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Jessica Quezada
TTE 357
December 15, 2014
Analysis of Growth: Eva
Description of Child
This semester I have had the opportunity to track the growth of Eva who is a fiveyear-old student who is currently in a kindergarten classroom. Over the course of the semester I
learned about Evas home life. All of the information that pertains to her home life came from
my home engagements with her and her family, which took place on September 23, October 15,
and November 15 2014. Eva has a five-person family, which consists of her mother and father as
well as her two brothers. One of her brothers is a fourth grader at the same school and her other
brother is thirteen years old. In the beginning of the year her mom worked in accounting for the
store Burlington, and she has recently changed over to the safety department. Her father works
at OReilly Auto Parts. This is the first year that both of her parents are working since in the past
her mother has been a stay at home mom.
Eva lives in a home where both English and Spanish are spoken. She grew up
learning both languages simultaneously and all of her immediate family speaks both languages,
which means that she can use either when communicating with them. However when it comes to
extended family such as her grandmother she does need to use Spanish in order to communicate.
Since she spends time with her grandmother almost everyday after school she has to have some
way of communicating with her. Her mother and father both expressed the fact that many times
when they speak in Spanish to Eva she will respond in English instead of Spanish. Mom also

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said that sometime she will make Eva repeat the things that she Spanish as a way of keeping the
language alive.
Eva and her family visit Mexico regularly. Mom expressed that she likes to visit
because it gives her children the opportunity to see how other people around the world live, and
how others lives differ so greatly form their own. Since there is such a huge different in the
culture, from the way the houses are made to the cars that they ride she wants her children to see
how fortunate they are to be living the lives that they do. Another large part of Evas culture
includes going to church. On most Sundays the whole family will go to mass at the Cathedral,
which is their preferred church. On occasions when they dont have time to go to the Cathedral
they will simply go to any other catholic church in the area.

Description of Assessment Tools Used

Observation Journal
This is a journal that has all of the information I have gathered on both of my case study
students. The information in this journal covers all of the subject area that I might see on a dayto-day basis. This is also a place where I write any new information that does not pertain to the
subject areas. For example when I learn new information about a student family this is where I
record the information.

Quarterly Classroom Assessment

This is a form of assessment that my mentor teacher uses for all students. This assessment is used
at the end of each quarter, it covers their DRA reading level, alphabet letter recognition both
lower and uppercase, color recognition, color word recognition, recognition of non color words,

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number recognition, and the number to which they can count to. When all of this information is
assessed the information is complied onto one sheet and it is organized into these different
categories. The sheet states what score they should be getting in each section at the end of each
quarter, as well as where the students currently are.

Student Work Portfolio

In the student work portfolio my mentor teacher collects work samples that cover every subject
area. My mentor teacher specifically fills these folders with information that will be going into a
memory book at the end of the year, as well as any documentation that she wants to present to
parents at parent teacher conferences.

Home Visit Journal

The home visit journal is where I collect any information that I acquired through home
engagements. The information recorded in this journal comes from the audio recordings that are
taken during the engagement. Some of the information includes family background information
as well as funds of knowledge.

Math Interview
This is an interview that covers different areas of mathematics. Some of the areas covered by
students include counting by ones, tens, and fives, counting on, number recognition, one-to-one
correspondence, instant recognition, and number relationships. When I perform this interview
with students we sit in a secluded area of the room, and I record the whole process interview is
video recorded. If needed I also record the information on paper.

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Homework Journal
This is the journal in which the students complete all of their homework. The information in the
journals covers a variety of topics including math, reading, and writing. I record the information
in this journal by photographing it.

Video and Voice Recordings

I take there recording throughout the day, and they cover a variety of subjects. They are usually a
way for me to record assessments that I am doing with the students. They are used most often to
record gross, and fine motor skills.

Parent Interview
This is an interview that was conducted about my case study child during a home engagement.
This interview was meant to give me additional information on how the child uses her two
languages at home. The interview was audio recorded, and transcribed.

Work Samples
This includes any work that I take samples of through photography. Some of the samples I
collect include writing samples from the classroom journal, any work that is completed during
their science area, assignments that are completed during the math block, or the writing and
literacy block. These samples can be taken at any time during the day, for any subject area.

