Tpa 5- assess, provide feedback & report student learning

3.6, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, & 5.5

Tpa focus area – mathematics
Context:
During my placement, I taught a composite class of reception year students with diverse learning
needs. My goal was to create a unit plan that included lessons, activities, and assessments tailored to
all students, considering their readiness, interests, and learning abilities. There were 14 students in
the class, including one child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, three children suspected of
being on the spectrum, and one student significantly behind their peers in learning progress.
Occasionally, these students received assistance from a special teacher, but most of the time, it was
up to the main teacher or me to provide one-on-one support, differentiated lessons, and additional
breaks to ensure these students could successfully complete their tasks.

What did you want the students to learn?

The aim of assessments throughout this unit was to monitor the children’s progress in counting on
strategy of counting to 10 and beyond. The children participated in a series of 15 lessons to develop a
solid understanding of this topic. The learning intentions and outcomes for this unit were based on
the australian curriculum achievement standards for reception year, incorporating a wide range of
numeracy content descriptors.

Achievement standard: foundation year

By the end of foundation year, students make connections between number names, numerals and
position in the sequence of numbers from zero to at least 20. They use subitising and counting
strategies to quantify collections. Students compare the size of collections to at least 20. They
partition and combine collections up to 10 in different ways, representing these with numbers.
Students represent practical situations that involve quantifying, equal sharing, adding to and taking
away from collections to at least 10. They copy and continue repeating patterns.

Students identify the attributes of mass, capacity, length and duration, and use direct comparison
strategies to compare objects and events. They sequence and connect familiar events to the time of
day. Students name, create and sort familiar shapes and give their reasoning. They describe the
position and the location of themselves and objects in relation to other objects and people within a
familiar space.

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Reception students:

 Name, represent and order numbers including zero to at least 20, using physical and virtual
materials and numerals(ac9mfn01)
 Recognise and name the number of objects within a collection up to 5 using
subitising(ac9mfn02)
 Quantify and compare collections to at least 20 using counting and explain or demonstrate
reasoning(ac9mfn03)

Anecdotal Observation Record: Counting On to 10 and Beyond

Context: Counting concepts

Date: 30/5/2024
Focus Children: Whole Class
Purpose for Documenting: To observe child engagement and understanding of counting
concepts in the TPA3 unit plan
Documented by: Jinyi Jie

Observation:
Across three lessons, children engaged in counting activities using farm animal figures and other
hands-on methods. Initially, students counted up to 6, with Child A demonstrating enthusiasm and
accuracy, while Child C struggled but showed improvement with scaffolding. In the second lesson,
students extended counting to 10, with visual aids like number lines aiding understanding. Child A
grasped the concept quickly, while others needed additional guidance, particularly those focusing
more on artistic tasks. By the final lesson, children worked on counting beyond 10, with Child A
successfully using trial and error to reach 16 after targeted support. Advanced learners like Child D
demonstrated strong mastery and assisted peers, indicating the need for enrichment, while some
children struggled with fine motor tasks during tactile activities.

What This Tells Us:

The majority of students were able to count up to 10 with confidence by the end of the lessons.
While some required additional support, especially when counting beyond 10, most students
demonstrated a solid grasp of one-to-one correspondence and counting sequences up to 10. Visual

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aids and peer collaboration were particularly effective in reinforcing this understanding, although
some learners may still benefit from ongoing practice and guidance.

Reflection and Next Steps:

Moving forward, I plan to conduct a summative assessment, such as a quiz, to test the students'
ability to count up to 10 and beyond. This will help gauge their individual progress and identify any
remaining gaps in understanding. Additionally, alternative materials will be introduced to support
students with fine motor challenges, and enrichment activities will be provided for advanced learners
to further extend their counting skills. Structured instructions will also be reinforced during creative
tasks to ensure focus on the numerical objectives.

The final summative assessment

The assessment focuses on counting the number of farm animals without skipping any numbers,
using a quiz with animal form. Each student had an opportunity to complete the form independently.
I was looking at two key assessment components: the ability to count without skipping numbers, and
subitizing skills. These two components can be used to establish three performance standards:
Outstanding, Met, and Developing.

