Map Skills
Third Grade
November 5-November 14
University Schools--District 6
Rationale Statement
Learning how to read different types of maps is an important life skill for students to learn. This
generation of students will have access to electronic resources via GPS or smart phones that can give them
quick instructions on how to get somewhere, but they still need to learn basic skills such as direction to
follow along. These electronic resources still use things such as keys and legends to label their maps so
students will still need to learn these skills as well. A strong knowledge of how to read maps will allow
students to develop a sense of direction. They will need this baseline in order to both give and follow
physical directions in the real world.
University Schools is located in Greeley, Colorado which has a population of over 90,000. Greeley
is located about 50 miles north of Denver and is the largest city in Weld County. Greeley was originally
founded as a farming and ranching community but now has expanded due to the growth in education and
industrialization.
University Schools is a K-12 public charter school with approximately 1,700 enrolled students
(Spring 2013). About 33% of these students are considered to be minorities and 24% are on free and
reduced lunch. University Schools has since expanded their enrollment due to the expansion of their
middle school. University Schools supports self-directed, student centered learning and strives to attain
high academic standards.
My classroom consists of twenty four students total--thirteen boys and eleven girls. There are only
a couple of students who will be needing ELL support, many other students will need support in other
areas. According to initial STAR Reading results, we have learners ranging from tenth grade reading levels
to kindergarten reading levels, and everything in between. It will be a challenge to accommodate and
differentiate for not only our lower leveled learners, but also to continue to push and challenge our higher
leveled learners as well. We also have one student with autism along with a couple of other students on
social behavior goals/plans. The diverse range of learners and individuals we have in the classroom will
make classroom management even more important in order to keep a well run classroom that can
accommodate all of this. My cooperating teacher is big on the use of technology in the classroom,
especially with the incorporation of a SMART Board. Using these to help interest the students and keep
them involved will be very important throughout the year.
With such a wide variety of learners in the classroom, it will be very important to provide authentic
instruction in all aspects of each lesson. Pre-assessment, formative assessment, and the summative
assessment must all be related to the overall outcome which is to address both the math and social studies
standards.
Section 3
Meeting the CMCS
Standard: Content Area: Social Studies Standard: 2. Geography: 1. Use various types of geographic tools
to develop spatial thinking
Students will:
1. Use a compass rose to identify cardinal and intermediate directions.
2. Answer questions using the map legend to identify certain physical features.
3. Answer questions using the compass rose to identify certain physical features.
4. Use a key and legend to create their own map.
5. Use a grid system to help create specific locations on their map.
6. Find locations due to their knowledge of a grid map.
7. Answer questions using the map legend to identify certain physical features.
8. Answer questions with the use of a ruler to describe the spatial distance between two different locations.
9. Use a ruler to identify the scale of a map.
Standard: Content Area: Mathematics Standard: 3. Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability: 1. Visual
displays are used to describe data. Show the data by making a line plot, where the horizontal scale is
marked off in appropriate units— whole numbers, halves, or quarters. (CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.B.4)
Students will:
1. Generate measurement data by measuring lengths using rulers marked with halves and fourths of an
inch.
Section 4--Assessment
Pre-Assessment
The students will take a written pre-assessment test to gauge their knowledge of a compass rose,
cardinal and intermediate direction, map scale, and map keys/legends. The pre-assessment is a
combination of multiple choice and fill in the blank questions. The students are told that they may or may
not know some of the answers but they are to try their best so the teacher can learn what needs to be taught.
Formative Assessment
After checking the pre-assessment to gain a better understanding of the students' background
knowledge, the formative assessment is important to continue to modify and change the unit lessons based
off of the students' understanding. The formative assessment will be delivered in many different ways. It
will be done informally at the beginning of new lessons to see how much the students remember. It can be
as simple as speaking with the students' neighbors and then sharing with the class, or a sticky note quiz that
will be collected.
Formative assessments will be done within the lesson during guided practice ranging from group
activities on the SMART Board, partner activities, and individual assignments. It is important to check on
students throughout the lesson to make sure they are understanding the topic.
Formative assessments for the unit can also be conducted by checking the summative assessments
for the individual lessons. The independent practice for each lesson will consist primarily of worksheets to
assess each individual's grasp of the topic. Checking this throughout the unit will allow myself to see
which areas the general class is not understanding, and also find which students need individual attention to
clear up any misconceptions.
