Jordyn Zura

1. Analyzing Student Learning

a. Describe the task/assignment instructions to help you identify the standards and
objectives measured by the assessment you chose for analysis.
The fourth graders were given a speculative writing prompt at the beginning of the year. This
assessment was utilized to determine where the students’ performance was for the standard
NJSLSA.W4.
Speculative writing prompt:
“Marcos and Ann got to school extra early on Wednesday morning. They, along with the rest of the
students in the class, were buzzing with excitement about the field trip. Write a story about where
Marcos and Ann went on the field trip. Describe what they experienced.”
Student checklist to follow while writing the story:
● Keep the central idea or topic in mind
● Keep your audience in mind
● Support your ideas with details, explanations, and examples
● State your ideas in a clear sequence
● Include an opening and a closing
● Use a variety of words, and vary your sentence structure
● State your opinion or conclusion clearly
● Capitalize, spell, and use punctuation correctly
The objective for this assignment is “Students will be able to write a story providing different
experiences with clear details through organization about the central idea, while keeping an
audience in mind.” The objective and assessment provided identifies with the standard
NJSLSA.W4. - “Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and
style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.” The student is expected to create a well
structured story based off of a writing prompt. They are practicing staying on topic, and
supporting their ideas with clear explanations. Students are also expected to use proper
spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

b. Provide a graphic (table or chart) or narrative that summarizes student learning for
your whole class. Be sure to summarize student learning for all evaluation criteria
(using a rubric is ideal for this step).
KEY:
2 points
Area of Focus

5 points
Progressing Toward the Standard

10 points
Meets or Exceeds the Standard

Area of Focus for Specific Content
- +
RUBRIC Area of Focus
Keeps the central - Student is completely off topic, not
idea or topic in following the prompt.
mind - Student is simply restating the
prompt, without any additional
information.
Keeps the - Story is difficult for audience to
audience in mind read, student struggles to make
sense of the points he/she is trying
to make.
- Student shows no effort in making
his/her story easy to follow for the
audience, or relate to.
Supports ideas - Student shows no effort in
with details, explaining scenarios/events.
explanations, and - Student lacks any detail,
examples explanations, examples for his/her
story by only restating the prompt.
States ideas in a - Student does not write the story in
clear sequence narrative form. (Lists ideas off with
no transition).
- Ideas were out of order, and
sentences were not formed in a
way that makes sense to the
audience.
Includes an - Student shows no effort in
opening or closing including an opening or closing.
- When the audience reads the
opening paragraph, it looks like
they are beginning in the middle of
a paragraph. There is no warning
that the story is going to end,
example: “The end.”
Uses a variety of - Student uses improper grammar
words and varies in the majority of the sentences.
sentence structure - Student shows no effort in making
multiple sentences/including
multiple run-on sentences of ideas
separated by “and”.
Under 60%
Progressing Toward the Standard
- Student creates their story by
continuing off of the prompt, without
letting the audience know why
Marco and Anna are in a certain
setting.
(Does not introduce field trip at all)
- The student gives little context
about the prompt, and gets lost in
their writing, putting the main idea
aside.
- Student shows some struggle with
making sense of what he/she is
trying to say, but makes enough
sense for the audience to follow.
- Student shows little effort in
providing feelings of characters, or
figurative language to grab the
audience's attention.
- Student has minimal explanations,
details, and examples in his/her
story, or adds too much detail,
losing the main focus of the prompt.
- Student has enough detail to get
his/her point across, but could add
more while staying on topic.
- Story includes transition words
other than “and”, and keeps ideas
out of order.
- Ideas are in order, but only
separates them using “and”,
making ideas unclear for the
audience to fully comprehend.
- Student provides an attention
grabbing opening, but does not
provide a great closing that leaves
the audience satisfied.
- Student provides a great closing
wrapping up the story, but does not
provide an attention grabbing
opening.
- Student shows some effort in
sentence structure including
vocabulary that may be challenging
to each specific student.
- Story is easy to follow with good
sentence structure, but does not
have much length to it.
Meets or Exceeds the Standard
- Student includes the prompt in
their own words, stays on topic
through the story, and circles back
to the field trip at the end of their
writing.
- Student mentions teachers,
classmates, bus rides, and/or
learning experiences to show effort
in making the central topic known.
- Student is clear in getting his/her
points across for the audience to
understand.
- Student uses feelings, senses,
and/or figurative language to excite
the audience.
- Student adds enough detail where
the audience is not left wondering
what is going on, making his/her
story tasteful.
- Student shows effort in his/her
story through length (only applies if
the student is staying on topic).
- Student produces a clear
sequence of events.
- Student uses a variety of transition
words properly without overloading
their story with them.
- Student provides a hook as their
opening sentence drawing the
reader in, and provides a closing
that wraps up the story, leaving the
audience satisfied.
- Avoids coming to an abrupt stop at
the end of their story.
- Student provides a lengthy story,
while staying on topic making sure
the central focus is not lost.
- Student proves that effort went into
the sentence structure within their
story, making sure their story is easy
to follow for the audience.
 States - Student is unclear with the - Student shows some effort in - Student includes several opinions
opinions/conclusio conclusions and opinions they are making sure their opinions and or conclusions about their ideas.
ns clearly providing. conclusions are clear. - Students opinions or conclusions
- Student provides no - Student has limited opinions or are stated clearly, so that the
opinions/conclusions in their story. conclusions. audience understands what the
student is trying to say.

