Delia Barrientos

April 14, 2017

Dr. Delisio

Student Impact

Rationale:

Aside from my two months in the Two Way Immersion Kindergarten class, I am also

student teaching in a bilingual school located in Alcal de Henares, Spain. Here, I have had the

pleasure to work in third grade English and Science, fourth grade English, and sixth grade Arts

and Crafts. While working in this school, I observed a student named Alejandra*. Alejandra is a

third grader that I see for English each day. She, along with the other students in this class, are

placed together due to the fact that they need additional reinforcement when it comes to English.

Along with the time we spend in class together, she is seen for an extra period each Thursday for

English help. Alejandra is eager to learn and wants to please her teachers, but has trouble with

English. She is a student that silently struggles as she does not ask questions when she has

trouble understanding. Her difficulties become apparent when checking over classwork,

prompting her to orally answer, or upon examining assessments. Alejandras struggles with this

second language directly affect her success in other subjects, with the exception of Mathematics

and Literature, as instruction throughout the school day is administered in English. I chose

Alejandra for this project simply because of all of the students I had encountered, she could

benefit the most from help in this area.

 At the time I arrived at the bilingual school, the students were in the middle of a unit that

focused on the verb be. In particular, they worked on the verb in the past tense. Students in

each section of English had difficulty differentiating between which form of the verb to use,

was or were. In each class, we began with a bit of a review every day. My cooperating

teacher or I would pose questions such as, Where were you yesterday?, Where was your

brother yesterday?, Where were you, your mom, and your dad yesterday?. This required

students to respond by using the proper pronoun as well as proper form of the verb to be.

Many of them would often make mistakes, confusing was and were. They would create

sentences such as I were at school yesterday as opposed to I was at school yesterday

morning or using an incorrect pronoun while practicing orally. I began to take notes specifically

about Alejandra and her performance in our Reinforcement Class in which the students were

specifically placed. On March 16, I noted that Alejandra seemed to look lost during the lesson.

We completed a workbook page that dealt with choosing words from a word bank in order to

complete sentences regarding location and using the verb to be in the past tense. (Pictures of this

activity are included in the slideshow below). As my cooperating teacher was checking

classwork as a whole class, Alejandra seemed confused and often erased her answers. She also

did not volunteer to participate at all during that class session. The following day, we began the

class with an oral review with questions similar to the ones mentioned above. She was startled

when the teacher had prompted her to answer the question where were you yesterday?. After

waiting for a response from Alejandra and receiving nothing, the teacher had moved on to a

different student.

Pre-Assessment:
 Before determining exactly what instructional activities to provide a student with, a pre-

assessment is necessary. In this school system, students have different teachers for each subject.

Due to the amount of movement that occurs in a school day, it is difficult to get one-on-one time

with the student. One of the reasons I had chosen Alejandra was because our one-on-one time

was built into our schedules once a week in the form of what the school calls a refuerzo (the

Spanish word refuerzo directly translates to reinforcement in English). This made getting

together to monitor her progress much easier. For the pre-assessment, I asked Alejandra to

complete a sort of the pronouns that match to the appropriate form of the verb to be in the past

tense (was or were). In searching through the New Jersey State Common Core Standards, I

found that in first grade, there are standards that support learning this content. Understanding the

verb to be, specifically in the past, is crucial to understanding the English language. Not only is it

essential academically in literacy, but it is a major component to conversational English. In

Spain, there is great value placed on knowing how to speak other languages, especially English.

It provides many opportunities for travel, work, and more importantly, global communication.

The standards that support the understanding and application of this grammatical content are as

follows:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.1.E: Use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future

(e.g., Yesterday I walked home; Today I walk home; Tomorrow I will walk home).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.1.J: Produce and expand complete simple and compound

declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to prompts.

 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.1.C: Use singular and plural nouns with matching verbs in basic

sentences (e.g., He hops; We hop).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.1.D: Use personal, possessive, and indefinite pronouns (e.g., I,

me, my; they, them, their, anyone, everything).