The students will have summative assessments throughout each lesson. The summative
assessments can be formal assessments such as individual worksheets, but will also be done using informal
assessments from the individual students as well. Thumbs up/thumbs down at the end of the unit to show
how comfortable they feel about the topic is a great way to see if the individual students are feeling the
same about their understanding that their assessments will reflect.
Summative Assessment
The summative assessment for the unit will be the same written test as the pre-assessment. The
goal is to show growth in the students’ understanding of how to read maps and use it to follow and give
directions. The results from the unit summative assessment can still be used to guide future learning. If
students do not show growth, I will have to reinforce these topics in future lessons as well.
Unit Goal
Students will develop a spatial understanding for where they are in their community, region, and
world. By using map skills to learn to read maps, I want my students to be able to get from place to place,
give and follow directions, and recognize their presence in relation to other places. It would be impossible
to bring the students to all of these different places, but due to map scales, students can learn about other
places and their relation to other locations.
Lesson Plans
Map Skills--Spatial Thinking
Lesson 1
Big Understanding: Students will investigate the different properties of maps and master the different
tools mapmakers provide the reader. They will use these skills to create their own maps and develop their
spatial understanding and connection to the world. This spatial development will allow them to make
connections from the map to where they are, where they are going, and how they can get to their
destination.
Materials:
-SMART Lesson
-Neighborhood Directions Worksheet
Standard: Content Area: Social Studies Standard: 2. Geography: 1. Use various types of geographic tools
to develop spatial thinking
Students will:
1. Use a compass rose to identify cardinal and intermediate directions.
2. Answer questions with the use of a compass rose to identify certain locations in relation to the map.
3. Answer questions with the use of a compass rose to identify certain locations in relation to other
locations.
The Learning Cycle:
A. Engagement Stage: Students will first take the pre-assessment test to show what they know and what
they don't know. They are prefaced that they may not know some or all of the answers but that's okay
because I will learn what and how to teach them from the results.
Give the students a chance to discuss when or where they have heard of a compass rose and what it
might be, then share as a class. Continue on with both cardinal and intermediate directions. This informal
pre-assessment will allow me to see how much the students know about direction. It should be a review
but each student will have a different background knowledge of the topic and it is important to see where
each student is at.
B. Investigations/Direct Instruction Stage: Students will use the SMART Lesson to learn the cardinal and
intermediate directions and how a compass rose help us to read a map. Students will be able to interact
with the SMART Lesson to learn and practice the cardinal and intermediate directions.
C. Explain and Clarify/Independent Practice Stage: After demonstrating an understanding for the topic,
students will be able to show what they know by doing an independent practice worksheet, “Neighborhood
Directions.” This will be the summative assessment for the lesson but a formative assessment for the unit.
D. Evaluation: Direction is a second grade standard, however with our learners I expect a good amount of
students to still show a lack of knowledge or some misconceptions of at least intermediate direction. A
solid understanding of this topic will help the students as the unit progresses.
E. Elaboration: This unit is very interactive and is mostly done orally. This will help our ELL students
who struggle to show their knowledge because they cannot read or understand what is being asked of
them. Reading their worksheets with them is a great way to support their literacy goals while pushing them
to attain their social studies goals as well.
Lesson 2
Third Grade
Big Understanding: Students will investigate the different properties of maps and master the different
tools mapmakers provide the reader. They will use these skills to create their own maps and develop their
spatial understanding and connection to the world. This spatial development will allow them to make
connections from the map to where they are, where they are going, and how they can get to their
destination.
Materials:
-SMART Lesson
-Map Key Worksheet
-Map Legend Worksheet
Standard: Content Area: Social Studies Standard: 2. Geography: 1. Use various types of geographic tools
to develop spatial thinking
Students will:
1. Use a compass rose to identify cardinal and intermediate directions.
2. Answer questions with the use of a compass rose to identify certain locations in relation to the map.
3. Answer questions using the map key/legend to identify certain locations.
Standard: Content Area: Mathematics Standard: 3. Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability: 1. Visual
displays are used to describe data. Show the data by making a line plot, where the horizontal scale is
marked off in appropriate units— whole numbers, halves, or quarters. (CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.B.4)
Students will:
1. Generate measurement data by measuring lengths using rulers marked with halves and fourths of an
inch.
