UAS-0852

Teacher Work Sample

Eva Sanchez
First Grade
English Language Arts
University of Alaska Southeast
MAT Elementary Education: ED 688
April 18, 2021

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Table of Contents

Contextual Factors--------------------------------------------------------------------------------3

Learning Goals-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6

Assessment Plan----------------------------------------------------------------------------------9

Design for Instruction--------------------------------------------------------------------------23

Instructional Decision-Making---------------------------------------------------------------34

Analysis of Student Learning-----------------------------------------------------------------39

Reflection and Self-Evaluation---------------------------------------------------------------60

Appendix A----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------66

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Contextual Factors

As teachers, our primary focus is to create a classroom environment where students feel

safe to learn. Our goal is to create a warm, inviting classroom that both stimulates the senses

and encourages engagement. While these visual factors are important, equally important are

those elements that we do not always see - contextual factors such as student socioeconomic

status, the community in which they live, even their gender and ethnicity.

Seward Elementary is located in Seward, Alaska, a small tourist and fishing town on the

eastern side of the Kenai Peninsula in southcentral Alaska. Seward is predominantly Caucasian

with a small percentage of Hispanic, Asian, African American, and Alaska Native residents.

Because of the high cost of living and the lack of affordable housing, the population of Seward

can be quite variable. It is not uncommon for families to move into and out of the community

throughout the school year. Despite its differences, the community often rallies around the

school, which has become a source of unity in our diverse city.

I am placed in a first-grade classroom with 18 students. Eleven of the eighteen families

have opted for in-person learning. The remaining seven have decided to stay virtual, either

because they are waiting for the community to develop herd immunity, or because they

disagree with the stringent use of masks at our school. Our classroom is visually stimulating;

the walls are covered in environmental print, from anchor charts to word walls. We follow a

consistent daily routine. The day starts with an interactive read-aloud, followed by lessons in

phonics and sight word recognition. After recess, and much handwashing later, the students

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begin their math block. The afternoons are more flexible, as we try to integrate lessons in

social studies, science, art, and mindfulness.

Our classroom population is just as diverse as our community. Most students are

Caucasian, though we do have Asian, Hispanic, African American, and Alaska Native students as

well. There are two special needs students in our classroom. One requires substantial

intervention and her time is split between our general group and a special education classroom.

The class is taught in a whole group setting except for phonics and sight word lessons, at

which point students are divided into four groups. All students display phonemic awareness

and phonics, only at different levels of sophistication. The Red Group, which consists of six

students, currently reads below grade level. This group is the most diverse of all reading groups

and ability ranges from late emergent to early beginning in their literacy development. The

Green Group, comprised of six students, reads at grade level. The Blue Group, with three

students, reads at slightly above grade level. The Purple Group, also with three students, reads

far above grade level and is quickly approaching the next grade-level reading. The Green and

Blue Groups are solid beginning readers. The Purple Group is just beginning to become fluent.

Our in-person students are almost evenly divided by gender, though the disparity in classroom

participation is much wider. The girls in the class tend to shrink away from whole group

participation, whereas the boys tend to dominate classroom discussion. Another interesting

observation is that many of the boys are fascinated by informative nonfiction books, whereas

the girls tend to read more picture book fiction.

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All students seem to be kinesthetic learners and their day is filled with as much physical

activity as possible, while still maintaining our social distancing mandates. Most also require

both visual and well as auditory means of representation during our lessons, which with the aid

of the Smartboard, we can provide.

The cornerstone of effective instruction and assessment is to use students’ prior

knowledge to create a foundation for new learning. My instruction will be guided by the

individual interests of my students. At every opportunity, I will anchor what they already know

to what they are learning. Since several students enjoy both fiction and nonfiction books, I will

individualize lessons so that students can read what is most engaging to them. As it relates to

assessment, I will meet students at their individual ‘starting points’ and run from there. I will

approach students with the perspective of what they can do, not what they can’t. To

implement this successfully I will provide a selection of ways that students can show what they

have learned, from worksheets to collages, from pictures to oral presentations. As a way to

address the gender disparity in classroom participation, I will implement a ‘wait’ time after each

question. This will allow the more reserved students more time to formulate an answer. I will

also change the mindset of the perceived shame in being wrong; I will stress that some of our

best learning happens during these instances. In the time of COVID-19, we are challenged to

support our students both academically and emotionally while also adhering to our social

distance mandates. I have found that our students are as generous as they are understanding

as evidenced by the ‘air hugs’ we give each other daily.

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Learning Goals
Learning 1st grade Standards Bloom’s Taxonomy Various learner
goals for Level levels
students
Goal 1: I 1.RI.2. Identify the main Bloom’s Level I: There will be
can topic or author’s purpose Remembering multiple levels of
compare (e.g., to teach or tell us Recall previously representation,
and about…) and retell key learned facts, terms, including
contrast details of a text. and basic concepts. illustrations, verbal
key recantation, and
differences Source: KPBSD ELA Bloom’s Level II: sort quizzes that will
between Curriculum 1st Grade – Understanding accommodate each
fact and Reading Standards Demonstrate student’s schema
opinion. understanding of facts and writing ability.
(LG1) and ideas by comparing,
interpreting, and stating
the main idea.

Bloom’s Level IV:

Analyzing
Examine and break
information into parts
by identifying motives.
Make inferences and
find evidence to support
generalizations.

Goal 2: I 1.W.1. Write opinion Bloom’s level III: There will be

can write pieces in which they Applying multiple levels of
to inform introduce the topic or Apply newly acquired representation,
others name the book they are knowledge, facts, and including
about my writing about, state an techniques in a different illustrations, verbal
opinion on opinion or preference, way. recantation, and
a topic and supply a fact (e.g., because sort quizzes that will
I can race cars go faster than…) Bloom’s Level IV: accommodate each
support or reason for the opinion, Analyzing student’s schema
my and end with a sentence Examine and break and writing ability.
opinion that restates their opinion information into parts
with one related to a feeling or by identifying motives.
or more emotion (e.g., it makes me Make inferences and
facts. laugh; that was the scariest find evidence to support
(LG2) part). generalizations.

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Discussion:

LG1: Many of the students in this class are avid information book readers. As such, they

are familiar with the idea that information books contain facts. For those students that have

had limited prior exposure, we have scaffolded information book concepts by reading non-

fiction information books during our Interactive Reading block. Before we introduced this

genre, our class brainstormed the differences between fiction and nonfiction and created an

anchor chart that is easily accessible to all students. Students understand that information

books are filled with facts and that students read to learn from these books. The books that we

are reading are from the Fountas and Pinnell Literacy curriculum and are age and grade-

appropriate. At this point, students have sufficient background to expand their knowledge to

understand the differences between fact and opinion. During a previous lesson, we had an

impromptu discussion about the differences between fact and opinion, so students have at

least heard these terms before. Because of the wide range of student background knowledge,

students will be allowed to demonstrate their learning in multiple ways including writing, sort

quizzes, and verbal expression.

LG2: Students have been writing in a classroom journal since the beginning of the school

year. Most have basic phonemic awareness and understand that letters create words that in

turn create sentences. Most students are early beginning in their writing development. All

write from left to right and top to bottom, though there is a significant variation with word

creation using letter recognition. All students write phonemically and seldom incorporate high-

frequency words in their writing. Many write with a combination of upper- and lower-case

letters and will inconsistently use proper punctuation, though I have already seen improvement

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in these skills as familiarity and practice continue. For the last several weeks, students have

been writing explanatory texts. This type of writing has laid a solid foundation from which

students can begin to explore opinion pieces that are supported by fact. Because of the

variation of writing ability among students, students will be able to demonstrate their learning

and thus goal attainment, in different ways, including pictures, verbal explanations, and

magazine collage creation.

Learning Goals Assessments Format of Assessment Adaptations

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Pre-Assessment Fact or Opinion Read sentences

Worksheet aloud while
projecting the
document on
SmartBoard as
students complete
the worksheet.

Formative Assessment T- chart brainstorm on Provide multiple

differences between means of
facts and opinions representation –
oral as well as
visual directions
Learning Goal #1 Fact vs Opinion Sort and lesson.

Read sentences
aloud to scaffold
Game ‘I Have, Who student reading
Has?’ ex: Who has a fact ability.
on...Who has an opinion
I can compare and on… Allow students to
contrast key scaffold each
differences between other’s schema and
fact and opinion. (LG1) Fact and Opinion – knowledge by
SWITCH IT UP!! asking them to
explain their
thinking.

Allow students to
verbally answer the
question if unable
to write a sentence.

