Running head: EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

Evidence of Student Learning

Nathan Milak
Towson University

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

Part A: Learning, Context, and Topic

New Town High School is a school that contains a variety of classroom models,
including inclusion and self-contained. The classroom that I have been working in is selfcontained within the communication and learning support program at New Town High School.
Class sizes also vary within the school, but within the communication and learning support
program, class sizes range from seven to nine students. The students within this program have
been divided into three main groups. Group one has seven students, group two has nine students,
and group three has eight students.
Within New Town High School, there are 512 male students and 485 female students.
This means that male students make up 51% of the entire student population and female students
make up 48% of the entire student population. This implies a good balance between male and
female students within New Town High School. In terms of exceptionalities, New Town High
School contains students receiving special education services, including both students with 504
plans and students with IEPs, and students receiving free and reduced meals (FARMS). Within
the communication and learning support program, there are a total of 24 students, but only 4 out
of these 24 students are female, which implies a gender balance that is uneven. There is not any
data provided that describes the amount of FARMS students or the total amount of special
education students within the entire school.
In terms of cultural and linguistic differences, out of the 997 students that attend New
Town High School, 10 students are Asian, 924 students are Black/African American, 18 students
are Hispanic/Latino, 27 students are White, and 15 students are two or more races. This data
suggests that New Town High School has a very large Black/African American population (92%

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

of all students are Black/African American). There are very few Asian students, Hispanic/Latino
students, White students, and students that are two or more races relative to the entire student
population. In terms of oral and written language development, based on New Town High
Schools HSA scores from 2015, 91.1% of 12th graders and 74.6% of 11th graders who took the
HSAs passed them successfully. Within Baltimore County as a whole, 87.2% of 12th graders and
83.2% of 11th graders who took the HSAs passed them successfully in 2015. Based on this, the
12th graders from New Town High School exceeded the HSA expectations based on the county
average, but the 11th graders from New Town were less successful in comparison to the county
average. In terms of oral and written language development within my classroom, students are
given the necessary instruction and practice to achieve their oral and written language goals
within their IEPS. So far in my internship, I have attended two IEP teams and within both of
these meetings, teachers were able to show evidence through student work samples and
assessment data that the students were making substantial progress in achieving their writing and
communication IEP goals.
Part A: Objectives and Demonstration of Knowledge
English/Language Arts
RL1 CCR Anchor Standard: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, and how
to demonstrate understanding in a text.
RL3 CCR Anchor Standard: Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and
challenges.
RL5 CCR Anchor Standard: Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how
the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

Students will demonstrate the knowledge they have gained through informal discussion,
answering verbal questions, completing written comprehension checks, and completing a written
summative assessment. These informal discussions and verbal questioning will allow students to
understand the key pieces of information from the text, including the development of main
characters and how specific events affect the characters within the story.
Part B: Assessment Plan
At the end of the unit, students will a complete a written summative assessment that is
split into two separate assessments in order to not overwhelm the students. One of these written
assessments addresses the specific vocabulary and story elements that we learned about
throughout the unit and the other assessment involves specific questions about the events that
occurred within the story. The following pictures show what these assessments looked like:

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

For the pre-assessment tool for this unit, since it is not reasonable to pre-assess students
about a story that they have not read yet, I used the assessment involving the specific vocabulary
and story elements as my pre-assessment. Through this pre-assessment, I was able to determine
whether or not the students had enough background knowledge to understand the meaning of
specific vocabulary words, including clan and wealthy, as well as story elements, including
setting and main characters. By conducting this pre-assessment, I was able to determine that I
needed to take the time to discuss the meaning of the specific vocabulary as well as the meaning
of the terms setting and main character in order to give the students the knowledge they needed
to be successful reading and comprehending the story. The following pictures show one of the
pre-assessments taken:

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

Throughout this unit, I used various formative assessment strategies to check for
understanding of the material. For this unit, an adapted version of the story When Things Fall
Apart was used to ensure that the students could be successful. This adapted version was in
PowerPoint form, and so after each slide was read, I would ask verbal questions to check for
understanding of the events and vocabulary discussed. These verbal questions asked students to
recall important details and to summarize information. In terms of differentiation, I would ask
students questions with varying difficulty levels depending on their abilities and prior
demonstration of success with the information. Another formative assessment strategy I used
was to have students come up to the board to underline, point to, or circle important details. The
main way I used this strategy was to have students point to specific parts of a picture. For
example, when I asked the students to describe the picture of the burning building, I had them
come up and point to specific parts of the picture to demonstrate understanding of what was