The Learning Cycle:
A. Engagement Stage: Students will review cardinal and intermediate directions using a political map of
the United States. The cardinal and intermediate directions will be tested by having students locate
different states in relation to the state of Colorado. Background knowledge will be pre-assessed by
challenging the students to think of what a map legend or key is, where they may have seen it before, and
how they may use it to help them.
B. Explore/Investigations/Direct Instruction Stage: Students will investigate a map key/legend through the
use of the SMART board. Students will sort and organize the key/legend icons with what they
represent. Students will be asked to identify the legend or key in maps that they have previously used. As
a class, the students will use a map/legend to identify where certain roads, buildings, landmarks, and
physical features are. This formative assessment can highlight students in need.
C. Explain and Clarify/Independent Practice Stage: Students will work on two worksheets
independently. The first worksheet is a True or False worksheet to help guide the students towards the
concept of using a map key. The second is a short answer worksheet that will reflect how well of an
understanding of the topic each student has.
D. Evaluation: Students need to have a strong understanding of cardinal directions, intermediate
directions, and the use of a map key/legend in order to use any other type of map. It will be essential to
continue to formatively and summatively assess each student before advancing them on to the next task.
E. Elaboration: Many students will have a decent grasp on the topic to begin with. It will be essential to
catch up the struggling learners as quickly as possible. Reading the questions to our struggling readers help
them understand what is being asked and typically leads to them learning and understanding the task. For
our advanced learners, I can provide more challenging supplemental worksheets to continue to reinforce the
task while providing them with something fun and engaging.
Lesson 3
Map Skills--Spatial Thinking
Third Grade
Big Understanding: Students will investigate the different properties of maps and master the different
tools mapmakers provide the reader. They will use these skills to create their own maps and develop their
spatial understanding and connection to the world. This spatial development will allow them to make
connections from the map to where they are, where they are going, and how they can get to their
destination.
Materials:
-SMART Lesson
-Map Key Worksheet
-Map Legend Worksheet
-Rulers
Standard: Content Area: Social Studies Standard: 2. Geography: 1. Use various types of geographic tools
to develop spatial thinking
Students will:
1. Use a ruler to identify the scale of a map.
2. Answer questions with the use of a ruler to describe the spatial distance between two different locations.
Standard: Content Area: Mathematics Standard: 3. Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability: 1. Visual
displays are used to describe data. Show the data by making a line plot, where the horizontal scale is
marked off in appropriate units— whole numbers, halves, or quarters. (CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.B.4)
Students will:
1. Generate measurement data by measuring lengths using rulers marked with halves and fourths of an
inch.
The Learning Cycle:
A. Engagement Stage: Students will first go over their map key/legend worksheet to review. Students will
then review cardinal and intermediate directions on a SMART map. Background knowledge will be
informally pre-assessed by challenging the students to think of what a map scale is, where they may have
seen it before, and how they may use it to help them.
B. Investigations/Direct Instruction Stage: Students will investigate a map scale through the use of the
SMART board. Students will be asked to identify the scale in the maps they have previously used. This
formative assessment can highlight students in need. Students are drawn from sticks randomly to help
measure the distance on the map and convert it using the scale.
C. Explain and Clarify/Independent Practice Stage: The guided practice worksheet will allow myself to
clear up any misconceptions as well as address any particular learners who are really struggling. It will be
a good time to give extra attention to those in need. This guided practice will allow the students to gain an
understanding for the process before taking on their own individual tasks. The summative assessment is an
individual worksheet pertaining to scale. The worksheet will allow the students to practice measuring scale
without the extra confusion of grids and maps.
D. Evaluation: The concept of scale is very challenging at this age level, so it will be important to find
who our struggling learners are early, and help them to understand the topic as soon as possible.
E. Elaboration: The lesson can be modified for all levels of learners. For the highest level, the scale can be
manipulated so that there is more than one mile per inch. Some challenges that our lower leveled learners
might encounter are being able to tell the difference between inches and millimeters, reading/understanding
the question, and figuring out whether or not to add or subtract. Making sure to go over the instructions
deliberately with them will help give them a clearer understanding of the worksheet.
Lesson 4
Map Skills--Spatial Thinking
Third Grade
Big Understanding: Students will investigate the different properties of maps and master the different
tools mapmakers provide the reader. They will use these skills to create their own maps and develop their
spatial understanding and connection to the world. This spatial development will allow them to make
connections from the map to where they are, where they are going, and how they can get to their
destination.
