JOT2 Task1 Hannah Ingraham PDF

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Running head: Multiplication in Fourth Grade Classroom Leaner Analysis 1

Multiplication in Fourth Grade Classroom Learner Analysis Hannah Ingraham Student ID:001022301 Program Mentor: Kelly Brown Assessment Code: JOT2 Task 1 July 29, 2019

Learner Analysis

2 Multiplication in Fourth Grade Classroom Learner Analysis Instructional Setting and Content Area

Stevens Elementary is located on the south side of Aberdeen. It is the only elementary school on the south side, but there are 4 other elementary schools in the Aberdeen School District that are on the north side of town. In the Aberdeen School District there are 3,603 students enrolled (Washington State Report Card, 2018). Stevens Elementary is in a rural area and around 533 students attend. It is a very old school that was built in the 50’s and last remodeled in the 70’s. The school holds students from kindergarten to sixth grade. There are 2 or 3 teachers per grade level with around 21-25 students per classroom. According to the Washington State Report Card website, 36.2% of students are Hispanic, 46% are white, and 11.1% are two or more races and in gender, 50.3% are female and 49.7% are male (Washington State Report Card, 2018). All Stevens students receive free lunches and many of our students come from very low socioeconomic status’. There are a great number of student’s parents who do not work, or are employed in a near town called Westport, and work on the fishing boats. Aberdeen was a thriving logging community until the mills shut down in the 1980’s and many have not left Aberdeen since. In my classroom I have 21 fourth grade students who range in age from 9-10 years old. Each student is given their own desk and then grouped into groups of 4 or 5. My classroom is very “open source” meaning that students can get into cupboards and grab supplies and manipulatives as they see fit, especially during math instruction. I also give students the ability to choose where they work best, whether that be on the floor, at a group table, etc. The focus for my analysis is on mathematics, specifically multiplying two-digit by two-digit numbers. The students in my class tend to struggle with mathematics, especially multiplication. In relation to

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this, only 32% of students passed the Washington Smarter Balance Assessment for 4th grade. As before where I mentioned students can use supplies, they need, many students will use tools I have in the classroom like graph paper and rulers to help them with their two-digit by two-digit area model multiplication. Instructional Problem As a group, my fourth-grade students struggle with mathematics in its entirety. It isn’t that they don’t enjoy math, because many of my students do. I have many students who struggle with leaving old methods behind and using new methods that can be quicker and easier. For example, a great population of my class insist on using old skills taught in third grade when multiplying numbers. This can include using repeated addition, drawing arrays, and using groupings to solve basic multiplication problems. Many students also seem to struggle with the organization of problems, especially when there are multiple parts to solving a problem. Often there is writing scattering the paper which makes it harder to understand. Also, students write their numbers fast which causes 0’s to look like a 6, and therefore causes a wrong result. Instructional Goal Statement Fourth grade students will be able to identify and use place value and area when multiplying a two-digit by two-digit multiplication problem using area model. Requisite Entry-Level Knowledge and Skills In order to meet the instructional goal, students will need to master the basic skills of multiplying various digit numbers in various place values, as well as being able to understand that area is found by identifying and multiplying length and width. Prior Knowledge and Skills

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Students in my classroom do have prior skills that coincide with two-digit by two-digit multiplication. In prior lessons, we have learned how to multiply multiple digits by a one-digit number (ex: 3623 x 4). We have also found area of basic rectangles by using length times width to find the total area of the inside of the shape. Beyond a basic rectangle, students would need further instruction. This could include finding the area of compound or composite shapes. Learner Group Unique Characteristics There are many unique characteristics in my classroom that can motivate students learning. The first is being the time in which we do mathematics in the day. In order to have supplemental teacher support, our math time toward the last hour of our day. Unfortunately, this time is not ideal for students who rely on other people to take them to and from school. I often have students who leave early because bothers and sisters pick them up, parents must work that night, or they have doctor appointments and other things. This is incredibly evident with my students since so many of them are from low income homes. Time not only affects students leaving school, it also affects their brains and how hard they are willing to work the last part of the day. Motivation for all students slowly deteriorates through the day, and by the time math gets there, many are checked out. Besides the time being a factor, I have many other factors with my student population that play a part. To begin, I have one student with am emotional behavior disorder. During our math instruction with two- digit by two- digit multiplication using area model, he struggles and will often leave the classroom because his work is not organized enough to use the area model. When he is drawing the model, it is often messy and therefore throws him off. I also have a student who has muscular dystrophy and misses copious amounts of school, which affects his learning in all subjects. This greatly affects his ability to do area model multiplication because he

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has missed previous lesson which demonstrate multi-digit multiplication by single digit, area, and place value. W ithout these prerequisites, it makes it difficult to do two-digit by two-digit multiplication using area model. Lastly, in my classroom I have 7 English language learners, including one who does not speak English. This is a unique characteristic mostly for the reason of mathematics vocabulary. For this type of multiplication there are quite a few key vocabulary words (area, place value, etc.) that if not learned, can hinder the ability to do the multiplication correctly. This proves to be evident with my English language learners. Accommodating Unique Characteristics In order to combat the brain fog and students missing the last part of the school day due to getting picked up, I set aside an extra 15 minutes earlier in our day where we review multiplication and work our way into two-digit by two-digit multiplication. This benefits students who have missed lessons based on the time or have checked out during our lesson time including my student who misses often for doctor’ s appointments. For my student with muscular dystrophy I partner him up with someone who understands area model multiplication well. I do this because this student tends to work better when partnered up as opposed to getting extra help from a teacher. He seems to be embarrassed about missing so much school and does not want attention drawn to him. This 15 minute two-digit by two-digit review benefits all the students in the end. In the case with my student with the emotional behavior disorder , he simply needs to use graph paper, a ruler, or scratch paper for more room, in order to keep his area models organized. He uses the extra paper to draw out the area model and then solve on another piece of paper, and then writes his answer on the original. It keeps everything organized. Also, if there is a lot of

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frustration with the assignment on paper, he can draw out the questions on a basic iPad notes app and then email his answers or do an IXL math lesson on the computer that is area model practice. In my classroom I am very lucky to have 5 students who speak both English and Spanish, so they often will translate for me between my Spanish only speaking student and help her with her two-digit by two-digit multiplication using area model when she needs the help. As for my other English Language Learners, we review the vocabulary for two-digit by two-digit multiplication many times, and they are instructed to write them at the top of their papers. For example, I ask them to write that the area formula is length times width. I also have gone through the vocabulary for area model multiplication with them during the previous lesson, this way they are a little bit they are ahead of the class. Performance Context The performance context will be completed in our fourth-grade classroom at Stevens Elementary School. The students will use the knowledge from previous lessons to show that they fully understand the steps to a two-digit by two-digit multiplication problem. This will include being able to identify place value, find the area of their rectangle labeled with the given number, and then add to find the answer. Students will answer a short test of 3 to 5 two-digit by two-digit multiplication problems. The end of the year state test will ask two-digit by two-digit multiplication questions and students will put the area model strategy to use there and will also find that the area model strategy will also help them when completing measurement and data portions of the test as well as other assignments.

Learner Analysis

7 References

Washington State Report Card. (n.d). Retrieved from https://washingtonstatereportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/...