JessiStrom

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VI.PreAssessmentAnalysis
Ichosetopreassessthestudentswithapretestcreatedbyme.Thepretest
wasallfillintheblanktoeliminatethechanceofastudentcompletelyguessingbutstill
producingacorrectanswer.Theassessmenthadstudentswritethenameofthefamous
Americaninthepicturetothesideofitalongwithfillintheblackcomprehensionabout
informationdirectlyrelatedtothecurriculumframeworkoftheSOL.Somebenefitsof
thisassessmentwasIfeellikeitgavemeaveryaccurateshowingofwhatthestudents
didanddidnotknowaboutthefamousAmericans.Alsothefillintheblank,as
previouslystated,madeitalmostimpossibletoguessandgetacorrectanswer.The
questionsonthepretestcoveredeveryaspectoftheunitthatwewereabouttocover
thatthestudentswereresponsibleforknowing.Also,thequestionswerespecifically
correlatedwithquestionsontheposttest.OnedeficiencyIfoundwiththepretestwas
thatsomequestionshadinformationthatcouldpossiblyleadstudentstoguessingthe
correctinformationeveniftheydidntknowitbasedoncontextclues.Also,twoofthe
FamousAmericansnameswerelistedinthequestionsonthebackofthepretestwhich
couldgivestudentsnamesforthefrontiftheyprocessedit.
ThedataIreceivedfromthepretestshowedthatstudentsknewthemostabout
GeorgeWashington,AbrahamLincoln,andMartinLutherKingJr.Thiswasexpected
becausethesepeoplewereinpreviousgradescurriculum.Overall,studentsdidnot
haveahighunderstandingofthecontent.Thepretestdatashowedthataselectfew
studentshadaverystrongunderstandingofcontent,withonly3of22students
receivingan11/14(79%)orhigher.Outof14questions,theclassaveragewasa5.7
(41%).Therewere13studentsthatreceiveda5/14orlowerontheirassessment.This
dataalsoincluded
3studentswho
receiveda0out
of14withone
whodidntfillin
anyanswer
attempts.

VII.
Bytheendoftheunit,studentsshouldbeabletoidentifyallFamousAmericans,
whytheywereimportanttoAmericanhistory,andwhatimpacttheyhadonothers.My
goalforstudentstoincreasetheirtestscoreby45%camefromtakingtheaveragetest
score,5.7,turningitintoapercentage,40.7%andfiguringtheapproximatedifference
from85%.ThereasonIwantstudentstoachievean85%isbecausethatscorewill
showtheyhaveaclearunderstandingofthecontentonthefamousAmericans.
Fromthepretest,Idecidedtospendanequalamountoftimeonallfamous
Americans,withareviewdayforpresidents.Eventhoughoverallstudentsanswered
questionsaboutthepresidentsandMartinLutherKingJr.themostaccurately,the
majorityofthosecorrectanswerswerefromtheidentifythepersoninthepicture,
section.Whenitcametothecontentquestions,studentsdidntshowmoreofan
understandingthanotherfamousAmericansbecausetheylearneddifferentcurriculum
infirstgradewhentheylearnedaboutthem.Ifaquestionwasmissedby40%ormore
oftheclassImadesuretoincludeindepthinstructioninthatarea.
ThelessonswerebrokendownintofamousAmericansthatcouldrelatetoeach
otherinonewayoranother.MartinLutherKingJr.andJackieRobinson(bothAfrican
American)weretaughtfirst,followedbyGeorgeWashingtonandAbrahamLincoln(both
Presidents),andlastlycameSusanB.AnthonyandHelenKeller(bothwomen).This
wasdonestrategicallysostudentscouldseethesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetween
thefamousAmericanstheyweretaughtthatweek.DuringSocialStudiestimeand
duringLiteracyCenters,studentswereaskedtocompareandcontrastdifferentfamous
Americansthroughouttheunit.Thisenhancedtheircomprehensionofthematerial
becausetheyhadtoprocesssimilaritiesanddifferencesandwhatmadeeachfamous
Americanunique.
Whenplanninglessons,Itookinconsiderationthepopulationofstudentsinmy
classroomandtheirdifferentlearningstyles.Icreatedlessonactivitiesthatfocusedon
atleast2outofthe3typesoflearning(auditory,visual,kinesthetic)foreachlesson.
Thisensuredthatstudentswerereceivinginformationinawaywheretheycouldbest
processit.Ichosetouseseveralengagingtechniqueswherestudentshadtobe
completingataskwhileinstructionwasgiven(ie.Guidednotes,graphicorganizers,
highlightingkeyinformation).Thishelpedkeepstudentsfocusedthroughoutthelesson
andallowedthemtopickoutthemostimportantinformationfrominstruction.
Iaskedseveralbackgroundknowledgequestionsatthebeginningoflessonsand
comprehensionquestionsthroughouttocheckstudentunderstandingasthecontent
wasbeingpresented.Whenaskingquestions,Iencouragedallstudentstobethinking
abouttheanswerandgaveappropriatewaittimebeforecallingonastudent.Alotofthe
timeIwouldwaituntileveryhandwasupbeforecallingonsomeone.Itriedtocallona
varietyofstudentsonvariousacademiclevelstotrytomonitorthateveryonewas