Materials:
-SMART Lesson
-Physical Map/Legend Worksheet
-Ruler
Standard: Content Area: Social Studies Standard: 2. Geography: 1. Use various types of geographic tools
to develop spatial thinking
Students will:
1. Use a compass rose to identify cardinal and intermediate directions.
2. Answer questions using the map legend to identify certain physical features.
3. Answer questions using the compass rose to identify certain physical features.
The Learning Cycle:
A. Engagement Stage: Students will review cardinal and intermediate directions, map key/legends, and
map scale. A quick oral, whole group pre-assessment will give the instructor an idea of how much time to
spend on the review.
B. Investigations/Direct Instruction Stage: Students will be introduced to a physical map and will use a
map legend to explore the features of a physical map. Students will be asked to identify rivers, mountains,
and lakes. They will also be asked to identify which features are furthest west and furthest east. Formative
assessment will be used by walking around the class and checking the students’ work while they are doing
it.
C. Explain and Clarify/Independent Practice Stage: Students will complete the required tasks
independently. They will work on using a key/legend and compass rose to help read a physical map
independently at their seats. They will also use a key/legend, compass rose, and map scale to help read a
grid map. Both of these worksheets will be collected for assessment.
D. Evaluation: Students will be able to reinforce the use of a map legend by exploring a new types of
maps—physical maps and grid maps. The students are required to refer to the legend since the map is not
labeled with words.
E. Elaboration: The lesson can be modified for all levels of learners. For the highest level, the scale can be
manipulated so that there is more than one mile per inch. Some challenges that our lower leveled learners
might encounter are being able to tell the difference between inches and millimeters, reading/understanding
the question, and figuring out whether or not to add or subtract. Making sure to go over the instructions
deliberately with them will help give them a clearer understanding of the worksheet.
Lesson 5
Map Skills--Spatial Thinking
Third Grade
Big Understanding: Students will investigate the different properties of maps and master the different
tools mapmakers provide the reader. They will use these skills to create their own maps and develop their
spatial understanding and connection to the world. This spatial development will allow them to make
connections from the map to where they are, where they are going, and how they can get to their
destination.
Materials:
-SMART Lesson
-Using a Map Grid Worksheet
-Using More Map Grids Worksheet
Standard: Content Area: Social Studies Standard: 2. Geography: 1. Use various types of geographic tools
to develop spatial thinking
Students will:
1. Use a key and legend to create their own map.
2. Use a grid system to help create specific locations on their map.
3. Find locations due to their knowledge of a grid map.
The Learning Cycle:
A. Engagement Stage: Students review as a class the four cardinal directions as well as the four
intermediate directions. Students are asked to think why grid maps are beneficial to use and when you
might use them. Students will think to themselves, discuss with a partner, then share with the
class. Students will mark certain grid squares with a star and a happy face to show that they remember how
to use a grid map before moving on.
B. Explore/Investigations/Direct Instruction Stage: Students are introduced to a grid map that instead of
reading the map and answering questions, the students will have to read the instructions and draw the
correct symbols from the map key onto the correct areas of the grid map. The emphasis is to make sure
students are reading and following the instructions carefully, referring to the map key to make sure they are
using the correct symbols rather than whatever they perceive the item to be, and to demonstrate their
knowledge of a grid map. The students will do this together as a class since it is a different format than
what they are familiar with. This will show a deeper understanding of the topic and it will allow the
students to check each other's work and explain why an answer is correct or incorrect. The students will do
a problem on their individual papers first, then share on the SMART Board before moving on. This
provides the teacher with a formative assessment to see how the students are grasping the task. By giving
time for the students to do the problem first, the teacher can walk around the room checking to see who
may need help before a correction can be made after a student shares.
C. Explain and Clarify/Independent Practice Stage: Students will work independently to show their
knowledge of using a grid map. They will answer questions regarding the location of certain continents
and ocean showing their knowledge of a new topic while reinforcing the previous unit of continents and
oceans and the current unit of map skills.
D. Evaluation: Students need to have a strong understanding of their map reading skills. Knowing how to
properly read a map and use the tools that help us to read it, will allow students to learn a lot more about
maps.
