Capstone CH 1 2 3 4 Final

GEDU 591 CAPSTONE PORTFOLIO
Chapter One
TEACHER AS PROFESSIONAL:
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE STATEMENT
COLLABORATOR
INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER
Buena Vista University

Master of Education
Paula Rocca
Iowa City Community School District
4th Grade General Education Teacher
January 2015
GEDU 591- Chapter One

BVU Standards Addressed
1. With the theoretical

knowledge base about
students and curriculum
necessary for translation
into exemplary and
effective classroom
practice.
2. With the skills necessary
to master, implement
and evaluate research
based on effective
teaching practice.
3. With the knowledge and
skills necessary for data
driven leadership.
4. To more effectively
handle the demands of
an increasingly diverse
student body population.
5. To engage in exemplary
leadership and
professional practice.
6. To effectively
collaborate with a
variety of stakeholders
and constituents.
Evidence (brief description)
Artifact (title and number each)
Multiple Intelligence Survey
Rocca_chapter1_artifact_4
Zone of Proximal
Development Research
Paper
Classroom Photo (ZPD)

K.W.L. Chart/ Venn Diagram Rocca_chapter1_artifact_3
True/Not True Hold Up
Cards
Using Data to Improve

Teaching and Learning ppt
UbD Template
Differentiated Instruction:
Southeast Region Unit
Understanding Diversity in
the Classroom ppt
Math Work Session
Template
School Safety ppt
Peer Mentor Log

Interactive Homework and
Responsibility Chart
Planner Page
Social Contract
Coats of Kindness Flyer

