TEACHER WORK SAMPLE

Teacher Work Sample: Standard 1: Contextual Factors

A Unit on Science for Fourth Grade
ELM 598
Mary Bartkowski
Judy Halvorson
University of Phoenix, Hawaii Campus

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Contextual Factors
Community, District and School Factors
This earth science unit was developed for a fourth grade mixed classroom at a large, onpost military elementary school in central Oahu. The curriculum for this unit was designed for
students that perform below grade level, at grade level and above grade level in both math and
reading. This school offers a Science Technology Engineering and Math class to further enrich
the students in scientific topics by incorporating labs into a weekly classroom experience, but the
cooperating teacher is responsible for teaching specific science standards for their fourth grade
classroom. Most of the students in this particular class meet proficiency in math and reading
skills. My cooperating teacher teaches the majority of the science standards that will be assessed
during the fourth-grade end of year benchmark tests, during the first quarter of the school year.
There are three students who take resource classes in both math and reading and they do
participate in the science classes.
The school serves roughly 770 students in grades Kindergarten through fifth grade from a
mainly military area. Major Sheldon Wheeler Elementary School is located in the Central
district in the town of Wahiawa, Hawaii on Wheeler Army Airfield. It is one of five Armyimpacted schools located on-post and shares a campus connected to Wheeler Middle School.
Wheeler is part of the Honolulu Department of Education, but parents are typically affiliated
with the military. Ninety percent of Wheeler Elementary students are military dependents of
either enlisted or officer personnel. The school works closely with 25th Combat Aviation
Brigade and is active in helping with transitions and the challenges of deployments and military
life.

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Wheeler Elementary is part of the Leilehua Complex and includes Daniel K. Inouye
Elementary School, Helemano Elementary School, Iliahi Elementary School, Leilehua High
School, Solomon Elementary School, Wahiawa Elementary School, Wahiawa Middle School,
and Wheeler Middle School. According to the 2010 U.S. Census reports, the total population for
the Leilehua Complex is 44,040. The number of family households is 9,844 and the median
household income is $50,592, which is lower than the state average of $66,420.
Wheeler Elementary was built in 1968. At that time, it included Wheeler Middle
School and Solomon Elementary schools. Since then, Solomon Elementary has relocated to
Schofield Barracks, leaving only the elementary and middle schools on the campus. The school
is named after real-life Major Sheldon Wheeler, who was stationed in Hawaii in 1919. Major
Wheeler died on July 13, 1921 when his plane fell while landing. Major Wheelers son, Colonel
Wheeler, was present in 1968 for ceremonies to officially open the school. Wheeler Air Force
Base has historical significance dating back to February 1922, when construction work began
on a new airfield in Hawaii...it was named Wheeler Field on 11 November 1922 in honor of
Major Sheldon H. Wheeler, former commander of Luke Field on Ford Island (Wheeler Middle
School). Most of the historical data for this school is accessible through Wheeler Middle
Schools website. The website for Wheeler Elementary school lacks specific details.
Student Characteristics
The philosophy at Wheeler Elementary is dedicated to excellence in education
(Wheeler Elementary School). The school accomplishes this by participating in common core
standards-based curriculum and instructional staff meetings called Professional Learning
Communities (Accountability Resource Center Hawaii). Wheeler is in the process of being

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approved for Western Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation. They are currently in
candidacy status for Kindergarten through 5th grade and [are] scheduled for full accreditation
in 2017-2018 school year (ARCH). The teachers are aware of this process and attend weekly
meetings to make sure that they are reaching these goals.
In 2014-2015 school enrollment included 770 students, but only 574 students were
enrolled for the entire school year (ARCH). This is most likely due to military permanent
change of duty stations that occur mid-school year. The following data is available through the
Accountability Resource Center for Hawaii and details much of the demographical information
for this school. Specific information regarding my classroom was obtained through the front
office of the school.
The number of students in special education programs was 10.2%. This is consistent
with other elementary schools in the Leilehua Complex which see a range of 8-10% of their
population in special education programs. Depending on the specific need of the child and their
Individual Educational Plan, children attend part-time resource classes or full-time resource
classes. Of the enrolled students, 48% received free or reduced-cost lunch. Wheeler falls
roughly in the center of assistance, compared to Wahiawa Elementary, where 80.4% receive free
or reduced-cost lunch, and Daniel K. Inouye, where only 33.9% of the students receive
assistance. Only 2.3% of the students at Wheeler have limited English proficiency. The children
who attend Wheeler ethnically identify as white (55.9%), black (18.2%), Hispanic (8.6%),
Filipino (4.5%), Native Hawaiian (2.1%), and all other ethnicities are less than 2.0% of the
population of this school (ARCH).