I explained that Alejandra would sort the pronouns under the verbs they belonged to. She

seemed interested in taking part in a task such as this because it was different from the routine

she was used to. As she moved the pieces of paper around, she seemed confused. It was almost

like she was guessing on them. She would move from one pronoun to the next, going back and

forth between words before moving them. Alejandra ended up scoring a 5/7 on the pre-

assessment. This, however, did not correlate with her behaviors in class and was confusing to

me. Once we moved on from the pre-assessment, we again practiced orally as we had done in

class earlier that day. Alejandra participated as she is the only student present in the classroom,

but made several mistakes. My cooperating teacher then led the remainder of the refuerzo,

explaining when it is appropriate to use was and were. Whenever Alejandra had a puzzled

look on her face, my cooperating teacher would switch to Spanish and re-explain the concept.

Alejandra was definitely more comfortable with her Spanish than English. Our refuerzo ended

and Alejandra left with a smiling face and a big wave saying See you tomorrow!.

Timing of Assessment:

The pre-assessment and post-assessment would be administered exactly two weeks from

one another. As my time in Spain is limited, I chose the first two weeks in this placement (prior
to Foreign Language Week and Semana Santa, our Spring Break) to complete the assessment.

Within this two week period, there would be the pre-assessment and a post-assessment, both

consisting of a sort as mentioned above.

Instructional Strategies:

As the next week went on, I continued to take anecdotal notes regarding Alejandras

performance in class. She seemed to really enjoy the fact that we had worked together during her

period of refuerzo as she now made an effort to greet me when I walked into class. Whether it

was a hug, a hello, or an eager smile, she was growing more comfortable with me. I was glad to

see this growth as I know it is crucial when educating a student. If they are comfortable and feel

safe and cared for, students will take risks. This is where true learning occurs.

On March 20, we had completed page 77 in the textbook (picture can be found in

slideshow below). This included a read aloud of a short story. The students listened to the story

on tape, then were able to participate themselves by reading through at least twice as a class.

Each student was able to take a different part. At this time, Alejandra did not raise her hand to

participate. She stayed quiet, yet followed along during the read aloud. Afterwards, the class had

taken a look at a chart inside their books that would help them answer questions about where

they were the previous day. It indicated the particular pronouns that correspond with each form

of the verb to be in the past tense. It was helpful for the students as a whole to have this sort of

visual in front of them. They definitely seemed more confident.

 The following day, the students completed the workbook page that corresponds with the

textbook page from the day before (picture can be found in slideshow below). In exercise 1,

Alejandra made three mistakes when it came to using the proper form of the verb to be in past

tense. She made similar mistakes in exercise 2. She could not grasp the idea of which pronouns

belong to which form of the verb. In exercise 3, however, she performed well. All of the

sentences she was required to write involved I, which seems to come easiest to her as well as

her classmates. When checking the answers in class, Alejandra had the confidence to offer up

some of her own answers. The questions she did volunteer her responses for were ones she

seemed to feel more comfortable with, such as sentences dealing with I.

During this next week, as reviewed orally at the beginning of class, which was becoming

sort of a routine. Students could expect this upon coming to class and could be prepared for it.

They would soon grow to know the questions that would be coming their way if they chose to

raise their hands and even sometimes, if they did not willingly participate, they could be included

in the discussion. On March 22, Alejandra definitely had difficulty with her oral practice. Some

students utilized the chart in their textbook as they prepared for the oral practice and others, such

as Alejandra, did not. In turn, she made many mistakes when called on in class or when offering

up an answer. I was intrigued that she was not using a tool that was offered to her in the book.

On March 23, I created an activity to try out in class. I cut out strips of paper with each

pronoun on it, both forms of the verbs to be in past tense, and options for the end of the sentence

(Picture can be found in the slideshow below). The students as a whole seemed to enjoy this as it

was an activity that was not completed in the workbook. Here, they worked in pairs. Considering
the structure and size of this classroom, pairs was the best possible method. One person would

create a sentence and the partner would tell them if the sentence was correct. They were

encouraged to use the chart int he textbook to help them assess their partner. This served as a

hands on activity, allowing the students to manipulate the materials themselves. It also reminded

them of the tool that exists in their textbooks that could help them. Students utilized this and

were engaged throughout. I thought that an activity such as this might help Alejandra especially

simply practice structuring sentences, recognizing how each part fits with one another. It seemed

to be effective.