Autobiography
As a little girl, I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. One of the first gifts I remember
getting from my parents was a desk that I kept in my basement where I played teacher and
student simultaneously spending hours designing, completing, grading, and adorning the walls
with work done in these imaginary roles.
I would describe my schooling as a very traditional one, attending primarily white,
affluent schools in suburban, central Iowa and being taught by almost all women who looked and
sounded just like me. Upon graduation I attended Drake University (private) which perpetuated
this experience and lack of real world exposure. Unbeknown to me at the time, one of the
greatest and most valuable teaching gifts I was ever going to receive was the opportunity to
student teach, in an at-risk building with 28 first graders, and was to have a veteran student
teaching advisor as a mentor. During that experience I learned two things. First, I confirmed my
lack of desire to teach anyone who wasnt proficient in tying their shoes or blowing their nose
and second, that outside of motherhood, there was no greater calling than being called to teach. I
remember sitting doe eyed and sweating in the empty classroom at the end of the first day of
student teaching as if it were yesterday. In those first six hours I watched as scantily clad
children in 20 degree weather arrived at school hungry and deprived of sleep. Some were
dropped off by the bus, others walked in sandals. One arrived alone in a cab. Like the poster
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star that hung on the wall for the upcoming poetry unit, there was a
myriad of skin tones, cultures, expectations, attitudes, and individuals in parental roles
representing the makeup of room 109. Some of my students lived in the local homeless shelter
while the majority resided in the areas low income housing project. By the end of the year, over
half of the students in this class had moved or were unaccounted for. My student teaching
experience occurred before the days of when breakfast was served at school so the teacher,
recognizing its importance and necessity, brought a brown grocery bag each day filled with
boxed cereal and granola bars for students to help themselves to if they hadnt eaten breakfast. It
was also before schools had behavior focus rooms for students to go to for a break or when their
behaviors escalated to inappropriate or dangerous levels. Instead, all students were
mainstreamed into the regular classroom unless they fell into the lowest 5% of the room
academically where they would receive a 30 minute pull out service with a resource teacher.
That day I listened to seven year olds talk using foul language that would make some adults
blush and knock desks over when frustrated like animals. I vividly recall an instance when the
teacher opened her hand for a student to spit out their gum a condom fell into her palm. At the
end of that first day I turned to my advisor and started to open my mouth to speak. She looked
me straight in the eyes before I could say a word and said, Yes, you CAN. And you WILL do
this. You are their only hope to break the cycle as the rest of her statistical conversation
about prison rates was drowned out by the beating sound of my heart. Although I didnt believe
her, she was right. I could and I would be able to do this. I fell in love with these children and I
cherish two graduation announcements of students in this class that hang in my classroom to this
day.
After student teaching I took a job at another at-risk building in the same school district.
There was nothing like having your first real classroom and just being recently married I had
all the time in the world to devote to my students and their needs. I taught there for three years
until I became pregnant with my first son. Born with complications, I ended the school year and
took a leave of absence to stay home with him simultaneously finding out I would be expecting
another child. I got pretty good at the role of motherhood and three months after delivering a
daughter found out I would be expecting my final child. The nightmare of the expense of three
in daycare at the same time secured my role as a stay at home mom where I stayed for the next
ten years. Three highchairs, potty chairs, cribs, car seats, pacifiers, stuffed animals later, it was
magical and overwhelming at the same time. Although I had left the classroom I never left the
role of teacher. During this period of constant self-reflection, I realized that no matter how much
they looked alike, sounded alike, acted alike, or that they were from the same family-no two kids
were alike. From learning styles to temperaments, social skills to reasoning abilities having a
one size fits all approach was not going to work at home with my kids and I began to reevaluate
how effective I had really been in my former classroom. Even with the knowledge I gained
student teaching, I realized that my traditional schooling experience still drove many of my
actions, decisions, and expectations. I honestly wanted another chance to be a better teacher.
After ten years at home, an opportunity to work in my childrens elementary school arose
and I jumped. Although at the time they wouldnt say it, I think my kids liked seeing me at
school every day. I even had the pleasure of being my youngests teacher for an entire year. As
they entered junior high, I decided it was the right time to begin studying for a masters degree in
education. I chose pursuing a masters in curriculum and instruction. I knew that I had been
considered an effective teacher based on my evaluations and recommendations but I wasnt
exactly sure why many of my so called best practices worked or if there were ways they could be
improved. Just that they did. Now though, I wanted to know why. I wanted the opportunity to
make a conscious and deliberate effort to do more than what was expected of a typical,
traditional teacher and have the research to back the decisions I made on a daily basis as being
the most effective. If I expected that my students become life-long learners they deserved
nothing less from me. They deserved an accomplished teacher who was still willing to learn.
It is hard for me to believe that I am in the capstone course of my journey. This program
has been everything I could have asked for and more. I have a renewed sense of commitment to
my students: emphasizing equality and recognizing diversity. I have a much greater
understanding of child development theories, understanding backgrounds, challenging my
students and helping them recognize and utilize their own unique learning styles. I have been
able to gain greater knowledge and depth of the subject areas that I teach allowing me to create
more real-world authentic learning experiences. My instruction has changed to include more
critical thinking questions, ways to integrate technology, as well as encouraging my students to
be lifelong learners. I am a better manager and monitor of my students learning through the
organization of my classroom environment, expectation setting, increasing engagement and risktaking, as well as the fine tuning of my formative and summative assessments. In addition, I
have been able to be a productive steward in my community reaching parents in a more positive
way, collaborating with other teachers in my building and across the district as well as working
with business leaders in the community. Finally, it has allowed me to reflect on my personal
teaching practice in my role as a teacher-leader, lifetime learner and a model of best practices. In
six short weeks I will become a master teacher. This is quite the accomplishment and one of
which I am very proud. I want to thank my family for their unconditional love and support
during the past two years and for never losing their love of macaroni and cheese. They will all
be relieved that my makeshift desk will now resume to its original purpose and serve as our
familys dining room table. In addition, I want to thank the numerous professors that I have had
for each term as well as Buena Vista University for offering an online format for those looking
for a non-traditional graduate program. It was challenging and satisfying at the same time and
allowed me to fulfill my many roles, as mother, teacher, and student. Ending this program is not
a farewell but instead a see you again soon as it has peaked my interest in furthering my journey
with a second masters to prepare for a future role as principal.
Professional Practice Statement
Someone once said, To the world you may be one person but to one person, you may be
the world. To me, that one person reflects my entire classroom. The parents and families of my
students have entrusted to me the education and development of their child and I take that trust
very seriously. Regardless of their cultural or ethnic background or economic status, each of my
students has a right to the very best education possible and it is my job to provide this for them.
The role I play in my students life is a significant one, and my beliefs are fundamental in
creating my educational and instructional philosophy. Expert teachers are the cornerstone of an
excellent education but they know they do not teach in isolation. Instead, they are part of a
greater whole. I strive to be an expert teacher each day and I have great respect for every child I
teach, and every parent and colleague that I collaborate and communicate with. Parent
involvement is a must in my classroom, after all parents are a students first teacher (Kim et al.,
2012). Parents who are involved in the classroom have students who perform better
academically, exhibit more positive behavior, have higher levels of self-esteem and are more
likely to pursue postsecondary education (Olsen & Fuller, 2010). I strive to provide my parents
with specific things they can do at home to help their child be more successful at school as well
as provide opportunities for parents to participate in classroom activities. One of the ways I do
this is through an interactive homework packet and responsibility chart that I send home each
week (Rocca_chapter1_artifact_1). Each month I reach out to my families with a newsletter
highlighting what content we have covered as well as give them an insight as to upcoming
activities and learning expectations. Students take ownership of their learning by completing a
planner listing the days activities and upcoming events. Each evening they are to share this with
their parents and I check each morning for a parent signature confirming they have discussed the
information together (Rocca_chapter1_artifact_2). When parents are involved and know what is
going on in the classroom, student motivation is high (Cheung & Pomerantz, 2012). This
planner and newsletter has shown to be an effective tool for home school communication and the
interactive homework pages have empowered parents to be a supportive and active part of their
childs learning process.
Webster defines the role of teaching as the act of training by example, practice, and/or
exercise (Teaching, n.d.). I believe that, regardless of the subject matter I teach, I am a teacher of
life. Life is full of challenges, and it is my job to help my students learn from those challenges.
Learning is also a life-long process. My most important goal is to help my students prepare for
life by gaining the essential skills they will need in order to be productive and successful in the
