learner analysis project.doc

7/29/2019 Learner Analysis Project.doc

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Rachel Stewart

FRIT 7430

Learner Analysis Assignment

5th

Grade Language Arts ELA5W1

Glennville Elementary School

Introduction:

This instructional unit will be used at Glennville Elementary School, a public school in Tattnall

County. This school operates in the small town of Glennville, Georgia and serves pre-kindergarten

through fifth grade. 681 students are enrolled in this school, and this unit is designed for the 5th grade

Language Arts program, which serves 122 students.

Goal: Students will produce writing that establishes appropriate organization, engages the

reader, maintains a clear focus, and demonstrates a satisfying ending. Students will purposefully select

a focus, an organizational structure, and a point of view. Student writing will also be appropriate in

length, and will use appropriate language structures to convey information and ensure coherence.

Georgia Performance Standard: ELA5W1 - The student produces writing that establishes an

appropriate organizational structure, sets a context and engages the reader, maintains a coherent focus

throughout, and signals a satisfying closure. The student

a. Selects a focus, an organizational structure, and a point of view based on purpose, genre

expectations, audience, length, and format requirements.

b. Writes texts for a length appropriate to address the topic or tell the story.

c. Uses traditional structures for conveying information (e.g., chronological order, cause and

effect, similarity and difference, and posing and answering a question).

d. Uses appropriate structures to ensure coherence (e.g., transition elements).


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Demographics:

The target audience for this instructional unit is a class of 122 5th grade students. These students

are 10-11 years old. However, this instructional unit could also be used for any group of students from

third to sixth grade. The target group includes some cultural diversity; however, the majority of these

students are either Caucasian or African-American who come from rural, middle-class families. The

group contains twenty-two Hispanic students and five bi-racial students.

Most of the students are on track to exit from elementary school with their age group peers.

There are twelve gifted students, ninety-five regular education students, and fifteen students being

served in special education. All of the students being served in special education are not severe. Some

of these students are being served for having learning disabilities, autism, and speech language

disorders.

Entry Skills & Prior Knowledge:

According to the Georgia Performance Standards, in the fifth grade, students expand and deepen

the concepts, skills, and strategies learned in earlier grades. Fifth grade students read and comprehend

texts from a variety of genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama) and subject areas (math, science,

social studies, and language arts), and they make new connections as they encounter new ideas and

begin to study subjects in more formal ways.

Students use writing as a tool for learning, and they write for a variety of purposes and

audiences. Fifth graders write daily in order to maximize and formalize their writing skills. Students

communicate their personal voices in writing, expressing ideas through journals, notes, and e-mail.

They understand and articulate how authors use a variety of techniques and craft in their writing, and

they show evidence of the authors craft in their own writing.

Additionally, students are aware of the connections between reading and writing, and they use

those skills to learn and understand more about their world and different cultures. Students continue to


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increase vocabulary knowledge through reading, word study, discussion, and content area study.

In their verbal interactions, students communicate effectively with different audiences. Fifth

graders engage in student-to-student and student-to-teacher interactions about a variety of texts and

concepts. They use appropriate conversational skills, and they speak in turns rather than all at once

during group interaction. Students are able to understand a problem or conflict as stated in oral, visual,

or written texts, and they can determine an appropriate solution. In this process, students utilize

previous knowledge and experience, draw conclusions and/or make valid generalizations, and apply

logic to develop possible solutions. Fifth grade students support solutions with a variety of evidence

and reasons.

Students participate in a cooperative learning environment, and they move independently

around the room to gain information from other students. Students work cooperatively in a variety of

situations, assuming productive roles within each group. Fifth graders also complete more complex

assignments that ask them to use sources to inform their oral and written discussions of topics.

One strategy used to gauge prior knowledge of any subject is the Brainstorm and Categorize

method described in Laura Robb's Teaching Reading in Middle School. The steps to this activity are as

follows:

1. After the teacher introduces the topic, students have three minutes to write everything they

know about the topic on Post-It notes. They write one thing they know on each note and stick it down

in front of them.

2. Students form groups, look at the notes of other students, discard any repetitions, and

categorize the remaining notes by sorting ideas into at least three categories. (For example: Topic--

Native Americans; What I Already Know Notes-- live in tee-pees; men hunt buffalo, have chiefs,

women care for children, move to find game; Categories--how N.A. live; jobs for men and women;

how they use natural resources.)


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3. The final step is to have a spokesperson from each group share their categories along with the

things they already know about each category.

Academic Motivation:

There is no single magical formula for motivating students. Most students respond positively to

a well-organized course taught by an enthusiastic educator who has a genuine interest in the learner and

what they learn. Our activities undertaken to promote learning will also enhance our learners

motivation. Research has also shown that good everyday teaching practices can do more to counter

learners apathy than special efforts to attack motivation directly. Effective learning in our classroom

depends on the educators ability to maintain the interest that brought learners to the class. Whatever

level of motivation our learners bring to the classroom will be transformed, for better or worse, by what

happens in the classroom.