Post- Assessment Fact or Opinion Read sentences

Worksheet aloud while
projecting the
document on
SmartBoard as
students complete
the worksheet.
Assessment Plan

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Learning Goals Assessments Format of Assessment Adaptations

Pre-Assessment Opinion Writing – Read and modify

Favorite Food directions as needed.
Modify prompt to
include sentence
starters and word
banks. Provide
instructions visually as
well as orally. Activate
schema of ‘High 5’
Learning Goal #2 paragraph previously
covered.
I can write to inform
others about my
opinion on a topic Formative Assessment Pass the Opinion Game Modify assessment to
and I can support my include 1, 2, or three
Opinion Writing facts. Help students
opinion with one or
Prompts that cannot write to
more facts. (LG2)
provide opinion orally
Favorite Food Opinion and teacher scribes or
Writing with Pre- teacher models writing
Writing Graphic and student copies.
Organizer

Post-Assessment Opinion Writing – Modify assessment to

Favorite Food include 1, 2, or three
facts. Help students
that cannot write to
provide opinion orally
and teacher scribes or
teacher models writing
and student copies.
Provide sentence
starters and word
banks for students who
struggle to write.

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Learning Goal #1: The assessments in this lesson are designed to meet students where

they are academically and go from there. When I first started to think about how to teach my

students the difference between fact and opinion, I decided to anchor this new knowledge to

concepts that we have already discussed in class – information books. We have been reading

information books for several weeks and students understand that these books are based on

fact. While discussing facts, we briefly touched on opinion as a comparison, and so it will be

interesting to see how students have processed this information since and how they will

distinguish between the two now. For the pre-and post-assessment, I will address multiple

means of representation by allowing the students to read the statements as well as hear them

as I read them aloud. This will also scaffold those students that may be impeded by their

current reading level.

My pre-and post-assessment is composed of two sections. The first section has 10

statements, each culturally relevant to our students. I will read the statements aloud and

students will decide whether each is fact or opinion and indicate their answer by coloring a star

either green (fact) or red (opinion). The second portion of the assessment requires the

students to write one fact and one opinion statement. This will help me to determine whether

my students can think critically about fact and opinion, and create a statement based on this

knowledge. The grading for this assessment will be weighted. The first section (true/false) will

comprise eighty percent of the grade and the written statements will comprise twenty percent

of the grade. The grading will be consistent with how students currently rate their level of

understanding. A (4) indicates a thorough understanding and students feel as though they

could teach another what they know. This will correlate with a graded average of 90 and

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above. A (3) indicates that students feel as though they mostly understand. This will correlate

with a graded average of 75-89. A (2) indicates that students still have questions about a

concept. This will correlate with a graded average of 60-74. A (1) indicates that students do

not understand. This will correlate with a graded average of 59 and below. This assessment

will provide concrete data to help determine student understanding of the learning goal.

The formative assessments are based on discussion and modeling. For the first, we will

brainstorm the differences between fact and opinion and document our thinking with an

anchor chart that students can reference as needed. After we have created our anchor chart,

students will be asked to write one statement of fact and one statement of opinion on a sticky

note. They will then place their note under fact or opinion on the anchor chart. As a class, we

will discuss each statement and decide whether we agree or disagree with each statement’s

placement on the anchor chart and explain why. Grading will be based on whether each can

provide a correct statement to a fact or an opinion. The second formative assessment is a fact

vs opinion sort. I will read the statements and students will either glue that statement under

fact or opinion heading. A score of 6 correct indicates a level (4) understanding, 5 correct, a

level (3), 3-4 correct, a level (2), and 0-2 correct, a level (1).

The next formative assessment is a game where students provide either a fact or

opinion on a topic then challenge their classmates to do the same. This format allows students

to scaffold each other’s knowledge while at the same time allowing me to monitor for

understanding. Grading will be based on whether students can correctly state a fact or opinion

statement. The last formative assessment, Switch It Up! is an assessment that brings all the

different concepts together before our post-assessment is administered. For this assessment,

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students will indicate whether a statement is either fact or opinion. If it is a fact, then they are

challenged to write an opinion sentence on the topic. If it is an opinion, they are asked to

create a fact sentence about the same topic. The last question challenges students to create

their own statement, then switch it up. The grading is as follows: Each statement is worth 2

points, one for correctly identifying the statement as fact or opinion, the second point is for

correctly switching that same statement. 12 correct indicates a level (4) of understanding. 9-11

correct, a level (3), 7-8 correct, a level (2), and 0-6 correct indicates a level (1) of understanding.

This is another great indicator of student understanding at a deeper level and his/her ability to

think critically about this topic.

Learning Goal #2: This learning goal will be more challenging because of the wide range

of writing diversity among students. Many students have substantially regressed in their

writing ability since the start of the pandemic. Many are writing at an early beginning level of

phonemic writing with little to no sight word incorporation. Several students are mid/late

emergent and will copy print that is written but struggle to write basic CVC words without help.

Over the last several weeks I have seen that as their confidence grows so too does their writing

ability. For this learning goal, the pre-and post-assessments are the same. I have designed two

pre/post-assessments to curtail student frustration from the start. The first is designed for

early/mid beginning writers to explore and expand upon. Students are given the freedom to

demonstrate their prior knowledge with little support. The second is designed for the mid/late

emergent students and provides more structure and support in their writing using sentence

starters and word banks. The formative assessments are designed to divide this formidable

learning goal into smaller segments that better align with students’ cognitive load. The first

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teaches students to not only state their opinion but also give their reasons for their opinion.

Next, we discuss the conclusion that brings a sense of closure to any writing. The last

lesson brings it all together and asks students to complete reading prompts that include stating

their opinion, providing 1-3 reasons that support that opinion, and finishing with a conclusion.

During a previous writing lesson, we covered the ‘High 5’ of paragraph writing so this writing

fits that format well. I modified the writing prompts to include sentence starters and word

banks. Another modification for those students that struggle to write, I can write their

sentences on a dry erase board and they can copy the writing on their prompt worksheet.

Student success is evaluated based on a writing rubric which includes evaluating the

introduction, reasons, conclusion, sentence structure, and grammar usage.

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Learning Goal #1

 Pre-Post Assessment:
Fact or Opinion
1. Read each sentence.
2. Decide if each sentence is a fact or opinion.
3. If it is a fact, color the star green; if it is an
opinion, color the star red.
4. When you are done, provide an example of a fact and an opinion.

Fact or Opinion?

Name:
1. Seward Elementary is located in Seward, Alaska.
2. My teacher is the smartest.
3. Popcorn is the first grade’s favorite snack.
4. Winter in Alaska is cold.
5. Dogs are pets.
6. There is a sledding hill in our playground.
7. Mr. Haskins is the best principal.
8. My teacher is Ms. Lunardi.
9. There are 14 students in our class.
10. Christmas is a holiday.
1. Write one fact.

2. Write one opinion.

 Grading:

 Eighty Percent of Grade is T/F Statement Identification

 Twenty Percent of Grade is T/F Written Statement

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 90 – 100 graded Average = (4) Complete understanding of the

learning goal

 75 - 89 graded Average = (3) Mostly understand the learning

goal

 60 – 74 graded average = (2) I mostly do not understand the

learning goal

 59 or less graded average = (1) I do not understand the

learning goal

 Formative Assessments

o Fact vs Opinion Sort

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 Grading:

 6 correct = 4 Level of understanding

 5 correct = 3 Level of understanding

 3-4 correct = 2 Level of understanding

 0-2 correct = 1 Level of understanding

o Mix It Up!!

Name:_________________________________________
Fact and Opinion: SWITCH IT UP!!
1. Read each sentence below.
2. Decide if it is a fact or an opinion.
3. Write F for fact or O for opinion.
4. Then SWITCH IT UP!! If the statement is an opinion, write a fact about the topic. If it is
a fact, write an opinion about the topic.
Fact Opinion

The playground has a swing set.

The swing set is the most fun part of the playground.

Fact Opinion
1. Going to the doctor is scary.

_______________________________________________________________________.

Fact Opinion

2. Cheetahs are the fastest land animal.

_______________________________________________________________________.
Fact Opinion
3. Pizza is a tasty snack.
_______________________________________________________________________.
Fact Opinion

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4. Mr. Haskins is the principal at Seward Elementary.

_______________________________________________________________________.

Fact Opinion
5. Ms. Lundardi is the best teacher ever.
_______________________________________________________________________.
Challenge
Write your own fact or opinion statement, then Switch It Up!!
Fact Opinion
6. __________________________________________________.

_______________________________________________________________________.
 Grading:

 12 correct = (4) Complete understanding of learning goal

 9-11 correct = (3) Mostly understand learning goal

 7-8 correct = (2) I mostly do not understand learning

 0-6 correct = (1) I do not understand learning goal

Learning Goal #2

 Pre/Post-Assessment:
o Early Beginning Writers

Name: __________________________

In your opinion, what is the best food in the world?

The best food is

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o Mid/Late Emergent Writers

What is your favorite food?

