Demographic Profile Part I: Introduction My impact study will be completed in a third grade classroom at an elementary school in Sandy County.

The school in which I am working is classified as Title I meaning the school is located in an area where there are lower economics and finances. Schools receiving Title 1 funds are provided extra instructional services and money to ensure students are provided with the resources, support, and educational instruction they need. Part II: The School and the School System The Sandy County Public school system consists of five high schools, eight middle schools, and seventeen elementary schools. The total enrollment of the county is estimated to be 27,229 students for the 2013-2014 school year. The county has nearly a fifty-fifty divide between males and females in attendance. Elementary School follows the trend having only a small difference between the male and female population. The total number of students attending Falmouth Elementary was 552 a number found in a report from 2011. Population of School System and School by Gender Males Females Sandy County Elementary Schools 286 266

Total 27,229 552

Below is a chart that breaks down the student population at Elementary School and compares the racial and ethnic makeup to that of the entire Sandy County.

Population of School System and School by Race and Ethnicity Elementary School Sandy County 1 103 American Indian 24 902 Asian n/a n/a Asian Indian 115 5,609 Black or African-American 74 2,495 Latino/Hispanic 3 51 Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 276 16,908 White 56 1,819 Two or more races (Non-Hispanic) Based upon data from the 2009-2010 school year, Elementary School had 32 fulltime teachers causing the student-teacher ratio to be 18:1, which is on par with the student-teacher ratio for Sandy-County as a whole. In Sandy County there are 1,494 employed teachers. I am unable to give information regarding racial makeup, as I could not locate accurate information. Population of School System and School Teachers by Race and Ethnicity Sandy County Elementary School White Black or AfricanAmerican Latino/Hispanic Asian 1,494 32 Totals Sandy County Public Schools spent $9,356 per student in the expenditures for the 2009-2010 school year. In Virginia, the average per pupil expenditure lies at $10,928 and the national average falls at $10,591. Sandy County falls just slightly below the Virginia average and national average. The number of students at Elementary School on free lunch is 153 or 26.7% of total enrollment. The number of students on reduced lunch is 43 or 7.5% of total enrollment.

Part III: The Classroom The third grade classroom where I am placed has 21 amazing students who are eager to learn and work together throughout the day to enhance their learning. There are 11 females and 10 males in the classroom. I could not access information about students who receive free and reduced lunch because my teacher could not provide it. Below is the racial breakdown of the students. Race and ethnicity of Students in the classroom Asian 1 Black or African-American 3 Latino or Hispanic 4 White 8 Two or More Races 3 Asian Indian 2 Total 21 This third grade class has four students who are classified as being English Language learners. Two of these students have developed a bond and work together throughout the day to help each other on assignments and tasks. One of the girls moved to Virginia just about a week before school started and she has very minimal English fluency but she is extremely smart and can perform well on math problems when she understands what is being asked. The girl with whom she works with acts as a translator for her to help her understand the directions and word problems being asked. None of my students have IEPs or 504 plans but a few are identified as being on watch. When students are on watch, the teachers, the paraprofessionals, and other staff members monitor the students progress to determine if the student should be tested and receive special needs accommodations. As far as other students receiving accommodations, two of the ELLs are to be receiving an aide to help them during math instructions. Since I have been there, I have yet to see an aide come to the classroom to assist.

There are no identified special education students in my classroom. We have one student, a male, who has been put up for the student support team where he will be observed by a staff member from the school to see if he possibly has special needs. The process takes a long time after the student has been nominated for SST. The student has yet to be observed because of time conflicts between when the student is actively working in the classroom and the school staff member can come in and observe working habits. As far as other involvement in the classroom, there are never parent volunteers or participation in the classroom activity. The 3rd grade team has a paraprofessional however she is never in our classroom, which could in part be because I am currently in the classroom with the students and can take on some of the responsibilities of the paraprofessional. The elementary school has a program called core extension where the teachers agree on a topic of remediation for each of them to take on. Every day for two weeks students rotate to a different classroom for a 55 minute remediation time. Since I have been in the classroom, my teacher has been responsible for subtraction remediation. After the two weeks is up the students switch from one classroom to the next and take on a new topic. The teachers stay with the same topic for a total of six weeks. During this remediation time certain students go to specialists reading or math if they are especially high or particularly low. My class has about 5 students that are sent out to specialist. Three of the students are SOAR students, which means they are high in reading and see the reading specialists for enrichment activity. Two of the students see