Students learn by doing, making, writing, designing, creating, solving. Passivity dampens

students' motivation and curiosity. Pose questions. Don't tell students something when you can ask

them. The educator encourages students to suggest approaches to a problem or to guess the results of an

experiment. We establish small group work. Don't allow the learner to struggle to figure out what is

expected of them. Reassure learners that they can do well in your course, and tell them exactly what

they must do to succeed. Say something to the effect that "If you can handle the examples on these

problem sheets, you can pass the exam. Variety reawakens learners' involvement in the subject and

their motivation. Break the routine by incorporating a variety of teaching activities and methods in your

subject.

Motivational Strategies:

John Keller's ARCS model identifies four areas essential for motivation in the classroom. Those

areas are Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction.

Attention: It is critical to capture the attention of the entire group. However, it is also important


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to include the diversity of the group. To assist in capturing and maintaining their attention, we would

begin the discussion with a question, "What would you like to learn about?" We would let the students

pick a topic they are interested in to give an oral speech on as a final project. We would start with a

discussion dealing with the personal topics that a student would like to learn more about. This will

allow them to deal with a topic verbally and by talking about it instead of using more abstract methods,

hopefully, students will be compelled to the topic of their choice by being involved in the selection

process.

Relevance: The students and teacher will have a discussion over the importance of ELA5W1.

The discussion will involve how the standard relates to the lives of the students and others. The

discussion will explain why students have to learn to express their ideas in chronological order. The

class will be given examples of how the communication cycle works and how it can affect their lives.

Finally the students will be given the steps of the writing process and oral projects and how these

processes will benefit them throughout their lives. Technology will be used in class to promote

students' love of writing by showing them an interactive/creative format for responding to a text.

Confidence: The student will gain confidence at the beginning of the unit through the use of

clearly defined goals and understanding for the standards and guidelines. By explaining the goals of

this particular unit and by using a rubric, the expectations of this class will be clear. Students will have

confidence from knowing in advance what the expectations are and that if they follow the rubric, they

will succeed. There will be many opportunities for the students to gain positive feedback to ensure

confidence. They will come to the conclusion that a successful student's writing is dependent upon the

efforts and understanding of each student involved.

Satisfaction: Students will be given the opportunity to satisfy their desire to demonstrate what

they have learned through the completion of the final project. The content that is presented to the class

will be assessed so that the students will show that they have mastered the content.


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Diversity: There are no universal solutions or specific rules for responding to ethnic, gender,

and cultural diversity in the classroom, and research on best practices. Our school reads fiction or

nonfiction works by authors from different ethnic groups. The school and families work close together

to afford children every opportunity to learn and to become effective, functioning members of society.

This is best achieved when young children feel supported, nurtured, and connected not only to their

home communities but also to the teachers and the educational setting. Parents and educators recognize

that children actively attempt to understand their world through their own language and culture. For

this reason, children learn best when they acquire skills in a meaningful context. Identifying what

children already know and building on their prior learning, regardless of language, will help promote

an environment that engages all children in learning.

The curriculum demonstrates respect for everyone's customs. When holidays are observed

during the same time, the values and traditions of each learners culture is acknowledged. Our learners

are encouraged to share feelings and information about the holidays they celebrate. This will help them

make the distinction between learning about another person's holiday rituals and celebrating one's own

holidays.

Educational & Ability Levels:

Grouping: Many school practices and policies are built on the assumption that students learn

best when the curriculum is well matched to students learning abilities. The belief is that when

students understand what is being taught, they are more likely to be actively involved in the learning

process and less likely to disengage from classroom instruction and activities. Teachers assign students

to groups to assure that the curriculum they receive is suitable for their academic preparation and to

expose them to new materials at a level of comprehension.

Tracking is a form of whole-group instruction that is characterized by a single and a set

curriculum which is delivered at the same pace for all students within the classroom. Placement is


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based solely upon the child's perceived ability level and is therefore considered to be an unacceptable

approach for the grouping of students. The effects of ability grouping have been analyzed and debated

related to various populations including individuals identified as gifted and talented, individuals

identified with educational disabilities, individuals of minority status, and economically disadvantaged

students. Research has demonstrated that the use of whole class ability grouping disproportionately

impacts minority students, economically disadvantaged students, and students with lower ability.

Related to individuals identified with educational disabilities, whole class ability grouping does

not comply with the requirements of placement within the least restrictive educational (LRE)

environment. Further, the practice of whole class ability grouping/tracking can deny many children of

their statutory right to equal educational opportunity.