On March 24, we read the story The Missing Watch aloud (picture is included in

slideshow below). First, we heard it on tape. Then, students took the part of each character and

read aloud. In the second reading, Alejandra volunteered to be the mom. Though a small part, the

fact that she was volunteering to read was exciting. She likes to participate and I was happy that

she felt confident enough to master the few lines the mother had. Due to time shortage, we orally

discussed the questions in exercise 3 on page 79 as a class. The students seemed to have no

issues with this exercise. This is sometimes the issue with whole class review. As a teacher, you

do not get to gain an insight as to how each child is grasping the concepts or how they were able

to comprehend the reading. As this was a Thursday, we typically have refuerzo following our

English class. Due to scheduling conflicts, we were unable to have this one-on-one time with

Alejandra.

The following day, we resumed oral practice and the students as a whole were getting

better. I had shared a tip with them as to how to remember when to use was and were. If you
are only talking about one person (I, she, he, it), use was. If you are talking about

more than one person (we, they), use were. The word you is different, an exception to

that rule. The word you will always go with were. Additionally, the students worked more in

their workbooks physically answering questions about the location of an object in a picture in

their textbook. (Pictures included in slideshow below). These questions corresponded to the story

that was read the previous day. The answers were related to where objects were located in the

picture in their workbook. For example, one questions was Where was the feather? to which

the example answer was It was under the wardrobe. As this activity went on, I walked around

the class and kept repeating the tip to my students. Sometimes I would say to them, Now think,

when do you use was?... Okay, now when do you use were?... So what word should you

choose? and they often made good decisions after this. I made sure when I walked around the

classroom I would stop and check on Alejandra. I asked her if it was easy to give me a thumbs

up, hard a thumbs down, or if it was just okay to put her thumb in the middle. She gave me a

thumbs in the middle after taking a second to think about it. Alejandra did not offer up her

answers when checking this exercise as a whole class. She did, however, seemed to be more

focused and interested in her work. This was noted on the sheet of anecdotal notes that had been

taken.

When we returned from the weekend, on March 27, we continued out oral practice. Some

students still had trouble with this but there seemed to be an improvement. Many students were

eager to raise their hands to participate, Alejandra included. She answered a question using the

pronoun they and correctly chose were as the form of the verb to be that accompanied it. We
also began using new vocabulary from the unit. This vocabulary was found in the story from last

week but even more explicitly discussed this week. We completed a workbook page (picture

included in the slideshow below) following the oral instruction regarding the new words. This

instruction was simply to recall the vocabulary words and the spelling as well as reorder pre-

made sentences. I did not like this activity in particular because it was simply recall and here was

not much higher order thinking involved. It did not allow the students to display their knowledge

of the verb to be and the pronouns in a way where the teacher could observe and collect valuable

data from it.

The following day we did not have class as there was a Sherlock Holmes themed play

during our class period. On March 29, we began class as per usual with the oral practice.

Students were really getting better! This time around, Alejandra felt confident enough to share

her answer aloud with the class. My cooperating teacher asked Was I at school yesterday? and

she said Yes, you was instead of saying Yes, you were. Just as I did the day prior, I

interjected between questions with the tip from yesterday as to when to choose was and when

to choose were. Though she was incorrect before, Alejandra offered to answer another

question. I had asked Where were you last night? and she had responded by saying I was at

home. Before answering, she thought about it and smiled wide upon choosing the correct

answer. I believe that the constant reminder about what word to choose had been helpful for her.

Alejandra wants to succeed and if a gentle reinforcement was going to aid in her progress, I was

going to continue with that.

 On March 30, we read a short play aloud about a woman named Lady Muck who had

gotten her diamond watch stolen. (Picture of the textbook page can be found in the slideshow

below).The police had come to her home to report the incident and she was asked to talk about

where her watch was when she had last seen it. As this story was part of the students workbook,

students were able to read along as they heard the tape of the story playing. Once they heard it

read aloud the first time, a few students were able to take turns. Alejandra wanted to take part

and was chosen to do so. As she read her part in the story, she made many pronunciation

mistakes and did not read with much inflection. However, she seemed happy to be given the

chance to take part. Her success in the classroom was making her more and more comfortable in

regards to taking risks. Though she still hesitated when participating, you could start to see a

slight growth academically and personally.

