EDSE 457 FIELDWORK

Report

Fieldwork Reflection Logs

Case Study Report
Verification Letters

Graciela Toriz
Fall 2017
Fieldwork Reflection Logs
Date of Observation: Tuesday, November 7, 2017 Time in: 8:15 Time out: 10:15
Name of teacher observed with: Ms. Morris / Lake Intermediate School- Garden Grove
General topic or lesson observed/ taught: US History/ Founding Fathers
Observations
Reflections
Guiding ?s: What did you notice/do in
Guiding ?s: What do you think about what
relation to language and literacy in the
you observed/ did? How does it relate to
classroom/ observation setting/ tutoring
what weve learned in class?
experience?

Ms. Morris did not have me participate in
class, I was only in class to observe.
Ms. Morris begins class with warm up
questions. Students are given a few
minutes to answer questions, that are
displayed on the board, on to a daily
journal. The teacher ended the activity by
asking for volunteers to share their
answers to the entire class. The students
are required to answer is complete
sentences.
The teacher then began lecture. She uses
a map of the United States as part of the
lecture. She writes Precedent on the
board and ask students if they know what
the word means. A few students attempt
to answer but they do no give the correct
answer. The teacher explains the
definition and continues lecture on
George Washington and the precedents he
set as president.
The warm up questions is an activity we
have learned in this course. A warm up
helps to introduce students to the
content/lesson of the day or new unit. Its
an activity that gets students thinking
critically and maybe a way to introduce
new language or words pertaining to
unit/lesson.
The lecture is not one I would do because
it was basically the teacher talking. We
learned that you should keep students
engaged and use visuals to help students
understand content. She did use a map to
help students who learn visually. I did
like how she taught about the precedents
George Washington did as president. I
would use questions throughout the
lecture like the teacher did as a check for
understanding.

After the lecture teacher has students readReading aloud is a good strategy for ELL
aloud from textbook. Five students students and students struggling with
volunteer to read, and teacher reads a reading in general. Its a strategy that we
section as well. have learned in this course and is one I
would use. I liked how teacher has desks
Teacher has students desk labeled A, B, labeled and is able to call on students
C, & D and each a different color. She randomly as a way to check for
asked a question that has multiple answers understanding.
and has all the As in the classroom to
stand up and give an answer.

The next activity is doing a story board I like this story boarding activity and
called strengthening the economy. modeling are strategies we have learned in

Toriz 1 of 11
 There are four sections on the activity
sheet and the teacher models by walking
students through completing the first
section. She does not give the students
the answer but shows them were to find
answers in the textbooks. The students
need to write four points for each section
and draw a picture representing the
section.
Date of Observation: Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Name of teacher observed with: Ms. Morris / Lake Intermediate School- Garden Grove
General topic or lesson observed/ taught:
Observations
Guiding ?s: What did you notice/do in
relation to language and literacy in the
classroom/ observation setting/ tutoring
experience?
The class began with questions projected
on the classroom board. The questions are
a review of the previous days lesson on
George Washington and an introduction to
Alexander Hamilton. After each question
a page number in noted (1. What is a tariff
(p282)?) Once students have answered the
questions, the teacher goes over the
answers allowing students to volunteer to
answer questions. Volunteers who give
the correct answer are given a piece of
candy.
Teacher reads and reviews the objectives
for the day with students. All the
objectives for the day are noted on the
board, Monday through Friday. She also
includes standards and social goals.
this course. Modeling is a way to be clear
to students as to what you expect from
them and what they should be doing. I
like that teacher guided students through
activity and not just gave them the
answers. I do not like that teacher just
used the textbook for the lesson. I would
have included primary sources, secondary
sources, or online sources as an input of
content for students. As students read
textbook searching for answers and write
down those answers, they are developing
their literacy skills
Time in: 12:15 Time out:2:30
US History/ Founding Fathers
Reflections
Guiding ?s: What do you think about what
you observed/ did? How does it relate to
what weve learned in class?
Although lessons and activities have
elements of language literacy and students
are responding with correct answers,
students do not seem to be that engaged.
There is not much interaction and not any
use of technology. Teacher uses handouts,
graphic organizers, maps, and lecture with
no visuals. Classroom and management
of classroom is under control, no students
out of line or disruptive. Teacher is well
organized, prepared, on task, resources
like textbook and or map are available,
and students knew what to expect for that
day and week.
During lecture teacher could have had
students take notes because she gave them
so much information/content that is
important for assignment to come.
Students could have used cornel notes,
Toriz 2 of 11
 Teacher begins lecture using only
textbook and wall map of the United
States. During the lecture teacher
discusses how the Native Americans
traded their land for $20k worth of trade
goods. To help students better grasp the
amount she said it is what a small Toyota
Prius would cost.
graphic organizer or just a sheet of paper
to help students remain engaged in
learning/lecture.
The activity that students are given could
have been a group activity to encourage
collaboration instead of an individual
work in silence assignment.