Ability Level by AgePros: In traditional classrooms, students that are not being challenged

enough get bored. Since they arent being challenged properly, it also hinders the advancement of their

learning. Students that learn more slowly would benefit from being in a grade that is suited more

toward their learning abilities so they too can learn more and at a faster pace. Allowing students to

learn at their own pace will help them get the most out of school. They can progress more quickly and

with a better understanding of the material. Instead of students getting by in their classes and not

fully understanding it, they can be placed in the grades that they should be in and learn at a pace suited

more towards their learning abilities.

Ability Level by AgeCons: Despite the educational advantages, dividing students from kids

their own age might not be beneficial to their socialization or self-esteem. Depending on the ages of the

students around them, they might feel too old, or too young around them. No matter what the

educational abilities are, maturity is definitely a factor to consider. Assigning grades by ability rather

than age could increase social interruptions.


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Learner Characteristics:

At the beginning of the school year, class members took a multiple intelligence inventory based

on Howard Gardner's work on multiple intelligences. The inventory is web based, and students were

able to answer questions on a computer. At the end of the inventory, students were provided with

immediate feedback on their learning styles. The internet address for this inventory is listed in the

appendix.

According to inventory results, the target group contains a variety of learner types. Since several

of the students in the group are bodily-kinesthetic learners, the instruction needs to be focused on

activities that allow for hands-on learning with minimum lecture. These students prefer activities that

allow them to directly manipulate material and concepts, and are not as engaged when filling out

worksheets or reading from a book. Children in this group have plenty of energy, and need to be

involved in activities that keep them up and active. They become less attentive to learning material

when they are asked to sit for long periods of time, and when they are asked to work on similar tasks

for long periods of time. Another group of students are visual-spatial learners. These learners learn best

when they are presented with visual stimuli to help them learn. Students in this group will often sit

closest to the source of instruction, and will find things to look at if they get bored. A few of the

students are intrapersonal learners. These students tend to be introverted, and are very independent and

prefer to work on their own. These students do best when given time to work alone, and work well

when given topics for independent study. A larger group of the students are interpersonal learners. They

prefer to learn through interaction with other students. This group needs plenty of attention from the

teacher, and needs plenty of interaction with other students in the class. A few of the students are more

logical-mathematical in that they need to reason through material and calculate while learning. Before

this group of students can deal with details in an assignment, they need to work to form and learn

concepts.

Student demographic, economic background, and parent information was collected from school


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records within the school PowerSchool database. Ethnicity does play a role in the learning

characteristics of various groups within the class. Of the Hispanic learners in the class, all but two are

fluent in English, and those students perform well on verbal and written activities. However, the two

who have only recently learned English are not as fluent. These students need material presented in

English to be presented slower, and with little use of idioms or sarcasm. Often, these students will need

assistance from a teacher when reading instructions or other written material. The group of African-

American learners are more field-independent, whereas the group of Caucasian learners are more field-

dependent. The students who are field-independent prefer learning material that has colorful, and more

human content. This group is highly creative at telling stories, and prefers a cooperative learning

environment. The students who are field-dependent prefer more formal content, and are not as creative.

They do best with material that is analytical, and are able to focus on similar tasks for longer periods of

time than other students. While many of the students come from homes where both parents are in the

picture, there are a good number of students in the class who only have one parent at home. Many of

the students who come from single-parent homes tend to have less help from parents on homework

assignments, and may not have access to some of the same enrichment opportunities that other students

have.

Accommodations:Under the Federal Assistive Technologies Act, every state was mandated by the federal

government to create an assistive-technology loan library.

Autism: Database software such as AutismPro and Teach Town are available through assistive-

technology loan programs for autism learners via the school library. Both software collects information

of each individual learner and stores this information on a database. This collected data assist with

teacher and parent communication more effectively. The educator doesnt use one particular strategy

for all students collectively because one method may not necessarily work for another learner with

autism. Maintaining a thorough database of each students behavior and sharing the information with


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the learners parents will be beneficial to both parent and educator in maintaining consistency during

the learners development. Having a balance with technology tools in addition to social interaction are

very important steps for the learners development.

Learning Disabilities: At least 1 in 10 learners have learning disabilities. When the educator

detects a learner has difficulties following instructions, remembering what was just said, identifying

words, low self-esteem, etc the educator consults with a professional to determine if a comprehensive

evaluation is needed. A comprehensive evaluation is performed by a professional with the learner

assessing all issues that appear to have some form of an affect on the child. After the evaluation, the

professional will recommend the appropriate school placement such as special education services or

speech language therapy. There may be times when psychotherapy is recommended. Each learner is

nurtured into the belief/will of self-confidence.

