Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Step Standard 7 Elm 590 1
Step Standard 7 Elm 590 1
Template
A. Geographic Location
Gadsden, Alabama is in Etowah county in Northeast Alabama (Wikipedia, 2017). The city of
Gadsden has a population of 38, 856 (Wikipedia, 2017). The racial makeup of Gadsden includes:
57.3% Caucasian, 36.3% African American, 5.4% Hispanic, 0.6% Asian, 0.4% Native American,
0.4% Pacific Islander, 3.2% other races and 1.9% two or more races (Wikipedia, 2017). The
median household income for Gadsden residents is $24,823 (Wikipedia, 2017). Over 22% of the
population live below the poverty line which includes 33.9% of people 18 and under below the
poverty line (Wikipedia, 2017). The community does not offer much support for educational
services for youth outside of church drives to provide school supplies to youth. Poverty in the
city is a concern for planning instruction and assessment. Poverty effects student health,
language and literacy development and social skills (Parrett & Budge, 2016). It is essential to get
to know each student individually to ensure all their learning needs are being met. Students may
need help with developing literacy and languages and engaging with other students (Parrett &
Budge, 2016). It is essential for teachers to foster this development in their learning environment.
Some students may not have access to technological which can limit learning outside of the
classroom.
References
Parrett, W. & Budge, K. (2016). How Does Poverty Influence Learning? Edutopia. Retrieved
from: https://www.edutopia.ord/blog/how-does-poverty-incluence-learning-william-parrett-
kathleen-budge.
B. District Demographics
The Gadsden City School system oversees 14 schools: 8 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, 1
high school, an alternative school and a technical center (Wikipedia, 2017). The Gadsden City
Board of Education serves 5,017 students throughout the district in grades pre-k-12 (Alabama
State Department of Education, 2017). The racial makeup of the district includes 46.2% African
American, 37.3% Caucasian, 13.9% Hispanic, 0.01% Asian, .002% American Indian, 0.012%
two or more races (Alabama State Department of Education, 2017). The district has a total of
70.74% of students on free or reduced lunch (Alabama State Department of Education, 2017).
Over 64% of students are on free lunch and 6.58% are on reduced lunch (Alabama State
References
Alabama State Department of Education. (2017). Public Data Reports. Retrieved from:
https://www.alsde.edu/dept/data/Pages/home.aspx.
Parrett, W. & Budge, K. (2016). How Does Poverty Influence Learning? Edutopia. Retrieved
from: https://www.edutopia.ord/blog/how-does-poverty-incluence-learning-william-parrett-
kathleen-budge.
C. School Demographics
Oscar Adams Elementary is a Title One school with an academic ranking of F with 16.77% of
students proficient in reading, 23.23% proficient in Math and 11.11% proficient in Science on the
National level (Alabama State Department of Education, 2017). Oscar Adams Elementary
School serves students in grades Pre- 5th grade (Alabama State Department of Education, 2017).
There are currently 418 students enrolled at Oscar Adams Elementary School and 94.21% of
students receive free or reduced lunch (Alabama State Department of Education, 2017). Over
86% of students receive free lunch services and almost 7% of students receive reduced lunch
(Alabama State Department of Education, 2017). The racial make-up of the school includes:
59.8% African American, 22.9% Hispanic, and 11.5% Caucasian. This data suggest that poverty
has greatly impacted the students’ education at the school. I would evaluate each student that
arrives in my class to determine what they need to individually improve. Planning lesson I expect
to have to find methods for each student learning style and to review some things taught at the
previous grade level to help students gain understanding of subject matter. Delivering lesson
would have to be tailored to student development level to ensure they understand what is being
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taught. I also expect to walk around to each student and check for understand to reteach before
moving on. Assessments will have to be at district level, but I expect to pre-read them to ensure
students can understand them. I am prepared to possibly explain some things they may not
understand while teaching the lesson.
References
Alabama State Department of Education. (2017). Public Data Reports. Retrieved from:
https://www.alsde.edu/dept/data/Pages/home.aspx.
B. Environmental Factors
The cooperating class environment is very age appropriate. The students all have table and chair
individual desks arranged in a U shape. Students have access to a class library with a variety of
fiction and nonfiction books. Students have six computers in the class and each student has an
iPad for use during school hours. There is a carpet in front of the class used for reading and
beside it is a table and chairs in the listening center. I the back of the class are table and chairs
used for small group on one side and the teacher’s desk on the other side of the room. Parental
involvement is not currently good because only three parents participate in school functions.
Most other parents are involved in their students learning by signing conduct and graded papers
except for five or six that are never signed or returned. The teacher contacts parents through a
texting app but it can be difficult to get returned items even with contact.
In the space below, discuss the possible affect these characteristics could have on the planning,
delivery, and assessment of your unit. Refrain from using student names.
