being learned. I found the use of assessment data to be extremely helpful in

comparing the results of student performance and being able to categorize and label the different

language aspects the students needed the most help with. The use of this data in a graphic format

may also serve as a motivational tool for the students. By showing them the results of any pre-

assessments they take, I may be able to motivate them to reach a certain level of competency by

the time of their post-assessment or quiz. I can imagine the students getting excited after seeing

the products of their work in such an easily understood format. I believe using the data in this

way will also open the doors to conversations about what the students find to be the hardest parts

of the lesson and what we can do as a group to improve the effectiveness of my teaching and

their learning.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/new-york/districts/carmel-central-school-

district/carmel-high-school-13578/student-body

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/45136217/Carmel-Senior-High-School

Total population: http://www.usa.com/school-district-3606570.htm

LOTE standards; http://eservices.nysed.gov/vls/standardSelection.do?title=Standard

Selection&standardAreaID=5&contentID=16