ContextThe classroom is a small resource room setting. The room is a

converted copy room and therefore lacking in space. It is located next to the school gymnasium and can get very noisy. There is a table in the middle which seats six. The maximum capacity for a class is five students. There are two computers available. There is no Smartboard or wall fastened whiteboard. The whiteboard used is on a stand, and mini whiteboards are used for more intensive instructional purposes. Despite a lack of space, the room is adorned from floor to ceiling with warm, welcoming, and instructive decorations. Reference materials on the wall include foundational skills for math, science, social studies, and ELA for grades 1-5. The bulletin board displays student work from throughout the year. The teacher's desk is situated in a corner and rarely used. There is also an expansive classroom library with books for every reading level. There is significant traffic from other teachers on a daily basis. The energy of the room is fun, engaging, welcoming, instructive, and disciplined.

There are 14 students altogether and five groups. One group consists of two, third grade boys, both with learning disabilities. Another group consists of two, fourth grade girls, one with a learning disability and one with a speech and language classification. Another group consists of two fourth graders, a boy and a girl. The boy is classified ADHD and has a seizure disorder, the girl is classified LD. Another group consists of five, fifth graders. There are three girls and two boys in this group. Two have learning disabilities, two are classified ADHD, and one is classified speech and language. The last group consists of two boys and one girl, all in fifth grade. One has a learning disability, one is classified ADHD, and the other is classified ADHD and ODD. Ten of the students are Caucasian, one is Asian, two are Hispanic, and one is Multiracial. Twelve of the students attend resource four times a week for 45 minute periods, one attends three times a week for a 45 minute period, and one attends two times a week for a 45 minute period.

Many times the students come to the resource room with curriculum work from their classroom. When this is the case, the resource room teacher and student teacher work to integrate IEP goals into the curriculum work. When the students don't come down with specific work, IEP goals are worked on more intensively as well as each student's area of struggle. Reading comprehension, writing skills, and word problems are worked on often as they seem to be the most universal areas of struggle. Unit plans are not implemented due to the varied needs of the students attending resource room. However, writing/essay writing activities extend over a period of time and are implemented when students come to resource room without any curriculum work.

Student ProfileThe student being assessed in this sample is an eight year old,

Caucasian male classified as having a Learning Disability. He attends a regular education classroom for most of the day and receives reading services as well as resource room services. He attends resource room four days a week for 45 minute periods. There are two other students in his resource room group. The student is social and outgoing and works well with his peers. He enjoys competitive activities, and often volunteers ideas, especially when confident about a topic. He does well in a small group setting but struggles to stay on task when concepts become challenging. Math is an area of strength, but he struggles significantly with organized writing, spelling, and generating ideas. For this reason, a unit on narrative essay writing was prepared.

CCSS Writing Unit ELA Grade 3

WritingUnit: Narrative Essay Writing

Unit Objectives: Write a quality narrative essay as assessed by CCSS and IEP goals.

Writing Objectives: Write a cohesive, narrative essay with an appropriate introduction,

middle, and end. Use supporting details to enhance writing. Practice planning, revising, editing, and rewriting to strengthen

writing.

Common Core Writing Standards:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.1a Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1b Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1d Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1d Provide a concluding statement or section. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3b Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts,

and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations,

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3d Provide a sense of closure. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1a Introduce the topic or text they are

writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.4 With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3c Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3a Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2a Capitalize appropriate words in titles. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.3 Ask and answer questions about information from a

speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions

when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

Build Understanding

Introduce: Students will spend two lessons working on descriptive writing

skills and understanding and writing quality conclusions.

Phase 1 Brainstorming(1-2 days)

Four-Square Brainstorming:Students will fill out their four-square graphic organizers to brainstorm topics to be used in their essay.Structure:

Title Topic 1 and supporting details Topic 2 and supporting details Conclusion

Guidance:Teacher will make suggestions to help students better organize their writing plan. Suggestions will be made concerning:

Structure Details Characters Transition

Phase 2 Writing(4-5 days)

Writing

Students will work independently on the first drafts of their essay, using their four-square organizers for guidance.

Teacher will read each paragraph as it's finished and make suggestions.

Teacher Suggestions

"How can you transition this paragraph into your next one?"

"What adjectives can you add to make the paragraph more interesting?

