Teacher Work Sample

Third Grade - Informational Writing

Anne Schuerger

University of Alaska Southeast

ED 688 Student Teaching

Spring 2022

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 Table of Contents

Section I: Contextual Factors……………………………………………………………………3

Section II: Learning Goals………………………………………………………………………7

Section III: Assessment Plan………………………………………………………………….…8

Section IV: Design For Instruction…………………………………………………………..….12

Section V: Instructional Decision Making………………………………………………………15

Section VI: Analysis of Student Learning…………………………………………………..…..18

Section VII: Reflection and Self-Evaluation……………………………………………………28

Unit Template ……..……………………………………………………………………………32

References ……..………………………………………………………….….…………………37

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 Contextual Factors

Community, District, and School Factors

Houghtaling Elementary is located in the city of Ketchikan, Alaska. Ketchikan

(Kichx̱ áan) resides on Tlingit land and is known as the “Salmon Capital of the World”. The

population of Ketchikan is around 8,000 people consisting of mostly white/non-native, Southeast

Alaskan Native, and Filipino cultural groups. Ketchikan is a fishing community that has come to

rely heavily on tourism. Other major employment industries include the hospital and shipyard.

Houghtaling Elementary is part of the Ketchikan Borough School District which serves around

2200 students. Houghtaling is one of five elementary schools in the district and is the only non-

charter elementary school within the city limits. Houghtaling spends $21,228 per student,

slightly higher than the other elementary schools in the district but Houghtaling student academic

proficiencies are significantly lower than the other schools in the district.

Houghtaling Elementary is the largest and most diverse elementary school in Ketchikan.

It has around 380 students, 30% are Native, 18% are Asian, 10% are Multi-Ethnic and 2% are

Hispanic. Houghtaling is a Title 1 school with about 46% of the student population being

considered economically disadvantaged. With Covid, class sizes have been decreased and the

student-teacher ratio is one of the lowest in the district at 14 to 1. The school spirit is strong at

Houghtaling. Students participate in a school pledge each day which emphasizes the importance

of doing your best and agreeing to meet the expectations of being a Houghtaling Dolphin

including being respectful and kind. Staff at Houghtaling make the effort to maintain

relationships with past students. Teachers greet all students in the hallways each morning and

often visit classrooms to check in with their former students.

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Classroom Factors

Covid has make a large impact on the classroom environment. Students have individual

desks that are spread out and face the front of the room. Each student has a tote that is kept in

front of their desk to hold their coat and backpack. The majority of their school day is spent at

their desks. Exceptions include their reading block where they often break into two or three

student reading groups, two groups work spread out in the hallway and one works at the teachers

desk. Students will sometimes work in pairs during other activities using their totes as spacers

between them to ensure they are maintaining social distancing. Each student has a ChromeBook

and headphones. They use their ChromeBooks daily for Accelerated Reader, IXL, and Typing

Agent. There is an overhead projector set up to project onto the white board at the front of the

classroom and a large speaker on the side of the classroom can connect to any computer.

In this classroom, behavior management and learner motivation is based off positivity

and the growth mindset model. Students are encouraged to “compete against themselves”, not

each other, and to value hard work and persistence above all else. They are reminded daily that

their achievements are results of their efforts and the characteristics of a successful learner are

just as important as academic goals. Students are expected to build each other up and celebrate

each others accomplishments. These factors have contributed to a classroom community where

students feel supported and cared for while maintaining high expectations for their progress.

Students depend on the stability and routine that the classroom offers. Covid relief has provided

free breakfast, snack, and lunch to all students. Every student starts their day with the school

provided breakfast. All but one or two students will request the school provided lunch each day.

Students are encouraged to take home leftover food to share with their families.

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 Major challenges to instruction in this classroom include student absences and the

resulting increase of student variability. One student has missed over 50 school days this year

and many others are missing over 20 days due to Covid quarantines. As a result the classroom is

based heavily on an independent tutoring model. There is no time blocked off for science, social

studies, or art in a typical day. Focus is made on getting students caught up in language arts and

mathematics. Students use personalized learned goals created through IXL and MAPS testing to

target their biggest areas of need. The first half of their day is spend on language arts and their

afternoons are spend on math. Students are able to login into their accounts at home and work

through any extended absences but this often does not happen.

Student Characteristics

There are ten students who ages range from eight to nine. Six of the students are male and

four are female. The majority of students are mixed race. Four identify as Alaskan or American

Native, four as Filipino, and one as Mexican. Students are proud of their heritages and enjoy

learning about cultural differences. Most students are living in single or blended parent

households with low socio-ecamonic status. Many have experienced more than one Adverse

Childhood Experience, one student is currently involved in a domestic violence case. One

student has Tourette’s syndrome and is supported in the classroom full time by a one on one

paraprofessional. Three students speak Tagalog, two are English language learners and work with

an ELL specialist each day for 30 minutes during the reading block. The third is a heritage

learner and speaks Tagalog at home as a second language. Three students have IEPs for speech

but receive sporadic services because there is not a full time Speech Pathologist in the building.

