Brittany Vandergrift

TCH 306 Case Study

Worksheet #1 – Should We Have Political Parties?

Language function In this graphic organizer students were to make a claim of if they
think we should have political parties. They were to then provide
evidence and explain their reasoning. Additionally, they were to
extend their thinking by connecting what they have learned in the
past to this. This work did not use the language in the way as it is
intended. The students’ reasoning is that he “thinks we should
have political parties because if we did not have it everything will
be chaos.” Yet the evidence which was used to support is supports
a claim opposite to what he argues. His evidence states the United
States should not have political parties.
Vocabulary and symbols The content words are used specifically the students’ claim and
reasoning (i.e. use of the terms political party). When it came to
explaining he extending his knowledge though, the content
language was avoided altogether as there was not a connection to
what the student had learned in the past.
Discourse Complete sentences are used in some instances. In other instances
(the extend portion of the worksheet) the student has one run-on
sentence to attempt to connect his previously learned knowledge
to what is being asked of him. The lack of punctuation and the
run-on sentence detracts from the credibility of the work.
Syntax The student did not follow the guidelines of the worksheet to the
fullest extent. It seemed he did what would pass as looking
completed as much of the work he did does not line up with his
one source of evidence. He also did not use the prompts that were
provided to him to help him make and explain his claim.

For this assignment I may have this student participate in a

quick write. To open up the class I would ask the students to
think about what their life would be like if the school did not
have any rules. I would extend this to have them think about
Phase 1: Activating &
how their lives would be different if there was no U.S.
Connecting
Constitution. The students would have a few minutes to
(BLL Ch. 7)
write about these scenarios and then share them with a
partner. I would then bring the class together and have a few
students share what they wrote and elaborate on their
thoughts.
 When the students would research I would have them stop
during their research to participate in a think pair share on
the websites they choose. The students would think about
Phase 2: Monitoring &
their article, share it with a partner explaining why the article
Checking
supports their claim and then share with the class the
(BLL Ch. 8)
different research they found. This would help me to see the
direction in which students were going in to steer them in the
correct direction.
Once the students have completed their reading I would have
them participate in a REAP. The students read, then record
Phase 3: Consolidating & the main idea or the argument being made in their article.
Reconnecting They would then annotate the text looking for different
(BLL Ch. 9) arguments made in their article to support their claim. The
students would then reflect on the article making connections
to their lives.
To wrap up the material I would have the students participate
Phase 4: Extending &
in a discussion web in which they would brainstorm reasons
Reflecting
for and against their argument based on the articles that were
(BLL Ch. 10)
shared as well as the articles they read.

Worksheet #2 – Write About: Article #1: The Oregon Country

Language function For this worksheet, students were to pull key vocabulary from a
reading, find images to help summarize the topic they were
reading and make a caption for the image. Additionally, the
students were to summarize their learning by using each of the
terms they pulled from the reading in a paragraph about the topic.
They were to highlight the words when they used them in the
paragraph. The purpose of this work was to read for information
and demonstrate their understanding of words they may not have
heard before or be comfortable with. The student was able to read
the information and pull unfamiliar words about the topic. After
reading the information though, the student was only able to use
one of the words in a sentence and not create a paragraph.
Vocabulary and symbols In the sentence the student wrote using the keyword from the
reading correctly to an extent. The term was a treaty; therefore the
student knew the word treaty, yet did not know the name of the
treaty. Therefore, the sentence the student constructed does not
make must sense. He also has a fragment as the end of the writing.
The student’s use of English made sense to an extent due to the
fragment at the end of the document.
Discourse The student instead of writing out the entire word “United States”
abbreviates the word as “u.s” Through this the student uses an
abbreviation incorrectly as it is missing the period after the “s.”
 The student also has a fragment at the end of the summarize
section. As the student lists the key words, he does not capitalize
proper nouns (i.e. California is not capitalized). While the student
is still able to get the point of the assignment, the punctuation and
grammatical errors area distracting
Syntax Is the syntax appropriate? For example, do math problems
demonstrate adherence to clear rules and procedures? Are rules
followed adequately, given the task?
The syntax for the most part is not appropriate. While the student
understood some of what he was expected to do for the
assignment, there are many grammar issues within this
assignment. The student also did not finish the assignment.

To start off this activity I would have the students interact

with some of the vocabulary in the reading prior to looking
at it. I will pull key vocabulary from the article and allow
Phase 1: Activating &
students to work either independently or in pairs to create
Connecting
sentences with the new vocabulary to allow for students to
(BLL Ch. 7)
become familiar with the vocab used in the article. It would
also allow them to make predictions on the meanings of the
words.
While reading I would have the students participate in a
Phase 2: Monitoring & think aloud. They would read a paragraph or two at a time
Checking and then talk about the reading as a pair in either their native
(BLL Ch. 8) language or in English. They would describe one thing they
learned and write down questions the students may still have.
To help the students comprehend their reading I would have
the students participate in a Somebody Wanted But So
activity. Through this, students will find the main person in
the text or the “Somebody” and write this person’s name
under the “Somebody” column in their chart. The students
Phase 3: Consolidating &
will then find what this person wanted and place that one-
Reconnecting
word response under their “Wanted” column. They will then
(BLL Ch. 9)
find the issue in the article and write that one worded answer
under the “But” column. Finally, the students will find the
result of these events and write it under the “So” column. For
example, South (Somebody) Slavery (Wanted) North (But)
Civil War (So).
To assist the students in extending their learning I would
Phase 4: Extending &
have the students get into groups to participate in a
Reflecting
performance response in which students would create a
(BLL Ch. 10)
performance based on their readings.
Summary
While this particular student may have some room to grow he does have many strengths to help him on
his journey. In this case, it seems this student is very capable of reading what is asked of him.
Additionally, he comprehends the ideas he reads about. The translation and application of these ideas
seem to be the place in which this student may need to grow. To assist in this, the student may need to
slow the speed of his reading when reading different directions as he has the information he needs to
succeed. Slowing down to read and comprehend the directions being presented to him may help him
more.