D091 Task1 passed - Case #191 – Using Images to Build Speaking, Listening, and Descriptive Language PDF

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Case #191 – Using Images to Build Speaking, Listening, and Descriptive Language Skills
Case #645 – Empowering Students to Set Reading Goals and Self-Assess Proficiency...

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D091: DGM2 Task 1: Differentiating Instruction A: Formative Assessment Video The video I selected for my formative assessment reflection is Case #191 – Using Images to Build Speaking, Listening, and Descriptive Language Skills. A.1. – Description The classroom consists of second and third grade at a Spanish Dual Immersion school. Thirteen students are fluent in English, or English is their native language. Eight students speak Spanish as their first language. The teacher pairs or groups fluent English speakers with English learners to fully immerse ELLs. The teacher uses a primary method of formative assessment of think-pair-share with her students (NBPTS, 2014), which requires peer student involvement in the learning process. There are two direct modifications the teacher made during instruction based upon formative assessments during the lesson. The first modification occurs early in the class when a student asks the clarifying question, "Do you want us to correct their English, or what do you want us to do?". The instructor responds that she would prefer that students restate in a nice way to be more respectful, such as, "Oh, I heard you say… and then restate in a way that might be more appropriate." As the lesson continues, the teacher uses post-it notes to write down physical features and descriptions the students observe of the picture of the whale. As she writes down descriptive language, one of the students voices their concern over using one sticky note for everyone. He further explains that when there is only one sticky note for everyone, that the first group who visits the picture writes down all their observations on that one post-it note, "and it takes up maybe three-quarters of the whole paper." The teacher states that she will solve that problem because "each individual gets a sticky note," and then each student will have the opportunity to choose where they put it. A.2. – Feelings One student shows concern for correcting a fellow English Language Learner (ELL) when the ELL makes a mistake. You could hear in the student's voice that they did not want to hurt another student's feelings by correcting their errors. The teacher explains that they can offer an opportunity to correct without being disrespectful by restating. Another student adds to the conversation by providing their interpretation of a restatement, and the teacher nods in agreement. The two fluent English students who participated in the discussion likely felt more comfortable helping an ELL after the teacher had offered them help in restating the question. During the lesson, a student voices his concern that when a sticky note gets placed at a picture and other student groups are allowed to visit the image before that student, the sticky note is filled with their ideas, leaving that student with little opportunity to demonstrate knowledge. The

teacher offers a solution by giving each student their own sticky note to demonstrate observations and allow each student to choose where to place the sticky notes. The student seems relieved and joyful that he can participate in the project and demonstrate knowledge. A.3. – Evaluation The teacher's clarification of peer-student interaction effectively creates a welcoming and open classroom to student ideas and concepts of all levels. Observations of student interactions demonstrate comfort in students willing to share ideas. At the end of the video, you can see the kids walking around the room with what appears to be tape recorders while they make verbal observations of various pictures of whales. Fluent English students get paired with English Language Learners. It would appear that the fluent English students are being allowed to observe, allowing ELL students to listen to their partners first. Then, student peer groups will assemble as one of the peer groups makes verbal observations of the photo in front of them. In addition, ELL students are being allowed to make verbal mistakes and are allowed to self-correct rather than having fluent English learners making an immediate correction. This allows the ELL students to observe and reflect in their way, and the teacher can effectively assess student learning. A.4. – Analysis The teacher has likely made immediate language corrections in the past and found it too harsh or has not worked. However, the teacher states that she has found a nice way to correct, and she "does this a lot," is to restate what someone has said to clarify better and allow an ELL the opportunity to develop language skills in a non-confrontational way. I believe the teacher made this change in her approach to enable students to feel more comfortable sharing their ideas and expressing themselves without the fear of criticism and rejection. If a student is unwilling to demonstrate knowledge for fear of criticism, the teacher will have difficulty assessing that student's learning. Effectively gathering individual and classroom formative data will direct future lesson plans and allow the teacher to better assess classroom strengths and weaknesses in particular subject areas. A.5. – Conclusion Considering the school is dual immersion, I can only assume that the teacher has done similar lessons like this and she is now better equipped to anticipated student needs. The teacher must gather and analyze formative data to assess individual students, classrooms, and lesson plans to determine where students may be struggling with key concepts. By analyzing formative data, the teacher can adapt her lesson plans, clarify expectations, and create restrictions on classroom material to maximize student participation. As the teacher continues to perform formative assessments, she can determine the effectiveness of her classroom adaptations and control the learning pace. As teachers, we must be able to grow and adapt to our students and their needs. We learn from their capabilities and our own experiences with each student.

A.6. – Action 1. My first strategy is to educate my students on properly restating a question in a nonconfrontational way. Students need to have a classroom environment where they feel comfortable communicating with their peers and teacher. By creating an environment where students feel comfortable sharing concepts and ideas, I can adequately implement formative assessments of student learning. 2. My second strategy is to give each individual an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge by assigning each student a specific task or "sticky note" rather than allowing a group of students to consume a project. If it is group work, I will help my students by ensuring all students participate and are assigned roles. If it is individual or paired work, I will make sure that all individuals or pairs have an opportunity to shine. By giving individuals a chance to participate in all classroom activities, I can better assess the learning of all students.

