1B. Students
On average, how many students were present during the observation(s)? Based on the observation(s), describe the diversity of the students.
There were 25 students in the classroom. Twenty- one her students are Chinese and four are Spanish students. There are two entering, three emerging, four transitioning, five expanding, six commanding, and the rest are non-ELL students.
1C. Adults
How many other adults were in the room? Describe their roles (e.g., parent, co-teacher, teacher’s aide, student-teacher, special education teacher).
There were two adults in the room, the classroom teacher and myself. The teacher is a fourth- grade ENL teacher. My role for that observation was to observe my colleague teach that mini lesson that day. I also coached into student conversations during turn- and- talk discussions and posed questions to assist with some stop and jot thinking work on their post- it. I walked around the room while students worked independently, giving feedback to their work. I provided a compliment and a next step for them to improve on their future stop and jots. I worked with a small group of students focusing on choosing just right character’s traits.
1D. Summary of Observation(s)
Using your practicum journal notes and focusing on the appropriate Performance Activity/ies, provide 3-4 sentences summarizing what was observed in each observation.
Remember that a summary focuses on retelling the main events of the observation in your own words. No opinion or analysis should be part of your summary.
The teaching point of the lesson was “Good readers know when it’s time to stop because something big is happening in their stories! They take a moment to jot down their ideas so they can come back to them later to write long! “. The focus today was noticing character traits. The teacher used her anchor chart to review the difference between feelings and traits. The anchor chart also provided examples of some common feelings and traits that students come across as they read. The teacher modeled her thinking and post- it work with the read aloud picture book, “The Invisible Boy”. The focus questions were: How would we describe Justin as a character? And What’s his personality like? The teacher also, used and displayed sentence stems throughout the lesson. For independent work, the students’ goal was to stop and jot when they notice traits about characters in their books, by using the sentence stems provided.
Step 2: Analyze observation(s) and the connection(s) to the standard/indicator. In this analysis, closely examine the observation(s) to understand the parts and ways they work together. Focus on the connection(s) between the observation(s) and the explicit standard/indicator the observation(s) addressed. Be sure to support all claims with specific examples from the observation(s).
The teacher follows TESOL Pre-K–12 English Language Proficiency Standards Framework. Her lesson connect to Standard 2, English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the area of language arts. Academic language was included to teach the lesson and students included the academic language in their responses. Her lesson touched upon each of the five language proficiency standards. The language domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing were touched upon throughout the entire lesson. Students had to actively listen to the read aloud and be able to produce their own stop and jot notes. During the read aloud, students were able to turn and talk to partners about their big idea. They had to make the connection when they independently read their leveled books. Lastly, students had to show their thinking on a post- it. They were expected to use the sentence stems to grow ideas about their characters focusing on their traits.
Step 3: Analyze what was observed and its impact on student learning. Using classroom data and anecdotal data from the observation(s), analyze the way in which what was observed impacts student learning. Consider the way specific characteristics of students in the observed class(es) (e.g., developmental characteristics, previously demonstrated academic performance/ability and special needs, socio-economic profile, ethnicity/cultural/gender make-up, special needs and language) impact decisions regarding instruction and assessments, especially in terms of the explicit standard on which the observation(s) focused. Provide specific numbers whenever possible. Be sure to
support all claims with specific examples from the observation(s).
The teacher spent a week teaching pre- unit lessons before launching the unit, Interpreting Characters. The purpose of these pre- unit lessons is getting them ready to do the thinking work expected when the unit begins. In my opinion, these planned pre unit lessons are beneficial to all her students. It gives the students a chance to refresh their memory of some of the work they had done the previous year. It also gives the teacher an overview of which students needs additional support to further instruction for whole class and targeted small group instruction.
She also shared with me a list of all the picture books the class has already read. Students are able to make connections to these familiar picture books for these types of lessons. Each picture book read aloud, was revisited and used to model stop and jots. Every read aloud has teacher and student post- it responses on every page. All the post- it work are labeled character trait, character feeling, character change, or theme. Doing many read aloud picture books give students exposure to many different skills needed for the unit. Students are introduced to new character traits and some themes that arise from the reading. They build on their vocabulary through discussions all throughout every read aloud.
With the read aloud Invisible Boy in this lesson, she heavily modeled her thinking and post- it work with the first few pages. Her questioning and wonderings were clearly stated before her stop and jots. She then moved on to students doing the work and having students come up and place their post- it responses onto the page under the document camera. The teacher had the goal stated on the board, along with a chart “When do reader’s stop and jot”. She modeled her questioning and thinking several times. The students also produced the work that was expected with the help of tools, anchor charts, and minimal assistance from the teacher asking questions to further their thinking.
With a class consisting of many different levels of ELL students, she provides many charts, student’s tools with pictures and sentence starter prompts. Throughout the lesson, it is evident that students use the tools and charts around the classroom. For independent work, you can see the students independently taking out tools from their tool kit to help them stop and jot. For example, some took out their trait cards and some took out their sentence stem cards.
It is important to do heavy scaffolding like how she is teaching these pre- unit lessons. When the unit actually starts, the goal is to for their ideas to evolve into higher level of thinking. She is also increasing student’s vocabulary with precise academic language. This pre- unit lesson before launching the unit benefits the population of her class. She shared that the level of discussion is gradually growing because of all these strategies and the read aloud picture books that are being read to them.
Reference
Tesol Pre-K–12 English language proficiency standards ... (n.d.). Retrieved October 25, 2021, from https://www.tesol.org/docs/books/bk_prek-12elpstandards_framework_318.pdf?sfvrsn=2
On average, how many students were present during the observation(s)? Based on the observation(s), describe the diversity of the students.