My favorite food is _______________________

______________________________________.
First, ___________ is/are my favorite because _____________________________________.
Second, ______________ are my favorite because ______________________________.
Third, _________________are my favorite because _____________________________.
I love _______________________________.

 Formative Assessments Anchor Chart

Introduction

 State your OPINION.

 _______________ is wonderful/great.
 My favorite __________ is ____________.
 I think __________ is ___________ for many reasons.
 I think _________ are _____________.

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Reason First, _____________ because ______________.

First of all, ____________ because ___________.

#1
To start, _____________ because ____________.

Reason Second, ____________ because ______________.

Also, ______________ because _______________.

#2 In addition, ____________ because ____________.

Reason Third, _____________ because ______________.

Last, ______________ because ______________.
#3 Finally, ______________ because ____________.

Conclusion

 This is why __________ is __________.

 As you can see, __________________.
 I love___________________________.

o Early/Mid Beginning Writers Prompt Example

What is the best pet to have?

I think _____________ are the best pets to have.

To start, ______________________________ because ______________________________.

Also, _________________________________ because ______________________________.

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Finally, _______________________________ because ______________________________.

This is why I think _______________ are the best pets!

o Mid/Late Emergent Writers Prompt Example

What is the best pet to have?

I think _____________ are the best pets to have.

To start, ______________________________ because ______________________________.

This is why I think _______________ are the best pets!

Word Bank
dogs cats bunnies pets horses
furry soft own loyal playful

funny best

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Grading Rubric for Opinion Writing

Content 3 2 1
Introduction My opinion is clearly My opinion is confusing I did not state my
stated. and not clearly stated. opinion.
Reasons I used 3 reasons. I used 1-2 reasons. I used no reasons.
I have a closing My closing statement is My opinion has no
statement and it the same as my closing statement.
Conclusion restates my introduction statement.
introduction sentence.

I can make complete I can make some I have no complete

Complete sentences. complete sentences. sentences.
Sentences
I made a few mistakes I made many mistakes in I did not use
in capitalization and capitalization and capitalization and
Capitalization punctuation. punctuation. punctuation.
Punctuation

 Grading:
 A rubric score of 14-15 indicates a level (4) of understanding.
 A score of 11-13 indicates a level (3) of understanding.
 A score of 8-10 indicates a level (2) of understanding.
 A score of less than 7 indicates a (1) level of understanding.

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TWS: Design for Instruction

Pre-Assessment Results
On the day of the pre-assessment for learning goal 1, only 10 out of 14 students were

present to take the pre-assessment. Because our school is operating under a symptom-free

protocol, any indication of illness such as a cough or any type of nasal congestion required that

the students be sent home until they are symptom-free for at least 24 hours without

medication. Because of this, many students rotated into and out of the classroom during the

course of the week.

Learning Goal 1

The pre-assessment for learning goal 1 was divided into two weighted sections. The first

section was composed of 10 fact or opinion statements. At the end of each statement is a

blank star. Students will indicate whether each statement is fact or opinion by coloring the star

green (fact), or red (opinion). This section accounted for eighty percent of a student’s score.

The second section asked each student to write their own fact or opinion statements. The

second section comprised twenty percent of a student’s score. To provide multiple means of

representation, I will read each question aloud while projecting its image on the SmartBoard

through the document camera.

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Overall Student Scores on Pre-assessment

Learning Goal 1
Level of Student Understanding

Level 4 1

Level 3 3

Level 2 3

Level 1 3

0 1 2 3 4

Number of Students

Figure 1

For the preassessment of learning goal 1, I can compare and contrast key differences

between fact and opinion, 3 students scored at a level 1 of understanding, meaning that they

had no real understanding of the differences between fact or opinion statements. 3 students

scored at a level 2 of understanding, meaning that they are beginning to understand the

difference between fact and opinion but still have many questions. 3 students scored at a level

3 of understanding, meaning that they mostly understand the differences between fact and

opinion. 1 student scored at a level 4 of understanding, meaning that they understand the

difference between fact and opinion and feel as though they could teach a classmate the

concept (See Figure 1).

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Learning Goal 1 Preassessement Results per Student

100

90

80

70

60
Percent Correct

50

40

30

20

10

0
Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Student 4 Student 5 Student 6 Student 7 Student 8 Student 9 Student 10 Total
Average

Fact Statement ID Opinion Statement ID Written Fact Statement Written Opinion Statement

Figure 2

In comparing student results, students had as much difficulty identifying a fact

statement as they did an opinion statement. The average numbers for correctly identifying fact

or opinion statements were remarkably similar, 68 and 74, respectively.

When students were asked to write their own fact and opinion statements, the numbers

reflected student confusion with fact statements. 5 students were unable to create a fact

statement while only 2 students were unable to create an opinion statement. 1 student was

unable to create neither a fact nor an opinion statement and 2 students were able to correctly

write both one fact and one opinion statement (See Figure 2).

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In talking to students, if they were able to think of one exception to a fact statement,

then they qualified it as an opinion. For example, for the statement, ‘There is a sledding hill in

our playground’ many students classified this as an opinion because there are several sledding

hills on our playground. Many students could not create generalizations from the statements

being provided. This pattern of thought made me realize that in teaching this concept, I am

going to have to focus on showing students how to prove possible fact statements, either

through directly investigating the statement (can you see a sledding hill on our playground?) or

by researching the topic online or in information books.

Learning Goal 2

Because of time constraints and because of the scaffolding design of the lessons, the

pre-assessment for learning goal 2, I can write to inform others about my opinion on a topic and

I can support my opinion with one or more facts, was administered on a different day than the

pre-assessment for learning goal 1. Again, because of ongoing issues of illness in our classroom,

only 9 students were present on the date of the pre-assessment for learning goal two. For this

assessment, students were given a writing prompt, ‘What is the best food in the world?’.

Students were asked to name their favorite food and provide at least three reasons why this

food is their favorite food. On the prompt, students were given an area to brainstorm about

their favorite food.

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Students were graded using the following rubric:

Grading Rubric for Opinion Writing

Content 3 2 1

Introduction My opinion is clearly My opinion is I did not state my

stated. confusing and not opinion.
clearly stated.
Reasons I used 3 reasons. I used 1-2 reasons. I used no reasons.
Conclusion I have a closing My closing My opinion has no
statement and it statement is the closing statement.
restates my same as my
introduction introduction
sentence. statement.
Complete Sentences I can make complete I can make some I have no complete
sentences. complete sentences. sentences.
Capitalization I made a few I made many I did not use
Punctuation mistakes in mistakes in capitalization and
capitalization and capitalization and punctuation.
punctuation. punctuation.

In their writing, 75% of the students were able to provide a clear, understandable

introduction, which in this case was stating their opinion. 33.3% of students were able to

provide 3 reasons for their opinion, 44.4% of students were able to provide 1-2 reasons, and

22.5% of students could not provide any reasons for their opinion. 77.8% of students did not

provide any type of concluding statement. Only 22% of students could consistently write

complete sentences, with a majority (55%) of students able to provide a few complete

sentences. 55% of students did not use any kind of capitalization or punctuation, with 44%

using a few standard conventions throughout their writing.

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Opinion Writing Piece Graded by 5 Categories of Rubric

3
Student Rubric Score

0
Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Student 4 Student 5 Student 6 Student 7 Student 8 Student 9

Introduction # of Reasons Conclusion

Complete Sentences Capital Letters & Punctuation

Date Topic: Fact vs Opinion

02/24 Fact vs Opinion Pre-Assessment/ Fact or Opinion Sort
02/25 Fact vs Opinion I Have, Who Has Game
02/26 Switch It Up Lesson/ Fact vs Opinion Post-Assessment
This data inform me that students can express their opinions clearly, but do not quite

understand the idea that they must also provide the reasons for their opinion. One key aspect

of this is showing students how to use the graphic organizer that is provided on the prompt to

help them to organize their thoughts and provide at least three reasons for their thinking. Most

of the students can write at least a few complete sentences using standard conventions, but to

reinforce these concepts, I will encourage students to use the writing checklist that includes

checking for punctuation and complete sentences. Another observation from this data is that I

will need to reinforce/reteach the idea of a concluding statement as a majority of students did

not include a concluding statement in their writing prompt.

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Unit Overview

Date Topic: Opinion Writing

03/01 Opinion Writing Pre-Assessment Writing Prompt Best Pet – Intro, Reasons
03/02 Writing Prompt Best Pet - Conclusion
03/03 Writing Prompt of student choosing
03/04 Opinion Writing Post-Assessment

Activities

I have planned several activities for each of the learning goals. Each activity is designed

to progressively broaden and deepen student understanding of the learning goals. In fact, the

order of the learning goals themselves challenge students to attain a richer understanding of

fact and opinion first by understanding the difference, then using that knowledge to create an

opinion piece designed to inform and persuade the reader.

