Part Three:

After this part of the unit, the students spent a week learning and reviewing calendar,

referring to the second part of the SOL: “read and interpret a calendar” (VDOE, 1.9b). Students

have been doing calendar since the beginning of school, so many of this was review for them

(ex. days of the week, months of the year, etc.). The week was spent learning how to read a

calendar and its date based on weeks or the days before or after. Based on the essential

knowledge, students must also now how to determine the number of any weekday in a month

(How many Sundays are in April?). The post-assessment on the entire SOL was given together,

but the first part of the test was about clocks and telling time. Like every test in first grade, the

test was read out to the students so they could fully understand what the assessment was asking

them. The first question asked the student to circle the analog clock that showed 9:30. The

second question was the same format but asked the student to circle the clock that shows 5:00.

The third question ask the students to look at an analog clock and circle the matching digital time

it shows (8:30). The fourth question says: “Ed had a snack at eleven o’clock. Circle ALL the

clocks that show eleven o’clock.” For this question, there are analog and digital times for the

students to circle but they should only circle two. These first four questions of the assessment

deal with telling time, as the rest of the questions deal with reading and interpreting calendar.

Based on data from the pre-assessment, the students seem to understand how to tell time

to the hour very well. About half of the students knew how to tell time to the half-hour. Only

three students missed both questions. This helped me analyze how I was going to review,

especially in math stations. I decided to spend some time at the beginning going through the

hands and spending time breaking down those introductory pieces. From this data, I decided to

differentiate by readiness in math stations, that way students that do not need a review could
continue to work on telling time and using other manipulatives. As the unit went on, I found

many of the students needing more assistance at the beginning were becoming more confident in

this area. Those who were at a high level to begin started taking what we learned and applying it

to other times on the clock by skip-counting. Using the pre-assessment allowed me to start

knowing where my students were and what I needed to do to get them there.

This data also assisted me in choosing the best activities for the students. From the

beginning I knew that the hands on the clock were going to be a struggle for some, so I created

those movements for the students to remember as we went on. I referred to them frequently

throughout the unit but used more independence with their skills by having them show me the

motions. For the first few activities I wanted to get the students in practice as they wrote the

number in both forms. I realized that many of the students that understood this SOL early on

finished quickly, so I decided to give them a game to play with the mini moveable clocks. These

students that finished early and got the material had to find a partner and quiz each other or

themselves based on the flashcards. This seemed to give them more practice and created a fun

way for them use repetition to master understanding. With the half-hour activities, I had taken

special care to review with the students during whole group and small group. While students did

well with the third activity, the fourth activity required me to take a step back and make more

remediation on half-hour. In the groups that were struggling more, I made sure to break down

the placement of the hour hand at a half-hour time, having the students notice that the hour hand

is in between two numbers. I felt at the end and before the post-assessment that the students

understood the SOL and what I was teaching them.

The post-assessment gave me confidence in many areas as I graded and took notes of

student progress. Even though the full assessment included both telling and calendar, I focused
on the first few questions that dealt with telling time and supported the essential understandings

listed in the SOL. While the overall scores of some students included in this assignment are

lower than I would like, the results of just the telling time section were pleasing. Students E, P,

X, H, and B improved in their hour skills and mostly half-hour skills. Student Y stayed about the

same in their understanding. The only thing that I think tripped up the students was the hands,

which was a little discouraging. Some of them switched the hour and minute hand, so when they

had to circle an answer, they circled the wrong time. For example, Student Y meant to circle the

clock showing 5:00 on question 2 but choose the clock next to it. This clock had the hands on the

same numbers, but the hands were reverse, so it read 12:25 instead. This could be because they

mixed up the hands or simply rushed and did not read the clocks hard enough. But overall, the 6

students I observed throughout this process showed progress over the activities and both

assessments. These students also showed better understandings in small groups rather than in

whole groups, especially the ones that started off low. Every student I observed for this

assignment grew from instruction, which gave me confidence about my own teaching and my

ability to read data to cater to students’ needs.

