Amanda Pereda

Preschool-Grade 3 Education/Mild Intervention

Vanta Black
Center Grove Elementary School
Kindergarten
Language Arts
September 2015
ED 427 Supervised Teaching: Kindergarten

Step 1

Classroom Context/Community and Family Engagement

My classroom placement is in a Kindergarten class with 25 students, 13 boys and 12 girls.
5 students are English Language Learners and are pulled out for 20-25 minutes each day
to work with the ENL teacher. There are two students that struggle to keep up with the
day to day activities and work in class and there are four students who would be
considered advanced and are in the highest groups for both literacy and math.
The classroom teacher worked very hard at the beginning of the school year to establish
classroom rules and routine so that the students were aware of what was expected of them.
This carried through and helped the class and the students maintain structure. Since
children need structure this helped a lot throughout my time in the classroom. Of course,
there were times that reminders were needed but overall the students were well behaved
and knew what to expect everyday.
The classroom is one of seven kindergarten classes at Center Grove Elementary School.
Their enrollment is extremely high this year so theyve added two additional classes. The
classroom is a nice size and fits the 25 children well. The classroom is set up in a
manageable way with five tables for table work, five computers, and a rug/calendar area.
During stations the students rotate within their leveled groups through four of the tables
and the computer area.

b. Family and stakeholder communication and collaboration

Family and community resources: There are multiple family and community
resources in the area. Some that I would recommend to students are:
o White River Public Library- They offer a variety of classes and
activities for students and children of all ages, as well as a wide array
of books and study materials.
o Greenwood Family YMCA- They offer afterschool care as well as
summer camps and a variety of other activities for children.
o Guest Speakers- Fire Department, Police Department, etc. These
speakers come in at the beginning of the year and talk to the students
about fire safety, stranger danger, body safety, and more.

Family communication:
o Weekly Email/Notes- Its important to stay in communication with
the parents, so my plan is to send a weekly email to parents
discussing what we will be learning about in class that week, and
any important information and/or events they need to be aware of.
o Class Website- If the school corporation offers a class website on
their main site I would take full advantage of that. I would update it

with important information as well as what we are learning about

and a classroom schedule.

Family involvement:
o Parent Volunteers- I enjoy having parent volunteers in the
classroom. For younger grades K-3 I would offer and have parent
volunteers a few days a week. If we did literacy and/or math
stations, I would have that time available for parent volunteers so
they were able to work directly with the students.

Family involvement:
o My suggestion for parent involvement in letter and letter sound
recognition is to practice often with your child on identifying
letters, both upper and lowercase and also practice letter sounds.
Point to different letters and ask them to identify the sound that it
makes.

TEACHING CONTEXT DESCRIPTION

Class/Classroom Information
1. Grade levels in class (list all that apply):
2. Ages in class (list all that apply):

Kindergarten

__

5-6 Years Old___________________________________

3. Number of students enrolled in class: 25

4. Number of students typically present: 25_________________________________________

5. Time available each day to teach all students (in this class): 5.5 Hours___________________
6. Resources (equipment and supplies) available for this class (mark one):
X Well equipped and supplied (for example, multiple technologies, sufficient paper and
supplies)
Adequately equipped and supplied (access to technology and appropriate paper and supplies)
Poorly equipped and supplied. (limited technology and supplies or rationing of supplies)
7. Center Grove Elementary School is part of the Center Grove Community School
Corporation. Center Grove is located in Greenwood, Indiana. This school services children
in grades Kindergarten-Fifth. As of the last updated state report card, on the Indiana
Department of Education website, in 2013-2014 the school corporation was rated as an A.
The student enrollment for 2014-2015 was 759 students. Center Grove Elementary School is
the first and original elementary school of the district. It is placed in a very affluent area and
neighborhood. It is a well respected and highly sought after school to enroll students in.
84.7% of the student population is Caucasian, 6.9% is Asian, 3.0% is Multiracial, 2.5% is
Hispanic, 2.4% is African American, and 0.5% is Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian. The
community is a stable place to raise children, and the political climate in the town of
Greenwood is mainly republican. There are also a lot of community resources that are
available to families in the area.
Individual Differences
1. Number of students in class with diverse languages:
2. Number of students in class with IEPs:

8________________________

None

3. Number of students in pull-out or supplementary programs:

0

Title I

Gifted

RTI

Other: ENL Students

4. Patterns of development (number of students typically at each level)

_19 Typical
2 Atypical

Step 2

Assessment of Prior Knowledge (Establishment of a Baseline)

4 Advance

Describe how you will determine what the student or group of students know. Describe
how this information will be measured.
I worked alongside the classroom teacher to determine the students that I was
going to work with. The students were already grouped for literacy and math stations
based on their abilities, so using this as a guide I chose the lowest group of students to
work with and focus on letter recognition and letter sounds. My cooperating teacher
was worried about the lowest reading group and thought that extra assistance would be
very beneficial to these students. I determined what the students knew by conducting a
pre-assessment that included asking them to identify all 26 upper and lowercase letters
and the letter sounds. I also observed the students throughout literacy stations to
further my understanding of their knowledge.

Describe how you will pre-assess student/s prior to teaching the/a series of lessons on a
concept, topic or subject.
I pre-assessed the students using a premade assessment that features all 26 upper
and lowercase letters and letter sounds. I did the page with one line at a time available
to the students beginning with uppercase letters. I had the students identify which ones
they knew and I highlighted the ones that they did not know. I did this for all the upper,
lower, and letter sounds. I then used this information as a baseline for planning my
future lessons that were done with this group and students individually.
Be specific as to how you will pre-assess each measurable learning goal. You are
establishing a baseline to be used when comparing the students final performance.
I will pre-assess each measurable learning goal by asking the students to identify the
letters upper and lower case and each of the letter sounds. This will give me my baseline so
that I know which students need help in which specific area. I found that some students may
not be able to tell me a letter but they still know the letter sounds. A few students had
absolutely no knowledge and needed a lot of help in each.

Step 3

Planning Instruction

Connect Standards/Foundations
Standard/Foundation
K.RF.2.4

Objective
Learning Activities
Identify and
Alphabet Bingo
name all
uppercase
(capital) and
lowercase letters
of the alphabet

Assessment
Observation of students
identifying and marking the
correct letter on their bingo
sheet.

K.RF.2.4

Identify and
Alphabet Soup
name all
uppercase
(capital) and
lowercase letters
of the alphabet

Observation of students
pulling out pieces and
identifying letters. If they
get them correct they keep
the piece in front of them.

K.RF.1

Understand and Zoo Phonics Song &

apply
Cards
knowledge of
print concepts,
phonics,
phonemic
awareness,
vocabulary, and
fluency and
comprehension
as a foundation
for developing
reading skills.

Observation during song

and recording sheet while
going through the Zoo
Phonics cards.

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

Education Department
Lesson/Activity Plan Template
Teacher Candidate _Amanda Pereda______________________________________
Name of Lesson _Alphabet Bingo________________________________________
Subject _Reading/Language Arts____________

Grade _Kindergarten__________

Rationale for lesson:

This lesson will allow students to practice letter recognition in a fun way.
Learning outcomes:
Students will correctly identify letters called out and cover them on their bingo boards.
Assessment of student outcomes:
Observation of students if they are able to identify and cover the letters that are called out during
Alphabet Bingo.
Related Foundations/Indiana Academic Standard:
K.RF.2.4 Identify and name all uppercase (capital) and lowercase letters of the alphabet
Materials Needed:
o Alphabet Bingo Game
o Bingo Chips
Lesson/Activity Presentation:
Anticipatory set:
During stations/small group sit down with the group of students. Explain that we are going to play
bingo using the Alphabet. Explain that Im going to call out a letter from the stack and they have to
search their bingo card and if they have that letter they cover it with a bingo chip.
o
o
o
o
o
o

Teaching procedures:
Sit down with the small group.
Explain the directions, that Ill be calling out a letter and they are to search their board. If
they have it, they cover it with a bingo chip.
Give each student a bingo card and chips.
Begin the game by pulling out a card from the stack.
Continue until a student gets a bingo.
Begin to play again, if time allows.