"What transition words can you add to make the writing flow better?"

Phase 3 Independent Revising Final Editing

Editing & Revising(1 day)

Students will re-read their essays, making a minimum of ten corrections. When ten corrections have been made, they will sit with the teacher for final editing.

Students will sit one-on-one with the teacher while she finalizes corrections and explains each correction made.

Phase 4Re-Writing(2-3 days)

Re-WriteStudents will spend the next few days rewriting their essay neatly and accurately. Rewriting will be done independently.

Phase 5Illustration & Whole Class Share(1 day)

IllustrationStudents will illustrate their stories to later be displayed in the classroom.

Oral Reading: ExpressionStudents will orally read their completed stories to the class to practice oral fluency and presentation skills.

Discussion: ListeningDiscuss cooperatively as class what the elements of the presented story were and encourage positive and supportive commentary.

Differentiation,Modifications or Accommodations

Students with Disabilities Who Struggle to Access Ideas

Refer to lesson plans.

Attention to Cultural Diversity

For students who do not participate in holiday activities, allow for another topic with suggestions and guidance.

Assessment Refer to rubrics.

Lesson 1Descriptive

Writing Practice

Lesson 2Writing

Conclusions

Lesson 3Four Square Brainstorm

Lesson 4Rough Draft

Essay Writing

Lesson 5Editing and

Revising

Lesson 6Re-writing

Lesson 7Oral

Reading and Discussion

Lesson 1

Kelley Rattinger                                           11/21/2013

SUBJECT: ELA TOPIC: Descriptive Writing

GRADE LEVEL: 3rd  

COMMON CORE STANDARDS:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.1a Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1b Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).

Writing Unit, Grade Three

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1c Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1d Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.

CRITERIA

Student will be able to write 5 descriptive sentences with sentence starters and an idea box with 80% accuracy.

MATERIALS NEEDED 

Pens or pencils Crayons Worksheets with modifications Monster pictures Drawing paper Whiteboard/markers Pre-prepared non-descriptive story vs. descriptive Pre-drawn monster picture

ANTICIPATORY SET (15 minutes)

The teacher will begin the lesson by explaining to students that in 3rd grade, all students become authors. The teacher will briefly review adjectives by pointing out the importance of descriptive words when trying to describe something (an example might be one of the student's hair/eyes). She will then read 2 stories, one without any descriptive writing and one with descriptive writing. She will ask the students which one they liked better, and encourage them to discuss why.

PREREQUISITE SKILLS

The student should be able to write in complete sentences. The student should have a basic understanding of what an adjective is.

NECESSARY MODIFICATIONS

For students with learning disabilities who sometimes struggle to organizer ideas, sentence starters and an idea box will be provided.

PROCEDURE (70-85 minutes)

The teacher will open the lesson with the activity described in the “Anticipatory Set.” The teacher will then hand out blank monsters and crayons and tell the students to first listen to

the description of her monster. She will then read the description again sentence by sentence while the students draw what they hear. (20 minutes.)

When the students are done, she will reveal the picture of her monster and ask the students to compare their pictures with her. She will lead a discussion about why using descriptive words and adjectives are so important when writing for an audience. (5 minutes)

She will then explain to the students that they will be participating in a very fun activity and set up their work stations (folders up). She will hand each of them their own blank monster, and explain in detail the rules of the game. They will color in their own monster however they like. They will then write 5 descriptive sentences about their monsters that they will share with their partner. Their partner will draw what they hear.

Students will draw their monsters and write their sentences with guidance provided when necessary. (20 minutes)

The teacher will then ask the students to stop and will choose one student to read his description and the other student to draw. Repeat. (20 minutes)

The teacher will then tell the students that they can drop their folders and compare their pictures. She will ask students to point out differences from the original picture and discuss what sort of adjectives could have been used to better describe the picture.

CLOSURE 

The teacher will end the lesson by asking a few questions from the students. She will ask them why, after doing the activity, they think adjectives and description words are so important when writing.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE 

Students will write their descriptive sentences independently.

EVALUATION 

The teacher will evaluate the students’ independent practice and look for 80% accuracy. An accurate sentence will be determined by the presence of at least one adjective.

