Analysis of Impact on Student Learning: First Grade Math ...carinjordan.weebly.com/uploads/1/8/7/5/18759310/cjordan_mcc.1.md.3... · The students in Ms. Jones math class are considered

RUNNING HEAD: ANALYSIS OF IMPACT ON STUDENT LEARNING 1

Analysis of Impact on Student Learning:

First Grade Math Lesson: Telling Time to the Half Hour

Carin Jordan

Reinhardt University

January 27, 2014


Source: schooldigger.com

Source: nces.ed.gov

School and Class Demographic Information

During the spring semester of 2014, I had the opportunity to conduct my candidate teaching in the first

grade classroom of Dana Jones at Hillside Elementary School. Hillside Elementary School is in Roswell,

Georgia. Hillside Elementary School serves approximately 739

students in grades PK-5. The geographic boundaries for Hillside

Elementary extend across GA 400 to the West, Brumbelow Road

to the East, Old Alabama Road to the North, and Holcomb Bridge

Road to the South. According to schooldigger.com, approximately

52.3% of students at Hillside Elementary School qualify for free

or reduced lunch. Hillside Elementary School is a state and

federally designated Title 1 school. Data provided by the National Council for Educational Statistics (NCES)

shows that the primary ethnicities represented at Hillside are Caucasian and Hispanic at 38% each, followed by

Black (17%), Acadian/Pacific Islander (3%), and other ethnicities at 3%.

Ms. Jones’ math class includes a total of 15 students including 8 boys and 7 girls. Six students from Ms.

Jones’ homeroom class are pulled out for either Early Intervention Program (EIP) or accelerated math. The

ethnic makeup of Ms. Jones’ math class includes 7 CaucAcadian, 4 Hispanic, 2 Acadian, 2 African American,


and 1 Indian student. 7 Students in Ms. Jones’ math class reside in single family homes, and 8 students reside in

multi-family residences (i.e. apartments).

The students in Ms. Jones math class are considered “on-level” for first grade math content. Within that

on-level designation, there is a range of abilities and Ms. Jones differentiates instruction where appropriate to

meet specific student needs. The class includes one student (Jerome) who was retained in first grade from the

previous year. This student receives general education supplemented with 20 minutes of EIP Reading services

on a daily basis. Two students in Ms. Jones’ math class are considered English Language Learners (ELLs) who

receive general education. One student (Estaban) previously received English to Speakers of Other Languages

(ESOL) support but now only receives periodic assessment and monitoring. Another student (Violet) receives

20 minutes of EIP Reading and 40 minutes of ESOL services each day.

Collection of Pre-Assessment Information to Guide Student Learning

One January 27, 2014, I taught a lesson in Ms. Jones’ class based on the Georgia Department of

Education Unit 4 framework: “MCC.1.MD.3 Tell and write time in hours and half-hours using analog and

digital clocks.” A pre-assessment was administered the Friday before the test. The pre and post-assessment are

attached in Figures 1 and 2 in the Appendix. Note that the pre and post-assessments were intentionally

constructed to be identical in format in order to facilitate accurate data collection from this lesson. Times and

wording used were changed between the two tests. Additionally, the assessments were created with a variety of

response formats including multiple choice, matching and fill in the blank. Although elapsed time is not a first

grade standard, an elapsed time question was included in the assessment to include rigor and determine whether

student were able to answer such questions. The results of the pre-assessment are included in the table below.


The results of the pre-assessment guided my lesson instruction in several key areas, specifically the

creation of the tiered ability groups and the content of the whole-group instruction based on the specific areas of

strength and weakness indicated by the class as a whole as indicated by the individual question results.

The following table identifies the tiered ability grouping that I created and how they compare to the

typical groupings in Ms. Jones’ class. (Note that Ms. Jones does adjust her groups as needed based on prior

knowledge and ability as needed.)

Typical Ability Based Groups Adjusted Ability Based Groups

for 1/27 lesson

Pink Group (Highest)

Natalia, Nick, Shakira, Toby,

Wendell, Theo, Jason

Shakira, Toby, Wendell, Natalia

Orange Group (Middle) Jerome, Sophie, Santana, Zia,

Estaban

Nick, Sophie, Jason, Estaban, Theo

Brown Group (Lowest) Manuel, Violet, Zia Zia, Manuel, Violet, Acadia,

Jerome, Santana

The groups for the lesson were created based on pre-assessment results as well as teacher knowledge of

student abilities and work habits. Several students had noteworthy group changes. Theo is typically included in

the high group; however, his score of 7 out of 15 possible points indicated that he needed additional support

during the lesson. Similarly, Santana was moved to the brown group. Her score of 3.5 was the lowest score in

the class indicating the need for strong teacher support during the lesson on time. I kept Natalia in the highest


group, although her score was not sequentially the next lowest, due to her previously demonstrated high level of

motivation and the ability to grasp concepts quickly.