One student has ADHD and an auditory processing disorder. Due to the classroom’s value on a

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growth mindset students take pride in their achievements and are motivated to work hard. Only

one student in the class stands out as unmotivated and completes the bare minimum, making

little to no gains. While he is academically ahead to begin with he lacks many characteristics that

make a successful learner. Other students that are behind academically see themselves as good

students because of the effort they put in and the progress they make even if they are still below

grade level expectations. Students love working together and communicating their learning, they

enjoy reading together, sharing their writing, playing games, and taking on new challenges.

Instructional Implications

This group of students is very comfortable with individual learning. They have little

recent experience working in collaboration on activities and may require more support and

modeling of teamwork and communication. The majority of the class is a combination of visual

and auditory learners. With two ELL students, as well as many visual learners, including a

variety of visuals during instruction would be beneficial for these students. There are other

students who would benefit from having more kinesthetic learning opportunities. Students get

such limited time for the application of science and social studies, they often read about these

topics but participate in very little hands on exploration. They will mostly likely need extra

support in these subjects: review of academic vocabulary, foundational concepts, and skills, and

scaffolding with kinesthetic activities. Since most of the students thrive with the growth mindset

model, this can be emphasized when introducing new topics or styles of learning, maintaining

the expectations of doing your best and making improvements over time.

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 Learning Goals

Goals

1. By the next trimester students can identify and include at least 5 independent facts or details

that support their main idea when writing about a topic.

2. By the next trimester students can summarize the main idea of their writing and restate it in a

concluding sentence.

Alignment with Standards

1. AK 3.W.2.b. Develop the topic with facts, de nitions, details, and explanations that support

the focus.

2. AK 3.W.2.d. Provide a concluding statement or section that paraphrases the focus of the

text.

Types and Levels

1. Level 1 Remembering: Students will identify independent facts or details about their topic.

Level 4 Evaluating: Students will distinguish between supporting details and those that are

not supporting of their main idea.

Level 3 Analyzing: Students will structure their writing to include supporting details in an

organized way.

2. Level 2 Understanding: Students will rephrase their main idea in a concluding sentence.

Discussion

Students spend around thirty minutes most days writing in response to a given prompt or,

sometimes, a free write. Many of the students have a hard time staying on task. Most have

dif culty formulating responses and end up with only a few sentences. Due to their reluctancy

they recently have been required to complete at least ve sentences. Some students will change

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the focus of their topic while writing because they can’t think of anything else to say but need the

required number of sentences. Others will include details that are related to their main idea but

disconnected and included in no logical organization. Learning Goal One seeks to improve

students’ quantity and quality of writing during this time. Identifying details before writing will

help students write more about their main idea. Determining which details are important and

which are not will help students develop more focused and owing responses as well as help

them plan their organization. Students have been working on topic introductions in their writing

but have not been including any type of conclusion. They focus on capitalization, ending

punctuation, and number of sentences. Learning Goal Two is asking students to add a conclusion

to their writing organization checklist. Since many students often stray from their main idea,

summarizing or restating their main idea at the end of their response will help them develop

awareness of their ability to stay on topic. It will also add an important skill to their writing

toolbox.

Assessment Plan

Overview

The assessment plan for this unit on informational writing consists of rubric graded

written responses, self assessment checklists, and graphic organizers. Students have been

working on their writing stamina. Prior writing samples indicate that students need to work on

expanding on a single topic and including a concluding sentence. This unit will use multiple

forms of assessment to guide students to develop the prewriting and organizational skills

necessary to meet the objectives.

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Pre and Post Assessment

The rubric used to assess the written responses of the pre and post assessment is on a 1 -

4 scale. Four categories will be assessed: introduction, details quantity, details quality, and

conclusion. Students will be expected to achieve 3s across all areas by the end of the unit.

Students will read in pairs and discuss their topics before writing responses. Strategic pairing

will be used between ELL students, lower readers and higher readers. Vocabulary of elements

will be clarified and reviewed before both the pre and post assessment. A visual aid will be

provided to demonstrated the expected organization.

Formative Assessment

After assessing examples of the targeted structure elements in nonfiction texts with a

checklist students will self assess their own pre-assessment using a checklist. Student progress

will continue to be monitored through the use of graphic organizers. These will be used to assist

students in distinguishing between details that are supportive and those that are not and restating

main ideas into concluding sentences. Instruction can be adjusted until mastery as each element

is focused on individually. Additional supports can be added if needed as observed through the

formative assessments.

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Table

Learning Goals Assessments Format of Assessment Adaptations

1. By the next Pre-Assessment Written response to nonfiction Pair ELL students with
trimester students can reading - strong readers. Pair low-
identify and include Rubric: Main idea, supporting level readers with strong
at least 5 independent details, conclusion readers.
facts or details that
support their main Review and clarify key
idea when writing vocabulary: main idea,
about a topic. supporting detail,
conclusion

Visual aid showing

number and order of
elements
Formative Checklist: Self- assessment of
Assessment required elements

Graphic organizer: Main idea

and supporting details
Post-Assessment Written response to nonfiction Pair ELL students with
reading - strong readers. Pair low-
Rubric: Main idea, supporting level readers with strong
details, conclusion readers.