the math specialist because of their low level in math and receive intensive remediation during core extension time. Part IV: The Reflection From completing my demographic profile I learned a lot about the county in which I am placed. This is the second time I have worked in Sandy County schools and both times I have been placed at the same elementary school. The elementary school is a Title 1 school in the county, which was beneficial for me to learn about the challenges and struggles working in this environment. Working in a title 1 school opened my eyes to the struggles the students face that are completely unrelated to the difficulties faced in school. Many students come to school hungry and receive free breakfast in the mornings. Many of these same students receive free or reduced lunch. Much of the title 1 school population comes from poorer families. I often found students coming into the classroom distracted and found it important to take the time to ask them how their morning was, what they were looking forward to that day, and if I could help them with homework or class work. It became important to me to show these students they had someone that they could rely on to be a support system for them. Although I could not obtain information regarding the specific number of students in my classroom receiving free and reduced lunch, I know that there were many. Not only is there a program that offers to feed students for a free or reduced price, there is another program through the school that provides backpacks of food for students to take home on the weekends when the income of the family meets the requirement. It is sad knowing that students have to rely on food from the school to stay fed but it is incredible that programs such as this are being offered at the Title 1 schools.

Overall my students are a fantastic group that enjoys being at school. They are engaged during classroom lessons and activities and get along well with one another. The other students regardless of the language barrier present include the ELLs in my classroom. During whole group instruction, it is easy to find many students volunteers to give answers and during small group instruction the students work well with one another and remain focused on the tasks at hand.

Impact Study Unit Goals SOL: 3.3: The student will investigate and understand that objects are made of materials that can be described by their physical properties. a) Objects are made of one or more materials. b) physical properties remain the same as the material is changed in visible size; c) visible physical changes are identified. Students will understand three states of matter: solids, liquids, and gases, their properties and characteristics, and be able to compare them. Students will understand how the molecules and particles differ depending upon the state of matter, and why. Students will understand the differences between physical and chemical changes and have knowledge of examples for each. Assessment The students were assessed on the Thursday before the unit started with a pretest consisting of eight questions varying in format. Students had multiple choice and fill in questions as part of the pretest. The students were tested again the Friday the unit ended with a posttest consisting of ten questions also with multiple choice and fill in questions. During the week informal assessments took place through completion of group activities, worksheets, and exit slips. The exit slips were the best way for me to assess and identify the struggling students because they were required to turn the exit pass into me to be checked and revised before they could pack up. Below is the pretest that was given to the students. The posttest was a county made assessment and I do not have a copy of the questions that were included in that.

Pre Assessment

Directions: Answer each question below. Fill in the blank or circle the best choice. 1. Matter is ____________________________________________________________ 2. Matter comes in three states. These states are ____________________. a. Property, particle, freezing b. Gas, solid, liquid c. Water, ice, vapor 3. What is a physical property?

4. A desk, a chair, and a car are all examples of a: a. Liquid b. Gas c. Solid d. Classroom 5. Particles in a solid are ___________________________. a. Warm b. Moving quickly c. Far apart d. Close together 6. Which of the following is a gas? a. Rain b. snow c. steam d. sand 7. Which of these is a physical change? a. Breaking a pencil b. Baking a cupcake c. Roasting a marshmallow 8. Which of these describes a chemical change? a. Tearing paper b. Spoiled milk c. Deflating a balloon

