Tutoring and Assessment Case Study for Educ 331

Candidate: Lindsie Nelson

Subject: Social Studies/RLA
331 Instructor: Dr. B. Wilson
Date: December 6, 2014

# of students: 4
Assessing:
Comprehesion
Grade Level(s): 7
School:
Sissonville Middle School
Coop Teacher: Mrs. Parsons
Date of Pretest: November 17, 2014
Average pre-test score: 60%
Date of Posttest: November 19, 2014
Average post-test score: 90%

Decision about Who, What and How to tutor/teach and How to assess:
I chose option two since I am in the self-contained room. I talked to Mrs. Parsons
about what I should teach in my lesson and what grade I should work with. She
suggested I do a lesson on the Pilgrims for the 7th grade since that is what they would
be working on the week I gave my lesson. I used her suggestion to make a lesson
about the first Thanksgiving Feast and assessments that test their comprehension of
the content. Mrs. Parsons suggested I used getkahoot.com for my pre and post-tests
because it doesnt seem like a test for the students but provides good feedback.

Tutoring Lesson/Unit and Assessment Description:

I prepared a test on getkahoot.com that I used for both the pre and post-tests. The test
is multiple choice format that asks questions about the first thanksgiving and the hunting
habits of both the pilgrims and the Native Americans. I also prepared a lesson on this
content by making a story using power point. This story format is similar to stories the
students read each month. In the story I covered how the pilgrims arrived, what they
hunted most, what Native Americans hunted most, how the Native Americans were

important to the pilgrims, why they had a feast, and what the feast was like. I gave the
pre-test on the same day as the lesson because Mrs. Parsons told me they would probably
not know much about pilgrims at all. So, the test would show me what to focus on during
my lesson. The test showed me that I needed to focus on what the feast was like more
than things leading up to the feast. After I read the story to them I had the students make
scrap books with pictures that represent different points of the story. This activity helped
the students with comprehension as I asked what would come next in the scrap book. For
example, if they went from pasting the pilgrims arriving on the Mayflower directly to
people eating at the High Table, I would know to reinforce that the pilgrims first had to
learn how to plant corn from the Native Americans. I gave the posttest two days later.

Link to Standards:
The Seventh Grade CSOs are:
ELA.7.R.C1.6

analyze the interaction between

individuals, events, and ideas in an
informational text (e.g., how ideas
influence individuals or event, or how
individuals influence ideas or events).
(CCSS RI.7.3)

I wanted to assess their comprehension. So, even though it was Social Studies
content, it also had a Reading and Language Arts aspect to it. It is important for
students to know the basic history of our country, and the first thanksgiving is a good
way to introduce students to the relationships between Europeans and Native
Americans. This lesson shows that at one point the relationship was healthy between
the two peoples. I also think the ELA standard is perfect for this lesson because there
were so man ideas exchanged between the Native Americans and the pilgrims. Their

influenced on the pilgrims was integral to the pilgrims survival which influenced the
decision to have a feast. This is the main idea of my lesson that my students learned.
Unfortunately there is no standard concerning Native Americans or pilgrims because
the 7th grade standards focus on geography.
Results of Assessments:
The results of the assessments are listed in the table below.
Student
A
B
C
D
Overall

Pretest score
60%
70%
60%
50%
60%

Post test score

80%
100%
100%
90%
90%

The scores when graphed look like this:

The graph shows that each student needed more information about the First
Thanksgiving to pass the test. With an overall score of 60% on the Pre Test and an
overall score of 90% of the Post Test, the student shows great growth after one lesson and
a review two days later. Student D showed the most growth from 50% to 90%, though
Student B made a 100%, up from 70%. Student C went from 60% to 90% and Student A

made the least improvement with a growth from 60% to 80%. I chose to have the aim line
at 90% because I felt that it was an attainable goal for them and it would be mean that
they master almost all of the material. Two students met the aim line while one surpassed
it. One student fell short by 10%, but still showed growth.

Disaggregated Data

When I disaggregate the data based on gender it shows that the female made the
least amount of growth and did not meet the aim line.
Reflection and Data-based Decision Making:
The pre-test showed me that the students needed to know more about the actual
feast, like how long it lasted, where it took place, and what they ate. There were other
questions that some students missed, but the questions about the actual feast were missed
by each student. So, during my lesson, when I came to the point of the story about the
feast I made sure to elaborate and ask them to compare it to their own lives so they would

remember it. Then, during the scrap book review, I reinforced that the feast lasted a week,
that they ate duck, and it took place in Massachusetts. During the lesson I realized that
the reason they may have missed one of the questions was due to a vocabulary word they
did not know. The word was main course, asking What was the main course of the
feast? After explaining the word the students understood the question. They enjoyed the
scrapbooking time and it helped me determine immediately what material I needed to
explain more before the class was over.
The post test showed me that all the students learned and retained almost all of the
material, which means I was successful in helping them comprehend the story of the First
Thanksgiving. I think using a format they were already familiar with helped them do well
on the post-test. Also, reviewing with the scrapbook helped because the pictures helped
them visualize the sequence of events, an essential part of comprehension.
I wish I would have done more activities with the students, but I would have taken
more time out of Mrs. Parsonss lessons. I think some worksheets or some time on an
interactive website I found would have given them more practice with understanding why
the feast was significant. However, the scores show that the story and the activity was
enough for the students to comprehend the story and score higher on the post-test.
I am happy that I chose to go into the self-contained classroom. The students were
funny and respectful. Mrs. Parsons was happy to include me in any activity and to let me
take some of her class time to complete my lesson. She gave me great input and talked to
me about different ways of working with the students. She was reassuring and supportive
of my lesson, making it a great experience.

APPENDIX
Pre-Post Test