Running head: ANALYSIS OF STUDENT WORK - ASW

ASW - Analysis of Student Work

University of Nevada Las Vegas

Sarah Hunt
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STUDENT BACKGROUND INFORMATION

B.P. is a male second grade student at an elementary school in Las Vegas, NV. He is

eight years old. He lives at home with both parents and two siblings, both girls. He has an older

sister and an infant sister. His older sister is in the fourth grade. The family has one dog that is a

boy. B.P. loves sports and his favorite sport is basketball. When B.P. is at home his older sister

and mom read to him. His mom reads to him on the weekends. His sister reads to after their

homework is completed. He does also read alone while he is at home. B.P. loves to read many

different types of books. His favorites are Fly Guy, science and history books. He prefers to read

alone silently rather than buddy read or read aloud. B.P. comes from his school to UNLV for

literacy tutoring with me. He is a student that I am tutoring for my educational literacy class at

UNLV. We sit side to side during tutoring towards the back of the classroom. At the table there

is one other student and tutor sitting across. During read aloud B.P. will tend to stare off or

become easily distracted. During independent work he will try his very best and is focused. He

also tries very hard when he reads aloud. He can read at grade level, however his spelling level

(phonemic awareness and phonics) places him below grade level.

Lesson 1

My first lesson was a review of some primary spelling words. In this lesson, B.P.

was given a word sort of CVC words. The word sort was a rhyming word sort. The student

would match pictures that rhyme with one another. Ex. A picture of a nose and a picture of a

hose. He would then have to spell out the words associated with the picture in his notebook.

After writing the words in his note book he would then explain the similarities in the words that

rhyme. At the end of the lesson he was given a Primary Spelling Inventory Feature Guide (PSI)

assessment. The PSI was an assessment for spelling. “It assesses features found from the

emergent stage through the within word pattern stage. The PSI has been used widely along with

the accompanying feature guide and is a reliable scale of developmental word knowledge,”

(Bear, 2016, p. 27). The standards that were covered in this lesson were: RF.2.3- Know and

apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words, L.2.2d- Generalize

learned spelling patterns when writing words. The objective for B.P. was to correctly spell words

at his grade level using phonemes and decoding.

Student performance

B.P. scored 7/7 on Initial and Final Consonants, 7/7 on Short Vowels, 7/7 on Digraphs,

7/7 on Blends, 1/7 on Common Long Vowels, 5/7 on Other Vowels, and 3/7 on Inflected

Endings. This means that he is an early to middle within word pattern. He needs to work on

common long vowels like “ai, ea, oa, and igh.” He also needs to work on inflected endings such

as “ing and s”.

Initial teaching strategies

For this lesson I used the Lemov strategy “Board = Paper” for B.P. because he was able

to correctly spell words he did not know by comparing them to the words that he did know how

to spell correctly. I also asked questions like, “what do the spelling of these rhyming words have

in common?” and “How would you spell another word that rhymes with the two words you have

already?” After the questions he was able to think of the spelling to other words that were not in

the word study.

Re-teaching strategies

Some strategies I think I could have used are “stretch it”, “double plan” and “dig into

errors”. Stretch it is to “Reward answers with harder questions” (Lemov, 2015). I think if I used

stretch it, I could have gotten more out of him. He was reluctant to give anything more than the

simplest answers. Another strategy is double plan which is “planning what students will be doing

at each point in class” (Lemov, 2015). I think if I used double planning, I could have helped B.P.

more with the word sort. I did not give the lesson enough time. He was struggling to complete

the word sort activity because there was not enough time given. Finally, excavating the error is to

“Dig into errors, studying them efficiently and effectively, to better understand where students

struggle and how you can best address those points” (Lemov, 2015). I think that digging into

errors would be effective because it is important to find his errors and learn from them. It is also

important to know why the errors were made.

Strategy chosen

I thought the best strategy to use in this situation was the “dig into errors” because I think

that analyzing the problem form B.P.’s perspective would be more effective than just explain that
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what he did was incorrect. Although “double plan” is important, I believe that if a student is

given enough time but still is not understanding why errors were made that it is time wasted.

Stretch it is also important, however giving more challenging questions without explaining the

questions that were answered incorrectly will only create more of a struggle.

Re-teaching with new strategy

When I worked with him on the word sort, I wanted to see where he was getting confused

with the spelling. When asking him about the relationship between the rhyming words, I realized

that there were multiple words that rhymed and some pictures that could be interpreted as more

than one thing. This made it more difficult for him to find words that would rhyme with the

words associated with the picture. I went through each picture and asked him what word would

be more likely to have another rhyming word within the group of pictures. After I asked the

questions, he seemed to understand the connection between the words and their spelling. This

strategy helped me see where he was struggling and helped me clarify the pictures in the word

sort.