Fact vs Opinion

The first lesson is designed to be an introduction to fact versus opinion by asking

students to compare and contrast key differences between the terms. Students are asked to

define each term then provide example statements of both fact and opinion. I will create an

anchor chart, at the direction of the students, to documents the differences between the two

terms. Students are then asked to write statements of fact and opinion and place each note in

the appropriate column, either fact or opinion. After all the notes are placed, I will then read

each statement and the class will decide whether each statement was correctly placed and

provide the reasoning behind their thinking. The lesson ends with students asked to complete

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a formative assessment sort labeling different statements as fact or opinion. This lesson is

designed to challenge students’ thinking about fact vs opinion and achieve a deeper

understanding through identification and discussion. The materials needed for this lesson are

an introductory engaging video on the Smartboard, an anchor chart, sticky notes, and the fact

vs opinion sort.

The next lesson takes the form of a matching game. Each student is given a card that

has a matching fact or opinion. The starting student has a card that reads start, then asks for

the matching card that has a fact about elephants. The student with the fact reads the card

then asks for an opinion about birds, and so goes the game. After each student has taken a

turn, I will then start a new game by providing a fact about an animal, then ask the class to

provide an opinion about fruit. At the end of the game, each student would have identified and

provided a fact and opinion about differing topics. The ability to pick topics increases student

engagement and participation as they can choose topics that they are comfortable with and

have knowledge of. This lesson helps address student preconception that if there is one nuance

to a fact statement, then by default that statement must be an opinion. During the course of

this game, students are exposed to many different statements of both fact and opinion that will

test their ideas of these concepts and require the students to rely on certain criteria to make

their final decisions. The materials needed are game cards. For this lesson, based on

participation, I can determine which students can or cannot produce a fact and opinion

statement.

The last activity challenges students’ knowledge of fact and opinion by asking them to

Switch It Up! Students are given statements of fact or opinion. If they are given a fact

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statement, then they are challenged to create an opinion from that fact. If they are given an

opinion, then they are challenged to create a fact on that topic. The lesson ends with the

formative assessment Switch It Up that first asks students to identify statements as fact or

opinion, then just as they did verbally, asks them to switch their topic to either fact or opinion.

The last ‘challenge question’ asks students to write their own fact or opinion statement, then

switch it up. This last assessment is the most challenging in that it requires students to not only

identify a statement as fact or opinion but to also think critically and provide an opposite

example of the statement. Students will conclude this unit by completing the post-assessment

worksheet. The technology in this lesson is a slides presentation with different statements of

both fact and opinion, the Switch It Up Worksheet, and the Smartboard document projector.

Opinion Writing

The first lesson for this topic revolves around the mentor texts Don’t Let the Pigeon

Drive the Bus! and I Wanna Iguana. During this lesson, students are first introduced to the

topic of providing reasons for their opinions. Previously, students were asked to identify an

opinion, now they are asked to stretch their schema to include compelling reasons for that

opinion. Students are asked to identify what the opinion is of each book, then provide the

reasons for that opinion. Students are then introduced to the writing prompt graphic

organizers. The prompts are designed to fit the needs of the different writers in the class,

either early beginning writers or mid/late emergent writers. The first lesson focuses on

challenging students to provide their opinion, then provide 1-3 different reasons for that

opinion. This lesson is designed to help break up opinion piece writing into less intimidating

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bites. In the first lesson, we focus on the opinion and the reasons for the opinion. The writing

graphic organizer models complete sentence structure and correct punctuation usage.

The second lesson focuses on concluding statements. The introduction to this lesson

begins with an informative video on concluding statements. I will model how to create a

concluding sentence, then ask students to do the same for a prompt. Students will then

practice creating closing statements to their opinion prompt graphic organizer. The lesson ends

with students finishing the graphic organizer with a concluding statement. Again, the graphic

organizer models complete sentence formation and proper punctuation usage. The materials

needed for this lesson are the short video, the graphic organizer, and the SmartBoard

document projector.

The third lesson starts by celebrating with students as writers! I will remind students of

the High 5 of paragraph writing, which they have just completed with their opinion piece

graphic organizer. To celebrate this momentous passage, students will each receive a writing

cap. I will remind them that now that they are writers, they can write their very own opinion

pieces to help inform and persuade their readers. Students will be allowed to choose a topic

from a selection of prompts and create their own opinion piece that includes an introduction

(opinion), 1-3 reasons (to accommodate different writing levels) for their opinion, and end the

writing with a conclusion. This lesson is the most challenging in that it asks students to write an

opinion piece independently, using only the anchor chart for help. This unit will end when

students complete the post-assessment writing prompt for opinion writing.

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The design of both units follows the gradual release of responsibility model. Initially,

lessons are highly modeled and scaffolded. The middle lessons are designed to ask students to

be more independent in their involvement, but still have the support of their classmates and

their teacher. The final assessments are designed to allow students to work independently and

demonstrate their growth in both writing and reasoning.

Technology

Since this is mostly a reading and writing lesson, technology for the unit will only be

implemented when it can enhance student understanding. Aside from a few engaging videos

designed to scaffold students’ prior knowledge, it will mostly augment multiple means of

representation by allowing students to both see and hear lesson directions and assessments

using the SmartBoard document projector.

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Instructional Decision-Making

I chose to teach learning goal 1 – I can compare and contrast key differences between

fact and opinion and learning goal 2 – I can write to inform others about my opinion on a topic

and I can support my opinion with one or more facts, over the course of eight days in a

consecutive sequence. First, I taught learning goal 1 over the first three days, then I taught

learning goal 2 over the last five. Those eight days were incredibly enlightening, more so for me

than for the students; the teacher became the student in many ways.

Modification 1

The first modification that I made to the original design for instruction resulted after the

first day of instruction. As a class, we have been reading many non-fiction books and have

spoken at length about the differences between fiction and non-fiction. I believed that

students would be able to navigate the leap from fiction/non-fiction to fact/opinion fairly easily.

Our lesson began with a rich discussion on fact versus opinion from which I created an anchor

chart that students could reference over the next several days. Students generated many great

responses to the different characteristics of both fact and opinion. When discussing facts,

students agreed that facts included information that was true. Students also commented that

facts could be looked up in information books. Students all agreed that opinions expressed

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how people felt about something. Students also noted that opinions were not always true for

everyone. My original plan was to allow students to choose from a variety of criteria when they

were deciding whether a statement was a fact or an opinion-which was the original purpose for

the anchor chart.

One student in particular readily participated in our discussion and added several key

points to our classroom anchor chart. He seemed to understand the differences between fact

and opinion thoroughly. After the first formative assessment, I came to realize that even

though he could verbally distinguish between fact and opinion, when presented with

statements, the task was not as easy. Students deemed a statement as a fact if the statement

was true for them. For instance, this same student identified the statement, ‘The man is nice,’

as a fact because for him, that statement was true.

Upon reflection, I realized that developmentally, these students are egocentric and thus

find it difficult to see things out of their personal viewpoints. Instead of giving students a list of

the different characteristics of facts, I decided to focus on two key features: ‘Is it always true?’

and ‘Can you argue with that point?’. By limiting the criteria to two questions, this student was

better able to focus on the difference between fact and opinion instead of trying to find an

exception that would disqualify each statement as a fact because of nuance. I used the

statement from the formative assessment, ‘The sun is hot’ as an example. This student

identified this statement as an opinion. I asked him, can you argue that the sun is not hot? He

readily noted that he could not, that the sun is always hot, so then this statement is a fact!

After this guided discussion, I noticed that this student and most of the other students as well

were asking themselves these questions as they tried to categorize statements as fact or

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opinion. This improvement was evidenced by the marked improvement in fact/opinion

recognition during the next formative assessment. Most students were better able to identify

fact and opinion statements, though many still struggled when they attempted to write their

own statements. This may be due to the fact that many students in this class still struggle with

writing after returning from virtual learning. Verbally, they can articulate their opinions and

answers thoroughly, but when writing they still struggle quite a bit.

Modification 2

Since returning from virtual learning, I knew that teaching learning goal 2, I can write to

inform others about my opinion on a topic and I can support my opinion with one or more facts,

was going to be difficult. Students have a preconceived notion that writing is hard and they

quickly become overwhelmed by the task. As a way of making this assignment more

manageable for the mid/late emergent writers, I decided to let them use an anchor chart that

scaffolded their writing ability. My plan was to allow only the mid/late emergent writers to use

the anchor chart and let the early beginning writers rely on our oral lessons and examples. I

quickly realized that I would have to modify my original plan for instruction. After a mini-lesson

on opinion writing, I informed the students that they were to give their opinion as to whether

they thought school was fun and provide three reasons why they thought that. As I walked

around the room, I focused much of my attention on the mid/late emergent writers as they

were the students that I anticipated were going to have to most difficulty in both attitude and

ability. These students were using their anchor charts as a guide in their writing and doing well.