Capitalizes, - Student shows no effort in
spells, and uses attempting to capitalize, spell, and
punctuation use punctuation correctly.
correctly - Student shows several errors with
their capitalization, spelling, and
punctuation.
- Student shows few errors with
proper capitalization, spelling, or
punctuation.
- Student demonstrate few
capitalization and spelling errors,
but many punctuation errors.
- Student demonstrates very few
punctuation errors and no spelling
or capitalization errors.
- Student shows no errors with
capitalization, punctuation, or
spelling.

ASSESSMENT CHART FOR EACH STUDENT/TOPIC

Student Student Student Student Student Student Student Total averages
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 per topic

Keeps the central idea or topic in mind 67%

Keeps the audience in mind 54%

Supports ideas with details,

explanations, and examples 56%

States ideas in a clear sequence 70%

Includes an opening or closing 51%

Uses a variety of words and varies

sentence structure 40%

States opinions/conclusions clearly 56%

Capitalizes, spells, and uses

punctuation correctly 0%

Whole class
learning
Total class averages per student 90% 24% 45% 20% 71% 71% 41% average: 52%

c. Analyze the patterns of learning for the whole class and zero in on 3 areas of need
using evidence found in 3 student work samples to identify and describe the needs of
the class represented by 3 focus students. Consider progress relative to the literacy
strategy and related skills.
d. Identify what students understood and did well, and where they continue to struggle
(e.g., common errors, confusions, need for greater challenge).
Students performed as expected in the beginning of the year, showing some mastery of
concepts covered, but with much room for improvement. After analyzing the whole class
thoroughly, I noticed some areas of mastery, but many areas of focus. The class learning
average for this assessment came to a 52%, which is expected for a beginning of the year
assessment. Each student performed different tasks on different levels. The biggest area of
strength for the class is using proper sequence while stating ideas. Students did well when it
came to putting their ideas in order, making an organized story for the reader. The biggest area
of focus for the class is capitalization, spelling, and punctuation, using a variety of words to vary
sentence structure, and including a strong opening and closing. Many students provided run-on
sentences, a lack of punctuation, (mostly commas and quotation marks) and adding context for
the reader. Students also showed that they were unsure on how to open their story correctly
leaving the reader without an attention grabber. They also struggled with closing their stories
properly, using terminology such as “The end.” beginning their story by just jumping into the
overall topic.
Student one was able to keep the central focus in mind throughout the story, while being
creative with their ideas. This student provided a clear sentence sequence with multiple
dialogue opportunities. However, the student showed that their area of focus would be aligned
to capitalization and punctuation. Like most students, student one lacked on using quotation
marks and commas, which tells me this may be something that was never taught or mastered.
Student one demonstrated mastery by keeping their audience in mind while creating a thorough
story, including a lot of details and conversations through multiple characters. This student also
did very well with creating a structured story from beginning to end by using an attention
grabbing opening, using the word “sunny” to describe a wednesday morning, and a closing that
was able to wrap up the story without sounding unfinished.
Student three stated his/her opinions/conclusions clearly in their story, and stayed on
topic with the central idea, but could have added more context. I took note of how the student
did not put spaces after certain punctuation such as periods, nor did they capitalize the first
letter of each sentence. Along with not making sure each letter at the beginning of every
sentence is uppercase, the very first word in the story is “ON”, which tells me that capitalization
is one of this students' area of focus. The student for the most part arranged his/her ideas in a
clear sequence, but because he/she jumped from “then” to “first” to “then” in the beginning of
the story, I gave him/her 5 points instead of 10. The student also provided an opening and
closing sentence, but they could be stronger by applying more thought into it. Student three did
not keep their audience in mind while writing this story, because they had little to no context for
the reader to take in. The sentences were short and to the point, there was no elaboration. This
student's area of focus is thinking creatively, and applying those ideas in his/her writing.
Student four provided the reader with little to no background knowledge of the story
he/she created. This particular student gave minimal details other than what was provided from
the prompt. For example he/she stated, “Marcos and Ann are in the bus and they were buzzing
at the same time because they are going to the zoo today for they field trip in the classroom”. It
seems as though they tried to restate the prompt in their own words, leaving out proper word
use, an opening/closing, punctuation, and creativity. This learner tried to explain to the readers
why the characters were buzzing, missing the whole central idea of the prompt, and
misinterpreting the way the word “buzzing” is used in the prompt. Student four used
capitalization while using character names, but provided no additional sentences to show
complete mastery.
 2. Feedback to Guide Further Learning
1. Decide on feedback to support your students’ growth. Identify specific feedback that you
would provide to 3 focus students.
2. Explain how the feedback you would provide to the 3 focus students addresses their
individual strengths and needs relative to the learning objectives measured.