Students’ socioeconomic status, parental involvement and the variety of learning needs all effect
how lessons are planned, delivered and assessed. English learners (EL) are provided additional
resources through EL pullout twice a week. All EL students can read their test but one. I would
have to give him his assessment and read aloud to him. I would also have to read the test aloud to
the student who has an IEP. During planning, I would need to include instruction that is
scaffolded for students during whole class instruction. There are an additional four students in
this class that have not met the requirements for an IEP but are reading significantly below grade
level. It is important to check those students for understanding along with the EL students and
the student with an IEP. I would create a shortened assessment for EL students and the student
with an IEP. I would also plan to instruct students on all tested elements and include reviews to
check for knowledge to ensure students learn in the class. Home work will be a review to help
provide extra practice. Homework would not include the use of technology because it is not
available to most students in the home.
Learning Goal
At the end of the unit, using a graphic organizer provided by instructor, students will be able to
draft a list of questions from text, with 70 percent accuracy to clarify text.
Measurable Objectives
1. At the end of the unit, using a graphic organizer provided by instructor, students will be
able to read text and ask questions to clarify text, with 70 percent accuracy to clarify text.
2. At the end of the unit, using a graphic organizer provided by instructor, students will read
text and create a list of questions they asked to clarify text, with 70 percent accuracy.
3. At the end of the unit, using a graphic organizer provided by instructor, students will
provide an answer to who, what, when, where, why and how questions about occurrences
in text, with 70 percent accuracy.
Read the passage below. Use the text to write and answer questions in the
chart below. Create questions using the 5w’s and how.
Contest
Tom entered the poster contest for the school play. Tom worked very hard on his poster.
He practiced drawing superheroes many times. He drew carefully and used lots of colors. At
noon, he gave it to the drama teacher in the school theater. It took a long time for her to decide.
At the end of the day on Friday she announced the winner. Tom won the contest! His poster
Question Answer
Exceeds
Meets
Approaches
One major change made after assessment is to include information on how to write a question. Students
need to be reminded of the importance of including capitalization and punctuation.
The pre-assessment has informed and changed how I to instruct students during this lesson. Students were
confused as to how or why they would create their own questions and answers after reading text. I will
include an explanation of how asking and answering questions helps students clarify text. When students
understand why they are learning it helps to motivate them to learn. During the pre-assessment, I learned
that it is important to discuss with the class how to write complete sentence. Students will be encouraged
to use capitalization and punctuation. Students currently practice this with journaling but seem to forget to
use them during the assessment. Post-assessment will include a one-point penalty for failure to use
capitalization or punctuation.
Post-Assessment – Each question is worth ten points and each answer is worth ten points.
Students will also have a one point penalty for each question and answer that does not include
capitalization and punctuation. Students scoring an A or B exceeds learning goals. Students with
a C meets learning goals, Students with a D are approaching learning goals and students with a F
fall far below learning goals.
Read the passage below. Use the text to write and answer questions in the
chart below. Create questions using the 5w’s and how.
Apples
An apple is a fruit that is grown on a tree. Most apples are ready to be harvested in the
fall. To harvest means to gather crop. There are more than 7,000 different varieties of apples
grown in the world. The fruit comes in many shapes and colors. Red, yellow and green can be
found in most grocery store. Apples are used for many purposes. They can be used for juices,
applesauce, and many desserts. Not only are apples tasty, but they are also healthy! Apples have
lots of Vitamin C. As the saying goes, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away!”
Question Answer
Learning Goal
At the end of the unit, using a graphic organizer provided by instructor, students will be able to draft a list of questions from text, with
70 percent accuracy to clarify text.
Measurable Objectives
1. At the end of the unit, using a graphic organizer provided by instructor, students will be able to read text and ask questions to
clarify text, with 70 percent accuracy to clarify text.
2. At the end of the unit, using a graphic organizer provided by instructor, students will read text and create a list of questions
they asked to clarify text, with 70 percent accuracy.
3. At the end of the unit, using a graphic organizer provided by instructor, students will provide an answer to who, what, when,
where, why and how questions about occurrences in text, with 70 percent accuracy.
Apples
the same as the pre-
assessment or a
modified version of
it. An apple is a fruit that is grown on a tree. Most apples are ready to be harvested in the
fall. To harvest means to gather crop. There are more than 7,000 different varieties of apples
found in most grocery store. Apples are used for many purposes. They can be used for juices,
applesauce, and many desserts. Not only are apples tasty, but they are also healthy! Apples have
lots of Vitamin C. As the saying goes, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away!”
Question Answer
Exceeds 7
Meets 1
Approaches 4
Number of Students
Pre-Test
Exceeds 0
Meets 0
Approaches 1
Number of Students
Pre-Test
Exceeds 7
Meets 1
Approaches 3
2. Provide more activities that allows I plan to talk with veterans teachers and
students to collaborate. observe how the promote collaborative
learning. I plan to research how students
learn best through collaborative learning. I
plan to focus on enduring I provide
differentiation and scaffolding in
collaborative learning.