As I worked my way over to the early beginning writers, I was completely surprised. One

student, who is a very able writer, had written a total of four words in about 35 minutes. He

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and I had a quick conversation about what was happening and why he had not written much in

all that time. He indicated that he didn’t know where to start because he had so many

thoughts going through his head! I quickly realized that I assumed too much of many of the

beginning writers and that they too needed the individual anchor chart as a scaffolding tool to

help them organize their thoughts and provide a starting point. At the end of the lesson, I took

several minutes to discuss the utility of the individual anchor chart to ALL students. I explained

that it could be used as a template for their writing but did not have to dictate everything that

they wrote. From one day to the next, I noticed an improvement in the writing of many of my

beginning writers but especially in the student that precipitated this change. He still had issues

with articulating the different reasons for his opinion, which we continued to address, but he

definitely had a more solid grasp on the focus of the writing prompt.

Day 1

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Day 2

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Analysis of Student Learning

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Whole-Class Scores

Because of COVID mandates, our school operates under a symptom-free protocol. This

means that any symptom of illness (nasal congestion, sneezing, headache, etc.) requires that

students be sent home immediately and cannot return until they are symptom free for at least

twenty-four hours without medication. Unfortunately, when I was teaching learning goal 1: I

can compare and contrast key differences between fact and opinion and learning goal 2: I can

write to inform others about my opinion on a topic and I can support my opinion with one or

more facts, a mild cold was circulating through our classroom. On any given day half of the

class of fourteen students would be absent. Because of the inconsistent and persistent

absences, data collection that was representative of our classroom population was more

difficult.

Learning Goal 1 Student Attendance

Student Pre-Assessment Post-Assessment Formative Formative

Attendance Attendance Assessment 1 Assessment 2
Attendance Attendance
1. L.L. Present Present Present Present
2. P.M. Present Present Present Present
3. R.A. Absent Absent Present Absent
4. R.B. Absent Present Absent Present
5. L.C. Absent Absent Absent Absent
6. L.E. Absent Present Present Present
7. T.F.C. Present Absent Present Absent
8. Ol. J. Present Present Present Absent
9. Or. J. Present Present Present Present
10. F.K. Present Absent Absent Absent
11. S.S. Present Absent Present Absent
12. M.M. Present Present Present Present
13. A.F. Present Present Absent Present
14. M.K. Present Present Present Present

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Learning Goal 2 Student Attendance

Student Pre-Assessment Post-Assessment Formative Formative

Attendance Attendance Assessment 1 Assessment 2
Attendance Attendance
1. L.L. Present Absent Absent Absent
2. P.M. Present Present Present Present
3. R.A. Absent Present Present Present
4. R.B. Absent Present Present Present
5. L.C. Absent Present Present Present
6. L.E. Present Absent Absent Absent
7. T.F.C. Present Absent Present Present
8. Ol. J. Present Absent Present Absent
9. Or. J. Present Absent Present Absent
10. F.K. Present Present Present Present
11. S.S. Absent Present Present Present
12. M.M. Present Present Present Present
13. A.F. Absent Present Present Present
14. M.K. Present Present Present Present

For learning goal 1, only 7 of 14 students were present for both the pre-and post-

assessment. For learning goal 2, only 4 of 14 students were present for both the pre-and post-

assessment. These absences account for the small number of students that are represented in

the Learning Gain Score Calculation.

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Learning Goal 1: I can compare and contrast key differences between fact and opinion.

Learning Gain Score:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Potentia
Pre- Post- l Gain
Assessment Assessment Score,
Raw Score, Raw Score, Pre- Post- Actual Top Learning
Students, Top Top Assessment Assessment Gain Possible Gain
N= Possible = Possible = Percentage Percentage Score = Score
7 100 100       100%  
L.L. 92 100 92% 100% 8% 8% 100%
P.M. 82 100 82% 100% 18% 18% 100%
Ol. J. 58 90 58% 90% 32% 42% 76%
Or. J. 60 100 60% 100% 40% 40% 100%
M.M. 58 72 58% 72% 14% 42% 33%
A.F. 66 76 66% 76% 10% 34% 29%
M.K. 64 90 64% 90% 26% 36% 72%
Overall Learning Gain Score 73%

Figure 3

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Learning Goal 1 Pre- and Post- Assessment Comparison

100 100 100
100 92 90 90
90
Score (out of 100 possible points)

82
80 76
72
70 66 64
58 60 58
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
L.L. P.M. Ol. J. Or. J. M.M. A.F. M.K.
Student

Pre-Assessment Post-Assessment

Figure 4

Learning Goal 1 Itemized Pre- and Post-Assessement Results per Student

100

90

80
Percent Correct

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
L.L. P.M. Ol. J. Or. J. M.M. A.F. M.K.

Fact Statement ID Pre-Assessment Fact Opinion ID Post Assessment Opinion Statement ID Pre
Opinion Statement ID Post Written Fact Statement Pre Written Fact Statement Post
Written Opinion Statement Pre Written Opinion Statement Post
Figure 5

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Learning Goal 1 Narrative

For learning goal 1, only 7 of 14 students were present for both the pre-and post-

assessment. The data above represents those students that were present for both

assessments. I chose to teach learning goal one before learning goal two to create a solid

foundational schema on the concept of fact and opinion.

The data from figures 3 and 4 show that all students exhibited some type of growth over

the course of the lessons on fact and opinion. Some students, such as L.L. and P.M., came into

this unit with a strong idea about the different concepts of fact and opinion, as evidenced by

their high scores on the pre-assessment, 92 and 82, respectively. Other students, such as Or. J.

showed dramatic improvement from the pre-assessment (60) to the post-assessment (100).

As evidenced by figures 3 and 4, three of seven students scored a 100 on the post-

assessment. The lowest score on the post-assessment was a 72, which for this student (M.M.),

was a 14-point improvement from her pre-assessment score.

5 of seven students had a learning gain score of 70% or higher. The two remaining

students had a learning gain score around the 30% mark.

When comparing individual criteria from the pre-and post-assessment, figure 5 shows

that 6 of 7 students improved in fact statement identification. The remaining student (A.F.)

scored the same on the pre-and post-assessment (86). For opinion statement identification, 3

students (L.L., P.M., A.F.) scored the same on the pre-and post-assessment (100, 100, 33,

respectively). 3 students (Ol. J., Or. J., M.K.) improved their score from 67 to 100. 1 student

(M.M.) showed regression from 100 to 67. When students were asked to write a fact

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statement, 3 students improved (L.L., P.M., Ol. J.) from 0 to 100. The other students’ scores

remained the same, either 100 (O.J., A.F.) or 0 (M.M., M.K.). When asked to write an opinion

statement, 4 students’ scores remained the same (L.L., P.M. Or. J. M.M.), 100. One student (Ol.

J) regressed 100 to 0, and two students (A.F., M.K.) improved from 0 to 100.

Overall, all students successfully met the criteria for learning goal 1: I can compare and

contrast key differences between fact and opinion.

Learning Gain Score – Learning Goal 2: I can write to inform others about my opinion on a topic

and I can support my opinion with one or more facts.

Learning Gain Score:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Potential
Pre- Post- Gain
Assessment Assessment Score,
Raw Score, Raw Score, Pre- Post- Actual Top Learning
Students, Top Top Assessment Assessment Gain Possible Gain
N= Possible = Possible = Percentage Percentage Score = Score
4 4 4       100%  
P.M. 2 3 50% 75% 25% 50% 50%
F.K. 2 3 50% 75% 25% 50% 50%
M.M. 2 4 50% 100% 50% 50% 100%
M.K. 2 3 50% 75% 25% 50% 50%
Overall Learning Gain Score 63%
Figure 6

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Learning Goal 2 Pre- and Post- Assessment Comparison

4
4
Score (out of 4 possible points)

3 3 3
3

2 2 2 2
2

0
P.M. F.K. M.M M.K.
Student

Pre-Assessment Post-Assessment

Figure 7

Rubric Score for Individual Components for Opinion Piece

3
Total Score (out of 3 total)

0
P.M. F.K. M.M. M.K.

Student

Intro Pre Intro Post Reasons Pre Reasons Post Closing Pre
Closing Post Comp. Sent. Pre Comp. Sent. Post Cap. And Punct. Pre Cap. and Punct. Post

Figure 8

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Learning Goal 2 Narrative

For learning goal 2, only 4 of 14 students were present for both the pre-and post-

assessment. The above data represent the scores of those students. I chose to teach learning

goal 2 after learning goal one to ensure that students had a solid grasp on the differences

between fact and opinion before attempting to create an opinion writing piece.

