Early Childhood

Task 3: Assessment Commentary

TASK 3: ASSESSMENT COMMENTARY

Respond to the prompts below (no more than single-spaced pages, including prompts) by typing your responses within the
brackets following each prompt. Do not delete or alter the prompts. Commentary pages exceeding the maximum will not be
scored. Attach the assessment you used to evaluate student performance (no more than 5 additional pages) to the end of this
file. If you submit feedback as a video or audio clip and your comments to focus students cannot be clearly heard, attach
transcriptions of your comments (no more than 2 additional pages) to the end of this file. These pages do not count toward
your page total.

1. Analyzing Childrens Learning

a. Identify the specific language and literacy learning objectives for the common
assessment you chose for analysis.
[ For the common assessment, I chose the paragraphs from the day 1 lesson. This was chosen
because the students used this paragraph to assist them in creating their media presentations
for the day 2 lesson and their diagrams in day 3. Thus, the presentations from day 2 and Venn
diagrams from day 3 are all dependent on their paragraphs from day 1.

Students will use a variety of sources to gather facts about their president.
Students will be able to compile their research into a logical paragraph about their
president.
Students will write a paragraph that has a topic sentence supported by factual
information.
Students will revise their paragraph with direction from the teacher.
Students will write a grammatically correct paragraph with proper conventions. ]

b. Provide a graphic (table or chart) or narrative that summarizes the class/groups learning
for the common assessment.
[ The students paragraphs from the day 1 lesson were chosen for the common assessment.
After the students completed their drawings, I collected them and looked over them, correcting
any spelling or grammatical errors. I called up the students one by one to go over their
paragraphs with them before returning them. There are 20 students in the class, and out of
these 20, 15 of them (75%) were able to follow directions and write a paragraph with a topic
sentence and one that had strong sentence variation. The 5 students who did not wrote a
paragraph that was missing a topic sentence and started almost every sentence with He. This
shows that not every student was able to follow the given directions. However, this could be due
to students either simply not paying attention, or they didnt understand the directions, which is
something to keep in mind when analyzing the common assessment. For the 15 students who
did write an appropriate paragraph, this shows that they were able to understand and follow
directions accurately and had a grasp on the concept of not only the activity, but what goes into
writing a proper, grade-level paragraph. ]
c. Use the class/group summary you provided in prompt 1b to analyze the patterns of
language and literacy learning for the class/group.
[ Although not all students followed directions, their paragraphs did provide evidence of their
language and literacy learning. Based on their paragraphs, it was apparent that the students
were able to take their research and compile it into an informative paragraph. The students have
not worked on this skill so far during the year, and they were all able to do so. One pattern that I
did notice is that not all students recognized the need for sentence variation. I briefly went over
it during the day 1 lesson before they wrote their paragraphs, but some students still started
every sentence with He. This could mean that they did not understand what I was describing
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Early Childhood
Task 3: Assessment Commentary

when I went over it and that I should have taken more time to explain the concept, or that they
were not paying attention. Either of these could be a possibility and are important to keep in
mind.]
d. Analyze the patterns of learning for the 2 focus children. Reference the 3 sources of
evidence you collected for each of the 2 focus children.
Consider childrens strengths (what children understand and do well), and areas of
learning that need attention (e.g., common errors, confusions, need for greater
challenge).
[ My two focus children showed many strengths throughout the learning segment. Both children
were highly engaged in the activities and show interest. They were both able to write
appropriate paragraphs with a topic sentence, as seen in their work samples. While writing her
paragraph, Focus Child 1 would frequently come up to me and ask me how to spell words and
to look over her work to make sure it was correct. Focus Child 2s paragraph was strong overall,
but had a decent amount of spelling and grammatical mistakes. Also, almost all of his sentences
begin with the word He except for his topic sentence. This is something we had discussed in
class not to do, but he still wrote his paragraph this way. Along with this, both children were
immersed in creating their media presentations and eager to share what they had learned with
their peers. In order to support Focus Child 2 with his sentence variation skills, I could have him
orally reword his sentences in a way that were more varied, instead of beginning every
sentence with he. This way, doing so orally would provide him with a different means of
learning how to reword and revise sentences, as doing it orally as opposed to writing it down
works on different skills.]
e. If video or audio evidence of learning or a video or audio work sample occurs in a group
context (e.g., discussion), provide the name of the clip and clearly describe how the
scorer can identify the focus children (e.g., position, physical description) whose work is
portrayed.
[ The two focus children can be identified in the videos from task 2, day 2. Focus Child 1 is a
girl, and is the only girl in the video clip at the table. Focus Child 2 is the boy with short brown
hair, wearing a dark blue sweatshirt, and is sitting on the left side in the video. ]
2. Feedback to Guide Further Learning
Refer to specific evidence of submitted feedback to support your explanations.
a. Identify the format in which you submitted your evidence of feedback for the 2 focus
children. (Delete choices that do not apply.)

In video clip(s) from Instruction Task 2 (provide a time-stamp reference) or in

separate video clips
If a video or audio clip of feedback occurs in a group context (e.g., discussion), clearly
describe how the scorer can identify the focus child (e.g., position, physical description)
who is being given feedback.
[ The feedback was given to the focus children in a separate video clips. However, as the
feedback was being discussed with the children, I was writing down the feedback and
corrections directly on their work samples (the paragraphs). ]
b. Explain how the feedback provided to the 2 focus children addresses their individual and
developmental strengths and needs relative to language and literacy development.

