Tuning Protocol

Authored By: Bailee Loberg

Course Instructors: Dr. Bryan Matera and
David Wolff
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Table of Contents

Context for Learning................................................................................2

Educational Themes..............................................................................2-4
Classroom Practices..............................................................................4-6
edTPA Lesson Plans............................................................................7-20
Parent Consent Form..............................................................................20
Lesson Videos.........................................................................................21
Self-Analysis and Self-Reflection.....................................................22-26
Student Data and Analysis.................................................................26-27
Data Progress Tools................................................................................28
Resources................................................................................................29
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Context for Learning

The district where I completed my 10-week student teaching, is one of the largest in the
state of Minnesota. This district has a total of 17 elementary schools teaching Kindergarten
through 5th grade. In the school I taught at, the building was constructed in 1930. Although some
parts have changed and have been under construction to add new elements to better the school, it
still has some of the original elements from its first years as a school. The architecture within the
building makes it so unique and special. It is also on the smaller side of schools compared to the
rest of the schools in the district. Here, I taught in one of the two 4th-grade classrooms. There are
26 students in the classroom I taught in. There are 10 girls and 16 boys. Most students are white
but there are 5 Asian students, 2 Black, and 2 Hispanic. Our Hispanic students qualified for ELL
services, but both students and their families also understand and speak English at home so there
is no language barrier in the classroom. In this class, there are 7 students who have an IEP. Out of
those 7, 4 (2 boys and 2 girls) are for just speech services and 3 are for other
disorders/disabilities. At age 9, students are evaluated and admitted into speech services if their
speech did not resolve with age. Things like not speaking proper grammar, pronunciation, etc.
would fall into this category. The 3 others who have IEPs, are one with EBD (Emotional
Behavior Disorder) and “other health services.” One of these students is out of the classroom for
most of the day because they receive special education services. When they are in the classroom,
there is no extra support to work with them one-on-one so it can be a challenge sometimes to
keep them on task and following instructions. Other health disorders define things such as
another health diagnosis, examples include ADHD, ADD, social-emotional disorders, etc., that
affect the students learning in a classroom. All students with IEPs receive extra services like
special education or a speech specialist.

Educational Themes
1. Relationships are key

Teachers are more than just teachers. They are counselors, moms, dads, a friend, family,
and anything else they need to be for their students. Teachers are with students for the majority
of the day. These students are someone’s child, someone’s love, someone’s whole world, and you
spend a lot of time with them. Teachers will treat a child like they are their own. Teachers need to
develop a relationship with each and every one of their students. Relationships are the number
one most important thing. Without a relationship, academics don’t matter. Until that relationship
is established, academics have no importance. The first thing I did at my placement took the first
couple of days to really get to know each student. I asked them questions, learned their names,
recalled the things they told me, and follow up with them the next day. That made all the
difference in my experience. I think having those connections with each student before getting up
in front of them all to teach them academics, made all the difference in how the classroom ran.
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Having that relationship I believe made them more respectful of the things I had to say. If I didn’t
have a relationship with them, they probably would’ve paid less attention to me, talked over me,
not respect me, and not care for what I had to say because why would they if they have no idea
who I am and I’m not their regular classroom teacher. Because I established those relationships
beforehand, I had more success teaching them academics compared to if I had not done that. I
believe this because according to “Building Positive Relationships With Students: What Brain
Science Says,” states that “Positive student relationships are fundamental to success. When
students feel supported, they’re more likely to engage in learning and have better academic
outcomes. Plus, when students have positive interactions with teachers, they have fewer
behavioral problems.” Neuroscience has proven that building teacher-to-student relationships
overall improves the classroom lifestyle.
Communication between home and school is one of the key parts of having a team within
the classroom. Something I’ve learned and have heard frequently this year is that teachers and
parents make a team for the child. Communication between teachers and parents helps the child
in both places that they are in the most. That connection between home and the classroom and
students knowing their parents and teachers are a team keeps the consistency and continues to
improve the student's overall life. Having parents work with you instead of against you, can
really make the difference between an easy school year and a challenging school year. Whether
the communication at times is negative or positive, it connects the classroom and home life
together to create a more unified life with support from more than one person.

2. No Fixed Teaching Strategy

It's a given that as a teacher you have to be very flexible. You can plan and plan as much
as you want as a teacher, but something will happen that interrupts your plans. As a teacher, you
may need to reteach lessons, spend extra time on things, or even cut something out of your plans
because you simply run out of time. What I’ve learned, however, is that being flexible doesn’t
mean just being flexible with time, plans, or your schedule, you also have to be flexible about
your teaching strategies. While at my placement, I learned that a teacher's strategy may work
amazingly one day but not work at all the next.
Something you do one day, may not work the other day. For example, when I told the
students to line up, they were really slow, not listening, talking, etc. The next day I made them go
line up but would say freeze at random times so they had to stop and listen to me while they were
still lining up. This happened more times than I thought. Doing one thing may work great
someday, but it may not work the next day. It makes sense because no one person is the same as
they were the day before especially children. You wake up and feel certain ways that are
constantly changing. Something may happen during the day that changes people's attitudes daily.
Humans are not robots. Teachers need to be flexible and adjust to their student's overall needs to
have a successful working classroom.
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3. Social curriculum is just as important as the academic curriculum

