Running head: ANALYSIS OF STUDENT WORK

Analysis of Student Work (A.S.W.)

Danielle Cousineau
EDEL 311
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
December 1, 2015

ANALYSIS OF STUDENT WORK

STUDENT BACKGROUND
For the Analysis of Student Work (A.S.W.) assignment, I chose Student A from my first
grade Practicum 1 class. Student A is Hispanic. He is six years old and he lives with his mother
and stepfather, an older brother, and two younger sisters. He loves playing soccer. His favorite
subject in school is P.E.
I selected Student A for this project because of his poor performance and drive for
academics. During nearly every assignment, he would sit at his seat and stare at his paper. He
consistently asks a teacher how do things; exhibiting a defeated attitude. Out of frustration, his
teacher, Ms. Cramer, would often scold him for him not having anything written on his paper.
His scores for all of his core subjects place him at slightly below average to below average. I
chose Student A because I truly believe that he can do the work, he just needs to have his selfconfidence built up and held accountable for his education.
LESSON ONE
Standard:

1.NBT.B.3 Compare two two-digit numbers based on meanings of the tens and ones
digits, recording the results of comparisons with the symbols >, =, and <.

Objectives:
First grade students will be able to proficiently demonstrate if a number is greater than
(>), less than (<), or equal to (=) another number. They will be able to recognize that a two-digit
number is composed of tens and ones. They will be able to construct two-digit numbers using
die and then compare their values.

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Analysis of Student Initial Performance:

During the initial activity, Student A recorded the numbers he got from rolling his dice,
but simply agreed with his partner when comparing the numbers. Student As performance of the
exit ticket is a clear representation of his resistance to complete his tasks correctly. He scored
two of the three correct, which might have been by accident since he indicated all three answers
as being equal to.
Initial Teaching Strategy:
For this lesson, my initial teaching strategy included paired activities where students
would roll dice to build two-digit numbers. One student built the numbers on the right side of
the symbol, while the other student would build the numbers on the left side. Then the students
would work together to compare the two numbers to decide if the missing symbol is greater than,
less than or equal to. I had the <, >, and = symbols on the board for reference.
3 Re-teaching Strategies:
1. Manipulatives The teacher provides students with tangible objects to manipulate and
work with in order to solve a given problem.
2. Number Line The teacher guides students in how to make a number line: numbering
the line from one to ten for one-digit numbers and then by tens from ten to one hundred
for two-digit numbers. The students move up and down the number line to figure out
which numbers are greater than and which are less than.
3. No Opt Out With this Lemov strategy, the teacher ensures that all students experience
success by not accepting an I dont know answer. The teacher asks one student a

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question, then asks another student the same question, then returns to the first student and
repeats the question as this student had just heard the correct answer.
Strategy Chosen and Re-teaching Reflection:
I chose to re-teach this lesson with the manipulatves strategy. I selected this strategy
because I wanted to give Student A something tangible to work with. I gave Student A foam
squares to represent the quantitative numbers he would be rolling with his dice. This gave
Student A a visual representation of the numbers he was building, thus making it more
comprehendible for him to see which number is greater than, less than, or equal to the other. I
served as his partner, though I only rolled the dice, he would write the numbers down. I had
Student A start with comparing one-digit numbers, before assessing his capability to move onto
two-digit numbers. Additionally, I let him use my original large magnetic <, >, and = symbols to
place below each problem so he would not have to keep looking up at the whiteboard.
After reviewing Student As performance during the re-teach of this lesson, I can
conclude that the use of manipulatives was a successful strategy. Student A did significantly
better on the re-teach worksheets than he had on his original ones. He started out drawing just
the symbols, but then turned them into the alligator-symbols, complete with eyes and teeth. I did
not discourage this because he started really getting the concept:

Student A: Look Ms. Cousineau! The hungry alligator is eating the five because its the

bigger number.
Me: Yes, [Student A]. Now, what else can we say about the five, other than that its the

bigger number? In a complete sentence, please.

Student A: The alligator is eating the five because it is greater than the two?
Me: Yes! Very good! Five is greater than two.