Unit Lessons
rd

Day 1

Level: 3 Grade Subject: Science Title: States of Matter Designer: Alexandra Long Total Time: 45 minutes SOL(s): 3.3: The student will investigate and understand that objects are made of materials that can be described by their physical properties. A) Objects are made of one or more materials. WIDA Standard: ELD Standard 4: The Language of Science, grades 3-5. English language learners will process, understand, or produce or use Level 3: Developing: classify or differentiate among scientific objects or terms based on illustrated sets of features, characteristics, or properties. Students will be in learning groups and each group Situation Time: 12 minutes will be given three different bags. One bag will contain a crayon, one bag will contain water, and one bag will be empty. Students will feel each bag and the contents within the bags. Students should think about way to describe what is in the bag and what is different or similar between the bags. The groups will come back together and describe the differences. Students will work with the groups assigned by the Groupings Time: 1 minute teacher. Groups will consist of four students, with one group having five students. The predetermined groups with consist of students are varying academic levels but will be based off the students who work well with one another in a group setting. The teacher will review the important vocabulary for Bridge Time: 10 minutes the lesson by picking up each bag one by one and having students describe characteristics of the contents. (The crayon is hard. The crayon can break). Probe questions to students so the class comes to a consensus that the bags contain a solid, a liquid, or a gas. During the bridge, when the vocabulary is being Questions Time: n/a introduced the teacher will ask: - What makes the crayon different from the water? - Why do we have an empty bag? - What are the characteristics of the crayon? - Can you think of words that we could use to label each bag? - Can you think of other examples that might help us classify these bags?

Exhibit Time: 10 minutes

Reflections Time: 3 ELL Modifications

Key vocabulary Language objectives

What can you hold in your hand? How is this object different from the water? How is this bag (holding bag with air up) different from the other two bags? The class will read through the poems about each state to understand the characteristics. The class will read through the poem and discuss how the three states of matter are represented through this poem. The states of matter handout and the matter poem will be glued into their SOL notebooks. To wrap up the lesson and have students reflect on the vocabulary learned in the lesson, students will write an example of a solid, a liquid, and a gas. Students will be given pictures and graphs with examples of solids, liquids, and gases that can be glued into their notebooks. They will also be given a sheet defining what a solid, a liquid, and a gas are for easy reference. Solid, liquids, gas, matter, properties, characteristics, Materials. Students will use key vocabulary words, phrases, and sentences both orally and written to describe the three states of matter discussed in the lesson. Students should understand how to correctly identify matter, solid, liquid, and gas. - Three states of matter handouts - Theme Poem: Matter handouts - SOL Notebooks Students will have hard copies of both sheets glued into their notebooks for reference on what a solid, a liquid, and a gas is. They will be able to look at the sheets to understand the meaning of matter. For the ELL students, key vocabulary will be translated into Spanish. Teacher will check students understanding of matter. Students will be asked to compare the three bags and will lead to the understanding of solid, liquids, and gases. Students should adopt these new words as part of their vocabulary usage. There are two ELL students that need extra guidance when completing assignments. These two students will be paired in a group where they are comfortable working with the other peers in the group. One of the ELL students works as an effective translator and will be beneficial for the other ELL student during this activity.

Supplementary materials

Building background

Scaffolding techniques/ Interaction

Review/assessment

If it becomes necessary, these two students can work in a smaller setting with the paraprofessional or the teacher to ensure they understand the concepts being discussed. The worksheets that will be glued into their SOL notebooks with be supplemented with pictures so that these ELL students can have a visual of what they are learning about. Students will show their understanding of matter and the states of matter by filling out their exit slip with examples of each state.