There were 25 students in the classroom. Twenty- one her students are Chinese and four are Spanish students. There are two entering, three emerging, four transitioning, five expanding, six commanding, and the rest are non-ELL students.
1C. Adults
How many other adults were in the room? Describe their roles (e.g., parent, co-teacher, teacher’s aide, student-teacher, special education teacher).
There were two adults in the room, the classroom teacher and myself. The teacher is a fourth- grade ENL teacher. My role for that observation was to observe my colleague teach that mini lesson that day. I also coached into student conversations during turn- and- talk discussions and posed questions to assist with some stop and jot thinking work on their post- it. I walked around the room while students worked independently, giving feedback to their work. I provided a compliment and a next step for them to improve on their future stop and jots. I worked with a small group of students focusing on choosing just right character’s traits.
1D. Summary of Observation(s)
Using your practicum journal notes and focusing on the appropriate Performance Activity/ies, provide 3-4 sentences summarizing what was observed in each observation.
Remember that a summary focuses on retelling the main events of the observation in your own words. No opinion or analysis should be part of your summary.
The teaching point of the lesson was “Good readers know when it’s time to stop because something big is happening in their stories! They take a moment to jot down their ideas so they can come back to them later to write long! “. The focus today was noticing character traits. The teacher used her anchor chart to review the difference between feelings and traits. The anchor chart also provided examples of some common feelings and traits that students come across as they read. The teacher modeled her thinking and post- it work with the read aloud picture book, “The Invisible Boy”. The focus questions were: How would we describe Justin as a character? And What’s his personality like? The teacher also, used and displayed sentence stems throughout the lesson. For independent work, the students’ goal was to stop and jot when they notice traits about characters in their books, by using the sentence stems provided.
Step 2: Analyze observation(s) and the connection(s) to the standard/indicator. In this analysis, closely examine the observation(s) to understand the parts and ways they work together. Focus on the connection(s) between the observation(s) and the explicit standard/indicator the observation(s) addressed. Be sure to support all claims with specific examples from the observation(s).
The teacher follows TESOL Pre-K–12 English Language Proficiency Standards Framework. Her lesson connect to Standard 2, English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the area of language arts. Academic language was included to teach the lesson and students included the academic language in their responses. Her lesson touched upon each of the five language proficiency standards. The language domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing were touched upon throughout the entire lesson. Students had to actively listen to the read aloud and be able to produce their own stop and jot notes. During the read aloud, students were able to turn and talk to partners about their big idea. They had to make the connection when they independently read their leveled books. Lastly, students had to show their thinking on a post- it. They were expected to use the sentence stems to grow ideas about their characters focusing on their traits.
Step 3: Analyze what was observed and its impact on student learning. Using classroom data and anecdotal data from the observation(s), analyze the way in which what was observed impacts student learning. Consider the way specific characteristics of students in the observed class(es) (e.g., developmental characteristics, previously demonstrated academic performance/ability and special needs, socio-economic profile, ethnicity/cultural/gender make-up, special needs and language) impact decisions regarding instruction and assessments, especially in terms of the explicit standard on which the observation(s) focused. Provide specific numbers whenever possible. Be sure to
support all claims with specific examples from the observation(s).
The teacher spent a week teaching pre- unit lessons before launching the unit, Interpreting Characters. The purpose of these pre- unit lessons is getting them ready to do the thinking work expected when the unit begins. In my opinion, these planned pre unit lessons are beneficial to all her students. It gives the students a chance to refresh their memory of some of the work they had done the previous year. It also gives the teacher an overview of which students needs additional support to further instruction for whole class and targeted small group instruction.
She also shared with me a list of all the picture books the class has already read. Students are able to make connections to these familiar picture books for these types of lessons. Each picture book read aloud, was revisited and used to model stop and jots. Every read aloud has teacher and student post- it responses on every page. All the post- it work are labeled character trait, character feeling, character change, or theme. Doing many read aloud picture books give students exposure to many different skills needed for the unit. Students are introduced to new character traits and some themes that arise from the reading. They build on their vocabulary through discussions all throughout every read aloud.
With the read aloud Invisible Boy in this lesson, she heavily modeled her thinking and post- it work with the first few pages. Her questioning and wonderings were clearly stated before her stop and jots. She then moved on to students doing the work and having students come up and place their post- it responses onto the page under the document camera. The teacher had the goal stated on the board, along with a chart “When do reader’s stop and jot”. She modeled her questioning and thinking several times. The students also produced the work that was expected with the help of tools, anchor charts, and minimal assistance from the teacher asking questions to further their thinking.
With a class consisting of many different levels of ELL students, she provides many charts, student’s tools with pictures and sentence starter prompts. Throughout the lesson, it is evident that students use the tools and charts around the classroom. For independent work, you can see the students independently taking out tools from their tool kit to help them stop and jot. For example, some took out their trait cards and some took out their sentence stem cards.
It is important to do heavy scaffolding like how she is teaching these pre- unit lessons. When the unit actually starts, the goal is to for their ideas to evolve into higher level of thinking. She is also increasing student’s vocabulary with precise academic language. This pre- unit lesson before launching the unit benefits the population of her class. She shared that the level of discussion is gradually growing because of all these strategies and the read aloud picture books that are being read to them.
Reference
Tesol Pre-K–12 English language proficiency standards ... (n.d.). Retrieved October 25, 2021, from https://www.tesol.org/docs/books/bk_prek-12elpstandards_framework_318.pdf?sfvrsn=2
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