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Analysis of Childs Development and Skills
Physical Development
Over the course of the semester I have seen a growth in Evas fine and gross motor skills. In the
beginning of the semester I noticed that Eva had enough control of her fine motor skills to hold a
pencil correctly, as well as with a tight grip. Another indicator that has been documented is the
neatness of her handwriting (Observation Journal 9/22). During this time of the year I also
observed that Eva needed support in other areas of fine motor control, for example on September
22 I had to help her open her milk, she was able to do the initial step where she pulled the flaps
apart, but she was not able to pull out the remainder of the carton (Observation Journal). The
growth in her fine motor skills can be seen in increased neatness in her writing, which can he
seen in two writing samples, one from 8/14 and the other from 12/10. This can also be seen in the
increasing amount of detail that she adds to her drawings (Work Sample 8/15 and 12/08). I have
also seen a great deal of growth in Evas gross motor skills. On September 22 I noticed that when
she sat at the carpet she was able to sit with her legs crossed and she sits up straight. She was
able to keep that control over the course of different activities, which took about fifteen minutes
(Observation Journal). On September 21 when she was assigned that job of door holder she was
able to push the door and hold it open on her own (Observation Journal). In the beginning of the
year Eva was capable of getting up onto the jungle gym and when she reached the point in which
she had to either slide down the pole, or climb back down she expressed that she was not able to
do either. At that point I had to support her in climbing back down to the bottom (Observation
Journal 9/5). On 11/21 she climbed back to the top of the jungle gym. When she reached the top
of the jungle gym she asked me for support in sliding down the pole. I attempted to guide her in
sliding down the pole. After making several moves to slide down the pole she decided not to

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slide down the pole, and decided to just climb back down. This time she did not need the support
in climbing back down (Video Recording). Eva has also begun to show more flexibility in the
use of the monkey bars. In the beginning of the year stayed away from the monkey bars, and
when she did attempt to complete them she would only hang on the first bar. On 11/21 I observed
as Eva hung on the second bar of the monkey bars, and moved to the next bar before completely
letting go (Video Recording). On 11/21 I supported her by holding on to her while she completed
the monkey bars. I helped her go to the half way point at which point I told her I would be letting
her go so that she could attempt it on her own. At that point she decide not to continue and
instead let go of the monkey bars (Observation Journal).

Strengths and Areas for Future Growth

It is apparent to me that Evas strong point is her fine motor development. This can be seen in the
clarity of her handwriting, as well as the large amount of details in her drawings. In the future it
would he helpful to her if she engaged in more activities that required the use of her large
muscles.

Social and Emotional Development

Eva has the ability to communicate well with other students in the classroom, and she willingly
participates in whole group activities. One activity that she always participates in is the Kindness
Nomination. We take time once a week to come together as a class and each student has the
opportunity to nominate a friend that has been nice to them. On every occasion that we have
done this, Eva has nominated a friend (Observation Journal 9/8, 9/15). Eva also has the ability to
emotionally support other students, on September 22 a student was having a hard time finding

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the date on the board, and writing it on her paper. Eva decided to help her by holding the hand
that her friend was writing with, and explaining to her what they were writing as well as helping
her by guiding the pencil (Observation Journal). From the beginning of the year Eva showed that
she was able to emotionally support friends that had a problem, or were in need of assistance and
she continues to do this. For example on December 8 she saw that a friend was upset because she
wanted to go home, Eva she decided to read her a book to comfort her. On this same day she saw
that another friend was having a hard time cutting out a figure, and Eva jumped in to help him
(Observation Journal). There are also sign that Eva has begun to gain control of her own
emotions. On one occasion in the beginning of the year she was able to reach the top of the
jungle gym on her own but once she reached the top she needed adult assistance to get down. I
provided verbal assistance as to how to slide down the pole, and when she was too scared to
choose that avenue I once again provided verbal assistance as to sow to climb backwards down
the bars. She was able to climb down at a slow pace but as she was coming down she was
whimpering, and verbally expressing her fears (Observation Journal 9/5). On another occasion
close to the end of the semester I encountered a similar situation with her. In this instance she
expressed that she was to scare to slide down the pole, but quickly easily decided to climb back
backwards instead (Observation Journal 11/21).

Strengths and Areas for Future Growth

Eva does well in supporting others who are in need. Evas stretches come when she has to
emotionally support herself; this is when she needs support from others. It would be helpful to
her if participated in activities in which she had to use this skill.