E. Elaboration: The students all participated in the pre-assessment together. During the guided instruction,
two small groups were pulled separately to work with a parent volunteer. The groups were chosen based
off of the results of previous assessments. The first group pulled were the few students that showed a low
understanding for the grid system. Staying in the guided practice with that level of understanding would
have been hard for these students to understand and complete the worksheet with their classmates without
simply copying everything they saw. The individual time allowed them to gain a deeper understanding for
the topic and they were able to catch up with the class due to their new understanding.
The second group pulled was a group that was struggling with the concept of a map scale. Most in that
group proved that they had a good understanding for grid maps, so they were able to finish the guided
practice independently after returning to the group. A couple of students were in both groups, but the small
group attention allowed them to gain a better understanding allowing them to finish the guided practice on
their own with minimal support.
When students finished earlier than others during the independent work time, they were challenged to
locate additional grid squares on the map and label it with certain symbols.
Lesson 6
Map Skills--Spatial Thinking
Third Grade
Big Understanding: Students will investigate the different properties of maps and master the different
tools mapmakers provide the reader. They will use these skills to create their own maps and develop their
spatial understanding and connection to the world. This spatial development will allow them to make
connections from the map to where they are, where they are going, and how they can get to their
destination.
Materials:
-SMART Lesson
-Blank Grid Map Worksheet
Standard: Content Area: Social Studies Standard: 2. Geography: 1. Use various types of geographic tools
to develop spatial thinking
Students will:
1. Create their own key and legend to create their own map.
2. Use a grid system to help create specific locations on their map.
3. Find locations due to their knowledge of a grid map.
4. Find locations due to their knowledge of both cardinal and intermediate directions and a compass rose.
Standard: Content Area: Mathematics Standard: 3. Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability: 1. Visual
displays are used to describe data. Show the data by making a line plot, where the horizontal scale is
marked off in appropriate units— whole numbers, halves, or quarters. (CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.B.4)
Students will:
1. Generate measurement data by measuring lengths using rulers marked with halves and fourths of an
inch.
The Learning Cycle:
A. Engagement Stage: Have students review the cardinal directions, followed by the intermediate
directions. Review what and why we might use map tools such as a key, legend, and map scale. Students
will discuss when it would be beneficial to use a grid map.
B. Explore/Investigations/Direct Instruction Stage: Students will get into pairs and each student will have
their own grid map. One student will give directions while the other student will listen and follow
along. Both students should not be looking at each other's map. The goal is to start at the same place on
each individual's map and be able to give good enough instructions and follow along well enough to end up
in the same spot on each other's grid maps. Students will trade roles after they finish. Before going off on
their own, students will listen to a set of instructions given by the teacher to demonstrate the activity.
C. Explain and Clarify/Independent Practice Stage: Students have a blank grid map with a list of
instructions. The instructions list tasks to demonstrate their knowledge of map skills. They are to create
their own key, and plot certain places based off of the key and direction. Other tasks that will be assessed is
being able to use the provided map scale to place locations at certain distances, as well as identify different
positions on the grid map based off of the labeled axis.
D. Evaluation: The students' understanding of the different map tools will give them more success in both
activities. By having them both give and follow directions, they are slowly preparing to be able to use real
maps to give real instructions and directions.
E. Elaboration: When pairing the students, it will be important to get a good mix of learners in each
pair. The higher students can help guide and boost the lower leveled learners. By having to explain
themselves so that the lower leveled learners can fully understand the directions, the higher leveled learners
will have to demonstrate a strong understanding for the topic.
Extension, Modification and Adaptive Activities
Obviously some students will understand the material better than others, and it will be important to
continue to push these learners and challenge them. One extension to an activity for the first lesson would
be to allow the students to then create their own maps and create their own key or legend. Another
extension would be to have students use harder map scales. 1:1 ratios such as one inch to one mile is an
easier skill to grasp rather than one inch to ten miles. It would be a great way to integrate multiplication
into the lesson. A third extension for the unit would be to have additional maps for students to look
at. Most maps used in the unit are worksheets, to help introduce and master the skill, but allowing students
to continue on and translate it to a real map would be the next step to challenging learners.
