o     My students’ average score on the Post-Test was 74%. In the classroom most student goals are set for an achievement level of 85%; however, given the types of students in my classroom, I’m very proud of a 74% average score considering the average score on the Pre-Test was 24%. It may not be perfect, but the fact that I can look at the results and see that my students understood three times the amount of material at the end of the unit compared to the beginning is a great feeling.

 ·   Did some students show greater gain than others? If so, reflect on possible causes for these differences.

o     Some students definitely improved more than others. The average amount of increase was about 50%, although the range of increasing was anywhere from 26% to 75%. Unfortunately, even though all students received the same instruction, not all students comprehend the same information. There are quite a few students who have IEP’s for one reason or another and spend part of the school day in the resource room for additional help. With guidance these students can usually come up with the correct answer; however, when forced to do the work on their own, their train of thought usually gets stuck on the platform. Part of the problem lies with me in that I cannot always give each student the individualized attention he or she needs. At some point though, I feel students need to be held accountable on their own.

 ·   How did your instructional strategies, amount of review, type of projects, etc. impact student learning?

o     The interactive, hands-on lessons inevitably result in greater student retention. They provide students with a situation to refer back to and envision to assist them in working out a problem. When I developed the projects students were going to do I did not believe they would be excessively challenging for fifth grade students. Doing research, making a presentation, and taking notes all seemed as though they would be routine for students, and if not routine, certainly feasible. In the end, the concept of taking notes was completely foreign to some students. I will stand by my decision to have students take notes though. It should not have been as big a drama as it turned out to be, and I think if students were not as lazy as they are, expecting everything to be done for them, they would not have had a problem with it. It’s a skill they will have to develop and I thought it was good practice for them.

 ·   Reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of your assessments of student learning.

o     Throughout the unit I provided a variety of assessments which proved to be a great strength. This gave students many opportunities to work in different ways. Students prefer working in different ways so I tried my best to give them some variety by working individually and in groups, and both on the computer and on paper. One of the hardest things in assessment is trying to get everyone to do well no matter what the activity is. This is especially problematic when dealing with a test. The real issue is that some of my students will understand a lot when you have a conversation with them, but have a hard time putting ideas into words and down on paper.

 ·   What would you do differently in planning and teaching this unit again?

o     I wish I could have had more time each day to teach the lessons. With so many students being pulled out during the day for resource time, there is only one hour at the end of the day in which to teach a lesson to the whole class, and that hour has to be split between Health, Science, and Social Studies. Every lesson therefore ended up taking at least two days to complete just based on time allotment. Another thing I would consider is whether I want students to do the PowerPoint research at the beginning of the unit or at the end. I toyed with this idea before beginning the unit and ultimately decided on the beginning of the unit because I wanted students to become familiar with the concepts first so they would have a better grasp on things when the time came to further their understanding with the remaining lessons; however, with this particular group it may have been more beneficial to them to be provided with a lot of information first, and then work on their research. A lot of that I believe depends on the group of students. Every group will be different so accommodations would have to be made.

 ·   Throughout the reflection process, what did you learn about yourself as a teacher?
       How will you apply this to your teaching in the future?

o     I really enjoyed planning and teaching this unit. The material and the activities were fun, both for me and for the students, which really helps to get through tough material. It was also exciting to work through some hands-on activities and do some projects which are not always possible with everyday lessons in subjects such as English and Math. I loved being able to plan this unit and I hope to be able to use it again in the future. I know this will also help me plan future units and projects as I am now more aware of the planning which goes into them.
 

o   Health

§  5.1.4 – Describe the basic structure and functions of the human body systems.

§  5.1.9 – Explain key health terms and concepts.

·    List of ancillary standards addressed in the unit

o   Science

§  5.2.7 – Read and follow step-by-step instructions when learning new procedures.

§  5.5.1 – Make precise and varied measurements and specify the appropriate units.

o   Mathematics

§  5.3.7 – Use information taken from a graph or equation to answer questions about a problem situation.

o   English

§  5.4.5 – Use note-taking skills when completing research for writing.

§  5.5.4 – Write persuasive letters or compositions that:

·        State a clear position in support of a proposal

·        Support a position with relevant evidence and effective emotional appeals

·        Follow a simple organizational pattern, with the most appealing statements first and the least powerful ones last

§  5.7.1 – Ask questions that seek information not already discussed.

§  5.7.6 – Use volume, phrasing, timing, and gestures appropriately to enhance meaning.

§  5.7.13 – Emphasize points in ways that help the listener or viewer follow important ideas and concepts.

·    Brief narrative addressing how you accommodated students of different abilities

o     After spending several weeks with the students, I began to understand their individual learning capabilities. When I decided that one project was going to be to research one or more body parts I began assigning parts to students whom I believed could handle the role. It’s not to say that one student could or could not do particular research, but there were certain body parts, such as the heart, lungs, blood, liver, or nerves, that play such a vital role and have so many components that I wanted to make sure they were covered in depth. Other roles, such as the mouth/teeth in the digestive system, or the nose/mouth in the respiratory system are easier to explain and to research. For several other activities in the unit, I allowed students to work, at least partially, with one or more classmates. Sometimes peers can do a better job at explaining things than the teacher can, and it certainly helps to put a different spin on things. By providing students with variability, students begin to excel in more ways. I also allowed students to work in groups and in a role suited for them when we worked on our digestive system stories. Students who were better at drawing or writing were allowed to showcase these talents without being forced into a role they were uncomfortable with.