classroom and in the world. The world is a highly competitive place and in order to succeed they
must learn how to be efficient, solve problems, utilize their creativity, and possess the ability to
learn from their mistakes. In order for my students to be successful in the future I need to create
a learning environment where my students are active participants, where they question the
materials presented in order to gain understanding, and can make connections to new knowledge
or situations they encounter as compared to just being able to regurgitate answers based on
memory. Mayer (1999) calls this meaningful learning that leads to transfer (p. 3). Learning
comes from what students already know, the new information that they are given, and what they
do as they learn (Bruning, Schraw, & Norby, 2011). Understanding comes from what students
read, hear, and see through the filters of their family and cultural experiences. In this sense,
learning is not so much knowledge and skill acquisition as it is the construction of meaning by
the learner. Because of this it is important that I engage my students in the learning process by
activating their prior knowledge in order to help students make connections between new
information and what they know in order to come to deeper understanding. I am a big believer
in the use of graphic organizers (Rocca_chapter1_artifact_3). Through the use of KWL charts or
Venn Diagrams I am able to help present information to students in meaningful chunks in order
to see relationships and uses between concepts and ideas rather than as facts in isolation.
Mark Twain (n.d.) once said, Dont let schooling get in the way of education (section
10). To me this means that teachers must be flexible and willing to move beyond the traditional
mode of schooling so that their students can learn effectively. In 1983, Gardner claimed that
students learn in ways that are identifiably distinctive. He came up with 8 distinct intelligences
and proposed that students would be better served if disciplines could be presented in a numbers
of ways and learning could be assessed through a variety of means (Gardner, 1983). At the
beginning of each school year I give my students a learning preference survey
(Rocca_chapter1_artifact_4) in order to help my students identify how they learn. Once these
learning preferences have been identified I help them use this information to choose activity
starters that will better help them show me what they know.
Broadening the way we teach may help us reach learners who are not ideally being
reached by present methods of instruction (Bruer, 1995). This includes moving our students out
of their comfort zones by presenting them with real problems that have undefined boundaries and
solutions and that require cooperation as well as a little competition. I constantly model and
encourage ways my students can take risks, and challenge them to move beyond basic skills in
order to reach new heights. Helping my students become critical thinkers and effective problem
solvers will ultimately transfer them into becoming effective competitors in their chosen careers.
How I view knowledge directly affects the way I teach my students. Many people
believe that teaching means giving information. While it is critical that I have a deep
understanding of the subject matter of which I teach, this is just a small part of what I believe
constitutes learning. Knowledge is not just being given information to memorize. Instead,
knowledge requires a student to think. Knowledge is learning how to solve problems so that
students have a conceptual background and can effectively influence their environment. I know
that my students actively construct and transform their own knowledge based on past
experiences and prior learning. I know that they do not all learn in the same way or at the same
rate. This can be challenging as the complexities of classrooms today do not allow effective
teachers to follow a one-size-fits all approach to teaching (Diaz, 2004). Because of this a teacher
must be an effective diagnostician of their students interests, abilities, and prior knowledge.
Since every student in my class is different I try to teach them how to recognize their own
individual learning styles, to take responsibility for their education, and to be willing to teach
themselves and their peers. In order to get my students minds working, I try to present the
material to them in ways that are organized, relevant, and build upon their background
knowledge. I often find myself utilizing a backwards design template
(Rocca_chapter1_artifact_5) when planning my lessons working from the end back to the
beginning making sure that everything I do and require my students to do relate to the stated
learning objective. As a teacher I can assume nothing, instead I must be able to instruct so that
new things seem familiar, offer positive and useful feedback, and explicitly teach and guide
students in the steps of the problem solving process.
I am an enthusiastic educator who places a large emphasis on differentiated instruction.
In order to meet the needs of my students I use scaffolding, prepare different lessons for different
students, and adapt whole group lessons for diverse learners as seen in attached unit on the
Southeast Region (Rocca_chapter1_artifact_6). As a teacher I need to be aware of my students
zone of proximal development. I became fascinated by Vgotskys Zone of Proximal
Development (1978) and researched this theory further looking for ways to bridge this theory
into my daily practice (Rocca_chapter1_artifact_7). The ZPD refers to the area between what a
student can do independently and what the student can do with support. Skills and
understandings that are within a students zone are the ones that have not yet emerged but could
if they were engaged in interactions with knowledgeable peers and adults (Vgotsky, 1978).
According to this theory, the most effective instruction is the kind that does not focus on a
students independent level but instead is focused in their zone. In this sense, teachers instruct in
small steps according to what they know their student is capable of doing independently (called
scaffolding). Knowing my students well allows me to give them enough assistance so that they
can work through a problem without getting too frustrated and without providing too much
assistance because then the problem will not be challenging. Additionally, because all students
are different and learn at different rates, I believe in giving a multitude of formative and
summative assessments that include: quick writes, exit slips, tests or quizzes, papers, projects,
presentations, dioramas, and other assessments to gain a better understanding of what my
students know. I consider myself a life-long learner and it is important that I share my
enthusiasm of wanting to learn more with my students. Hopefully, my students will value
learning, be motivated to think and want to learn more themselves.
I believe that students come to school with the desire to learn, share, and with a unique
perspective on how they view the world. Teaching provides an opportunity where we can learn
from others and within my classroom there is an exchange of ideas between myself and my
students. I consider myself to be a student while I am teaching, so I try to be the best student in
the room and let them know that I learn from them as well. My classroom is an active one where
self-talk is promoted. Vygotsky (1978) felt that self-talk was very important because it helped
children learn to develop their own thinking and problem solving skills. Through talking about
what they are thinking children learn to guide and direct themselves through difficult tasks and
promotes higher level thinking. In addition, I believe that it is my job to help my students
develop positive self-efficacy by creating a positive atmosphere in my classroom. I do this by
having my students answer a set of questions at the beginning of the year. In our room we have a
basketball theme and these answers become the norms we would like each other to follow in the
classroom. Our final list become a player contract that all students sign and are displayed next
to our player photos on our Wall of Fame for all to see each day and to refer to as needed
(Rocca_chapter1_artifact_8). I do a great deal of cooperative learning activities in our teams
where all students have a chance to be successful and try to limit the amount of ability grouping I
do as a way to prevent self-fulfilling prophecy from occurring. Mixed ability grouping in teams
have allowed my students to work in their zone with others they might normally not work with
increasing the chance to develop multiple positive relationships (Rocca_chapter1_artifact_9).
It is my job as an educator to provide a safe and positive learning environment and to
facilitate students taking responsibility for their own education. In my classroom I try to serve as
a guide to my students rather than to dictate, asking them to answer what if or suppose that
kind of questions. In order to foster creativity teachers should not only support and encourage
creativity, but model and reward it when it is displayed (Sternberg & Lubart, 1995). Being in an
environment where it is ok to take risks and to not give up when mistakes are made keeps alive
the creative spirit of my students. As a student accepts more responsibility and becomes more
active in their own learning, they will ultimately learn more. I believe the best teaching practices
have the students interests in mind, have high expectations, and a balance of instructional
methods. My building recently completed a book study on the use of Total Participation
Techniques (Himmele & Himmele, 2001) as a plan to close the gap between achieving and nonachieving students. Research shows that unless teachers are actively looking for ways to ask our
students to demonstrate active participation and cognitive engagement with the topic we are
teaching, we really have no way of knowing what students are learning until it is often too late to
repair misunderstandings. One of the ways I ensure that all of my students are active learners is
through the use of true/not true hold-up cards (Rocca_chapter1_artifact_10). In a meta-analysis
of 18 studies on response cards, Randolph (2007) found that the use of response cards increased
student participation, improved student achievement on quizzes and tests, and decreased
disruptive behaviors. These frequent checks for understanding allow me to give specific
feedback that guides my students to their end learning goals as it empowers and creates active
learners.
One of the most fulfilling parts of teaching is when you see a student get it. My
students seem to express a similar sense of joy or happiness when the light turns on for them in
their mind about something we are covering. Learning is supposed to be fun. I think the best
way to learn is to make the topic enjoyable and to create an environment where my students are
having a good time while they learn. Humor plays a large part into my lessons, examples, and
discussions. My students believe that the subject matter I teach is not only interesting and
important, but it is also fun to learn and I try to maintain a high level of excitement at all times
during the day hoping to spark a flame of excitement and learning in their minds as well.
As I reflect on my instructional philosophy, I find myself using behaviorist (Skinner,