Reflection

I think if I had more time to work with him I would have made more progress. He

struggled with rhyming words because the pictures could be interpreted more than one way. I

think digging deeper and asking more questions helped me spot the flaw of the lesson. It also

allowed me to see where he struggled with decoding words and seeing how rhyming words are

similar. He made some progress with the spelling towards the end.

Lesson 2
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My second lesson was a lesson review on long and short vowels. I briefly went over what

sort vowels are and what long vowels are. After the review, he was given a word sort that was

labeled “short vowels” in one column and “long vowels” in the other column. He was also given

cutouts of words. He was required to paste the words under the correct column. Ex. bag would be

placed under the short vowel column. I would then ask him to explain his answers. The standards

that were covered were: RF.2.3a- Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly

spelled one-syllable words. The objective was for the student to be able to understand and

explain the difference of a short vowel word and a long vowel word.

Student performance

B.P. was familiar with short vowels and was able to explain how it would make words

sound when spoken orally. When he was given some common long vowel words he struggled to

put the words in the correct column without any assistance. He finished the short vowel column

quickly. He struggled with CVVC words. He could identify long vowel words that were CVCe.

Initial strategy

My initial strategy to help B.P. was “name the steps”. B.P. was to read the words aloud,

think about if they were long or short vowel words, paste them in the correct column, and then

explain his answer. He forgets to say the words aloud and does not hear what they sound like.

This confuses him with determining if they are long or short vowel words. This strategy did not

really work in this case because he did not understand CVVC words.

Re-teaching strategies

The three strategies I thought would help would be “change the pace”, “ratio”, and

“check for understanding. Change the pace is to “Establish a productive pace in your classroom.
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Create ‘fast’ or ‘slow’ moments in a lesson by shifting activity types or formats” (Lemov, 2015).

This strategy is helpful because when given a set amount of time, students are prevented from

getting off task. Second is ratio which is to have students explain why, how, asking students to

support answers with evidence, and asking students for more rigorous thinking by providing an

additional example or more precise and richer answer (Lemov, 2015). This strategy is helpful

because it could allow the student to compare their answer to the example given. Finally, check

for understanding is to check frequently while teaching to avoid the costly result of waiting until

the final assessment (Lemov, 2015). This strategy is helpful because it allows me to see where

B.P. needs more assistance.

Strategy chosen

The strategy I chose was check for understanding. I chose this strategy because I believe

that B.P. needed more assistance and instruction before the word sort. If I would have checked

for understanding frequently, I would have known that he needed more instruction on CVVC

words.

Re-teaching with new strategy

I decided to have multiple word sorts with different long vowel words. After each word

sort was completed I questioned him on what he noticed about the word and why was it a long

vowel word. I checked that he understood the different combinations of long vowels. This

seemed to work because he began to understand that CVVC and CVCe words are long vowel

words.

Reflection
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After checking for understanding and noticing what area he needed the most help in, I

was able to explain the different kind of long vowels that there are. He was able to have a better

understanding and worked hard. He was more confident in his answers and asked for less

assistance. He still struggled with a few long vowel words but did make some progress. I

provided examples and I noticed that this helped him understand more.

Lesson 3

My final lesson was a review on inflected endings. I went over what inflected ending

were. I also gave instruction on how to break apart the word such as the base word and the

ending. I used chunky monkey word sort. B.P. was given a chunky monkey word sort where he

was required to brake the words apart and explain which part was the base word and which was

the inflected was ending. I would give him words orally and he would then think about the

spelling. I would repeat the words three times as the maximum. He would then write the words

on the chunky monkey word sort paper separating the base word and the inflected ending. He

was given many words to break apart. After he completed the word sort he was reassessed with

the PSI. The standard that was covered in this lesson was RF.2.3- Know and apply grade-level

phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. The objective was for the students to be able

to decode words and know the base word is separate from the inflected endings.

Student performance

B.P. scored 7/7 on Initial and Final Consonants, 7/7 on Short Vowels, 7/7 on Digraphs,

7/7 on Blends, 6/7 on Common Long Vowels, 6/7 on Other Vowels, and 4/7 on Inflected

Endings. This means that he is a middle to late syllables and affixes speller. He still needs to

work on inflected endings such as “ing and s”.

Initial strategy

My initial strategy that I used to help him was “wait time” It was used mainly to give him

more time to think about the spelling of the words. He usually needs more time to think about the

way a word looks and sounds. This strategy helped very little. It allowed him time to think but it

did not increase his ability to break apart the words correctly.

