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Planning, Preparation, Instruction, and Assessment

Crystal Biggs

Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2021

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Introduction

While there are many aspects to being an effective educator, one area that is crucial to the

student learning process is the teacher’s ability to plan, prepare, instruct, and assess. For lessons

to be meaningful, the teacher must understand what their students already know and how to best

present concepts to help their students reach their learning goals. In addition, teachers must be

able to use data from pre- and post-assessments to drive instruction, as well as determine whether

the lessons were effective or need to be revamped and possibly retaught. To represent my

competency in planning, preparation, instruction, and assessment of learners, I am sharing

artifacts which consist of pre- and post-assessment tools, data resulting from each assessment,

and the lesson plans created based off the data from the pre-assessment.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

Pre- and Post-Assessment

The first artifact I am sharing to demonstrate my competency is the pre- and post-

assessment given to students before and after providing instruction on the Virginia Social Studies

Standards of Learning (SOL) 2.6, which states “the student will develop map skills by using

globes and maps of the world and the United States to locate the seven continents” (Virginia,

2015). The purpose of the pre-assessment was to allow myself to gain an understanding of what

students already knew about the locations of the seven continents prior to any instruction given

in second grade. The data from the pre-assessment was then used to drive instruction by allowing

me to create a lesson plan focusing on what students needed to learn to master the concepts of

the SOL 2.6. The post-assessment was then used in two ways: to get an understanding of the

students’ new level of knowledge after the lessons on continents were given and to allow me to

determine whether the lessons were meaningful and effective in supporting students’ academic
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growth. The assessments simply measured students’ ability to locate and label the seven

continents on a world map while working independently. Both assessments were the exact same,

consisting of a worksheet with a black and white world map, a word bank with the names of the

seven continents, and white boxes with arrows pointing to each continent. Students were

instructed to use the words from the word bank to label each continent by filling in the white

boxes. Students were given the pre-assessment prior to any lessons being taught for this specific

SOL, then they were given the post-assessment after learning about the seven continents over the

course of two days of instructional input.

Data Analysis

In addition to the assessment tools, I am also providing the data representing students’

knowledge before and after instruction. Based on the data from the pre-assessment, it was

evident that they had little to no knowledge about the locations of the seven continents, as no

student had a passing score. The pre-assessment allowed me to understand that a few students

were familiar with North America and that although several of them labeled other continents

correctly, I knew many of them were lucky guesses. I say this in response to the students’

comments, questions, and looks of confusion as I handed them the pre-assessment, to which I

replied it was not a test, but rather a pre-assessment to allow me to get an understanding of what

they already knew and that if they did not know the answer, they simply needed to make an

educated guess. Considering their grades and their verbal expressions about the pre-assessment, I

concluded that I needed to create lesson plans to teach the names and locations of all seven

continents in a way that would support all learners. In doing so, I would be able to help them

reach and master this concept of SOL 2.6. After two days of lessons on the continents, students

were then given the post-assessment to demonstrate their new level of knowledge. Many of the
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students mastered the concept with 100% accuracy and a few improved with passing grades. In

addition, the post-assessment verified my previous assumptions that students happened to guess

correctly on the pre-assessment, as one student’s grade was lower on the post-assessment than

the pre-assessment. After speaking with the student, I learned that all the answers on their pre-

assessment were in fact guesses. Furthermore, I was also able to recognize that the reason one

student was far from passing the post-assessment was likely due to their absence during the two

days the lessons were taught. I would argue that if the student had been present, the post-

assessment results would have reflected it with a higher rate of accuracy. Overall, I believe this

artifact is evidence of my competency in planning, preparation, instruction, and assessments of

learners because it demonstrates my ability to implement pre- and post-assessments that align

with the Virginia SOLs, as well as analyze data to drive instruction.

