Student Growth Analysis

Chandler Davis
Steele Elementary School
4th/ 5th grade
 Student Description Sheet

Student #1

Student age: 10 Grade: 5

What do you know about this students literacy or language skills (i.e. English language learner, expresses a
love of reading, reluctant to write, etc.)?
Loves to read- summaries of pages read in readers workshop are always clear, concise, and tied to
text evidence. Her reading comprehension is advanced.
Writes fluid, thorough, descriptive work whether it is asked of her or not.
Sometimes incorporates illustrations to support her writing.
Is there any other information that is helpful to understanding this student?
She is quiet mannered, yet spirited with friends
Goes above and beyond on assignments or in-class work
She is in the school play

Student #2

Student age: 9 Grade: 4

What do you know about this students literacy or language skills (i.e. English language learner, expresses a
love of reading, reluctant to write, etc.)?
Loves to read, but doesnt always transfer his great thinking to writing
Very intellectual dissection of his reading or group reading verbally
I think he doesnt want to put in much effort into writing things down a lot of the time
Very creative writer with introductions and transitions
Is there any other information that is helpful to understanding this student?
Outgoing and likeable in class
Highly disorganized
Carefree attitude regarding school work, but hes very compassionate towards his peers
His parents have shared with me that at home he is very free-spirited and does not like strict structure

Student #3

Student age: 10 Grade: 5

What do you know about this students literacy or language skills (i.e. English language learner, expresses a
love of reading, reluctant to write, etc.)?
Stays on task, and really tries to stay on top of her work
Not reluctant to write, but her spelling and sentence structures are lower level
Enjoys reading, reading level is lower than 5th grade
When reading out loud she tends to stumble on words, and she still uses her finger to track. Her tone is
dynamic, but her verbal reading fluency is a little choppy.
Her comprehension of a passages main characters and plot are proficient, but she has trouble defining
words
Is there any other information that is helpful to understanding this student?
She goes to literacy intervention every afternoon, but does not have an IEP
Plays 2 sports outside of school, and was elected by her classmates as a representative for Student
Council
She has the desire to complete all of her work satisfactorily and gets stressed if she feels like she will
be unable to
 Description of Evidence
Attach this form to all pieces of evidence collected
(You will turn in 9 of these formsone for each piece of evidencein your final paper on November 10)

Student #: 1

Date collected: 08/29/2016

Description of evidence (i.e. transcription, copy of student work sample, observation notes):

Student writing sample

What was the setting? (i.e. during a read aloud, a conference with a teacher, during a student
conversation, during choice time, etc.)

Students were collaborating with groups to collect information on their assigned Colorado Region. Once they
gathered the appropriate information, they independently filled out a graphic organizer that was a scaffold for
the paragraph written about the Region. This writing sample is the final draft of their Colorado Region
paragraph.

Is there any other information that is helpful in interpreting this evidence of understanding?

Students had the scaffold of a graphic organizer that laid out the format of a simple informative paragraph.
They also had a chance to create a rough draft which was peer edited by their group members before writing
their final piece. They were instructed to pay attention to spelling, using their Social Studies textbook or a
dictionary to look up words that they werent sure how to spell. We also reviewed transition words and
paragraph structure as a mini-lesson inside of Social Studies.

What does this piece of evidence tell you about the students language or literacy development?

Student 1 is extremely thorough in her writing. She includes more important facts than asked of her to include,
and incorporates facts that no other student in her Region group included. There are three different words that
are spelled incorrectly, but high frequency words as well as some higher-level vocabulary are spelled correctly.
There are minimal grammar errors, and she uses transition words fluently. She is able to articulate her
thoughts clearly. Her handwriting is neat and consistent.
 Description of Evidence
Attach this form to all pieces of evidence collected
(You will turn in 9 of these formsone for each piece of evidencein your final paper on November 10)

Student #: 1

Date collected: 10/05/2016

Description of evidence (i.e. transcription, copy of student work sample, observation notes):

Student writing sample

What was the setting? (i.e. during a read aloud, a conference with a teacher, during a student
conversation, during choice time, etc.)