Since I started my journey in becoming an educator, I have thought about what I want my
future classroom to look like. I have no shame in daydreaming about all the things I would do
and have in my future classroom. I believe it is something every educator thinks about when
getting the opportunity to create a wonderful learning environment and make the most out of
what you have. The social environment and social curriculum we create for our students are just
as important as academics. In Teaching Children How To Care, it talks about building a
community. How teaching self-control and how to care for other individuals within the
classroom, will create a positive learning community that will last the whole year if done
thoroughly. Some examples of building a positive community and having a social curriculum
within the classroom include knowing names, sharing, learning how to take turns, inviting others
into the group, cooperating with each other, and how to solve conflicts are all things we can
implement and much more. The social curriculum and building a community takes time. A lot of
time. It can not be a one-time thing or even a one-week thing. It needs to be taught over and over
again. As the book states “these connections and responsibilities need to be taught as well. We
need to teach children to give care as well as to review care.” The classroom respect, care, and
socialness need to be taught, reminded, reinforced, and redirected. It is essential that the time is
taken to do this, especially the first few weeks in the classroom with the students. Without social
rapport, there can be no learning. Without caring for one another, the lessons can not be
absorbed. Without the classroom being a family, the academics have no purpose.

Classroom Practices
1. Morning Meeting

I believe a morning routine and meeting time is very essential in elementary classrooms.
I’ve learned how important it is to implement that time into an everyday classroom and all its
great benefits. It’s important to start the day out right and I believe having that time to get ready
for the day helps exponentially during the day. When students have the time to talk to friends,
tell the teacher what they had for dinner the night before, games they played, movies they
watched, etc. In our classroom, we would also display the title of any morning work they could
work on so that it doesn’t take away their break time later. Incomplete assignments or homework
papers, students could also choose to work on those before doing a morning choice. possibly
playing with some sort of toy, drawing, reading, or journaling before class starts is a great way to
ease into a full day of learning.
This is also the time to discuss the schedule/overview of the day. Talking points could
include telling what the special is (Art, Music, PE, and Library/library check-out), any upcoming
announcements like fundraiser information, conferences, etc., guest teachers that may be coming
into the classroom, and if there is an assembly/Google Meet that day for our school. This way all
the students are on track with what we are doing and on the same page. These announcements
are things that don’t happen every single week, same days of the week, same letter days even.
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These things change daily and avoid the feeling of the unknown or out-of-place with the changes
in the schedule. I believe it's important to discuss these things with your students to mentally
prepare them for what is to come especially if it changes the schedule. Some students need that
sense of events and know what is going on.

2. Everyone needs to express their own individuality.

Something that I’ve come to really admire about my Cooperating Teachers is that they
really focus on the idea and structure within their classroom to fit each unique student. No one
thing is going to work for all 26 students in any class across the world. Everyone learns
differently and everyone is into different things even if some things are in common with others.
It’s no secret that everyone is different and everyone has their own unique personality. My CT
really makes that known and embraces it versus suppressing it. My CT lets her kids shine and
take their learning into their own hands based on their personalities. For example, for early
finisher activities, my CT will have at least 3 options for students to choose from that will
continue the students learning. The activities are always something educational and they label it
as making a “learning choice.” The word “choice,” is significant for students because students
get to choose where their education is going and how they continue learning in that time block.
Later on, in my student teaching experience, my CT and I collaborated on a “learning
choice” board to display in the classroom. This was something we thought would be nice to have
posted all the time so that during extra time and students who finish early, already know by habit
and routine that they have to pick a learning choice, and having that poster gives them more
options to pick from that would be best for them in those moments. It gives students the choice
and responsibility to find best something educational to do that best fits them.
On the flip side to having choices, when we don’t have a choice, you can say “I give you
a lot of choices but this is not a choice.” This was something that I didn’t think about at the
moment until my CT told me. This “oh yeah” moment made me think of the significance to do
that and saying that and it's because it helps stop that nagging and whining of doing the “not so
fun” things. Sometimes we do things in school that are not fun and that’s just life and we can’t do
anything about it. So having a lot of time within the day for choices makes time with no choices
easier to get students started.

3. Collaboration

Something I have found really insightful is how many times my CT had students
collaborate daily. There were multiple times throughout the day that my CT gave opportunities
for student collaboration. As I stepped in and started teaching solo, I learned very quickly that
you can’t keep doing the same collaboration strategy over and over again. It losses students
interest quickly having to keep doing the same sharing strategy again and again. I went to a
meeting/seminar with WSU where we learned about different Culturally Responsive Learning
(CLR) teaching strategies. CLR are different ways to engage students and share ideas throughout
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a classroom. This seminar was really helpful and eye-opening because things like having
students share ideas or answer with each other seem pretty simple and easy but as a teacher, you
have to think about those tiny details. I learned multiple strategies of classroom management and
sharing techniques. Some of those are a turn-and-talk where students turn and talk to each other
where they're at or doing 4 corners where each student picks one out of the four problems on the
board to solve and they go to the corresponding corner and share each other's ideas. It’s a tiny
detail that is always changing that teachers need to be able to pull out of their toolboxes and
apply to their classes quickly and efficiently.
The teacher community is huge. This job requires collaboration and community. If you
are a teacher on your own with no support from any, you probably won't last long. As teachers,
we all collaborate together to create beautiful lesson plans and share an infinite amount of ideas
for the better of our students. In the school I was student teaching in, there was a ton of support
and sharing of ideas to support each other. In the district, teachers meet together for a PLC
meeting (Professional Learning Communities). In these meetings, the teams meet up together
one morning once a week to learn and grow with each other. Topics include setting goals,
learning new knowledge and skills, learning how to implement new lessons and assessments for
students, adjusting your teaching practices, and analyzing student data. Doing these things are an
essential part of teaching to continuously grow and learn for the better of your students, but
being able to do it with other educators on your team or with your administration takes that
personal growth a step further with the help and support of others.

