Instructional Cycle 1

Multiple Subject and Single Subject

Part F: Written Narrative: Reflection on What You Learned Template

Multiple Subject and Single Subject

Step 3: Reflect—Part F: Written Narrative: Reflection
on What You Learned Template
Directions: Respond to the following prompts (no more than 3 pages), citing evidence from your submission
from Step 1 and/or Step 2 (e.g., narrative, lesson plan, lesson plan rationale, video clips, annotations) for
each response. Type your responses within the brackets following each prompt. Do not delete or alter the
prompts.

1. How did getting to know your students’ assets and learning needs

a. support the affirmation and validation of the students’ cultural and linguistic
backgrounds?
[Learning from my students’ assets and needs provided me with indications to manipulate the
lesson plans in ways to benefit them as a class and individuals. Highlighted in Step 1, “Lesson
Plan Rationale”, I was able to use discussion about the weather, before the lesson, to confirm
that students had clear experiences with the weather in California. Based on Step 1 “Getting to
Know Your Students”, I established that students completed prior lessons that included
comparing and contrasting fictional texts and a biographical essay that incorporates
informational quotes. Both of these lessons prior meet ELA standards that made my C1 lesson
more familiar to students from the beginning. In our discussions within the lesson, I found that
their prior knowledge of the lesson was supportive. Students could recall the lessons in the
week before that highlighted fictional comparing and contrasting skills; I interpreted this by
listening to their group discussions throughout the lesson. There was evidence that students
could quote the text, considering that it was a skill that was practiced during their biographical
essays as well. Using their knowledge, the class was able to help me pull quotes from the
reading that supported comparing and contrasting points. All of this prior knowledge gave
students some of the tools they needed to learn something new through the lesson.
The “Lesson Plan Rationale” describes the students’ interest in the environment and this was
made evident during the read-aloud because they had so many questions about forest fires.
The “Lesson Plan Rationale” also highlighted the recent, drastic rainfall that California has
experienced, so students were able to discuss their experiences with California rainfall. This
reading is directly applicable to state standards, making it a two for one because students had
excitement and prior knowledge relating to the text. ]

b. allow students to access and engage with the content?

[ Step 1 “Lesson Plan” incorporated the reasoning behind the chosen strategies for this lesson,
including the transition from comparing and contrasting fictional text to informational text. This
was a requirement in the learning process to give students the tools for this transition. Students
were able to move at their own gradual pace from discussions about fictional texts to
informational texts. Something that gave students access to this transition was their group
discussions. They were able to talk over their personal experiences with the weather and then
how that relates or not to the information in the text, which was a new strategy for them.

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 Instructional Cycle 1
Multiple Subject and Single Subject
Part F: Written Narrative: Reflection on What You Learned Template

Engaging students, using their experiences allowed them to make deeper connections to the
environmental issues that were detailed in the text as well.
In “Getting to Know Your Students”, I was able to identify their abilities to discuss topics within
lessons before this one. Considering that students were used to discussing with their table
groups, it was helpful that whenever I gave them a question to discuss, students immediately
sparked up conversations. As I circulated the class I was pleasantly surprised to hear stories
about student experiences. This collaboration time also helped students narrow down the
details in the text that were most important to compare with their own experience. Narrowing
down to specific details also gave students the structure to quote stated details in comparison to
their own experiences. One thing that I did not expect was for students to remember details of
California wildfires that were not necessarily addressed in the text. They had many thoughts on
wildfires because the area that they live in has also been affected by wildfires in the past. This
may have included some confusion on where exactly to place quotes from the text in their
graphic organizers.
In “Lesson Plan Rationale” I explained the need for sentence starters, which was projected
along after the notes after the class began independently working. I was surprised to find that
many students used their own sentence starters, but it did prove successful for FS2 and others
students who may have been confused about where exactly to place the quotes. Students’
graphic organizers displayed a variety of work. Using these sentence starters made the lesson
more accessible for all students because they knew exactly what to incorporate following the
starter, whether that be a quote or a personal experience. ]