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With the use of the foam squares, Student A was able to physically see how five was greater than
two.
After completing my re-teach for this lesson, I found the use of this strategy to be most
effective when teaching the concept of greater than, less than, and equal to. I will definitely be
adding manipulatives to this lesson for future use. Furthermore, I will create the alligator <, >,
and = symbols for individual students to use. For two-digit number manipulatives, I will use
tens sticks and ones cubes for faster, more efficient representations.
LESSON TWO
Standards:

RL.1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

1.MD.4 Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and
answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and
how many more or less are in one category than in another.

Objective:
First grade students will be able to sort data into a tally chart and then represent and
interpret the data as a bar graph, showing how many people like four different types of
Halloween costumes.
Analysis of Student Performance:
During the initial activity, Student A failed to have the correct four categories for his tally
chart as well as survey his classmates for his data. He incorrectly wrote his categories as: Hero

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Super, Hero, Fun, and Princess. As indicated by his tally chart, Student A tallied three classmates
that favored Hero Super costumes, zero favored Hero, three for Fun, and three for Princess.
When he had to come to the front of the class to interpret his data onto the class bar graph, he
was very confused and did not know what his data meant. Additionally, Student A was unable to
answer questions regarding what the data on the bar graph meant.
Initial Teaching Strategy:
For this lesson, my initial teaching strategy involved reading aloud a story about choosing
the best Halloween costume, and then having the students create a tally chart for the four
categories of Halloween costumes the whole class agreed upon: Super Hero, Scary, Fun, and
Princess. Students then had to interview their classmates on which costume type was their
favorite. Once students gathered their data, it was time to interpret and organize their collective
data onto a class bar graph. Each student came up to the front of the class and reported the
costume type had the most tallies according to their chart. The student would then grab the
appropriately colored Jack O Lantern, according to the color of the costume category, and place
it in line with the category. Once all students had reported their data, I proceeded to ask the
students questions according to the data in our bar graph.
3 Re-teaching Strategies:
1. Guided Whole-Group Practice Teacher asks students, either one-at-a-time or as a
table, to come up to the whiteboard and mark on a premade tally chart which of the four
Halloween costume types is their favorite. Afterword, teacher guides students in
organizing the data from the tally chart to make a bar graph.

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2. Tangible Graphing The teacher provides students with tangible objects to work with
in order to sort and organize into a bar graph.
3. Name the Steps With this Lemov strategy, the teacher makes an anchor chart visually
describing the process for making a graph, and serving as a base for reference. Included
in the chart are the steps to making a graph, the parts of a graph, and the types of graphs.
Strategy Chosen and Re-teaching Reflection:
To re-teach my second lesson, I chose to use the tangible graphing strategy. As I have
come to understand, Student A is a hands-on learner and so I needed to make sure that he was
instructed in a way that ensured optimal learning. As the tangible objects for this lesson, I had
Student A use a fun size bag of M&Ms as the subject for his tally chart and bar graph. The
different colored M&Ms acted as tangible data that Student A could experience and manipulate
in real-time.
After reviewing Student As performance during the re-teach of this lesson, I can
conclude that the implementation of tangible graphing was a successful strategy. Student A did
significantly better on the re-teach graphing activities than he had on the original ones. Right
from the start, Student A was interested in the M&Ms activity than he was with the Halloween
Costume activity. I incentivized him with the reward of eating the M&Ms after we complete
our tasks. First I had Student A sort the M&Ms according to their color, this made it easier for
him to count and record them for his tally chart. After he successfully made his tally chart, we
proceeded to use the data to create a bar graph. I had Student A use crayons that matched the
colors of his M&Ms to color in his bar graph as well as mark his tally chart. This added an extra

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visual component to the re-teach. Once Student A had successfully completed his bar graph, I
asked him questions about the data he graphed:

Me: Which color did you have the most of?

Student A: Ms. Cousineau, the color I had the most of is brown.
Me: How many total blue and green M&Ms did you have?
Student A: I have a total of five.
Me: Correct. But how do you know?
Student A: Ms. Cousineau, there are three blue M&Ms and two green M&Ms. Three

plus two equals five.

