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Abstract: This the teacher work sample of the lights and shadows unit lesson that I taught from

10/9/2017-10/20/2017. In the essay below, I have the demographics of the school that I

completed my internship at. I also have demographics of the first grade students that I worked

with and the results of the assessments they complete before, during, and after I taught my unit

lessons.

TWS 1:

Redcliffe Elementary School is located on 22 Double Spring Road in Aiken, SC. The

school is midway between Beech Island and Jackson, South Carolina. It is considered to be in

Aiken 05 school district along with other schools, such as Jackson Middle School and Silver

Bluff High School. This elementary school teaches grades from pre-kindergarten to fifth grade,

serving approximately 730 students. Within the 730 students at this school, approximately fifty

percent of the students identify as Caucasian and the other half are from minority ethnic

backgrounds. Within the minority ethnic groups, the majority of them are African American.

Redcliffe Elementary is placed in a middle to low socioeconomic class and is considered to be a

Title 1 elementary school. They are given financial funds to assist the students' education due to

them coming from low-income families. Approximately 70 percent of the students at this school

are eligible for free or reduced lunch. There is about 40 full-time teachers at this Aiken County

public school and the student ratio is approximately 16:1, meaning that there are about 16

students per teacher. This student-teacher ratio is slightly higher than other elementary schools in

South Carolina.
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I am completing my internship in a first-grade general education classroom. The

classroom is kid friendly and 1st grade appropriate. There are only three walls in the classroom

and it is not very spacious, but there is enough room where the students and teacher can move

around the room as needed. The desks in the classroom are set up in a small group setting, which

appropriate for this age group and the space provided in the classroom. The decorations in the

room makes it very colorful and appealing. There are decorative anchor charts that are posted all

around the room. On the anchor charts are concepts that the students have learned so far, in math

or English language arts, to remind them when needed. There is a carpet area in the front of the

classroom near the smartboard where the students can sit when needed. The smartboard is

located in the front of the classroom next to the teacher's desk. There are plenty of books on

bookshelves around the classroom that are accessible for the students and they have a variety of

books they can choose from. Towards the back of the classroom, there is another book shelf that

the students may choose from based on holidays or events that may be happening during that

time.

There are eighteen students in my first grade classroom. Of these eighteen students, nine

are girls and the rest are boys. One of the students receives services through the ESL program.

There is one students who has an IEP and is currently receiving direct services from special

education daily. In this class, there two other students who has speech only IEPs and receives

services from the speech teachers weekly. There are seven students in this class who are pulled

for Reading Recovery by the school reading interventionist. In the chart below, there is a list of

accommodations that she will need in order to be successful in the classroom.

IEP Accommodations
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Use of manipulatives Preferential seating

Shorten spelling list (5-10 words weekly) Repeat and confirm directions

Extended time for quizzes and tests

The chart below is the students Fountas and Pinnel Reading Assessment scores

Name Score

Collin Pre-A

Andy C

Hannah G

Layah B

Caron F

Zalyn B

David A

Christopher B

RJ B

Destinee B

Sophia B

Wilbert D

Bryson B

Braylen G

Hailey C

McKennley C
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Samaria B

Kerry A

Entering into the first grade, the students must be at a C-D level to at a satisfactory level.

TWS 2:

For my science unit lesson, I used the following South Carolina state standards:

1.P.2A.1 Obtain and communicate information to describe how light is required to

make objects visible.

1.P.2A.2 Analyze and interpret data from observations to compare how light

behaves when it shines on different materials.

1.P.2A.3 Conduct structured investigations to answer questions about how

shadows change when the position of the light source changes.

1.P.2A.4 Develop and use models to describe what happens when light shines on

mirrors based on observations and data collected.

After teaching this science unit lesson, the students will be able to describe the effect that

light has on shadows and observe the changes in a shadow due to the suns position. The

students will also be able to describe what light is and how it makes objects visible. They will be

able to identify different objects that gives of visible light and how light behaves when it hits and

passes through different objects. The students will also be able to observe and describe the

effects of light on a mirror, how it reflects, and describe the path of light. The students will

understand that the sun is the greatest source of light and will be able to observe the changes in a

shadow due to the suns position.