3. Describe how you will support each focus student to understand and use this feedback
to further their learning related to learning objectives, either within the learning segment
or at a later time.
Since the fourth graders missed out on education opportunities due to the pandemic,
and having this be an early in the year assessment, I expected their work to be no different.
Now that I was able to go through each student's work samples, and identify areas of strength,
and areas of focus for each student, I will be able to adjust my lessons, or additional resources
accordingly for differentiated learning. The whole class showed some struggle with capitalization
and punctuation, which is something I would work on with them to strengthen their writing skills,
and improve sentence structure.
Student 1:
Student one showed an average of 90% overall. They have a lot of creativity, and uses a
variety of details and dialogue throughout his/her story. I would love to enforce this strength, so
for this student's feedback I would let them know that I am looking to expand his/her ability to
state all of their ideas clearly. You can tell by the length of the story that the student really
enjoyed this prompt, and took interest in the writing topic. Sometimes words are able to flow
easier for certain people, and I want this particular student to be able to express this specific
strength. I would explain to student one that I would love to focus on key phrases or vocabulary,
practicing proper dialogue. The student left out several quotation marks, and struggles with
knowing when to capitalize the first letter inside of a quote. Student one also used a repeating
cycle for the use of the word “said”, for every dialogue mentioned. He/She should expand their
vocabulary, and be able to use terms such as asked, explained, yelled, commented, etc.
What I would do to assist this student, and strengthen his/her writing, is have them write
me ten dialogue sentences weekly. The student will receive a word bank with multiple strategies
to use the word “said” in different ways. They will be asked to write me ten sentences a week
without repeating any of the word bank words to replace “said”, and focusing on putting
capitalization, punctuation, and quotation marks in the correct spot. For the first three weeks the
student will be sent home with a sample sentence as a guide, but as the student practices they
should be able to get into the habit of making sure the sentence is grammatically correct. As this
student progresses, I will take the word bank away, and they will be able to either remember
some of the words they practiced, or they will have to search for different words on the internet.
The whole idea is that eventually the student will be able to master this concept on their own.
Student 3:
Student three demonstrated a 45% overall for their grade. They showed creativity with
his/her ideas as well, but did not elaborate on them as much as student one. The student left
his/her ideas straight and to the point, and moved on. The feedback I would give this student is
to be confident in their own mind. He/She has strong references to the central idea targeted, but
I suggest that he/she takes their time with their work, and to add more context to strengthen
his/her language function. I would also explain to the students the proper way to write multiple
sentences; putting a period at the end, a space between each sentence after the period, and
capitalizing the first letter of each sentence.
The student also provided an opening and closing sentence, but they could be stronger
by applying more thought into it. The sentences were short and to the point, there was no
elaboration. In order to target this student's needs, I would have him/her read a short story
weekly, and write a three sentence summary of it describing the way the character looks, feels,
and what the main idea of the story is over all. The student would have to do daily check-ins
with me to make sure he/she is completing his/her tasks properly. If mistakes are being made, it
is better to catch them early. This focus assignment will help this student because it allows them
to practice writing sentences using correct punctuation, and capitalization.
Student 4
It seems as though student four had really struggled with this assignment, or was being
lazy with their work. They received a 20% for their overall grade. This particular student gave
minimal details other than what was provided from the prompt. The feedback I would give to this
student would be that I enjoyed that they kept the main focus in mind, but it looks like they tried
to restate the prompt in their own words, leaving out proper word use, an opening/closing,
punctuation, and creativity. I would let the student know that I expect more from them simply
because I believe that they are capable. I would let the student know that I am always an
available resource, and we will be strengthening their writing together. I would also point out
how they tried to explain to the readers why the characters were buzzing, missing the whole
central idea of the prompt, and misinterpreting the way the word “buzzing” is used in the prompt.
I am also unsure about the mastery of this student's sentence structure, capitalization,
and punctuation, because they didn't leave me enough sentences to work with to check for
understanding, or progression towards the standard. In order to expand this students' skills, I
will have them fill out webs from mini narratives stating the main idea, the characters, and at
least three details weekly. Breaking down other stories will help this student gain ideas for their
own prompts. However, the main idea, characters, and details will not be allowed to be listed.
They must be written in a full sentence. For example, “The main idea of this prompt is that Ana
and Marco went on a field trip.” This will help them practice punctuation, spelling, and grammar,
more than it would if the ideas were just listed.