Professional Learning Communities meeting topics/purposes


Lesson 1
Grade and Subject Area: 4th Grade, Reading
Lesson Title
MN/CC State Standard(s)
- direct quote from MN standards
documents
- if only focusing on one part of a
given standard, underline the part
being focused upon
Central Focus
- derived from standard,
- communicates general goal
Learning Target for this Lesson
- concisely says what students will be used to continue the practice of identifying it in literary pieces.
able to know and do
- start with appropriate language
function (active verb)
Academic Language (AL)
a. Domain-specific Acad
vocabulary
b. General Academic
vocabulary (words used in school
across many subject areas)
c. Syntax Sentence Frame:
Example sentence that students can
use to accomplish target
d. Point in lesson where
students will be given opportunity to
use Academic Vocabulary (Note: It is
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Lesson Plans
*Examples are given in the right-hand column. When submitting your
lesson plan, you may either replace the given examples or leave
them intact.
Theme Day 1
MN Standard:
4.1.4.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a story, drama, or poem
from details in the text.
4.1.4.3 Describe a literary element in detail, drawing on specific
details from a literary text.
4.3.3.1 Create written, oral, and digital content that communicates
knowledge and ideas in an organized manner, including relevant and
credible facts and descriptive details to support central ideas or
themes, in a variety of presentation styles.
Define “theme” and explain differences between theme topics and
theme statements that correlate with a given piece of literacy.
Students will be able to explain and recall what theme is and how it is
a. Domain-specific academic vocabulary: theme, topics, statements
b. General academic vocabulary: write, illustrate, recall
c. Sentence Frame: Theme topics are ____ and a theme statement is
______.
Phase 1 and 2 (correlate with slides 1 and 2)

important that this appear in TPA
videotape segments
Needed modifications/supports
A. Identify how some form of
additional support will be provided for
some aspect of the lesson for given
student(s)
a.visual, graphic, interactive
b.reduced text, rewritten text,
fill-in the blank notes, word
banks
c. graphic organizers, sentence
frames
Resources & materials needed
Lesson Part
Phase 1
State Target & Activate Prior
Knowledge
A. Post the learning target
statement and indicate whether the
teacher or student(s) will read it aloud
B. Engage students in activity to
elicit/build prior background
knowledge
Phase 1 Assessment
Explain the plan to capture data from
this phase of the lesson
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3 students with IEPs, 1 EBD, and 2 with other health disabilities, may
need one-on-one support to complete the project.
A list of word/sentence examples will be given/displayed at the front
of the class in the beginning of the lesson. These examples will be
printed out (making about 10 copies) for the students who struggle
more in LA to keep at their desks to assist them.
A completed teacher example of the worksheet will stay on the board
for at least half (about 10 minutes) of work time for students to refer
to.
Google slides, handout for individual work, The Good Egg by Jory
John and Pete Oswald, writing and coloring materials, optional “early
finishers” handouts
Activity description/teacher does Students do
Teacher: For reading and writing today, we Students should
are going to continue working on the theme. participate and
Turn and talk with a neighbor about what answer given
“theme” is. questions and
*wait for responses* listen
Teacher: Very good, theme is defined as the
main subject that is being discussed or
described in a piece of writing, a movie, etc.
Here is a list of theme topics. Theme topics
are 1-3 words that we can label something as
its theme. *list off a few examples written on
the board*. Then we have theme statements.
Theme statements are sentences we use to
give a brief description. As I read The Good
Egg be thinking about the theme of this book
because later…
Note students who are participating in the
discussion.

Phase 2 Teacher Input / Inquiry
- Explain procedures
- Demonstration the task
- Teacher think aloud
Phase 2 Assessment Explain
the plan to check for
understanding of steps/
procedures demonstrated in this
phase
Phase 3 Guided Practice
- Paired/collaborative work
- Teacher(s) may roam & assist
9
The teacher will display a picture of what the Students should
Instagram profile worksheet looks like at the listen to the story
front of the room. and think about
what the theme
Teacher Continued: we will be creating an could be.
Instagram profile to display The Good Egg’s
theme. As I read, pay attention to some things Students discuss
you could write about. with neighbors
what they are
*read the story* going to use and
Now before we start creating our Instagram help each other
profile for The Good Egg, I want to show you an think of their theme
Instagram profile paper that I made for Salt in topic if they don’t
His Shoes. *display teacher example on the have an idea
board* already.
Explain thoroughly how I created my teacher
example. Pointing out key parts: Theme topic
which is like the bio of the profile, 3 theme
statements are like the picture captions, then
drawing 3 pictures from the story that shows the
theme topic.
Teacher: Write your theme topic and theme Respond as a
statements first THEN draw your pictures. I want whole group to the
you to have the writing part complete so that questions asked at
way with the rest of the time you can draw. It’s the end. Saying
important to do the writing first because once the “write” then “draw”
time is up, we're going to be sharing what we or “color”
wrote with other friends in the class.
What are you going to do first? What are you
going to do second?
Teacher: Now, quietly think of your 1-3 word Students take the
theme topic. Take a second to think of what time to think of a
you’re going to use for your Instagram profile. possible theme
Now whisper to your neighbor what you're going they could use for
to use and maybe help them think of a word they The Good Egg
could for their paper. book and listen to
the following
While they discuss, the teacher can pass out directions.
individual handouts.
Teacher: Alright, pause. *wait for students to
wrap up the discussion and put attention on the
teacher*