Criteria Outstanding Met Developing

Number counting from Count almost all of Count more than half Count up to half of
1 to 20. them of the numbers 1-20 them
Counting without No numbers are Skipped one or two Over half of the
skipping numbers skipped during numbers numbers were skipped
counting

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Whole Class Quiz
Criteria Outstanding Met Developing
Number counting 6 5 3
Counting without 9 4 1
skipping numbers

 After assessing the class of 14 students, I have summarised their overall performance.
 From the data, we can see that most students can count from 1 to 20 without skipping any
numbers, meeting or exceeding the standards for this unit. This demonstrates that the goal of
the unit has been achieved. Additionally, almost all students have mastered basic counting
without skipping numbers.
 Although only a few children in the test met the developing standard for counting, the main
issue was that they double-counted objects, even though they didn’t skip numbers. Future
lessons should focus on teaching strategies to avoid double-counting and reinforcing the
concept that each object is counted only once.

Focus children
Child A

 Child A shows strong counting skills with numbers 1 to 10 but struggles with numbers 11 to
20. She can count from 1 to 20 in the correct order independently, which demonstrates her
understanding of number sequencing. However, despite this, she often ends up counting some

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 objects twice, leading to incorrect totals. For example, she counted 11 cows as 12 and 15
horses as 16. This usually happens when counting more than 10 objects; as the number of
items increases, she loses track of which ones she has already counted.
 This suggests that while Child A understands the sequence of numbers from 1 to 20 and
knows that the last number counted represents the total, she still needs further practice. To
help her avoid recounting objects, I recommend supporting her by encouraging the use of
strategies like marking items with her finger or a pen as she counts. On the positive side,
Child A doesn’t skip any numbers when counting, which is a great strength.
 Providing positive feedback is crucial to encourage Child A's learning. In future sessions, I
plan to design specific counting tasks to help her and other children in similar situations.
These activities would focus on counting objects only once, such as asking how many
markers are in the classroom and encouraging her to count on her fingers for accuracy.

Child B

 Child B is an excellent counter, able to count from 1 to 20 without skipping numbers or

double-counting. Notably, for numbers above 10 or when faced with a large group of objects,
she used a pencil to mark what she had already counted. This technique has significantly
improved her counting accuracy and consistency.

 For future: Since Child B benefits from marking objects with a pencil to improve counting
accuracy, introduce activities that encourage mental marking techniques. Guide her to use her

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 finger or eye movements to track objects as she counts. Start with smaller sets and gradually
increase, fostering independence in counting.

Data for future

Throughout the counting unit I used a quiz to monitor the children's counting number, skipping
number to assess their counting skills. I was able to assess in general terms whether the class
understood how to count from 1 to 20 and was able to identify more specifically those children who
were struggling with counting. Therefore, I would use the data I collected about individual children
to provide a focus for my feedback and teaching to specific children and to guide me in the class. For
example, if I know which children have the habit of skipping numbers or recounting numbers, I will
provide special number line cards to encourage them to look at the number order and count without
skipping numbers. As a next step, we will target these children with the counting activities and tasks
described above for child A and child B. These activities include demonstrating how to practise
counting without skipping numbers. These activities include demonstrating combinations of
practising counting without skipping numbers, counting objects without repetition, and subitising to
develop children's counting skills.

How to provide feedback to children

Teacher’s feedback is essential for children's future learning and development. Feedback is also a
vital approach for enhancing children's comprehension and future achievement. Besides, it helps
learners to reflect on their current learning skills since they could make some appropriate
adjustments to achieve their own learning intentions. Additionally, feedback should give children
specific instructions on how to improve works. I usually use verbal, gestural and written feedback.

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According to children’s young age, the mainly unit feedback provided to children is verbal, which
gives them the opportunity to immediately reflect on their work, make adjustments and apply what
they have learnt in relevant contexts. I verbally praised the children for their careful counting when I
walked round the classroom or when they came to me with their work. In addition to this, I have set
up a painting station with number as an extra reward for those children who complete the counting
task.

At the end of the unit, I provide written feedback on the children's activity tasks. I read my individual
comments to each child at the appropriate time, ensuring the feedback is constructive and encourages
further improvement. However, some children may not have noticed and next time it may be better
to inform the children by writing on the reverse side of the maths book with the date. However, for
some children, such as child A who doesn't really like feedback from others and thinks she has done
a good job, written feedback may be a better approach than verbal feedback. This also helps this also
helps to communicate with the family about the child's learning.

Reporting to parents and carers

Throughout the counting unit, I informed some families about their children's counting progress by
giving the children certificates. I also communicated with some parents and provided photocopied
teaching materials so that these novice learners could practice their counting skills at home.