1938), cognitivist (Piaget, 1972), and constructivist theories (Bruner, 1960) on a daily basis at
any given time in my classroom. Like most teachers I know, my instructional philosophy has
been shaped by many things over time. I rely on my philosophic foundation to help me build
both content and pedagogy. I believe it is important to have strong beliefs grounded in strong
theory while remaining open-minded to try new approaches and techniques that may benefit my
students. My philosophy, knowledge, and understanding is not static; instead it will continue to
change with time and experience, and I will continually reflect, examine, and refine what I
believe and why as I continue on my journey as a life-longer learner.
Collaborator
Distributed leadership in schools is an idea that is growing in popularity as a way to
effectively lead schools and create environments where high quality learning takes place by
focusing on two aspects: principal and practice (Spillane, 2009). According to this perspective
there are multiple leaders within a building who are involved in leading and managing the school
and the practice of leading and managing emerges from the interactions of those who hold formal
and informal roles. In our building we have been trained to operate in Professional Learning
Communities that are comprised of grade level teachers, the building principal, and our
instructional coach. PLCs are a system of collaborative teams whose members have a common
interest and goal that they are working on and are accountable for to ensure that all students are
learning (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many, 2010). PLCs encourage teachers to collaborate and
lead from within their classrooms in order to positively impact student learning. In our PLC we
have created and follow norms in the areas of time, listening, confidentiality, meaningful
dialogue, decision making, participation, and expectations. I am able to take on the role of:
collaborator, action researcher, reflective practitioner, and learner advocate both in my classroom
and with my team. Each week my PLC looks at where our students are at, what they need and
what we are going to give them, and finally what we are going to do with them once they have
mastered the material. We spend a great deal of time talking about the standards our students are
expected to demonstrate and then look carefully at our instructional design and previous
knowledge of our students. The work of teaching and learning is far too complex to confine
student achievement to the limitations of one individuals experience or personal theories so we
rely on action research to be more effective as we reflect on our current practices to evaluate the
impact on student learning. I believe in my ability to reach every student in the building and am
adamant about creating growth minded students (Erkins et al., 2007). In an effort to understand
and impact more students, the members of my PLC have begun to meet vertically with the grade
level PLCs directly above and below us once a month so discuss student expectations and best
practices. These are honestly my favorite meetings. Recently I assisted my buildings
instructional coach to lead an in-service on how to use data to improve teaching and learning
utilizing our PLCs (Rocca_chapter1_artifact_11).
One of the most important things I try to teach my students that is not officially tied to a
textbook or standard is to give of oneself. What started as a class service project four years ago
has now spread to include 9 elementary and secondary schools in the Iowa City and surrounding
communities. Working in conjunction with the Coats of Kindness Organization out of
Minneapolis, Minnesota, my students hold and assist other schools in facilitating a month long
winter wear drive in order to support students and families in the ICCSD. This drive is
completely student driven, as my students create a board of directors that make all the decisions.
They have created a guidebook for other schools to use and utilizing Skype we help other student
groups through the process as they facilitate their own drive. This past November my students
and their parents spent the morning together as they gave away over 3,000 winter items (2,000
coats) to those less fortunate (Rocca_chapter1_artifact_12). This drive takes countless hours to
organize as we collaborate with area businesses, school officials, and local media and is one of
the most powerful learning experiences my students, families, and I have ever been a part of.
Instructional Leader
For the last three years I have served on my Buildings Leadership Team (BLT) and also
as a representative the past two years on our schools math, writing, and safety committees.
Recently I have added a role participating on our buildings equity committee (MCGF) and serve
as a mentor to new teachers in the building. In addition, I have brought a unique perspective to
our building as I served as the PTA President, VP, and Fundraising Coordinator while raising my
children as well as was the buildings teacher representative for a year acting as a liaison between
a very active PTA and staff at Longfellow.
As a BLT member our role is to plan and conduct professional development based on
district and state standards, analyze testing data with subcommittees to form our building goals
and objectives, as well as address concerns brought about by individuals and the larger
community as a whole. Being a member of the BLT can come with challenges but I feel it is
very rewarding. I enjoy collaborating with all members of our building as we try to articulate
vertically what our goals will look like academically as well as work with our PBIS team to
create a positive learning environment for all students at Longfellow.
This year we have broken our staff into two groups to focus on math and writing skills as
part of our buildings comprehensive plan-and I have chosen to focus in the area of math. Our
buildings math committee is made up of 6 individuals (3 general education teachers, principal,
instructional coach, and a special education teacher) who meet monthly to discuss Iowa
Assessment, district, and grade level summative data results, district initiatives, as well as share
and research best practices. In math we are utilizing two resources: Mastering the Basic Math
Facts in Addition and Subtraction (K-2) and Mastering the Basic Math Facts in Multiplication
and Division (3-6) by OConnell and SanGiovanni (2011). Five building work sessions have
been planned by our math committee and district math specialist during designated building inservice days to unpack common core standards and address deficits by investigating strategies,
activities, and interventions to move our students beyond just memorization. Attached is an
example of one of the templates I used at our first work session asking my colleagues to think
about their daily instruction with basic facts and/or Tier 2 instruction in order to increase
computation scores (Rocca_chapter1_artifact_13).
I joined our buildings safety committee to influence thinking and play a proactive role in
ensuring the safety and security of the over 300 students that attend the almost 100 year old
building known as Longfellow Elementary. This committee is responsible for the design,
implementation, and practice of school evacuation plans including tornado, fire and ALICE
(Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate), creating and revising a school wide emergency
plan, as well as making recommendations for physical building improvements. One of the
biggest areas of emphasis by our safety committee was regarding school safety in the classroom
as classrooms are becoming more and more diverse as shown in the attached power point I cocreated that I hope to be able to share in the future (Rocca_chapter1_artifact_14).
For two years I served as a mentor for new teachers hired to the district. Through district
training, classroom observations, and weekly formal meetings I helped two new teachers mediate
conflict, increase efficacy as instructional-problem solvers and decision makers, encouraged
higher engagement in collaborative exchanges and hopefully increased the likelihood that they
enjoy their first year in the classroom and remain in the teaching profession. In addition to
emotional, building procedural, and physical support, as shown in attached weekly summary
reports (Rocca_chapter1_artifact_15) I was able to offer time management tips, instructional
strategies, student assessment strategies, ideas for establishing management routines, and
curriculum design and lesson planning.
New for me this year was the opportunity to volunteer to serve on our buildings Multi
Cultural Gender Fairness team with the intent to help other teachers realize that diversity is an
asset and to uphold the requirements the Office of Civil Liberties recently assigned our district as
we were sanctioned for overrepresentation of minorities into the area of special education. I look
forward to working with teachers to discuss the cultural backgrounds in their classrooms, see
how they address the point of view and multiple perspectives/misconceptions of their students
and share in their reflections of their core beliefs and how they can impact their teaching
practices as I have the opportunity share a power point I have created during Martin Luther King,
Jr. week to my PLC (Rocca_chapter1_artifact_16).
Summary
In the fall of 2015, I will begin my tenth year of teaching. As I reflect on myself during
this journey I cannot believe how much I have evolved as a teacher. With each year of
experience, and each new masters course, I have continued to grow as I constantly looking for
new strategies to try to help my students meet their learning goals. One of the greatest take
aways of this program was the chance to stop working in isolation and to surround myself with
supportive colleagues from my district while working efficiently in an online cohort in order to
examine and critique each others thoughts and works. These opportunities allowed me the
chance to focus on how and where my practices fell and if they aligned themselves with common
core standards and research based best practices in order to ensure that all of my students are
successful. Very soon I will be a master teacher. I cannot wait to fully implement what I have
learned in order to create master students.
GECI 591 CAPSTONE PORTFOLIO