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Early Childhood
Task 3: Assessment Commentary

[ In order to provide feedback to the focus children, I took them aside before they began working
on their media presentations. Together, we went over their paragraphs. I had each child read the
paragraph aloud to me first, as this is a good way for them to catch any mistakes on their own.
We then corrected any mistakes they found as they read together, and I pointed out any that I
found that they had missed afterwards. Focus Child 1 did not find any upon reading it the first
time, so I went back over it with her (00:40) and said how I saw something wrong in the first
sentence. She quickly found the mistake and we corrected it together. She didnt have that
many mistakes, however, because while she was writing it in class she would frequently ask me
for help on how to spell words and to check it over for her as she progressed. Focus child 2 I
believe that allowing the students to find their own mistakes and try to figure it out for
themselves is much more beneficial to their language and literacy development than if I had
simply corrected it and given them feedback directly on their paper without discussing it with
them. ]
c. Describe how you will support each focus child to understand and use this feedback to
further their learning related to learning objectives, either within the learning segment or
at a later time.
[ As mentioned in 2b, I discussed the students mistakes with them as we read it aloud and went
over their paragraph together. I made the corrections directly on their work samples. However, I
think it would also be beneficial for them to rewrite their paragraph into a final copy. I simply only
had the children write out one copy for their paragraph. Its important in terms of language and
literacy development to have rough drafts and final drafts and learn the process of writing and
revision. This is something that can be done at a later time in order to further their learning.]
3. Evidence of Vocabulary Understanding and Use
When responding to the prompt below, use concrete examples from the video clips and/or
childrens work samples as evidence. Evidence from the video clips may focus on one or
more children.
a. Explain how children were able to use the key vocabulary1 to support their learning of the
content.

For prompt 3a, refer to the evidence of childrens vocabulary use from ONE,
TWO, OR ALL THREE of the following sources:
1. Video clips from Instruction Task 2 and time-stamp references for evidence of
vocabulary use
2. Additional video file named Vocabulary Use of no more than 5 minutes in
length and cited vocabulary use (this can be footage of one or more children).
See Assessment Task 3 specifications in the Early Childhood Evidence Chart
for acceptable file types. Submit the video clip in Assessment Task 3, Part C.
3. Childrens work samples analyzed in Assessment Task 3 and cited vocabulary
use
[ All the children used the term president throughout the learning segment, as they all had a
president assigned to them. This can be seen in both childrens work samples. Lincoln also
was one of the key vocabulary words and was used frequently by my Focus Child 1, as her
1

This vocabulary was identified in Planning Task 1 and refers to developmentally appropriate sounds, words, phrases,

sentences, and paragraphs that children use or create to engage in the learning experience.

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Early Childhood
Task 3: Assessment Commentary

president happened to be Abraham Lincoln. Also as can be seen in their work samples, Focus
Child 1 used February to talk about when Lincoln was born. Focus Child 2 used the plural form
of the vocabulary word country to talk about how Ronald Reagan wanted peace between
countries while he was president.]
4. Using Assessment to Inform Instruction
a. Based on your analysis of childrens learning presented in prompts 1bc, describe next
steps for instruction:

For the class/group

For the 2 focus children and other individuals/groups with specific needs
Consider the active and multimodal nature of childrens learning and the variety of
learners in your class/group who may require different strategies/supports (e.g., children
with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners, children at different points in the
developmental continuum, struggling readers, and/or gifted children needing greater
support or challenge).
[ Various steps could be taken for instruction in terms of both the whole class, the focus
children, and those with specific learning needs. As mentioned in 2c, one way to further their
learning could be to work on the revision process for writing. Instead of simply having one copy,
the students could make a rough draft, revise it, and then make a final draft, which would be
beneficial to their learning. For more varied writing practice, I could have the children write
persuasive essays, either one on why they believed their president was or was not a good
leader, or one on why they believe they would be a good president and what they would do as
president if they ran one day. I could also have the students do another form of oral
presentation. They could take the knowledge they have learned from the learning segment and
write I am statements, pretending to be their chosen president. They would state who they
were and give a few details about what they did while they were that president. I could even
record their short oral presentations and watch them together with the class. This class enjoys
sharing their writing, projects, art, and anything they made with the class. Any chance for them
to work on their oral presentation skills is always beneficial for them, as this is a necessary skill
for them to have throughout their lives.
For Focus Child 1, her main need came from test anxiety. She doesnt need any outside support
aside from this. If I did want to For Focus Child 2, I previously discussed doing a rewrite for a
final draft of his paragraph. It also would be useful for him to review some of the words he
spelled wrong, and I could do an activity or game with him to review how to spell these such
words. He also has high interest levels when it comes to reading more complicated books and
can read at a higher level than most of his peers. I could provide him with an age appropriate
but more complicated book for him to read on Ronald Reagan, his assigned president. We
could have a discussion afterwards about what he read. ]
b. Explain how these next steps follow from your analysis of childrens learning. Support
your explanation with principles from research and/or developmental theory.
[ Vygotskys theory and idea of the zone of proximal development ties in with my analysis. This
zone of proximal has to do with a range of skill that children can do independently and what they
can do with adult guidance and help (Vygotsky, 1978). This is important to keep in mind in terms
of informing instruction. Scaffolding is one way that can be effective in terms of further
instruction. Using modeling and keeping the activities interesting yet simple enough is an
important part of scaffolding. The support needs to be matched to the needs of each child. Thus,
differentiated instruction is crucial here, as I discussed earlier in terms of those children with
those who are performing at a higher academic level and those who need extra support.
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Early Childhood
Task 3: Assessment Commentary

Without differentiated instruction, children will not receive the proper instruction that they need in
order to succeed, as instruction and assessment should not be a one-size fits all approach. ]
References
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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