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There are different types of learning within my objectives and activities. For the visual

and spatial learners, I have different videos that discuss the topic of lights and shadow that is

appropriate for first grade students. I have different non-fiction e-books that I displayed on the

smartboard for us to read and learn about light and shadows. I also have anchor charts for all of

the students to remind them of the information that we learned during the lessons. There are

plenty of opportunities for these students to draw and do crafts throughout the two week unit. For

the verbal or linguistic learners, I have the anchor charts with the information about lights and

shadows and I will be speaking the information aloud to them. For the kinesthetic learners, I

have hands-on activities that will help them understand lights and shadows in a different way. I

tried to find different activities within my unit lessons will help all of the students express their

learning types.

The learning objectives that I have for the students are developmentally appropriate.

Keeping some of the students needs in mind, I made sure that every lesson and objective was

appropriate for every student. I have chosen different activities for them that they have learned in

their previous learning. If they did not know about the objective, I made sure I will take my time

to teach them so they would understand. Looking at my pre-assessments will also help determine

if my objectives are appropriate for the students. If the pre-assessments are not as good, I have

back up plans to teach and walk through those lessons and activities with them in more detail.
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TWS 3:

There was some form of assessment planned throughout my unit lesson. I had one formal

assessment and the rest were brief informal assessment throughout the lessons to see if the

students were understanding the content. At the beginning of the unit, I gave the students a pre-

assessment to students to see what they know about the unit. I gave each student a sticky note

and ask them to draw or write what they think they knew about lights and shadows. This

assessment was used to show what the students knew about lights so far. This data will

determine how in depth I need to teach and where to start the unit lesson.

Assessments Formats of Assessments

Day 1 Pre-assessment Checklist

Informal assessments during Students wrote their

lesson knowledge about lights and

shadows on a sticky note

Day 2 Pre-assessment Checklist

Informal assessments during Asked students questions

lesson relating to what they learned

the day before

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Day 3 Pre-assessment Checklist during independent

Informal assessments during activity

lesson Asked the students questions

relating to what they learned

the day before

Day 4 Pre-assessment Checklist

Informal assessments during Asking students questions

lesson relating to the content during

the lesson

Day 5 Pre-assessment Asking students critical

Informal assessments during questions relating to the

lesson content they learned all week.

Day 6 Pre-assessment Checklist

Informal assessments during Pulling popsicle stick and

lesson asking students questions

relating to the topic

Day 7 Pre-assessment Checklist while asking the

Informal assessments during students questions during the

lesson during lesson and activity

Day 8 Pre-assessment Pulled popsicle sticks during

Informal assessments during the lights and shadow

lesson questionnaire activity

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Day 9 Formative assessment Science benchmark district

test

TWS 4:

Name Checklist

Collin We have lights in classroom

Andy If there is no light, we cannot see

Hannah --- shuts down; didnt cooperate---

Layah You see a shadow

Caron The sun is the biggest source of light

ZaLyn If you dont have light, you cant see your

shadow

David If didnt have light, you wont be able to

see

Christopher You can see your shadow

Destinee The light bounces off of the mirror

Sophia Your shadow is either in front of you or

behind you

Wilbert Your shadow can be big or small

RJ ------absent-----
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Bryson Light form a shadow

Braylen If we didnt have light, we wouldnt be able

to see or know where we are going

Hailey The sun gives us light

McKennley Theres light in the classroom

Samaria A shadow shows parts of your body, but not

your face

Kerry I dont know

The chart above is the pre-assessment for the lights and shadows unit lesson. I asked the

students to tell me what they know about lights and/or shadows. I gave each of them a sticky

note to write or draw it down on. For the students who decided to draw, I walked around and

asked them what did draw about lights and shadows. Once they stated what they knew, I wrote it

down on the class checklist. For the students who wrote what they knew, I collected their sticky

notes and added them on the checklist as well. The results of the pre-assessment was great as

expected. All of the students knew something about light and shadows. One student already

knew that the sun was the greatest sources of light and a few students knew something about

artificial and natural light. Being that the students knew what light and a shadow was, I did not

go into great detail in explaining what it means. As a class, we discussed briefly about what light

and shadows were.