2. By the next Pre-Assessment Written response to nonfiction Review and clarify key
trimester students can reading - vocabulary: main idea,
summarize the main Rubric: Main idea, supporting supporting detail,
idea of their writing details, conclusion conclusion
and restate it in a
concluding sentence. Visual aid showing
number and order of
elements
Formative Checklist: Self- assessment of
Assessment required elements

Graphic organizer: Rephrasing

main ideas
Post-Assessment Written response to nonfiction Pair ELL students with
reading - strong readers. Pair low-
Rubric: Main idea, supporting level readers with strong
details, conclusion readers.

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Rubric for Written Response (Pre and Post Assessment)

1 2 3 4

Details Quantity Includes 0-2 Includes 3-4 Includes 5 Includes 5+

independent independent independent independent
details details details details.

Details Quality 0-2 details 3-4 details 5 details support 5+ details support
support the main support the main the main idea the main idea
idea idea

Conclusion Does not include a Concluding Concluding Concluding

concluding sentence does not sentence restates sentence clearly
sentence. restate the main the main idea restates the main
idea idea

Checklist for Self Assessment (Formative Assessment)

Graphic Organizer - Supporting Details (Formative Assessment)

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Graphic Organizer - Restating in a Conclusion (Formative Assessment)

Design for Instruction

Pre-Assessment Results
Rubric Scores

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 In the pre-assessment students read a non-fiction passage about iguanas, as a class we

highlighted and discussed the amount and quality of details that were included, and the

conclusion. Students were given the choice to write about iguanas or an animal of their choice. A

visual of the order and definitions of the expectations were written on the board.

Out of the three areas of the rubric assessment the detail quantity was the groups

strongest area. This was also the area that was easiest for students to self assess in that they

thought they could just count sentences. Every student included five sentences in the body of

their paragraph, however, many of these sentences were not independent details. This shows that

students would benefit from instruction on recognizing and brainstorming independent details

with clarification between independent details and independent sentences. Detail quality was the

students’ next strongest area. More that half of the students included independent details that

supported their main idea. Many of their details though were not very elaborate and could have

been stronger with more description and explanation. This shows that students would benefit

from instruction on identifying and analyzing what makes a strong supporting detail compared to

a weak or unsupportive detail. Including a conclusion that restates their main idea was students’

weakest area. All of the students included a concluding sentence but the majority were new

independent details and not a paraphrased version of their main idea. This shows that students

would benefit from instruction on restating topic sentences and self-assessing to ensure that that

their topic sentence and conclusion correlate.

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 Unit Overview

Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4

Independent Details Supporting Details Conclusions Putting it Together

Learning Goal 1 Learning Goal 1 Learning Goal 2 Learning Goal 1

Learning Goal 2

• Self-assess Pre- • Self-assess Pre- • Self-assess Pre- • Self-assess Written

assessment assessment assessment response from L2 and
L3
• Non ction reading • Details sort together • Restating activity
together • Non- ction reading
• Web diagram Graphic • Details sort
Organizer independently • Restating activity • Written response
independently
• Written response
• Written response

This unit will have four lessons. The first lesson will focus on helping students identify

independent details. This addresses Learning Goal 1 and student needs according to the pre-

assessment. The second lesson will focus on supporting details. Students will analyze the

importance and relevancy of details to determine which best support a main idea. This addresses

Learning Goal 1 and student needs according to the pre-assessment. The third lesson will focus

on conclusions and restating main ideas. This addresses Learning Goal 2 and student needs

according to the pre-assessment. The final lesson will be putting together the knowledge and

skills from the previous lessons. This will address both Learning Goal 1 and Learning Goal 2.

The written response at the end of lesson 4 will act as the post-assessment.

Activities

The main activity of the first lesson will be having students fill out a web diagram

graphic organizer with 6 independent details. Students will do this together as a class, then

individually after reading a nonfiction text. The main activity of the second lesson will be

analyzing and sorting between independent details. Students will do this together as a class, then

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 individually with their own details they previously identified in Lesson 1. The main activity of

the third lesson will be restating example main ideas into concluding sentences. This will be

done together as a class, then individually. The main activity of the final lesson will be reading a

new nonfiction text and applying the skills and knowledge gained in the previous lessons in a

new written response.

Technology

I will be using a video in Lesson 2 and Lesson 3 to help students visualize and reinforce

the concepts of supporting details and conclusions. I will be using a graphic organizer in Lesson

1 and this will be available for students if desired as a support in Lesson 4. A white board or

anchor chart will also be used as visual supports for directions and expectations.

Instructional Decision Making

In the rst lesson of my unit I had to modify my original design for instruction when I

was observing students locating key details in their provided text. Before having them ll in their

web diagrams with their details they rst read the article and used a highlighter to identify which

details they were going to include. As a class we had read an article and highlighted key details

together, my formal assessment. Students seemed to have understood the task through their

discussion about which details could be highlighted and I thought they were ready to repeat the

task in pairs. Since students were doing this with partners it gave me the opportunity to further

conduct formal assessments by walking around and checking in with each pair. I noticed that EF

was not responding to his partner and had highlighted almost two entire paragraphs of the text

when his partner had not. This showed me that while EF had understood the instructions to

locate details he wasn’t considering why each detail he chose was important or if it was different

from his other details. When we chose details together as a class we discussed choosing details

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 that were independent, or different, we even tried to choose one detail from each paragraph after

discussing how each paragraph often had different main ideas. It seemed that EF had either not

understood this part of the instructions or he was rushed to ll out his graphic organizer with 8

details without any consideration to their importance. This formative assessment showed me that

EF needed additional support identifying independent details and working with his partner in a

cooperative manner.

