Meleka Student number 2022003935 ESC103 Assignment number 2

English and Mathematics resources for a year 5 student at my school

Sinafoni is a year 5 student in the room at the school in which I am working. He is originally
from Tonga.
Specific learning needs of Sinafoni:
He is clever in English and Mathematics, but he needs help with spelling some of the English
words and in making sentences that include these words. He also needs help with fractions
especially in subtracting and dividing fractions.
I prepared one resource for helping him with spelling and another for improving his skills in
solving fractions questions.
Intended outcome for the spelling resource
My intended outcome for the spelling resource is for Sinafoni to learn the spelling of the
easy, and some difficult words intended for year 5 students and to increase his vocabulary
repertoire.
Description of the spelling resource for Sinafoni
I used a word spelling worksheet generator. Its website address is
https://www.spellingcity.com/Log-yourself-in.html. It generates several correctly spelled
words that are missing in only one letter. The generator gives 4 letter options one of which is
the correct missing letter. It included sheets containing the correctly spelled words written in
the form of dots that the student can trace in order to make it easy for her to memorize their
correct spelling. It included the words incorporated in sentences to know the words in
context. I tested Sinafoni in 13 worksheets from this resource.
I also used a scrambled word generator Free Word Scramble / Word Jumble / Anagram
Worksheet Generator (quickworksheets.net). I used worksheets that included the first letter of
each scrambled word in order to make it easier for Sinafoni to decipher the correct answer.
I used suitable words year for year 5 students from different websites and from
https://www.spellingcity.com/5th-grade-spelling-words.html.
I chose 16 difficult words from this website: Difficult 5th grade Spelling Words 2022
(spellingbee.ninja) and incorporated them in a worksheet generated from the latter mentioned
generator.
Reflection on the success of the spelling resource
Sinafoni answered correctly all the scrambled words and some of the missing letter spelling
worksheet questions till the 17th of August. I tested him on all the words in the missing letter
worksheets on the 18th, the 19th and the 22nd of August. He did some mistakes in spelling. On
the same line of his wrongly written spelled words I wrote the correct spelling and asked him
to rewrite the correctly spelled words on the same line in order to help him memorize the
correct spelling of the words. Out of the 16 difficult words the difficult words on the last
worksheet he got 7 wrong when tested, which is not bad. He learned from his mistakes by
rewriting the correct spelling after I wrote to him the correct spelling. I felt happy that

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Meleka Student number 2022003935 ESC103 Assignment number 2

Sinafoni got only 7 wrongly spelled words and the classroom teacher was happy. Sinafoni
was engaged in his work, and I felt positive. In conclusion I learned that I should have printed
more worksheets using easy and difficult words for Sinafoni to learn and I should have tested
him again and again on the same words and I should have included sentences containing
these words in order to consolidate his spelling skills (The University of Edinburgh, 2020
(Authority (NZQA), n.d.)).
Intended outcome of the fractions resource
My intended outcome for the fractions resource was for Sinafoni to master all mathematical
calculations related to fractions including adding 2 or 3 fractions with the same denominator,
adding 2 or 3 fractions with different denominators, subtracting fractions and subtracting
mixed fractions, dividing fractions, dividing mixed numbers by first converting the mixed
numbers into improper fractions.

Description of the fractions resource and initial reflection

Regarding improving Sinafoni’s abilities in solving Mathematical questions dealing with
fractions I used a free online fraction questions generator. Its web address is
https://www.edu-games.org/math/fifth-grade-5/free-math-worksheets.php. I made worksheets
that included adding which have the same denominator. These were easy for Sinafoni, and he
solved them very rapidly. After that I introduced worksheets that included dividing fractions
with different denominators, and I explained to Sinafoni that he should flip the fraction that
needs to be divided of (the second fraction). He understood and solved the questions with no
mistake. After that I included a worksheet dealing with subtracting fractions. I also printed a
worksheet from the same previously mentioned website containing 30 questions on
converting decimals into fractions.
Reflection on the success of the fractions resource
I explained to Sinafoni how to solve all fraction questions and dividing fractions with the
same or different denominators. He surpassed my expectations by being able to divide mixed
fractions and when I tested him in the latter, he got all correct because he previously
memorized the multiplication table. Before teaching Sinafoni how to solve fraction problems
I doubted that he will understand and solve correctly the division of mixed fractions. After his
success in solving the mixed fractions worksheets, I felt amazed and happy.
He did not know how to subtract fractions. He thought that he can subtract the 2 numerators
and subtract the 2 denominators to reach the answer. I explained to him that he should
multiply the denominator of the second fraction by the numerator of the first fraction and the
denominator of the first fraction by the numerator of the second fraction These will be the
numerators of the new fractions. The common denominator will be the result of the
multiplication of the 2 denominators of the original 2 fractions. And after that subtracting the
2 numerators. He understood rapidly and after solving the first question in the worksheet in
his wrong way, he succeeded in solving all the questions correctly thanks to his ability to
memorize the multiplication table.

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Meleka Student number 2022003935 ESC103 Assignment number 2

The classroom teacher also doubted that Sinafoni will be able to divide mixed fractions and
subtract fractions and he was pleased to know about Sinafoni’s progress. Evaluating his
successes, I think everything went well but the drawback that sometimes he did not know
how to simplify the fraction which was the answer (for example you will see in the attached
PDF that he wrote the answer of some of the divisions as 21/18 and 66/64 without
simplifying these fractions). Analyzing this drawback, I felt that this was due to the time
constraints we were facing in the chunks of learning Mathematics which were limited to once
per day. In conclusion, I learned not to underestimate the abilities of the students and that I
should have taken Sinafoni to a quieter place such as the library to have more time and so that
he can learn better from my feedback (The University of Edinburgh, 2020 ; (Authority
(NZQA), n.d.) ).
References

5th Grade Vocabulary and Spelling Word Lists. (n.d.). VocabularySpellingCity. Retrieved

August 28, 2022, from https://www.spellingcity.com/5th-grade-spelling-words.html

Authority (NZQA). (n.d.). Student progression profiles to meet the Level 1 NCEA literacy

and numeracy requirement. Www.nzqa.govt.nz. Retrieved August 6, 2022, from

https://www.nzqa.govt.nz/ncea/subjects/literacy-and-numeracy/literacy-and-

numeracy-unit-standards/information-and-resources-for-planning-and-

implementation/student-progression-profiles/

edu-games.org. (n.d.). Create free printable arithmetics worksheets for fifth grade at edu-

games.org. Edu-Games.org. Retrieved August 28, 2022, from https://www.edu-

games.org/math/fifth-grade-5/free-math-worksheets.php

Laura. (2021, February 23). Difficult 5th grade Spelling Words [year]. Spelling Bee Ninja.

https://spellingbee.ninja/words-list/5th-grade-spelling-bee-words/

Quickworksheets.net. (n.d.). Quickworksheets. Quickworksheets.net.

https://quickworksheets.net/worksheet-generators/word-scramble

The University of Edinburgh. (2020, November 11). Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle. The University

of Edinburgh; The University of Edinburgh.

https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-

reflective-cycle

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Meleka Student number 2022003935 ESC103 Assignment number 2

Vocabulary A-Z. (n.d.). SpellingCity.com. Www.spellingcity.com. Retrieved August 6, 2022,

from https://www.spellingcity.com/list-management.html#/my-lists

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