Me: Perfect explanation, [Student A]! Now, can you tell me what is the difference

between the color you have most of and the color you have the least of?
Student A: The difference is two.
Me: Correct. And how do you know?
Student A: Ms. Cousineau, there are four brown M&Ms and two orange M&Ms. Four

minus two equals two.

Me: Excellent explanation, [Student A]! Now, can you explain why the color you have

the most of has the longest bar on your graph.

Student A: There are more brown M&Ms. There are four.
Me: Great! OK, last question, how many total M&Ms do you have?
Student A: Ms. Cousineau, there are 16 M&Ms.
Me: Wonderful, [Student A]! You are really good a interpreting your data on a bar
graph!
After re-teaching this lesson, I found that using M&Ms was an excellent strategy. This is

a difficult concept for first graders, according to my mentor teacher. But having tangible objects
to graph made the concept more relatable and real to Student A. Unlike a costume that he was to
wear over the weekend, the M&Ms were right in front of him, and he was able to focus his
attention on the task.
The next time I teach this lesson, I will certainly use this strategy to help my students
understand the concept of making a bar graph. The tangible graphing objects can be different

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colored candies (M&Ms, Skittles, Reeses Pieces, Gummy Bears/Worms, Jelly Beans, etc.) and
teacher-prepared bags of different colored objects or even different animals. The success of the
strategy is to provide students with something real that they can visually see and touch in order
to collect data from.
LESSON THREE
Standards:

RL.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

RL.1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in settings, and major events in a
story, using key details.

RL.1.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

Objective:
First grade students will be able to describe the elements of the fictional text, How I
Became a Pirate by Miranda Long, while participating in a reading comprehension activity.
Analysis of Student Performance:
We experienced an unplanned fire drill during the guided reading story ball activity and
Student A, among a few other students, did not get to participate. Therefore, I was unable to
formatively assess his comprehension of the story, at that point. So when it was time for him to
complete his assignment on what his favorite part of the story was, he did not know what to
write. His favorite scene activity is incomprehensible and he did not draw his illustration. He
sat at his desk for most of the time block for this activity until being reprimanded by his teacher,

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Ms. Cramer to get started. Student A then proceeded to approach me asking for details of the
story because he did not know what to do.
Initial Teaching Strategy:
For this lesson, my initial teaching strategy consisted of reading the students a fictional
story and then playing a reading comprehension activity. After the activity, the students would
draw a detailed picture of their favorite part of the story and them write 2-3 sentences describing
their favorite part. For the reading comprehension activity, a story ball was tossed around among
the students. The ball had questions written on it pertaining to the story: elements of the story,
sequencing of events, key details, their favorite part, and an ask the teacher prompt where I
had a list specific comprehension questions from the story. Students were allowed to ask either a
neighbor or a teacher for a hint if they forgot the answer to their question.
3 Re-teaching Strategies:
1. Numbered Heads Together After the teacher reads the story, students in their tablegroups are numbered one through four. The teacher asks the whole class a question about
the story and allows the groups one minute to discuss the answer. The teacher then calls
out a number and all students that are assigned that number must stand and answer the
question.
2. Break it Down With this Lemov strategy, the teacher provides the smallest viable hint
for a student to solve a problem or answer a question on their own. The teacher uses this
strategy immediately following the student error. The teacher asks a new question
regarding the topic or presents new information in order for the student to use as much of
what they already know to correct their answer or provide a more sufficient answer.

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3. Reread and Question The teacher rereads the story one-on-one with Student A and
then asks him questions regarding key details, event sequencing, story elements, and his
favorite part.
Strategy Chosen and Re-teaching Reflection:
I chose to re-teach my third lesson with the reread and question strategy. I came up with
this strategy because I wanted to assess Student As ability to retain comprehension information
without typical classroom distractions. We choral read the story together and I had him use his
best pirate voice when he read for Captain Braid Beard and the pirate crew. When we finished
reading the story, I asked him the same questions that were on the story ball and most of the ask
the teacher specific questions, to which he correctly answered verbally.

Me: What happened in the beginning of the story?