After lecture students are given a graphic

organizer labeled budget vocabulary
matrix. It has ten words that students
need to define, do a circle map for, write a
sentence, and draw a visual for. The
teacher also provides the page numbers in
textbook where students can find the
words. Students must provide a complete
sentence that is relevant to what they are
leaning in the unit. Students are given due
date for assignment (Friday) although they
are given time in class to work organizer.

Date of Observation: Thursday, November 9, 2017 Time in: 12:30 Time out: 2:30
Name of teacher observed with: Ms. Morris / Lake Intermediate School- Garden Grove
General topic or lesson observed/ taught: US History/ Founding Fathers
Observations
Reflections
Guiding ?s: What did you notice/do in
Guiding ?s: What do you think about
relation to language and literacy in the
what you observed/ did? How does it
classroom/ observation setting/ tutoring
relate to what weve learned in class?
experience?

For warm up students answer three
questions. The textbook page number is
given for students to find answer to
questions. Teacher leads students in
giving answers to questions and
discussion. Those that participate by
answer questions get a piece of candy.
Teacher passes out graphic organizer that
students will use to analyze speech and a
copy of part of George Washingtons
Farewell speech. They also use two
reviews of the speech that is in their
textbook.
The bottom part of the graphic organizer
provides a place for students to write
essay on four important things in the
speech and students must provide
evidence from speech.
The thing I like about this lesson is that it
covers the standards including common
core. And that history students
participate is language literacy by reading
speech aloud, writing what they feel is
important from speech and read different
sources to decide what four things they
feel are the most important. I like this