Chapter Two
To Organize or not to OrganizeThat is the Question.

The Effects of Graphic Organizers on Student Achievement in Writing
Action Research Plan Introduction and Literature Review

Master of Education
Paula Rocca
February 2015
Abstract
The ability to write is a fundamental part of literacy, and a skill that all children need to
acquire for success in school and throughout life. The purpose of this study was to investigate
whether there would be any significant difference in test scores between students instructed in
the use of graphic organizers during writers workshop and those students not instructed in their
use. Graphic organizers are tools that can guide students through the five stages of the writing
process: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. They can help student writers
remain on topic as their ideas are right in front of them and can help them to keep thoughts in
sequential order. The targeted population in this study consisted of one fourth grade teacher and
25 fourth grade students in a university community over a five month period. Student writing
skills were documented through writing samples, district writing assessments, teacher surveys,
and student surveys. Analysis of probable cause data revealed issues related to student writing
inadequacies.
Introduction and Background

Students are asked to write every day. Assignments, tests, research, story writing,
blogging, texting, and emailing are just a few examples of the many tasks which require students
to generate thoughts and put them into prose. For many students, choosing a topic, creating an
outline, writing a first draft, and making edits to produce a final copy can be a fluid process with
which they complete with little difficulty. For other students, the writing process poses real
challenges.
In the spring of 2013, the Building Leadership Team at Eastridge Elementary, of which I
am a part of, met to review writing scores across grade levels as well as address new writing
standards for district-wide assessments. The ability to write a prompt based essay and meet or
exceed district standards required the use of the writing process in combination with a rubric
designed to assess the six traits of writing. The process of writing on the assessment involved
several stages: pre-writing, drafting, revising, and editing during one timed writing period. The
rubric assessed organization, ideas and content, voice, word choice, conventions, and sentence
fluency.
Benton Community School Districts guidelines suggest a students ability to meet
district standards in each trait using a cut off score of 3.0 or a summative composite score of 18,
to determine their ability. Eastridge established a projected goal that 80% of their students would
meet or exceed these district standards. Results of their students spring scores came in at 57%,
well below their projections. There were many identified reasons for student discrepancies
between their projected goal and actual results. Teacher observations suggested that students
with and without identified learning disabilities struggled with the process of relating their
thoughts to paper, which caused the individuals unique cognitive skill set, necessary to complete
the process of writing, to become overwhelmed. Results from a teacher survey indicated that the
pre-writing process, organizing ideas and structuring thought processes, observed to be difficult
for many general education students and the most difficult for students with learning disabilities.
Dialogue with teachers, suggested that students who struggled with the pre-writing process or
those who appeared to have hurried through it produced essays that lacked cohesiveness and
quality and students with learning disabilities who struggle with the pre-writing process the most,
spent the least amount of time on this stage compared to their general education peers. Areas of
similarity were found in articles by Morris (2007) and Peterson-Karlan, Hourcade, and Parette
(2008) on what constitutes effective writing instruction for learners with physical and
educational disabilities. Their research suggested that students who struggled with the prewriting process tended toward quick completion of the process and failed to see the relevance of
this stage. Peterson-Karlan et al., (2008) also suggested that students struggles were due to a
lack of understanding of the process for pre-writing, lack of time spent on the process, and a lack
of knowledge of how to implement the process. Yet, when students were taught specific
strategies or were provided scaffolding for basic writing skills, they displayed improved literacy
skills and scored higher on assessments.
I believe student achievement in writing to be a revolution in progress. According to the
National Commission on Writing in America Schools it is an area of education lacking in quality
(McLeod, Brown, McDaniels, & Sledge, 2009). According to McLeod, Brown, McDaniels, and
Sledge (2009), current data on student achievement, in the ability to write well, suggests that
many students entering college or the workforce do not meet writing standards (McLeod et al.,
2009). Vertical discussions with secondary teachers in the Benton Community School District
have convinced me that this idea is perpetuated, as they believe once students reach the junior
high school level they are to know how to write and are not instructed in how to write well.
Since educators are responsible for the development of writing skills in all of their students, at all
ages, findings ways to assist students in the writing process will allow for more successful
academic outcomes and prepare students for hiring, participation, and promotion in civic life.
Graphic organizers have been proven through research to improve learning, help students
in organizing thoughts, brainstorming ideas, and linking information learned from literature to
prior schema (Strangman, Hall, & Meyer, 2003). In this study, student writing achievement was
analyzed when using graphic organizers as interventions to organize ideas and thoughts during
the pre-writing process. The expected impact on learning was that the use of graphic organizers
would provide students with the ability to effectively utilize the pre-writing process and result in
higher achievement on the overall writing process (Strangman, Hall, & Meyer, 2003). This
particular study caught my eye and was the driving force behind application of a similar research
project in my room. The research studied the following question: How might a graphic organizer
intervention affect student achievement and organization in the writing process?
Literature Review
Children want to write. They want to write the first day they attend school. This is no
accident. Before they went to school they marked up walls, pavements, newspapers with
crayons, chalk, pens or pencilsanything that could make a mark. Data has shown that when
children enter first grade, 90% of them believe they can write as compared to only 15% that
believe they can read (Graves, 1983). Graves goes further to state that the writing conference is
the heart of teaching writing as a process. Since students bring family experiences and attitudes
with them to school it is important that educators give both our students and parents explicit tools
and ways to give feedback on how to write. When students feel valued, encouraged, and
supported, they have the confidence to take on the challenges necessary to become writers.
Through collaboration, educators can help parents and students maintain positive attitudes and
experiences with the writing process as a basis for new learning.
Composing text is an essential skill for students (Dunn & Finley, 2010). How to teach
children the organization skills to write has been an area of debate and concern for decades. It is
a question that continues to be researched today with no real definitive answer. In their study,
Dunn and Finley (2010) explored how elementary-age students, used writing assistance software
in planning and composing narrative texts by offering a visual model of what an elaborate story
looked like. Their results suggested during the pre-writing phase, the use of these strategies
helped students develop more ideas including: describing story characters, setting, main events,
and drawing a cohesive conclusion. Graham and Harris (2005) used an idea organizing template
with a series of seven questions to prompt students to think about what they should include in a
story: (1) Who is the main character; who else is in the story? (2) When does the story take
place? (3) Where does the story take place? (4) What does the main character do; what do the
other characters want to do? (5) What happens when the main character tries to do it? (6) How
does the story end? (7) How does the main character feel; how do the others feel? Often
struggling writers do not know how to do something because they have never done it before or
were not successful in the past. Offering students this template as a strategy, as they work
through the writing process, helped students develop a thinking process and after cooperative
practice and teacher scaffolding, students began to do it independently.
Since 1972, The National Assessment of Educational Progress has conducted periodic
testing on students writing skills at the state and national levels (Greenwald, Persky, Campbell,
& Mazzeo, 1999). Their findings indicate that three-fourths of students achieve at the basic level
implying partial mastery of writing skills required for proficiency. Approximately one-fourth
performed at the proficient level and only one percent qualified according to advanced criteria.
Concerns about childrens writing performance have led to calls for improvements in the
teaching of writing as well as aggressive efforts by many states and school districts to upgrade
the quality of their writing instruction (Bridge, Compton-Hall, & Cantrell, 1997). In order for
teachers to support all students writing ability development Bridge et al. (1997) suggest four
core components of effective writing instruction: (1) Students should have meaningful writing
experiences and be assigned authentic writing tasks; (2) Writing routines should allow students
to become comfortable with the writing process and move through it at their own rate; (3)
Lessons should be designed to help students master craft elements such as text structure,
planning and revising, and character development; and (4) A common language for expectations
and feedback regarding writing quality might include the use of traits (e.g., organization, ideas,
sentence fluency, word choice, voice, and conventions). They also note the importance of
procedural supports such as conferences, planning and organizing forms and charts, checklists,
and computer tools for removing transcription barriers.
Inconsistency among instructors was a big concern for educators as many set their own
expectations for the development of written work. Teachers were rarely given the chance to
collaborate as well as receive outside professional development. For many educators, structured
writing focus is dictated by the state. Educators feel pressured for time during the school day to
cover all of their curricular components and often exclude enrichment lessons, such as creative
writing. Teachers are seen spending up to two hours a day teaching reading, with little to no time
being given to writing in the curriculum. An important and concerning finding from research
indicated that teachers and schools do not often communicate a positive attitude towards writing
(Calkins, 1986) and writing strategies are not modeled to students as a form of communication,
but only as a way to write answers. Hudelson (1989) suggested most writing is done to prove to
the teacher that an assignment had been completed. Both studies suggest that a major step
towards implementing strong writing instruction in the classroom is ensuring that (a) writing is
occurring daily, (b) the whole writing curriculum is being covered, and (c) teachers and students
having an understanding of what constitutes good writing. During this time, teachers can direct
students with mini-lessons on writing skills, composition strategies, and crafting elements. It is
also suggested that after independent writing time, the teacher regroup with students so that they
can share and identify how they used what was taught in the mini-lesson on their own and what
challenges arose.
Additional reasons that may contribute to the problem of students mastering basic writing
skills are: inconsistency of teaching methods used in writing instruction among teachers, lack of
student motivation to complete writing assignments, conflicting standards and guidelines for
grading writing exercises in the school, and student demographics. According to Five and
Dionisio (1998), many teachers fail to teach writing skills in a meaning-centered approach;
instead focusing on the individual uses of grammar. In their experiences, students often lacked
the ability to implement a variety of skills during the writing process instead choosing to be very
basic and vague. A majority of the elementary aged children they studied demonstrate poorly
constructed essays because their focus was on the quantity of words rather than the quality of
writing. In their study of using graphic organizers to improve organizational skills, authors
Routman and Maxim (1996) stated that while the quantity of student writing is important, it does
not lead to quality without some sort of teacher intervention. Through the use of portfolios and
graphic organizers, and with an instructional emphasis on vocabulary development and peer
editing skills, students in this study improved in their organizational structures and were able to
transfer these skills into other subject areas.
Childrens demographic characteristics can also impact their writing abilities with such
factors as level of parental education, family income and socio-economic status having a
negative effect. Socio-economic contexts and depressed income status have the ability to result
in students having a less-developed vocabulary and experience with other pre-requisite literacy
skills which schools demand as a precursor for academic learning (Chin & Phillips, 2004). In
this article, authors discussed the need for teachers of writing to address pre-requisite literacy
skills if their students backgrounds in writing were limited. Providing multiple examples of a
strategy, extended practice, and ongoing feedback was shown to be beneficial for all children.
Graphic organizers offered a visual model to show students how to work through the writing
process as well as provided multiple examples of what good writing looks like.
The writing process involves five major stages: prewriting, drafting, revising,
proofreading, and publishing. Each of these stages increases in difficulty as a student progresses
throughout the grades. One of the most important stages is prewriting. This is where the author
decides on the topic, sequence of events or related ideas on the topic, causes and effect, the
problem, and ultimately its solution. Putting everything together into a story is a complex task.
Students have a limited pool of cognitive resources (including attention and working memory)
that must be allocated simultaneously to do this successfully. (McCutchen, 2006) suggests four
types of cognitive processes involved in writing composition. (1) Retrieving and organizing
information from memory; (2) formulating information that is retrieved; (3) monitoring the text
produced so far; and (4) rereading and repairing already produced text. At its basic level,
students who struggle with writing often experience difficulty with how to plan a story. Not
understanding how to plan a story impedes the writing process as the writer is unable to present
the characters, location, descriptions, and sequence of events cohesively in order to hold the
readers attention. Although a teacher may have given an example or two this is insufficient
instruction for students who have had little or no past successes in the writing process.
In an effort to produce more competent writers, teachers are looking towards graphic
organizers for help. According to Burke, Fogarty, and Belgrad (1999), graphic organizers are
mental thinking maps, which indicate skills such as: sequencing, comparing, contrasting, and
classifying to engage students in active learning. They are also called structural overviews, story
webs, cycle charts, grids, or Venn diagrams. Graphic organizers are visual tools that can assist
the writers ability to state the topic and then support the topic with details in sequential order.
Without support, this information may be overwhelming to the student during the writing
process. Graphic organizers engage students in cognitive collaboration before, during and after
working with a text as they help the students visualize these relationships and allow them to
cover each component. Appropriate use of graphic organizers can help the writer to present his
or her ideas in an effective and persuasive manner, resulting in a focused and coherent text.
The single most identifiable common theme amongst all literature reviewed was the role
of instruction when teaching the writing process. Consensus between the researchers was the
belief that teachers should provide positive learning experiences in risk-free settings and provide
positive feedback to students, especially during the pre-writing process in order for greater
chances of increased achievement Kajder (2005). Once students learn how to use graphic
organizers and see their value, they will carry these basic ideas and strategies over into any
writing they have in the future.