Post-Assessment:

As this day was also a Thursday, we had refuerzo with Alejandra. Before doing

anything, I told Alejandra that I saw she was making improvements in class. I told her that when

she did not rush to speak and thought about what she was going to say, she did a lot better with

her work. She nodded her head in agreement and seemed happy. Then, I reminded her of the sort

we had done the week prior. The pronouns were mixed up and I had asked her to place them

underneath the proper verb was or were. This time around, Alejandra earned a 6/7. She

seemed to choose the answers with more confidence this time around. The word she had mixed

up was you, the word that most other students had difficulty with as well. We discussed when
to use the word you. She was unable to give me the explanation and in turn, I reminded her of

the tip I had been sharing with her all week. When I said it, she had the Aha! look in her face.

We moved on from that activity and my cooperating teacher took over the refuerzo, having her

work more on writing sentences with was and were or wasnt and werent. Before the

end of the refuerzo, I asked Alejandra if she would like to repeat the sort. She looked eager to

do so. This time around, I had the words in order on the side (I, you, he, she, it, we,

they). She then took the words one by one, in order, and placed them where they belonged in

the sort. She was able to get a 7/7 on that particular round of the sort. This allowed her to leave

the refuerzo with confidence about her knowledge in the verbs.

The following day, I was excited to see Alejandra in class again. That day we started

class by students asking other students questions just as the teachers typically ask the students.

Alejandra was asked Were Delia, Sara, and Hugo in school yesterday? to which she responded,

Yes they was. This incorrect response was not expected after the assessment results from the

day prior. However, it does seem to be a trend that Alejandra displays. She can perform in the

moment when someone is giving her a reminder but later, when she is asked to perform on her

own, she forgets. I think this is a huge reason as to why Alejandra was placed in this

reinforcement class. She would most definitely benefit from constant practice, especially with

someone who is a native speaker or excels in English.

Final Thoughts:

With the remainder of my time at this student teaching placement, I would like to try

out partner more work in the English class. I strongly believe that with a good example of
English, Alejandra might step up. I would not pair her with the strongest student in the class as

that might be intimidating, causing her to shy away from participating. I would partner her with

someone that she seems friendly with who may be on the next level above her. That way she can

feel more comfortable and more willing to make mistakes, which leads to learning. Just like it

was displayed in the one activity with parts of a sentence cut up and displayed on paper while

they worked with a partner, students like working with one another. They enjoy that interaction

as they learn. This is something they most definitely lack when the majority of their instruction is

administered through a textbook and workbook. I think that practicing these verbs and other

vocabulary content in a more real life context can really improve the skills of a student like

Alejandra. Writing a letter to a friend in another class in the past tense or using conversation

prompts to start off the period could be great ways for students to see that learning this content

will be beneficial. It is not all about memorizing which verbs to use, but about mastering content

to interact with others on a different level.

Through this, I have been reminded of how important paying attention to an individual

student's needs are. Understanding the needs of one student can lead you to find a tip or trick

that works for many others. Assessment and constantly critiquing your practice is an enormous

aspect of teaching. The assessment of students drives instruction and provides a clearer lens for

the teacher to view his or her class. I look forward to taking what I have learned through this

experience and applying it to the rest of my teaching career!

*Note: Names have been changed to respect the privacy of the student.

*Disclaimer: The textbook and workbook work that is done in this specific school system is not

in the control of the main classroom teachers or the student teacher. The majority of the

instruction that is done in schools such as this, or in the country in general, is completed in this

style. To deviate from this is extremely difficult as students are accustomed to it and in their

culture of education, memorization and repetition is highly valued. This is not to disregard the

quality of education in Spain in any way, but merely to give those reading an idea of the

differences between the education system in the United States and that of another country. If

more details are requested about the differences, I am happy to continue the conversation.