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

happening in the story. The last formative assessment strategy I used was implementing
comprehension checks that acted as exit tickets for each lesson. These comprehension checks
incorporated questions about the major events and/or vocabulary that was used throughout the
reading that day. By reviewing the students answers to these comprehension checks after the
lesson, I was able to determine if the students were successful with the understanding the
information presented in the lesson and whether or not I had to designate future class time for
extra review. The following pictures show what these comprehension checks looked like:

In terms of scoring tools to address learning, all of these comprehension checks were in
multiple-choice form, so I was able to determine the score each student earned by adding up the

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

questions they answered correctly in comparison to the total amount of questions asked. To
collect data for these lessons, I kept track of how each student was performing on each of the
comprehension checks as well as the other forms of formative assessment. By constantly
reviewing student progress, I was able to pay more attention to information the students were
struggling with and less attention to the information the students had already shown a deep
understanding of. Based on this data collection, I was able to ask questions in the following
lessons that addressed information or skills the students were struggling with. This allowed the
students to receive more practice with the difficult information or concepts, which I think
benefitted the students greatly.

Part C: Instruction Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan #1:
UDL Lesson Plan #1: When Things Fall Apart Pages 8-16

About this Lesson:

Description:
Within this class, there are a total of seven students. This is a self-contained CLS class including
all students with Autism. The reading levels within this class range from kindergarten to third
grade. All of the students in this class have access to additional adult support from instructional
assistants as well accommodations, including verbatim reading. All students in this class are
verbal.

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

Within this lesson, students will begin reading an adapted version of When Things Fall Apart.
Within this lesson, students will read the first eight pages of the story and will use the
information presented within these pages to answer both verbal and written comprehension
questions.
Prerequisites:
The students have had experience reading adapted versions of stories and answering both verbal
and written questions based on the information presented. The students have demonstrated
success during these prior lessons, so I know the students have the necessary skills to participate.
The students do not need prior knowledge about this story or specific story elements, as all of
this information will be discussed and reviewed in depth.
Estimated Time:
30 minutes

Potential Use:
Purpose: Classroom Instruction
Grade Level: CLS Program (Grades 9-12)
Content Area: Reading
Standards:
English/Language Arts

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RL1 CCR Anchor Standard: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, and how
to demonstrate understanding in a text.
RL3 CCR Anchor Standard: Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and
challenges.
RL5 CCR Anchor Standard: Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how
the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.

Goals:
Instructional Goals:
-Students will be able to identify important details and events from When Things Fall Apart.
-Students will be able to utilize the information presented within the reading to draw specific
conclusions.
Objective:
-Students will be able to read the first eight pages of When Things Fall Apart in order to identify
key details and draw specific conclusions.
Variability:
This is a small class where all seven students have similar challenges in terms of reading and
writing. Both the reading and activity have been modified to address these challenges and
throughout the lesson, students will have access to accommodations, including additional human
support and verbatim reading.

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11

Assessments:
Formative Assessments:
-The students will participate in multiple formative assessments, including verbal questioning
and written comprehension questions. Throughout the reading, I will ask the students verbal
questions to check for understanding of specific details. This verbal questioning will also act as a
way to summarize each page so that the students can retain the most information possible.
-This verbal questioning will consist of verbal questions about specific events and details within
the reading as well as questions requiring students to come up to the board to point to and/or
underline key details.
-These formative assessments align to the following objective:
Students will be able to read the first eight pages of When Things Fall Apart in order to identify
key details and draw specific conclusions.
Summative Assessment:
-This lesson will not have a summative assessment as this is the introductory lesson for When
Things Fall Apart.

Instructional Methods:
Opening:
-At the start of the lesson, as a class, we will go over key vocabulary, including the terms setting
and main character.

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-Then, we will go over the setting and main characters of When Things Fall Apart.
-Students will be asked verbal comprehension questions to check for understanding of the setting
and main characters from the story.
During:
-Students will take turns reading the PowerPoint slides of the book aloud and as we go through
them, I will ask the students to answer specific comprehension questions based on the
information presented.
-These questions will require the students to utilize the information presented to draw specific
conclusions and share them verbally. They will also require the students to come up to the board
to point to and/or underline important pieces of information.
Closing:
-At the end of the lesson, students will complete a written comprehension check that will serve
as their assessment for the lesson.
-The students will answer the following six comprehension questions that cover the key pieces of
information presented within the lesson:
1. What is the name of Okonkwos son?
2. Is Okonkwo nice to his son?
3. What does Okonkwo do to his wife?
4. How is Okonkwo punished for what he did to his wife?
5. What does the village oracle decide about Ikemefuna?