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Language Development
Eva speaks both English and Spanish but she uses English as her primary form of
communication. She will speak Spanish when her parents specifically ask her to (Home Visit
Journal 9/23). As the year has progressed I have heard Eva use more Spanish while at school. For
example on December 10 when she was talking with a Spanish speaking friend she said Eso es
un snowflake, es un snowflake, to help her friend identify an object (Observation Journal). On
another occasion when one of the ELL students in our class needed writing a number, she
assisted him by saying Jose, asi, and writing the number in the air (Observation Journal 10/15).
During the parent interview that was conducted on November 15th, Evas stated the she was also
noticing an increased use of Spanish. Another area that I have seen development in is the way
Eva pronounces certain letters. Eva has a speech impediment, which makes it harder for her to
pronounce some letter sounds. During the home visit on September 23 I noticed that she had the
letter G one of the letters that she had a hard time pronouncing (Home Visit Journal). On
September 23 I heard her on two occasions make the T sound in place of C. For example she
pronounced camera as tamera, as well as saying, I tan do it instead of I can do it
(Observation Journal). On December 8th I heard her pronouncing the letter C in two different
ways. At one point she said, I cant , but the C sounded like a T. Later on in the day she
was talking about the class picture, and on that occasion the C was pronounced correctly
(Observation Journal).

Strengths and Areas for Future Growth

It is noticeable that Eva is growing in the area of language development, especially when it
comes to the use of a second language. It is my hope that she continues to grown in this area as

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the year continues. The area that she still needs assistance in is in the pronunciation of different
letter sounds. Her visits with the speech pathologist as well as continued practice in class will
help her to keep growing.

Reading and Language Arts Skills

Through the observations and assessments that I have done with Eva this semester, I have been
able to see growth in the areas of language arts and reading. On September 23rd Eva was able to
recognize a total of 29 lower and upper case letters. This includes 15 capital letters, and 14
lowercase letters. (Quarterly Classroom Assessment). When Eva was reassessed for letter
recognition on December 10 she was able to recognize 26 out of 26 capital letters, and 24 out of
28 lowercase letters. Eva is also able to write her name with no support (Observation Journal
9/17). Even though Eva is not able to read the words in a book, she is able to read by
interpretation the pictures. On September 24th she demonstrated this by reading a simple book
called Mom. The book repeated the same basic sentence while only changing one of the words in
every sentence, which is a level A DRA book (Observation Journal). During her last home
interviews on November 15, I presented her with her book that was written at a level 1 of DRA.
Eva was proficient in reading the book (Video Recording). I have also noticed that her writing
has become increasingly complex. A work samples form August 11 shows her using simple
sentences such as I like dog. Another work sample from September 8, show the sentences I
like sunny days. Now she is starting to write multiple sentences to describe one event, or
object. This growth can be seen in her Car Research Book where she writes four sentences to
describe the motorcycle she had made (Work Sample 12/8). The amount of sight words that Eva
is able to recognize has also increased. In the beginning of the year the words I, My, and The

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were not words that she could recognize instantly (Quarterly Assessment 8/14). The growth was
apparent during her last home engagement. She was able to instantly recognizes the words I, My,
and The (Video Recording 11/15).

Strengths and Areas for Future Growth

Eva has growth in many areas of language and reading. At this point her strengths include letter
recognition, and writing. Even though Eva has grown to recognize an increasing number of sight
words she still needs assistance in this area. It will be important to incorporate lessons that
require the use of sigh words into the classroom activities. Eva should also continue to work on
sight words at home as part of her assignments.

Math Skills
For Eva there has been significant growth in several areas of mathematics. On September 29th
Eva was able to count to the number 8. On this same day she was also able to name 12 numbers
ranging from 1 - 20 (Quarterly Classroom Assessment 9/22). When she was reassessed in
September 29, 2014 she counted from 1-13, she skipped 14, then said 15, 16, and 19 (Math
Interview). As the year has progressed she has shown her growth in the areas of counting. On
November 21st while I was conducting a math interview she showed that she was able to count
to 20 when there were visual representations of the numbers in front of her, which she herself
had written. Eva has also shown great growth in the area of number recognition. On September
29th when she was presented with the same assessment she was able to identify 13 of the 20
numbers (Math Interview). During the last assessment of this kind, which was conducted on
November 20th, Eva was able to correctly name all 20 of the numbers (Math Interview).

