Jenna

Block III

Teacher Work Sample

Dr. Khalid

Contextual Factors

Community, District, and School Factors:

My Block III Field experience takes place in Southeast Missouri. The city is located approximately 100 miles south of St. Louis, Missouri and approximately 180 north of Memphis Tennessee. Nearly 36,000 people live in this city and there is a mall, two hospitals, and several businesses. Surrounding this city, however, it is predominantly rural. Among the city’s population, 87.3% of the people are white, 9.3% are black, and the remaining 4.4% come from a variety of ethnic groups. This city’s school district has a total of nine schools. There are five elementary schools, one each of middle, junior high, and high schools, and also a career and technical center. 3,971 students attend school in this district, and 66.4% of those students are white, 29.2% are black, 2.7% are Hispanic, 1.5% is Asian, and 0.1% is Indian. 50.9% of those students also benefit from free and reduced lunches.

The school that I am observing and teaching at has 273 students in grades kindergarten through 4th grade and 47.9% or 135 of them are eligible for free and reduced lunch. Reflecting the district’s totals, there are 71.8% white students, 19.4% black, 7.3% Hispanic, and 1.5% Asian. There are no Indian students attending this school.

My elementary school’s motto is “peaceful, accountable, and well-behaved” which represents PAW. Students should strive to be PAW students. One of their school wide programs is that each child has their name written on a note card in the hallway. If a teacher sees a student not in his or her class behaving properly he or she can make a note on that student’s note card. Then, once a month the faculty chooses a student to get an extra treat from the principal. The school also holds a good character assembly where a student is selected from each class in art, music, and physical education and receives a ribbon and pencil. Then, two students are chosen each month by their classroom teachers to be recognized as outstanding classroom citizens. One PAW class is also chosen in each grade and they get to come to a reward assembly and be recognized during a school board meeting.

Classroom Factors:

The second grade classroom is fairly large and well organized. The students are arranged in two groups of four, one group of five, and one group of six. Sitting in groups allows students to work together and learn cooperation and social development. The groups of desks are close together, however, so it is hard for some students to get out of their chairs and maneuver around the classroom. The teacher’s desk is located in the back of the classroom facing the students so she can monitor them at all times. However, she is rarely seated at her desk because she moves around the classroom helping students with questions them may have or keeping them on task.

The classroom also contains a SMARTboard and a dry erase board which the teacher uses often. There is also a large classroom library, a carpet that the class sits on when doing morning activities, and three classroom computers that students can take Accelerated Reader tests on or use during centers.

My classroom has a reward system as well. There is a “good choice” box full of small toys and prizes. If a student is caught making a “good choice,” he or she can choose something out of the box. The whole class can also earn monkeys for making good choices. Once the class earns a certain amount of monkeys, they have a class meeting and vote on an extra activity they want to do such as a movie or extra recess. The students get very excited when they get a monkey so it is positive motivation for them to behave and make appropriate choices. If students misbehave, however, they have to put their name in the book. If they get their name in the book more than four times, they are not invited to the good choice party where students get to bring a snack from home and watch a movie.

There are several routines that occur in my classroom each day. When students walk into the classroom, they turn in their homework, write in their expressive journals, and complete the daily math and language worksheets which should be completed by the time the principal comes on the intercom for the daily announcements. After they have said the Pledge of Allegiance, students may volunteer to read from their expressive journals and we go over the daily math and language worksheets. Then, we go to the carpet to fill in the calendar, recite a poem or sing a song, and the teacher reads a book aloud to the class. The morning consists of reading and centers while the afternoon consists of math, social studies, and science.

Knowledge of Characteristics:

This second grade class consists of nineteen students, eleven girls and eight boys. Of these nineteen students, eleven of them are Caucasian, three are African American, and two are a mix of Caucasian and African American. Although the majority of the students in my class are at the level they are supposed to be at, there are several students who are above or below the second grade level and leave for special services. Two students are qualified for the gifted program and go to a special class on Monday mornings. Three students go to speech and language classes, two students have ADHD and are on medication for it, one student has been classified as emotionally disturbed and goes to counseling each morning to do his morning work, and one student has Asperger’s syndrome as well as ADD. There is also one student, who transferred there four weeks into the school year because she was retained, and another student was recommended by the school to be retained but her mother refused.

Varied Approaches to Learning:

Overall, the students are avid readers and read at their grade level. There are two students who read have difficulty reading and may require accommodations when assigning activities and homework. They read below grade level so they have difficulty completing tasks and it affects their overall learning. My teacher reads with them often and tutors two of the students before and after school. When creating my lesson plans, I must make sure that I remember their abilities so I do not leave them behind. In order to do so, I will read the directions out loud and show the class an example. I will also walk around the room to make sure they understand what they are supposed to do and help them if necessary.

The students in my class are a mixture of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. All of the students like to get up and move around the room so I must try to incorporate movement and hands-on activities throughout my lessons to keep them motivated and interested in what they are learning. It is also beneficial for the some of my students to hear the instructions read aloud to them because they are auditory learners. For the visual learners in my class I will give them a copy of the worksheets with the instructions written on them, or I will have an example up the SMARTboard so I can model it for them.