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Lights and Science Lesson

Shadows Lesson.docx 2.docx

Materials

Sticky notes

Anchor Charts Scissors

Follow It! Learn about Shadow book Crayons

Shadow Tracker Sheet Shadow mapping sheet

Black Construction Paper Bear Shadow book

Tape YouTube videos

Flashlights Mirror

Objects for scavenger hunt

Activities:

On the third day of the unit lesson, the students were reviewing lights and shadows by

working on a shadow mapping activity. All of the students were given black construction paper

and were asked to cut out an object with the paper. When they cut the black object, they were to

draw it on the shadow map sheet. After that, the students were instructed to place the black paper

where the shadow should be based on what the sun is on each square. This activity relates to my

instructional goal because the students were supposed to be able to understand the changes in a

shadow due to the suns position. The activity stems from the pre-assessment because it
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discusses the connection between lights and shadows. For this activity, there wasnt any

technology used. The shadow mapping activity was more of a craft activity that focused on

whether or not the students understood the concept of where a shadow would be based on the

suns position, and technology wasnt necessary for this particular activity. With this activity, the

students will be given a benchmark district test based on what they learned during the lights and

shadows unit lesson.

On the fourth day of the unit lesson, the students were continuing to review shadows by

working on a shadow tracker sheet. With this sheet, the students were to go outside, at different

times of the day, and find their shadows based where the sun was. I made sure to take the

students outside to track their shadows early in the morning and midafternoon. This outside

activity relates to my instructional goal because the students were supposed to be able to

understand how an objects shadow changes based on the position of the sun. The shadow

tracker activity stems from the pre-assessment because it discusses the concept of light and how

a shadow changes because of how high or low the sun is. Being that this was an outside activity,

there was not much technology involved. The focus on this activity was to see if the students

could observe where their shadows were and could recognize the difference in how their

shadows appear when the sun is high or low. The document camera and the smartboard to

complete the discussion question at the bottom of the tracker sheet. The purpose of this

technology was to display the sentence that the class came up with together, and the students

were able to copy the sentence down on their sheet. With this activity, the students will be given

a benchmark district test based on what they learned during the lights and shadows unit lesson.

On the second week of the unit lesson, the students were assigned to walk around the

classroom with a partner and draw or write down any objects they see that are opaque,
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translucent, or transparent. I purposely place some everyday objects that are transparent,

translucent, or opaque so the students will have a variety of objects to put on their list. This

activity relates to my instructional goal because the students are able to observe and how light

passes through different objects. They also can identify how light behaves when it hits different

objects. The scavenger hunt stems from the pre-assessment because it goes back to the concept

of what is a shadow and how it changes. There was very little technology used for the activity.

The purpose of the activity was to see if the students can identify and observe transparent,

translucent, and opaque objects. I used the document camera and smartboard to display the

scavenger hunt chart for the students. This gave them an opportunity to copy down the items that

didnt have on their paper. With this activity, the students will be given a benchmark district test

based on what they learned during the lights and shadows unit lesson.

I believe that positive classroom management and discipline is important in order to have an

effective learning environment for the students. I believe my teaching style is similar to the

assertive discipline model. With Lee Canters assertive model, a teacher makes sure that clear

limits are set. The teacher is also very firm and give precise decision for their students. Assertive,

hostile, and non-assertive are ways that a teacher can react to conflict according to Canters

assertive discipline model. I believe this model will create a better learning environment for my

future classroom. I will have complete control in my classroom and my students will have a clear

understanding of what the rules are and what will happen if they disobey the rules. While being

firm, I will also create positive and trusting relationships between my students to help benefit not

only their academics, but their emotional and social growth as well.