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In the beginning of the year Eva did not understand the concept of one-to-one correspondence.
One of her math work sample shows set of objects that she was supposed to label in numerical
order; instead they are labeled as 1, 2, 1, 3, 5, 8 (Observation Journal 9/15). On 11/12 when Eva
completed the Grab and Count worksheet she was able to correctly label all of her objects using
the numbers 1,2,3,4,5 (Work Sample). Eva has also begun to show the use of different
mathematical skills. During the first math assessment when took place on September 29, 2014,
she was not able to effectively complete problems that required the skills of instant recognition
or counting on. Later on in the year I heard Eva using the counting on method to continue
counting on from the number 6 (Observation Journal 11/12). This skill is also represented in
counting on worksheet completed by Eva (Work Sample 12/10). She was also able to use the
instant recognition technique to identify how many names were under each lunch choice. She
was able to instantly recognize the amounts 2, 3, and 4 (12/3).

Strengths and Areas for Future Growth

In the area of mathematics Eva excels in area of number recognition, as well as number
sequencing. One of Evas stretches is counting. Even though she has grown significantly during
this semester there is still room for growth. Eva will continue to develop in this area with the
continued use of counting throughout the day at multiple times. It will be necessary for the
counting to be up to higher numbers.

Social Studies Skills

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Even though social studies is not one of the content areas that we cover in the classroom it is
covered during every morning meeting with the whole school. During all of the times that I have
had the opportunity to see Eva take part in reciting the pledge along with the whole school.
During this time she also participates in singing what we call the patriotic song, which is
different every day. (Observation Journal 9/8 9/10 9/15/ 9/17 9/22 9/24). Over the course of the
semester Eva has continued to participate in the singing of the patriotic songs, as well as the
reciting of the pledge of allegiance during the everyday morning meetings. Some of the patriotic
songs that she participates in singing include America, America, This Land is Your Land,
and Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue (Observation Notebook 10/13, 10/22, 11/14).

Strengths and Areas for Future Growth

Eva has a good amount of knowledge on patriotic songs, as well as reciting the pledge of
allegiance. It will be important for Eva to gain more knowledge on American history. This can be
done by creating lessons that are based on the topic, as well a integrating the subject into other
content areas.

Science Skills
Through the science activities that Eva has participated in, I have been able to see her growth.
On September 22nd students were taken out to an area in the school where a shade structure was
going to be built, and they were able to see the first steps for building a shade structure. From
there students were asked to draw their mental model of what a shade structure looks like. In her
drawing Eva depicts four holes, which represent the holes that she saw outside, and there is a

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cloth covering over these holes (Work Portfolio). On December 1st she was able to draw another
mental model, this time she drew what she believed to be an instrument (Work Sample).
Another science activity that Eva takes part in is the weather report. On September 10 it was her
responsibility to put together the weather report, for that specific day she chooses the words rainy
and cool to describe the day, and she predicts that the next day will be sunny. On that particular
day it was not rainy, or cold, but it was cloudy and had been raining in the previous day
(Observation Journal). Eva participates in the weather chart discussion every morning, when
other students are putting the chart together. She participates in discussion questions that are
asked by the classroom teacher. For example when students put up the card that says snowy as
the weather for the next day the teacher asks them if it really could snow in Tucson. Once the
class has reached a consensus of no, she goes on to ask where it might be snowing around the
world. The class agreed that it might be snowing in the mountain, or in the North Pole
(Observation Notebook 11/12). Eva has continued to participate in the Science activities that take
place every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursdays. On 9/8 she was able to complete to use her
knowledge of the five senses to identify 4 of those qualities in a piece of cloth. She has also had
the opportunity to take part in making predictions (Observation Journal). On 10/20 she
participated in an activity in which she was asked to make predictions about whether sand in a
cup wrapped in black or white paper would get hotter (Observation Journal).

Strengths and Areas for Future Growth

Eva has had plenty of opportunities to make predictions thorough the school year, and it is the
area of science that she does well in. As the year progresses it will be important for Eva to

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explore new scientific concepts. This can be achieved by incorporating the new concepts into the
weekly science activities.