I started to asked EF’s partner if she agreed with what he had highlighted in the rst

paragraph, if she thought they were all key details about hummingbirds. She said that the rst

sentence he highlighted didn’t talk about hummingbirds at all, just birds in general. I reminded

EF that he could highlight different details than his partner but that he should discuss with her

why he thinks each detail is important before highlighting it. He reread the sentence, agreed that

it did not talk about hummingbirds and crossed it out. I pointed out his next two details and

asked him if they talked about different ideas which he recognized that they did. I then went to

the next paragraph that he had highlighted almost every sentence. We reread it together and

discussed with his partner which details she found most important and which ones she was going

to highlight so that she had different ideas in her details. After this discussion EF crossed out

three of the ve details he had originally highlighted. He decided that he didn’t need to highlight

“Since they are so busy apping their wings, they need to eat a lot to replace all of their energy”

because he already had one detail about how fast hummingbirds ap their wings and another

detail about how hummingbirds get energy from the nectar they eat. He also decided to cross out

“They are also drawn to red feeders which people hang on porches and trees” because he could

combine it with the detail that he already highlighted about hummingbirds being attracted to red

things. After making these adjustments with my guidance and his partners support I felt that EF

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 was able to distinguish between independent details. I continued to check in and found that he

was able to identify his nal independent details, working with his partner to do so.

During the second lesson of my unit I realized I needed to modify my original design for

instruction after reviewing and re ecting on student work from the rst lesson in my unit. The

summative assessment of the rst lesson was a graphic organizer that students used to identify

eight independent facts about their animal. I noticed that MT had copied his sentences from his

non ction text word for word. When going through the procedure for students and having them

help me ll out an example web diagram during the rst lesson I had discussed and demonstrated

the importance of putting the textual evidence into your own words and how we cannot copy the

authors writing. This showed me that MT did not hear or understand this part of my instruction.

When students went to transfer their ve most supportive details to the graphic organizer in

lesson two I emphasized to students that if they had not already put their details into their own

words on the rst web diagram that this would be a great opportunity for them to do so. I had

noticed a couple other students who also needed this clari cation. I checked in speci cally with

MT and asked him if his details were in his own words to which he replied “I don’t know how to

do that”. This formal assessment along with the summative assessment of lesson one showed me

that MT needed additional support in paraphrasing evidence, an element of my writing unit that I

had not considered to include.

I proceeded to choose one of MT’s details and ask him what the key words were in the

sentence, what parts were the most important to explain the detail. The sentence was “There are

just under 7,000 snow leopards remaining in the wild”. I showed him how I could change “just

under” to “only” and “remaining in the wild” to “left in the wild”. My new sentence was “ There

are only 7,000 snow leopards left in the wild”. I also showed him how he could rearrange the

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order of the sentence and say “There are not very many snow leopards left in the wild, under

7,000”. I then asked him to try these strategies with his next detail, “Their [snow leopards]

strong, short front limbs and long hind limbs help them jump as high as 30 feet”. I told him to

look for important words or aspects of the sentence. MT chose “strong limbs”, “help them

jump”, and “30 feet high”. I asked if him if there were any ways we could change the wording

and he changed “strong limbs” to “strong legs”. Then I asked him how he could rearrange those

parts into a different sentence. MT wrote “They can jump 30 feet high because they have strong

legs”. I continued to check in with him as he adjusted each sentence and found that he was able

to use my additional instruction to modify his supporting details.

Analysis of Student Learning

Introduction

Pre and Post Assessment Rubric Scores

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 This unit was taught to a group of 10 third graders over the course of four days. Out of

ten students, seven were present for both the pre and post assessments, one student missed the

pre-assessment and two students missed the post-assessment. One student missed the third lesson

of the unit. This analysis of learning uses student rubric scores from the pre and post assessments

as well as formative observations collected during the unit to determine whether students met the

non ction writing learning goals. The rst learning goal was for students to identify and include

at least 5 independent details that support their main idea when writing about a topic. The second

learning goal was for students to summarize the main idea of their writing and restate it in a

concluding sentence. This analysis rst compares the class as a whole using their rubric scores

and learning gains across each of the two learning goals. The subgroup section compares the

learning gains between the boys and girls in the class then the learning gains between the low

readers, average readers, and high readers. The nal section analyzes two individuals, one who

made gains and went above the targeted level of pro ciency and one who started near pro ciency

and made limited gains.