Knowledge of Students’ Skills and Prior Learning:

In creating my unit on the Plains and Woodland Indians, I know that students in second grade have prior knowledge about the first Thanksgiving which would include some information about Native Americans. However, I am not sure how much they know about the culture of each type of Indian because my cooperating teacher said this concept is introduced in the second grade curriculum. In order to find students’ prior knowledge I will have them complete a pre-assessment. The pre-assessment will allow me to modify my lessons to accommodate to the students’ needs.

When planning my unit I will also think about students’ interests as well how they learn best. My students enjoy listening to books and poems as well as singing songs so I will try to incorporate reading or singing into at least one of my lessons. My students are also motivated when they can get up and move around the classroom so I will make sure to include several hands-on activities. Hands-on activities will also accommodate to the many kinesthetic learners in my class.

Implications for Instructional Planning and Assessment:

Throughout my unit I will provide the students with authentic materials and activities, and I will assess them authentically as well. Since many students will be learning about the culture of the Plains and Woodland Indians for the first time, it is important that I clearly explain their lifestyles and show them pictures. Providing students with a map will also be beneficial so they can see where the two types of Native Americans lived in comparison to them. I will assess the students daily by looking at their worksheets and exit slips. If necessary, I will adjust my lessons to meet their needs if they are having trouble comprehending the material.

For the two students who are reading below grade level, I will have them read the directions to me or I will read the directions to them. If necessary, I will assist them with the spelling of words they do not know as well. Since they are arranged in groups, students will also be able to help students who have a question about an assignment. It is also a good seating arrangement for cooperative learning, so I will try to incorporate group work into my unit so students can learn from each other instead of only me.

The majority of my lessons will be informal assessments as we will complete the charts and the majority of the Venn diagram as a class. Students will also participate in class discussions and hands-on activities as part of their formative assessment. After students complete their post-assessment, I will reflect on my teaching during the unit and find my strengths and weaknesses in order to improve my teaching in the future.

Learning Goals

Learning Goals / Grade Level Expectations / Level of Goal
1. Students will identify the lifestyles of the Plains and Woodland Indians. / Missouri, United States, and World History 2B – Compare and contrast the habitats, resources, arts, and daily lives of Native American peoples, Woodland and Plains Indians. / Level 1
Level 2
2. Students will compare and contrast the lifestyles of the Plains and Woodland Indians. / Missouri, United States, and World History 2B – Compare and contrast the habitats, resources, arts, and daily lives of Native American peoples, Woodland and Plains Indians. / Level 1
Level 2

Justification of Alignment with State Standards

Learning Goal 1:

This goal is aligned with Missouri, United States, and World History 2B GLE for second grade students because students will be introduced to the habitats, homes, food, clothing, transportation, weapons, and artwork of the Plains and Woodland Indians during two PowerPoint presentations. Throughout the presentations, students will answer questions and make inferences about the Indians and the way they lived. After each PowerPoint presentation, students will create a chart categorizing the houses, food, region, etc for each type of Native American. In order for them to compare and contrast the habitats, resources, arts, and daily lives of the Plains and Woodland Indians, they must learn about each one individually.

Learning Goal 2:

This goal is aligned with Missouri, United States, and World History 2B GLE because students will complete a Venn diagram which compares and contrasts the habitats, resources, arts, and daily lives of the Woodland and Plains Indians. They will take the information from the charts they created to organize and construct their Venn diagram. After they have depicted information from their charts, they will brainstorm other similarities or differences they can think of to add to the Venn diagram that are not on the chart.

Levels of Learning Goals

Learning Goal 1:

Learning Goal 1 supports levels one and two of DESE’s Levels of Knowledge. Students will label and illustrate maps of where the Plains and Woodland Indians resided; identify who the Plains and Woodland Indians were, where they lived, and how they lived; and recall what they learned about both types of Native Americans which are all level one Depths of Knowledge. Then, they will use level two Depths of Knowledge when they categorize the information they learned about the Indians into a chart and infer what each type of Native American used as weapons and ate as food depending on their region.

Learning Goal 2:

Learning Goal 2 supports levels one and two of DESE’s Levels of Knowledge as well. When introducing the lesson, students will show a level one Depth of Knowledge when they retell what they know about the Plains and Woodland Indians in order to compare and contrast them. To demonstrate a level two Depth of Knowledge, students will organize their charts and construct a Venn diagram to find the similarities and differences of the two Indian regions. Comparing and contrasting two topics, such as the Plains and Woodlands Indians in this unit, is also an example of a level two Depth of Knowledge. Finally, students will relate the lives of the Plains and Woodland Indians to their own lives when I ask them to choose which region they would have rather lived in and give reasons why.

Appropriateness of Goals

Development:

These goals are appropriate for the second grade students because they allow students to learn kinesthetically and visually, which are beneficial to students’ learning at that grade level. By coloring the regions where the Woodland and Plains Indians lived on a map, students visually see where the Indians lived in accordance to where they live and they get to actively participate by coloring, which is an activity second graders consider fun. Students also kinesthetically participate when creating the charts for each group of Native Americans; they will get the opportunity to get out of their seats and tape their index cards on the chart on the board under the correct category. By getting up and moving, their brains are stimulated which is necessary to keep second graders’ attention. It is also necessary for second grade students to complete hands-on activities because it allows them to think concretely instead of abstractly. According to Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development, students in second grade are typically in the Preoperational to Concrete Operational Stage so assignments where they are asked to think abstractly would not be appropriate.