Chapter Three
Methodology and Results

Master of Education
Paula Rocca
February 2015
Participants
The participants in this study consisted of twenty-five students in a self-contained
general education classroom. The targeted children were in the fourth grade, their mean age was
9 1/2 years, and they were of mixed academic abilities. Twenty-three of the twenty-five students
in this homeroom were of White decent while two were of African-American. Two students had
504 plans that contained writing accommodations, two students had reading and writing IEPs
and received supplemental services in the special education program for approximately 30
minutes a day. In addition, there were three behavior focus students with reading, writing, and
math IEPs, who were mainstreamed into the classroom with a shared associate for
approximately 75-80% of the day. Six other students in the classroom received enrichment
opportunities two hours a week through the schools talented and gifted program. Permission
was granted by the principal of the building for this study to occur.
Settings
Eastridge Elementary had an overall enrollment of 335 students as part of the Benton
Community School District in the 2013-2014 school year. Of that population, 16.2% of its
students were considered minority status and 19.7% received free and reduced lunch
support/service. The student body of Eastridge is made up of 5 ethnicities. The largest of this
group was Caucasian. This was followed by African American (9.8%), Asian (4.7%), Hispanic
(3.8%), an Indian (0.9%). Eastridge Elementary is located near a state university campus nestled
in a neighborhood of single family homes and two student housing complexes (USASchoolinfo,
2015).
Measures
As a result of increased emphasis on using graphic organizers during the period of
September to January, the targeted students would increase their ability to develop organizational
skills in writing as measured on district, prompt based writing assessments.
In order to answer my research question, I utilized several different data collection
measures. In order to determine an increase in student achievement, I used a district required
narrative essay as my baseline data (fall) and a district required expository essay (winter). Data
was also collected through the use of student and teacher writing surveys, rubrics, anecdotal
records, and observations. This information supplied both my quantitative and qualitative data.
In order to meet the objective of the study the following steps were implemented:
1. A series of lesson plans using writing activities was developed.
2. Graphic organizers were incorporated into instruction that focused on narrative and
expository writing. Teacher focus was on the students ability to express their ideas
clearly, use sequential tactics, and correct mechanics.
3. A teacher survey was designed and implemented in the building to gauge writing
perceptions and instructional techniques.
4. A student survey was designed and administered in the fall and winter to measure
writing attitudes and abilities as a pretest and posttest.
5. The district prompt based narrative assessment was administered in the fall to provide
baseline data for the study and a district prompt based expository essay was
administered in the winter to provide data showing student achievement utilizing a
graphic organizer.
6. Student and teacher discussions and interactions during small group writing time
were documented with the use of a video camera. These findings were recorded and
documented by the teacher during conference time and while students were engaged
in individual writing activities.
A narrative essay was assigned in September as a district required essay for baseline data.
Students were provided the writing prompt: Write a fictional story about a character who helps a
friend in need and given 50 minutes to produce a finished piece. Students were instructed to use
a separate sheet of paper to plan their composition and then write their composition on the lined
piece of paper. Since this was a district-required assessment, with scripted directions, no other
instruction on how to write an essay or what an essay should have in it could be discussed. The
purpose of this task was to provide a standardized assessment of students current abilities.
The narrative essay was graded using HMHs Six Traits of Writing (see appendix A).
The six traits are: Focus/Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and
Conventions. Each trait was scored on a scale from 1-4 with four being the highest score
possible. The total score possible was 24. A total of twenty five students submitted a baseline
essay. The highest score earned on any trait was 4 and the lowest was 1. Two students scored a
24 and the lowest score was a 6. Table 1 lists how many students received scores on each trait
during the fall narrative.
Table 1.
Score
Focus/Ideas
Organization
Voice
Word Choice
Sentence Fluency
Conventions
3
7
11
2
8
11
2
10
10
4
10
9
3
10
4
# of Students
4
3
2
earned score
4
8
10
3
4
4
3
2
In addition to using the Six Traits of Writing rubric, scores were compiled using the
district composite score formula used to grade the writing assessment. This formula required
each trait be multiplied by a specific weight and then added. The sum was then divided by 12
and provided a composite score. Student composite scores were divided into four areas: exceed
standards, meets standards, approaching standards, or well below standards. After calculating
scores from each students baseline essay; 10 students scored well below standards, 6 scored at
approaching standards, 6 scored at meets standards, and 3 exceeded standards. Graph 1 below
illustrates each students composite score with a 24 being the highest and Graph 2 illustrates each
students composite score with 4 being the highest.
Graph 1: Composite Total-Baseline Data Fall Narrative
Graph 2: Baseline Narrative Composite Total Data
Once the research project began, a survey was administered to gain information on
student attitudes towards writing, their usage, understanding and view of graphic organizers, as
well as gain a perspective of students perceived writing abilities (See Appendix B). When the
study neared conclusion, students were given the same survey in order to compare any changes
in attitude toward writing, use of graphic organizers, or in their perceived abilities. In the same
time frame, a teacher survey was administered to gain information on what instructional
techniques were being used, how often writing was occurring, as well what attitudes toward
writing existed among staff at Eastridge (See Appendix C).
Design
During the month of September, students completed their morning writing period routine
without the use of a graphic organizer. This morning writing period was approximately 25
minutes in length and occurred during the same time each day Monday thru Friday. On
Mondays, students were introduced to the type of writing for the week and given the weekly
prompt. On Tuesdays, students reviewed the type of piece, writing prompt, and began writing
their first draft. On Wednesdays, students continued writing their drafts. On Thursdays, students
self-edited and made revisions using the Six Traits to Writing rubric. On Fridays, students
completed their final drafts and random students were chosen to share their pieces with the class.
During the months of October-December instruction changed with the introduction of a
graphic organizer to the pre-writing process. Explicit introduction and instruction of the graphic
organizer occurred during the first week in October with scaffolded review in the weeks
following. During the first three days, through the use of teacher modeling, students were
visually introduced to the relationships between main ideas and details and how items are
organized in sequential order through placement in an organizer. Discussion on the meanings of
each heading and the advantage of using this type of organizer when composing occurred. As a
we do activity, the following narrative prompt was proposed for a writing piece: A Day in the
Life of Fourth Grade. Utilizing a copy on the smart board, students and the teacher completed an
organizer together. This graphic organizer was color coded for each paragraph. Color coding the
organizer was extremely helpful in assisting the students with identifying the different
paragraphs in the essay as well as how the content in each paragraph was different. This activity
was continued a step further by composing a whole class story on the board, all the while going
back to our graphic organizer to identify the advantages of organizing our thoughts during the
pre-writing process. On day four, students were given their own color coded organizer and a
second narrative topic: How I Learned to Ride My Bike. Students completed a graphic organizer
based on their own personal experiences and on day five used the organizer to write a short piece
of writing. At the end of class, discussion was centered on questions that students had using the
organizers and identifying the perceived benefits to using them in their creative writing.
A new morning writing routine was established: On Mondays, students were introduced
to the type of writing for the week and given the weekly prompt. On Tuesdays, students
reviewed the type of piece, weekly prompt, and received explicit instruction on the type of
graphic organizer being given. On Wednesdays, students completed their organizers and began
writing their first drafts. On Thursdays, students finished their first drafts, self-edited, and made
revisions using the Six Traits to Writing rubric. On Fridays, students completed their final drafts
and random students were chosen to share their pieces with the class. In addition, a group of five
students met in a teacher led conference each Tuesday to discuss further how the students where
using the graphic organizer in order to organize, clarify, and develop their ideas. Groups rotated
each week, so that each group met a total of four times over the duration of the study. These