Guided & independent practice:

Guided Practice:
o Sit down with the small group.
o Explain the directions, that Ill be calling out a letter and they are to search their board. If
they have it, they cover it with a bingo chip.
8

o Give each student a bingo card and chips.

o Begin the game by pulling out a card from the stack.
Independent Practice:
o Students search their board for the letter that is called out.
o If they have it, then they cover it with a bingo chip.
Closure:
After the game is over and/or time is up, have the students shake hands and say good game.
Differentiated instruction:
o If students are really struggling with letter that is called out, then you can show the card to
the students for them to see what it looks like.
o For a higher group I think it would be interesting to call out the letter sound and have them
identify and cover the letter using that information.
Multicultural emphasis (if appropriate):
N/A
Technology (if appropriate):
N/A
Reflection on lesson:
The lesson went great. The students had a lot of fun searching their boards for the letters that were
called out. They also loved calling out bingo when they had one. Before we began we talked
about being a good friend and that the game was not all about winning. For my lower students
within the group, I gave them more guidance with identifying the letter that I called out. After the
first few students found the letter on their board, I sat the card down on the table so that the others
could see the card and the letter. This helped them find it on their boards and continue on with the
game. It was a fun game and engaged the students while working on letter identification skills that
they need to work on.

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

Education Department
Lesson/Activity Plan Template
Teacher Candidate _Amanda Pereda______________________________________
Name of Lesson _Alphabet Soup_________________________________________
Subject _Reading/Language Arts____________

Grade _Kindergarten__________

Rationale for lesson:

This lesson will help students work on letter recognition in a fun, engaging way.
Learning outcomes:
Students will be able to correctly identify letters pulled out of the soup bowl.
Assessment of student outcomes:
Observation of students pulling out the soup pieces and identifying them verbally. If they cannot
correctly identify them, then they place the piece back into the soup bowl.
Related Foundations/Indiana Academic Standard:
K.RF.2.4: Identify and name all uppercase (capital) and lowercase letters of the alphabet
Materials Needed:
o Alphabet Soup Game
Lesson/Activity Presentation:
Anticipatory set:
While sitting down with a small group, explain that we are going to play a game called Alphabet
Soup. Explain that this game is to help us work on our letters, tell the students that they will pull
out a piece from the soup bowl when they do this they will identify the letter on the card. If they
get it correct they get to keep the piece in front of them, if they do not they put the piece back into
the soup bowl
Teaching procedures:
Sit down with the small group.
Explain the direction and reason for the lesson.
Give the students an example of how the game will be played.
Have one of the students begin by pulling out a piece from the soup bowl if they identify
it correctly they keep it, if not they put it back in.
o Continue on until all pieces are gone from the soup bowl.
o
o
o
o

Guided & independent practice:

Guided Practice:
o Sit down with the small group.
o Explain the direction and reason for the lesson.
10

o Give the students an example of how the game will be played.

Independent Practice:
o Have the students pull out a piece and identify it.
o If done correctly they keep the piece, if not then it is put back into the soup bowl.
Closure:
After the game is over have the students go back through the pieces that they have and identify
again the letters on each piece. For more repetition and practice.
Differentiated instruction:
o For students who are advanced ask them to identify the letter on the piece and the sound
that the letter makes. Another option is to have them identify the letter, letter sound, and a
word that begins with the letter.
Multicultural emphasis (if appropriate):
N/A
Technology (if appropriate):
N/A
Reflection on lesson:
This lesson went well. The students are continuing to progress with their letter recognition. They
are getting much better at identifying the letters quickly. They had a lot of fun and were engaged
and loved to reach into the soup bowl. I helped the lowest students throughout the game as much
as I could. Even if they did not get the letter correctly, before they put it back into the soup bowl
I said the letter to them and had them repeat it back to me. We went through all of the letters at the
end of the game for some more repetition and practice. This group is progressing nicely with letter
identification.

