Evidence of Student Learning 1 of 22

Planning Cycle of Evidence of Student Learning (ESL)

Shelby Murphy

Spring 2017 Internship

Towson University
Evidence of Student Learning 2 of 22

Part A: Learning context, topic, and objectives

Ridgely Middle School, located in Baltimore County, MD, has 1,233 students, 53

classrooms and an average of about 27 students in each class. The specific classroom that this

lesson is taking place in is a Self-Contained 6th grade class with 4 students. 3 of the students are

African American females and 1 of the students is an African American male. These students are

in the BLS (behavior learning supports) program and are in a Self-Contained classroom for

Language Arts. The students in this class exhibit specific learning disabilities, and emotional

disabilities. Most of the students in this class are on about a second or third grade reading and

writing level. Many accommodations are available for these students and are used throughout

this lesson.

Students:

Student 1: This student has a specific learning disability. She is reading on a 1.4 grade

level and writing on a 2.1 level. This student frequently displays oppositional behavior. This

includes difficulty following directions and difficulty initiating and completing tasks. This

student benefits from reminders of the correct behavior that she should be displaying. She also

benefits from being read to aloud to better her understanding.

Student 2: This student has an emotional disability. Sometimes her behaviors escalate and

may become dangerous to herself and others. This student struggles with managing emotions and

conflict resolution. This student is reading on an upper 2nd grade level and writing on a

beginning 2nd grade level. This student benefits from being read to and offered a scribe.

Student 3: This student has a specific learning disability. This student has a low overall

average in reading. This student struggles with coping skills, anger, frustration, and upset. Most
Evidence of Student Learning 3 of 22

days he is cooperative and friendly during class time. This student benefits from being read to

and frequent reminders of good behavior.

Student 4: This student has an emotional disability. Behaviors may escalate to eating non-

food items and dangerous behavior. When this occurs the student benefits from being reminded

about coping strategies (deep breaths, taking a break). This student is reading on a 3.2 level and

writing on a 2.5 level. This student is very eager to participate in class and benefits from positive

reinforcement and praise from the adults in the classroom.

The unit lesson was taken from the Baltimore County 6th grade ELA unit plan. This

specific lesson is scaffolded into three different lessons to meet the learners needs in this

classroom as addressed by their IEPs. The following MCCRS are addressed in the three lessons

in this unit: RL.6.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as

well as inferences drawn from the text, RL 6.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as

they are used in a text, including figurative language and connotative meanings; analyze the

impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone, RL.6.5 Analyze how a particular

sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the

development of the theme, setting, or plot, SL.6.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative

discussions (one on one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics,

texts, and issues, building on others ideas and expression their own clearly, and L.6.5

Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word

meanings. The goal for this specific unit is that students will analyze the use of figurative

language in text in order to explain how similes, metaphors, and personification help to create an

impression of a character or event. Lesson one addresses the MCCRS SL. 6.1, L.6.4, and L.6.5.
Evidence of Student Learning 4 of 22

The objectives that align with lesson one MCCRS is that the students will define 3 examples of

figurative language, watch and respond to a brain pop video on figurative language, and put

together a foldable that sums up important facts about similes, metaphors, and personification.

Lesson two addresses the MCCRS RL.6.1, RL.6.5, SL,6.1, L.6.4, and L.6.5. The objectives for

lesson two that align with the MCCRS is the students will review the definitions of similes,

metaphors, and personification; and organize/place sentence strips under the correct figurative

language poster. Lesson three addresses the MCCRS RL.6.1, RL.6.4, RL.6.5, SL,6.1, L.6.4, and

L.6.5. The objectives that align with the MCCRS for lesson three are that the students will

analyze the use of figurative language in The Banana Tree in order to explain how similes,

metaphors, and personification to help to create an impression of a character or event.

Part B: Assessment Plan

Formative Assessment

I used these formative assessments before and during each lesson in order to gauge my

students understanding and plan for the progression of the next lessons. If my students seemed to

be struggling with the concepts, I would provide more guided practice with me and go over the

work again. If the students seem to be doing well with the practice provided to them, then we

will be able to progress forward and move to more independent practice with less scaffolding.