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

13

6. Does Okonkwo end up killing Ikemefuna?

-After the students complete the worksheet, we will go over the answers as a class and clear up
any confusion the students may have had when answering the questions.
-Lastly, I will have one of the students collect the worksheets and I will remind the students that
the objective of the lesson was to be able to read the first eight pages of When Things Fall Apart
in order to identify key details and draw specific conclusions.

Materials:
Materials and Supplies:

-Computer with internet access

-Projector
-Comprehension check worksheets
-When Things Fall Apart adapted reading PowerPoint

Reflection for Lesson #1:

After reflecting on the first lesson within my unit, I feel that there were multiple parts of
it that went well. One thing that went well was how I explained the terms main character and
setting. As these were the most important vocabulary terms within the story When Things Fall
Apart, I wanted to make sure to explain them in-depth, and I provided examples from the story
while presenting this information to make these terms easier to understand. For example, I

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

14

explained that setting means when and where a story takes place. After this explanation, I told
the students that the setting of When Things Fall Apart is Nigeria in 1890 because Nigeria is
where it takes place and 1890 is when it takes place. I think providing examples when explaining
the meaning of setting and main character really helped the students comprehend the
information. Another part of my first lesson that I think went well was my verbal questions.
After each slide of the story, I would ask the students verbal comprehension questions that
addressed the key information. One of these questions during this lesson addressed who Unoka
was and how Okonkwo felt about him. This was an important piece of information from the
story, and asking this comprehension question helped me determine if the students were
successful with understanding this necessary information. In terms of scores on the
comprehension check, three students received a 4/5 and four students received a 5/5.
Even though I felt this lesson went well, I feel that I could have done a couple of things
better. Before I conducted this lesson, I had planned on asking the students to come up to the
board to point to and/or underline key information. I did not do as much of this as I would have
liked, and based on my reflection, I made sure to do this more often in my second lesson.
Another part that could have gone better was how I went over the comprehension check
questions. I realized after reflecting that I did not show a visual of the questions while going over
them, and I made sure to do this during my second lesson.

Lesson Plan #2:

UDL Lesson Plan #2: When Things Fall Apart Pages 29-40

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15

About this Lesson:

Description:
Within this class, there are a total of seven students. This is a self-contained CLS class including
all students with Autism. The reading levels within this class range from kindergarten to third
grade. All of the students in this class have access to additional adult support from instructional
assistants as well accommodations, including verbatim reading. All students in this class are
verbal.
Within this lesson, students will continue reading When Things Fall Apart. Within this lesson,
students will read pages 29-40 of the story and will use the information presented within these
pages to answer both verbal and written comprehension questions.
Prerequisites:
The students have had experience reading adapted versions of stories and answering both verbal
and written questions based on the information presented. They have also already had one
successful lesson reading this story.
The students do not need prior knowledge about this story or specific story elements, as all of
this information will be discussed and reviewed in depth.
Estimated Time:
30 Minutes

Potential Use:

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

16

Purpose: Classroom Instruction

Grade Level: CLS Program (Grades 9-12)
Content Area: Reading
Standards:
English/Language Arts
RL1 CCR Anchor Standard: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, and how
to demonstrate understanding in a text.
RL3 CCR Anchor Standard: Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and
challenges.
RL5 CCR Anchor Standard: Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how
the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.

Goals:

Instructional Goals:
-Students will be able to identify important details and events from When Things Fall Apart
-Students will be able to utilize the information presented within the reading to draw specific
conclusions

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

17

Objective:
-Students will be able to read pages 29-40 of When Things Fall Apart in order to identify key
details and draw specific conclusions.
Variability:
This is a small class where all seven students have similar challenges in terms of reading and
writing. Both the reading and activity have been modified to address these challenges and
throughout the lesson, students will have access to accommodations, including additional human
support and verbatim reading.