11

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

Education Department
Lesson/Activity Plan Template
Teacher Candidate _Amanda Pereda______________________________________
Name of Lesson _Zoo Phonics Cards______________________________________
Subject _Reading/Language Arts____________ Grade _Kindergarten__________
*This activity was done multiple time over a two-week period. The repetition helped students
understand and learn the letter sounds.
Rationale for lesson:
Students will work on their letter sound recognition and identification skills.
Learning outcomes:
Students will be able to identify the majority (15/26) of the letter sounds of the alphabet.
Assessment of student outcomes:
Observation and recording on a recording sheet of letter sounds.
Related Foundations/Indiana Academic Standard:
K.RF.1: Understand and apply knowledge of print concepts, phonics, phonemic awareness,
vocabulary, and fluency and comprehension as a foundation for developing reading skills.
Materials Needed:
o Zoo Phonics Cards
Lesson/Activity Presentation:
Anticipatory set:
While working independently with a student explain that we are going to work on our letter sounds
using the zoo phonics cards. Explain that its the same as when we sing the zoo phonics song in
class and while writing in our zoo phonics journal.
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

Teaching procedures:
Sitting independently with a student explain that we are going to practice our letter sounds
today using the zoo phonics animals.
Show the student the cards.
Beginning with the letter A, have the student identify the sound that the letter makes.
The student may sing the song that goes along with the letter identification if they wish.
Continue throughout the alphabet having the student identify each letter sound.
If the student is stumped or struggles, assist them by beginning the song for that animal to
help them remember.
After the student gets through the entire alphabet, talk about how well the student did
before sending them back into class.
12

Guided & independent practice:

Guided Practice:
o Sitting independently with a student explain that we are going to practice our letter sounds
today using the zoo phonics animals.
o Show the student the cards.
o If the student is stumped or struggles, assist them by beginning the song for that animal to
help them remember.
o After the student gets through the entire alphabet, talk about how well the student did
before sending them back into class.
Independent Practice:
o Beginning with the letter A, have the student identify the sound that the letter makes.
o The student may sing the song that goes along with the letter identification if they wish.
o Continue throughout the alphabet having the student identify each letter sound.
Closure:
After the student gets through the entire alphabet, praise the student on their knowledge and how
well they did with identification of the letter sounds.
Differentiated instruction:
o For higher students do not assist them with the letter sound identification at all.
o For lower students sing the song for each animal with the student and then have them repeat
it for understanding.
Multicultural emphasis (if appropriate):
N/A
Technology (if appropriate):
N/A
Reflection on lesson:
Here is my reflection from each of my four students:
o Jayden: he struggled a lot with letter sound recognition, so this activity was challenging for
him. He is an ENL student so it is very understandable. I sang the songs for a lot of the
animals with him and had him repeat them so that he got used to the sounds. We went
through the cards a few times for repetition and practice the first time and repeated this
lesson multiple times. Jaydens letter sound recognition skills increased significantly in a
few weeks time.
o Matthew: he is also an ENL student and during the pre-assessment scored a zero on letter
sound recognition. We did a lot of repetition work throughout this activity. We sang the
song and repeated this frequently over a few weeks time. Matthews understanding and
letter recognition increased as time went on and we worked frequently with this activity.
o Jacob: he struggled a bit with letter sound recognition the first time that we did the zoo
phonics cards. We worked a lot on repetition and sang the zoo phonics song multiple times.
Jacob worked hard and has progressed a lot as we did this activity and practiced the zoo
phonics song.
o Vivian: she had a hard time with the letter sound recognition, so I was sure to do this
activity with her multiple times so that she could learn the sounds. Repetition was helpful
13

to her as it was with the previous three students. Vivian made a lot of progress with her
understanding of letter sounds throughout the weeks that we did this activity.
Step 4