Lesson 2

Kelley Rattinger                                           11/21/2013

SUBJECT: ELA TOPIC: Writing a Conclusion

GRADE LEVEL: 3rd 

COMMON CORE STANDARDS:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1d Provide a concluding statement or section.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3b Use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations,

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3d Provide a sense of closure.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.4a Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.3 Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1b Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).

CRITERIA

Student will be able to correctly answer three comprehension questions with 100% accuracy. Student will be able to write an appropriate conclusion that brings closure to a story with 100%

accuracy.

MATERIALS NEEDED 

Pens or pencils Reading comprehension story Comprehension worksheet & graphic organizer Worksheet Dry-erase board & markers

ANTICIPATORY SET (5 minutes)

The teacher will begin the lesson by letting students know they will be reading a short story together. She will hand out stories to each student and ask them to listen and follow along with their finger as she speaks. She will stop occasionally at difficult vocabulary (nocturnal, perplexed) and ask students to help her figure out what those words mean by looking at context clues.

PREREQUISITE SKILLS

The student should be able to write complete sentences. The student should be able to read grade level text orally.

NECESSARY MODIFICATIONS

For students with learning disabilities who sometimes struggle to organize information from a text, a graphic organizer will be supplied.

PROCEDURE (45 minutes)

The teacher will open the lesson with the activity described in the “Anticipatory Set.” (5 minutes) The teacher will then discuss with students the place/setting, the characters, and the conclusion.

(2-3 minutes)

She will then hand out the graphic organizers and ask the class to answer the comprehension questions on the left of the organizer. As a class, they will go over their work. (2-3 minutes)

They will then re-read the conclusion provided on the graphic organizers and will be encouraged to think about why the conclusion brought closure to the story. She will ask if a sentence like "When Bobby went back to his house, he heard a noise coming from his closet" is a good ending and discuss why it is not. (5 minutes)

She will then explain how in Bobby's story, he thought the noise from the barn was a monster that turned out to be an owl, and how they're going to make the stories their own now. She will ask the students to look at the right of their graphic organizers and explain how they are going to change their stories. The students will pick their new details and write them in the spaces provided. (5 minutes)

The teacher will then hand out the pre-made stories and ask the students to re-write their details in the spaces provided. She will then read her own version of the story and conclusion to model what their stories should look like. (5 minutes)

The students will then work independently on their stories and will be instructed to write a 2 sentence conclusion that wraps up their story. (10 minutes)

The students will then read their stories out loud while the teacher writes their conclusions on the board.(10 minutes)

If time allows, the class will discuss the similarities and differences between their stories, the teacher's, and the original with attention to setting, characters, and conclusions. (2 minutes)

CLOSURE 

The teacher will end the lesson by discussing the characteristics of a good conclusion.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE 

Students will work independently on provided worksheets.

EVALUATION 

The teacher will evaluate the students’ independent practice. If the comprehension questions are correct and a relevant conclusion is provided, comprehension of the lesson will be noted.

Lesson 3

Kelley Rattinger                                           11/21/2013

SUBJECT: ELA TOPIC: Organizing Essay Topics

GRADE LEVEL: 3rd 

COMMON CORE STANDARDS:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1a Introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.4 With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.

CRITERIA

Student will be able to organize four sections for a narrative essay, including an introductory sentence, two topics with two supporting details each, and a title with 75% accuracy.

MATERIALS NEEDED 

Pens or pencils Dry-erase board & markers 4 square graphic organizer

ANTICIPATORY SET (5 minutes)

The teacher will begin the lesson by telling students they will be starting a holiday writing unit. She will ask students what they celebrate during the holiday season and encourage discussion about traditions and diversity.

PREREQUISITE SKILLS

The student should understand the concept of four-square brainstorming. The student should be able to access imaginative ideas for narrative writing.

NECESSARY MODIFICATIONS

For students with learning disabilities who sometimes struggle to organize information, a four-square graphic organizer will be supplied.

For students who do not celebrate a holiday during the holiday season, other topic options will be provided.

PROCEDURE (1-2 sessions of 45 minutes)

The teacher will open the lesson with the activity described in the “Anticipatory Set.” (15 minutes)

The teacher will then pass out the four square graphic organizers and ask students to come up with a title, introductory sentence, two topics, and two supporting details for each topic.

Students will work independently on their organizers with guidance provided only when necessary. (1-2 sessions)

When students finish their organizers, the teacher will review their work 1-1, giving suggestions where necessary.