Phase 3 Assessment
Explain the plan to check for ability to
apply demonstrated steps/procedures
during guided practice
Phase 4 Independent practice
- Individual student work
Phase 4 Assessment
Explain the plan to check for the
ability to apply demonstrated
steps/procedures during independent
practice
Phase 5 Restatement & Closure
a) Restate learning target
b) Explain a planned opportunity for
students to self-assess their
perceived level of mastery for the
target.
10
Teacher: Show me with your thumbs if you have Students show
a theme topic. Thumbs up if you know what with thumbs where
you're going to write. Thumbs down if you have they are at in how
no idea and need help thinking of things to write they're going to
about. Thumbs in the middle if you have ideas complete the
but don’t know what you're going to use yet individual handout.
maybe just need a couple more minutes to think
about it.
“You will work on your profile independently Students should
which means…” *students say “by yourself”* and work on the
please keep the voice level at a 0 or a 1” handout
independently and
Display Exit Directions slide to show students keeping voice level
what it looks like and sounds like during the 20 down at a 0 or 1
minutes of work time. (whisper)
If students finish early, set out “early-finisher”
activities and display options they could do while
they wait for the next step.
Teacher continues to roam the room to note for
understanding and assist those students who
may not be understanding. Checking for
completion of the handout and redirecting
students if needed.
Teacher: “Alright friends everybody wrap up Students walk
what they are doing. Finish your drawings, and around the room
make sure you have everything written down and share with
that you need for sharing” *wait for students to someone new
give their attention* what they created
for their Instagram
“We’re going to do a ‘Give One Get One.’ profile worksheet.
*Display musical sharing slide (last slide)* Students should
Here are our expectations for sharing. When the share with a new
music is playing, you're going to walk around the student each time.
room, and when the music stops you're going to
freeze, find the closest person next to you and
share for the whole time. When the music starts
again, walk around and find a new person.
Remember the number one rule is that you can't
share with the same person more than once
which means you can't walk around with the
same people too. ’Can I have two people show
us what everyone should look like and sound
like?”

Phase 6 Summative Next Steps
Attach a class roster (first names
only) with space to indicate for each
student the needed next steps of
instruction.
Lesson 2
Grade and Subject Area: 4th Grade, Reading
Lesson Title
MN/CC State Standard(s)
- direct quote from MN standards
documents
- if only focusing on one part of a
given standard, underline the part
being focused upon
Central Focus
- derived from standard,
- communicates general goal
Learning Target for this Lesson
- concisely says what students will be used to continue the practice of identifying it in literary pieces.
able to know and do
- start with appropriate language
function (active verb)
Academic Language (AL)
11
*call on two students to model the Give One Get
One*
“Alright everyone, do you understand the
expectations? Now when you hear the music,
everybody will start walking around the room
until it stops. Are we ready? Go.”
Collect students' worksheets once sharing time
is over.
*Examples are given in the right-hand column. When submitting your
lesson plan, you may either replace the given examples or leave
them intact.
Theme Day 2
MN Standard:
4.1.4.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a story, drama, or poem
from details in the text.
4.1.4.3 Describe a literary element in detail, drawing on specific
details from a literary text.
4.3.3.1 Create written, oral, and digital content that communicates
knowledge and ideas in an organized manner, including relevant and
credible facts and descriptive details to support central ideas or
themes, in a variety of presentation styles.
Define “theme” and explain differences between theme topics and
theme statements that correlate with a given piece of literacy.
Students will be able to explain and recall what theme is and how it is
a. Domain-specific academic vocabulary: theme, topics, statements
 12

e. Domain-specific Acad b. General academic vocabulary: write, illustrate, recall

vocabulary
f. General Academic
vocabulary (words used in school c. Sentence Frame: Theme is ______.
across many subject areas)
g. Syntax Sentence Frame: d. Phase 1 and 2 (correlate with slides 1 and 2)
Example sentence that students can
use to accomplish target
h. Point in lesson where
students will be given opportunity to
use Academic Vocabulary (Note: It is
important that this appear in TPA
videotape segments
Needed modifications/supports 3 students with IEPs, 1 EBD, and 2 with other health disabilities, may
B. Identify how some form of need one-on-one support to complete the project.
additional support will be provided for
some aspect of the lesson for given A completed teacher example of the graphic organizer will be
student(s) displayed on the board for students to refer to.
a.visual, graphic, interactive
b.reduced text, rewritten text, Picture display/example to show how I laid out my book. Page
fill-in the blank notes, word numbers with correlating parts from the graphic organizer.
banks
c. graphic organizers, sentence
frames
Resources & materials needed Google slides, graphic organizer, homemade paper books (color
paper for cover and two white papers folded inside), The Bad Seed
by Jory John and Pete Oswald, writing and coloring materials,
optional “early finishers” handouts

Lesson Part Activity description/teacher does Students do

Phase 1 Teacher: Who remembers the book I read last Students should
State Target & Activate Prior week? participate and
Knowledge *wait for responses* answer given
C. Post the learning target Teacher: Yes, now today we’re going to read questions and
statement and indicate whether the The Bad Seed, who remembers what we listen
teacher or student(s) will read it aloud learned about with The Good Egg?
D. Engage students in activity to *students say theme*
elicit/build prior background Teacher: We’re going to continue learning
knowledge about the theme today but today we’re going
to fill out this graphic organizer that says ‘first,
next, then, and finally’ on it. What is this word
at the top?”
 13

*Student responds “theme”*

Teacher: We will discuss the theme after the
read aloud so for now focus on the 4 boxes.
Phase 1 Assessment Note students who are participating in the
Explain the plan to capture data from discussion.
this phase of the lesson

Phase 2 Teacher Input / Inquiry Teacher will display a picture of what the Students should
- Explain procedures Instagram profile worksheet looks like at the listen to the story
- Demonstration the task front of the room. and think about
- Teacher think aloud what the theme
Teacher Continued: While I play the read-aloud could be.
video, I would like you to fill out this paper and I
will help you fill it out as well. It’s going to be
Students should
important you listen and pay attention to the
listen to the read
story so you can remember it later. aloud, filling out
the graphic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs9J2Y organizer as it’s
rVPt8 being read.