This piece was written on the last day of our Social Studies unit (before we started the Science unit). To align
with what students were practicing in their Literacy unit, I created the final project of writing a poem. The poem
would describe a culturally significant aspect of their chosen Native American tribe from the unit. As a class we
came up with a rubric collaboratively, which required the poem to have at least 4 of the poetry characteristics
that they had been learning about and practicing in Literacy, it had to tell a story that was significant to the
tribes culture, and it had to be 4 stanzas long.

Is there any other information that is helpful in interpreting this evidence of understanding?

Student 1s poem was written about the Bear Dance of the Ute Indian Tribe, which was a class favorite. We
watched a YouTube video of the Bear Dance, and danced it as a class. We also watched a Ted Talks
YouTube video of a Native American man from the Ute tribe telling their Creation Story. This was really
powerful for some of the kids. The poetry characteristics that she chose to incorporate in her poem were
onomatopoeia, personification, descriptive language, and imagery.

What does this piece of evidence tell you about the students language or literacy development?

Student 1 has gotten even more creative in this piece than in her first piece. The first was very structured and
matter of fact (which was appropriate for an informative piece of text). What this piece showed was her strong
ability to use imagery and descriptive language to express her understanding (Swish, Swish, Swish. The
orchestra of wind and leaves sing. A hunter of the great Utes listens to the music of the sacred woods.). She
uses higher-level thinking to express her story, similarly to the Ute man that told the Creation Story in the
video. She really articulated the sacredness and cultural significance of the Ute tribes ritual (The great beast
on the groundasleep. Hunter dances [towards] the beast. Beast up and awake, Showing the Ute a dance,
For his kindness, The Bear Dance).
 Description of Evidence
Attach this form to all pieces of evidence collected
(You will turn in 9 of these formsone for each piece of evidencein your final paper on November 10)

Student #: 1

Date collected: 11/01/2016

Description of evidence (i.e. transcription, copy of student work sample, observation notes):

Student writing sample

What was the setting? (i.e. during a read aloud, a conference with a teacher, during a student
conversation, during choice time, etc.)

This evidence was printed from Student 1s ANET test. My mentor teacher and I were grading their written
responses and we agreed that her short constructed response was a valuable piece of evidence, even though
it is written during a standardized test.

Is there any other information that is helpful in interpreting this evidence of understanding?

Student 1 was given a reading prompt. She was asked to read the piece of text and write a short story about
two characters that try to fly a kite. The prompt read: You have read a passage from The Kite Fighters about
two brothers who try to fly a kite. Pretend you are Kee-sup and rewrite the story from your point of view. In your
story, make sure to consider how you feel about flying a kite and your relationship with your younger brother,
Young-sup.

What does this piece of evidence tell you about the students language or literacy development?

This portrays Student 1s ability to recreate a story from another characters point of view. She is able to
comprehend a text, understand the authors point of view, and then rewrite the story from her own point of
view. This shows advanced comprehension and writing ability. She uses vocabulary that enhances her story
as well. She is also able to tell her story in a sequential order of events.

One interesting thing I do notice in this piece of evidence is the misspelled word propobly. This word is
misspelled the exact same way in the first piece of student evidence that I collected. Other than that, in the
long passage there are minimal spelling errors (there was not spell check on the written response portion of
the ANET test).
 Analysis of Student #1

I selected Student 1 because of her quiet nature, and her dedication to reading and

writing. From the first week of school, I noticed that she read aggressively and she was able to

clearly and eloquently write her thoughts. I first noticed this when conferring with her on her

book during readers workshop. Being in fifth grade, this is her second year in Tiffany Askins

class so she knew the rituals and routines. She wrote a descriptive and vulnerable summary of

what she read that 4th day of school and I was taken aback by her thoughtfulness. She is a role

model in the classroom. Although she started out the year being quiet-mannered, she has really

begun to blossom socially over the past three months.

Student 1 has shown improvement over time, even though she began the year with

strong literacy skills. She has developed a consistent flow in her writing. She has also improved

her grammar and spelling. I believe several factors have influenced this developmental change.

