Standard #6 Assessment

Standard #6: Assessment

The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s and learners’ decision-making.

EDU367: Explicit Phonics Lesson

Edited Explicit Phonics (Suffixes) Lesson Plan_Marissa Grijalva

My First Phonics Lesson!

Phonics fuels fluency!

For this lesson, I did a Phonics small group. My fieldwork placement in Block 5 (a 3rd-grade class) rarely does Phonics with the whole class. So, this small group was a mixture of academic levels (two high-level, two on-level, and two below-level Phonics students). Because this was a small group, my mentor teacher did not teach with me. However, she was involved with the creation of this Phonics lesson and gave me great advice. This was the first small group I ran by myself!

Engage Learners with Diversification

I was able to utilize a couple of differentiation methods within this lesson. As I mentioned, this small group consisted of two high-level, two on-level, and two below-level Phonics students. I had to ensure that the lesson was engaging for all the students within this small group. First, I knew that -ly would be a harder suffix to learn than -ful. My mentor told me beforehand that students had been introduced to -ful one or two times before, but this would be their first time learning -ly. Because of that, I spent a little longer on that suffix and added an understanding check after the “We do” portion of the lesson, where we reviewed the meaning of -ly. I also, upon the suggestion of my fieldwork supervisor, provided a word bank of -ful and -ly words for the students to utilize while writing their gratitude letters. We thought that it would be difficult for students to come up with words off the top of their heads, and that the word bank would allow me to see if students were using those words in the right context. Not every student needed them, but I saw three of them looking, and one asked for suggestions in their letter. I knew that some of the kiddos would finish their letters faster than others, so I challenged those who finished early to write more sentences and or decorate their letters with colored pencils and crayons. Five out of the six students decided to decorate, and four of those five wrote more than the two sentences I asked for. Considering that every student at each level was able to complete their gratitude letters, I think I modified and differentiated my lesson enough to meet their needs and create opportunities for success.

InTasc Standard 6 Alignment: Assessment

Guide Instruction, Monitor Progress, and Access Student Learning

My lesson on the suffixes –ly and –ful aligns with InTASC Standard #6 because it incorporates multiple forms of assessment, both formative and informal, throughout to monitor student understanding and guide instruction.

To begin the lesson, I activated prior knowledge by reviewing the difference between a suffix and a prefix. This acted as a diagnostic assessment, allowing me to gauge students’ suffix schema and clarify any misunderstandings before introducing the new content. Throughout instruction, I used thumbs-up/thumbs-down checks as a quick formative assessment tool to see if students were comprehending the definitions I gave for -ly and -ful. My first check with this showed me that students were good with the definition for -ful, but needed a review of the meaning for -ly.

The pair-and-share activity, where students discussed things they are grateful for, served as another form of assessment. Listening to their responses gave me insight into how well they could transfer the suffixes -ful and -ly to meaningful vocabulary and use them in context. The final letter-writing activity (my main assessment) provided a more holistic understanding of the students' learning. In their letters, students demonstrated their ability to apply the suffixes -ly and -ful in authentic writing, allowing me to assess not just recognition but actual usage in context. All six of the students in my small group were able to successfully write a gratitude letter with at least one -ful and one -ly ending word, showing that they accomplished my lesson's objective.

Through this combination of assessments, this Phonics lesson reflects continuous and purposeful checks that supported student learning, provided me with feedback, and guided my instructional decisions. InTASC Standard #6 by using assessment continuously and purposefully to support student learning, provide feedback, and guide instructional decisions.

Fieldwork Supervisor and Student Feedback

My fieldwork supervisor was very positive during our post-conference chat. He stated that he was impressed with how I interacted with the students, the explicit lesson that I delivered, and especially how I dealt with a student refusing to do any work. First and foremost, he mentioned my disposition was warm and kind, and that the students seemed to really like me. Then, he relayed how much he liked my lesson, and it followed scientifically backed practices for teaching Phonics. Finally, he asked me about D.N., the student who wasn’t very motivated to do any of the activities I had planned. Professor Vite inquired if he was on an IEP, and I informed him that his teacher is trying to get him tested. He was most excited that I was able to get him to finish the worksheets we had planned for the small group.

First, it is important to note that my mentor and I altered parts of the lesson to ensure engagement from the students. I originally made the lesson too long and complicated, and we agreed that trying to fit in a fable and a new suffix would be too much. Focusing on suffixes made it easier for me to hold the students' interest and attention. We also thought the idea to let students decorate their letters (for 3 minutes at the end of the lesson) would make them more excited to write, knowing they could do something “cool” when finished. I believe that the students thoroughly enjoyed the lesson I created. Throughout our time, they were engaged, asking and answering questions, and working diligently. They expressed how fun the activities were and how happy they would be to share their letters with their loved ones when they went home. At times, they were almost too excited, and I had to focus them back to their tasks when they went off topic. When I returned the week after teaching and being observed, the students asked how it went and if I “got a good grade,” showing that they cared and had fun. This experience has reminded me that students will be more engaged when they are interested in the topic and their brains are not being overwhelmed. Lessons must be sequenced properly, scaffolded, and made with the developmental stage of the students in mind. My main takeaway from the students’ reaction to the lesson was that following the explicit lesson template was why the students were able to have fun and LEARN.

Gratitude Letter Example 1

This student went above and beyond the number of -ful ending words.

Gratitude Letter Example 2

This ELL student (Spanish) utilized both her -ful and -ly ending words in the write context.

Gratitude Letter Example 3

This student used an -ly ending word that was not in my word bank ("finally").

Personal Growth

The development of this lesson was definitely a challenge for me. In the lessons that I’ve written in Block 5, I tried to incorporate too many things in a short time frame. With all the ideas I have, it can be difficult to choose the most effective ones for the lesson I am teaching. I feel a sense of responsibility that the lessons I create need to be a proper reflection of myself. It's great to have these experiences, writing lessons to improve my lesson-making process. Learning how to balance my responsibilities as an educator will be an area I am actively seeking to improve.

On a different note, I think I’ve improved in some ways after these last few lessons that I’ve taught. I believe my tone (warm, kind, calm) has improved as I continue to practice. My fieldwork supervisor left a positive comment about this in my evaluation, which made me so happy to know that I am presenting information and interacting with students in the proper way. I was also proud of myself for getting a student, D.N., to complete the assignments. At the moment, I was very caught off guard and nervous that he wouldn’t do any work while I was being observed. My instinct was to check on D.N. and see how I could connect with him, regardless of any work that he was able to complete. My supervisor was impressed that I was able to get him to do any work, let alone finish it, according to the expectations that I had set. This reaction gave me confidence that I can handle those kinds of situations in the future!

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