Re-teaching strategy

The three strategies I thought would help would be “do now”, “at bats”, and “do it

again”. Do now is a strategy that gives the student something productive to do right away and

previews the lesson or reviews a recent lesson (Lemov, 2015). This would be helpful to review

what reflected ending are and refresh his understanding. Second, at bats is a strategy to make

sure students can solve questions in various formats, gives a lot of practice, and allows students

to finish quicker (Lemov, 2015). This would be helpful with having him practice his inflected

endings and learn how to explain his answers in different ways. Finally, do it again is a strategy

that gives immediate and logical feedback (Lemov, 2015). This strategy is helpful because it

would allow me to give B.P. feedback immediately so that he could make note of his mistakes

and correct them.

Strategy chosen

I chose to use do it again. I believed that this would work best because B.P. is not a great

speller but works really hard when given feedback. If I give him feedback immediately he will

be more likely to understand his mistakes and willing to try harder when doing it over and

correcting his mistakes. I also think that at bats could have been effective because when he is
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allowed to practice breaking the words apart he is more likely to spell them correctly. However,

he struggles with finishing things quickly.

Re-teaching with new strategy

I continuously told him to do it again if he broke down the word incorrectly or spelled it

incorrectly. He would do it over and notice the mistakes that he make. I would ask him what was

the mistake that he make and he would give a clear explanation of his mistake and why it was

incorrect. He was able to finish most of the word sort and he finished the entire PSI with less

mistakes.

Reflection

I believe that re-reaching this lesson was very helpful and he was able to make a fair amount of

progress. I believe that if I was given more time he would have made even more progress and

completed his work. I think that with more time he would have completed the word sort,

therefore giving him more practice. I was happy with the progress that was made with his

spelling. He was able to decode more words when doing the activity over.

Future application of AWS process

I hope to use what I have learned in my practicum 2 classes, my student teaching, and my

career as a teacher. I believe that getting to know your student’s history and observing them

throughout the lessons is very important. This process allows me to understand that every student

has a different way of learning. It also helped me understand that as a teacher I need to be

flexible with my teaching strategies. I hope to use this method to help students that may struggle

with a subject, lesson, or school in general. The strategies that I have used and learned about has

helped me understand that re-teaching is a lot simpler that I thought. Re-teaching can be having
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students do their work over or something as simple as that. I believe that this method will allow

me to see what my students are capable of and what they need help with. It allows me to see that

I can make changes to my lessons and it can be effective with my students. As a teacher it is

important to have a “plan B” lesson. There will be times that I will have to change my lesson in

order to benefit my class. This experience has helped me prepare for my career as a teacher. It is

important to make sure that my students understand the material that I provide. It also gave me

confidence in teaching lessons. I know that it is okay to make mistakes as a teacher, the only

thing that makes it not okay is refusing to reflect and correct those mistakes. Each student

deserves my best and that’s what I plan to give.

Philosophy to teach and re-teach

Teaching is not about everyone following the same lesson and method to teaching. Every

student is different and some methods may not work for all students. Each student has a unique

way of learning and learning strategies. This helps students make their connections to the

material that is provided. It is vital that a teacher gets to know their students and understand the

students’ backgrounds. This will allow the teacher to find out what methods and strategies will

work best for each student. It is important to have different methods if one does not work with a

particular or group of students. There will be times that a lesson will feel like it was a train wreck

and there will be times that the lesson will go smoothly. The important thing to remember as a

teacher is that you must remain flexible and positive. A teacher should never have the mindset of

“it’s my way or no way”. There should always be room for change if needed and feedback. It is

also important to create lessons that the students can relate to. Making connections with students

through teaching is much more rewarding that “hitting the standards”, in my beliefs. Every

student should have the opportunity to learn and the ability to succeed. I want to give my
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students something to look forward to when coming to school. I also want to be the kind of

teacher that they can look up to and the kind of person that inspires them to love learning. I am

willing to teach and re-teach until my last breath if that means a student is having a positive

experience and making progress in learning.

This experience has helped me realize different ways that I can re-teach. I found that

reflecting can make a huge and positive difference in teaching. I find that the strategies that I

have learned about are very useful and will be just as, if not more, effective in the future. I also

found that it is very rewarding to see the progress that the students make just from making

simple changed to the teaching strategies. B.P. was so happy that his spelling and improved and

his happiness made me happy. I am pleased that I learned this process and I hope that I can build

on my knowledge of this process to help my students in the future. I believe that making

connections and re-teaching are important jobs that teachers have. If students do not understand

and are not re-taught it would be a failure for me as a teacher.

Work Cited

Bear, D., Templeton, S., et al. (2012). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and

spelling instruction (6th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Allyn & Bacon.

Lemov, D. (2015). Teach like a champion 2.0: 62 techniques that put students on the path to

college. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.