She has been consciously practicing her writing skills in all subject areas. She dedicates her

focus to being thorough and descriptive in all of her assignments. On several occasions she has

told me that she is going to take home her in-class assignments to finish or to improve them,

and to practice writing. She has great support from her parents at home, and I know that from

meeting them in parent-teacher conferences that they encourage her tendency to read and write

at home without much parental direction, meaning the love of literacy is truly is inherent in this

student. To revisit the aforementioned, I also feel that she has come out of her shell socially

over the last several months. This has led to an increase in confidence in her writing.

The question I have regarding Student 1 is simply how to continue to challenge her at

the appropriate level in literacy as her teacher. She is inherently engaged in literacy, but in a

multi-level class she could potentially become bored or non-stimulated by some of the activities

over the course of the rest of the year. She is a dedicated student so I know that she will remain

engaged and keep trying to learn as much as possible.

 Description of Evidence
Attach this form to all pieces of evidence collected
(You will turn in 9 of these formsone for each piece of evidencein your final paper on November 10)

Student #: 2

Date collected: 08/29/2016

Description of evidence (i.e. transcription, copy of student work sample, observation notes):

Student writing sample

What was the setting? (i.e. during a read aloud, a conference with a teacher, during a student
conversation, during choice time, etc.)

Students were collaborating with groups to collect information on their assigned Colorado Region. Once they
gathered the appropriate information, they independently filled out a graphic organizer that was a scaffold for
the paragraph written about the Region. This writing sample is the final draft of their Colorado Region
paragraph.

Is there any other information that is helpful in interpreting this evidence of understanding?

Students had the scaffold of a graphic organizer that laid out the format of a simple informative paragraph.
They also had a chance to create a rough draft which was peer edited by their group members before writing
their final piece. They were instructed to pay attention to spelling, using their Social Studies textbook or a
dictionary to look up words that they werent sure how to spell. We also reviewed transition words and
paragraph structure as a mini-lesson inside of Social Studies.

What does this piece of evidence tell you about the students language or literacy development?

I felt that Student 2 had an intriguing introduction sentence for a fourth grade writer being in the second week
of school. His handwriting is very legible, and he has about 5 spelling errors. He includes critical information
about his Region, and includes vivid language to his informative text. Although he has off-task behavior
tendencies, he needed very little scaffolding in this assignment and produced great work.
 Description of Evidence
Attach this form to all pieces of evidence collected
(You will turn in 9 of these formsone for each piece of evidencein your final paper on November 10)

Student #: 2

Date collected: 09/21/2016

Description of evidence (i.e. transcription, copy of student work sample, observation notes):

Student writing sample

What was the setting? (i.e. during a read aloud, a conference with a teacher, during a student
conversation, during choice time, etc.)

Similar to Evidence Piece #1, students were asked to collaboratively research the Colorado Life Zones to
participate in a gallery walk of informative writing pieces. In studying the Life Zones, they learned about the
animal and plant life, as well as the climate, of each of the varying zones. Once they gathered the appropriate
information, they were given a graphic organizer to support their paragraph writing. They wrote a rough draft,
and typed the final draft in class.

Is there any other information that is helpful in interpreting this evidence of understanding?

Students were not instructed as to how long the paragraph would be, the only requirements were to include a
fact about the animal life, the plant life, and the climate. Also included in the rubric would be transition words
and the basic paragraph features- an introduction and concluding sentence.

What does this piece of evidence tell you about the students language or literacy development?

Student 2s personality really came out in this piece. He was able to incorporate narrative qualities into an
informational piece of writing, which is proof of his comprehension of both of those styles of writing. His
transitions are lively and keep the reader interested (Lets go explore!). He refers to the interactions between
the plants, animals, and climate of the Life Zone as a cycle which shows his understanding of
interdependency between those parts of life.
 Description of Evidence
Attach this form to all pieces of evidence collected
(You will turn in 9 of these formsone for each piece of evidencein your final paper on November 10)

Student #: 2

Date collected: 10/24/2016

Description of evidence (i.e. transcription, copy of student work sample, observation notes):

Student writing sample

What was the setting? (i.e. during a read aloud, a conference with a teacher, during a student
conversation, during choice time, etc.)