small group discussions were periodically video-taped and later recorded in a teacher journal to
note any misconceptions, patterns, or instructional deficits the students had to be addressed in a
subsequent mini lesson. In addition, independent observations of student growth in the use and
organization of ideas with a graphic organizer during independent writing time was also noted.
Students in the fourth grade were required to take a District Writing Assessment in
January on expository techniques. To prepare for this change, instruction was given in
December on expository techniques and the writing process. A new graphic organizer was
introduced to list their ideas and support (See Appendix D) and two pieces of writing were
produced before students left for winter break. During the first week in January, the districts
second prompt based writing assessment was administered. These were scored using the HMH
Six Traits of Writing rubric and compared with the scores from their baseline essay.
Results
When I began this research study, I knew there was ample evidence in research to prove
the importance of the pre-writing process as well as the effectiveness of using graphic organizers
to increase reading comprehension. I, however, wanted to find out the effect they had on the
development and organizational part of the writing process. When students wrote their baseline
essay, they spent very little time organizing their ideas. None of the students attempted to use a
mind map, list, or outline of their ideas on a scratch piece of paper before beginning to write their
rough draft. This was a reflective of the findings from Peterson-Karlan et al., (2008) that found
students had a lack of understanding of the pre-writing process and spent little time on the
process itself.
At the beginning of the study I administered a student writing survey. Of the twenty five
students, 14 were not sure what the writing process was, and five did not know. Over seventyfive percent of the students had a lack of knowledge for the process and most likely would not
understand how to use the pre-writing process for effective writing. When asked if they know
how to organize their thoughts and create a mental map or outline, 80 percent of the students said
no or not sure. In contrast, when asked how important it was to plan and organize thoughts
before writing, 55 percent of the students said it was very important while 45 percent stated
somewhat.
Students were almost as unfamiliar with graphic organizers as they were the concept of
the writing process. Of the twenty five students, only 64 percent said they knew what a graphic
organizer was while 72 percent had never used a graphic organizer to help with writing. When
reviewing scores from the baseline, 52 percent of the students scored a two or lower on
Focus/Ideas and 60 percent scored a two or lower on Organization. These scores, combined with
answers from the survey, substantiated my belief that a lack of planning and no use of a graphic
organizer during the pre-writing process adversely affected an essay and all stages of the writing
process.
One area that students did struggle with was utilizing their graphic organizer when
writing the essay. Many students wanted to try and write things from memory. I had to
continually reinforce that they review their graphic organizer to be sure they listed all major
ideas and details as well as conflicts and character development in their rough draft. Once the
organizer was completed, students wanted to jump right in to writing a story without double
checking their thoughts with their story map making sure it was in the correct order or that the
event was supported with details. This evidence was also supported in the literature I reviewed
in that several researchers supported the use of graphic organizers but reinforced the need for
explicit instruction throughout the writing process. Once the students realized it actually took
less work and time to cross check with the organizer to locate key information and events, they
were better able to focus on the thinking process behind developing their ideas.
Students spent two to three days working on the pre-writing process itself. This
correlated to taking up approximately 40-60% of the overall writing process. Once students
completed their graphic organizers, and got into the routine of checking them as they drafted
their initial ideas, their ability to focus on what they were writing about increased. Instead of
trying to place a large amount of emphasis on memory, the use of cognitive skills to organize,
and thinking about how to structure their thoughts, students were able to focus on one skill at a
time; taking an idea and turning it into a sentence. Ideas were already organized and placed in
sequential order; they just had to figure out how to add compelling and descriptive details to
develop the plot. Scores from the expository essay indicate use of the graphic organizers during
the writing process had a major impact on student abilities to organize thoughts and ideas in the
pre-writing process thus impacting an increase in student achievement on the overall essay.
A total number of twenty five students participated in the districts required winter
expository essay. Table 2 illustrates the number of students who scored a 1 to a 4 on the HMH
Six Traits of Writing rubric.
Score
Focus/Ideas
Organization
Voice
Word Choice
Sentence Fluency
Conventions
9
11
5
0
2
10
11
2
2
11
11
1
4
10
11
0
5
9
8
3
# of Students
4
3
2
1
earned score
10
11
4
0
Like on the baseline narrative assessment, the highest trait score on the expository essay
was a four. Eighteen fours were recorded on the baseline essay with 7 perfect scores occurring in
the Focus/Ideas and Organization categories and 24 traits were scored at a 1. In comparison, on
the expository essay, 32 traits were scored at a 4 with 19 perfect scores occurring in the
Focus/Ideas and Organization categories and only 6 traits scored a 1. Each student that
participated in the study demonstrated increased achievement from the baseline essay to the
expository essay. Graph 3 and Graph 4 below illustrate the total scores from the HMH Six Traits
of Writing expository and the HMH Six Traits of Writing narrative baseline. Highest scores
possible were out of 24.
Graph 3: Expository Essay HMH Six Traits of Writing Total
Graph 4: Baseline HMH Six Traits of Writing Total
Students in the study increase achievement on the overall writing process with a range
from 5 percent to 30 percent. Average growth from the 25 students that turned in both a baseline
and expository essay was on average a 10 percent increase.
Comparing the baseline essay scores to the expository essays also showed increased
student achievement. Five students scored well below standards for the expository essay as
compared to ten on the baseline. Nine students scored at approaching standards, eight scored at
meets standards compared to only four scored at meets standards on the baseline and three
students scored continually at exceeded standards. Graph 5 and Graph 6 illustrates the scores
calculated utilizing the district composite score formula to determine ability for the expository
essay. The highest score possible was a 4.
Graph 5: Expository Composite Total Data
Graph 2: Baseline Narrative Composite Total Data
When I compared the answer from the student writing surveys after the completion of the
expository essay, it was interesting to note the differences on the students attitudes towards
writing and their perceived abilities in writing. When students were asked if they knew the steps
of the writing process on the post survey, 76 percent of the students said yes versus 24 percent
of students that said yes on the pre-survey. Twenty percent of the students said they did not
know or were not sure how to organize thoughts and ideas for an essay compared to 80 percent
who said the same on the pre-survey. When comparing student attitudes towards the importance
of pre-writing on the pre-survey, 45 percent of students said it was somewhat important on the
pre-survey compared to 78 percent who said it was very important on the post-survey.
The writing survey also showed that students had a better understanding of their
cognitive abilities and their direct correlation to the writing process. Pre-survey results indicated
that 72 percent of students had never used a graphic organizer to help them in the writing process
yet when asked if they felt graphic organizers were helpful, 89 percent of the students responded
yes post survey. When given a choice of what students struggled with the most in the writing
process, students listed generating and organizing ideas, editing and writing sentences as the
most difficult. When asked what teachers could do to help students improve their writing skills,
students on the average answered giving extra practice, and better instruction the highest.
Providing extra time to write and graphic organizers rated the second highest from the survey.
This data indicates that students were able to reflect on their learning and writing performance.
They understood the need for explicit instruction in writing.
Summary
Writing is an essential skill that can benefit a student for the rest of their life. It is
recognized as a cognitive activity that is complex in nature and can be used as a learning tool
across all subject areas (Bruning, Schraw, and Norby, 2011). Although there are signs that our
students are improving, many do not write as well as we would like. For many teachers, utilizing
graphic organizers in the pre-writing process has shown to be successful in increasing student
achievement. By implementing explicit instruction, and repeat practice with graphic organizers,
all students in this study were able to increase proficiency in writing, some as much as 30
percent. This study suggests that through explicit instruction using graphic organizers, teachers
can help students focus on knowledge of information structures, and through dialogue and
discussion, can help students link together ideas in order to write efficiently and effectively.