One modification to the lesson would be to have some assessments done orally. Many of my
students struggle with reading the instructions and can sometimes provide an assessment that doesn't
actually represent their knowledge of the topic. Another adaptation would be to read the instructions and
questions to these lower leveled readers in order to make sure they understand what they are being
asked. A third modification would be to provide opportunities to differentiate lessons and provide small
group time to allow these lower leveled learners to have more attention to accommodate their needs.
Instructing Students and Supporting Learning
Each lesson began with some sort of fun class review of the previous day's topic. Since social
studies is typically towards the end of the day, this was a great way to refocus the students' attention and get
them refreshed and ready to learn. These reviews were typically informal assessments of the previous day's
topic.
Before beginning the new lesson, I always introduced the topic to the students, then allowed them
time to think to themselves and discuss with their neighbors what they thought the new topic was, where
they may have seen it before, and when they might use it themselves. University Schools pushes for
student directed classrooms with student centered learning and I have always thought it was important to
hear what the students have to think. Hearing their perspectives is a great informal pre-assessment that
shows me their background knowledge in regards to how much they already know, along with any
misconceptions that would need to be addressed.
Throughout the lesson it is important to keep the students engaged and interested with the lesson in
order to encourage learning. In our classroom, a great way to keep the students engaged is constant
interaction with the students. Creating a self directed environment allows for the students to explore and
learn the topics on their own rather than being force fed information to memorize. If they learn on their
own through investigation, these concepts will stick with them longer and they will understand it
better. Students read to each other and discuss with their classmates the topics to make sense of what they
are learning. I think incorporating the SMART Board in class is very important because it gives the
students a hands-on visual experience to support not only ELL students but every student. Teaching topics
from different points of view will help to reinforce the lesson.
I feel the instructional and guided practice sections of the lesson is very important to maintain
student centered learning. Students can learn a lot from their peers, and if they can understand why they
were incorrect at first, they will understand it better if they can figure it out for themselves instead of just
being told what the correct answer is. Students will have to demonstrate a strong understanding of the topic
in order to explain it properly to other struggling classmates.
During instructional and guided practice it was important to provide many opportunities for all of
the different leveled learners in the classroom. When moving on to independent practice, it is just as
important to continue to address the needs of the different leveled learners in the class. After finishing, the
higher learners can continue to progress on towards more challenging and higher order activities related to
the lesson. Instead of moving ahead they should be moving deeper in order to stay aligned with the rest of
the class. They can also serve as classroom helpers or experts to help guide other students, but they would
need to be coached on how to help classmates without giving them the answer.
Resources
Worksheets
Neighborhood Directions
Using a Map Key
Using a Map Legend
Using a Map Scale
More Using a Map Scale
Physical Map
Grid Maps (created)
Using a Map Grid
Using More Map Grids
Blank Grid Map (created)
SMART Lessons
Evaluative Essay
Student
A
Pre-Assessment
Final Assessment
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20
80
60
60
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50
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60
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70
90
70
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60
70
60
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60
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30
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10
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10
10
10
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12.17391304
Mode
Score
No. of Students Pre
20
30
40
50
60
70
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No. of Students Post
3
1
3
6
7
3
0
2
1
9
8
1
2
The test results showed lower test scores than I had anticipated, but there was also some good signs
of growth in the scores as well. There was an average increase of about 12% from the pre-assessment to
the post-assessment. In the post-assessment, students seemed to show a stronger understanding for
direction, both cardinal and intermediate, the use of a map key or legend, however many are still struggling
with certain aspects of map scale. To demonstrate their knowledge of map scales, students needed to
measure the distance between two cities, then use the map scale to convert it into miles. While most
students did not get the correct answer, the answers given showed that they had improved their use of the
map tool, however struggled to convert one inch to two miles properly--a task that would have come easier
if we did it a little later in the year since we are just beginning our multiplication unit in math.
The worksheets that the students did with each lesson were great to use as formative assessment for
the overall unit. It allowed me to see how students were progressing and what areas they needed help
in. Utilizing both a parent volunteer and my cooperating teacher to provide extra attention to small groups
was important to give the struggling students a better opportunity to learn the content.
Student 2's scores shows he is one of my lower leveled learners. He was one of three students to
score 20% on the pre-assessment, but his growth was not nearly as high as the other two students in the
final assessment. Looking at the formative assessment assignments, the student seems to show an
understanding of the topic, but showed that he wasn't answering what the question was asking. Moving
forward, it will be important to make sure to check that he is not rushing through assignments and that he is
understanding what the question is asking.