Promoting positive student behavior in the classroom is very important. I will promote this

behavior mostly through verbal praise. I will discuss among the class how the student showed
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positive behavior and will congratulate them. I will also tell the class that the students behavior

demonstrates how a good student should be and encourage them to do the same. Another way

that I will respond to positive student behavior is through reward. I will have a system in my

classroom, such as a behavior chart or a ladder of success system, where the students can move

up or down the system based on the positive or negative behavior that day. With this system, if

the students continue to have success with the behavior chart, then they will receive a special

reward at the end out of the school week. This system will help guide the students to follow the

rules and show good behavior because they will be motivated to get the special reward at the end

of the week.

The expectations that I will in my classroom are: be respectful, be responsible, and be

kind. I chose those three main rules because they are necessary in order to be a good citizen as an

adult. As a teacher, I believe that my job is to not only teach them academics, but to also help

guide them to be a good citizens in society. I plan to discuss these rules not only with my

students, but to the parents and administrators as well. I would first discuss the rules to the

administrators at my school by stating them and getting their feedback of the rules and what can

be added. After the approval from my schools administrators, I will present my classroom rules

to the parents. I plan to do this during open house or the first parent-teacher conference. I will

explain to them why I have those specific rules and the consequences if the students do not obey

them. This will allow the parents to get a clear understanding of what I expect from their child

and that I want to create a positive classroom environment for everyone. Lastly, I will discuss the

classroom rules with the students during the first week of school. I will make sure that I present

the rule to them in a way that they can understand and follow them. As a class, we will have

discussions of what they believe it means to be kind, respectful, and responsible. I will then write
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down what they believe it means on a poster and hang it up on the wall in the classroom. This

procedure will not only give the students a clear understanding of the rules, but they will feel that

the rules are important because they helped brainstormed what they meant.

Room Arrangement: The picture above is the design of what I plan for my future

classroom to look like. I plan to have my students desks or table to be set up the way that they

are in the picture above. If I actually have enough room in my future classroom, I do not want
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my students desks to be in the traditional fashion where they are in straight rows and theyre

facing the board and teachers desk. I want to have my students desks or table set up in a U-

shape so it will be easier for me to observe and interact with the students. I plan to have my

classroom book shelf towards the back of the classroom where there is more space. In this area,

the students will have the opportunity to sit in bean bags or chairs and read books in a more

comfortable setting. I will allow four or five different students go over to this area in rotation

throughout the week so everybody will be able to read in the quiet reading area. In the middle of

the students tables, I have the carpet area. In this area, the students and I will have whole class

lessons and discussions, such as class readings and other physical activities. The projector and

SMARTboard will be in placed in front of carpet so that it can be used for some of the activities

that will be done during carpet time. The students will be able to watch different educational

videos and do active learning activities as a class while in the carpet area. I will also have a chair

and an easel in the front of the classroom near the carpet. With these tools, I plan to do

interactive class readings and writings. The computer area will be closer towards the back of the

classroom. This area will be used for research and different education software that will help the

students academically. The students will take turns on the computers throughout the week so that

everyone can have an opportunity to use them. At the kidney table, I plan to do conferencing

with the students individually or in groups. During the conferences, I will help the students in

what areas that they are struggling academically, such as reading or writing their letters.

TWS 5:

Although my unit lesson went well overall, there were times I had to modify my original

design based on the students responses and learning. On the third day, the students were
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assigned to complete the shadow mapping sheet where they cut out a black object based on what

they drew on the worksheet. While completing the assignment, I had realized that the project was

not developmentally appropriate for the students. The students made the original object as they

were asked, but making the shadow of it on black paper was a little difficult for them. They were

cutting around the objects, which made the black paper not match the original object. I should

have printed some objects for the students and cut out the shadows myself. This would have

made it easier for the students to be able to place the shadows where it was supposed to go on the

shadow mapping sheet. This would have gave the students an opportunity to just focus on the

instructional goal of the activity, which was to recognizing how shadows change based on the

position of the sun.