Day 2 Level: 3rd Grade Subject: Science Title: States of Matter Designer: Alexandra Long SOL(s): The student will investigate and understand that objects are made of materials that can be described by their physical properties. a) objects are made of one or more materials; b) physical properties remain the same as the material is changed in visible size; c) visible physical changes are identified. WIDA Standard: ELD Standard 4: The Language of Science, grades 3-5. English language learners will process, understand, or produce or use Level 3: Developing: classify or differentiate among scientific objects or terms based on illustrated sets of features, characteristics, or properties. The students will come together as a whole class on the Situation Time: 10 minutes carpet. First, students will make a shape and link arms together. They will be instructed to move in place but they must remain linked together as a whole group. Next, students will place their hands on each others shoulders and walk slowly around the room. They can move about and observe that they have more space to move. Finally, students will walk about the room without touching each other. They should observe that they have much more room than before and are able to spread out freely. Once the three stages of the activity have been completed, students will return to their desks and think about the three different types of movement that were just acted out. They will write down ideas about what the class was representing through those movements. For the situation and anticipatory activity, students will Groupings Time: 2 minutes be groups as a whole. When completing the related worksheet activities, students will work in pairs that are designated by the teacher. The teacher will call on students to give their ideas Bridge Time: 10 minutes about what the movement activities were representing. Key vocabulary will be introduced and the visual representing the particles in the states of matter will be distributed to be glued in their SOL science notebooks. A comprehensive understanding will be reached about what the movement activity represented.

Questions Time: n/a

Exhibit Time: 15 minutes

Reflections Time: 3 minutes ELL Modifications

Key vocabulary Language objectives

How did the group look during the first movement activity? - How did we look during the second movement activity? - What changed between each stage of movement? - Why do you think you moved more during the last stage than during the first? - Why did we have three types of movement? - Which state of matter was represented during each stage of movement? Students will use the knowledge they obtained from the situation and the questioning to draw in the molecules on a worksheet. The worksheet consists of 6 images, varying in states of matter. They will need to represent the particles for each image. Next, students will be given another worksheet titled How can you classify Matter? They will work on answering the 6 questions. Partners will be allowed for these two activities. Both papers will be glued into their SOL science notebooks. For the exit slip students will draw their own interpretations of how molecules form in a solid, a liquid, and a gas. Students will be given pictures of the molecules and particles inside a solid, a liquid, and a gas. They will receive a description of how these molecules move when in the different states of matter. These pages will be glued into their interactive notebook for easy reference. Molecules, particles, solid, liquid, gas, packed, loosely, tightly, space. Students will use phrases and words both orally and written to interpret and discuss the particles in the different stages of matter. All work completed on the worksheets will be checked for accuracy in terms of correct description of particles with correct state of matter. Visual aids will be supplied for students to have reference to. Pictures depicting a solid, a liquid, and a gas with their corresponding molecules will be represented. The ELL students will be given key vocabulary terms in English and Spanish to make a more concrete connection. The worksheets will be completed with extra support for the ELL students to fully understand the questions being asked.

Supplementary materials

Building background

Scaffolding techniques/ Interaction

Review/assessment

Teacher will check the students understanding of what a solid, liquid, and a gas are by asking for examples of each state of matter. The definition of matter will be reviewed. The teacher will remind students about the appearance of the states of matter and have them think about how they look different. The ELL students will work in partners during the exhibit portion of the lesson. The partners will provide support for one another to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the questions being asked. The questions can be read aloud to the ELL students and pictures can be used to make connections and comprehension more concrete. The teacher will review the key vocabulary terms in the large group and have students repeat terms and point to representations of each term. When and if it becomes necessary, ELL students can be pulled in for smaller group guided instructional period where they can work one on one with the teacher or the paraprofessional available. The ELL students will show their knowledge and understanding of todays lesson through completion of the picture worksheet and the diagram worksheet. Students will be assessed on understanding through the reflection time.

Day 3 Level: 3rd Grade Subject: Science Title: States of Matter Designer: Alexandra Long SOL(s): The student will investigate and understand that objects are made of materials that can be described by their physical properties. a) objects are made of one or more materials; b) physical properties remain the same as the material is changed in visible size; c) visible physical changes are identified.