*play the video. Stopping the video and

telling/explaining to students the parts to assist
them in filling out the graphic organizer*

Once the video is over talk about the theme

“Now remember when we talk about theme,
we're talking about the message that the author
wants to give us. Ask yourself, what is the story
trying to tell me? What does the author want me
to learn? What is the message behind the story?
Turn to a neighbor and talk about what you think
the theme would be for The Bad Seed and write
down your idea at the top.”
“What kind of things did you guys come up
with?” *call on students to share the theme they
wrote for the story*

*display teacher example on the board*

“Here is my completed worksheet and what I

wrote for the theme” *read what I have on my
teacher example*

Phase 2 Assessment Explain
the plan to check for
understanding of steps/
procedures demonstrated in this
phase
Phase 3 Guided Practice
- Paired/collaborative work
- Teacher(s) may roam & assist
Phase 3 Assessment
Explain the plan to check for ability to
apply demonstrated steps/procedures
during guided practice
Phase 4 Independent practice
- Individual student work
14
Students should have something similar to the Students should
teacher's example. After listening to the story have a correctly
and pointing out each of the “first, next, then, filled-out graphic
finally” papers should have the same events. organizer with
corresponding
parts.
“Now on the backside, it’s the same thing but it Students take the
says ‘before the bad, something happened, time to think of a
then, he decided to be good’ but what is the possible theme
same? The theme. Please rewrite the theme on they could use for
the top. In these four new boxes, you're going to The Good Egg
use what you already know and recreate your book and listen to
own version of The Bad Seed using this as a the following
rough draft template.” directions.
Point to each box relating it to the story.
“In the book, the seed lived on a sunflower with
his family. That’s what happened first. Next, he
was almost eaten, Then he was a bad seed and
did all sorts of bad things. Finally, he decided he
didn’t want to be bad anymore and became a
good seed. Your version could be he was living
in a watermelon, next someone dropped the
watermelon and he crashed onto the floor, then
he became bad and ran away from home, but
finally, he decided he wanted to be good again
and do good things. This is your story! Make it
fun!”
Teacher: Does this make sense? Show me with Students show
your thumbs if you have a theme topic. Thumbs with thumbs where
up if you know what you're going to write. they are at in how
Thumbs down if you have no idea and need help they're going to
thinking of things to write about. Thumbs in the complete the
the middle if you have ideas but don’t know what individual handout.
you're going to use yet maybe just need a
couple more minutes to think about it. Write
your rough draft first then you’ll get a book you
can transfer all your ideas onto and draw your
pictures.
“You will work on your graphic organizer Students should
independently but if you need help or advice you work on the
can whisper to a neighbor. We just have to keep graphic
our voices down so other people can organizer/rough
draft of their story

Phase 4 Assessment
Explain the plan to check for the
ability to apply demonstrated
steps/procedures during independent
practice
Phase 5 Restatement & Closure
a) Restate learning target
b) Explain a planned opportunity for
students to self-assess their
perceived level of mastery for the
target.
15
concentrate. Once you finish your ideas for each independently and
part of our book, you can start writing your story” keeping voice level
down at a 0 or 1
Display Exit DIrections slide to show students (whisper)
what it looks like and sounds like during the 20
minutes of work time.
If students finish early, set out “early-finisher”
activities and display options they could do while
they wait for the next step.
Teacher continues to roam the room to note for
understanding and assist those students who
may not be understanding. Checking for
completion of the graphic organizer and
redirecting students if needed. Give students
their books when it looks like they are ready to
make their story.
Teacher: “Alright friends everybody wrap up Students walk
what they are doing. Finish your drawings, and around the room
make sure you have everything written down and share with
that you need for sharing” *wait for students to someone new
give their attention* what they created
for their Instagram
“We’re going to do a ‘Give One Get One.’ profile worksheet.
*Display musical sharing slide (last slide)* Students should
Here are our expectations for sharing. When the share with a new
music is playing, you're going to walk around the student each time.
room, and when the music stops you're going to
freeze, find the closest person next to you and
share for the whole time. When the music starts
again walk around and find a new person.
Remember the number one rule is that you cant
share with the same person more than once
which means you can't walk around with the
same people too. ’Can I have two people show
us what everyone should look like and sound
like?”
*call on two students to model the Give One Get
One*
“Alright everyone understand the expectations?
Now when you hear the music, everybody will
start walking around the room until it stops. Are
we ready? Go.”