Lesson 1- At the beginning of lesson one, the students were given a pre-assessment poem

that had all three examples of figurative language. The students were instructed to try their best

and that this assessment was to see what they already know and track their progress. The students
Evidence of Student Learning 5 of 22

were to highlight a simile, metaphor, and personification in different colors. 100% of the students

got 0/3 correct. When the lesson was finished I gave the students the same assessment again to

see if they grasped what we went over in the lesson. All of the students got 3/3 correct the second

time the pre-assessment was given. This showed me that the students understood the concepts we

went over that day and we could now move onto the students applying these concepts to further

work.

Lesson 2- During this lesson the students are given multiple sentence strips and there are

posters around the room that say simile, metaphor, personification, or I don't know. The students

are instructed to put their sentences where they think they go using what they know about

figurative language. If they still aren't sure about a couple, that was said to be okay because this

is just the second day of practicing this concept. This would show me what the students need to

review and go over together as a class. While completing this task I read the sentences for the

students who needed it for a better understanding. When finished, none of the students put any

sentences in the I don't know section. This showed me that the students were feeling pretty

confident about their knowledge of figurative language. As a class we went over all of the

sentences and the students only had to fix 3/24 sentences. When I read them aloud to the class,

they immediately caught their errors and replaced them on the correct poster.

Lesson 3- In this lesson the students showed me their knowledge about figurative

language by finding examples in the text The Banana Tree. The students were given two

figurative language bookmarks. The first one I filled out to show them an example. For the

second bookmark, the students had to go to different spots of the room and find their own

example and fill out the bookmark. I checked the students work to make sure they completed the
Evidence of Student Learning 6 of 22

work properly and then handed out their summative assessment and was confident they would be

prepared.

Summative Assessment

At the end of the three lessons conducted with the students, they will be able to analyze

the use of figurative language in text in order to explain how similes, metaphors, and

personification help to create an impression of a character or event. The students will connect

what they know about figurative language to the story The Banana tree. After they have

connected their knowledge to The Banana Tree they will use their knowledge of similes,

metaphors, and personification to complete a multiple choice assessment. The students are asked

the definition of each, to pick an example sentence of each, and write their own sentence.

Scoring Tools

The formative assessments that are completed will be collected and only graded for the

students completing the work to the best of their ability. These assessments are mostly used for

me to see what I need to work on with the students and if I scaffolded their learning enough to

move on with the lesson.

The summative assessment for the unit will be scored 1 point for each question they

answer correctly and they have seven questions to complete. The results of this assessment will

be recorded and monitored for the rest of the unit. The summative assessment scores also help to

track progress towards the goals they are working towards in their IEPs.

While giving the students these assessments, they still received the proper differentiation

for each student. Student 1 and Student 2 worked one on one with an adult in the room to provide

a reader for the summative assessment. The other two students got to sit in a quiet place in the
Evidence of Student Learning 7 of 22

room to complete the summative assessment and ask for clarification if needed. The summative

assessment only required one sentence to be written, so all students were able to perform this

task on their own. For the formative assessments, all of the students got everything read to them

to make sure that the whole class was able to understand the directions. The formative

assessments were scaffolded to eventually have them working independently with only the help

of a reader to keep them on track.

Part C: Instruction

For each lesson, the objective is written in student friendly terms using an I can

statement on a poster that is hung up on the cart. This is a school wide approach to show students

achievable objectives that they can accomplish throughout the class. Each lesson is started by

one of the students reading the outcome for the day and ended by reviewing if we completed that

outcome or if we will be coming back to it the next day. Based on how the students did on the

pre-assessment, I knew that I would be starting with the introduction part of figurative language

before connecting it to the story yet.

To keep the students motivated and engaged in each lesson I gauged how they were

feeling that day. During the first lesson, I chose a BrainPop video to watch that they really enjoy.

I gave the students the option of watching it on their own device somewhere in the room or we

could all watch it together. The students chose to watch it as a group and really enjoyed the

video. When the video was finished we had a group discussion about what they talked about in

the video and then I gave them a note sheet that was already filled out. These students benefit
Evidence of Student Learning 8 of 22

from highlighting important parts of notes instead of having to write them all out themselves.

