Part A

Monmouth University
School of Education
Teacher Work Sample
Teacher Candidate: Jamey Flaccavento
Date: April 30, 2015
Grade Level Taught: 4th
Subject Taught: Social Studies
Student Learning Course: ED-576 Teaching Social Studies at the Elementary Level
Taught by Dr. Judith Bazler

Page 1

Part A

I.

Table of Contents
Part A3-11
a. Contextual Description..3-6
i. Community.3
ii. District4
iii. School.5
iv. Classroom6
b. Rational for Unit.7
c. Goals..8
d. Assessment Plan.9-11
i. Diagnostic Component9
ii. Formative Component9
iii. Summative Component.10
iv. Breakdown of Assessment ..11

II.

Part B12-18
a. Unit Organization12
b. Curriculum Unit Outline.13-17
i. Purpose13
ii. Content...13
iii. Outcomes13
iv. Timeline14
v. Resources..16
vi. Evaluation..17
c. Description of Diverse Learners....18

III.

Part C..19-20
a. Overall Unit Reflection.19
b. Planning19
c. Instruction and Changed I Would Make19
d. Overall Class Learning Gains in Relation to Unit Outcomes19
e. In the Future.20

IV.

Appendices..21-30
a. Appendix A: Assessments & Rubrics.21-23
i. Test & Quiz21
ii. Projects23
iii. Participation.23
b. Appendix B: Lesson Plans.24-29
i. Day 124
ii. Day 225
iii. Day 326
iv. Day 427
v. Day 528
c. Appendix C: Student Results ..30

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Part A
Contextual Description
Community
Monmouth Beach New Jersey is a small shore town made up of
only 3,290 people as of
the 2013 US Census. The
small red area on the map
to the right represents its
location in New Jersey.
Being so close to the ocean and only 9ft above sea level, the area is prone
to flooding, yet that does not deter wealthy families from obtaining
residence. Most
citizens are
considered Upper
Middle Class or
above with Monmouth Beach
residence median household income
being $87,330 while the NJ average is
$69,667. There are slightly more
females then males in the town with
an average age being slightly higher
than that of NJ as a whole. The races in
Monmouth Beach are far from diverse
with most residence being white
alone. All data listed above provided by city-data.com.
Additional information regarding Monmouth Beach Mayor, Susan Howard, and
commissioners, James F. Cunniff, William J. McBride, Jr, and other administrators, along with
detailed budgets, contact and other town information can be found at
www.monmouthbeach.us.

Contextual Description
District

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Part A
Being such a small town, Monmouth Beach only has one school, educating about 300
students grades Pre-K through 8. The Principle also serves as the superintendent and many
administration assets are shared throughout
their and other small surrounding districts
(Ocean Port, Seabright, and West Long Branch)
whose students also attend the same regional
High School (Shore Regional High School). There
are many private/religious schools in the area as
well as competitive vocational schools that a
portion of Monmouth Beach students end up
attending.
According to the Shore Regional
website, it has recently risen in the rankings and
has been a nationally recognized school. The
Newsweek/Daily Beast 2014 Top High School
rankings has announced its rankings of more than 700 public, private, charter and magnet
schools across the country, and Shore Regional High School has come in at #288. Nearly 20,000
high schools of the approximately 31,200 high schools in the United States submitted data to
Newsweek looking to be ranked.
Monmouth Beach
School also belongs to the
Monmouth County
Vocational School District.
The following schools are
available for the students to
attend should they be
accepted: Academy of Allied
Health & Science (AAHS)
Biotechnology High School (BTHS) Communications High School (CHS)High Technology High
School (HTHS) Marine Academy of Science & Technology (MAST). (MCVSD.org)

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Part A
Contextual Description
School
As stated previously, Monmouth Beach School is a small Pre-K-8th grade school housing
about 300 students. Mr. Michael Ettore serves as both the principle and superintendent, while
the Vice Principle, Mr. Peter Bruccolari is also the
supervisor of special services. The board is
comprised of Mr. Denise Kotch, Business
Administrator, the President and Vice President
of the Board, and eight other members. All
citizens are invited to board meetings and their
minutes are located on the school webpage.
Every class has their own area for students and
teachers to access homework, grades etc. There
is also staff share used for the teachers and administrators to share documents school wide.
All contact information for the staff, administration, and board is easily accessed on the
website as well as sports, PTO, clubs, and class activities. The community comes together on
various occasions to support the school as well as individual classes (mbschool.org).
The school utilizes various learning enhancing technology. Each class has access to
chrome books and the eighth graders use iPads. There are smart boards in each room and an
interconnected server that students can access from any computer in the building as well as
school based google accounts accessible from any computer.
The teachers collaborate more than most schools I have seen. Each grade keeps the
curriculum the same for each class. Older students come and read to the younger students and
involve all grades in interactive learning, especially regarding social issues. Since the school is
small, the entire student body can get together for assemblies and other events.

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Part A
Contextual Description
Classroom
Mrs. Barbara Brown is one of two fourth grade teachers at Monmouth Beach School.
Her classroom is the last one before the end of the school, located next to the other fourth
grade room and the fifth grade classes. The class has 14 students, five boys and nine girls. Of the
five boys, three are classified special education. One boy is removed for language arts periods
while two boys require personal instructional aides for most periods. Of the nine girls, three
have IEPs or 504s.
The students have been together (mixed with the other thirteen fourth graders) mostly
since Kindergarten, with some exceptions joining in the later grades. The students are close to
each other and seem to have gotten used to each others habits. For instance, one student has
stimulation issues and is usually fidgeting with something, however most of the students are not
fazed by it. The class is also used to being separated into different groups during and after
lessons. This makes it easier for teachers in some ways to accommodate for the needs of
exceptional students.