From the data from figures 6 and 7, all students showed growth between the pre-

assessment and the post-assessment. All students scored a 2 on the pre-assessment. Most

students improved their scores by one point, though one student, M.M. increased her score by

2 points.

Data from the Rubric from Individual Components Graph (figure 8) consistently showed

that most students scored the lowest in their closing statements in the pre-assessment. Half

the students, M.M. and M.K. improved their score in the post-assessment, the other half’s

scores remained the same at 1. Also, from the pre-assessment, students scored the highest in

the introduction section. In the post-assessment, students scored the highest in the

introduction, reasons, and complete sentences categories.

Overall, students successfully met the criteria for learning goal 2: I can write to inform

others about my opinion on a topic and I can support my opinion with one or more facts.

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Subgroup Scores

For this section, I chose to focus on learning goal 2 and compare the students’ scores

between the beginning writers and the early emergent writers. I also chose to include all 14

students’ scores, independent of attendance.

Early R.B. L.C. L.E. T.F.C. Ol. J. A.F. M.K.

Emergent
Writers
Beginning L.L. P.M. R.A. Or. J. F.K. S.S. M.M.
Writers

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Early Emergent Writing Data for Writing Prompt

Ol. J.

M.K.

A.F.
Student

T.F.C.

L.E.

L.C.

R.B.

0 1 2 3 4

Rubric Score

Post-Assessment Formative Assessment 2 Formative Assessment 1 Pre-Assessment

Figure 9

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Beginning Writing Data for Writing Prompt

M.M.

S.S.

F.K.
Student

Or. J

R.A.

P.M.

L.L.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Rubric Score

Post Assessment Formative Assessment 2 Formative Assessment 1 Pre-Assessment

Figure 10

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Subgroup Narrative

Since returning from virtual learning, most of the first-grade class has struggled with

writing. Many students have the preconceived notion that writing is hard and quickly become

overwhelmed with most writing tasks. One major roadblock that I have noticed, especially with

the early emergent writers is their ability to organize their ideas then transfer those ideas to

paper. I attempted to bridge this obstacle with individual anchor charts that scaffolded student

ability and reminded them of the sequence of writing.

Data from figure 9 showed that all the early emergent writers steadily improved their

scores from the pre-assessment to formative assessment #1, to formative assessment #2, and

finally to the post-assessment - barring any absences. The only exception to this pattern was

A.F., whose scores remained unchanged throughout the lesson. Three students, L.C., L.E., and

T.F.C. improved their scores by two rubric scores. Three other students Ol. J., M.K., and R.B.

improved their scores by one rubric score.

Data from figure 10 shows the beginning writers’ scores were less consistent in their

rubric scores. Three students showed episodes of regression during the unit. L.L. regressed

from a score of 3 to 2, both P.M. and F.K. regressed from a score of 4 to 3. Only M.M., Or.J.,

and R.A. showed the pattern of consistent improvement noted with the early emergent writers.

S.S. remained consistent at 4 throughout the unit.

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Individuals

The two individuals that demonstrated different levels of performance were L.C. and

R.A. L.C. is considered a low early emergent writer. His writing often consists of one or two

words and rarely includes complete sentences or punctuation marks. L.C. often exhibits a poor

attitude towards writing. He lacks confidence in his writing and often employs a helpless

attitude. R.A. is a solid beginning writer. R.A. can produce quality writing and seems to write

with apparent ease. I chose these students because several of the results of their assessments

were quite surprising and unexpected.

L.C. has consistently produced low early emergent written pieces. I anticipated that

successfully completing the criteria for learning goal two, I can write to inform others about my

opinion on a topic and I can support my opinion with one or more facts, would be difficult. L.C.

was absent on the day of the pre-assessment but was present for the rest of the assessments.

Unexpectedly, L.C. steadily improved his writing scores throughout the lesson. He applied

himself and committed to using the individual anchor chart to help organize his thoughts and

help him to create complete sentences. L.C. started with a rubric score of 2 on formative

assessment #1, then scored a 3 on formative assessment #2, and finally a score of 4 on the

post-assessment.

R.A. was also absent on the day of the pre-assessment but was present for the other

assessments. R.A. scored a 1 on formative assessment #1, a 2 on formative assessment #2, and

a 3 on the post-assessment. R.A. quickly became overwhelmed by the writing prompt for

formative assessment #1 and wrote a total of four words. His writing improved on formative

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assessment #2 but he still had difficulty producing facts to support his opinion as he used the

same reason twice. On the post-assessment, R.A. was able to introduce his opinion and provide

facts to support his opinion, but he could not provide a closing statement.

Barring penmanship due to fine motor skill impairment and spelling ability, L.C.

outperformed R.A. on every assessment. R.A. the beginning writer took twice as much time to

produce his opinion piece as L.C. the early emergent writer, who was able to finish his opinion

piece in the time allotted. L.C. was able to effectively use the tools at his disposal to steadily

improve his understanding of opinion writing to create a final product in the post-assessment

that earned a rubric score of 4. Though R.A. did improve throughout the lesson, he was never

able to create an opinion piece that consistently had an introduction, viable reasons for his

opinion, or a closing statement.

Overall Assessment

All students made progress and showed improvement through most of the assessments

in learning goals 1 and 2 as was evidenced by their scores in the pre-and post-assessments for

both learning goals. The overall learning gain score for learning goal 1, I can compare and

contrast key differences between fact and opinion, was 73% with all students making positive

improvements. The overall learning gain score for learning goal 2, I can write to inform others

about my opinion on a topic and I can support my opinion with one or more facts, was 63%,

again with all students making positive improvements.

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Work Examples L.C.

Formative Assessment #1

Formative Assessment #2
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Post-Assessment

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R.A. Work Samples

Formative Assessment #1

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Formative Assessment #2

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Post-Assessment

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Reflection and Self-Evaluation

Successful Learning Goal

I believe that learning goal #1: I can compare and contrast key differences between fact

and opinion was the more successful of the two learning goals. This was evidenced by the

higher Learning Gain score of 73% compared to 63% for learning goal #2: I can write to inform

others about my opinion on a topic and I can support my opinion with one or more facts.

Students did better on the formative assessments of learning goal 1 as well as in-class

discussion and brainstorm discussions. I believe that there were several reasons for this

difference.

One possible explanation that learning goal 1 was more successful than 2 was the fact

that students had already been exposed to the concept of facts from our book lessons during

our interactive reading time. Because of the structure of our interactive reading lessons, the

students had been exposed to fiction vs nonfiction books several weeks before I began the TWS

unit. During this time, they were able to attain a solid understanding of the concept of facts, as

information books are based on them. Even though students still struggled to understand the

difference between fact and opinion, the foundation had been laid and it only took a few

lessons of explicit direction to drive the point home. This was evidenced by the much higher

scores on the post-assessment which included several perfect scores, with the lowest being

72%.

Another possible reason for the success of learning goal 1 was that the assessments,

both formative and summative, required less of a cognitive load for students to meet the

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criteria for success. Students were mostly asked to identify fact versus opinion statements. The

most challenging of the assessments asked the students to create their own fact and opinion

statements or switch an already existing fact statement to an opinion statement and vice versa.

Students’ scores for these sections showed less growth and were much less consistent. Several

students’ scores remained the same (excepting the scores of those students that scored 100).

Both M.M and M.K scored a 0 for their written fact statements, and Ol. J. showed a regression

in her written opinion statement – 100 to 0.

For the most part, the information that students needed to be successful in the pre-and

post-assessments of learning goal 1 was right in front of them, the challenge was teaching

students to recognize the evidence that pointed students in either direction – fact or opinion.

Less Successful Learning Goal

Based on the data from the learning gain score and from empirical classroom

experience, learning Goal 2 was the less successful of the two learning goals. Students

struggled with creating an opinion piece from the onset of the lessons. Only 4 of 11 students

that completed the post-assessment scored above a 3. Most students improved only one rubric

point from their pre- to post-assessment score.

I believe that one of the reasons for this struggle was our switch to virtual learning.

During virtual learning, students lost the academic stamina required for effective writing. The

lack of classroom writing exposure compounded by the difficulty in creating engaging, effective

writing lessons created the perfect storm of ‘writing paresis’. Students’ ability to write was not

completely paralyzed by virtual learning, but it was severely affected. Upon returning to face-

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to-face learning, students were quickly overwhelmed by writing assignments. In fact, it has

taken the last four months for all students to comfortably write 2-5 sentences. Anticipating this

roadblock, I created an individual anchor chart to help scaffold student writing ability that

would help them to articulate their ideas into a more coherent and writable order.

