Elementary Education - Literacy

Task 1: Literacy Context for Learning Information

TASK 1: LITERACY CONTEXT FOR LEARNING INFORMATION

Respond to the prompts below (no more than 4 single-spaced pages, including prompts) by typing your responses within the
brackets following each prompt. Do not delete or alter the prompts. Pages exceeding the maximum will not be scored.

About the School Where You Are Teaching

1. In what type of school do you teach? (Type an X next to the appropriate description; if
other applies, provide a brief description.)
Elementary school: __X___
Middle school: _____
Other (please describe): _____
Urban: _____
Suburban: __X__
Rural: _____
2. List any special features of your school or classroom setting (e.g., charter, co-teaching,
themed magnet, intervention or other leveled small group instruction, classroom aide,
bilingual, team taught with a special education teacher) that will affect your teaching in this
learning segment.
[The elementary school I am at serves kids from Pre-K through grade five. There are a total of
571 students. 74% are African American, 13% Hispanic, 6% White, 5% Multi-Racial, and 2%
Asian. Of those students, 3% or 19 students are classified as gifted. There are 51 teachers at
this school with 37 of those having advanced degrees, and the average years of experience is
10. The classroom I am in is team taught with a special education teacher also in the room.
They exemplify co-teaching a lot of the time also.]
3. Describe any district, school, or cooperating teacher requirements or expectations that might
affect your planning or delivery of instruction, such as required curricula, pacing plan, use of
specific instructional strategies, or standardized tests.
[The school district that my school is in follows a pacing plan for the standards and common
core. Standardized tests are administered at the end of every school year called the Georiga
Milestones. The way teachers prepare for this is to follow the standards given by the state. 5th
grade also has a standardized writing test during the year that they have to prepare for.]

About the Class Featured in this Learning Segment

1. How much time is devoted each day to literacy instruction in your classroom?
[The English-Language Arts section of the day is from 12:50-2:30. This includes Word Sort,
Shared Reading, Paired Reading, Interactive Read Aloud, Writing, and Interactive Writing. It is a
combination of those things everyday with the 3 big overall subjects being Word Sort, Reading,
and Writing.]
2. Is there any ability grouping or tracking in literacy? If so, please describe how it affects your
class.
[No, there is not any examples of this in my classroom.]
3. Identify any textbook or instructional program you primarily use for literacy instruction. If a
textbook, please provide the title, publisher, and date of publication.
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Elementary Education - Literacy

Task 1: Literacy Context for Learning Information

[They do a Word Sort every week out of book that provides the curriculum and activities for the
teacher to be able to teach to the students. They use FastForword, a computer program, which
helps them with their phonemic awareness and fluency.]
4. List other resources (e.g., electronic whiteboard, classroom library or other text sets, online
professional resources) you use for literacy instruction in this class.
[My teacher uses the SMART Board as a resource for the word sorts some times. They have
class sets of young adult novels that they use for shared reading. The teachers pick books that
are relevant to their specified topics to use for interactive read aloud. They also project the goals
and objectives for the day on the SMART Board, along with the essential questions, so the
students are able to see these and follow along with the plans. An online website that discusses
the writing process is used everyday during writing to remind the students of what steps they
should be using.]

About the Students in the Class Featured in this Learning

Segment
1. Grade-level(s):
[ 5th grade]
2. Number of

students in the class: __22___

males: __16___ females: __6__

3. Complete the charts below to summarize required or needed supports, accommodations, or

modifications for your students that will affect your literacy instruction in this learning
segment. As needed, consult with your cooperating teacher to complete the charts. Some
rows have been completed in italics as examples. Use as many rows as you need.
Consider the variety of learners in your class who may require different strategies/supports
or accommodations/modifications to instruction or assessment (e.g., students with
Individualized Education Programs [IEPs] or 504 plans, students with specific language
needs, students needing greater challenge or support, students who struggle with reading,
students who are underperforming or those with gaps in academic knowledge).
For Literacy Assessment Task 3, you will choose work samples from 3 focus students. At
least one of these students must have a specified learning need. Note: California candidates
must include one focus student who is an English language learner.1
Students with IEPs/504 Plans
IEPs/504 Plans:
Classifications/Needs
EBD

Number of
Students
2

Supports, Accommodations,
Modifications, Pertinent IEP Goals
Special Ed, Collaborative teacher coteaching with regular teacher

California candidatesIf you do not have any English language learners, select a student who is challenged by academic

English.

Copyright 2015 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.

2 of 3 | 4 pages maximum
All rights reserved.
V4_0915
The edTPA trademarks are owned by The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. Use of the edTPA trademarks is
permitted only pursuant to the terms of a written license agreement.

Elementary Education - Literacy

Task 1: Literacy Context for Learning Information

SLD- Reading

Pulled by special education collaborative

teacher during read alouds, given extra
time on tests

SLD- Reading and Math

Pulled by special education collaborative

teacher during read alouds, given extra
time on math and reading tests. Provided
with more one-one-one attention by both
teachers in both subjects

Students with Specific Language Needs

Language Needs
Speech

Number of
Students
4

Supports, Accommodations,
Modifications
Pulled for support by speech teacher

Students with Other Learning Needs

Other Learning Needs
Gifted

Number of
Students
3

EIP

Supports, Accommodations,
Modifications
Gifted teacher comes in during science to
provide extra support to gifted students
Progress-monitored throughout semester,
called back to table with teacher for more
individual attention during week

Copyright 2015 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.

3 of 3 | 4 pages maximum
All rights reserved.
V4_0915
The edTPA trademarks are owned by The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. Use of the edTPA trademarks is
permitted only pursuant to the terms of a written license agreement.