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Part A
Rational for Unit
This unit on New Jersey and its relation to the country and world, serves as the first unit
in the fourth grade social studies. The fourth grade social studies curriculum concentrates on
local issues, government, and geography. This unit not only overviews New Jerseys physical and
social regions, but also reviews map reading skills and geography as a whole. This unit also
cooperates with other subjects through interdisciplinary skills such as grid systems, graphing,
and opinionated writing.
Not only does this unit properly introduce the social studies of New Jersey while
reviewing essential mapping skills in an interdisciplinary manner, but also stays in conjunction
with the recently updated New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards; in particular, those
related to section B on Geography which asks the essential question How do physical geography,
human geography, and the human environment interact to influence or determine the
development of cultures, societies, and nations?
The standards that are directly correlated with varying assessments, activities, and
lessons are as follows: Standard 6.1.P.B.: Everyone is part of a larger neighborhood and
community, Standard 6.1.4.B.1: Spatial thinking and geographic took can be used to describe
and analyze the spatial patterns and organization of people, places, and environments on Earth,
Standard 6.1.4.B.4.:Places are jointly characterized by their physical and human properties, and
Standard 6.1.4.C.14: Economic opportunities in New Jersey and other states are related to the
availability of resources and technology.

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Part A
Goals

Students will gain knowledge of globe and map skills.

Students will understand that New Jersey is and how it is part of the world.
Students will gain knowledge regarding natural regions of New Jersey.
Students will recognize what causes the social differences in New Jersey Regions
Students will investigate their own opinion of Monmouth Beachs geographical, geological,
and social location in New Jersey.

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Part A
Assessment Plan
Diagnostic Component
Pre-test: Students will answer multiple choice and fill in the blank questions regarding the
upcoming unit. Given that most of the content has not yet been taught, students are not
expected to answer most of the questions correctly. Instead the pre-test will be used in
comparison with the post-test in order to analyze student learning.
Clay Earth Project: Each student will be given a piece of play dough or clay. Teacher will ask
students to mold that clay into a globe-like ball and create hemispheres, prime meridian, and
equator. Will be handed in for grade.
Formative Component
Map Recreation: Teacher will review map facts discussed in the previous lesson. As a class, the
students will move the desks and recreate a simple map of New Jersey using the tiles on the
floor as a grid plot (the teacher will print out a map to the correct scale to use). Once the map is
in place, the class will work together to label their hometown, the capital, and other important
parts of the state in accurate latitude and longitude.
Map Quiz: Students will show the knowledge they learned about New Jerseys place in the world
as well as their hometown in the state. The other portion of the quiz will require students to use
their knowledge of general map reading to answer questions about a different location given a
map.
Categorizing Physical Regions: Teacher will begin class by asking the students to talk about the
different kinds of places they have been in New Jersey and list them on the board. The teacher
will then discuss the four different physical regions in New Jersey and their different
characteristics.
The class will be split into four groups, each group given a piece of the New Jersey map that
represents on of the four physical regions discussed. Teacher will spread out index cards
containing adjectives around the classroom. The class must work together to decide which cards
go with each region. Once decided, the class will present and decide if any changes will be

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Part A
made. Finally, the pieces will be added to the map on the ground. (For this unit the desks will be
in a U shape around the New Jersey map that the class is creating. This map will then go on
display in the hall at the end of the unit along with student essays).
String Activity/Town Research: Teacher will begin the class with a discussion about how New
Jersey is separated into regions other than those taught the day before. The class will be asked
to discuss different sports teams liked throughout the state and different ways words are said.
Lifestyles will also be discussed such as farming, city, and suburban life.
Next, the class will discuss what cities are close to New Jersey (NYC and Philly). How does the
closeness of different areas in New Jersey effect their way of life? the way they say things? what
teams they like?
Students will be separated into pairs and asked to throw a counter onto our map of New Jersey.
Where the counter lands they will find the lat and long as well as measure the distance with a
piece of ribbon to NYC and Philly. The pair will research the town (chrome-books)and see if
there are any connections between them.
Tally/Graph: In the last few minutes of class on a previous day, students will be given a tally
sheet in which for homework they will fill out. It will ask them to interview family and friends
about which sports teams they like etc. It will be used the next day in class.
The students will share their results of the tally. The results for each section will be averaged
and the class will work together to create a graph depicting the adverse they found (this will also
be hung in the hallway). The graph will be made using the smart board and excel.
Summative Component
Paper: The final project for the unit will be a short persuasive essay describing how they believe
Monmouth Beach fits into New Jersey as a whole based on the research done on physical
geographical and social characteristics of the state and town. Students will create a boarder and
assist in displaying their work on the bulletin board in the hall.
Test: The Post-Test will be exactly the same as the Pre-Test so that the teacher can assess
student learning throughout the lesson comparing prior knowledge to the final result.

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Part A
Table

Student

Pre-Test

Points

Not
towards
Grade

Clay
Earth
Project

Map
Quiz

Map
Recreatio
n

Sting
Activity/
Research

Graph
Participat
ion

Tally
Sheet

Paper

Post Test

Grade

100%

MD

20%

72%

AD

55%

4.5

94%

SG

20%

3.5

70%

MI

25%

3.5

74%

BL

60%

100%

MM

45%

4.5

90%

CM

40%

84%

AO

55%

96%

KO

40%

3.5

86%

MP

35%

92%

CR

25%

3.5

82%

KR

35%

76%

CT

50%

88%

EW

35%

72%

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