Implementation: Teaching & Learning

Describe an assessment plan to monitor student progress toward learning

outcomes/objectives.
I monitored students progress toward the learning outcome
through observation and through my recording sheet while doing the zoo
phonics cards. Also, while working with the students, I may ask them
informally to identify letters (both upper and lowercase) as well as letter
sounds.

Describe how technology will be used in the planning and/or instruction. If there is no
plan to use any form of technology, provide a clear rationale for its omission.
Technology will be used throughout the process by searching and finding online
resources to use as lesson material. It will also be used in the form of computers and
iPads in some lessons by using the program Waterford, which is provided by the
school, that teaches pre-reading and reading skills. On the iPads the students will use
the apps ABCs, Little Finder ABC, and Endless ABC to work on their letter and sound
recognition skills.

Describe the assessments that you will conduct before, during, and after instruction.
The assessment should be aligned with the outcomes/objectives, contain both qualitative
and quantitative data. These assessments should authentically measure student learning
and may include performance-based tasks, pencil-and-paper tasks, or personal
communication.
I will conduct the same pre and post-assessment, in this assessment the students
are asked to identify all 26 upper and lowercase letters as well as the 26 letter sounds.
The students are scored in each of the three categories. During the lessons I will be
observing the students and monitoring their progress through informal questioning and
assessment during small group time. Some of the informal assessment includes
monitoring the students progress on computer and iPad programs as well as through
asking the students to identify letters and letter sounds at least weekly.

Discuss how you changed your instruction based on what you learned from your
assessments.
After the pre-assessment I noticed that two students struggled with
identifying all three categories, and the other two students struggled more with
identifying letter sounds. When working independently with these students I
focused on the areas where they needed the most assistance. As the students
knowledge grew, I scaffolded the instruction and expected more from them.
14

This worked well with these students. Two of my students were ENL students,
so they came into the classroom setting with little English skills and knowledge.

Step 5

Assessment Results and Analysis of Student Learning

The pre-assessment showed that two of the students needed significant assistance with
upper and lowercase letter recognition, while all of the students needed help with letter sound
recognition. I focused more on these elements during my lessons and tried to work with each
student on their significant need.

Pre-Assessment Data
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Matthew

Vivian

Uppercase Letters

Jayden
Lowercase Letters

Jacob

Letter Sounds

Post-Assessment Data
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Matthew

Vivian

Uppercase Letters

Jayden
Lowercase Letters

15

Letter Sounds

Jacob

1. Matthew had an improvement of 15 upper and lowercase letters and 10 letter sounds from
the pre-assessment to the post-assessment.
2. Vivian has an improvement of 24 uppercase letters and 20 lowercase letters as well as an
improvement of all 26 letter sounds between assessments.
3. Jayden had an improvement of 7 uppercase letters and 13 lowercase letters as well as an
improvement of 25 letter sounds between assessments.
4. Jacob had an improvement of 9 uppercase and lowercase letters as well as 23 letters sounds
between assessments.

All of the students made progress in each of the areas. 3 of the 4 students were able to
identify all 26 uppercase letters in the post-assessment and two of the students were able to
identify all 26 letter sounds in the post-assessment. This shows tremendous growth
throughout these students. This is great as they need these skills in order to learn how to
read and write.

16

Example of Assessment Plan Table: Kindergarten Visual Organizer

Outcomes/
Objectives
The students will
correctly identify
all of the upper
and lowercase
letters and letter
sounds of the
alphabet.