Whole Class

The Pre and Post Assessment Rubric Scores graph shows the rubric scores from the pre-

assessment next to the rubric scores from the post-assessment. The rst two rubric categories,

detail quantity (blue) and detail quality (green), re ect student performance on learning goal one

(LG1). The third rubric category, conclusion (grey), re ects student performance on learning

goal two (LG2). The pre-assessment side shows that all of the students were below the targeted

pro ciency of 3 out of 4 in at least one rubric category during the pre-assessment. Five were

below pro ciency in two out of the three rubric categories and three were below pro ciency in

all of the rubric categories. The post-assessment side shows that all of the students reached the

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 Pre and Post Assessment Rubric Scores

targeted pro ciency in the post-assessment by scoring at least a 3 out of 4 in all of the rubric

categories. Three students scored the highest possible, 4 out of 4, in all categories at the end of

the unit. Two other students scored complete marks on their conclusion, LG2, but not on detail

quantity and quality, LG1. TS was the only student to decrease his score in any category.

Learning Gain Scores Comparing LG1 and LG2

Learning Goal 1 Learning Goal 2

100%

75%
Learning Gain Score

50%

25%

0%
AH AV EF MT NB SC TS
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 LG1 Learning Gain Scores

LG2 Learning Gain Scores

The scores for LG1 were found by combing the rubric scores of detail quantity and detail

quality. All of the students except for EF demonstrated a learning gain on LG1. EF had a learning

gain score of 0%. The scores for LG2 came from the conclusion category rubric scores. All of the

students demonstrated an improvement on LG2. The class had an overall learning gain score of

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 Whole Rubric Learning Gain Scores

70%. Their learning gain score for LG1 was 64% and their learning gain score for LG2 was 86%.

Students were most successful at meeting LG2. All of the students except AV had a higher

learning goal score on LG2 than on LG1. Five out of the seven students achieved a learning gain

score of 100% on LG2 while only three students achieved a learning gain score of 100% on LG1.

None of the students achieved pro ciency on LG2 in the pre-assessment while 4 students

achieved pro ciency in at least one area of LG1 on the pre-assessment. TS’s decrease in detail

quantity was not re ected in his learning gain score since it was combined with his detail quality

score. He still achieved pro ciency in both areas on the post-assessment.

Subgroups

The rst subgroup I chose to compare was boys and girls. I chose this subgroup because

it was the girls in the class who scored the highest in all areas of the post-assessment, going

above the targeted pro ciency scores. I was interested to see how big of a difference this had on

their learning gains in comparison to the boys. I chose to focus on LG1 in this comparison

because it was the least successful learning goal of the two and more complicated since it had

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 Learning Gain Scores Comparing Genders
100%

Learning Gain Score

75%

50%

25%

0%
Boys Girls

two parts in the pre and post assessment rubrics. The girls in the class consist of AH, NB, and

SC. The boys are AV, EF, MT, and JS. The difference between the boys and girls learning gain

scores was huge. The boys had an average learning gain score of 37.5% compared to the girls’

learning gain score of 100%. Two of the three girls were pro cient in at least one category of the

pre-assessment and two of the four boys were pro cient in at least one category of the pre-

assessment. This put them at a somewhat similar starting points yet the girls were able to go

beyond expectations while the boys only met expectations, resulting in their lower gain score.

The second subgroup I chose to compare was low, average, and high readers. These

categories were measured by students’ most recent reading MAPs test scores. I was interested to

see how student reading achievement correlated with writing achievement. I chose to focus on

LG1 again since it was the most challenging for students. According to their MAPs scores there

are two students who are low readers, SC and TS, two students who are average readers, AH and

AV, and three students who are high readers, EF, MT, and NH. Since there was one girl in each

reading achievement group this evened out the disparities between the genders. I had assumed

that the stronger readers would have shown greater gains but I found that it was the average

readers who made the biggest gains with a learning gain score of 83.5%. The high readers

actually made the least amount of gains with a learning gain score of 50%. This was affected by

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 Learning Gain Scores Comparing Reading Levels
90%

67.5%
Learning Gain Score

45%

22.5%

0%
Low Readers Average Readers High Readers

having two boys in the high reading group and the fact that one of the boys had a 0% gain on

LG1.

Individuals

The rst student I chose to analyze was AH. AH is a girl who is an average reader. She

started below pro ciency in two of the rubric areas, detail quality and conclusion, and had

learning gain scores of 100% for both LG1 and LG2. I chose to analyze her work because her

pre-assessment had interested me and I wanted to see what lead to her going above the targeted

pro ciency level in her areas of improvement. In her pre-assessment she had many details about

pandas but none of her details supported her topic sentence of “There is a small place where

pandas live”. She talked a little about how shelters saved pandas then ended her paragraph with

the statement “That is why you should protect them”. She had the detail quantity but wasn’t

considering how her details were tied together.

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 AH Pre-Assessment

AH worked hard during the entire unit, she loves to write and she likes to do well. She was

actively engaged in the lessons and asked questions to ensure she was meeting the expectations.

AH’s post assessment re ected her work on focusing her main idea in a topic sentence and

including details that were supportive. She restated her topic sentence in a conclusion without

adding any new details.

