History and Social Studies

Content Area Task

Victoria Bernazzani February 18, 2013 UC San Diego

 Introduction: For the History and Social Studies CAT, I will interpret and analyze an assessment of a fourth grade classrooms unit on settlement. I will analyze individual,

small group, and whole group scores in order to determine appropriate next steps in their instruction. I will use the assessment and corresponding rubric to guide my analysis. First, I will provide an overview of the assessment and rubric that will be used in determining next steps. Next, I will go into detail and specifically list how I will provide next step instruction for whole class, small groups, and individual students. The paper will finish with a reflection on the process of assessment and how I will use this skill and practice in the future. Overview of Assessment and Rubric: For the assessment, students were asked to write an essay describing the factors that are involved when settling in a new place. As support, they needed to include the benefits, challenges, possible outcomes, and the big ideas that were discussed in class. Students were also encouraged to use the shared readings, charts, and activities to help answer the big idea questions about settlement. For the rubric, it was divided by how many benefits, challenges, and outcomes students provided, and also historical accuracy. For the benefits, challenges, and outcomes, students were scored by how many examples they provided: below basic for not listing anything, basic for listing one or two, proficient for listing three, or advanced for listing four. For historical accuracy, students were below basic for being historically inaccurate in all claims, basic for making three or more historically inaccurate statements, proficient for making two historically inaccurate statements, or advanced for making none or only one historically inaccurate statement.

 Next Steps: Whole Class There were 24 assessments total used for this analysis. From these assessments, overall class patterns emerged. Looking generally at the matrix of student scores, the students heavily fall around proficient. This is a strong indicator that students were successful in this unit. Looking more in detail, it appears that students understood challenges more than benefits and outcomes. For challenges, students were more dominant in proficient and advanced scores, while for benefits and outcomes they were more dominant in basic and proficient scores. Challenges: Benefits: Outcomes: 14 proficient 7 basic 11 basic 6 advanced 14 proficient 7 proficient

From this, it seems reasonable to conclude that challenges were an easier concept for students to grasp than benefits or outcomes. When comparing the scores of benefits and outcomes, I would save re-teaching the concept of benefits for small group instruction (more than half the class were proficient). I would re-teach the idea of outcomes because half the class (12 students) scored basic (11) or below basic (1). This means that these students only listed one or two outcomes in their assessment. Some examples of how I might re-teach this concept are: strategic grouping activities (those students who scored proficient/advanced) with students who scored below basic/basic), clock partners, using a different teaching method than the original instruction, leading students through visualizations, using graphics, films, visuals, and/or stories. The attempt would be to provide varied activities that allow students to experience the content in a different way than they had originally. Half the students grasped the concept of

 outcomes, the other half struggled. It is important to re-teach the concept of outcomes to

the whole group because outcomes is another way to say big picture. Asking students to define the big picture is asking them why learning about settlements is important. Because of this reason, I would focus whole class re-teaching instruction on outcomes. Targeted Support for Groups I would re-teach the idea of benefits to the group of students: 1, 7, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, and 30 because these students scored basic (except 30 who confused definitions). Four students in particular (1, 7, 23, and 30) are included in this group because they mixed up the definition of benefit and challenge. To target instruction, the teacher could split up this large group into two groups of four. With teacher guidance, the first goal for these groups would be to discuss the definition of benefit and gain confidence in this term. Using real life examples relatable to their own lives could help students grasp the definition. One strategy that could be used to re-teach this idea is clock partners. Students would work in pairs. Each pair would be assigned to a specific settlement. Their job would be to learn and research the benefits of that particular settlement. Once they feel confident in their information, each pair would find clock partners to discuss the benefits of settling in their particular settlement (i.e. Roanoke, Jamestown, Plymouth, or Missions). This strategy would give students the opportunity to learn one settlement at a time, and spend adequate time discussing it with their peers. Additionally, I would re-teach the idea of challenges to the group of students: 3 and 30 and I would also pull in students 5 and 33 (though these two will also be pulled for individual instruction). Having students 5 and 33 in a group setting with students 3 and 30 (who scored proficient/advanced on benefits and outcomes) would be an

 additional support system for these students who struggled across all areas. I would reteach the idea of challenges because it was a small percentage of the class that scored below basic or basic. Targeted support is aimed to help these students gain more confidence in their understanding of challenges. Similar to the previous group, the teacher could spend the beginning of the lesson re-defining the word challenges.