Toriz 3 of 11

Teacher does a short lecture on the
background of speech and what was going
on in the United States during that time
period. Teacher shows students a short
video about speech.
Then teacher has students read speech out
loud a paragraph at a time and she read the
last paragraph. Teacher explains some of
the words that she thinks are difficult for
students to understand since it is not
written in todays English. Teacher also
makes comparisons to another documents
class have reviewed in the past.
Teacher gives students instructions on how
they need to highlight things they feel are
important in the speech, and they will need
4 items that are pillars of speech.
Teacher walks around classroom as
students work on speech activity. She
answers question students have and
explains words that students are having
difficulty understanding.
Teacher then has students use the
information they gathered and write an
essay. If they do not complete during class
period, they are to complete as homework.
Date of Observation: October 16, 20, 27, 2017
Name of teacher/program observed/ working with: Rubina Toriz / Williams Elementary
School Downey Unified School District
General topic or lesson observed/ taught: Tutored student in the 1st grade
Observations
Guiding ?s: What did you notice/do in
relation to language and literacy in the
classroom/ observation setting/ tutoring
experience?
The first day I observed during the first
hour. Students worked on STEM-
computer programing. Some of the
lesson because of the variety of sources
students were given to complete graphic
organizer (primary sources -the speech,
textbook reviews, lecture, and video). I
like that the teacher drew comparisons to
previous lessons. I like that teacher
stopped to give definitions of words and
explains what the speech means since the
speech is not written in todays English.
I like that students are given options as to
what they find important. I like that
students are using various skills,
highlighting, analyzing paper, finding
evidence from speech, note taking, and
essay writing. I like that students are
given graphic organizer to put all their
information in one place. I like that each
part of lesson is building onto another
laying the foundation to final product
which is the essay of the lesson.
Time in: 8:15 Time out: 10:15
Reflections
Guiding ?s: What do you think about
what you observed/ did? How does it
relate to what weve learned in class?
Although these attention getter strategies I
saw are not related to literacy they are
Toriz 4 of 11
strategies they used I would use in my
future classroom. To get students
attention teacher used a few different
strategies. The first teacher used a button
that when she pushed it made a noise,
Tada and teacher would say raise the
roof. Teacher used when students did the
right thing- positive feedback.
Pair share using short hair long hair to
determine who would share first.
Another attention getter teacher used was
to say, all hands-on deck and students
would raise their hands, be quiet, and look
to teacher.
On the other days I worked with one
student Juan and with small groups that
included Juan. Teacher had student read
to me and I read to him to get him ready
for test teacher had to administer.
I read to a group of students. I first
modeled and read the first page. Then I
had group read together. Then each
individual student read to the group.
After reading two books with group of
students I worked with students to
complete activity sheets a five finger
retell, and a fiction retell assignment.
They had to write, 3 details, main idea,
authors purpose for the nonfiction. For
the fiction students listed characters,
setting, problem/conflict, beginning,
middle, end, solution, and the central
message or of book.
I gave students spelling test. Juan just had
to read the words from a list. With other
students they had to write the words as I
read them aloud depending on their level.
I used a divider when I gave test to more
than one student at a time.
great strategies for classroom
management.
Working one on one with student allowed
me to witness some of the challenges
student has and try to help him overcome
the challenges. When student read to me
I corrected him when he mispronounced
words I had student re-read entire
sentence correctly.
The experience in the classroom helped
me to understand how students work at
different levels. I liked that I experienced
many of the strategies from this course,
especially for ELL students. Doing group
reading a strategy that helps ELL
students. The students helped each other
out when they did not know a word
(collaboration). By reading first to the
students I was (modeling) for students and
activating prior knowledge.
I liked the writing activity it showed
many strategies discussed in the course.
The chunking or breaking down of the
story using the graphic organizer. It was a
scaffolding and preparing/ teaching
students to write paragraphs and
eventually essays.
For spelling test students were given list
of words that they are to review at home.
When they pass their test, they get a new
list. I like that students are progressing at
their own pace. The first 5 list students
are just having to be able to recognize the
words, read them. As they move past the
fifth list they hear the word and spell it.
Toriz 5 of 11
Case Study Report

The student I worked with at William Elementary School part of Downey Unified

School District is 6-year-old first grader Juan. Juan does not have a IEP or receive any

IDEA services. He does have speech and language impairments. According to his

teacher he has impulsivity issues. Juan is reading below grade level, level D and is an

English language learner. Level D is two levels below the first grade. He pronounces

words incorrectly, but he does well with comprehension. During my time with Juan and

in the first-grade classroom the teacher tested many students and I observed while she

tested Juan. The test is 16 lines of text the student reads while the teacher noted if an

error is made or when students self-correct. The next step the teacher asked students

questions about what they have read to determine comprehension.

The teacher administered a level D reading test to Juan, he self-corrected 6 times

and had 4 errors. He received a passing score of 6. Some of the things I observed while

Juan was taking the test is that he was not reading some of the words, he just said was he

thought the word was saying for instance word was reads and he said reading. And

for the word stories he said start. Juan did comprehend the story but how he

responded in incomplete sentences and inaccurate grammar demonstrated why he is at a

low reading level. He responded with Yes, because all of them be nice and He a boy.