AH Post-Assessment

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 AH Post-Assessment continued

The second student I chose to analyze was EF. EF is a boy who is a high reader. He

started out pro cient in the two areas of LG1 and who unlike AH did not improve by going

above the targeted pro ciency level so he had a learning goal of 0% for LG1. He was below

EF Pre-Assessment

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 pro ciency in LG2 and had a learning gain score of 50% making it to the targeted pro ciency. I

chose to analyze EF’s work because I wanted to compare someone with small gains to AH. In his

pre-assessment EF had the desired elements but his writing was very simple and minimal.

I had hoped that a writing focus would have helped him become a more detailed and

focused writer but his post-assessment demonstrated no changes besides restating his topic

sentence into a conclusion. During the unit activities EF met expectations but did the bare

minimum that was required of him. He rushed to get his work done and tried to take shortcuts

EF Post-Assessment

such as not writing complete sentences. I wonder if the differences between these students was a

result of motivation, challenge, or interest. All of these factors are important to consider when

re ecting on my unit so that I can ensure that my future instruction is more engaging and

promotes growth and improvement for all students.

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 Re ection and Self-Evaluation

Successes

Each lesson of this unit had its own strengths and weaknesses. The biggest success

overall was seen in students meeting Learning Goal 2, summarizing the main idea of their

writing and restating it in a concluding sentence. This is supported by the class’s overall learning

gain score of 86% on LG2 with ve out of the seven students having a learning gain score of

100%. Re ecting on the structure of the unit, where students were already at in their

understanding during the pre-assessment, and how the activities of the unit went, there are a few

possible reasons for this.

The rst possibility for this success is that none of the students achieved pro ciency on

LG2 in the pre-assessment. This meant that there was more room for student growth to reach

pro ciency and increased learning gains on LG2. Students did already have a basic

understanding of ending their writing by “reminding their reader what they talked about”. In the

pre-assessment all of the students included a conclusion that they were able to identify as their

conclusion but their conclusions did not restate their topic sentence. Since students did have this

understanding of what a concluding sentence was they were able to take the next step of making

sure that it was related to their topic sentence. One strategy that students used that was taught in

Lesson 3 was to rst identify a topic sentence by highlighting it. Some students continued to use

this strategy when they were writing. With all of the students having a greater potential for

success, on top of their prior knowledge, it is not surprising that they were able to make such

gains.

The second possibility for this success is that LG2 was simpler and more concrete goal

compared to LG1. LG2 was the only learning goal addressed in Lesson 3. While it was related, it

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 was also separate from LG1 which gave students a more direct and focused activity to gain

pro ciency in the skill. During the lesson students were able to identify topic sentences and

rephrase them. They were able to check if their conclusion restated their topic sentence without

having to consider the importance of a new detail. I think that this was tied into the levels of

understanding that LG2 asked of students. LG2 was a skill that was lower in Bloom’s taxonomy

and only asked students to understand while LG1 asked students to remember, analyze, and

evaluate. This tells me that some students might have bene ted from the other lessons in the unit

being broken down even more before asking them to apply more complex levels of

understanding so that students could have experience the same success that was seen in LG2.

Areas for Improvement

The main weaknesses of this unit were identi ed by student assessments throughout the

unit, the class learning gain scores, and the subgroup comparisons of those scores. Changes were

made to instruction when some these weaknesses were identi ed during the unit. For example,

students didn’t have as clear of an understanding of what a main idea and topic sentence was as I

had previously identi ed. While their pre-assessments showed that they had this skill it was not a

consistent occurrence in their writing. An activity on determining the best tting topic sentence

for example main ideas was added to the second lesson before I asked students to create their

own topic sentences. Other weaknesses were seen after analyzing the learning gains made, or not

made, by the end of the unit.

Students were not as successful at meeting Learning Goal 1, identifying and including at

least 5 independent details that support their main idea when writing about a topic. This is

supported by the class’s overall learning gain score of 64%, partially due to one student who had

a learning gain score of 0%. There are a few reasons that might be why this occurred. One

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possibility was one that was mentioned previously, that students were not scaffolded enough

when they were asked to achieve more complex levels of understanding. While I think that this

did play a part I found that the most interesting data was seen in the subgroup comparisons. The

three students who had a 100% learning gain score on LG1 were the three girls in the class. Two

of these girls really enjoy writing, all three of them are hard workers who are eager to please and

go beyond expectations. Because of this, their success did not surprise me but it did make me

consider how I could have supported the boys in the class so that they could have experienced

the same growth and success. Most of the boys in the class do not enjoy writing, they

consistently do the bare minimum and do not nd pride or excitement in their writing. The only

boy that does like to exceed expectations was the one who was an average reader. Since the

average readers were just this boy and one of the girls this was re ected in their high subgroup

learning gain score. I think that both of these comparisons highlight the part that a lack of

motivation played in the differences in learning gains.

Professional Development

One of the biggest realizations from this lesson came from seeing those differences

between the boy’s and girls’ learning gains . While I think that this was mostly a result of

motivation I also think that challenge did play a part. Students were challenged in analyzing

independent details and determining which best supported their main idea but they were not

challenged enough in reaching their writing potential. Many of their details were simple and easy

for them to identify and check off while they could have been pushed more to nd newer or more

interesting details. I think that this was partially due to my rubric and the checklists that I used

for their self-assessments. My expectations were too low for many of the students and so they

were not motivated or challenged enough to exceed pro ciency.

