Ogechukwu Ozo-Onyali

Part E
A. Reflection & Self Evaluation:
Overall, I think that my unit plan on Explaining the Connection between Key Details
and Main Idea was very successful. All students showed improvement from the preassessment to the post-assessment. The summative assessment scores were outstanding. I
am very pleased with the progress they made throughout this unit. 100% of students
showed improvement throughout the unit and received satisfactory grades on the
summative assessment.
In order to ensure all students learn in the best way, I reflected on each lesson in order
to make the next lesson effective. On day 1, I used a word search game to teach word
work, this game had all the students engaged and learning, I decided this was an activity I
would be using to in the future to teach word work or vocabulary lessons. During some of
the group practice sessions, I realized that the way I had the grouped the students was not
optimal for their learning; I had grouped students with similar learning strengths together,
this was not always effective because the students with challenges would often go off
task rather than do the work so I learned to mix-up the groups depending on the activity
to be done. This ensured students remained on task and accomplished the work set. In
addition, whenever I observed students struggling, I was sure to add a reteach before or
during the next days lesson.
Considering the learning differences and other dynamics in my classroom, I
incorporated elements of Universal Design for Learning in my lessons such as presenting
the information in video as well as having the text read aloud to the class. Students were

encouraged to share their ideas both in writing and orally. When I noticed that students
were struggling with the concept of annotating key details, I remodeled the skill for them
and guided them through the skill by asking them guiding questions and gave them
several opportunities to practice the skill. The post-assessment results show that this was
beneficial as 100% demonstrated mastery on annotating key details in a text and using
those details to explain an idea.
During instruction, at least 3 of the students were able to respond to comprehension
questions I posed because I strategically grouped the students so that the students
struggling with any skill such as reading fluency and comprehension, could hear the story
read and concentrate on learning the skill being taught rather than stressing over decoding
and fluency. Students were encouraged to try responding to questions in complete
sentences during scribing. I was surprised by how positively the students responded to
this simple support.
One implication I would address in the future is having my students with specific
challenges exposed to the text before the lesson.

I believe this would give them some

confidence in tackling the activities more confidently during general instruction. Another
implication I would improve upon is incorporating more technology into reading
lessons. Because this unit was taught in a classroom with two other small groups, it was
very difficult to access technology to use in the lessons. Some of the students would
likely have benefited from hearing the text read from a computer, then they would have
been able to replay it as often as they wouldve liked. In the future, I would look into
using the classroom computers. Some of these students are independent and would be
able to handle a web assignment on a computer.

As earlier mentioned, this unit was taught in a classroom with a general education
teacher. I was grateful she agreed to collaborate with me because her insights as to the
students personalities were really helpful to me in mixing up their groups.

She also

switched up the schedule so that I could teach the lesson at the time I did. I also
collaborated with the special education teacher who led some of the groups during
teacher-led small groups. I had to collaborate with these teachers when I wanted to use
the Promethean Board, working with a specific group of students or when I needed to set
up at a certain table. While not every classroom will be set up this way, I found these
collaborations to be very valuable. I had to plan lessons in advance around these teachers
schedules. I also collaborated with parents through homework, I assigned homework that
the students were supposed to do and have their parents sign off on. For some of them, I
had put in a note on the strategies we had used in class and the parents used these
strategies to revise what had been taught that day in school. This was immensely helpful
as the students came in the next day ready for new learning.
This Evidence of Student Learning unit plan also shows my mastery of CEC Standard
#4 Assessment. This standard emphasizes unbiased formal and informal assessments. I
assessed students using formative and summative assessments. I included both written
word and verbal responses in my assessments. After each day, I took the results of the
formative assessments into consideration before finalizing the next days lesson. If I
noticed that a large majority of students struggled with a specific concept, I built time
into the next lesson to reteach or review that concept. I used my pre-assessment and daily
formative assessment to guide instruction. I also used a checklist system throughout this
unit. I found that this was a quick and effective way to assess students. Many of the

students were able to show mastery verbally, but struggled with writing. I was able to
eliminate assessment bias by taking both of these into consideration. This checklist
system is a method I look forward to using in future instruction.
This Evidence of Student Learning unit plan also proves my mastery of CEC
Standard #5 Instructional Planning and Strategies. This standard highlights the
importance of considering individuals abilities and interests when developing
instruction. I selected a subject that I knew the students would relate to and presented the
article in kid-friendly language and format.
Throughout the unit, I used explicit instruction, modeling, and guided practice. To
help develop fluency, I had students read passages out loud and reread selected excerpts. I
also took various IEP goals into consideration when developing this unit. For example,
five of my students are reading below grade level and have fluency and comprehension
goals on their IEP so I worked with them one-on-one and also gave them modified
versions of all texts and assessments used.