Elementary Education
Elementary Literacy Context for Learning Information
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Do not delete or alter the prompts; both the prompts and your responses are included in the total page
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format specifications. Pages exceeding the maximum will not be scored.
About the School Where You Are Teaching
1. In what type of school do you teach?
Elementary school: [X ]
Middle school: [ ]
Other (please describe): [ ]
Urban: [ ]
Suburban: [ ]
Rural: [ X ]
2. List any special features of your school or classroom setting (e.g., charter, co-teaching,
themed magnet, classroom aide, bilingual, team taught with a special education teacher)
that will affect your teaching in this learning segment.
[There is a teacher’s assistant who works with a group of the students during the small group
reading block. Further, there is also a speech pathologist and the Reading Specialist/AIS
teacher who works with a small group of the students. She emphasizes vocabulary, phonemic
awareness, and writing skills.]
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 has adopted the NYS Common Core ELA standards and thus all instruction,
assignments, and assessments are aligned to those standards. Further, the required text that
the class uses is: Mcgraw-Hill, Reading Wonders, grade 2, 2013. The school also requires the
use of various “Wonders Text”, which will be the studied text of this learning segment. It’s an
expository text entitled, “Weather All Around,” by Deborah November.]
About the Class Featured in This Assessment
1. How much time is devoted each day to literacy instruction in your classroom?
[There are multiple blocks of ELA/literacy instruction throughout the day. The first thirty minutes
of ELA are devoted to spelling and vocabulary. Then for forty five minutes, the class is broken
up into reading groups and each teacher will work the group to emphasize or develop certain
skills (e.g. phonemic awareness, identifying story elements, writing, etc.) Afterward, the last
twenty minutes are devoted to reading the texts.]
2. Is there any ability grouping or tracking in literacy? If so, please describe how it affects your
class.
[Yes. There is a designated time for reading groups in which the students are divided into three
groups, based on reading ability, and work with the teachers. Some students go with the T.A.
and another will work with the Reading specialist/AIS teacher and/or the Speech Pathologist. I
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Elementary Education
Elementary Literacy Context for Learning Information
won’t be able to work with all the students at one time because they are in different places
during ELA instruction.]
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.
[ The class utilizes the text: Mcgraw-Hill, Reading Wonders, grade 2. 2013. During small group
various informational texts are utilized. During this learning segment, we will read the “Weather
All Around,” an expository text, by Deborah November.]
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.
[Similar to math, the teacher will utilize the SMART board to deliver “smart “lessons, the texts,
workbooks, and graphic organizers. Further, the teacher will pool his (or her) own resources
such as trade books. The teacher also uses the doc-cam to show texts to students.]
About the Students in the Class Featured in This Assessment
1. Grade level(s): [ 2 ]
2. Number of
 students in the class [5 ]
 males [ 2 ] females [3 ]
3. Complete the chart 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 chart. 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 IEPs or
504 plans, English language learners, struggling readers, underperforming students or those
with gaps in academic knowledge, and/or gifted students needing greater support or
challenge).
Students with Specific Learning Needs
IEP/504 Plans:
Classifications/Needs
Example: Visual processing
Number of
Students
2
Supports, Accommodations,
Modifications, Pertinent IEP Goals
Close monitoring, large print text,
window card to isolate text
Other Learning Needs
Example: Struggling readers
Number of
Students
5
Gifted Students
5
Supports, Accommodations,
Modifications
Leveled text, targeted guided reading,
ongoing reading assessment (e.g.,
running records, miscue, conferencing)
I want to give them more opportunities to
move toward the higher levels of thinking
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Elementary Education
Elementary Literacy Context for Learning Information
(evaluate and create) on Bloom’s
Taxonomy. They need to be challenged
and assessed beyond the concrete,
remembering stage. They can handle
more rigorous challenges.
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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.