CLOSURE 

The teacher will end the lesson by approving each organizer.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE 

Students will work independently on their four-square organizers.

EVALUATION 

The teacher will evaluate the students’ independent practice. When students have coherently organized their title, introduction, and two topics, comprehension of the lesson will be noted.

Lesson 4

Kelley Rattinger                                           11/21/2013

SUBJECT: ELA TOPIC: Essay Writing

GRADE LEVEL: 3rd 

COMMON CORE STANDARDS:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3c Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.4 With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3a Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2a Capitalize appropriate words in titles.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2b Use commas in addresses.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2c Use commas and quotation marks in dialogue.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2d Form and use possessives.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2e Use conventional spelling for high-frequency and other studied words and for adding suffixes to base words

CRITERIA

Student will be able to write a four paragraph essay with a coherent introduction, two body paragraphs with supporting details, and a conclusion with a score of 15 or above on the provided rubric for essay writing.

MATERIALS NEEDED 

Pens or pencils Completed four-square organizers Scrap paper

ANTICIPATORY SET (15 minutes)

The teacher will begin the lesson by reviewing the elements of a good essay with attention to how the introduction and conclusion are related and the importance of adjectives and description words.

PREREQUISITE SKILLS

The student should be able to write complete sentences. The student should understand elements of a four-paragraph essay.

NECESSARY MODIFICATIONS

For students with learning disabilities who sometimes struggle to organize information and ideas, a four-square organizer will provided for reference.

PROCEDURE (4-5 sessions of 45 minutes)

The teacher will open the lesson with the activity described in the “Anticipatory Set.” (15 minutes)

She will then brainstorm with students some transition words, writing them on the board for reference. (10 minutes)

She will then hand out scrap paper and ask students to begin their writing. The students will work from their four-square organizers to compose a four-paragraph essay with guidance from the teacher as necessary. Attention will not be paid to spelling at this time. (4-5 sessions of 45 minutes)

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE 

Students will work independently on their essays.

EVALUATION 

The teacher will evaluate the students’ independent practice using the provided writing rubric. If the student scores 15 or above, comprehension of the lesson will be noted. If the student scores lower, writing will continue as an area of focus in the resource room until grade-level comprehension is noted.

Lesson 5

Kelley Rattinger                                           11/21/2013

SUBJECT: ELA TOPIC: Editing & Revising

GRADE LEVEL: 3rd 

COMMON CORE STANDARDS:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2a Capitalize appropriate words in titles.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2g Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.

CRITERIA

Student will be able to independently correct 10 errors with 80% accuracy.

MATERIALS NEEDED 

Pens or pencils Rough essay drafts Dictionaries

ANTICIPATORY SET (10 minutes)

The teacher will begin the lesson by asking students to re-read their completed rough drafts to ensure that they make sense.

PREREQUISITE SKILLS

The student should be able use a dictionary.

NECESSARY MODIFICATIONS

For students with learning disabilities who sometimes struggle to self-correct their work, an editing checklist will be provided as reference.

PROCEDURE (60 minutes)

The teacher will open the lesson with the activity described in the “Anticipatory Set.” (10 minutes)

She will then hand out an editing checklist for students to refer to when editing their writing. Students will then work independently on a second read-through of their essays and make at least

10 corrections, referring to a dictionary when spelling is in question. (30 minutes)

CLOSURE

The teacher will then sit with each student and read through the essay together, making corrections where necessary and explaining each correction made. (20 minutes)

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE 

Students will work independently on their editing.

EVALUATION 

The teacher will evaluate the students’ independent practice to determine that at least 8/10 corrections were made before teacher revising. If the student doesn't meet these criteria, he will be asked to look again with more specific directions. If he still cannot reach 8 corrections, extra help will be given.

Lesson 6

Kelley Rattinger                                           11/21/2013

SUBJECT: ELA TOPIC: Re-writing

GRADE LEVEL: 3rd 

COMMON CORE STANDARDS:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.

CRITERIA

Student will be able to re-write their essays with a minimum of 5 mistakes.

MATERIALS NEEDED 

Pens or pencils Final draft paper Rough drafts Place holders

ANTICIPATORY SET

The teacher will hand out students' rough drafts, place holders, and final draft paper and instruct students to begin their re-writes with attention to edits.