Analysis of Growth: Mia

Description of Child
Mia is a five-year-old student in a kindergarten. She is Hispanic and her main language is
Spanish (Observation Journal 9/04). Her household consists of her parents and two older siblings
both of which are girls. At this point her father is living in Mexico (Family Backpack Journal
date). One of her older sisters attends the same school that she does and she is in a 1st/2nd grade
classroom right next door to hers (Observation Journal 9/22). She also has a cousin that attends
the same school, and they are the same age (Observation Notebook date). Mia speaks both
English and Spanish at school but the main language that I have heard her speak is English. She
uses it mainly to talk to friends in a casual setting. The times when she does speak Spanish is
when the teacher will speak Spanish to her, even then it is more likely for Mia to answer in
English rather than in Spanish (Observation Journal 9/21, 9/23).

Description of Assessment Tools Used

Observation Journal
This is a journal that has all of the information I have gathered on both of my case study
students. The information in this journal covers all of the subject area that I might see on a dayto-day basis. This is also a place where I write any new information that does not pertain to the
subject areas. For example when I learn new information about a student family this is where I
record the information.

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Quarterly Classroom Assessment

This is a form of assessment that my mentor teacher uses for all students. This assessment is used
at the end of each quarter, it covers their DRA reading level, alphabet letter recognition both
lower and uppercase, color recognition, color word recognition, recognition of non color words,
number recognition, and the number to which they can count to. When all of this information is
assessed the information is complied onto one sheet and it is organized into these different
categories. The sheet states what score they should be getting in each section at the end of each
quarter, as well as where the students currently are.

Student Work Portfolio

In the student work portfolio my mentor teacher collects work samples that cover every subject
area. My mentor teacher specifically fills these folders with information that will be going into a
memory book at the end of the year, as well as any documentation that she wants to present to
parents at parent teacher conferences.

Math Interview
This is an interview that covers different areas of mathematics. Some of the areas covered by
students include counting by ones, tens, and fives, counting on, number recognition, one-to-one
correspondence, instant recognition, and number relationships. When I perform this interview
with students we sit in a secluded area of the room, and I record the whole process interview is
video recorded. If needed I also record the information on paper.

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Homework Journal
This is the journal in which the students complete all of their homework. The information in the
journals covers a variety of topics including math, reading, and writing. I record the information
in this journal by photographing it.

Video and Voice Recordings

I take there recording throughout the day, and they cover a variety of subjects. They are usually a
way for me to record assessments that I am doing with the students. They are used most often to
record gross, and fine motor skills.

Work Samples
This includes any work that I take samples of through photography. Some of the samples I
collect include writing samples from the classroom journal, any work that is completed during
their science area, assignments that are completed during the math block, or the writing and
literacy block. These samples can be taken at any time during the day, for any subject area.

Family Backpack Journal

These are the journal entries that come form the family story backpack journals. The information
in the journal varies depending on the subject of the backpack, and the participation of the
families

Analysis of Childs Development and Skills

Physical Development

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Over the course of the semester I have seen a growth in Mias fine and gross motor skills. On
September 15th I observed that Mia was able to hold her pencil with good grip, which shows in
the handwriting (Observation Journal). On September 22 I observed that Mia was able to open
her milk carton, and banana on her own (Observation Journal). Her development can be seen in
two writing samples one take on 8/14, and the other on 12/10 (Work Samples). It is clear that her
handwriting has become neater, and easier to understand. From what I have observed it is evident
that Mia also has good control of her gross motor skills. On September 15th during our morning
meeting Mia participated in singing the crocodile song and she was able to coordinate her hand
and arm movements to go with the song (Observation Journal). That same day during outdoor
play Mia was able to ride a bike and pull another person along on the bike. Later on when she
was putting away one of he bikes she was able to pick up the bike from the woodchips area on
the playground and was able to place it on the concrete, which is a couple of inches higher
(Observation Journal). As the year has progressed I have seen significant growth in Mias gross
motor development especially with her use of the monkey bars. In the months of August and
September she showed that she was able to effectively get across a set of monkey bars several
times. During this time she completed the monkey bars with what could be considered the most
basic technique, this means that she would move one hand onto the bar in front of her and would
proceed to mover her other hand onto the same bar (Observation Notebook). Later in in the
semester I recorded her using different techniques to cross the monkey bars. She was able to
slide along the side to of the monkey bars both on the inner and outer parts of it (Video
Recording 11/21). I also observed Mia the bar skipping technique to get across the monkey bars
(Video Recording 12/8).