Lesson Plan

The second artifact I am sharing to demonstrate my competency in planning, preparation,

instruction, and assessment of learners is a two-day lesson plan I created after analyzing the

results from the pre-assessment. Since the pre-assessment showed the students had little

understanding of the locations of all seven continents, I knew it would likely be a difficult

concept for them to learn. For this reason, I thought it would be best to have two days of

instruction, with the first day being more of an introduction to the continents’ names, rather than

having students focus on the names and locations at once. I also knew I needed to implement a

variety of teaching methods to reach learners of different styles and needs. For this lesson, I

chose to engage students by using a combination of reading a fun book about a boy exploring the

continents, along with reading through a series of Google slides with facts about each continent,

all while students followed along and labeled their own world map. In addition, the lesson
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concluded with a song/video on YouTube to review the continent names. Day two of the lesson

focused more on the locations of the continents. I began the lesson by playing a different

YouTube video to give students an entertaining method to remember the continent locations.

Then, the students and I used our world maps from the previous day to work together through a

series of Google slides to identify and locate the continents displayed on the white board.

Although students focused on the continent names in the prior day’s lesson, I noticed students

had become familiar with their locations as well, since the current day’s task was not very

difficult for them to complete. By the end of the second day’s lesson, it was apparent that most

students gained a much deeper understanding of the locations and names of the seven continents,

which was also verified by the post-assessment. For these reasons, I believe this artifact is a

demonstration of my ability to use data to drive instructional planning for all learners.

Reflection on Theory and Practice

One of the many concepts instilled in me by my professors at Regent University was that

to be an effective educator, I must be able to plan and implement high-quality, meaningful

lessons to support my students’ academic growth. To do so, I must first gain an understanding of

the knowledge they already have, then help them build upon it. Furthermore, I must know how

my students learn best, whether it be through visual, auditory, or kinesthetic means, or perhaps a

combination of all. I also learned that while it is important to know my students’ learning styles,

it is vital that I implement differentiated lessons to be sure I am reaching all students throughout

the lesson. One way to accomplish what I have learned is by using data from pre-assessments to

create lesson plans, which is supported by Butler and McMunn’s (2014) statement that

“assessment for learning requires that assessment occur regularly and that the information gained

is used to mold teaching and learning” (p. xxv). By having students complete pre-assessments, I
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can then analyze the data and use it to drive instruction to support students in reaching and

mastering their academic goals. I believe the two artifacts I shared are related because the pre-

assessment gave me an understanding of my students’ knowledge prior to receiving any

instruction about the seven continents while in second-grade, which I then used to create lesson

plans to drive instruction. Without having the data from the pre-assessments, I would not have

known what my students already knew or what I needed to focus on during the lessons.

However, analyzing the data allowed me to understand the students had little knowledge of the

concept. Because of this, I believed it was best to teach the lesson over a period of two days to

give them extra instruction and practice. In contrast, if the pre-assessment had showed that most

students already had adequate knowledge about the names and locations of the seven continents,

perhaps I could have spent one day on the lesson, rather than two. Based on the post-assessment,

I believe using a variety of methods to deliver instruction allowed me to engage and reach all

students, despite their different learning styles. Furthermore, I also believe using two days to

teach and practice the standard with students was beneficial as the data reflected student growth

and mastery of the concept for most of them. While my studies at Regent University have taught

me the importance of the connection between planning, preparation, instruction and assessment,

the artifacts I have shared clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of being able to apply all

components in the classroom for student success. In addition to what my professors taught me,

the artifacts I shared also reflect the research conducted by Burns and Parker (2014) which states

“there is a clear and strong link between assessment and teaching to the point that monitoring

student learning is a core proposition for effective teaching”. Therefore, while I understand the

theory behind what my professors instilled in me regarding this concept, having the ability to

gain first-hand experience of the connection between planning, preparation, instruction, and
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assessment has allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of how crucial it is for student

learning. Because of this, I will continue to use pre- and post-assessments and data to drive

instructional planning in all content areas.

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References

Burns, M. K., Parker, D. C., & Tucker, J. A. (2014). Curriculum-based assessment for

instructional design: Using data to individualize instruction (1st ed.). Guilford

Publications.

Butler, S. M., & McMunn, N. D. (2014). A teacher's guide to classroom assessment :

Understanding and using assessment to improve student learning. ProQuest Ebook

Central https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.regent.edu

Virginia Department of Education. (2015). History and social sciences. Retrieved from

https://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/history_socialscience/index.sht

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