3. Academic Language Understanding and Use

When responding to the prompt below, use concrete examples of student work samples as
evidence.

a. Use the student work samples analyzed in Literacy Assessment Task 3 and cite
language use.
b. Explain and provide concrete examples for the extent to which you will support
students’ ability to use academic language. Focus on the one or more of the following 3
areas:
 · selected language function,
· vocabulary or key phrases, AND
· discourse or syntax to develop content understandings.

Student 1
Student one showed some mastery in language function for his/her skill level. This
student went above and beyond using strong adjectives, and figurative language. For example,
here are a few things that as a reader, I loved to read:

“Marcos and Ana went to school on a sunny wednesday morning.”

“Marcos and Ann walked into the school and smelt Mrs. Scarpa, the lunch lady’s delicious
buttery pancakes.”
“Marcos and Jake went to go see the giraffes but then Marco heard a loud thump!”

All of these sentences are great details to add to a story to draw the reader in. Using
words like “delicious buttery pancakes” and “thump” are higher order achievements for this skill
level to master. However, this student consistently used the word “said” before any type of
dialogue, even if a question was asked. His new weekly dialogue practice worksheet will include
a variety of words to replace “said”. For example, some words that I might include are,
“explained”, “questioned”, “asked”, “yelled”, “joked”, “demanded”, “replied”, “answered”,
“begged”, and “agreed”. The student will not be able to repeat any of the words in the word
bank, which will help him lengthen his vocabulary or key phrases, and become used to using
higher order words for his writing.
Student 3
Student three demonstrated their focus area to be language function as well. It seems as
though they tried to place sentences in a correct sequence using “first”, “next”, and “last”, but
the student started off by saying “next”, and then transitioned into “first”, and then back to “next”.
The student stated, “ON Wednesday morning Marcos and Ann were on the bus going to the
zoo.Then they arrived at the zoo.First they went to see the rhinos and giraffes.Then they went to
go see bears...” I understood that the student meant the first thing they were going to do at the
zoo was go see the rhinos and giraffes, but to the reader it gets confusing when first is not the
first transition word the writer uses. For example the student should have stated, “On
Wednesday morning Marcos and Ann were on the bus going to the zoo. First, they arrived at the
zoo. Then, they went to see the rhinos and giraffes. Then, they went to see the bears…” The
student also ended her last sentence by saying, “Last they arrived at home.” Student three used
the word “lastly” incorrectly here as well. However, the student did keep the main focus in mind
and mention multiple animals that he/she saw at the zoo. He/She also said that they felt scared
when the bears growl, which is a great way to insert sensory into a writing piece.
Student 4
Given the fact that this was one of the first assessments of the school year, student four
attempted to restate the prompt for his story answering where the students went for the field trip,
but not describing what exactly they have experienced. This student provided no opening,
closing, punctuation, or detail, and he/she did not state his/her ideas clearly. He/She had
strength in mentioning the characters, and staying on topic, but the rest of the prompt is left
unanswered for the reader. This student seemed to have a difficult time with language function
for this assignment, and will need to start out smaller.
A small group will be needed for a group of students who are having a difficult time, but I
want my students to know that we will learn and master it together. Student four also used the