Providing the notes for the students helped cut back on a lot of time and allowed the students to

understand what was on their sheet better. During the second lesson the students had the chance

to get up and move around the room. The students do very well when they have the option to

walk around the room. Student 4 specifically needs the time to walk around and get some energy

out. To differentiate this lesson I read each sentence to the students before they posted it. The

sentences were already written up on sentence strips which also saved the students time from

having to write their sentences. The students got to actively participate throughout the whole

lesson. The students posted the sentences on the posters and then while I went over them with the

whole class I allowed all of the students to be teachers. Since the students liked it so much I

gave them all pointers to come up and share where they put their sentences. As a class, we either

agreed or disagreed with the answer and then the students could move them. During the last

lesson the students got to work where they would like to in the room. The students work very

well when they get to choose an adult they would like to work with and then go anywhere in the

room to complete their work.

Each of my lessons included me modeling in the first half of class and then slowly

allowing the students to have independent practice also. The first day most of the modeling was

done by me during the introduction of figurative language. The next lesson started out by me

modeling what the students should be doing during the activity and then starting the guided

practice. As the students started placing the sentences I was there to read to them and ask

questions to get them thinking about where the sentence may go. When finished, we went over

all of the answers together as a class and determined how well we did. For the last lesson, the
Evidence of Student Learning 9 of 22

class began by the bookmark modeled together and then the students were sent to work

independently. If the students still needed help when working independently, they could request

help.

Day 1:

Grade: 6th
Content: Language Arts
Standards:
RL.6.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
RL.6.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning
and tone.
RL.6.5 Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure
of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot.
RL.6.10 By the end of the year read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and
poems, in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high
end of the range.
SL.6.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others ideas
and expression their own clearly.
L.6.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words and phrases
based on grade 6 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
L.6.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in
word meanings.

Unit Goals:
Students will analyze the use of figurative language in text in order to explain how similes,
metaphors, and personification help to create an impression of a character or event.

Lesson Goals/Objectives:
Students will define 3 examples of figurative language: simile, metaphor, and personification.

Students will watch and respond to a Brain Pop video about figurative language.

Students will put together a foldable that sums up important facts about similes, metaphors, and
personification.

Description:
Evidence of Student Learning 10 of 22

Classroom: This is a self contained class setting. There are four students in the 6th grade
class. These students are a part of the Behavior Learning Support (BLS) program.
Students:
Student 1: This student has a specific learning disability. She is reading on a 1.4 grade level and
writing on a 2.1 level. This student frequently displays oppositional behavior. This includes
difficulty following directions and difficulty initiating and completing tasks. This student
benefits from reminders of the correct behavior that she should be displaying. She also benefits
from being read to aloud to better her understanding.
Student 2: This student has an emotional disability. Sometimes her behaviors escalate and may
become dangerous to herself and others. This student struggles with managing emotions and
conflict resolution. This student is reading on an upper 2nd grade level and writing on a
beginning 2nd grade level. This student benefits from being read to and offered a scribe.
Student 3: This student has a specific learning disability. This student has a low overall average
in reading. This student struggles with coping skills, anger, frustration, and upset. Most days he
is cooperative and friendly during class time. This student benefits from being read to and
frequent reminders of good behavior.
Student 4: This student has an emotional disability. Behaviors may escalate to eating non-food
items and dangerous behavior. When this occurs the student benefits from being reminded about
coping strategies (deep breaths, taking a break). This student is reading on a 3.2 level and writing
on a 2.5 level. This student is very eager to participate in class and benefits from positive
reinforcement and praise from the adults in the classroom.

Variability:
Student 1, 2, and 4 benefit from highlighting important information so for the pre assessment
they may use colors to highlight similes, metaphors, and personification.
Note sheet is already developed to save time with writing and scribing for students.
Student 1 and 2 have the option to highlight on their note sheet instead of writing sentences.
While completing the foldable student 2 may have an adult write for her while she tells them
what to write.
Everything will be read to student 1 and 2 during the lesson to better help their understanding
and comprehension.
During the lesson student 1, 2 and 4 need to be separated during instruction. These students
will be provided with preferential seating to reduce distractions to themselves and others.

Opening:
Students will begin by completing the pre assessment on figurative language. The students are
asked to do their best and see how much they know about similes, metaphors, and
personification. When finished the teacher will collect and keep these for the end of the lesson.
During:
Students will next watch a Brain Pop video about similes, metaphors, and personification. This
will introduce some of the terms to the students. Next the students will use what they learned in
the video to discuss with the class what a simile, metaphor, and personifications is. The students
will be given a notes sheet that is already filled out for them. The students will be instructed to
Evidence of Student Learning 11 of 22

highlight in their notes as the teacher points out examples of each type of figurative language.
Students will next be giving a foldable to put together. The students will fold the paper in half
hot dog style. Then the students will cut slits between the different boxes. On the front of the
booklet they will write simile, metaphor, and personification. On the inside the students will
write an example of each and fill out the definitions. This is for the students to refer to for the
next two lessons that include figurative language.
Closing:
When the students are finished they will complete the pre assessment that they completed at the
beginning of class again. The students should be able to use what they learned in class to
complete the assessment.
Formative Assessment:
Figurative Language Pre Assessment. (X2)
Summative Assessment:
None in this lesson.