Phase 6 Summative Next Steps
Attach a class roster (first names
only) with space to indicate for each
student the needed next steps of
instruction.
Lesson 3
Grade and Subject Area: 4th Grade, Reading
Lesson Title
MN/CC State Standard(s)
- direct quote from MN standards
documents
- if only focusing on one part of a
given standard, underline the part
being focused upon
Central Focus
- derived from standard,
- communicates general goal
Learning Target for this Lesson
- concisely says what students will be used to continue the practice of identifying it in literary pieces.
able to know and do
- start with appropriate language
function (active verb)
Academic Language (AL)
a. Domain-specific Acad
vocabulary
b. General Academic
vocabulary (words used in school
across many subject areas)
c. Syntax Sentence Frame:
Example sentence that students can
use to accomplish target
16
Collect students' worksheets once sharing time
is over.
*Examples are given in the right hand column. When submitting your
lesson plan, you may either replace the given examples or leave them
intact.
Theme Day 2
MN Standard:
4.1.4.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a story, drama, or poem
from details in the text.
4.1.4.3 Describe a literary element in detail, drawing on specific details
from a literary text.
4.3.3.1 Create written, oral, and digital content that communicates
knowledge and ideas in an organized manner, including relevant and
credible facts and descriptive details to support central ideas or themes,
in a variety of presentation styles.
Define “theme” and explain differences between theme topics and
theme statements that correlate with a given piece of literacy.
Students will be able to explain and recall what theme is and how it is
a. Domain-specific academic vocabulary: theme, topics, statements
b. General academic vocabulary: write, illustrate, recall
c. Sentence Frame: Theme is ______.
d. Phase 1 and 2
 17

d. Point in lesson where

students will be given opportunity to
use Academic Vocabulary (Note: It is
important that this appear in TPA
videotape segments
Needed modifications/supports 3 students with IEPs, 1 EBD, and 2 with other health disabilities, may
A. Identify how some form of need one-on-one support to complete the project.
additional support will be provided for
some aspect of the lesson for given Individualize students on their own writing abilities. Some students write
student(s) more than others so based on previous collected language arts
a.visual, graphic, interactive assessments, expectations for the writing activity can be more or less
b.reduced text, rewritten text, for others. Compare work to themselves, not the whole class.
fill-in the blank notes, word
banks
c. graphic organizers, sentence
frames
Resources & materials needed Google slides, graphic organizer, printed cookie crafts on assorted
colored papers, The Smart Cookie by Jory John and Pete Oswald,
writing and coloring materials

Lesson Part Activity description / teacher does Students do

Phase 1 Teacher: Today we’re going to read our Students should participate
State Target & Activate Prior last Jory John book, The Smart Cookie. and answer given questions
Knowledge What are we been learning about with and listen to the sotry while
A. Post the learning all of his books? *students say theme* thinking about the theme of
target statement and indicate While I read the story, I want you to be the story
whether the teacher or thinking about what the theme is.
student(s) will read it aloud
B. Engage students in
activity to elicit / build prior
background knowledge

Phase 1 Assessment Note students who are participating

Explain the plan to capture in the discussion.
data from this phase of the
lesson

Phase 2 Teacher Input /
Inquiry
- Explain procedures
- Demonstration the task
- Teacher think aloud
Phase 2 Assessment Explain
the plan to check for
understanding of steps/
procedures demonstrated in
this
phase
Phase 3 Guided Practice
- Paired/collaborative work
- Teacher(s) may roam &
assist
18
Teacher will read the story aloud to the Students should listen to the
class looking for students to be paying story and think about what
attention to story details. the theme could be.
Teacher: Take a silent moment to think
about what the theme could be. Collect Students should listen to the
your thoughts and once you come up with read-aloud, filling out the
an idea, go ahead and give me a thumbs graphic organizer as it’s
up, so that I know you’ve been thinking being read.
about it. *wait for the majority of students
to have a thumbs up* Would anyone like to
share their idea of what the theme is? *call
on students to share* Continue the
conversation with “What made him a smart
cookie?” *call on students to discuss*
Listening to students' ideas and validating Students should share ideas
their ideas and thoughts that fit the lesson. while also listening to others’
By now, students should have a solid idea ideas.
of how to identify the theme.
Teacher: Today, we’re going to make our
own smart cookies. I have laid on the back
table outlines of things to cut out and glue
together. There's tan paper that will be
your cookie outline and yellow paper that
will be your icing. Once you glue your icing
onto your cookie, it’s up to you how you
want your cookie to look. I have different
colors of sprinkles you can cut out and
glue onto your cookie. I also have pink and
blue hats and bows. If you want to draw
eyes, a smile, arms, and legs as the cookie
does in the book, you can do that too.
While you’re waiting to get your materials
or when you’re done with your cookies, I’m
going to pass out a paper for you to write
about how you are a smart cookie that
we’ll show your families during
conferences.
These cookies we’re going to display these
out in the hallway, so for conferences, your
families can see our class’s smart cookies!
When you’re done with your cookie and
writing paper, bring it up to the black table

Phase 3 Assessment
Explain the plan to check for
ability to apply demonstrated
steps/procedures during
guided practice
Phase 4 Independent
practice
- Individual student work
Phase 4 Assessment
Explain plan to check for ability
to apply demonstrated
steps/procedures during
independent practice
Phase 5 Restatement &
Closure a) Restate
learning target
b) Explain a planned
opportunity for students to
self-assess their perceived
level of mastery for the target.
Phase 6 Summative Next
Steps
Attach a class roster (first
names only) with space to
indicate for each student the
needed next steps of
instruction.
*This lesson plan is based on the work of David Denton (2013) with added modifications. An introductory video to the basics of
the plan is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yCj7IMyWAQ.
Updated 1/2016
19
for me to collect so I can hang them up in
the hallway.
After going over directions, do a “fill in the Students fill in the blank in
blank” review of directions. the directions given. Then
Teacher: “Once you're dismissed you have students grab materials and
to go get your ____, and a ____, and a get started on their projects.
pair of _____. While you wait or when
you're done you're going to fill out ____.”
Teacher will roam and assist students with Students should work on
their projects, answer any questions they their cookie craft and writing
have, and redirect them. activity. This is a pretty
This craft and writing activity is very open-ended activity all
individualized and open-ended so all student work will be different.
students' work will be different.
Teacher continues to roam the room to
note for understanding and assist those
students who may not be understanding.
Checking for completion of the cookie craft
and writing sheet.
Teacher: “Alright 4th graders, everybody Students have the option to
wraps up what they are doing. Finish your share what they’ve done for
drawings, and make sure you have their projects.
everything written down that you need. If
you’re not done that’s okay, we’ll have
more time to work on this project later on.
Based on Jory John’s theme for The Smart
Cookie, how did you guys end up relating
that to yourselves? Does anyone want to
show us their cookie or writing? ” *call on
students who want to share their projects
so far*
Collect writing papers and make a chart on
which students demonstrate an
understanding of the theme and who
needs a reteach. After doing this, all
students were able to understand what
theme is and the themes in all projects.
 20