Another time I had to modify and adjust the unit lesson was after the students took their

benchmark test on lights and shadows. After getting the results back, I noticed that a majority of

the students missed the question about shadows and how big or small they are based on the suns

position. After seeing where the students struggled, I retaught that lesson during their science

time. I used the example of my hand and the LED projector light. I moved my hand closer and

farther away from the light so the students could recognize what happens when the shadow when

the light is closer or farther away from the object. Doing this mini lesson made an improvement

in the students progress in their learning goal because they were able to answer the same

benchmark test question correctly the second time around.

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TWS 6:

Name Day 1 Day 2 Da Day 4 Day 5 Da Day 7 Da Da

y3 y6 y8 y9

Collin We have X Did not X 73

understand struggle
lights in
the lesson d with
classroom
fully question

that was

asked

Andy If there is 91

no light, we

cannot

see

Hannah --- shuts 100

down;

didnt

cooperate--

-
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Layah You see a 82

shadow

Caron The sun is 82

the biggest

source of

light

Zalyn If you X Would X Did not 82

dont have not follow

light, you cooperate directions;

during the needed

cant see
lesson assistants
your
with
shadow
assignment

David If didnt 91

have light,

you wont

be able to

see

Christophe You can 82

r see your

shadow

Destinee The light 36

bounces off
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of the

mirror

Sophia Your 73

shadow is

either in

front of

you or

behind

you

Wilbert Your 82

shadow can

be big or

small

RJ ------absent----- 91

Bryson Light X Did not 91

form a cooperate

shadow during

lesson

Braylen If we 100

didnt have

light, we

wouldnt

be able to

see or
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know

where we

are going

Hailey The sun 91

gives us

light

McKennle Theres 91

y light in the

classroom

Samaria A shadow X Did 82

shows not

parts of cooperat

your body, e during

but not lesson

your face

Kerry I dont X X X Needed X 45

Needs
know assistance struggle
extra with d with
help assignment question
with that was
learning asked
shadow

s
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Overall, the whole class made excellent progress of understanding lights and shadows. When

doing the pre-assessment, the students were given a sticky notes and were told to write down or

draw what they know about lights or shadows. As a whole, the students understood the concept

of lights and shadows from the prior knowledge. After completing the first few activities, the

students got a better and more in depth understanding of lights and shadows. On the second day

of the unit, the students read some books about lights and shadows and I crossed the contents of

science and ELA. As we read, I asked the students questions relating to the topic and wrote on

the checklist whether they understood or not. On the fourth day, the students completed a

shadows mapping worksheet and they were to place the cut out shadow where it was supposed to

go based on where the sun is positioned. I walked around as they were working and checked

whether they had the positions of the shadows correct or not. On the second week, The student

complete a shadow tracker worksheet. They went outside, once in the morning and once in the

afternoon, to track where their shadows were in their notebooks. As a post assessment, the

students were required to complete a science benchmark test that was provided by Aiken County

school district. The test consisted of everything that I taught during the unit lesson.

Sub-group:

Higher half of Performance Lower half of Performance

Students Students

Caron 82 RJ 91

Hannah 100 Kerry 82

Braylen 100 Collin 73

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Wilbert 82 Zalyn 82

Andy 91 Bryson 91

McKennley 91 Hailey 91

Samaria 82 David 91

Destinee 36 Christopher 82

Sophia 73 Layah 82

The subgroup I chose to analyze was the higher and lower students. With this class, group the

students this particular way is very beneficial. The scores listed are from the science benchmark

test provided by the Aiken County school district. Based on the data that I collected from their

progress, the lower level students performance better on the science benchmark test. Most of

them completed the assignments with little to no assistance. Although all of the higher level

students could complete the assignments and have great understanding during the lessons, they

score lower than the lower level students.

Individuals:

Caron Collin

Pre-assessment: The sun is the biggest Pre-assessment: There is light in the

source of light classroom

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Formative: Caron answered the questions that Formative: Collin understood the information

he was asked correctly. Completed all of his about lights and shadows. Completed his

assignment with little assistance. assignment with assistance.

