Kelsey Wheaton EPS 513 Assessment Paper February 12, 2013

Winter MAP Assessment- Foundational Skills

101110 111120
A

121-130
Cr T L J Ja

131140

141-150
Ang K Ma Ti Mak Y D Ri

151160
Z S G De Jak Ja'Q Jerm Gra Ari Pr

161170
Bra Be

171180
Makiy Shi

**Name s have been changed

Kindergarten Winter Map Assessment (Foundational Skills)

12 Number of Students 10 8 6 4 2 0 0 101-110 1 111-120 121-130 0 131-140 141-150 151-160 161-170 171-180 5 2 2 8 Series1 11

RIT Score

Wheaton 2 The data that I chose to analyze for this particular assignment was my students Winter MAP data. I chose this data because my co-resident and I were overwhelmed by the data that we received back from the MAP test. It seemed as if we had so much data and information and we werent quite sure what to do with all the information that we had received. We wanted to use the information in the most meaningful way possible. We decided to take our data and break it into the different strands-foundational, writing, and literature (for this assignment I will be focusing on the foundational skills). The data on the previous sheet are the students results. The first table breaks down where each student falls within the RIT bands. The second chart shows how many students fall in each individual RIT band. For the most part there were no big surprises with this data. A and Cr both transferred in late so they have been busying trying to play catch up to the rest of the students. J is one of my students who has truancy issues and now has been dropped from our classroom roster due to her poor attendance. L, Je, and T are my low students that constantly receive accommodations throughout all academic areas. They all also participate in an after school program that targets struggling kindergarteners. One student that did surprise me was Shin who scored the highest out of all our students (overall). Shin started the year as a quiet and reserved student and for a while we considered her as a student that was doing well and was average with the class. But after looking at this MAP data, Shin is clearly not in our average group of students. I think that we overlooked Shin earlier in the year because she was quieter and didnt flaunt her knowledge as our other higher students did. She rarely volunteered her answers and she flew under the radar. Now, I now that she is most definitely capable of doing harder tasks and that her assignments will be modified to meet her needs as well. Overall our students did fairly well and most are on grade level. I think that this data provides more accurate information than our Fall MAP data because it was our students first time using the computers and most of them didnt know how to manipulate the mouse and how to listen to all the answers. This time I (along with my co-resident and mentor teacher) were able to pick out the students we knew were going to struggle with using the computer and we were able to watch over them and remind them to listen to all the answers and how to move the mouse.

Wheaton 3 After organizing the students into their RIT bands the next step that I took was to decide how this new information was going to inform my future instruction (within the foundational skills realm). I looked at the Descartes information and saw what my students needed to know on each level. Some skills that the students need to know in order to be successful in this particular area are: Letter ID and corresponding sounds Sight Words Color Words Rhyming Ending Sounds Beginning Blends and digraphs CVC, CCVCC, CCVe spelling patterns Syllables Concepts About Print (where to start reading, how many words in a sentence etc)

After looking at what our students were being tested on, my mentor teacher and coresident felt pretty comfortable with our current scope and sequence. Almost all of the previously mentioned concepts have been taught to at some capacity. Almost all of our students have mastered their letter identification and sounds and we are just now starting to introduce blends and digraphs. We have already covered rhyming, but we havent introduced the idea that words can rhyme even if they are spelled differently. We have not introduced all the different word patterns (CVC, CCVCC, CCVe). Since we were comfortable with our current scope and sequence of language arts instruction I then decided to use the Descartes information and take it one step further. I mapped out all the skills that the students would need in each RIT band and created a spreadsheet that outlined all specific words, letters, blends, ending sounds, sight words, concepts about print, etc. that the students would need to know in order to be successful. I created 6 groups that I will be working with at least once a week. The first table shows the students and they are color coded red, yellow, and green. We are fortunate to be able to have a part time instructional aide in our classroom who will continue to pull the students who are in the red because they need to work on very basic skills such as letter

Wheaton 4 identification and sounds before they are ready to progress to the next levels. I divided the yellow and green students into groups of no larger than four students. Last week was my first week meeting with these new groups. In order to plan my instruction I referred back to my spreadsheet and looked at what they all needed. I decided to do a quick review on our color words because I noticed that a lot of our students missed that section on the test. We did flash cards and then played a quick review game. In order to make sure that all the students had mastered the skill I made an exit ticket where they needed to color the color words the right color. After meeting with all six of my groups and looking over their exit tickets I noticed all but three students had mastered the concept. On Thursday I pulled the three students who still needed help in another small group and reviewed the skill. The students completed the exit ticket and all but one student scored perfectly. I plan on pulling that student one more time in a one on one setting to review the skill quickly. This week I planned on focusing on beginning sounds with all three of my groups. My lower students completed a P and G picture sort and did well. I encouraged them to tell me other words that made the P and G sound to make sure that they were able to come up with another word on their own. I also had them complete a short spelling test where they were required to get the beginning sound correct. I had them try to stretch out their sounds and write as much as the word as possible, but they will only be assessed on their ability to get the first sound correct. I was unable to meet with my 151-160 and 161181 groups. My 151 group will be working on a learning the blend PL. My 161 group will be working on learning the digraph CH. These skills are specific to what they need to master in their RIT band. I do plan on challenging my higher students even more. I only had 2 students who were in the 171-180 group and 2 students who were in the 161-170 group. My groups are organized that these four students will be meeting with me at the same time. I am going to be planning my instruction based off the 171-180 group. After I introduce the CH digraph to the students I am going to do a quick review on syllables and then we will begin learning about the silent E and the double vowel pattern. I met with the first grade teacher at my school to help me plan my small group instruction for this group. I am

Wheaton 5 confident that my 161-170 group of students will be able to do well with this harder material. I know that with proper scaffolding these students will be successful. Overall I thought that it was very helpful to sit down and really analyze this data. Not only was it important to analyze the data but to be able to use that data to inform my instruction. I look forward to working with these small groups and seeing the academic gains that they make!