During the latter part of October, students developed from writing paragraphs to writing five paragraph essays
in their Literacy unit. We worked on these essays in class giving students individual time, conference time with
Tiffany, or myself, and then more individual time to revise or edit or complete as needed.

Is there any other information that is helpful in interpreting this evidence of understanding?

The students had been reading and analyzing many pieces of poetry by several poets in this Literacy unit.
Most students got to write their essays about the poet they were most inspired by. Student 2 was inspired to be
more creative by Robert Frost. These are his two body paragraphs.

What does this piece of evidence tell you about the students language or literacy development?

This piece of evidence shows the development of sentence structure skills. He is beginning to use commas to
break up his sentences and to incorporate more information in his writing. He is also beginning to experiment
with more advanced vocabulary (Each reason depicting a new characteristic of his personality, Frost was a
phenomenal poet). I can see that he is progressively building his skills and gaining confidence in his writing.
 Analysis of Student #2

I selected Student 2 because of the contrast between his off-task tendencies and his

literacy abilities. He often avoids putting too much effort into things, however when he does the

outcome is impressive. The language that he uses when verbally explaining his thinking (which

is the way he explains his thinking most often versus written) is very vivid and purposeful. I

believe that the student showed better written articulation of his thinking along with more

advanced vocabulary use over time. I think that his age had a part in it, as well as the writing

strategies that he learned. He was able to express his thinking better through weeks of practice.

I do also think that the curriculum played a role, he was sincerely inspired by Robert Frosts

poetry, and wrote many poems in his own time that contained many of the different poetry

characteristics from the curriculum.

Student 2 is very inquisitive and expressive in class and that has finally transferred to his

writing. The initial reason that I chose him was because of the disconnect between his oral

responses and his written responses, and that gap has now been closed. He is an animated

and passionate learner, who often gives the class a great laugh. However his off-task

tendencies and disorganization have been very apparent over the last several months. On

multiple occasions over the course of the semester he has lost assignments, or even his table

partners assignments when he has held onto it for peer review. I tell Student 2 that organization

is going to be his Achilles heel. This brings me to wonder about the order of processes in his

mind. How does an educator instruct a student on particularly structured literacy processes if he

doesnt respond well to seemingly orderly methods? What kind of differentiation can we offer a

student like him to bring out his full potential?

 Description of Evidence
Attach this form to all pieces of evidence collected
(You will turn in 9 of these formsone for each piece of evidencein your final paper on November 10)

Student #: 3

Date collected: 08/29/2016

Description of evidence (i.e. transcription, copy of student work sample, observation notes):

Student writing sample

What was the setting? (i.e. during a read aloud, a conference with a teacher, during a student
conversation, during choice time, etc.)

Students were collaborating with groups to collect information on their assigned Colorado Region. Once they
gathered the appropriate information, they independently filled out a graphic organizer that was a scaffold for
the paragraph written about the Region. This writing sample is the final draft of their Colorado Region
paragraph.

Is there any other information that is helpful in interpreting this evidence of understanding?

Students had the scaffold of a graphic organizer that laid out the format of a simple informative paragraph.
They also had a chance to create a rough draft which was peer edited by their group members before writing
their final piece. They were instructed to pay attention to spelling, using their Social Studies textbook or a
dictionary to look up words that they werent sure how to spell. We also reviewed transition words and
paragraph structure as a mini-lesson inside of Social Studies.

What does this piece of evidence tell you about the students language or literacy development?