Another reason that learning goal 2 was less effective was due in part to the fact that I

overestimated the ability of my beginning writers. I believed that the beginning writers would

be able to create opinion writing pieces based on mini-lessons and individual conferences that

would have allowed me to scaffold students one-on-one. By the time that I realized my error,

students had already struggled through a lesson a most of a formative assessment. One

student, R.A. scored a 1, the remaining students scored higher, but their scores were lower

than expected. This struggle only reinforced students’ idea that writing is hard and created a

mindset where student effort quickly became overwhelmed by emotion. I believe student

confidence was affected and they started second-guessing their already weak ideas on writing.

A repeating theme in both the pre-and post-assessment for learning goal 2 was that

students consistently failed to add a conclusion. This omission prevented some students from

earning one entire rubric point. As I reflected on this mini-lesson, I remembered that it was on

this morning that the Smartboard was not cooperating. I had researched and chosen an

engaging video that explained a closing statement with associated images and grade-level

terminology. I became flustered and though I was able to explain the idea behind a closing

statement, I feel that my planned lesson would have been much more effective. Half of the

students (P.M. and F.K.) failed to see the importance and thus did not add a closing statement

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to their opinion piece which resulted in a score of 1 on the grading rubric, lowering their overall

rubric score.

Implications for Future Teaching

There are several areas of instruction that I would redesign when teaching these

learning goals in the future. One of the biggest changes that I would make to learning goal 1 is

to create assessments that require students to think critically about the topic. Some of my

assessments measured superficial knowledge and understanding, ultimately reinforcing the

standard algorithm of instruction. Students were not required to demonstrate their

understanding through individual thought or novel algorithms. In effect, the assessments

placed the focus on the product rather than the process of learning. By asking more open-

ended questions that require students to think about rather than regurgitate information, their

level of understanding would be broader and in much more depth.

Another area that I would change is the sequence of learning for learning goal 2. I feel

that in my attempt to cover all of the planned materials in the lessons, I rushed the overall pace

of the unit. In retrospect, I would introduce each of the five aspects of a paragraph individually.

I would first expose students to each concept (introduction, reasons, conclusion) using

exemplar pieces of writing as models. This would allow my students to see what the

expectations of the lessons are through written models. I would then allow them to practice

writing each section several times to enhance their comfort level with the new material. Only

after I had introduced each of the different components of a five-paragraph essay in several

ways would I then ask them to produce their own writing samples. I feel that this would allow

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students the time and exposure to effectively learn and process the scope of the new material

that I was introducing.

Professional Development

I have learned a great deal about myself as a teacher over the last several months. With

the realization that I still have much to learn, I have decided to focus on two learning goals to

facilitate this professional growth.

My first learning goal is to improve my ability to ‘read the room’. I have come to realize

that it is exceedingly difficult for me to make changes to my teaching plan once it is set in

motion. I recognize that my lack of experience and confidence compound this difficulty. Over

the course of these lessons, there were instances when I was not effectively communicating the

subject matter in a manner that the students could successfully understand. It was obvious

that they were becoming confused and/or were too fatigued with the subject matter. Instead

of acknowledging this and making an ‘instructional pivot’, I forged ahead, magnifying their

confusion and/or exhaustion instead of simply changing the way I was explaining a concept or

allowing them a quick ‘brain break’.

A second learning goal that would facilitate my professional development as a teacher is

the ability to better differentiate my lessons for ALL levels of ability in my classroom. I have one

student in my classroom with severe learning disabilities. Though she spends a majority of her

time in a special education classroom, I feel that I do not effectively engage her learning

experience when she is participating in our class. In the future, I aim to utilize the many existing

Universal Design for Learning techniques that I am confident will improve her experience in my

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classroom and facilitate her learning. Another approach to improve my ability to differentiate

my lessons is to employ COVID conscious collaborative efforts more effectively. COVID has

stymied a great deal of student collaboration events due to district mandates on distance and

exposure. My goal is to identify and utilize collaborative techniques that help scaffold student

ability while at the same time keeps them safe from exposure to COVID.

Another learning goal is to improve my ability to ask more open-ended questions that

require students to think critically about content topics of instruction. Most of the questions in

the pre-and post-assessments for learning goal 1 required students to simply identify a

statement as fact or opinion; only 2 questions asked students to create their own statements. I

realize that this a weakness of mine as this was not how I was taught. Most of my schooling

was based on the standard algorithm where students were taught to process information one

way. There was no thought behind the why, it just was. The emphasis was on the product, not

the process. The exact opposite is true in our current classrooms. Today students are asked to

think outside the box daily, to not only understand the concept but also the theory behind it.

To prepare students to be citizens of the 21st century, I will endeavor to allow students the

freedom and time to explore answers on their terms, not mine, thus empowering them to

become their own best advocates for their learning – a skill that will serve them well on their

educational journeys. As the old teaching adage goes, ‘If we teach as we’ve always taught, we’ll

continue to get what we’ve always got.’

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Appendix A
Unit Template
Student Teaching: TWS Unit Fact Vs Opinion

Student Name: Intended Grade Level of Unit

Eva Sanchez First Grade
Topic of Unit Content Area:
Reading
Fact vs Opinion

Classroom Demographics:
The students are in a culturally diverse, English-speaking, general education classroom of 6- and 7-
year-old female and male first-grade students.

Alaska Content Standards:

1.RI.2. Identify the main topic or author’s purpose (e.g., to teach or tell us about…) and retell key
details of a text.
1.RI.8 Identify the opinions an author states to support points in a text.

Alaska Cultural Standards:

A. Culturally knowledgeable students are well-grounded in the cultural heritage and traditions of
their community.
5. Reflect through their own actions the critical role that the local heritage language plays in
fostering a sense of who they are and how they understand the world around them.

STAGE ONE: STAGE TWO:

Learning Goals Formative and Summative Assessments – Sources of

Evidence of Learning

 Fact vs Opinion Preassessment

 Brainstorm differences between fact and
opinion and create an anchor chart (formative).
 Students write examples of fact and opinion on
sticky note-discuss with class (formative)
 It’s Just My Opinion sort (formative/summative)
 Students will provide personal examples for Fact
vs Opinion Game (formative).
 Students will brainstorm examples of switching
a fact for an opinion and vice versa (formative)

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 Students will complete Switch it Up! Worksheet

(summative)
I can compare and contrast key differences  Fact vs Opinion Post Assessment (summative)
between fact and opinion.
(LG1)

STAGE THREE: Design for Instruction

Pre-Requisites for the entire unit: What are the prior knowledge and skills students have to have in
place before starting this Unit of Study?
 There are many ways that people can express themselves both in text and through conversation.
 There are many examples of these differences in books, magazines, television shows, and statements.

Unit Overview/Introduction/Main Hook (Make a connection with students’ backgrounds using an

authentic situation

 Provide two statements to students.

o Mr. Haskins is the principal at Seward Elementary.
o Mr. Haskins is the best principal in Alaska.
 What is the difference between these two statements?
 Why is it important to know the difference between the two?

Action/ Mini hook for each lesson:
Lesson connection to prior
learning/knowledge
Process: Teacher does/
Student Does
Assessment: Evidence of
Learning
Specific strategies
to accommodate specific
student variability/
accommodate all learners
(These need to align with the
learning activities)

Materials for lesson #1:

 Video
 Anchor Chart
 Sticky Notes
 It’s Just My Opinion Sort

Standard(s) covered in lesson #1

1.RI.2. Identify the main topic or author’s purpose (e.g., to teach or tell us about…) and retell key
details of a text.

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1.RI.8 Identify the opinions an author states to support points in a text.
Learning Goal (s) covered in Lesson #1
I can compare and contrast key differences between fact and opinion. (LG1)
Lesson 1 Teacher engages students
Title Play engaging video: in discussion/brainstorm in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
difference between fact and
v=FIyt5pEcE_g
Fact or opinion.
Opinion? Students will provide
characteristics of each.
Students will write several
examples of both fact and
opinion on sticky notes.
Teacher will review student
examples with class.
Students will either agree
or disagree with where
statement is placed on
anchor chart and provide
reasoning for their thinking. 
Students will complete sort
It’s Just My Opinion.
 Provide multiple means of
representation – visual
(anchor chart), auditory
(discussion/brainstorm),
tactile (sticky note)-this will
help all students to process
and understand directions
and worksheets.
 Allow students to orally
provide examples for those
that cannot write-there is
one student in our class that
has several developmental
and cognitive delays that
might impede her ability to
respond to the prompt.
Model writing statements
on dry erase board for those
students that have difficulty
writing-there are at least 4
students in our class that
have seen a particularly
dramatic regression in their
writing ability since virtual
learning. For one student,
there might be fine motor
skill issues in addition to the
regression, but in all cases,
students are having
difficulty associating sounds
to letters to create any type
of writing.
 Allow students to write their
own facts and opinions
rather than using sort
statements-there is one
student that appears to be
more advanced in writing
ability though motivation
has been an issue.
Engagement can be
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enhanced by allowing him,

and other students as well,
to choose the topic they
would like to write about.
Materials for lesson #2:
 Cards for Opinion Game
 Anchor Chart

Standard(s) covered in lesson #2

1.RI.2. Identify the main topic or author’s purpose (e.g., to teach or tell us about…) and retell key
details of a text.
1.RI.8 Identify the opinions an author states to support points in a text.