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 I found some resources through the Association for Supervision and Curriculum

Development including a couple articles, a podcast, and a workshop that either target motivation

or challenge. The workshop is titled Motivating Students to Achieve Their Highest Potential.

The podcast is Identifying and Personalizing Instruction for Gifted Students. The articles include

Six Strategies for Challenging Gifted Learners and Daily Writing without the Dread. These are

both areas that I plan to re ect on more in all areas of my teaching so that I am pushing students

to feel pride in their accomplishments and develop a mindset that leads them to go beyond

pro ciency.

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 Student Teaching TWS Unit Design Template

Student Name: Anne Schuerger Intended Grade Level of Unit: 3rd

Theme of Unit: Supporting the Main Idea Content Area: Writing

Classroom Demographics: 10 culturally diverse students, 4 girls and 6 boys. Two students are ELLs. One student
has Tourette’s syndrome and one student has an auditory processing delay.

Alaska Content Standards:

AK 3.W.2.b. Develop the topic with facts, de initions, details, and explanations that support the focus.
AK 3.W.2.d. Provide a concluding statement or section that paraphrases the focus of the text.

Alaska Cultural Standard(s)

D.6. Engage in a realistic self-assessment to identify strengths and needs and make appropriate decisions to
enhance life skills.

Transfer Goal(s) - Unpacked Standards

Students can identify and include facts or details that support their main idea.
Students can restate their main idea in a concluding sentence.

BIG IDEA of the Unit:

Self-assessment during the writing process

STAGE 1 – Essential Questions and Enduring Understandings (Bank of EUs and EQs for Unit)
Enduring Understanding(s)
Students will understand that….
• Supporting details help explain or develop the main idea. • What makes a detail supportive?
• Conclusions restate or summarize the main idea. • What is the purpose of a conclusion?

STAGE ONE: Learning Goals STAGE TWO: (Bank of Assessments for Unit)
Assessments Sources of Evidence of Learning (Formative and
summative)

• Students can identify independent facts or Students complete self-assessment checklist Number 1 and 2.
details about their topic. (Formative)
Students help teacher ill in web diagram graphic organizer with
details. (Formative)
Students ill out a web diagram of 8 independent facts or details.
(Summative/Performance)

• Students can determine if details support their Students complete self-assessment checklist Number 3.
main idea. (Formative)
Students sort between their best supporting and least supporting
details. (Formative)
Students include 5 independent details that support their main
idea in a written response. (Summative/Performance)

• Students can summarize or rephrase their main Students complete self-assessment checklist. Number 4
idea in a concluding sentence. (Formative)
Students restate example main ideas into concluding sentences.
(Formative)
Students include a concluding sentence in a written response that
restates their main idea. (Summative/Performance)

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 STAGE THREE: Learning for Understanding/ Instructional Activities

Pre-Requisites for the entire unit: What are the prior knowledge and skills students have to have in place before
starting this Unit of Study?
Students must know what a main idea is and how to choose a main idea for a written response.

Unit Overview/Introduction/Main Hook

How does a writer make sure their audience understands their main idea?
https://jr.brainpop.com/readingandwriting/comprehension/mainidea/
How does inding the main idea when reading help us think about our main idea when we are writing?

Materials for lesson #1: Pre-assessment writing samples, copies of self-assessment checklists, pencils, variety of ATOS
leveled non iction animal texts, copies of 10 detail web diagram graphic organizer

Learning Goal(s) for lesson #1:

• Students can identify independent facts or details about their topic.

Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions for lesson #1:

• Supporting details help explain or develop the main idea.
• What makes a detail supportive?

Standards covered in lesson #1:

AK 3.W.2.b. Develop the topic with facts, de initions, details, and explanations that support the focus.

Lesson 1 Learning Activity Process and Assessments Differentiation: Speci ic

TOPIC: Students self assess Students complete self-assessment strategies to accommodate
the number of details checklist Number 1 and 2. (Formative) speci ic student variability/
Independent in their pre- accommodate your learners
details - Ideas assessment written
response. • Students choose a non iction
book within their ATOS ZPD
Did your response range.
have 5 independent
details? • Students read with a partner
Students help teacher ill in web with a similar ATOS ZPD
Students read aloud a diagram graphic organizer with details.
non iction animal text. (Formative) • We do: You do

Students help teacher • Instruction steps written on

ill in web diagram whiteboard
graphic organizer with
details.

Students read about a

non iction animal (In
pairs).
Students ill out a web diagram of 8
Students ill out a web independent details. (Summative/
diagram of 8 Performance)
independent details
about their animal.

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 Materials for lesson #2: Projector with access to https://jr.brainpop.com/readingandwriting/writing/
writingaparagraph/, pre-assessment writing samples, copies of self-assessment checklists, pencils, completed web
diagram graphic organizers, highlighters, lined writing paper

Learning Goal(s) for lesson #2:

• Students can identify independent facts or details about their topic.

Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions for lesson #2:

• Supporting details help explain or develop the main idea.
• What makes a detail supportive?