NECESSARY MODIFICATIONS

For students with learning disabilities who sometimes struggle to keep their place while reading/writing, a place holder will be provided.

PROCEDURE (2 sessions of 45 minutes)

The teacher will open the lesson with the activity described in the “Anticipatory Set.” Students will re-write their essays on final draft paper. Students will read their final drafts to ensure accuracy.

CLOSURE

The teacher will read each student's final draft and ask for corrections where necessary.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE 

Students will work independently on their writing.

EVALUATION 

The teacher will evaluate the students’ independent practice to determine that less than five mistakes were made during the rewrite. If students do not meet these criteria, extra help will be given.

Lesson 7

Kelley Rattinger                                           11/21/2013

SUBJECT: ELA TOPIC: Oral Reading & Discussion

GRADE LEVEL: 3rd 

COMMON CORE STANDARDS:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1b Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.2 Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.3 Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.3b Recognize and observe differences between the conventions of spoken and written standard English.

CRITERIA

Students will be able to read their essays orally with six or less pauses. Students will attend to each other's presentations with respect and appropriate behavior with

100% accuracy.

MATERIALS NEEDED 

Crayons/markers Construction paper

Stapler Scissors Final drafts

ANTICIPATORY SET

The teacher will hand out construction paper and final drafts to students and ask them to take 15 minutes to illustrate a cover for their story.

NECESSARY MODIFICATIONS

For students with learning disabilities who sometimes struggle to read text orally with fluency, the teacher will have a photocopy of the students' stories to give support when needed.

For students with presentation anxiety, they will be given the option of reading from their seats.

PROCEDURE (45 minutes)

The teacher will open the lesson with the activity described in the “Anticipatory Set.” Students will illustrate a cover for their story on construction paper and staple their cover to their

final drafts. Students will then take turns presenting their stories orally while classmates listen respectively

and without interruption. (30 minutes). After each presentation, students will be encouraged to ask questions and comment on the

presenter's essay. The teacher will encourage positive feedback from peers with questions like "Why was __________ conclusion so good?" or "Can somebody share the wonderful transition words __________ used in their essay?"

CLOSURE

The teacher will display the students' final work on the hallway bulletin board to be shared with the rest of the school.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE 

Students will read their stories orally.

EVALUATION 

To determine oral fluency, the teacher will note how many times the student looked for guidance to read a word or failed to stop at appropriate times. If 6 or more times are noted, the student will be given extra exercises to work on oral fluency skills.

If any student displays disrespectful behavior or negative commentary, appropriate behavioral interventions will be enforced.

Presentation of Findings

Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5 Lesson 6 Lesson 70

2

4

6

8

10

12

Candidate

Candidate

Presentation of Findings(Compared with the other two students in the resource

group)

Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5 Lesson 6 Lesson 70

2

4

6

8

10

12

CandidateStudent 2Student 3

Reporting & InterpretationThe formative assessment for Lesson 1 was based on a lesson given at

the beginning of the year which required the student to write five descriptive sentences about himself. There was significant guidance and whole-class brainstorming during this phase, and the student hesitated to offer his own ideas. He displayed a tendency to copy brainstormed ideas word for word from the board and rarely offered his own input. After Lesson 1 was implemented, his independent work showed a significant improvement from his previous descriptive writing. The lesson incorporated elements of competition and art which he consistently enjoys. He scored a 5/5, or 100%, on the formal assessment which was based wholly on the presence of adjectives in his sentences, though his spelling was significantly below grade level.

For Lesson 2, the student struggled during the formative assessment which required him to discuss the elements of a good conclusion, which was a topic of review. He offered little input as compared to his peers, even when prompted with more straightforward questions. The summative assessment was gathered from the student's independent work sample, where he wrote a new conclusion for the same story. Two sentences were required which gave a sense of closure. One sentence was given without prompting, though he wrote from the wrong point of view from the story. The second sentence required the teacher to prompt ideas. For these reasons, he scored a 60% on his summative assessment.

Formative assessments for Lessons 3, 4, 5, and 6 were gathered collaboratively from previous years work from the resource room teacher and the student's current classroom teacher. For this reason, I had to base his formative assessments from other sources and consider progress through those means.