comprehendingtheinformation.Iwouldalsogivecuesforwheninformationwasgoing
tobepresentedfortheirgraphicorganizersandguidednotes.Igaveguidinghintsfor
questionswhereIwasntreceivingtheresponseIwantedsostudentscouldfocustheir
thinkingintherightdirection.Sincetheaveragepretestscorewassolow,therewasno
justificationtothecontentbeingpresentedeachfamousAmericanrequiredthesame
amountoftimetobetaughtandcopiousamountsofstrategieswereusedtoenhance
studentlearning.

VIII.
Afteranalyzingthepretestandposttestdata,thegoalofincreasingtheaverage
scoreby45%wasasuccess.Theaverageposttestscorewasa93%whichincludedan
extremeoutlier.Everystudentincreasedfromtheirpretestscore,eventhestudents
whohadonlymissedoneortwoonthepretest.Only2students(StudentO,StudentU)
didntreachthe85%orhighermarkthatIwantedallstudentstoachieve.Oneofthese
studentsisanELLstudentandinthelowestacademiclevelgroup.Eventhoughthe
testwasreadoutloudtoher,itseemedlikeshewasntprocessingallanswerchoices
andjustcirclingone.Sheonlyreceiveda27%onherfinaltest,nexttimeImighttryto
haveahelperintheroompullherouttoworkwithheroneononewiththecontentor
givehermoremanipulatives/interactivemotionstohelpherrememberthekey
information.Theotherstudentwhodidntmeetthe85%markreceivedascoreof73%
andseemedtonothavereadthroughallanswerchoicesbeforechoosingananswer.
Allotherassessmentsforherinthisunitseemedtoshowsheunderstoodcontent
thoroughlyandaccurately.Nexttime,beforehandingouttestsIcouldprovidestudents
withareviewontesttakingstrategiestoremindthemtotaketheirtimeandread
throughalltheanswers.
Ithinkoverallthelessonsinthisunitwentwellandhelpedstudentscomprehend
whattheyneededtoknowaboutthefamousAmericansbasedonthecurriculum
framework.Thevarietyofactivitiesusedthroughoutthelessonsweredesignedtomake
thelearningamemorableexperienceforstudentsandhavethemrelatetothefeelings
thosepeoplehadtoenduretomakeapersonalconnection.Thethoroughreviewof
backgroundknowledgeatthebeginningoflessonshelpedstudentsconnectnewand
previouslylearnedmaterial.IfIweretodothisunitagain,Iwouldincorporatea
summative/gradedassignmentforeachfamousAmericansoIcouldseeifacertain
studentwasstrugglingwiththecontentforthatperson.Icouldthentrytofindadifferent
waytohelpthemlearntheinformationthatwouldallowthemtograspit.IfIwouldhave
donethiswithstudentUandgivenhermoreoneononeattentionduringtheteaching
timeshecouldhavehadadifferentendingresultthatwouldveleftmemoresatisfied.