Standards covered in lesson #2:

AK 3.W.2.b. Develop the topic with facts, de initions, details, and explanations that support the focus.

Lesson 2 Learning Activity Process and Assessments Differentiation: Speci ic

strategies to accommodate
Supporting https:// speci ic student variability/
details - jr.brainpop.com/ accommodate your learners
Importance readingandwriting/
writing/ • Video for visual and auditory
writingaparagraph/
Stop video at 3:19 • We do: You do

Students self assess Students complete self-assessment • Instruction steps written on

the quality of their checklist Number 3. (Formative) whiteboard
details in their pre-
assessment written • Students work with their
response. reading partner to assess details

Do all of your details

support your main
idea?

Students help teacher Students help teacher sort between

decide which 5 details best supporting and least supporting
best support the details. (Formative)
example main idea.

Students choose
which 5 of their Students sort between their best
details best support supporting and least supporting details.
their main idea. (Formative/Performance)

Students include 5
details that support Students include 5 independent details
their main idea in a that support their main idea in a
written response written response. (Summative/
about their animal. Performance)

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 Materials for lesson #3: Projector with access to https://jr.brainpop.com/readingandwriting/writing/
writingaparagraph/, pre-assessment writing samples, copies of self-assessment checklists, pencils, previous writing
sample with supporting details

Learning Goal(s) for lesson #3:

• Conclusions restate or summarize the main idea.

Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions for lesson #3:

• Conclusions restate or summarize the main idea.
• What is the purpose of a conclusion?

Standards covered in lesson #3:

AK 3.W.2.d. Provide a concluding statement or section that paraphrases the focus of the text.

Lesson 3 Learning Activity Process and Assessments Differentiation: Speci ic

strategies to accommodate
Conclusions - Start video at 3:19 speci ic student variability/
Summarizing https:// accommodate your learners
jr.brainpop.com/
readingandwriting/ • Video for visual and auditory
writing/
writingaparagraph/ • We do: You do

Students assess their Students complete self-assessment • Instruction steps written on

conclusion in their checklist Number 4. (Formative) whiteboard
pre-assessment
written response. • Students work with their
reading partner to restate main
Does your conclusion ideas into concluding sentences
restate your main
idea?

Students help teacher Students help teacher restate example

restate main ideas into main ideas into concluding sentences.
concluding sentences. (Formative)

Students restate
example main ideas Students restate example main ideas
into concluding into concluding sentences. (Formative/
sentences. Performance)

Students write a
concluding sentence Students include a concluding sentence
about their animal. in a written response that restates their
main idea. (Formative/Summative)

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 Materials for lesson #4: Previous animal written responses, copies of self-assessment checklists, pencils, variety of
ATOS leveled non iction animal texts, copies of 5 detail web diagram graphic organizer, lined writing paper

Learning Goal(s) for lesson #4:

• Students can identify independent facts or details about their topic.
• Conclusions restate or summarize the main idea.

Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions for lesson #4:

• Supporting details help explain or develop the main idea.
• Conclusions restate or summarize the main idea.
• What makes a detail supportive?
• What is the purpose of a conclusion?

Standards covered in lesson #1:

AK 3.W.2.b. Develop the topic with facts, de initions, details, and explanations that support the focus.
AK 3.W.2.d. Provide a concluding statement or section that paraphrases the focus of the text.

Lesson 4 Learning Activity Process and Assessments Differentiation: Speci ic

strategies to accommodate
Putting It All Students assess their Students complete self-assessment speci ic student variability/
Together animal written checklist Part 3. (Formative) accommodate your learners
responses using the
self-assessment • Students choose a non iction
book within their ATOS ZPD
Students chose a new range.
non iction animal to
read about. • Students read with a partner
with a similar ATOS ZPD
Students include 5 Students include 5 independent details
details that support that support their main idea in a • Instruction steps written on
their main idea in a written response. (Summative/ whiteboard
written response Performance)
about their animal. • Students given the choice of
using the web diagram graphic
Students write a Students include a concluding sentence organizer and self-assessment
concluding sentence in a written response that restates their checklist
about their animal. main idea. (Summative/Performance)

Unit Closure: Bring it all together with the focus of the lesson and the Objective. Tie the closure for each lesson in with
the Main Hook, the Objective, and the Essential Question.

We have learned how to support our main idea in our informational writing in two ways. We can identify and
include multiple independent details that support our main idea. We can restate our main idea in a strong
conclusion at the end of our writing. By self assessing our writing we can ensure that we produce informational
writing that gives our reader clear and necessary information on our topic and reminding them of the
importance of our main idea.

UNIT REFLECTION Cultural Capital: Discuss how this Unit increases your students’ access to “Cultural Capital.”
This unit increases students’ cultural capital by increasing their self awareness and ability to self assess their writing.
These objectives will cross over into other areas of writing as they think more about their message and their audience.

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References

District Facts / KGBSD Diversity Trends and Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2022, from

https://www.kgbsd.org/Page/5511

Writing a Paragraph - BrainPOP Jr. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://jr.brainpop.com/

readingandwriting/writing/writingaparagraph/

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