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: X
Suburban: _____
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 school in which I teach is a magnet school. The magnet focuses are in
communications: multimedia, writing, and Spanish. The school is a Pre-K through fifth grade
elementary school with 474 students. 100% of the students are on free lunch. 96% of the
students are African American. There are 35 classroom teachers in all. The school
implements The Leader In Me and focuses on teaching the 7 Habits and promoting
leadership in all students. The school also implements Positive Behavior Intervention
Support (PBIS) and they combine it with The Leader in Me program. The third-grade
teachers, that I teach with, work together to collaborate and plan weekly. The teachers also
group students based on reading ability for intervention groups for forty-five minutes at the
end of each day. Each of the third-grade teachers takes a group to focus on a specific skill
during intervention: comprehension, fluency, and writing. Beginning in January, third through
fifth grade students are selected to participate in after school tutoring. The teachers on these
grade levels use benchmark testing data to identify students who would benefit from after
school tutoring in reading. My host class has three gifted students in it and my host teacher
collaborates with the Gifted Teacher to develop reading lessons to challenge these students.
The gifted class takes place on site once a week and the students stay with the gifted
teacher all day.]
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.
[Students take the state mandated ELA assessment. It is a state requirement that all third
graders pass the reading portion of the test. If they do not pass, they will have to retake and
attend summer school. Students also take the STAR benchmark test monthly in reading.
Teachers look at the scale and lexile scores in reading that they receive from the STAR
assessment to progress monitor where students are and the growth that they need to make in
order to be on grade level. Grouping for the intervention periods are determined based off of
these scores. The district aligns the pacing guides with the Common Core State Standards, and
teachers follow the pacing guide provided by the district. Because of this, lessons follow an

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 Elementary Education - Literacy
Task 1: Literacy Context for Learning Information

instructional framework provided by the district. The third grade teachers do not use the reading
textbook. Instead they supplement passages to teach the comprehension and composition
strategies based on the pacing guide and state standards..]

About the Class Featured in this Learning Segment

1. How much time is devoted each day to literacy instruction in your classroom?
[In my classroom, students have reading, English, and writing instruction for 90 minutes every
day. They receive mini-lessons on each topic and are provided with time to practice. Students
are also engaged in guided reading groups for 30 minutes during this 90 minute block to focus
on a specific literacy strategy. My host teacher teaches ELA to her homeroom class. Students
have a 45 minute intervention block at the end of each day. Each of the third grade teachers
work with students on comprehension and fluency during these intervention blocks.]
2. Is there any ability grouping or tracking in literacy? If so, please describe how it affects your
class.
[The class is grouped by ability during guided reading instruction. This guided reading period is
for students to have additional time to finish assignments that they were given during the
“reading” block if needed, time to focus on reading comprehension, or to focus on a specific
composition skill. This guided reading time is crucial for the literacy development of the
students. The scores from the STAR benchmark assessment mentioned above assists the
teacher in placing the students into particular guided reading groups. The students are also
grouped based off of the benchmark scores during the intervention block described above.]
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.
[Teachers follow the pacing guide and frameworks from The school district. The teachers do not
use a textbook curriculum for English Language Arts in this classroom. A variety of passages
are selected to practice different literacy skills in order to prepare students for the standardized
assessment.]
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.
[Some of the resources utilized during the literacy block include the interactive panel, library
books, laptops, and a document camera.]

About the Students in the Class Featured in this Learning

Segment
1. Grade-level(s):
[The students featured in this learning segment are in the third grade.]
2. Number of
 students in the class: 4
 Females: 4
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.

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 Elementary Education - Literacy
Task 1: Literacy Context for Learning Information

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: Number of Supports, Accommodations,
Classifications/Needs Students Modifications, Pertinent IEP Goals
Example: Visual processing 2 Close monitoring, large print text, window
card to isolate text

Students with Specific Language Needs

Language Needs Number of Supports, Accommodations,
Students Modifications
Example: English language 2 Pre-teach key words and phrases
learners with only a few through examples and graphic organizers
words of English (e.g., word cluster, manipulatives, visuals)

Have students use pre-taught key words

Example: Students who
speak a variety of English
other than that used in
textbooks
and graphic organizers to
complete sentence starters
5 Make connections between the language
students bring and the language used in
the textbook

Students with Other Learning Needs

Other Learning Needs Number of Supports, Accommodations,
Students Modifications
Example: Struggling readers 5 Leveled text, targeted guided reading,
ongoing reading assessment (e.g.,
running records, miscue, conferencing)
Struggling Readers 1 Guided Reading Groups, Intervention
time, fluency practice

1
California candidates—If you do not have any English language learners, select a student who is challenged by academic
English.

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 Elementary Education - Literacy
Task 1: Literacy Context for Learning Information

Gifted learner 1 Greater challenge for reading materials

and multiple opportunities to expand on
thinking

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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.