Adjustment of Learning Tasks Based on Pre-Assessment Data

The data collected from the pre-assessment helped guide the creation of my lesson plan. I performed a

question-by-question review of the pre-

assessment as shown in the table. This review

identified concepts that might need to be

addressed in more detail during the lesson, or

subsequent lessons, including:

Identification and naming the two hands. on a clock and understanding their role.

Reading and understanding time to the half hour.

Writing time on a clock and drawing the clock hands to the correct length to represent hour and minute hand.

Learning how to write time on a digital clock and associating it with the same analog time.

Learning how to understand elapsed time.

Most of these concepts included were included in my planned lesson except the elapsed time work. This

element is not a first grade standard but rather an element of rigor that we wanted to offer to students to see

which students were capable of working with the concept. Only four of the students were able to solve Question

10 successfully on the pre-assessment. I kept the same basic question in the post-test despite the fact that I

would not be teaching the concept in order to determine which students could figure it out merely based on the

general mastery of telling time to the half hour. I was pleased to note that the success rate on Question 10

improved to 7.5 on the post-assessment. This information provided me with ideas for differentiated tasks for

future lessons for the students who were ready for task.

The basic elements of my lesson included the basic review of clock information using an anchor chart as

reference. This knowledge activation activity was followed by the reading of The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric

Carle during which students used classroom manipulative clocks to practice moving clock hands to represent

the various times highlighted in the book. Students then had the opportunity to apply their knowledge through


the creation of their own paper plate clocks. By making, labeling, and using their own clocks students were

required to carefully evaluate various clock attributes that that they had learned.

I attempted to differentiate the student applied practice portion of my lesson through the use of tiered

activities and teacher support. The lowest group was seated at a table with the teacher. The intermediate group

worked on the same tasks as the lowest group with periodic teacher monitoring. The highest group worked on a

tiered task accessing second grade standards of telling time to the nearest five minutes. Due to the absence of

Natalia, Wendell, and Toby for Talented and Gifted (TAG) classes on the day of the formal observation, the

remaining Pink group student was Shakira who worked independently on her task.

During the lesson, I used questioning to ascertain student understanding and extend student learning.

Questions used included the following:

When you were using the classroom set of student clocks and moved one clock hand, what happened to the other clock hand? Why did that happen? What does that tell us about the hands on a real clock?

How did you know where to draw the numbers on your clock? What real-life resources did you use to help

you?

Which hand on the clock do we read first? Which do we read second?

Why is telling time important anyway?

Interpretation of Data and Associated Student Achievement

The lesson post-assessement was originally sheduled for the day after the formally observed lesson. Due

to the administration of the 1st grade 18-week assessment we determined that the post-assessment would instead

be given on Wednesday, January 29th

. However, due to the January 29-31 snow days the post-assessment was

delayed until Monday, February 3rd

. The table below shows the results of the post-assessment.


The results of the post-assessment indicate an overall improvement in classroom performance from

138.5 to 195 out of 225 possible points, or an increase in classroom average from 66% to 93%. Improvement

data for individual students is shown in the table to the right.

The brown group improved an average of 100%, the Orange

group by an average of 52%, and the pink group by an

average of 9%. The lowest student in the rooom improved

from a score of 3.5 to a score of 14 which was a 93%

improvement.

Adjustment of Future Learning Tasks Based on Lesson Results and Post-Assessment Data

In order to adjust future instruction based on student needs I analyzed data on a question-by-question

basis. Based on these results I determined that students needed additional practice drawing the hands on the

clock. Some of the students lost

half points on their assessment by

drawing the time correctly but not

clearly distinguishing length of

hands. Also, I had observed that

for many students positioning the


hour hand correctly when writing time to the half hour was still an area of challenge for many students. These

are issues that I would address repeatedly during subsequent lessons

Looking specifically at several students within each group was personally instructive during both the pre

and post-planning stages of the lesson. The pre-assessment for Natalia (pink group) indicated a basic

understanding of telling time but some incomplete knowledge of fundamental concepts including the distinction

of the hour vs. minute hand, clock hand length. Also, Natalia was inconsistent in her ability to tell time the half

hour. Natalia’s post-assessment score of 15 out of 15 points indicated a master of the skills taught. The

pre-assessment for Sophie (orange group) was somewhat different from that of Natalia. Sophie could name the

parts of the clock but showed a complete lack of background knowledge for telling time to the half hour,

missing this skill in three different places on the pre-assessment. I was pleased to see that Sophie answered all

time to the half hour questions correctly on the post-assessment. The pre-assessment for Manuel (brown group)

was somewhat of a combination of that of Natalia and Sophie. Manuel showed inconsistent knowledge of clock

attributes and telling/writing time to the hour and half hour. Manuel improved in each of these areas but is not

making the length of his clock hands different enough. This was an issue that was discussed during a

subsequent conference and formative assessment practice opportunities.

