Does Instruction Make a Difference? 5
Does Instruction Make a Difference?
An Investigative Approach to the Value of Teaching
Brooke LeGarie
December 8, 2008
One of the most important parts of educating children is whether or not the effort put forth by the educator is supporting the growth of children’s intelligences. A high-quality teacher reflects on his or her students’ abilities and assesses their own teaching on a regular basis. My responsibility as a future educator of children is to analyze teaching situations from the child’s perspective, as well as my own. This research project was conducted for analyzing one student’s knowledge of math skills on the Kindergarten level. The components of this project consisted of gathering information about the child’s prior knowledge of numbers 1 through 100, giving instruction on how to count by fives to 100, and finally deciding how successful the instruction was by assessing the child’s knowledge afterward. Some notable discoveries were made during this process that offered insight for my own development as an educator. Both qualitative and quantitative data were used during the course of the assessment. I will refer to the child as Michael. The following analysis of this lesson provides information about whether or not instruction makes a difference in children’s lives.
In order to begin the lesson I had to assess the student’s knowledge prior to instruction. One way I was able to do this was by asking Michael to count aloud from 1 to 100. Another way I assessed what he knew was by giving him a blank hundreds chart to write the numbers 1 through 100. I found that he was able to count the numbers 1 to 100 successfully and write the numbers 1 to 100 on a hundreds chart. Some of the numbers were written backward, which I believe to be noteworthy for further exploration. Michael’s teacher had introduced the concept of counting by fives by singing the numbers five, ten, fifteen, twenty up to 100 to a certain tune. In order to find out if Michael knew how to count by fives, I gave him a completed hundreds chart and asked him to count by fives, and circle the numbers on the chart as he counted. This gave me a foundation of where to begin instruction. There were seven mistakes on the pretest, which was 65% correct. He circled all of the numbers in the tens row and some in the fives. I decided to begin instruction by allowing him to visualize numbers as concrete objects.
We began the lesson by discussing our hands and feet. I wanted him to be in charge of his learning and experience success instead of frustration, so I asked him if he knew how many fingers he had on one hand. “Five,” he said, with ease. We continued our discussion by adding each limb one at a time; ten fingers on both hands, five toes on one foot, ten toes on both feet, 15 fingers and toes on two hands and one foot, and 20 fingers and toes all together. Each time we added a hand or foot, Michael could successfully tell me the total number of fingers or toes. He also made the connection that we were counting by fives by holding up each hand and foot saying, “Hey - five, ten, fifteen, twenty!”
We also looked at a tens frame. I asked him how many boxes were in a row. He counted them one-by-one and answered, “Five.” Then I asked how many there were all together. “Ten,” he said, without having to count them out. I decided it was time to move back to the hundreds chart. This time it was harder to see the connection because there are so many numbers on the chart. I asked him how many numbers there were in each row. He counted to ten and stopped. I told him that if we count by fives, we would count out five each time and say that number. We did this together twice, counting by fives all the way to 100. Finally, I asked him if he would do the same activity of counting by fives and circling the numbers up to 100 on a blank hundreds chart, without any help from me. This time he only made two mistakes, which would be 95% correct. Progress had been made.
Reflecting upon the lesson, I thought it was worth noting that some of his numbers are written backward, because it could have had an effect on the way he read the numbers on the hundreds chart. The chart below shows the numbers written backward and the number of times each number was written backward.
Although I don’t believe these mistakes are a major area of concern, I don’t believe it should be ignored either. This analysis provides information on which numbers Michael should focus on in order to learn how to write his numbers correctly. If these areas are improved, then another assessment should be done in order to see if other areas improve as well.
Overall, the teaching turned out to be successful. Michael learned about counting by fives by using his own body parts, as well as reviewing numbers on a hundreds chart. He was able to count aloud from 5 to 100, and he improved his test score by 30%. In this case, I am able to see that Michael did make progress in his ability to count by five. This analysis showed me that there are many factors to consider when assessing children’s knowledge and the effectiveness of instruction. Every lesson should be analyzed to ensure students are progressing throughout the year, and I plan to make this a priority in my classroom.