Assessments:
Formative Assessments:
-The students will participate in multiple formative assessments, including verbal questioning
and written comprehension questions. Throughout the reading, I will ask the students verbal
questions to check for understanding of specific details. This verbal questioning will also act as a
way to summarize each page so that the students can retain the most information possible.
-This verbal questioning will consist of verbal questions about specific events and details within
the reading as well as questions requiring students to come up to the board to point to and/or
underline key details.
-These formative assessments align to the following objective:
Students will be able to read pages 29-40 of When Things Fall Apart in order to identify key
details and draw specific conclusions.

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

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Summative Assessment:
-This lesson will not have a summative assessment as this is the second of three total lessons for
When Things Fall Apart.

Instructional Methods:
Opening:
-At the start of the lesson, we will take five minutes to review the events that took place within
the first eight pages of the reading.
-During this review period, students will be encouraged to ask any questions they have about the
reading or vocabulary.
During:
-Students will take turns reading the PowerPoint slides of the book aloud and as we go through
them, I will ask the students to answer specific comprehension questions based on the
information presented.
-These questions will require the students to utilize the information presented to draw specific
conclusions and share them verbally. They will also require the students to come up to the board
to point to and/or underline important pieces of information.
Closing:
-At the end of the lesson, students will complete a written comprehension check that will serve
as their assessment for the lesson.

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

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-The students will answer the following six comprehension questions that cover the key pieces of
information presented within the lesson:
1. What is the name of Okonkwos daughter?
2. What does Okonkwo accidently do at the funeral of his friend?
3. How is Okonkwo punished for what he did at the funeral?
4. Who begins traveling to Mbanta?
5. Who is the leader of the European missionaries?
6. Mr. Brown wants to convert villagers to what religion?
-After the students complete the worksheet, we will go over the answers as a class and clear up
any confusion the students may have had when answering the questions.
-Lastly, I will have one of the students collect the worksheets and I will remind the students that
the objective of the lesson was to be able to read pages 29-40 of When Things Fall Apart in order
to identify key details and draw specific conclusions.

Materials:
Materials and Supplies:

-Computer with internet access

-Projector

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-Comprehension check worksheets

-When Things Fall Apart adapted reading PowerPoint

Reflection for Lesson #2:

After reflecting on my second lesson, I feel that there were multiple parts that went really
well. Like my first lesson, I feel that I did a good job with asking meaningful and relevant
comprehension questions, which helped me determine if my students were succeeding with
understanding the information. One of the comprehension questions I asked during my second
lesson addressed Okonkwos feelings for his daughter, Ezinma. This was an important part of the
story, and I feel that asking this question helped me determine if the students had been successful
in understanding it. Another part that went well was how I asked the students to come up to the
board to point to/underline important parts of the story. I feel that asking the students to do this
really helped to keep them engaged by getting them out of their seats and by allowing them to be
more involved in the learning and reflecting process. In terms of scores on the comprehension
check, three students received a 4/5, three students received a 5/5, and one student received a 3/5.
Even though I felt that this lesson went well, one thing I could have done better was how
I reviewed the information from the previous lesson. I feel that I may have conducted a review
that was too short because later in the lesson, when asked to talk about the setting and main
characters, which was information from the previous lesson, some of the students were confused
with how to answer. This suggests that I was not successful in reviewing the information in a
way the students could understand. Based on this, at the beginning of my third and final lesson, I

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

21

made sure to spend extra time reviewing and to make sure that all students understood the
previous material before moving onto new material.

Lesson Plan #3:

UDL Lesson Plan #3: When Things Fall Apart Pages 49-56

About this Lesson:

Description:
Within this class, there are a total of seven students. This is a self-contained CLS class including
all students with Autism. The reading levels within this class range from kindergarten to third
grade. All of the students in this class have access to additional adult support from instructional
assistants as well accommodations, including verbatim reading. All students in this class are
verbal.
Within this lesson, students will finish reading When Things Fall Apart. They will read pages 4956 of the story and will use the information presented within these pages to answer both verbal
and written comprehension questions.
Prerequisites:
The students have had experience reading adapted versions of stories and answering both verbal

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

22

and written questions based on the information presented. They have also already had two
successful lessons reading this story.
The students do not need prior knowledge about this story or specific story elements, as all of
this information will be discussed and reviewed in depth.
Estimated Time:
30 Minutes

Potential Use:
Purpose: Classroom Instruction
Grade Level: CLS Program (Grades 9-12)
Content Area: Reading
Standards:
English/Language Arts
RL1 CCR Anchor Standard: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, and how
to demonstrate understanding in a text.
RL3 CCR Anchor Standard: Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and
challenges.
RL5 CCR Anchor Standard: Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how
the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

23

Goals:
Instructional Goals:
-Students will be able to identify important details and events from When Things Fall Apart.
-Students will be able to utilize the information presented within the reading to draw specific
conclusions.
Objective:
-Students will be able to read pages 49-56 of When Things Fall Apart in order to identify key
details and draw specific conclusions.
Variability:
This is a small class where all seven students have similar challenges in terms of reading and
writing. Both the reading and activity have been modified to address these challenges and
throughout the lesson, students will have access to accommodations, including additional human
support and verbatim reading.