Materials/ Resources:
Brain Pop: Figurative Language
Figurative Language note sheet
Figurative Language Foldable
Figurative Language pre and post assessment
highlighters
pencil
colored markers for pre and post assessment

Analysis and Reflection:

This lesson was an introduction for the students to learn about figurative language. In the
assessment, the students would have to be able to identify and use figurative language. With this
group of students, I needed to first figure out how much they knew about figurative language and
go from there.
After giving a pre assessment I realized the students would need to have a lesson on
figurative language again whether they had seen figurative language before or not. After giving
this lesson, I assessed the students again to see if they gained the knowledge they needed about
figurative language. By the end of the lesson I knew that the students understood similes,
metaphors, and personification. I knew this by the activities we completed, their participation,
and the repeat assessment at the end of the lesson.

Day 2:

Grade: 6th
Evidence of Student Learning 12 of 22

Content: Language Arts

Standards:
RL.6.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
RL.6.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning
and tone.
RL.6.5 Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure
of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot.
RL.6.10 By the end of the year read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and
poems, in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high
end of the range.
SL.6.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others ideas
and expression their own clearly.
L.6.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words and phrases
based on grade 6 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
L.6.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in
word meanings.

Unit Goals:
Students will analyze the use of figurative language in text in order to explain how similes,
metaphors, and personification help to create an impression of a character or event.
Lesson Goals/Objectives:
Students will review the definitions of similes, metaphors, and personification.

Students will organize and place sentence strips under the correct figurative language rule that is
being used.

Description:
Classroom: This is a self contained class setting. There are four students in the 6th grade
class. These students are a part of the Behavior Learning Support (BLS) program.
Students:
Student 1: This student has a specific learning disability. She is reading on a 1.4 grade level and
writing on a 2.1 level. This student frequently displays oppositional behavior. This includes
difficulty following directions and difficulty initiating and completing tasks. This student
benefits from reminders of the correct behavior that she should be displaying. She also benefits
from being read to aloud to better her understanding.
Student 2: This student has an emotional disability. Sometimes her behaviors escalate and may
become dangerous to herself and others. This student struggles with managing emotions and
conflict resolution. This student is reading on an upper 2nd grade level and writing on a
beginning 2nd grade level. This student benefits form being read to and offered a scribe.
Evidence of Student Learning 13 of 22

Student 3: This student has a specific learning disability. This student has a low overall average
in reading. This student struggles with coping skills, anger, frustration, and upset. Most days he
is cooperative and friendly during class time. This student benefits from being read to and
frequent reminders of good behavior.
Student 4: This student has an emotional disability. Behaviors may escalate to eating non-food
items and dangerous behavior. When this occurs the student benefits from being reminded about
coping strategies (deep breaths, taking a break). This student is reading on a 3.2 level and writing
on a 2.5 level. This student is very eager to participate in class and benefits from positive
reinforcement and praise from the adults in the classroom.

Variability:
Sentence strips will be read aloud to student 1,2, and 4 to help their understanding.
Students will be able to work with their peers to find where the sentence strips fit.
The amount of sentence strips is cut down for this lesson.
The students do not have to write their sentences, they are already typed out for them.
The students will get multiple reminders and reviews of what similes, metaphors, and
personification are.
Student 4 will work one on one with the teacher while completing the activity to ensure that
she stays on task and has a reader provided.
Make sure that student 2 has an adult near to reread sentence strips to her one on one.
Provide students 1 and 4 with their notes sheet or flip book to help support them through the
activity.