Parent Consent Form:

Lesson Videos
Videos are posted on Youtube. Click the link to view.
 21

Lesson 1 Classroom Sharing: https://youtu.be/WNzPUfflNy8

Lesson 1 Direct Instruction: https://youtu.be/_T21SKNZhzM

 22

Self-Analysis
Appendix E Clinical Experience Evaluation Rubric Senior Year: First Six Weeks & Global
Studies

Self-Assessment Form for Tuning Protocol

TIMELINESS and COLLABORATIVE PLANNING: 4 3 2 1 N/O

Materials are prepared, ready, and appropriate X

Engages in an exchange of ideas with classmates X

Develops and submits a lesson plan X

Creates an organized teaching area X
Gives clear, concise directions X
Uses time efficiently X

IMPLEMENTATION OF PLANNED LESSON: 4 3 2 1 N/O

Demonstrates knowledge of content area X

Uses appropriate pacing X
Constructs aligned and varied learning opportunities X
in assigned edTPA Lesson Plan format

Facilitates developmentally and culturally X

appropriate relationships
Delivers hands-on, meaningful, relevant learning X
experiences
Pre-teaches relevant vocabulary X
Checks for understanding X
Uses a variety of questioning strategies X
Gives adequate wait time for responses X
Solicits student inputs and opinions X
Models corrective feedback as needed X
Re-teaches when need is indicated by student X
 23

response
Differentiates for individual learner needs X
Provides a structured closure and review X
Redirects off-task students X
Provides varied reinforcement X
Demonstrates proactive behavior management X

Models personal calm and self-control X

Demonstrates understanding and implementation of X
Gradual Release of Responsibility

Assesses and analyzes teacher instruction and X

student outcome data

PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS: 4 3 2 1 N/O

Uses Standard English in oral and written work X

Dress and grooming are appropriate X

Finds ways to be helpful/show interest/enthusiasm X

Conveys a sense of belonging and support to all X

regardless of background
Ensures the safety and well-being of all students X

Attends consistently X
Is prompt X
Is dependable X
Takes Initiative/Is Self-Directed X
Interacts with colleagues and staff in a respectful, X
purposeful way
Interacts in a respectful, purposeful, and X
professional manner with families and the
community
Maintains student confidentiality in spoken, written, X
social media and other online forms of
communication
 24

Does not condone, support or participate in acts X

that are unethical or illegal

4 – Distinguished 3 – Proficient 2 – Basic 1 – Unsatisfactory N/O - Not Observed

Self Reflection
The first day of my lesson, I felt very nervous and you can see that in the video. I did the
lesson during my second week at my placement, and this was my first time being in front of this
class. I was just feeling out of place and I wasn’t established yet. This was an already established
classroom with a classroom teacher. The students were comfortable with her and they respected
her. Even though the students didn’t do anything to show me I was not their regular and was a
guest, I definitely felt that way in my own head. The ground beneath my feet felt like Jell-O and
the only way I could feel more comfortable and confident was with time. At this moment, I
pushed myself and went out of my comfort zone to teach a lesson.
I taught each of my lessons one time a week. I would read one out of the 6 picture books
from the same series to continue reviewing the idea of theme and main ideas. Theme and finding
the main idea of literacy readings can be a tricky concept to grasp, which is why I decided to
dedicate one day a week to that central focus. The continuous review and practice would help
students better understand the learning targets instead of doing it for a period of time and moving
on.
I believe I’m really strong in relationships and communication with anyone and
everyone. I’ve always been able to talk to people and connect with people because of my
personality and I genuinely care. This is one of the many reasons why I decided to become a
teacher. My personality fits really well in an educational setting because I genuinely want to talk
to people, learn about them, hear their stories, and ask questions. This came quickly to my
advantage because even though I was super nervous the first few times in front of the class, I had
already established some sort of relationship with every student in the classroom. I take the time
to get to know them, work with them, and see how they are doing during independent work time
and that all just happened naturally. I didn’t realize how much that helped me until after I taught
my first lesson. With those established relationships and connections, students respected me
more and they actually listened and were engaged with what I had to say because they trusted me
and I was already becoming familiar to them.
Something I need to work on is confidence. Everyone is going to be nervous doing
something out of their comfort zone and like I said, I was really pushing myself out of my
comfort zone. I may have jumped in with both feet to teach this lesson, but on the inside, I didn’t
feel confident at all. No matter how much planning I did, nothing was going to settle my nerves.
After my first lesson, I was co-teaching with my CT for the next few weeks and still doing my
solo lessons for literacy, I also identified within myself that I needed to grow confidence. I felt
like I never knew what I was doing. I felt out of place. I felt like I had all the resources and
support anyone could ever have I just didn’t know how to organize it all. I’m sure a lot of student
 25