Assessments:
Formative Assessments:
-The students will participate in multiple formative assessments, including verbal questioning
and written comprehension questions. Throughout the reading, I will ask the students verbal
questions to check for understanding of specific details. This verbal questioning will also act as a
way to summarize each page so that the students can retain the most information possible.

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

24

-This verbal questioning will consist of verbal questions about specific events and details within
the reading as well as questions requiring students to come up to the board to point to and/or
underline key details.
-These formative assessments align to the following objective:
Students will be able to read pages 49-56 of When Things Fall Apart in order to identify key
details and draw specific conclusions.
Summative Assessment:
This is the last lesson for the When Things Fall Apart unit. This summative assessment will be in
the form of a written comprehension check. The following five questions will make up this units
summative assessment:
1. The setting of When Things Fall Apart is Nigeria in 1890. What does the word setting
mean?

2. The clan in When Things Fall Apart is the Umuofia Clan. What does the word clan
mean?

3. One of the main characters in When Things Fall Apart is Okonkwo. What does main
character mean?

4. In the story When Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo becomes very wealthy by working hard
and becoming the leader of his clan. What does the word wealthy mean?

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5. The title of our story is When Things Fall Apart. What does the word title mean?

Instructional Methods:
Opening:
-At the start of the lesson, we will take five minutes to review the events that took place within
pages 29-40 of the reading.
-During this review period, students will be encouraged to ask any questions they have about the
reading or vocabulary.
During:
-Students will take turns reading the PowerPoint slides of the book aloud and as we go through
them, I will ask the students to answer specific comprehension questions based on the
information presented.
-These questions will require the students to utilize the information presented to draw specific
conclusions and share them verbally. They will also require the students to come up to the board
to point to and/or underline important pieces of information.
Closing:
-At the end of the lesson, students will complete a written comprehension check of the
information presented within pages 49-56 of the story as well as their summative assessment.
-The students will answer the following five comprehension questions that cover the key pieces
of information presented within the lesson:

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1. What does Okonkwo do to the leader of the missionaries?

2. Why is Okonkwo disappointed with his clansmen?
3. What does Okonkwo do because he is so disappointed?
4. Who wants to write a story about Okonkwos life?
5. What is the title of the police officers book?
-After the students complete the worksheet, we will go over the answers as a class and clear up
any confusion the students may have had when answering the questions.
-Lastly, I will have one of the students collect the worksheets and I will explain that we are done
reading When Things Fall Apart and that our next story will be The Friends of Kwan Ming.

Materials:
Materials and Supplies:

-Computer with internet access

-Projector
-Comprehension check worksheets
-When Things Fall Apart adapted reading PowerPoint
-Summative assessment worksheets

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

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Reflection for Lesson #3:

After reflecting on my third and final lesson, I feel that there were multiple parts that
went really well. Like the previous lesson, I think I did a nice job with asking meaningful
comprehension questions and keeping the students involved by asking them to come up to the
board. Another thing I did well was reviewing the information from the previous lessons. I knew
that I did well when reviewing because later in the lesson, the students were able to successfully
answer questions about the material from the previous lessons, including information about the
events and specific vocabulary terms. I was able to be successful when reviewing by designating
extra time for review and making sure to ask multiple questions to assess how much information
the students had retained. In terms of scores on the final comprehension check, four students
received a 4/5 and three students received a 5/5.
Even though I feel this lesson went well, I feel that I could have done better with time
management. I feel that I may not have given the students enough time to complete the
comprehension check and the summative assessment, which could have potentially affected their
scores. Based on this, I will be sure to designate more time in the future to plan my lessons so
that I can be better prepared to use the thirty minutes in class effectively.

