Bondurant-Farrar Community Schools

Artifact
Artifact Title: Reading Small Groups
Portfolio Author: Nicole Bruhn
Date: 12-1-15
Iowa Teaching Standard 1 Demonstrates ability to enhance academic performance and support for implementation of
the school districts student achievement goals.
a.
b.
c.
d.

Provides evidence of student learning to students, families, and staff.

Implements strategies supporting student, building, and district goals.
Uses student performance data as a guide for decision-making.
Accepts and demonstrates responsibility for creating a classroom culture that supports the learning of every
student.
e. Creates an environment of mutual respect, rapport, and fairness.
f. Participants in and contributes to a school culture that focuses on improved student learning.
g. Communicates with students, families, colleagues, and communities effectively and accurately.

I chose this artifact to show:

_____ growth in this standard
___X_strength and competency in this standard
Evidence to support attainment of this standard:
Description of artifact and how the artifact meets the standard:
I spend 45 minutes each day meeting with my students in small groups. I was able to create these groups based on the
data from the fall aReading test. The aReading scores help me to get an idea of what my small groups should look like.
My groups are fluid. I am constantly looking at how the students are doing in small groups and in whole group and
adjust my groups as necessary. I am able to differentiate my instruction by picking a passage that goes with our weekly
skill and adding other components that they need to work on. For example, one of my groups is working on the weekly
still and phonics while another group is touching on the weekly skill while spending most of their time diving into a
literature circle book.
Reflection on artifact:
I have found that small groups are a great time to differentiate my instruction to best meet my students needs. The
students and I have been working hard on the weekly skill to give them more exposure and individualized instruction. I
feel that I have been doing a great job meeting the needs of my students that are below the benchmark or at the
benchmark. I can see them growing in their fluency an comprehension each week. I feel that I need to do more for my
students that are substantially above average. Currently, this group is doing a literature circle book. We spend our small
group time practicing the weekly skill, discussing the assigned reading, and reading from the book. The students love
doing this but I feel that I can expand on their knowledge even more. I would like to continue with a literature circle
book for this group but also add I more vocabulary and comprehension skills that they need to spend more time on.