Student 1's scores show a 20% increase bringing her right around to the class average for the final
assessment. Student 1 tends to struggle due to her low reading skills, so throughout the unit it was a
priority to make sure she had support reading the directions and the questions so that she could showcase
her knowledge of the topic. The topic she struggled with the most was map scale, and she was able to
practice that skill in a small group with a parent volunteer.
Student 3's scores showed a 10% increase from pre-assessment to final assessment. Student 3
showed a good understanding for each of the topics throughout each lesson of the unit. His understanding
for the topic supported being able to challenge him and extend his lessons to continue pushing him.
Reflective Essay
Due to the freedom that University Schools gives its teachers, this unit was a lot of fun to plan. It
allowed for a lot of creativity and customization, but also provided a challenge in that there is no prestructured curriculum. My cooperating teacher was available to offer support and help, but it was definitely
a lot of work and a lot of planning required to make this a successful unit.
I thought the unit as a whole went well. The students showed from the pre-assessment that they did
not have a strong background knowledge of the tasks and objectives planned for the unit, even though some
of it should have been a review. This changed some of the earlier lessons because more time needed to be
spent on skills that should have been learned in the second grade. After mastering these skills we were able
to continue on and focus on some of the newer map skills that students showed on the pre-assessment they
were unfamiliar with. The students were active and engaged throughout each lesson which was exciting for
me to see that the curriculum planned was as effective as I had hoped.
Since I did have a lot of freedom with my planning, it allowed me to change my lessons from day to
day based off of the performance of the class. It gave me the opportunity to continue to try and address the
needs each learner had. I think it is important to have a structure and guideline for each lesson throughout
the unit, but in order to successfully reach each student, I think it is important to assess every lesson to see
how it can be changed and what needs to be done next to catch a student up or continue to push them
forward.
This unit continued to bring up new challenges every day. Cardinal direction was supposed to be a
quick review but the class showed they needed more practice than I had anticipated. Another challenge
was during the lesson of a map scale. I knew this would be one of the harder topics to teach, but the more
basic tasks such as using a ruler was something I needed to reinforce before getting an understanding of the
topic.
When discussing the progress of the unit with my cooperating teacher, one thing that came up was
that sometimes I got caught trying to explain the topic with terminology or ideas that were still unfamiliar
with the students. This was something that we discussed that needs to be thought through more in the
planning. Especially at this age, it will be important that I am able to explain things clearly and effectively
without further confusing the students. This is where I think the use of the SMART Board is beneficial
because it provides the students with a visual representation of the lesson to be paired with the oral part of
it, and when it is prepared for students to become involved, they are given a tactile experience to help learn
the topic.
The students definitely showed growth from the pre-assessment to the final summative
assessment. While it may not have been as high as I had hoped for, I think most are definitely close to
where I had hoped they would end up. As I reflect on the unit, I believe that some of the scale questions
will have to be modified for next year. The topic of scale is very challenging but I was also incorporating
things such as fractions of an inch and different scale ratios greater than 1:1. These topics are difficult
enough on its own without the added integration of the math or social studies piece. If I were to do it again
I would probably change the timing of the unit or some of the expectations for this early in the
year. Students are just beginning the multiplication unit in math, so it would be a great way to practice but
we are still too early for it to be completely relatable for all learners. If I could not move the unit, I should
have changed some of the questions. One question measured 1.5 inches on a map with a scale of one inch
to two miles. While many students got the answer wrong of the distance being three miles, many students
were answering one and a half miles or they were rounding it up to two inches or four miles. These
answers showed growth from their answers in the pre-assessment, but just did not quite put that last step
together to get the correct answer. By reading in specifically to why or how they got a wrong answer, I will
be able to change my teaching for the future instead of thinking they only got a wrong answer. Ideally I
will be able to catch these errors during the formative assessments so I can address these needs during the
lesson, but I feel it is always important to learn from these mistakes whether it is for next week or next
year.
Planning, assessing, and evaluating this unit allowed me to meet the Performance-Based Standards
for Colorado Teachers because it reflected my efforts to apply the Colorado Model Content Standards in
Mathematics and Common Core State Standards to improve learning for the students. The unit reflected
the integration of mathematics and measurement into another content area such as social studies to extend
and enrich learning time in the classroom.
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