Part C: Instruction Reflection

Before each lesson, I wrote the objectives on the board so that all students in the class
could access them whenever necessary. I would have students read the objective at the beginning
of each lesson, and I would explain how the objective is relevant to the students and their
learning. In terms of analyzing pre-assessment data, each lessons assessment was based on the

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lessons objective, and so based on the students scores on the assessments as well as their
responses to verbal discussions throughout the lessons, I was able to evaluate if the students
succeeded with meeting the objectives. After the first lesson, based on the students performance
on the assessments, I felt that they performed as expected and therefore, succeeded with meeting
the lessons objective. However, for the second lesson, based on the students responses during
the verbal discussions, I determined that the students may not have performed as expected. As a
result, at the beginning of my third lesson, I designated extra time for review of the information
presented within my second lesson. I feel that this extra review time benefitted the students
greatly.
In terms of motivating and engaging students, I implemented a lot of discussion into my
lessons where students could speak freely about the information presented. The students got the
opportunity to share their own thoughts and beliefs about the information, and I believe I created
a learning environment where they felt comfortable doing so. As a result, I feel that my students
were motivated and engaged during my lessons. To introduce new knowledge/content, I would
first lecture about the new material and then I would give the students practice thinking about
and working with the information through informal discussion and written comprehension
checks.
I modeled new skills through lecturing about the information, I provided opportunities for
guided practice through implementing informal discussion where I was the facilitator, and I gave
the students time for independent practice through the written assessments that were done
individually or with help from an instructional assistant. I encouraged critical and creative
thinking skills through implementing discussions where I would ask open-ended questions.
These open-ended questions required the students to use the information they have learned to

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develop their own personal conclusions, which provided them with the chance to think critically
based on their own understanding of the material.
Throughout this unit, I used multiple formative assessment strategies, including
discussions and written comprehension questions, to assess learning. I planned for differentiated
instruction through my discussions. The questions I asked depended on the students I was
addressing them to. This provided the students with a better understanding of the material a
chance to be exposed to higher-level questions and the students who were having a harder time
grasping the material a chance to answer lower-level questions with necessary supports. These
students would answer lower-level questions with supports until ready to move on to higherlevel questions. This scaffolded instruction benefitted the students greatly and by the end of the
unit, I felt that all students were able to successfully answer higher-level questions.
Throughout my unit, I gave descriptive, clear feedback by going over the answers to the
comprehension checks. When students got the answer right, I would allow them to explain why
they picked that correct answer and I would provide clarifying information as necessary. When
students got the answer wrong, I would explain not only why that answer was incorrect, but also
why another answer was a better choice. I summarized important points of my lessons by having
the students summarize key points of information after each slide and I administered appropriate
assessments through basing these assessments on the lessons objectives and the students ability
levels.

Part D: Analysis and Instructional Decision-Making

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Student achievement of my chosen standards was determined through comparing the

students pre-assessment scores with their summative assessment scores, evaluating the students
responses during verbal discussions, and determining the students scores on the written
comprehension checks.
The following chart shows the difference in scores for all students between the pre-assessment
and summative assessment. Both the pre-assessment and summative assessment were the same
exact test, so finding the differences between these scores is an accurate way to determine the
students overall success.
Student

Pre-assessment Score

Summative Assessment
Score

Student 1

2/5

5/5

Student 2

1/5

3/5

Student 3

1/5

4/5

Student 4

0/5

3/5

Student 5

0/5

1/5

Student 6

0/5

2/5

Student 7

1/5

N/A Absent

The following table shows the percentage of change for all students except Student 7 due to
absence:
Student

Percentage of Change

EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING

Student 1

60%

Student 2

40%

Student 3

60%

Student 4

60%

Student 5

20%

Student 6

40%

31

All students achieved a substantial amount of success except for Student 5, who only
succeeded with 20% increased accuracy. Student 5 is a student who frequently gets distracted
during instruction and based on this, in future lessons, I will be sure to have one of the
instructional assistants sit with him/her to make sure he/she remains on-task. In addition, I will
be sure to involve this student more in class discussions in order to better evaluate his/her
progress and to make necessary adjustments to instruction based on his/her responses.