Summative assessment for Lesson 3 was based on the student's independently written four-square organizer. Assessment was based off of what the student brainstormed independently and what he gathered from teacher guidance. The organizer asked for a title, an introductory sentence, two topics, and two details for each topic, totaling 8 sections. If the student used an idea generated by the teacher but placed it in the right section, he received half credit. If he generated the idea independently, he received full credit. At the lesson's end, he wrote his introductory sentence and four details independently. His two topics needed guidance from the teacher for idea generation, but were organized correctly, and therefore both received half credit. His final score was a 6/8, or 75%.

Lesson 4 used a writing rubric to assess the student's independently written essay which is provided in the Learning Module. It addressed ideas, organization, word choice, sentence fluency and conventions. He scored a 12/20, or a 60%.

Lesson 5 addressed the student's editing skills. The teacher required a minimum of 10 corrections made independently, with eight corrections indicating comprehension of the lesson. The student excelled in this task and referred to the dictionary for words he assumed to be misspelled. He also took the initiative to re-read his essay after he made his corrections to double check his work, which was not specifically asked. He made a total of 16 corrections independently which were mostly spelling corrections. For this reason, he scored 100%.

The summative assessment for Lesson 6 required the student to re-write his essay on final draft paper neatly, accurately and with special attention to corrections. A maximum of five mistakes were allowed, with each subsequent mistake deducting 5% from his grade. The student made 8 copying errors, which translated to a score of 85%.

Lastly, the formative assessment for Lesson 7 was again gathered during a previous unit where the student exhibited difficulty reading his own work orally. He often looked for guidance to read words he had written himself, which could simply be an issue with handwriting or challenges with oral reading fluency. However, if given enough time to decode the word, he usually was able to read it. Formal assessment was therefore based on oral reading fluency, with half a point marked off for pauses and a full point marked off for pauses that ended in needed assistance. He read his story with enthusiasm and focus and was excited to share with the class. In the end, he paused 16 times without needed guidance, and 4 times with needed guidance. This gave him a score of 88%. Consistent assessment is needed in this area however because word count and difficulty were not considered, only standardized comparisons from the class.

ReflectionBased on the assessments from the seven lessons used in this unit, I

was able to determine which methods worked best for the candidate as well as which lessons worked best for the students in his group. Additionally, the assessments were used as a means to report progress in the student's Individualized Education Plan, which included goals for writing.

The candidate in this sample scored very high on Lesson 1, which incorporated elements of art and friendly competition which seemed to motivate the student to write. He was enthusiastic about describing his drawing and thrived on the competitive nature of the lesson. For example, he worked independently on his five descriptive sentences and wrote more than was required by the teacher. He also thrived with Lesson 5, which required the student to independently edit his essay before he moved onto his final draft. When given the resources to check his work (i.e. a dictionary), he corrected more than what was required by the teacher and did so accurately.

Strengths

Descriptive writingSelf-motivated editingArtMotivated by competitionEnthusiasmPride in workSocial appropriateness

Challenges

Generating ideas independentlyOrganizing thoughtsDetermining POVConclusion writingVocabulary buildingELA conventionsOral reading fluency

On the other hand, the candidate struggled on Lesson 2 which reviewed the elements of conclusion writing. He struggled to explain what a good conclusion includes and required assistance to write a second sentence in his story. He also disregarded the point of view of the story when doing his independent writing, suggesting he might need some extra instruction in the area of determining point of view. Lastly, he scored relatively low on the writing rubric, with word choice and conventions being his major areas of struggle. This suggests the student needs some extra help with generating ideas independently, building his vocabulary, and self-correcting grammatical errors independently. Although he excelled on the editing portion when given the right materials and direct instruction, he should be encouraged to use these skills globally.

The impact on the student's social and emotional development was hard to assess due to the subjective and personal nature of such an assessment, but he showed very positive characteristics in the area of social development. For example, he showed a mixture of competitiveness and respect during Lesson 1 where speaking at appropriate times was a factor. The other students in his group often spoke out of turn due to excitement, but the candidate consistently waited for his turn or raised his hand to answer questions. He also asked if he could read his final essay to his teacher from the previous year, suggesting confidence in his writing. When he finished reading his essay to her and received positive feedback, he smiled widely and exclaimed "It's better than last year, right?"