Another way that I empahasized repeated practice at reading time to the half hour quickly and accurately

was through games used during the transition from math to lunch. The class played the time versions of “I

have…who has” and “Around the World (Time)” during all subsequent classess of the time portion of Unit 4.

On the fourth day of our time unit, an unexpected and wonderful occurance happened. Two brown group

students (Jason and Nick) and two orange group students (Zia and Acadia) students outperformed their pink and

2nd

grade accelerated peers to the surprise and delight of their classmates. The typically higher performing peers

were extremely good sports thus contributing to the overall atmosphere of encouragement and support that Ms.

Jones has created in her classroom. I was pleased to see these students have successful experiences in the group

game and earn the admiration of their classmates.


Personal Teaching Reflections and Future Improvements

After the lesson, I was able to reflect upon the lesson both personally and in discussion with my

Reinhardt supervisor, Ms. Shirley Benton, as well as with classroom collaborating teacher, Ms. Dana Jones.

One of the most memorable pieces of feedback was provided by Ms. Jones regarding student use of

manipulative clocks during the reading of The Grouchy Ladybug book by Eric Carle. Ms. Jones suggested

that by giving the students the small clocks they were distracted during the reading of the book. After some

discussion on the use of manipulatives, Ms. Jones acknowledged that having the student use clocks during

the reading of the book offered an opportunity for students to practice skills in a teacher supported

environment but provided the excellent advice that during key portions of instruction, students should be

asked to put the clocks down on the floor next to them in order to attend to the next part of the lesson.

The intended function of the manipulative clocks during the reading of The Grouchy Ladybug book was

for students to use the clocks to follow along with the times noted in the book. By giving the students the

clocks early in the lesson, giving them a minute to play with them, and then allowing them to handle them

during the reading of the book when 100% of their attention was not actually required, I was trying to

follow the emphatic advice of Reinhardt Professor, Dr. Cindy Kiernan. Dr. Kiernan repeatedly reminded us

to get the manipulatives into the hands of students as early as possible during lessons even if it caused mild

distraction during the earlier parts of the lesson. Students need to learn that manipulatives are tools;

however, in practicality teachers understand that students are also children and enjoy exploring with

manipulatives. Dr. Kiernan explained that by getting the manipulatives into the hands of students as early as

possible in the lesson, students will be ready to use them as tools during the student applied practice portion

of the lesson as intended. Dr. Kiernan also reminded us that the use of manipulatives in a classroom is

something that needs to be done frequently enough that students are familiar with protocols and not unduly

energized by the novelty of the item. Because they are such a valuable resource, I will continue to explore

and reflect on the effective use of manipulatives as learning tools in the classroom.


I continue to try and learn effective classroom management techniques through the guidance of Ms.

Jones. As my collaborating teacher, Ms. Jones has modeled the fact that classroom management begins with

the creation of predictable classroom routines and a nurturing environment. In addition, classroom activities

that engage students at the appropriate level of rigor for each student will also help prevent classroom

management problems before they even begin. One specific technique that I have learned recently is to

given clear instructions and model activities before releasing students to the next activity. In this way,

students are able to begin working immediately after the transition. One area of classroom management in

which I still need development is how to ensure that the attention of the entire group is engaged during the

whole group “mini-lesson” portion of the lesson. I believe that part of the solution to this issue is keeping

whole group portions short and direct and engaging student participation whenever possible through the use

of effective questioning. That being said, I will continue to seek the guidance of Ms. Jones to improve my

classroom management skills.

I am appreciative of the opportunity to have participated in the planning and implementation of

my first formally observed lesson at Hillside Elementary School. I value the support of Ms. Benton and Ms.

Jones and look forward to continued opportunities to learn and grow as an educator.


References

National center for educational statistics: Hillside elementary school. (2012). Retrieved from

http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolID=130228002491&ID=13022800249

Schooldigger: Hillside elementary school. (2014). Retrieved from

http://www.schooldigger.com/go/GA/schools/0228002491/school.aspx?t=tbStudents&st=tbLunch

http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolID=130228002491&ID=13022800249

http://www.schooldigger.com/go/GA/schools/0228002491/school.aspx?t=tbStudents&st=tbLunch


APPENDIX

Figure 1: Student Pre-Assessment



Figure 2: Lesson Post-Assessment



Figure 3: Student Pre and Post-Assessment Work Product Examples – Pink Group (Natalia)


Figure 4: Student Pre and Post-Assessment Work Product Examples – Orange Group (Sophie)


Figure 5: Student Pre and Post-Assessment Work Product Example – Brown Group (Manuel)

Documents

Analysis of Impact on Student Learning: First Grade Math ...carinjordan.weebly.com/uploads/1/8/7/5/18759310/cjordan_mcc.1.md.3... · The students in Ms. Jones math class are considered