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Strengths and Areas for Future Growth
Mias gross motor skills are her strongest in the area of physical development. Even though Mia
had good control of her fine motor skills, it is the area that she has the most room for growth. In
order for this growth to occur Mia should continues to participate in activities that require her to
write, and use scissors. Fine motor development activities can also be implemented throughout
the day.

Social and Emotional Development

From the observations I have done the information indicates that Mia has the ability to
communicate well with others and express her feelings. She is also shows empathy for her
classmates. Mia always participates in what we call kindness nominations, it is a time that we
take once a week to come together as a class where students can nominate friends that has been
nice them during the week (Observation Journal 9/8, 9/15). She also participates in reciting the
kindness pledge during the classroom morning meetings, as well as the whole school morning
meeting activities, which include singing songs as a whole school (Observation Journal 9/23).
Another indicator of her social and emotional development was observed when a friend was
having a hard time pushing a bike from the grass area over to the cement, when the student
shouted for help Mia ran over to help her (Observation Journal 9/15). As the year has progressed
Mia has continues to participate in the classroom kindness nominations, as well as reciting the
kindness pledge. (Observation Notebook 10/6). On December 8 when a friend was feeling upset
she guided her to me, and asked me to help her. I suggested that her and another friend read her a
book to comfort her and they both decided to do so (Observation Notebook).

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Strengths and Areas for Future Growth
Overall Mia does well in expressing her emotions, and empathizing with others. She can
continues to grown in this area by encouraging her to figure out how she could help support her
friends with limited or no adult support.

Language Development
Mia is a Spanish and English speaking student, with Spanish being her primary language
(Observation Journal 9/4). Even though her primary language is Spanish when she is at school
the main language that she speaks is English. When the teacher speaks to her in English or in
Spanish she will respond in English but only with one or two word sentence. For example on
September 23 when her teacher greeted her by saying, Good morning how are you in Spanish
Mia responded Good in English (Observation Journal 9/21, 9/23). At this point in time Mia is
becoming more effective at communicating with the English language, but when asked still
prefers to hear information relayed in Spanish. She is effective at getting her messages across to
others in both English and Spanish. For example on 11/5 she was had a conversation with Eva
about their birthdays. Mia said that her birthday was in December that she would be having a
birthday party soon (Observation Notebook).

Strengths and Areas for Future Growth

Her use of the English language has become a strength, but it is also an area that she could use
growth in. She should continuously be encouraged to use English when communicating with
others. She should also be encouraged to talk in longer and more detailed sentences whenever
possible.

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Reading and Language Arts Skills

Through the observations and assessments that I have done with Mia this semester, I have been
able to see growth in the areas of language arts and reading. When Mia was first assessed for her
letter recognition she was able to name 6 uppercase letters, 5 in English and 1 in Spanish and 1
lowercase letters She was also able to find the letters that are a part of her name (Quarterly
Classroom Assessment 9/23). When she was reassessed for her knowledge of letter recognition
she was able to name 7 of 26 uppercase letters and 5of 28 lowercase letters (Quarterly Classroom
Assessment). On September 15th she was working at a center that had whiteboards and magnetic
letters, during her time there she was able to find the letters to write her name, as well as the
word purple. Even though she was able to find the letters in her name she does need assistance to
spell it out (Observation Journal 9/15). On September 22 I observed as Mia used the word wall
for support with writing her name on a piece of paper (Observation Journal). Mia is now able to
write her first and last name independently (Observation Notebook 12/10). On September 15th
Mia showed she was able to write simple sentences such as I like levs and I like cat
(Classroom Writing Journal). As the year has progressed she has begun to use more sentences to
describe an object or even. This can be seen in her Rainbow Bus book where she uses several
sentences to describe her bus. (Work Sample 12/8).

Strengths and Areas for Future Growth

Mia does well in the area of writing, as she is able to express her ideas in a clear manner, and
have an adult assist her in the writing process. Her stretches are in the areas of letter recognition,

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and correlating letter sounds with letters. These are the areas that should be incorporated into
classroom activities to help Mia further develop her knowledge.