Post-assessment: 82 (benchmark test) Post-assessment: 73 (benchmark test)

I chose these two students because Caron is one of the higher level students and Collin is one of

the lower level students in this first grade class. These levels are based on the students reading

assessment score and their current grades. Based on the pre-assessment, both students know what

a light is or looks like from their prior knowledge. Carons pre-assessment showed me that he

knew about light in more depth with his response of the sun is the biggest source of light.

Collins pre-assessment response showed me that he could recognize what a light is, but it wasnt

as in depth as Carons response. The photos below are example of Caron and Collins shadow

tracker worksheet they completed outside. Both students completely the drawing portion of the

sheet correctly. They understood that their shadows would be smaller in the mornings because

the sun is closer to them in the morning than in the afternoon. At the bottom of the worksheet,

the students were supposed to complete the sentence My shadow moved because Caron was

able to complete the sentence independently with minimal errors. Collin couldnt do as

successful because he is still working on his letter recognition and sight word spelling. After

taking this photo, I assisted Collin with finishing the sentence.

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Caron Collin

TWS 7:

The learning goals where my students were most successful was observing and

describing how light behaves when it hits different objects. The students understood the

terminology used and they learned the goal much faster than any other lesson that week. I found

myself releasing them faster to work independently in this lesson than any other lesson in this

unit. The students really enjoyed going on the scavenger hunt around the classroom and

searching for the objects with a partner. A reason why this lesson was the most successful is

because I took my time to teach this lesson. I used different objects with a flashlight to show the

students how the light passes through the objects differently. Using the objects kept the students

engaged and they were able to see the light behavior for themselves. Another reason why this
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lesson was the most successful is because the students were able to move around to observe and

collaboratively learn the objective that was taught. In this lesson, I was more confident in my

teaching than any other lesson taught that week. I had everything well prepared and I went over

the entire lesson to myself the day before to check to see if it was appropriate for the students

needs and development during that time. Being that I was more confident in teaching this lesson,

I was able to explain the learning information in a more clear way and the students were able to

understand.

The learning goals where the students were least successful was the shadow mapping

sheet. It was the first day of teaching the students about shadows and how they change due to the

suns position. Although the students somewhat understood the objective, they did not do

successfully on the mapping activity. When planning the activity, I did not realize it was not

developmentally appropriate for the students at that time. The students were asked to make an

object shape on white paper and then cut out the shadow of it on black paper. The students did

what they were asked to the best of their ability, but the shadows did not match the object that

they drew. If I could redo that lesson and activity over, I would focus more on teaching them

about the shadow changes in depth and make the shadow mapping activity a separate review

activity. I also would have made or printed off the objects and cut of the shadows of the objects

myself. This would have made the activity easier for the students and they could have focused

more on positioning the shadows where they were supposed to be on the worksheet.

A professional goal that I need to work on that emerged from my experience with the

TWS is finding activities that best suits the needs of my students. Although some of the activities

that I planned were fun and relative to the objective, they were not appropriate for my first grade

students developmental skill where they could do it independently. If I had planned better and
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had some of the steps in the activity done for them already, then the students could have done the

work independently with some guidance. I can approve this professional goal by thinking about

the needs of my students and where they are developmentally before I execute an activity for

them to do.

Another goal that I need to work on planning and time management. I feel that if I

planned my science lesson unit better, it would have been more successful overall. My unit was

not very organized as I thought it was and the first two days and lessons of the unit did not go the

way I intended. If my time management skills were better, I would have been able to do the other

games and activities with the students like I had planned. I can improve these professional goals

by sitting down and taking more time in planning. I could also check with a teacher with more

experience in that content to see if my plans are fully organized. For time management, I can

have notes of my lessons with me to look at so I can keep myself on track of everything that I

need to get accomplished in the lesson. Overall, the lesson was not completely unsuccessful, but

it could have been a lot better.