I felt that this unit on telling time went well. From the pre-assessment and the first

activity, I was worried some students would not be able to grasp the concepts. I was glad for the

2 weeks of going over clocks, because it gave me time to really look at the data and determine

how to best teach and review for certain students or whole group. Relating to the post-

assessment, I think we needed some more time with calendar. I was given the impression the

students did not need more time on this part because were so familiar with it, but this very

concept was the section on the post-assessment that so many students did poorly on. In the

future, I want to look back on this data and see if I can shorten some instruction on telling time
and possibly move it to calendar. Another aspect of this I would change about this unit is adding

more entrance and exit tickets, and possibly a mid-assessment. While I used the current to track

progress successfully, I might have gotten more accurate data by adding in those pieces. But I

do think that instruction in small group and many of the activities went well, as they incorporated

different aspects of the SOL and granted students will skills they would need to know. I believe

it also catered to different learning styles, to reach every student in the classroom. Each student

learns and retains information differently, so I wanted to give all 25 students a chance to learn

the most they could. Therefore, small groups were so important, because it gave me the chance

to reach the individual student and see exactly what they are struggling with instead of them

being taught like the rest of the students. I feel confident about the students’ progress and

knowledge on this SOL, and I believe, based on the data, that they learned much from

instruction.

SOL 1.9 Student Work Samples

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
 Pre and Post-Assessment Scores for Observed Students
120

100

80

60

40

20

0
Student B Student E Student H Student P Student X Student Y

Pre-Assessment Post-Assessment

Telling Time Pre-Assessment (SOL 1.9a)

Student Grade (out of 2) Notes

A 2/2 Finished early
*B 1/2 Needs instruction half hour
C 2/2 Understands material
D 1/2 Was not focused
*E 1/2 Finished first, rushed
F 2/2 Took their time
G 1/2 Needs instruction half hour
*H 1/2 Need instruction half hour
I 1/2 Needs instruction half hour
J 2/2 Focused on their own work
K 2/2 Did well
L 2/2 Understands material
M 2/2 Understands material
N 2/2 Finished early
O 2/2 Claimed it was super easy
*P 0/2 Needs more instruction
Q 2/2 Understands material
R 0/2 Needs more instruction
S 1/2 Was not focused
T 2/2 Understands material
U 1/2 Needs instruction half hour
V 2/2 Understands material
 W 1/2 Seemed to rush
*X 0/2 Needs more instruction
*Y 2/2 Understands material

Post Assessment Data

Grade is based whole assessment (telling time and calendar)
SOL 1.9
Student Grade (Percentage and Notes on Telling Time
District Level) Portion
A 90% (P) Understood material
*B 95% (S) Understood material very
well, only circle one more
clock on #4 than should
have
C 85% (P) Understood material
D 75% (P) Needed more review on
half hour
*E 80% (P) Confused hands on analog
clock
F 100% (S) Understood material very
well
G 90% (P) Understood material
*H 75% (P) On time portion, might
need more review on
reading analog clocks, but
did well
I 60% (U) Seemed to understand
material during instruction,
but was not focused and
seemed to guess
J 100% (S) Understood material
K 100% (S) Understood material
L 100% (S) Understood material
M 100% (S) Understood material
N 100% (S) Understood material
O 100% (S) Understood material
*P 85% (P) Missed a question on half-
hour, but was absent for
most of instruction
Q 100% (S) Understood material
R 80% (P) Understood telling time
portion, missed questions
on calendar
S 90% (P) Understood material
T 90% (P) Understood material
U 90% (P) Understood material
V 95% (S) Understood material very
well
W 90% (P) Understood material
*X 85% ((P) Understood telling time
portion very well, just
missed circling one clock
on #4
*Y 90% (P) Understood material well,
just mixed up the minute
and hour hands. This
caused him to circle the
wrong clock in #2

Copy of Post-Assessment
Copies of Student Work

Student B

Student P
 Student Y

Student X
 Student H

Student E
 References

Mursky , C. (2011). Pre-Assessment . DPI . Retrieved April 9, 2022, from

https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/cal/pdf/pre-assessment.pdf

Admin, K. S. W. (2019, September 25). Fine Motor Skills: Fine Motor Skills Activities. Kid
Sense Child Development. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from
https://childdevelopment.com.au/areas-of-concern/fine-motor-
skills/#:~:text=Fine%20motor%20skills%20involve%20the,buttons%20and%20opening%
20lunch%20boxes.

Virginia Department of Education. (2016). Standards of Learning and Curriculum Framework:

English Grade 3. Retrieved from
https://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/mathematics/2016/cf/grade1math-cf.pdf