B: Differentiation Video The video I selected for my differentiation reflection is Case #645 – Empowering Students to Set Reading Goals and Self-Assess Proficiency. B.1. – Description The classroom consists of fifteen students in first grade with student reading abilities ranging from average to high. Students are focused on varying aspects of reading comprehension and assignments during the video's focus on the student's "Walk to Read" portion of their day. The first student, Sarah, has a learning goal reading comprehension with an accuracy strategy goal using "flipping the sound" when she has difficulty pronouncing a word. Sarah starts the class by demonstrating what she has learned while the teacher engages the students and asks clarifying questions to ensure students comprehend her goal. After Sarah completes her class demonstration, the teacher asks students what their "daily five" is, a list of learning objectives through various activities that each student is responsible for completing. For example, some students are assigned to self-read while others are assigned partner reading. Another student, Karina, has a goal towards reading comprehension with a strategy of making connections. The teacher asks to sit with Karina to practice this strategy and relate parts of the story to her own life. For example, the teacher asks Karina if she has ever left anything in her pocket before her mom does the laundry. Karina shares a personal story of how she left bubble gum in her back pocket, and her mom did the laundry without knowing, and they had to throw away the pants. Karina's personal story displays her connection with the book.

B.2. – Feelings Before starting her demonstration, you could tell that Sarah was nervous about teaching her classmates about flipping the sound. She starts the lesson by describing the difficulty she had with the word urged. Then, Sarah explains how she thought the word was pronounced "urgged" and she was confused. Throughout her lesson, she provides several more examples while the teacher engages her classmates on similar instances they may have experienced. Towards the end, Sarah looks up with a big smile on her face, looking very proud of her accomplishments. Finally, the teacher asks the class to give a big "Oh Yeah!" for Sarah completing her learning strategy. You can tell by her facial expressions that Sarah is delighted with her accomplishment. As the teacher sits down with Karina, she has an initial look of boredom and hesitation. She seems to be very shy and not engaged in her assessment. Next, the teacher asks questions to engage Karina in the story. When he asks Karina about emptying her pockets before her clothes get washed, she smiles and is more engaged in her learning strategy of making connections. As Karina continues to read, she tells more personal stories independent of teacher engagement. Finally, the teacher asks questions around the book having some limits of personal connections, asking Karina if she has an Ant Farm. He explains to Karina the differences between what she can and can't connect to in the story. Karina is more engaged towards the end of his assessment in the video and is satisfied with her progress. B.3. – Evaluation Both methods of differentiation indicate successful strategies of reading comprehension based on learner needs. For example, Sarah successfully demonstrates the technique of flipping the sound during her class lesson. At the end of the video, she can read a book with a partner without difficulty. Karina is engaged in her book, "I'm Sorry," and uses a strategy of making connections to help with her reading comprehension goal. Karina is able to relate to the book when she describes how her mom has done her laundry and washed pants with gum and how she talks about how she doesn't like to clean her room. This strategy successfully engages Karina in the story, which helps with her reading comprehension goal. B.4. – Analysis Towards the end of Sarah's lesson to her class, the teacher comments that he remembers when Sarah found the word urged in a book they were reading one day and how Sarah thought it was pronounced "urgged" and Sarah knew that something was wrong. So, Sarah set the reading comprehension goal using the strategy of flipping the sound all by herself. As a result, Sarah finally figured out the correct pronunciation of the word and accomplished her goal. Others in the class have different reading comprehension goals. Based on the teacher's analysis, he assigned various tasks for different students. For example, he identified that Karina needed help with reading comprehension. She would be able to successfully engage a book if she could connect with the characters and story. The teacher sits down with Karina to assess and engage the student in her learning.

B.5. – Conclusion Students of varying degrees of comprehension must be provided with differentiated instruction to better meet our students' needs. All students will have various needs. Teachers must perform ongoing formative assessments of all students to determine what concepts and ideas they are grasping and where they may be struggling. In the video, two students both struggled with reading comprehension but in different ways. One student struggled with proper pronunciation, while the other student struggled with connecting with the story. The teacher implemented two different strategies to help the students overcome those specific topics. By differentiating instruction, the teacher can successfully meet the class reading comprehension goal using varied techniques, and students will feel accomplished. B.6. – Action 1. I like how Sarah took ownership of her learning and successfully demonstrated her knowledge in front of the class after setting and accomplishing her goal. I will use a similar strategy in my classroom. I will allow my students to have the opportunity to teach the material in front of the class. Asking students to present to the class will require them to understand the material well, prepare a presentation on the material, and be prepared to answer questions from the class. 2. The teacher sat down with Karina, prepared with material and leading questions to assess Karina's comprehension of the material. The teacher gave his undivided attention during this time with Karina. I believe it to be essential to provide students individualized attention and support in their learning. When doing so, I must come prepared for that specific lesson goal and not deviate from the assigned strategy.

C – Formative Assessment & Differentiation Implemented Together Formative Assessments are the ongoing evaluation of student progress and deviations we make to lesson plans to incorporate learning and participation for all students. Differentiated instruction is the teaching method in which we administer learning strategies to meet goals. As teachers, we must establish learning goals for our students. In order to meet those goals, we must constantly be learning about the makeup of our classroom. To learn about our classroom, we must regularly assess our students. Then, to accomplish our learning goal, we must use those assessments to differentiate our lesson plans for individual student needs. It is only by using a combination of formative assessments and differentiated learning that we can successfully meet the needs of unique student requirements.

D – Sources

BJU Press, Tagliapietra, R., Kohler, K., & Oberholzer, H. C. (2021). Fundamentals of Math. BJU Press.

NBPTS. (2014). Using Images to Build Speaking, Listening, and Descriptive Language Skills. ATLAS. https://atlas.nbpts.org/cases/191/...