Special Education: Special education teachers work with children with mild to moderate

disabilities, using or modifying the general education curriculum to meet the child's individual needs

and providing required remedial instruction. Special education teachers use various techniques to

promote learning. Depending on the student, teaching methods can include intensive individualized

instruction, problem-solving assignments, and small-group work. When students need special

accommodations to learn the general curriculum or to take a test, special education teachers ensure that

appropriate accommodations are provided, such as having material read orally or lengthening the time

allowed to take the test.

The educator establishes an Individualized Education Program (IEP) setting personalized goals

for the student and is tailored to that student's individual needs and abilities. When appropriate, the

program includes a transition plan outlining specific steps to prepare students for middle school or high

school or, in the case of older students, a job or postsecondary study. Teachers review the IEP with the

student's parents, school administrators, and the student's general education teachers. Teachers work

closely with parents to inform them of their children's progress and suggest techniques to promote


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learning outside of school.

Gifted Learners: Gifted learners maybe detected when performance is low or when the student

is disruptive, resistant, challenges authority, or clowns around in class. The classroom and curriculum is

sometimes modified for gifted learners. Giftedness involves primarily the ability to absorb abstract

concepts, organize them more effectively, and apply them more appropriately. In order to keep our

gifted learners active and motivated they are sometimes assigned to a mentor, perform independent

projects in the areas of interest, so that students can work at their own learning center in the classroom

and enter school competitions.

References:

Aguilar, E. (2010). Teaching secrets: When the kids don't share your culture.Education Digest, 76(4),

52-54. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Gardner, H. (2009) In defense of the theory of multiple intelligences. Chronicle of Higher Education,

56(2), B18. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Landrum, T. J., & McDuffie, K. A. (2010). Learning styles in the age of differentiated instruction.

Exceptionality, 18(1), 6-17. doi:10.1080/09362830903462441

Robb, L. (2000). Teaching reading in middle school. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Reda, M. M. (2010). What's the problem with quiet students? anyone? anyone?. Chronicle of Higher

Education, 57(3), A68. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Walker, J. T., Shenker, S. S., & Hoover-Oempsey, K. V. (2010). Why do parents become involved in

their children's education? Implications for school counselors. Professional School Counseling,

14(1), 27-41. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.


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Appendix:

Georgia Performance Standards

URL: https://www.georgiastandards.org/standards/Georgia%20Performance%20Standards/Grade-

Five.pdf

John Keller's ARCS Model for Motivation

URL:https://www.arcsmodel.com/Mot%20dsgn%20A%20cate.htm

LDRC Multiple Intelligence Inventory - based on Gardner's Multiple Intelligences

URL:http://www.ldrc.ca/projects/miinventory/miinventory.php

School Stats for Glennville Elementary School

URL:http://www.school-stats.com/GA/TATTNALL/GLENNVILLE_ELEMENTARY_SCHOOL.html

How important is Diversity at Your School?

http://www.greatschools.org/find-a-school/defining-your-ideal/284-cultural-diversity-at-school.gs
https://www.georgiastandards.org/standards/Georgia%20Performance%20Standards/Grade-Five.pdfhttps://www.georgiastandards.org/standards/Georgia%20Performance%20Standards/Grade-Five.pdfhttps://www.georgiastandards.org/standards/Georgia%20Performance%20Standards/Grade-Five.pdfhttps://www.arcsmodel.com/Mot%20dsgn%20A%20cate.htmhttps://www.arcsmodel.com/Mot%20dsgn%20A%20cate.htmhttps://www.arcsmodel.com/Mot%20dsgn%20A%20cate.htmhttp://www.ldrc.ca/projects/miinventory/miinventory.phphttp://www.ldrc.ca/projects/miinventory/miinventory.phphttp://www.ldrc.ca/projects/miinventory/miinventory.phphttp://www.school-stats.com/GA/TATTNALL/GLENNVILLE_ELEMENTARY_SCHOOL.htmlhttp://www.school-stats.com/GA/TATTNALL/GLENNVILLE_ELEMENTARY_SCHOOL.htmlhttp://www.school-stats.com/GA/TATTNALL/GLENNVILLE_ELEMENTARY_SCHOOL.htmlhttp://www.greatschools.org/find-a-school/defining-your-ideal/284-cultural-diversity-at-school.gshttp://www.greatschools.org/find-a-school/defining-your-ideal/284-cultural-diversity-at-school.gshttp://www.greatschools.org/find-a-school/defining-your-ideal/284-cultural-diversity-at-school.gshttp://www.school-stats.com/GA/TATTNALL/GLENNVILLE_ELEMENTARY_SCHOOL.htmlhttp://www.ldrc.ca/projects/miinventory/miinventory.phphttps://www.arcsmodel.com/Mot%20dsgn%20A%20cate.htmhttps://www.georgiastandards.org/standards/Georgia%20Performance%20Standards/Grade-Five.pdfhttps://www.georgiastandards.org/standards/Georgia%20Performance%20Standards/Grade-Five.pdf

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