We Plan Assessment

Danielle Boggs, Kurt Brown, Rebecca Galvin, Jennifer Harmond

University of Houston Clear Lake

In planning our lessons for the two week span we chose to focus on student’s
ability to create a composition. Following the prescribed TEKS (2017) for our
third grade, §110.5.11, we will have our students
“use the writing process recursively to compose multiple texts that are legible and
use appropriate conventions” (Section 110.5
.11). In the first week of our unit the students will have stories read to them
explaining the customs of different fall and winter holidays and answer questions
each day regarding the story they have been read. These stories will be
The Seven Days of Kwanzaa, The Night of Las Posadas, Diwali, Twas the Night Before
Christmas, and Shmelf the Hanukkah Elf. In the second week of the unit the students
will use what they have learned in the week prior to write about one of the holidays
or their own family’s traditions for the holidays. By the end of the second week the
students will have written a draft, reviewed it, and completed a final composition.

The unit is building on the skills for composition that students have been
practicing in previous school years. By this point students should already have the
ability to create a simple composition according to the TEKS and this unit will
continue to build skills on previous scaffolding. By having our students build their
compositions based on books they are learning from we will also help build reading
comprehension skills. This unit will help prepare students for more advanced
reading and writing to come later within the same school year as well as future
school years. It will also help students in understanding the diversity that makes
up not only the classroom community, but the community at large, and provide them
a look at how other cultures celebrate holidays. This unit cannot be taught without
the understanding that a classroom should be an inclusive place and all types of
students will be participating. One particular focus of equity for our lessons is the
inclusion of students on the Autism spectrum that will need extra assistance in
completing the assignments provided. According to The Children’s Hospital of
Philadelphia Center for Autism Research (2014) “often children with ASD are
visual learners, meaning they process information better when it is shown to them”
and through proper planning we are able
to accommodate the needs of our ASD students during this unit (p. 1). We are
providing our ASD students with pictures and word banks to help them complete
their compositions. Alternatively, we will also allow our ASD students to present
their compositions orally after they have completed the organizational portions of
the assignment. We will also be applying any other accommodations required by a
student’s IEP or 504 plan. By taking these measures we are not only complying with
educational law, we are giving all students an opportunity to express either their
family traditions or the things they have learned regarding the traditions of
others. Over the span of two weeks we are providing our students with a chance to
show their reading comprehension and writing skills in an inclusive environment.
This is a plan that any third-grade teaching group can put into action based on its
simplicity and will give our students a view of the diverse celebrations around them.
In the end they will have improved their skills and built an increased knowledge
base that they will be able to access for future academic ventures.

References
Accommodations and Supports for School-Age Students with ASD. (2016, June

29). Retrieved November 21, 2018,

from https://www.carautismroadmap.org/accommodations-and-supports-for-

school-age-students-with-asd/

Cooper, M. (2007). The Seven Days of Kwanzaa. New York, NY: Scholastic.

DePaola, T. (1999). The night of Las Posadas. New York, NY: Putnam's.

Elliot, H. (2018). Diwali. Little Simon.

Moore, C. C. (2010). Twas the night before Christmas. Philadelphia: RP Kids.

Wolfe, G. (2016). Shmelf the Hanukkah elf. New York, NY: Bloomsbury.