2. How effective was your instructional approach in supporting learning for the whole class and
for each of the 3 focus students to achieve the content-specific learning goal(s)?
[ The classroom instructions set the learning intentions and the success criteria, as stated in
“Lesson Plan Rationale” and “Lesson Plan”, which gave students the exact expectation of the
lesson plan that day. Before even getting into the lesson students could delineate the goals of
the lesson, which I believe helped the lesson move forward easier because we were all on the
same page. It’s also important to note that classroom management skills helped students stay
on the task at hand and act properly during the lesson, allowing maximized learning possibilities
for all.
FS1 was able to comply with the lesson at the average level. He was volunteering his ideas
throughout the lesson by sharing with his table group and the entire class. FS1 was actively
involved in the read along by helping the class fill-in-the-blank when I would stop before the end
of a sentence, as stated in “Lesson Plan Rationale”. He used one sentence starter in his graphic
organizer and filled out the rest himself. Since his oral language is ranked a 3, he could
accurately explain his thoughts to the group.
“FS2 was confident in answering questions with the class because of his scheduled small group
pre-read, as stated in “Getting to Know Your Students”. FS2 had all the notes taken in his ELA
notebook and he even added a small detail that I had only emphasized verbally. He used all of
the sentence starters but did not incorporate quoted details from the text. As I circulated the
room, I was able to stop and ask a guided question to get his graphic organizer aligned with the
essential question.
Highlighted in “Lesson Plan Rationale”, FS3 was able to stay on task with the class because
she was able to draw throughout her notes. Using the classroom expectations for the lesson,
FS3 was able to stay organized and on task throughout. She enjoyed using quotes from the text
because she didn’t have to think about how to write out the details herself (I’m sure many
students felt this way). All graphic organizers met the content-specific learning goals, other than
FS2 who did not use direct quotes. ]
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 Instructional Cycle 1
Multiple Subject and Single Subject
Part F: Written Narrative: Reflection on What You Learned Template

3. How effective was your instructional approach in supporting learning for the English learners
in your class and Focus Student 1 (FS1) to achieve the ELD goal(s)?
[ FS1 did a proper well-done job understanding the learning goals for this lesson. As I used
transition words to emphasize compare and contrasting details, he was able to verbalize these
words to me a few times throughout the lesson. He mainly used the word “specifically”, which is
stated in the ELD learning goal, mentioned throughout Step 1. He was about to link a quote
from the text, using “specifically”. As this was not necessary for the entire class, I discovered his
ability to use these transitional words in a one-on-one conversation with him while other
students were working on their graphic organizers. Meeting the second ELD goal, stated in Step
1, FS1 was avidly able to share his thoughts on recent California weather as well as related
details concerning wildfires from the text. Despite having some trouble quoting the text directly,
FS1 was also able to meet the CCSS ELA-Literacy standards as well. As I circulated the room, I
heard FS1 shared his experiences with the weather in comparison to details in the text. When
he was having trouble incorporating a quote, my sentence starters gave him the keys that he
needed to distinctly place the quotes and experiences in the correct places. ]

4. In this lesson, did you need to incorporate specific in-the-moment instructional adaptations
(accommodations and/or modifications) for the whole class and the 3 focus students to
support them to achieve the learning goals? Why or why not?
[ I did incorporate instructional adaptations for all students after realizing that some group
conversations transitioned into conversations about their personal experiences with wildfires. I
discussed in “Getting to Know Your Students” that students had experienced quoting
informational texts prior to this lesson, but despite giving students the tools to quote the text in
the notes, I found students also discussing their own experiences with wildfires. In order to meet
them in the middle, I offered students to additionally include their experiences with wildfires after
including three quoted details in the wildfire portion of their graphic organizers.
FS2 and some other students needed extra help pulling details from the text, as I later realized
these individuals did not incorporate quotes into their biographies, which is part of the reason I
included this standard in this lesson. For this, I emphasized my sentence starters and walked
around the room reminding specific students the structure of quoting specific details. Other than
this, because of the discussions throughout the lesson, students had no troubles comparing and
contrasting their experiences with details in the text.
There were some moments in the lesson that caused distraction, like a phone call or someone
walking in and out, but this did not seem to affect FS2 heavily because of the classroom
expectations, which I specifically reminded students of prior to the lesson. Because of the
organization, when students had questions, we were able to effectively discuss them as a class
and move on. ]

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