Chapter Four
Conclusions and Implications

Master of Education
Paula Rocca
February 2015
Conclusions
Students who struggle with writing usually do not need anything different from other
typically-achieving children; they just need more examples and practice. For many struggling
writers, they often do not know how to do something simply because they have never done that
task before, or they feel incapable because they have not had success with the task in the past
(Pajares & Gio Valiante, 2006). One way to help make curriculum more supportive of students
and teachers is to incorporate graphic organizers. Graphic organizers have been investigated
with student populations across a range of grade levels, including elementary, junior high, and
high school and there is solid evidence documenting their effectiveness in facilitating learning.
In the case of this study, an elementary classroom format that offered structured practice
on the writing process provided a means for all students (novice and expert) to write in a more
systematic fashion. After initial cooperative practice, and then fading teacher involvement,
students began to see that they were able to use a graphic organizer in order to improve their
writing skills, ultimately developing the thinking process to master the task themselves.
Implications to Practice
Before investing in a new technology or instructional approach it is important that
teachers know that there will be a sizeable return on their investment. During the literature
review process, I was able to research various studies that tested numerous instructional tools
and methods, evaluating their effectiveness and exploring the conditions that impacted their use.
Specific for this study was researching what aspect of learning and achievement can the use of
graphic organizers improve.
This action research project gave me valuable information concerning the use of graphic
organizers as interventions in the writing process. Graphic organizers have been researched and
proven to be useful visual tools that can assist the writers ability to present his or her ideas in an
effective and persuasive manner, resulting in a focused and coherent text. Of the 15 studies
researched, all reported sizeable returns in student achievement when using graphic organizers
for improving student abilities in writing. Although there was a great deal of documentation on
the positive effect of graphic organizers, I wanted to gain a better understanding of the
implications of graphic organizers on the writing process and embarked on a personal research
project.
Pre and emerging writers often struggle with processing ideas to the written page. During
informal observations, I found that it was not enough to just hand students a graphic organizer
and expect that improvement will occur. Instead, there needs to be deliberate consideration of
what strategies would be used to accompany the visual. Without background information on
graphic organizers and their use, as well as writing out the headings and brief explanations that
went into the organizer, some of my students were unable to effectively begin their pieces. For
those who struggled the most the option to insert a picture was used to help them organize their
thoughts and information before beginning to write the text. I provided multiple models of
completed graphic organizers as well as a customized template for two students with writing
IEPs: some were partially filled in, others contained teacher tips on how to better connect
information. For the more advanced writers, students were able to choose from a variety of more
challenging graphic organizers during the pre-writing process. By using a systematic teaching
routine to present concept diagrams to students during the writing process, all students were able
to show improvement in story structure and development of ideas.
According to my study, data indicated that when students were provided with graphic
organizers as support during the pre-writing process, given explicit instruction on how to use
graphic organizers as well as specific strategy instruction, were provided independent practice to
demonstrate skill as well as receive feedback, student achievement scores in writing increased.
In the absence of systematic study of the role of instructional context, it is difficult to identify
with confidence specific aspects that were tied to success. However, in my review using a
collaborative approach that involved teacher modeling, student-teacher discussion, and practice
with feedback appeared to be consistently correlated with learning improvement (Hudelson,
1989).
I will continue to use graphic organizers in my daily instruction due to the findings of this
study. In the future, I would like to continue scaffold instruction on the use of graphic organizers
in other writing genres so all students are required to utilize their learned knowledge of
organizers independently. Then I could study the effect of transferring learned knowledge to
independent work ability and its relationship to student achievement in the writing process.
Technology Networking
See attached web blog at http://TeamRoccaBestClassEver.weebly.com
References
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Appendices
Appendix A
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Writing Rubric
Conventions
Sentence
Fluency
Word Choice
Voice
Organization
Focus/Ideas
There are no grammar,
There are a few
There are some grammar,
There are many
spelling, capitalization, or
grammar, spelling,
spelling, capitalization,
grammar, spelling,
punctuation errors.
capitalization, or
and punctuation errors.
capitalization, and
All of the sentences are
punctuation errors.
Most of the sentences are
Few of the sentences are
punctuation errors.
None of the sentences
smooth and varied.
smooth and varied.
smooth, and there is little
are smooth, and there is
There are many exact, vivid,
There are some exact,
sentence variety.
There are few descriptive
no sentence variety.
There are no descriptive
and sensory words and some
vivid, and sensory words
words and no dialogue.
words and no dialogue.
dialogue.
Characters and events are
and some dialogue.

Characters and events
presented in rich detail, in a
presented in some detail,
presented with few
are presented with little
very clear and authentic way.
in a mostly clear and
details and not enough
detail and authenticity.
A beginning introduces
authentic way.
A beginning introduces
authenticity.
There is no clear
There is no beginning,
characters, setting, and
characters and problem.
beginning, middle, or
middle, or ending.
problem. A middle tells
Events in the middle are
ending. There is a
There is no problem.
events in order. An ending
not always in order. An
problem, but not a good
Events are hard to
gives the solution.
ending gives the solution.
solution. Events are not
follow.
The narrative fits the purpose
The narrative fits the
in order.
The purpose for writing
The purpose for writing
for writing and the intended
purpose for writing and
and the intended
and the intended
audience very well. The ideas
the intended audience
audience are now very
audience are not clear.
are very interesting.
well. The ideas are
clear. The ideas are not
The ideas are
interesting.
very interesting.
uninteresting.
Appendix B
Student Self-Assessment and Attitude Toward Writing Survey
Student Writing Survey

Name _______________________
Date ___________________
1. Are you a
Male
2.
Female
How old are you?
________
Grade? _______
3. On a scale of 1 to 5 how well do you like writing?

1
Hate it
Dislike
Its ok
Like it
Love it
4. On a scale of 1 to 5 how hard is writing?
5.
Very hard
Hard
Ok
Pretty Easy
Very Easy
On a scale of 1 to 5 please rate your writing ability.

1
Very Poor
Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
6. Do you know the steps of the writing process?

Yes
Not sure
No
7. Do you know how to organize your thoughts and create an outline for an essay?
Yes
8.
No
How important do you think it is to plan a story before you write it?
Very
9.
Not sure
Somewhat
Not really
Do you know what a graphic organizer is?
You can skip this
Yes
Not sure
No
10. If so, have you ever used them to help with writing?
Yes
Not sure
No
11. Do you know what the Six Traits of Writing are?

Yes
Not sure
No
12. Which of the following do you feel you struggle with the most when writing (if more
than one, number them from hardest to easiest)
Expressing my ideas _______
Organizing my ideas _______
Writing good sentences _______
Writing a paragraph _______
Grammar _______
Spelling _______
Editing/Revising _______
13. How do you feel when you are asked to complete a writing assignment in class?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
14. What can teachers do to help you improve your writing?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Appendix C
Teacher Writing Survey
Please check all items that apply to you.

1. What is your gender?
Male ______
Female ______
2. What is your highest level of education?

Bachelors ______
3.
Masters ______
Doctorate ______
How many years of teaching experience do you have?

1-4 years ______
5-10 years ______
11-20 years ______
over 20 years _______
4. What grade level do you teach?

K-2 ______
5.
3-4 ______
Do you feel you are trained to effectively teach writing?

Yes ______
6.
5-6 ______
No ______
Have you attended a writing class or workshop?

Yes ______
No ______
7. How important is writing in your classroom?

Very ______
8.
Not important ______
Do you use writing across the curriculum?

Yes ______
9.
Somewhat ______
No ______
How often do you include writing activities in your lesson plans?

Daily ______
2-3 times per week ______
Once a week ______
10. How would you describe the attitudes of your students towards writing?
Positive ______
Negative ______
11. How would you describe the writing habits of your students?
High ______
Average ______
Low ______
12. Do you use graphic organizers in writing assignments?

Always ______
Sometimes ______
Never ______
Appendix D
Expository Graphic Organizer
Write each step in chronological order. Then add specific details about each of those steps.
Use cue words such as first, next, then, after that, in addition, and finally.
Introduction
Step 1
Details
Step 2
Details
Step 3
Details
Step 4
Details
Step 5
Details
Step 6
Details
Step 7
Details
Conclusion

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GEDU 591 CAPSTONE PORTFOLIO

Buena Vista University

GEDU 591- Chapter One

Buena Vista University

1. With the theoretical

Evidence (brief description)

Artifact (title and number each)

Multiple Intelligence Survey

Classroom Photo (ZPD)

Using Data to Improve

School Safety ppt

Peer Mentor Log

Coats of Kindness Flyer

As I reflect on my instructional philosophy, I find myself using behaviorist (Skinner,

GECI 591 CAPSTONE PORTFOLIO

To Organize or not to OrganizeThat is the Question.

Action Research Plan Introduction and Literature Review

Buena Vista University

Introduction and Background

GECI 591 CAPSTONE PORTFOLIO

Methodology and Results

Buena Vista University

Graph 1: Composite Total-Baseline Data Fall Narrative

Graph 2: Baseline Narrative Composite Total Data

Graph 3: Expository Essay HMH Six Traits of Writing Total

Graph 4: Baseline HMH Six Traits of Writing Total

Graph 5: Expository Composite Total Data

Graph 2: Baseline Narrative Composite Total Data

GECI 591 CAPSTONE PORTFOLIO

Conclusions and Implications

Buena Vista University

and outcomes of structural versus relationship-based approaches. CYFS Working Paper

USASchoolinfo, (2015). USA SchoolInfo online. Longfellow Elementary. Retrieved February,

There are no grammar,

There are a few

There are some grammar,

There are many

and punctuation errors.

All of the sentences are

Few of the sentences are

smooth and varied.

smooth and varied.

smooth, and there is little

are smooth, and there is

There are many exact, vivid,

There are some exact,

and sensory words and some

vivid, and sensory words

words and no dialogue.

words and no dialogue.

and some dialogue.

Characters and events are

Characters and events

presented in rich detail, in a

presented in some detail,

presented with few

are presented with little

very clear and authentic way.

in a mostly clear and

details and not enough

detail and authenticity.

characters, setting, and

characters and problem.