I was able to see Juans California English Language Development Test (CELDT)

scores. His overall CELDT score of 369 puts him at the high end of the Early

Intermediate level. Juans listening score is 362 (Early Intermediate), speaking 399

(Early Intermediate), reading 220 (Beginning), and writing 310 (Early Intermediate).

Toriz 6 of 11
 Juan received a low CELDT score in reading, the lowest possible score for 1st

readers, and is low for reading with test teacher administered at level D. His low reading

skills affect his learning in various content areas. Juan needs to be able to follow written

direction for assignments in all content areas like math, English, history, science, or PE.

He does well with comprehension but if he misses a step in say a math problem his

answer will be incorrect. Juans literacy needs are affecting his learning in spelling and

reading especially. He had difficulties in the reading the spelling test. While some of his

classmates have passed the reading stage of the spelling test he remains at the reading

stage. When in the small group reading activity, Juan struggled to read the page he was

assigned, and his classmates helped him but if he had to read on his own the meaning of

what he read would be altered by his low reading skills.

While working with Juan I was able to use some strategies I have learned in this

course. I worked with a small group of students that included Juan, in reading two books

and then writing summaries of the books. The strategies used in this activity was

modeling, small groups, read aloud, collaboration, using visuals, chunking, and using a

graphic organizer. By reading aloud in small groups with students I was first able to

model for students what I expected from them. Reading aloud helps students with

comprehension. Having students in small group with different reading levels and skills

helped students with low level by having higher level students as examples and helpers to

collaborate. The books had pictures and charts that helped students better comprehend

what they were reading, and the content presented.

During the writing portion of the activity students had to use a graphic organizer

that facilitated the summary of the book. The organizer has boxes for students to enter

Toriz 7 of 11
information, a form of chunking. Students had to use complete sentences as they wrote

in who the characters were in the story, what the setting was, what the problem or conflict

was, the beginning, middle and end of the story, and lastly the solution. They had to

determine if there was a central message, theme or moral of the story. Students had to

use all their literacy skills of listening, reading, writing, and speaking in this assignment.

While working with Juan I learned not only about some of challenges he faces in

his education but also what ELL students face in general. Juan reads at a low reading

level and is in danger of falling behind in all areas of study. His parents do not speak

English, so he does not have English language support at home. He is a bright boy and

very sociable, but his language needs could become something that isolates him from

classmates. The perception of ELL students can be that because they do not speak

English they are academically challenged in all areas of study. Working with Juan

helped me to be aware of this perception and how it is wrong. Juan helped me to

understand that ELL students just need to take a few more steps and need more time to

achieve academic success.

I am glad that I was able to experience working with a ELL first grader. It

highlighted in simple terms the ELL student experience for me. I saw how using the

different strategies I learned in the course can be used to facilitate student learning.

Being actively participating in learning verses the observation in a classroom was

enormously more beneficial to me as it gave me a better understanding of what will be

expected of me as a teacher. Although I tutored outside my content area and age group it

provided me with a time to reflect and be empathetic of ELL students and students with

special needs.

Toriz 8 of 11
 This experience has informed me greatly as to the challenges of ELL students and

special needs students. This will influence how I present content to my future students

and how I plan assignment. Students need all the tools and opportunities to learn and

succeed in the changing landscape of the 21st century.

The strategies and tools I have gained in this course and in the credential program

made more sense during this experience. They were just ideas and theory but with this

experience and being able to be part of using and applying the knowledge, they are now

actual tools that I will use. I began this program because I want to be a part of helping

students to learn and succeed, at times I doubted my abilities nonetheless I still want to

facilitate students success. While doing research I have come across this quote a few

times and it helped me to understand how important literacy, high level literacy, is for

students.

"Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will read and

write more than at any other time in human history. They will need

advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households,

act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives." -- Richard Vaca,

author of Content Area Reading: Literacy and Learning Across the

Curriculum

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