Math Skills
For Mia there has been significant growth in several areas of mathematics. When she was
assessed on her counting abilities on September 22 Mia was able to count up to the number 13.
She was also able to recognize and name five numbers, which include the numbers 4, 3, 6, and
16. When I did the math interview with Mia on November 17th she showed that she was capable
of counting from 1-12, she skipped 13, the counted from 14-15, she skipped 16, finally she
counted from 17- 24. On December 8 Mia was able to count to the number 47 with minimal
assistance from my mentor teacher. The numbers that she skipped while counting included 13,
14, 30, 31, 40, and 45 (Quarterly Assessment). There has also growth in Mias number
recognition skills. When the assessment was first conducted in August of 2014, she was able to
recognize 5 of the 20 numbers. When the assessment was conducted again on November 16th she
was able to identify 7 of the numbers in English, and one of them in Spanish. On December 10th
Mia successfully completed a worksheet on the skill of counting on (Work Sample). This showed
her growth in the area. When she was first assessed on the skill on November 17th she was not
able to count on (Math Interview).

Strengths and Areas for Future Growth

Counting and number sequencing are Mias strengths. In the future it will be helpful for her to
engage in activates that require number recognition number recognition. In order for this growth

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to occur it will be important to create math lessons that require this skill, as well as incorporating
the skill into different content areas.

Social Studies Skills

In the mornings during the time we consider our morning meeting time Mia participates in
reciting the pledge of allegiance, as well as singing a variety of patriotic songs. (Observation
Journal 9/8, 9/10, 9/15, 9/17, 9/22, 9/24). As the year has progressed Mia has continued to
participate in the reciting of the pledge of allegiance as during the morning meetings. She has
also continued to sing along with the patriotic songs. Some of the songs she has participate in
include This Land if Your Land, America, America, and Three Cheers for the Red, White,
and Blue (Observation Notebook 10/13, 10/22, 11/14).

Strengths and Areas for Future Growth

Mia has a good amount of knowledge on patriotic songs, as well as reciting the pledge of
allegiance. It will be important for Eva to gain more knowledge on American history. This can be
done by creating lessons that are based on the topic, as well a integrating the subject into other
content areas.

Science Skills
Through the science activities that Mia has participated in, I have been able to see her growth.
One the pieces of work in her work portfolio depicts a shade structure. Mia was asked to draw
what a shade structure looks like based on the observations that the class made of the outdoor
area where a shade structure is currently being built. In the image she depicts four squares, which

Quezada 23
are meant to represent poles holding up a cloth, which represents the shade. (Student Work
Portfolio 9/22). She continues to draw mental models, which she shown on December 1st when
she drew a metal model of an instrument (Work Sample). Mia also participates in the reading of
the everyday weather chart, and she has participated in putting together the weather chart. For
this task she has to choose a card that represents the current weather, as well as a card that they
feel will represent the weather for the next day. As the year has progressed the classroom teacher
has begun to ask question to expand upon the weather, and Mia answers these questions. For
example on November 12th a student predicted that the weather for the next day would be snowy.
The teacher asked if they really thought the weather would be snowy in Arizona. When the
classes reached a consensus that the weather would in fact not be snowy in Arizona, the teacher
then proceeded to ask the students to predict where in the world it might be snowing. Mia along
with the rest of the class was able to predict that it might be snowy in the mountains, or in the
North Pole (Observation Journal). Mia has continued to participate in the Science activities that
take place every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursdays. Eva has continued to participate in the
Science activities that take place every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursdays. In 9/8 she was able to
complete to use her knowledge of the five senses to identify 4 of those qualities in a piece of
cloth. She has also had the opportunity to take part in making predictions (Observation Journal).
On 10/20 she participated in an activity in chis she was asked to make predictions about whether
sand in a cup wrapped in black or white paper would get hotter (Observation Journal).

Strengths and Areas for Future Growth

Mia has had plenty of opportunities to make predictions thorough the school year, and it is the
area of science that she does well in. As the year progresses it will be important for Eva to

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explore new scientific concepts. This can be achieved by incorporating the new concepts into the
weekly science activities.

Child Input
Eva and Mia helped me figure out the method of presentation. Eva had chosen and movie, and
Mia agreed with her. The students also choose the songs that played in the background of the
movie, as well as the theme we used. I picked the names Eva and Mia, but the students were
asked to give their opinion on the name, and they both decide to keep the names. Once I had
made the first draft of the movie I took it into class and I shared it with them to make sure the
movies looked like they wanted it to and I was able to make any changes they wanted.