Assessments

Format of Assessments

Pre-Assessment

Letter and Sound

Assessment

Formative
Assessment

Observation and Zoo

Phonics
Recording
Sheet

Post-Assessment

Letter and Sound

Assessment

Adaptations
Cover the rows so that one at
a time is showing to
students. Slow down and
allow students to take their
time identifying the letters
and letter sounds.
Observe students while
playing Alphabet Bingo
and Alphabet Soup. While
doing Zoo Phonics cards,
observe and record the
letters that the student
struggles with.
Cover the rows so that one at a
time is showing to students.
Slow down and allow students
to take their time identifying
the letters and letter sounds.

Step 6 Reflection and Self-Analysis

Since the conclusion of the work sample, what have you done to help students
accomplish the objectives and improve their learning?
After the conclusion of the work sample, I continued to work with the
students on their letter and letter sound identification. During stations and
small group time I continued to challenge the students in this group by asking
them to identify letters and letter sounds. We also do sound spelling so they
practice their letter sound recognition twice a week during sound spelling and
various activities.

What was the original expected outcome of the lesson taught?

My original expectation was to help these students improve their letter and letter
sound identification. I think that my original goal was met and that can be seen through my
pre and post assessment.

What were your assumptions of the students knowledge prior to teaching the lesson?
My assumption was that the students had little prior knowledge. This came from
my experience of working with these students for a few weeks prior. I seen where these
students were in class and what they were struggling with.

Based on the result you obtained and your experience with this body of instruction, what
will you do differently in planning, teaching, and assessing the next time you teach this
content or concept?
I think that depending on the students that Im working with in the future I will
change my lessons to help those students in the best way. I will try to personalize and
differentiate my lessons as much as I can to help students become successful and to fully
understand the material that is being taught. I think that based on my result from this
TWS, I will continue to teach in the same method unless I can see that it will not work.
If it doesnt work, then I will change it accordingly to assist my students.

What did you learn about your own teaching and assessment skills?
I learned a lot about my self while doing this TWS and my student teaching. I
learned that I love teaching, even more than I knew! I learned to take things as they come
and to change lessons when needed. Being flexible is so important in kindergarten and in
teaching. I had to be flexible and understanding while teaching these students, I got to
know these students well and built a trusting relationship with them throughout our lessons.

What adaptations did you need to make based on the formative assessment you did
during the lessons? How did you adapt your instruction for individual needs?
I noticed during my pre-assessment and lessons that letter sound recognition
was the biggest struggle for my students. Knowing this I worked a lot with these
students on this skill. We did the Zoo Phonics cards multiple times, and that

repetition helped the students understand and learn the letter sounds. I did this for
each of my four students and I believe that it helped tremendously. My two ENL
students, had even more of a struggle with letter and letter sound recognition. I
worked a lot with these students independently, and multiple times. We went
through the Zoo Phonics songs all of the time so that they got used to that. I
believe that really helped them learn and remember the letters and their sounds.

Does the evidence support actual student learning?

Yes, I believe the evidence does support actual student learning. We see through my
pre and post-assessments the growth that each of the students had. I worked hard and a lot
with these students, they worked very hard as well!

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your own teaching.

My strengths are that Im flexible, caring, loving, knowledgeable, committed, and
ready and willing to help students learn and grow. I love all of my students and Ive learned
a lot through my TWS and student teaching and I feel that Ive grow tremendously in the
last eight weeks.
My weaknesses are my time that Ive spent in the classroom as an actual teacher.
Ive read a lot of books and studied, but I dont think anything compares to actual
experience in the classroom. So student teaching has done a lot for me!

Identify some areas for your future professional growth

My goals and areas for professional growth include continuing my education and
knowledge in elementary education. Continuing to expand what I know as well as
expanding my experience in an actual classroom. My goal is to have my own classroom as
soon as possible so that I can continue to learn and grow as an educator and help children
love to learn!