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My class is very similar to the demographics of the school. The following details
regarding this classroom were made available to me through the data available at the main office
and grade booking system. In the Echo One, fourth-grade classroom, there were twenty-five
students. In this classroom, the students who identify as white 46%, black 25%, Hispanic 13%,
American Indian 8%, and Filipino 8%. Additionally, 55% of the students are on free or reduced
price lunch. Two students arrived three weeks after the start of school. 92% of the students have
either one or both parents active in the military. The two students whose parents are not active
duty military, their parents are retired military and are civilians contracted with Wheeler Air
Field. Three students have recently reunited with their parents after a nine-month overseas
deployment. Currently, one students parent is still on a deployment and will return in the next
four months. During this school year, six students will send off one parent to an overseas
deployment.
The Individual Educational Plans for the three students who attend resource classes
indicate their specific disability. They do have language and math issues that hinder their
reading comprehension and math abilities. Two children are on the Autism Spectrum that affects
their behavior and interactions with others. They often feel overwhelmed in chaotic situations.
There are other students who do have behavior disorders - Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity
Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder, but these students do not take classes in the
resource room because their language and math skills are on par with the average fourth grade
student.
My cooperating teachers classroom is in a separate location from the main campus. The
desks are arranged in groups of five with space for the whiteboard and additional space for
laptop projection unit. Although there are computers and laptops in the room, the operating

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software has not yet been updated to allow the students access to common programs like IXL,
Time4Learning, and StudyIsland. There are a variety of manipulatives in the science room that
can be brought over for use during my unit.
The grouping of the desks is kind of awkward, but not so much that I will not be able to
accomplish hands-on activities and projects with the students. I do plan on using the laptop and
projector to present slides and video presentations to the students to visually show some
concepts. I do plan on using Pearson Interactive Science videos during this unit to assist my
visual learners.
Student Learning Approaches
The school uses the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) to assess
children in reading and EasyCBM for math. The results of these tests aids the teachers in grouping the
students for projects and other work. The students are asked to do independent work, but are allowed
many opportunities to work in teams to accomplish tasks. The cooperating teachers goal is to make sure
that at the end of the year adequate progress has been made for all the students. Specifically, for science
this means taking the Standardized Testing and Reporting Programs performance test at the end of the
year. During the teachers Professional Learning Communities, teachers work together as a team to help
streamline the curriculum and map out the units to teach for each subject area. This includes science and
science standards. The teachers are given the standards that need to be addressed by the end of the first
quarter. Science will only be taught during quarter one and quarter three. Social Studies and history are
taught in quarter two and quarter four.
Implications for Instructional Planning and Assessment
Reading comprehension and math skills are addressed in all subject areas. Additionally,
Hawaiian cultural studies is also stressed in all subject areas. During my earth science unit, I do plan on
having students read nonfiction passages to support my lesson. For these sections, I will read to my three
resource students and assist them as needed. I plan on allowing these students the opportunity to draw

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definitions or cut and paste pictures to use in their vocabulary notes. There are a few math topics that I
will use as well. The resource students will use basic addition and subtraction skills and have the
opportunity to work with math manipulatives to work out problems, whereas the average students will be
using multiplication, division and algebraic skills to solve problems. I bring in Hawaiian studies by
having the students using Hawaiian terms for lava and having the students pair pictures of different types
of lava to the Hawaiian term. Additionally, the unit includes a soil study to decide where the best location
on Oahu is to plant pineapples.
There is some overlap between what is taught during STEM class and the general science class. I
have met with the STEM teacher and will use his lessons as a launching pad for a deeper discussion and
other lab work on those topics. One challenge that I foresee is that the science class is at the end of the
day and this time is often interrupted with special school announcements, early release Wednesdays and
art classes on Tuesdays. I plan on having a two-minute quick review of the slides and notes from the
previous lesson to fill in any gaps in the learning due to continuity issues.

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References

Accountability Resource Center Hawaii. (2016). Retrieved August 22, 2016, from
http://arch.k12.hi.us/school/ssir/2015/central.html
Wheeler Elementary School. (2016). Retrieved August 22, 2016, from
http://www.wheeler.k12.hi.us/
Wheeler Middle School. (n.d.). Retrieved August 22, 2016, from http://www.wheelm.k12.hi.us/