Part E: Reflection and Self-Evaluation

Based on the data I have collected from my unit, I believe that the instructional strategies
I implemented, which were lecturing, discussion followed by guided practice, independent
practice, then assessment, worked effectively, especially when looking at the progress the
students made from the pre-assessment to the summative assessment (see tables above). The
students changes in scores between the pre-assessment and summative assessment show that the
students succeeded with learning the specific vocabulary words as well as the importance of the
different story components, including setting and main characters. Not only did I see progress

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32

between these two assessments, but throughout my unit, I found the students achieving greater
success answering the multiple-choice comprehension checks. This indicates to me that the
students have progressed with both learning the information and answering multiple-choice
questions in general. The three objectives for this lesson involved being able to answer text
comprehension questions, including who, what, where, why, how questions and vocabulary
questions, as well as questions relating to the structure of the story. My assessments covered all
of the skills mentioned in these objectives, and the overall success the students showed indicates
that my unit was a success.
My instruction influenced student learning by addressing my students as unique
individuals who learn in different ways. One of the ways I modified my instruction to address
unique learning needs was I implemented videos, visual presentations, discussions, and
independent work. This variety of activities gave my students the opportunity to view and work
with the information in multiple formats, which provided the students with ways to access the
information in ways they preferred. Another way I influenced student learning in terms of their
unique learning needs was the way I set up my discussions. By knowing my students before
conducting my lessons, during my discussions, I was able to differentiate my questions to make
them the most appropriate and beneficial to the students they were addressed to. For example,
during my first lesson, I was discussing how the villagers burned down the missionaries church.
For one student who had shown more success answering recall questions, I asked him, What did
the villagers do to the missionaries church? After the student answered this question
successfully, I took the question a step further and asked another student, one who had shown
success answering open-ended questions, why he/she thought the villagers burned down the

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33

church. By asking the two students these different questions, as a class, we were able to have a
worthwhile and in-depth conversation where all students felt they could be successful.
Even though my students showed success when comparing the pre-assessment scores to
the summative assessment scores, I would have liked to have seen greater percentages of change.
Based on this and my own personal reflection of my lessons, I think creating a greater variety of
assessments and/or implementing choices for how to be assessed would have helped my students
be more successful. I know that some of my students, including Student 5 who only had a 20%
increase of success, would have benefitted from being able to be assessed in a way other than a
multiple-choice test. For my future lessons, I will be sure to incorporate choices for how to be
assessed and/or a variety of assessment methods. Another implication for future instruction
would be to give the students more practice working with the information through activities. My
lessons were set up in a way where I lectured, read the story with the students, asked
comprehension questions, and then gave the assessment. These lessons lacked actual practice
through participating in individual and/or group activities, which I think could have helped the
students achieve even greater success with the information. For students with disabilities,
flexibility and variety are crucial and I feel that my unit lacked these characteristics overall.
In terms of collaboration, in order to implement these desired changes to instruction, I
could co-plan with my mentor teacher to create and implement a variety of activities that give the
students opportunities to work with the material in multiple formats. My mentor teacher has had
years to become familiar with her students, and I know that her input would be helpful in
creating activities that are beneficial to the students based on their personal interests and ability
levels. Another way I could collaborate to implement my desired changes to instruction would be
to co-teach with my mentor teacher. We could divide the class into two groups by ability level

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34

and teach the same lesson in different parts of the room. This would ensure that the students who
needed extra support and specialized instruction could receive it while the students who were
showing success with the material could work at a quicker pace with less supports. During my
lessons, I felt that some of the students were successful with comprehending the information
while other students were struggling to keep up. I think the co-teaching model of grouping the
students and simultaneously teaching the same lesson using different methods could benefit both
groups of students by giving all students the instruction they need to be engaged and successful.
Based on the CEC standards, one of my professional learning goals for future instruction
is to collaborate with others who are providing services to individuals with exceptionalities
(Council for Exceptional Children). As mentioned above, collaboration with my coworkers,
including my mentor teacher and instructional assistants, could benefit my students by giving
them the instruction they need to be engaged and successful. My second professional learning
goal based on the CEC standards is to use evidence, instructional data, and professional
knowledge to inform practice (Council for Exceptional Children). I feel that during my unit, I
was able to use the data and knowledge I gained from each lesson to understand how to modify
the next lesson, but that I did not actually modify future lessons as much as I would have liked
to. Based on this, I will be sure to designate some of my planning time to modify future lessons
based on the data and knowledge I have gained.

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35

Reference

Council for Exceptional Children. (2016). Special Education Professional Ethical Principles and
Practice Standards. Council for Exceptional Children. Retrieved from
https://www.cec.sped.org/Standards/Ethical-Principles-and-Practice-Standards