Student 3s paragraph was in basic paragraph form. She included basic information and followed the minimum
expectations on the rubric. She had three spelling errors in her writing, one of which was adision (addition).
She is still relying on the sound-letter patterns of a younger developmental stage. This is common in her
writing. Her transitions were basic, but they were placed/used correctly (to start off, in addition, also, to
conclude). For her literacy level she achieved a lot in this writing piece. She also repeated the introduction
sentence as the concluding sentence.
 Description of Evidence
Attach this form to all pieces of evidence collected
(You will turn in 9 of these formsone for each piece of evidencein your final paper on November 10)

Student #: 3

Date collected: 10/20/2016

Description of evidence (i.e. transcription, copy of student work sample, observation notes):

Student writing sample

What was the setting? (i.e. during a read aloud, a conference with a teacher, during a student
conversation, during choice time, etc.)

This was an excerpt of Student 3s readers notebook. These entries are not graded; it is just a summary of
what they read that day during their reading session. When conferring with students, Tiffany and I will review
their summaries as a formative assessment to see what skills we should target to work on next.

Is there any other information that is helpful in interpreting this evidence of understanding?

Student 3 loves to read and can often tell you about a storys plot and characters, but struggles with defining
some words. She is very enthusiastic and is not hesitant to ask questions or to tell you what is happening in
her book!

What does this piece of evidence tell you about the students language or literacy development?

Im noticing in this evidence piece that Student 3 has many more spelling errors than the previous piece. This
is probably because this sample is more informal, however it can muddle her great thinking or her perceived
level of comprehension when she writes this way. I do see Student 3 using a quote from her book as text
evidence to support her summary, which shows that she is aware of how to cite evidence. She is also making
predictions in her summary, which is a thinking strategy that we practice in class.
 Description of Evidence
Attach this form to all pieces of evidence collected
(You will turn in 9 of these formsone for each piece of evidencein your final paper on November 10)

Student #: 3

Date collected: 10/24/2016

Description of evidence (i.e. transcription, copy of student work sample, observation notes):

Student writing sample

What was the setting? (i.e. during a read aloud, a conference with a teacher, during a student
conversation, during choice time, etc.)

During the latter part of October, students developed from writing paragraphs to writing five paragraph essays
in their Literacy unit. We worked on these essays in class giving students individual time, conference time with
Tiffany, or myself, and then more individual time to revise or edit or complete as needed.

Is there any other information that is helpful in interpreting this evidence of understanding?

The students had been reading and analyzing many pieces of poetry by several poets in this Literacy unit.
Most students got to write their essays about the poet they were most inspired by. Walter Dean Myers inspired
student 3. This is her conclusion paragraph.

What does this piece of evidence tell you about the students language or literacy development?

Similar to the first piece of evidence, Student 3 is still using a basic topic sentence in this piece of evidence.
However, the content of the concluding paragraph is much more rich and descriptive. She refers to Walter
Dean Myers style of writing as unequaled, which shows improvement in vocabulary. She still struggles with
spelling, and uses write instead of right. She is also still referring back to the sound-letter patterns that were
evident in her writing earlier in the year. Although she has trouble spelling words like perseverance or fabulous
(persiverinse, fabules) she is advancing in her vocabulary use.
 Analysis of Student #3

I selected Student 3 because she has an infectious personality. She tries extremely

hard, and participates in class often. Even if she may not have the correct answer, Student 3 is

consistently exploring her thought process with her peers and her teachers. Others sometimes

have to guide her to making connections in her learning, but she never stops trying. She is a

lively young lady, who is well liked and responsible. She was elected the class representative

for Student Council, and she is involved in many extra-curricular activities. I sometimes wonder

however if any of those activities are taking away from valuable time outside of school

practicing literacy skills.

Student 3 has improved in the content of her writing. She uses more advanced

vocabulary, and more vivid language. Her comprehension is also improving little by little. She

does attend a literacy intervention class daily, so that has contributed to her progress over the

semester. However, I feel that one on one instruction during and after whole group instruction

has been the cause of great improvement as well. In that situation she has the opportunity to

ask me many questions that guide her thinking process.

Student 3 is very hard working. She has the tendency to get anxious if she feels like

she will miss an opportunity to get work done or if she will be behind in class. I again wonder if

the busy schedule after school contributes to this. Could she benefit from after school tutoring?

Is the literacy intervention and second-educator one on one time enough? Or would it be

infringing on her young social development to do such a thing?