teaching and even new teachers feel that way getting handed all these books, papers, and
resources but I was just really feeling like an alien reading English for the first time.
Something I also needed to work on was using time proficiently and keeping my own
materials organized while I’m teaching. I come prepared beforehand and I’m very organized that
way, I was just forgetting little details during the lesson like where I set the stack of papers for
example. I was spending too much time calling on students to answer questions instead of taking
more of that time to explain even further my directions and expectations. I had exit directions for
my lessons but I couldn’t stay on that page because students requested to see the example
outline. Looking back, I take that as a sign that I may have kept the projects too open-ended
because some students needed way more time than others (and more time than I expected) and
that perhaps I didn’t explain the project requirements thoroughly since they all needed my
example on the board instead of the exit directions. By my third lesson, I had more experience
and practice with teaching lessons I feel like by then I had it more figured out and got a better
outcome from the class than the beginning.
To help myself, I immediately put everything I didn’t need right away to the side. I
started with the first thing that was on our schedule, wrote down the unit/lesson we were on for
that day, and reviewed the materials only for that day. I continued that until I had seen, planned,
and reviewed all the materials for that day or the next day.
I was taking in too much at once and overwhelming myself way more than I needed to
be. Being overwhelmed and feeling like you don’t know what you’re doing I’ve learned is totally
normal and expected. Honestly, if you didn’t feel that way you’d be equivalent to a superhero.
After I learned how to take one step at a time (it took about a week and a half to figure it out), I
was able to navigate the full day's worth of work, including my one single literacy lesson each
week.

Student Data and Analysis

Student 1: Low Achieving

For this first lesson, student one was not able to finish within
the time given but was able to color in the pictures. Since the
student did not finish the writing portion as the directions said,
this tells me that this student possibly didn’t have a full
understanding of the learning target or didn’t follow the
directions that were told. I also noticed that the things this
student did write are all copied from the examples. However, it
does fit the same theme of the story that was read. This tells me
this student needs more practice and instruction so that way the
student can identify the theme from other literacy pieces
independently.
 26

This feedback was recorded on a class roster. Students who were approaching got a “-” next to
their name for this lesson.

Student 2: Achieving

For this first lesson, this student was able completely finished this
assignment. I immediately notice that the theme statements and
topics fit the theme of the story we read and all of them are original
ideas. These things were not discussed in class and this student was
able to identify the theme and personalize it with the pictures and
“captions” they wrote. After analyzing this student's worksheet, they
have demonstrated that they know they have a firm understanding of
the learning target.
This feedback was recorded on a class roster. Students who are
meeting the standards, including this student, were documented with
a “+” next to their name showing they could do this on their own.

Student 3: High Achieving

For this first lesson again, this student has continuously shown
high achieving and talent for reading and writing. Based on
their previous test scores and being in the Gifted and Talented
program, GATE, for non-verbal, which is high levels of reading
scores. This student did finish their work very quickly but also
accurately. This student was one of the few students who did
the “early finishers” activities. Based on their project, having
no color was not an indicator that they did not complete the
assignment. What I was looking for was did they understand
the theme and whether were they able to apply a theme to their
projects and this student did. However, having not colored it in
and finished the project so quickly and accurately tells me that
this lesson could’ve not been challenging enough for the
student and could’ve been possibly unengaging for them.
Something I did, later on, was having all students take the
theme from a story but apply it to their own life with “The
Smart Cookie” lesson 3. It got all students, including this student, thinking about how things in
their own lives can have the same theme from a story.
This feedback was recorded on the same class roster and this student like the achieving student
also got a “+” to indicate that this student was ready to move on to the next lesson for deeper
meaning and understanding.

Data Progress Tools

 27

After having conversations with my CT about how they personally keep track of data and
where students fall with achieving standards, I’ve learned that there are multiple different ways
to collect and organize that data. My CT kept class rosters and used a minus, plus, or a question
mark next to their name with the lesson title, such as “Theme day 1” written on the top. Minus
sign means they are not meeting, are struggling, and need more practice possibly with a small
group with one-on-one support. A plus sign simply means they have shown and demonstrated
their understanding of the lesson and the standard. A question mark for my CT means that they
need to collect and meet with the student to get a better understanding of where they are at. My
CT likes and utilizes digital resources frequently. When I asked my CT what resources they used,
they told me they use ReadWorks to collect data for Reading/Writing/Langauage Arts
specifically. On this website, you can assign your class reading passages to their level and see, in
this case, the theme, if they can answer the assigned questions to show a demonstration of
understanding of the standards. When I collected data for myself, I used the same method of
having a class roster and identifying if they were approaching, meeting, and questioning.
 28

References

Charney, R. S. (2002). Teaching Children to Care: Classroom Management for Ethical and

Academic Growth, K-8, Revised Edition. Northeast Foundation for Children.

Denton, P. (2015). The Power of Our Words Teacher Language That Helps Children Learn,

Second Edition. Center for Reesponsive Schools, Inc.

Kaufman, T., & Schultz, J. (n.d.). Building Relationships With Students: What Brain Science

Says. Understood.org. Retrieved February 11, 2023, from

https://www.understood.org/en/articles/brain-science-says-4-reasons-to-build-positive-rel

ationships-with-students

Whitaker, T. (2016). Your First Year How to Survive and Thrive as a New Teacher. Routledge

Taylor and Francis Group.