Brittany Thomas FRIT 7430 Learner Analysis Assignment

Introduction The learning environment of this learner analysis takes place in a public elementary school. This elementary school provides education for students in 4th and 5th grades. There are approximately 550 students in this school ranging from ages 9 to 12. For this particular learner analysis the setting is a 5th grade Social Studies classroom. There are 25 students enrolled in this class. The instructional goal for this project is for the students that have been selected to be able to explain the reasons for Americas involvement in World War II, with emphasis on Germanys aggression in Europe, Japans aggression in Asia, the major events that happened in the war in both Europe and the Pacific, President Trumans decision to drop the atomic bombs, identifying key people during this time, describing the effects of rationing and changing the role of women and African Americans, and the role the U.S. played in the formation of the United Nations.

Demographics Student Sex Ethnicity Age Social Economic Status Student A Student B Student C Male Female Male Caucasian Caucasian Bi-racial 10 10 10 Average High Low NA NA ADHD Special Needs Academic Performance Above level On level On level

Brittany Thomas FRIT 7430 Student D Student E Student F Student G Student H Student I Student J Student K Student L Female Male Male Male Male Female Female Female Female Hispanic African American Caucasian African American African American African American Caucasian African American African American 10 10 12 10 11 11 11 10 10 Low Average High Low Low Average Low Low Average NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Physical Impairment On level Above level Below level Below level Below level Above level On level Below level Above level

I selected these students based on these demographics. I believe these twelve students give a good representation of the demographics of my class as a whole. I obtained this information on these learners using their permanent records that we have access to at the school.

Entry Skills & Prior Knowledge I used a pre-test to determine my students prior knowledge pertaining to the standard and goals. My students showed that they do not have much prior knowledge regarding WWII. My students did not know many of the key people involved in the war, or key events of the war. My students also did not know how or why the war started or who was involved. Most of my students were familiar with the holocaust and Pearl

Brittany Thomas FRIT 7430 Harbor. Below I have inserted a table showing the results of each learner from the pretest. Student Student A Student B Student C Student D Student E Student F Student G Student H Student I Student J Student K Student L Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14

Academic Motivation I used a survey to determine my students academic motivation concerning the topics included in the standard that I have chosen. Most of the students were really interested in learning more about the Holocaust, how Hitler tried to take over Germany, and the U.S. bombing Hiroshima and Nagaski. The students were mildly interested in learning how the lives of African Americans and women changed during the war. I only had one student that did not seem interested in these topics at all.

Brittany Thomas FRIT 7430 Motivational Strategies I plan on using the novel The Diary of Anne Frank to capture my students attention and perceptual arousal. I am also planning on using examples that relate to the students experiences when describing the conditions of the war to create relevance to the students. To improve on the students confidence in this area I will make the students aware of the performance requirements and the goals that should be met at the end of this unit.

Learner Characteristics I gave my students a survey of questions that related to Gardners Multiple Intelligences. Based on this test I have three visual spatial learners, two bodily kinesthetic learners, one musical learner, one interpersonal learner, one linguistic learner, one intrapersonal learner, and three mathematical learners. The kinesthetic learners were boys and my mathematical learners were all girls. My bi-racial student was my intrapersonal learner that enjoys doing things alone, and does not like to socialize with other students.

Accommodations One accommodation that I will make for my ADHD student is to pair him up with a peer that can assist him throughout the activities and tasks. This was a suggestion from Deborah Smith author of Introduction to Special Education Teaching in an Age of Opportunity. ( S m i t h , 2 0 0 1 ) As suggested by the Child Development Institute I will incorporate different types of instruction, including scenes from films and interactive

Brittany Thomas FRIT 7430 websites into the lessons. (2000) According to the Pediatric Neurology website I should also have my student in the front of the classroom and incorporate a time for physical movement into the lessons. (Kutscher, 2002) One accommodation that I will be using for my diverse learners is to allow the students to work in collaborative pairs or groups as suggested by Natalie Olinghouse in her article Designing Lessons for Diverse Learners. ( O l i n g h o u s e , 2 0 0 8 ) Another accommodation that I will use is to provide visual reminders of the goals of our unit as well as visual aids to assist with the learning material. ( W r i g h t , 2 0 0 3 ) As suggested by the authors of Diverse Learners: Strategies for Success, I will give my students more informal assessments throughout the unit. ( A s s e l i n , & M o o n e y, 1 9 9 6 ) I will be using the computer program provided by our school system called Renzulli for my diverse learners. I will also use Easi Teach, which is an interactive computer program that I can use to give instruction or to practice concepts with the students. The students can sit at their seat and use the cordless keyboard and pen to manipulate what is shown on the screen for the whole class.