Student A: In the beginning of the story, Jeremy met the pirates.
Me: Who are the main characters?
Student A: The main characters are Jeremy Jacobs and the pirate captain.
Me: Do you remember what the pirate captains name is?
Student A: Um Braid Beard.
Me: Where is the setting of story?
Student A: The setting was on the pirate ship.
Me: What do you think the genre of our story is? Could it really happen or is it

pretend?
Student A: Ms. Cousineau, the genre is fiction.
Me: What happened to the soccer ball when the pirates were playing with it?
Student A: What happened was a shark ate the soccer ball.
Me: What is the pirates problem?
Student A: The pirates problem was needed to bury their treasure.
Me: What happened at the end of our story?
Student A: AT the end of the story, the pirates buried the treasure.
Me: Where did they bury it?
Student A: They buried it in Jeremy Jacobs backyard.

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Me: Excellent job, [Student A]!

From reading the story with me one-on-one, Student A was able to demonstrate significantly
greater comprehension. He was able to focus on the story without distractions, or excuses. I
found that by encouraging Student A to talk like a pirate through most of the story, he was able to
find enjoyment in the story and thus retain more information. Before I had Student A complete
the redo of the favorite scene printable I made, he enthusiastically told me about the parts he
liked the most. When I gave him his sheet, he had no trouble drawing a very detailed picture of
the shark eating the soccer ball and the pirates looking scared as well as writing his 3-sentence
description.
A.S.W. FUTURE APPLICATION
I found the A.S.W. project to be an incredibly useful tool. Even though it was time
consuming researching different Kagan and Lemov strategies, I ultimately ended up creating my
own strategies to re-teach my lessons because I wanted to re-teach the concepts based on
strategies that would best fit my students strengths and needs. I had spent a lot of time thinking
about my student as an individual and observing his behaviors. Therefore, I found that the best
strategies would be ones that had him look at the concept in a fresh light.
Though I was initially discouraged by the magnitude of this assignment in the beginning
of the semester, the A.S.W. project has opened my eyes to the bigger picture of teaching. The
knowledge I gained from the first hand experience of this project is invaluable. I understand
now that it is unrealistic to assume student mastery during a single lesson. After completing the
A.S.W. and witnessing Student A find meaning in what I was teaching him, I know that through

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individual or even small group interventions, will provide me with the greatest capability to
reach all my students.
I definitely intend to implement the teach, check, re-teach, and recheck process into my
future teaching. It would be a disservice to my students, as well as against my duty as an
educator, to not frequently administer quality formative assessments to check for understanding.
Depending on the amount of students who may need further assistance and the degree of support
they require, I will either work one-on-one with a struggling student or with a small group of
emergent students. As I did for Student As above re-teachings, I will provide these students with
individualized instructional strategies according to their strengths and needs in order to re-teach
the areas where they need more attention.
PHILOSOPHY OF TEACH, CHECK, RE-TEACH, AND RECHECK
I think it is critically important for teachers to teach, check, re-teach, and recheck their
students. A teacher does not simply move on once he or she has taught a lesson. It is essential to
make sure the students are mastering the content before moving on. The process of teach, check,
re-teach, and recheck enables the teacher to not only assess their students, but also themselves
and their initial instructional delivery. From here, the teacher can evaluate if he or she needs to
pivot their instruction and seek out different strategies to re-teach the content and then recheck
for mastery. Moreover, the teacher can juxtapose the data from both the initial check and the
recheck to analyze the students growth.
All too often, struggling students do not get the sufficient attention they need to
completely understand a concept or lesson; they just get passed along with a less than mediocre
understanding. This kind of teaching is conducted with a one size fits all strategy hardly ever

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determining if an individual student would benefit from a further explanation or a completely

different teaching strategy. For example, if a student, unbeknownst to his or her teacher, fails to
grasp a solid understanding of multiplying decimals early on, then he or she will experience a
great difficulty when the class moved on to dividing fractions and later with fractions. If a
teacher has the mindset to consistently implement the teach, check, re-teach, recheck process into
their instruction, then there is a greater opportunity of closing the achievement gap, thus ensuring
the success of all of their students.
There are, unfortunately, many teachers feel that this process requires too much time and
resources to research and plan, I was in fact of those individuals. But after completing the
A.S.W. project, I can strongly stand by that with the proper preparation and time management
practices, teachers can successfully find and execute strategies to successfully teach, check, reteach, and recheck their students.