word buzzing incorrectly. I can tell he/she tried to throw in figurative language, but because
he/she did not understand the context around the word in the prompt, he/she misused it in their
story. This student, along with two, three, and seven, will be placed in a small group to practice
their writing skills. We will zoom in on areas such as providing an opening and closing, adding
key details, sentence structure, and how to keep an audience in mind. The small group will meet
for 20 minutes a day while the other students are on their chromebooks.
4. Using Assessment to Inform Instruction
a. Based on your analysis of student learning presented in prompts 1b–c, describe next
steps for instruction to impact student learning:
· For the whole class
· For the 3 focus students and other individuals/groups with specific needs
***Consider the variety of learners in your class who may require different
strategies/support (e.g., students with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners,
struggling readers, underperforming students or those with gaps in academic knowledge,
and/or gifted students needing greater support or challenge).

b. Explain how these next steps follow from your analysis of student learning. Support
your explanation with principles from research and/or theory.

Whole class
Based on my analysis of student learning, I see that there are some areas of mastery,
but multiple areas of focus. As a class they had averaged 52% as their overall grade. Stating
ideas in a clear sentence sequence and keeping the central idea or topic in mind had the two
highest averages at 70% and 67%. Capitalization, spelling, and punctuation received an overall
0%, which tells me this is something students need to focus on the most. In order to reach the
needs of my students, there are multiple whole group instruction lessons that would be
beneficial to strengthening their writing skills. One thing I would practice with my students is
having them correct sentences and paragraphs that have punctuation, spelling, capitalization,
and grammatical errors as a daily routine every morning, taking up about 15-20 minutes. I would
start by using multiple unrelated sentences for them to correct. For example, every morning they
would receive a list of ten sentences written incorrectly. (i.e. today i swim in my pool and my Dog
to but it were sunny? ----> It was sunny today, so I swam in my pool with my dog.) As a class we
would break each sentence down, as I call on students to come up to the board and explain to
me what is wrong. Once students become familiar with this activity, we will begin looking at
passages. For example, every student would have the same passage, and as a class we would
read it from the board sentence by sentence figuring out what to change. I can even have
sentences written out of sequence, so that the students have to fix the passage to make sense.
Another thing I would do with my students to improve their education on writing would be
to plan out their writing before writing it. When students receive prompts, each one will have to
create some sort of web, telling the reader what characters, main idea, events, and details will
be discussed in their writing. After the web is created, students will check with the teacher, and
get the ok to create their rough draft. When students feel finished with their drafts, they may
trade with each other, and correct each other's mistakes through zone proximal development
founded by Vgotsky. Students will also have to list the strengths and weaknesses of the story
they are reading for their peers. After their peers leave notes, the students must review the
constructive criticism they received, and apply it to their final draft. This is an activity I would feel
comfortable doing after they have a few weeks practice breaking down sentences and passages
that are up on the board during whole group.