References A s s e l i n , S . , & M o o n e y, M . ( 1 9 9 6 ) . D i v e r s e l e a r n e r s : s t r a t e g i e s f o r success. (2000). Child Development Institute. In Suggested Classroom Interventions for Children with ADD & Learning Disabilities. Retrieved September 23, 2010, from http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com.

Brittany Thomas FRIT 7430 Martin L. Kutscher. (2002). Pediatric Neurology. In School Behavior Treatments for ADHD. Retrieved September 23, 2010, from http://www.pediatricneurology.com Olinghouse, N. (2008). Designing lessons for diverse learners. Retrieved from h t t p : / / e d u c a t i o n . m s u . e d u / t e / s e c o n d a r y/ p d f / D e s i g n i n g Lessons-for-diverse-learners.pdf Smith, D. (2001). Introduction to special education teaching in an age of opportunity. Boston,MA: Pearson. Wright, D. (2003). Differentiating instruction/ accommodating diverse learners. Teaching and learning

Brittany Thomas FRIT 7430 Appendices 1. WWII Pre-test Name:_____________________________ World War II Pre-Test 1. Who was the dictator of Germany in 1933? a. Franklin D. Roosevelt b. Adolf Hitler c. Benito Mussolini d. Joseph Stalin 2. Who was the dictator of Italy in 1920? a. Franklin D. Roosevelt b. Adolf Hitler c. Benito Mussolini d. Joseph Stalin 3. Who was the leader of the British government? a. Winston Churchill b. Franklin D. Roosevelt c. Adolf Hitler d. Joseph Stalin 4. Who was the President of the United States during WWII? a. Winston Churchill b. Adolf Hitler c. Franklin D. Roosevelt d. Benito Mussolini

5. Who was the leader of Japan? a. Hideki Tojo b. Benito Mussolini c. Adolf Hitler d. Winston Churchill 6. Who was the dictator of the Soviet Union? a. Hideki Tojo b. Joseph Stalin c. Winston Churchill d. Benito Mussolini

Brittany Thomas FRIT 7430 7. Describe Germanys aggression in Europe.

8. Describe Japans aggression in Asia.

9. Where did Japan bomb in the U.S. on December 7, 1941? Why did they decide to bomb the U.S.?

10. What was the Holocaust? Who was involved and how?

11. What does rationing mean? How did this affect families during the war?

12. How did life change for women during the war?

Brittany Thomas FRIT 7430

13. How did life change for African Americans during the war?

14. What role did the U.S. play in the formation of the United Nations?

Brittany Thomas FRIT 7430 2 . Motivational Survey for WWII Name:___________________________

Motivational Survey for WWII Circle numbers 1-4. 1 means you are not interested 2 means you are a little interested 3 means you are interested 4 means you are really interested

1. How interested are you in learning about the United States involvement in WWII? 1 2 3 4 2. How interested are you in learning how Hitler tried to take over Germany? 1 2 3 4 3. How interested are you in learning about the attack at Pearl Harbor? 1 2 3 4 4. How interested are you in learning about the U.S. dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagaski? 1 2 3 4 5. How interested are you in learning how the role of women and African Americans changed during WWII? 1 2 3 4 6. How interested are you in learning about the Holocaust? 1 2 3 4

Brittany Thomas FRIT 7430 3 . Learner Characteristics Survey Name:_________________________

Learner Characteristics Survey Circle Yes or No for each question. 1. I can play a musical instrument. 2. I enjoy playing musical instruments. 3. I often have a song or piece of music in my head. 4. I find it easy to make up stories. 5. I am physically well-coordinated (running, jumping) 6. Music is very important to me. 7. I play sports or dance. 8. I like being around other people. 9. I find graphs and charts easy to understand. 10. I find it easy to remember quotes or poems or song lyrics. 11. I can always recognize places that I have been before. 12. When I am concentrating, I tend to doodle or draw. 13. I find it easy to do mental math. 14. I love sports and scary rides. 15. I find it easy to remember telephone numbers. 16. I set goals for myself and plan for the future. 17. I often see clear images when I close my eyes. 18. I dont use my fingers to count. 19. P.E. is my favorite activity at school. 20. Music is my favorite activity at school. 21. My favorite subject at school is math. 22. My favorite subject at school is Language Arts. 23. My favorite activity at school is art. 24. I really enjoy reading. 25. I always know how I am feeling. 26. I like spending time alone. Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No

Some questions were borrowed from businessballs.com