Opening:
Students will begin by being asked what they remember from yesterday lesson. They will be
asked to tell me what the difference between a simile and metaphor is and give one example of
personification being used. This will show what the students remember and give a refresher for
students who did not remember.
During:
Next the students will be given the directions for the activity they will be competing in the room.
Posted around the room will be four different large post it notes. Each one will be posted with
either simile, metaphor, personification, or I don't know. Students will each be given some
sentence strips cut out with an example of a certain type of figurative language. All of the
sentence strips will be read aloud and the students will all be able to work together in trying to
find which poster each sentence goes on. If the students do not know where one goes, and they
have asked their peers for help they may put it under I don't know. At the end these will all be
reviewed and the students will be able to correct themselves and find where they go.
Closing:
When finished with sorting the sentence strips the teacher will go over each with the class and
help clear up any errors made or confusions.

Formative Assessment:
Evidence of Student Learning 14 of 22

At the beginning of class students will be asked questions to check their understanding of
figurative language and remember from the previous lesson.
At the end of the lesson students will review their answers and make any corrections that they
see fit.
Note which students have difficulty during the lesson trying to place their sentence strips.
The students understanding will be checked through the placement of their sentence strips
throughout the posters in the classroom.
Summative Assessment:
None in this lesson.
Materials/ Resources:
Large sticky note posters labeled with figurative language
Sentence strips

Analysis and Reflection:

This lesson was designed to have the students apply they knowledge of figurative
language. I wanted to see if the students could apply what we learned the day before to some
practice sentences. The students had to detect similes, metaphors, and personification examples
in sentences. This is similar to what they will be doing within the story The Banana Tree
during the next lesson. I wanted to make sure the students were able to detect what type of
figurative language they were seeing.
I knew the students grasped the concept because they completed the activity without
having any sentence strips in the I don't know section. This told me that the students were
confident in their knowledge while completing the activity. The students also immediately fixed
the three mistakes that had been made and that showed me that they could go back and analyze
their errors.

Day 3:

Grade: 6th
Content: Language Arts
Standards:
RL.6.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
RL.6.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning
and tone.
RL.6.5 Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure
of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot.
RL.6.10 By the end of the year read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and
poems, in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high
end of the range.
Evidence of Student Learning 15 of 22

SL.6.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and

teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others ideas
and expression their own clearly.
L.6.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words and phrases
based on grade 6 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
L.6.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in
word meanings.

Unit Goals:
Students will analyze the use of figurative language in text in order to explain how similes,
metaphors, and personification help to create an impression of a character or event.

Lesson Goals/Objectives:
Students will analyze the use of figurative language in "The Banana Tree" in order to explain
how similes, metaphors, and personification help to create an impression of a character or event.

Description:
Classroom: This is a self contained class setting. There are four students in the 6th grade
class. These students are a part of the Behavior Learning Support (BLS) program.
Students:
Student 1: This student has a specific learning disability. She is reading on a 1.4 grade level and
writing on a 2.1 level. This student frequently displays oppositional behavior. This includes
difficulty following directions and difficulty initiating and completing tasks. This student
benefits from reminders of the correct behavior that she should be displaying. She also benefits
from being read to aloud to better her understanding.
Student 2: This student has an emotional disability. Sometimes her behaviors escalate and may
become dangerous to herself and others. This student struggles with managing emotions and
conflict resolution. This student is reading on an upper 2nd grade level and writing on a
beginning 2nd grade level. This student benefits from being read to and offered a scribe.
Student 3: This student has a specific learning disability. This student has a low overall average
in reading. This student struggles with coping skills, anger, frustration, and upset. Most days he
is cooperative and friendly during class time. This student benefits from being read to and
frequent reminders of good behavior.
Student 4: This student has an emotional disability. Behaviors may escalate to eating non-food
items and dangerous behavior. When this occurs the student benefits from being reminded about
coping strategies (deep breaths, taking a break). This student is reading on a 3.2 level and writing
on a 2.5 level. This student is very eager to participate in class and benefits from positive
reinforcement and praise from the adults in the classroom.

Variability:
Student 2 and 4 have fine motor skill difficulties that make writing difficult for these students.
Bookmarks are edited to be larger and have more space to write.
Evidence of Student Learning 16 of 22

Students 1 and 4 throughout the lesson will be aloud to have their notes out to use while
working.
The teacher will read aloud to students 1,2 and 4.
While student 1 is working a teacher in the class will scribe for her.
Student 4 struggles with working independently and benefits from a teacher working one on
one to scribe for her and reread for her.
Student 3 benefits from occasional check ins during classwork and will be checked on
periodically to make sure he is on track.
Student 1 has the option of writing for herself during the activities or asking for the adults to
scribe for her when she needs help.