3 Focus students/Individuals groups with specific needs

After taking a close look at student one’s work, I have come to the conclusion that whole
group is going to benefit him/her the most. Student one’s main area of focus was properly using
punctuation, which is every student's area of focus. This is something that I am really going to
zoom into during my ELA lesson from here on out. Sending this student home extra practice
work using dialogue will help him to stay ahead, and strengthen his skills as a writer. Student
three had clear ideas, but needed a little bit more context to relate to the main topic more.
Student struggled with keeping his/her audience in mind using no attention grabbers at the
beginning, middle, or end of the story. Needs improvement on using a variety of words, varying
sentence structure, and explaining his/her ideas with details and examples. Student three also
can practice on thinking openers and closers to start and end their story well. In order to help
this student, I would have him/her read a short story weekly, and write a three sentence
summary of it describing the way the character looks, feels, and what the main idea of the story
is. The student would have to do daily check-ins with me to make sure he/she is completing
his/her tasks properly. Student four averaged a 20% on this assignment. This student did not
write any additional information from the prompt. Students' areas of focus according to the chart
would be all areas, but in order to make the biggest difference, I would focus on one or two skills
at a time. I will have them fill out webs from mini narratives stating the main idea, the characters,
and at least three details weekly for extra practice. The main idea, characters, and details will
not be allowed to be listed, they must be written in a full sentence. This will get the student used
to creating sentences in general, and we can work on connecting them, so that they flow. We
can also work on adding more detail as it starts to become easy for him/her.
Students two and four will work in small groups for additional help (group 1). Students
one, five, and six will work in small group for exceeding mastery, and higher order thinking
prompts (group 2). Students three and seven will also be a small group for progressing toward
the standard (group 3). Separating the students with their peers who are on the same level as
them, will make it easier to differentiate learning. Each student will be working on their own
separate activities that are created to benefit them specifically. For example group 1 will receive
sentences that are completed that they will have to correct, projects to create adjectives to add
detail to their writing, and books to read and summarize. In order to accommodate students in
Group 2, they will need higher order prompts. These students will receive prompts that can be
more challenging, meanwhile they will have to create webs and drafts before a final draft. The
teacher will check these drafts. They will also read stories, and break them down using Bloom's
Taxonomy. They will answer questions that target remembering, understanding, applying,
analyzing, evaluating and creating. For example a remembering question will be, “Can you
recall what happened in the story?” An understanding question will be, “What might happen
next?” etc. Students will be expected to understand what it's like to be a reader, and what
exactly the reader is looking for. Group 3 has students that land somewhere in the middle. They
will be able to use assimilation to take what they know, and apply it to a deeper understanding
to get them to where they need to be to meet the standard. I would have these students
practicing transition words, and making sure sentences flow correctly in a passage. These
students would also be answering prompts according to their appropriate level using webs, and
rough drafts. The two students in this group will be expected to check each other's work, and
give each other useful feedback to apply to their writing.
All of the students will also be reconstructing their existing schemas through journal
entries every night for homework. The entries will be personal, to make it more engaging for the
students. For example, it will include questions such as, “What is your favorite restaurant, and
why?” “What do you want to be when you grow up, and why?” etc. As students get into the habit
of completing their entries, doing daily routines, working in small groups, and practicing, the
teacher will see a jump of improvement in their skills through assessment, which is our whole
purpose as a teacher.