·    Brief narrative explaining what authentic (real-life) critical thinking and/or problem-solving
       skills students are developing throughout your unit

o     One of the main skills students were able to develop was working in groups. It’s such an important skill, and yet teaching students how to work in groups often falls second to the work they actually do in these groups. Students also developed their research skills using the Internet, their textbooks and other classroom books.

·    Brief narrative or bullets listing different instructional strategies used in the unit

o     Independent research

o     Computer program exploration

o     Collaborative group presentation

o     Oral presentation

o     Small group work

o     Partner work

o     Role-play

o     Accelerated Reader

o     Active Learning

o     Activating prior knowledge

o     Formal/Informal Assessment

o     Persuasive Writing

o     Journal Writing

o     Competitions

o     Manipulatives

·    Brief narrative describing technologies/media integrated in the unit

o     Students used a great deal of technology in this unit. After students were assigned one or more body parts within a particular body system, they were responsible for researching their body part(s) using the Internet. Using the information and pictures collected from their Internet resources, students then used the computer program Microsoft PowerPoint to create at least three slides detailing the location and function of their body part(s), provided at least two relevant pictures and at least three interesting facts. Students then combined their slides with the slides of their peers from the same body system and made a presentation to the class.

o     Before students began creating their presentation slides, I first showed them how to locate information online. I also created a PowerPoint presentation about the kidneys to illustrate exactly what I expected of their PowerPoint presentations. As a class, we went through the key aspects of the PowerPoint program, including adding new slides, formatting existing slides, inserting pictures and text boxes, and formatting backgrounds and fonts.

o     Students also used technology when writing their group stories, “What Happens to a ________?” After initially drafting their story in class, students were allowed to type the story using the computer program Microsoft Word. Most groups then printed out the story and a few pictures to cut and paste them into their story books.

o     I also created two other PowerPoint presentations during the unit in addition to the PowerPoint example about the kidneys. One detailed the steps necessary to create a bar graph which used collaborative class data. The other was a Jeopardy Review of the entire unit which was played as a class prior to giving the post-test.

Assessment Narratives
·    Brief narrative explaining any accommodations you made for the differing needs of the students
       in your assessment

o     Some of my students have it dictated in their IEP’s that they may have assignments and tests read aloud to them while they complete the task. Since we have an inclusion aid in the classroom for just these situations I asked that she proctor the test for these students to make sure they knew what the words were on the page and to provide any clarifications if needed. Many of these students would have just stopped in their tracks had they tried to pronounce “respiratory” or “circulatory” to themselves and I am fairly certain their final test results would have been less than satisfactory had these simple adjustments not been made.

Project Rubric Narratives
·    Brief narrative explaining what the criteria for the project was and how students were informed
       of the criteria

o     Prior to the completion of their individual PowerPoint slides, students were provided with a copy of the exact rubric I would be using to grade their presentations. As a class we discussed each aspect to ensure students knew what was expected of them prior to the final assessment. The rubric can be viewed with the folder project under the “Project” tab.

Evaluation of Student Learning Narratives
·    Brief narrative explaining, based on graph information, how students performed collectively and
       individually on the pretest

o     The average student score on the Pre-Test was 24%. Scores ranged from 5% to 41% correct on the Pre-Test with 50% of the class scoring between 20% and 30%.

·    Brief narrative explaining what changes were made to the unit based on pretest data; if no changes
       were necessary, explain why not    

o     There were not any changes made to the planned unit based on the Pre-Test data results. For the most part, students scored low across the board, for both standards and for all five body systems. Due to time constraints, some work had been done on the Nervous System prior to beginning the unit, so students naturally scored a little higher on these portions, but nothing I did not expect, and nothing so outrageous from all the students that I felt as though it did not need to be covered.

·    Brief narrative explaining, based on graph information, how students performed collectively and
       individually on the post-test

o     The average student score on the Pre-Test was 74%. Scores ranged from 45% to 90% correct on the Pre-Test with 50% of the class scoring between 65% and 80%.

·    Brief narrative explaining, based on graph and performance information, the strengths and
       weaknesses of instructional approaches used during the unit

o     Some instructional strategies naturally produce better results than others. The strength of hands-on approaches is that students tend to recall more information when they can visualize an activity they participated in. The most obvious weakness is that developing hands-on activities takes time to plan and to teach. Also these activities can be difficult to develop depending on the topic. One of the most obvious disadvantages to using a group work strategy is that it can be difficult to monitor student participation and, in the end, individual student evaluation. Some students will naturally work harder than others, so trying to find a balance where every student has their own role is very important. The strong advantage to group work though is that students are able to collaborate with their peers and develop projects they would not be able to do individually.