Changing the language and asking students, What would be hard about moving to a new placeif you didnt have... lets students imagine themselves in that position and could make the content more relatable. The teacher could use visuals, films, or a passage from a diary to support students during this brainstorm activity. Once students come up with a few ideas, the teacher could have them begin researching to see if their ideas are similar to historical facts. Patterns for Individuals The individuals that I would pull for specialized instruction are number 5, 14, and 33. Number 5 listed zero benefits (below basic), zero challenges (below basic), and one outcome (basic) and was historically inaccurate (below basic). Considering these scores, I would average the students overall score as below basic. I would re-teach the main ideas of the unit (i.e. benefits, challenges, and outcomes) to student number 5 because it seems that the definitions of these terms is unclear and content knowledge is lacking. The student references information but is unable to clearly express ideas or mixes up information learned in other units. There are also historical inaccuracies that need to be addressed. One example would be to give the student a notebook and have him/her create a settlement book. Each chapter would focus on a particular settlement and the student would list the benefits, challenges, and outcomes that settlement faced. If the student

 learned through writing, or stories made facts easier to remember, this could be beneficial. It would also give the student an opportunity to practice expressing his/her thinking in writing, which was the form of assessment employed in this unit. Number 14 listed zero benefits (below basic), three challenges (proficient), one

outcome (basic) and three or more historical inaccuracies (basic). The distinction between benefit, challenge, and outcome was not clear in the facts presented in the essay. Considering these scores, I would average the students overall score as basic. I would re-teach the idea of benefits and outcomes to student number 14 because it seems the student needs more practice matching information/facts with the vocabulary. One example would be to create a chart with the headings: benefits, challenges, and outcomes. The student would fill in the column of challenges to visually see that those concepts are understood. Practicing expressing information in a chart would seem helpful for this particular student who listed facts throughout the essay but in a disorganized manner. Organizing facts into a chart could help the student visually see what areas s/he knows and others s/he needs to review. Number 33 listed three benefits (proficient), one challenge (basic), zero outcomes (below basic), and two historically inaccurate statements (proficient). Considering these scores, I would average the students overall score as basic. Although proficient in two areas, I would re-teach the idea of challenges and outcomes to student number 33 because it seems the student is organized, but is unsure about content. When describing the challenges, the student often uses the words thing and stuff. There is a possibility that verbally, student number 33 is better able to express understanding. To acquire content and narrow in on specific facts, the teacher could begin by breaking up the unit into

 smaller tasks. The teacher could design an activity worksheet with structured questions that may help the student give more detailed answers. With these three students, it is important that the teacher acknowledges individual learning styles and adjusts the reteaching assignments accordingly. As support, various books, charts, films, or any other

classroom resources used throughout the unit could help these students on their individual assignments. Conclusion: Through this process I learned how important reflection and analysis of student work is as a teacher. Documenting student scores on the class matrix rubric was extremely useful because it allowed me to visually see student strengths and weaknesses. The rubric made it easier to pinpoint which area(s) the student struggled in. With this information, I was able to reevaluate which students needed extra support and how I would design their targeted instruction. This process also gave me insight into which groups to pull for further instruction. In picking groups, I had to use the data to support my decision. As a future teacher, analyzing the results of the assessment also provides insight into how I taught the unit. I can reflect on the area(s) in which students struggled and consider changes in my future instruction. I can also reflect on the area(s) in which students found success and consider continuing those practices in my instruction.

 Patterns for Individuals: Students 5, 14, and 33

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