Opening:
The students will begin by reviewing what the class has been working on the past two days.
Explain to the students that today they will be applying what they know about similes,
metaphors, and personification to the text The Banana Tree. Tell the students they need to keep
an eye out while the teacher is reading. Give them some tips like to raise their hand any time they
think they hear one (or raise their pointers).

During:
Next hand out the bookmark worksheet to the students. Explain to the students that they will be
using this throughout the reading. Exhaling that overtime they hear a type of figurative language
they should write it down on their bookmark and fill it out. The teacher should model the first
bookmark while they are reading along. The students will have The Banana Tree read to them
aloud. The teacher will stop when the students raise their pointers or when they have come across
an example of figurative language. The teacher will model the first example of figurative
language and show the students what to write on their bookmark. For the rest, it is up to the
students to find the examples and fill out the bookmark. The teacher will continue reading and
when the students hear one they may raise their pointers and share with the class. The students
then have the option to sticky note that example so they can go back to it to use as one of their
bookmarks. When the teacher is finished reading, the students will be directed to finish filling
out their bookmarks. The students should have examples to go back to that they put a sticky note
on. Some students may need parts of the passage reread to them, they may ask an adult to work
with them and reread certain parts of the story for them.

Closing:
When finished with the bookmarks, the students will complete an assessment on figurative
language. They will show and apply what they have learned throughout the three lessons in their
assessment.

Formative Assessment:
Students will show what they know about figurative language by filling out their bookmarks
while reading through The Banana Tree.
Evidence of Student Learning 17 of 22

Summative Assessment:
Figurative Language multiple choice assessment

Materials/ Resources:
Banana Tree textbook pg.171
Post assessment worksheet
Bookmarks to compete while reading.
Post it notes
Pointers

Analysis and Reflection:

This lesson was the final lesson with figurative language. I would work with the students
somewhat and model what they would be completing, but the rest of the class time work was
independent and graded. I first modeled what the students would be completing on their own
and showed them where to find the information. Then I had the students complete the same thing
on their own. Once I saw the students paper and could see that they mastered it, I gave them
their summative assessment.
After grading the summative assessments, 100% of the students mastered the goals and
objectives I had for them throughout these lessons. The summative assessment and the classwork
they completed showed me that they understood the material and did not need further instruction.

Part D: Analysis and Instructional Decision Making

On the first day, the students began with the pre-assessment and all 4 students got 0

correct. After the lesson was finished, I had them complete the pre-assessment again to see what

the students grasped. When given the assessment again, all 4 students got 3/3 correct. The

students went from 0% of them understanding to 100% understanding the lessons content. For

this lesson the students successfully completed the MCCRS that were expected of them during

this time. The students were asked to participate in discussion with the class while going over

examples of figurative language. The students also had a meaningful discussion after a BrainPop

video was shown about what they learned about what they saw on their pre-assessment. This
Evidence of Student Learning 18 of 22

discussion led into the note sheet that the class would be going over and the foldable being put

together about figurative language. The students showed progress in their discussions about the

different types of figurative language they recalled and the examples the students gave me for the

foldable. This showed me that the students could successfully complete the MCCRS L.6.5 and

SL.6.1. During the second lesson the students were to read sentence strips provided and place

them under the correct figurative language poster or the I don't know poster. 0% of the students

put a sentence strip under the I don't know poster. This showed me that the students were

confident in the concepts we had gone over and did not feel stuck on any. After going over all of

the answers posted the students got 87% of the sentences correct. When I read the sentences

aloud to the class the students moved and fixed 100% of the sentences when given a second

chance to go over them. The students did very well with this activity and had very minimum

support from me. This showed that they would be ready to work independently on this concept.

For the third lesson, the students were first modeled how to complete the figurative language

bookmark for The Banana Tree. Together the first figurative language bookmark was

completed, and then the students got to pick a place in the room to independently complete the

second bookmark. The students seemed to struggle with the positive or negative connotation and

describing what it meant. 50% of the students could not choose whether the connotation was

positive or negative. 50% of the students also had a hard time describing what the figurative

language is saying. I concluded that the bookmark may not have been worded very well and

when I asked the students myself, 100% could tell me what the line was describing to the reader.

The students still were able to master the objective but it had to be completed in different ways.