WIDA Standard: ELD Standard 4: The Language of Science, grades 3-5. English language learners will process, understand, or produce or use Level 3: Developing: classify or differentiate among scientific objects or terms based on illustrated sets of features, characteristics, or properties. Each group of students will be given two pieces of Situation Time: 20 minutes scrap paper. They will be challenged to create as many physical changes for the paper as possible. (ex: Tear, cut, color, crumple, wet it.) Have each group share a few of their examples with the whole class. Next, students will watch the teacher demonstrate a chemical change --- without being told so. Have students look at a bowl of baking soda and a bowl of vinegar and write down what they see. Next, combine the two together in a large bowl. Have students take notes, draw pictures, and think about what they saw. Students will be assigned groups by the teachers Groupings Time: 1 minutes discretion for the paper experiment. Students will then work as a whole group to watch the teacher demonstration. Students will work independently to fill out a physical and chemical changes sheet. Students will receive a sheet of paper with descriptions Bridge Time: 10 minutes on it about what a physical change and what a chemical change is. As a class, we will read through each description and answer any questions students may have. Students will be given a mini book that has pictures and text talking about physical and chemical changes. They can use this mini book as a reference tool for understanding. Questions - What did you do to the paper?

Time: n/a

Exhibit Time: 12 minutes

Reflections Time: 2 minutes ELL Modifications

Key vocabulary Language objectives

What did you notice as you made changes to the paper? - What types of things changed? - Are there any other changes you could make to the paper that you havent done yet? - What happened to the baking soda when the vinegar was added? - How was the paper change different from the baking soda change? - What do you think happened that caused the baking soda to react? - What types of observations did you make during each experiment? Students will fill out a worksheet that asks questions about physical and chemical changes. The students will be given time to work in their groups to come up with comprehensive answers to the questions. The class will come back together to review the answers. Worksheets will be glued into their SOL science notebooks. Students will fill out an exit slip including 1 example of a physical change they made to the paper and 1 observation made about the baking soda. Students will receive booklets that are made showing pictures on each page of what is being discussed. The topics covered include physical and chemical changes. There will be numerous examples of each to help students understand the differences. The pictures will show how the physical and chemical changes happen. Physical change, chemical change, matter, difference Students will use phrases and sentences both orally and written to describe physical and chemical changes that occur. All phrases and sentences should be correct in terms of addressing appropriate information (ex: physical changes described correctly). Students will be given pictures of physical and chemical changes to help make connections. Key vocabulary words will be translated for the ELL students to fully understand. Guidance will be provided during the situation activity to help student build their knowledge of different types of physical changes. When necessary, ELL students will work with the paraprofessional or teacher to build comprehension of the topic.

Supplementary materials

Building background

Scaffolding techniques/ Interaction

Review/assessment

Teacher will build upon student understanding of the states of matter. The teacher will ensure students understand what change is. The ELL students will work in partners during the exhibit portion of the lesson. The partners will provide support for one another to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the questions being asked. The questions can be read aloud to the ELL students and pictures can be used to make connections and comprehension more concrete. The teacher will review the key vocabulary terms in the large group and have students repeat terms and point to representations of each term. When and if it becomes necessary, ELL students can be pulled in for smaller group guided instructional period where they can work one on one with the teacher or the paraprofessional available. The students will show their understanding by successfully describing the differences between a physical and a chemical change by correctly filling out the worksheet differentiating between the two.

Learning Gains for Individual Students Pre-test 63 63 38 63 63 88 50 75 63 63 50 50 63 75 75 13 63 50 13 56.7 Post-test 100 80 100 100 90 90 90 80 100 100 100 90 70 90 80 85 90 90 70 89.2 Learning Gain + 37 + 17 + 62 + 37 + 27 +2 +40 +5 + 37 + 37 + 50 + 40 +7 + 15 +5 + 72 + 27 + 40 + 57 35.4

Student 1 Female Student 2 Male Student 3 Female Student 4 Male Student 5 Male Student 6 Male Student 7 Female Student 8 Female Student 9 Male Student 10 Female Student 11 Female Student 12 Female Student 13 Male Student 14 Female Student 15 Male Student 16 Female Student 17 Female Student 18 Female Student 19 Female Class Average

Learning Games of Special Groups Groups Males Females ELLs Class Average Learning Gain + 18.9 + 40.1 + 46.3 + 35.1

Pre and Post-Test Scores of Individual Students

Individual Students
100 90 80 Percent Correct 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Students Pretest Posttest