Learning Goal(s) covered in Lesson #2

I can compare and contrast key differences between fact and opinion. (LG1)

Lesson 2 Teacher will ask for  Help students to read their

Title Tell students that today differences between fact game cards, as necessary-
we are going to play a and opinion. this addresses those
Fact vs. game about fact and Students will provide students that again saw a
Opinion opinion. characteristics between the regression in their reading
Game ability since virtual learning.
two.
 Students are able to scaffold
Students will read cards, each other’s ability through
and based on prompt, will discussion and debate.
determine who has the  Multiple means of
matching card. representation – auditory,
Students will discuss why movement.
they think their card is a
match.
Students will debate
whether statements are
fact or opinion.
Students will each provide
their own examples of
opinion and fact in the
creation of their own game
cards.
Materials for lesson #3:
 Slides Statements
 Switch It Up! Worksheet.

Standard(s) covered in lesson #3

1.RI.2. Identify the main topic or author’s purpose (e.g., to teach or tell us about…) and retell key

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details of a text.
1.RI.8 Identify the opinions an author states to support points in a text.

Learning Goal(s) covered in Lesson #3

I can compare and contrast key differences between fact and opinion. (LG1)
Lesson 3 Teacher will provide  Read statement aloud to
Title Tell students that today statements on Smartboard. scaffold reading ability-
we are going to Switch It Students will determine if several students have seen a
Switch It Up and provide dance statement is fact or regression in reading ability
Up!! movement for switching it opinion. since virtual learning. One
up. student is still learning to
Students will then switch it
read CVC words.
up, if statement a fact,  Allow students to verbally
create an opinion on topic switch it up if they are
and vice versa. unable to write-several
Students will students have seen a
independently complete regression in writing ability
Switch It Up worksheet since virtual learning as well
as one student that is
unable to write though is
quite articulate verbally.
 Teacher can scribe student
responses if necessary.
 Students can create their
own examples of Switch It
Up!
Unit Closure: Bring it all together with the focus of the Standards, the Learning Goals, and
Assessments.
Review of fact vs opinion
Ask students why it’s important to know the difference between the two.
Fact Vs Opinion Post Assessment

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Student Teaching: TWS Unit Opinion Piece

Student Name: Intended Grade Level of Unit

Eva Sanchez 1st Grade
Topic of Unit Content Area:
Writing
Writing an Opinion Piece
Classroom Demographics:
The students are in a culturally diverse, English-speaking, general education classroom of 6- and 7-
year-old female and male first-grade students.

Alaska Content Standards:

1.W.1. Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing
about, state an opinion or preference, supply a fact (e.g., because race cars go faster than…) or
reason for the opinion, and end with a sentence that restates their opinion related to a feeling or
emotion (e.g., it makes me laugh; that was the scariest part).

Alaska Cultural Standards:

E. Culturally knowledgeable students demonstrate an awareness and appreciation of the
relationships and processes of interaction of all elements in the world around them.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between world view and the way knowledge
is formed and used

STAGE ONE: STAGE TWO:

Learning Goals Formative and Summative Assessments - Sources of

Evidence of Learning

 Brainstorm what makes statements persuasive

(formative).
 Discuss persuasive reasons from mentor texts
(formative).
 Students will offer an opinion and provide one
convincing reason for opinion.
 Students will begin writing prompt on what is
the best pet to have – Introduction and

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I can write to inform others about my opinion on Reasons(formative).

a topic and I can support my
opinion with one or more
facts. (LG2)
 Students will provide examples of concluding
sentences based on opinion statements.
 Students will finish writing prompt and include a
conclusion.
 Students will complete several writing prompts
on opinion writing.

STAGE THREE: Design for Instruction

Pre-Requisites for the entire unit: What are the prior knowledge and skills students have to have
in place before starting this Unit of Study?
 There are many ways that people can express themselves both in text and through conversation.
 There are many examples of these differences in books, magazines, television shows, and
statements.

Unit Overview/Introduction/Main Hook (Make a connection with students’ backgrounds using an

authentic situation

Why is it important to be able to express your opinion in writing?

Read mentor text Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

Remind students of the High Five of paragraph writing.

Action/ Mini hook for each lesson: Process: Teacher Specific strategies
Lesson connection to prior does/ Student Does to accommodate specific
learning/knowledge student variability/
Assessment: Evidence accommodate all learners
of Learning (These need to align with
the learning activities)

Materials for lesson #1:

 The Perfect Pet
 Anchor Chart
 Writing Prompt What is the Best Pet to Have?

Standard(s) covered in lesson #1

1.W.1. Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing
about, state an opinion or preference, supply a fact (e.g., because race cars go faster than…) or
reason for the opinion,

Learning Goal (s) covered in Lesson #1

I can write to inform others about my opinion on a topic and I can support my opinion with one or

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more facts. (LG2)

Lesson 1 Teacher introduces  Provide different

Title Read The Perfect Pet concept that students must writing prompts based
provide reasons for their on writing ability.
It’s all in Discuss how the girl convinced opinion.  Scribe or write
the her parents to let her have a Students discuss some of sentences for
reasons! pet. students that cannot
reasons the girl in the story
write then allow them
provides for getting a pet. to trace them.
Students brainstorm the  Allow students to use
reasons the pigeon gave for sentence starters and
driving the bus. word banks to
Teacher will discuss the compete prompt.
concept of being  Allow students to
convincing. write 1-3 sentences
Students will describe how depending on writing
the pigeon was convincing. ability.
Students will practice
providing an opinion, then
give 1 reason for their
opinion.
Teacher will model: Dogs
are the best pets because…
Students will discuss their
own opinion and provide
one reason for their
opinion.
Teacher will discuss the
High 5! of paragraph
writing.
Students will demonstrate
the different ways to write
an introduction using
anchor chart.
Students will use writing
prompt to write opinion
(introduction) and 1-3
convincing reasons for their
opinion.

Materials for lesson #2:

 Anchor chart
 Writing Prompt What is the Best Pet to Have?

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 Concluding Statement Prompt

Standard(s) covered in lesson #2

1.W.1. Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing
about, state an opinion or preference, supply a fact (e.g., because race cars go faster than…) or
reason for the opinion, and end with a sentence that restates their opinion related to a feeling or
emotion (e.g., it makes me laugh; that was the scariest part).

Learning Goal(s) covered in Lesson #2

I can write to inform others about my opinion on a topic and I can support my opinion with one or
more facts. (LG2)

Lesson 2 Engaging Video: Teacher will discuss what a  Scribe or write

Title https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ8L9pKbY28
closing sentence is. sentences for
Closing It Teacher will explain that a students that cannot
Down! closing sentence can be a write then allow them
question, can restate your to trace them.
 Allow students to use
opinion, or give the reason
sentence starters and
for your opinion. word banks to
Students will provide compete prompt.
different examples of a
closing sentence.
Teacher will provide
different opinions and
reasons,
Students will provide
examples of a conclusion
using anchor chart for each
statement.
Students will complete
writing prompt by adding
conclusion.
Materials for lesson #3:
 Paper Writing Cap
 Writing Prompt
 Anchor Chart
Standard(s) covered in lesson #3
1.W.1. Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing
about, state an opinion or preference, supply a fact (e.g., because race cars go faster than…) or
reason for the opinion, and end with a sentence that restates their opinion related to a feeling or
emotion (e.g., it makes me laugh; that was the scariest part).

Learning Goal(s) covered in Lesson #3

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I can write to inform others about my opinion on a topic and I can support my opinion with one or
more facts. (LG2)
Lesson 3 Teacher will review parts  Allow students to use
Title Hand out writing caps! of an opinion paragraph different prompts
Bringing with High 5 paragraph based on writing
It All Today, writers, you are going writing. ability-this
Together to write your own opinion Students will complete modification will help
piece using High 5! prevent student
writing prompts using
frustration as their
anchor chart. writing abilities are
Teacher will scaffold quite varied especially
writing as needed. after their return from
virtual learning.
 Allow students to use
sentence starters and
word banks.
 Allow students to use
anchor chart.
 As students write,
teacher will scaffold
ability as needed.
 Allow students to
copy writing from dry
erase board as
needed. This helps to
address those
students that have
difficulty writing,
either through ability
or fine motor skills,
but are articulate
verbally. Also, this
allows students to
practice their writing
ability.
Unit Closure: Bring it all together with the focus of the Standards, the Learning Goals, and
Assessments.
Writing celebration
https://app.gonoodle.com/activities/celebrate?

Author’s chair!!

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