To get the students to achieve the goals of this lesson, the question wording had to be changed to
Evidence of Student Learning 19 of 22

bring all students to the success level that I needed them to be at after this lesson. Lastly, the

students completed their summative assessments on all of the figurative language they had

learned. 75% of the students received a 6/7 and 25% received a 7/7. This showed me that

independently the students retained the important information they needed to complete the

summative assessment that included what was most important from all three of the lessons. From

this information, I know that the students can now apply what they know about similes,

metaphors, and personification independently in their work.

Pre-Assessment 1 Pre-Assessment 2 Summative Assessment

Student 1

Student 2

Student 3

Student 4

0 25 50 75 100

Part E: Reflection and Self Evaluation

After analyzing the students data, I can conclude that the instructional strategies and

interventions used were effective for this group of students. Every student showed progress from

their performance on the pre-assessment compared to their further assessments completed. The
Evidence of Student Learning 20 of 22

scaffolding that was done for these three lessons helped to set my students up for success and

teach them at a rate in which they can follow.

As I was reflecting on my lessons, there were a couple things that I will keep in mind

later lessons and some things that I would change the next time. Throughout the lessons, the

students completed a couple worksheets that I set up for them. The next time I would change the

wording of some of the questions asked and I would put more detailed descriptions. If I were to

do this in the future, I think the students would be able to independently answer the question

better without having me to guide them to the answers that I was looking for. I think what

worked very well was the second lesson. The students got to get up and place sentence strips on

different figurative language posters. The students really worked very well with each of them

having their own sentence strips to put up. The students worked so well with this that I allowed

them to stay standing up for the part of the lesson where we went over their work and fixed some

sentences. These students in particular need to have time to get their energy out and during this

lesson the students got to complete work that could be done on a worksheet, standing up and

walking around the room. The behaviors during this time were minimal due to the fact that they

did not want to have to work at their seats.

Throughout the lessons, it was very important to me to reflect on how they went and what

improvements I could make in the future. One of the CEC standards is addressed in the

Instructional Pedagogy in the area of instructional planning and strategies. After teaching the

lesson where the students completed the book mark, a few of the students had a hard time with

answering the part about describing what the figurative language example was saying. This was a

very important piece of the lesson for the students and in the future I would plan better for this
Evidence of Student Learning 21 of 22

section of the work. When planning, I think that it would have been beneficial to take more time

into the last part of the bookmark to better master this standard. In the future, I would reword the

bookmark to be more detailed and descriptive. In class, I would also take more time to go over

the meanings behind the use of figurative language and how it changes the story. This would

ensure that the students would be prepared when the bookmarks were presented to them the next

day in class. Throughout reflection I also recognized that I needed a little more assistance in the

area of assessment after reflecting on my lessons. Throughout my lessons I used informal

assessments by questioning the students and observing how they completed the activities

presented to them. I also had the students completing formative assessments throughout the

lessons as well. However, when reflecting about the informal assessments I performed I would

change a few things in the future. During the questioning, I need to work on pausing for the

students to fully process and reflect on the question asked of them. I also would have spent more

time finding a way to write down how the students did during the informal assessments and keep

some sort of chart for them. If I would have done this, I could have seen what the students were

struggling in more early on. This would have showed me that the students needed me to spend

more time explaining the effect figurative language has on the story or the sentence.

Throughout the lessons, I believe that it is also important to reflect on what went well and

the standards that were mastered as well. I mastered the CEC standards that are addressed in the

Learners and Learning area of the learner development and individual learning differences

throughout the lessons. During my lessons, I was able to scaffold the concept into multiple

lessons to ensure that the students fully understand the content and receive all of the

accommodations as stated on each of their IEPs. I was able to differentiate each piece of the
Evidence of Student Learning 22 of 22

lesson to set up each and every student in my class for success. I also would conclude that I

mastered the CEC standards under Professionalism and Collaboration. I planned and

collaborated with my mentor teacher and the adult aid that is in the classroom with these

students. I also collaborated with other 6th grade teachers who were completing the same

lessons. I did this to see how these teachers were teaching these concepts. I met with my mentor

and the adult aid in the room to get insight on what works best for this group of students and how

I should scaffold this unit of lessons. By planning and collaborating with these individuals, 100%

of the students in the class mastered the objectives set for each day. By collaborating with other

individuals in the school building builds a strong foundation with the other individuals and

makes for a better planned lesson.