Pre and Post-Test Scores of Groups

Groups
100 90 Percent Correct (Average) 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 ELL Males Student Groups Females Pretest Posttest

Data Analysis Based on my data, I can conclude that every student improved from the pretest to the posttest reassuring me that they understood the material throughout the unit. Students not only improved but 6 of my students received 100% on the portion of the posttest that addressed the lessons I taught. The method of instruction I used was new for the students, as they had not seen constructivist teaching before however they easily adapted to the change in learning environment and appeared fully engaged in the lessons. After analyzing the data in regards to groups in my classroom the females went from an average of 50% on the pretest to 90% on the posttest. The males averaged 68% on the pretest and 87 on the posttest. Finally my group of ELL students averaged 42% on the pretest and 83% on the posttest, which I was very pleased with. The ELL students in the classroom take the tests individually and receive help when they need the questions read

to them. They do take the same pre and posttest as the rest of the students in the classroom. My third grade class consists of 22 students. I only have pretest and posttest results from 19 out of the 22 students for varying reasons. We had one student take the pretest but moved schools and I could not therefore collect data for the posttest. I also did not receive posttest scores from 2 male students for reasons that are unclear. Their tests were not turned in and they could still be working at finishing the tests with their teacher. Based off the results for the pretest and posttest I feel confident in saying that I positively impacted the students learning for the states of matter lessons I taught. By teaching in a constructivist style I was able to meet the needs of every student in my classroom including the ELL students who have trouble reading and taking notes in English. My lessons always began with a hands on introduction to the topic allowing the students to explore the concept before reading facts and information. After hands on activities were completed, the group would come together to discuss what was discovered and the class would come up with the lesson topic, key vocabulary, and key concepts. The students would then receive worksheets that included key definitions, questions and answers, and pictures or diagrams to give students another visual.

Reflection What worked and how do you know? I believe the most effective activity was the particles of matter lesson in which I had the students use their bodies to represent how particles or molecules move in the different states of matter. The students not only had a visual representation but they were able to use their bodies to represent the concept helping them ingrain the concept in their minds. Using this type of activity was beneficial for the students because when they would become confused about how to draw the particles and molecules they could think back to how their own body moved during each state. Students also really enjoyed the lesson on physical and chemical changes. Being such a difficult concept for students to grasp, they enjoyed the opportunity to have an experiment to work with. The chemical change students took part in was adding vinegar

to baking soda. Students were not only able to see the immediate result the bubbling of the baking soda but they then saw how the baking soda was permanently changed. After the baking soda finished bubbling students took the cups and looked at how the baking soda had hardened in the bottom of the cup. This was beneficial because students began by predicted what would happen and ended with questioning how the baking soda had changed and formed a new substance. What didnt work and how do you know? If I were to change any of the lessons that I did with the students I would have altered the first lessons where I was introducing the states of matter. The students grasped the information and knew the differences between solids, liquids, and gases but I do not feel the lesson I had the students involved in challenged them in the way I thought it would. Most of my class already had experience with the states of matter in 2nd grade and were able to define each with ease. What I should have focused on was having the students give me examples of each state of matter. I found that they could easily tell me things such as a solid is hard but as soon as I would say, okay give me an example they continued to give me characteristics as opposed to concrete examples for each. If I gave them an example they could easily categorize it correctly but it did not appear to work visa versa. How will you apply what you learned to the next unit? While I initially found the constructivist teaching method confusing and hard to structure a lesson from I ended up really enjoying how my lessons progressed. Beginning lessons with hands on and exploratory activities not only grasped the students interests and help being the knowledge absorption, they also started having questions, predictions,

thoughts, and opinions that led to an interactive lesson. When planning future units I will definitely have the constructivist design in mind and apply many of the aspects to my students learning. I learned how important it is for students to have visuals and experimentation paired with concrete notes and readings. The students need the notes to use as a reference but allowing students the ability to explore a concept hands on gives them a deeper understanding of the topic. Having multiple learning styles in one lesson will meet the needs of all learners in the classroom including the ELL students who have a hard time with notes only lessons where they having to translate the English into a native language.