Literacy Lesson Observation, Reflection, & Recommendations

Location: Jefferson Elementary School, Wichita, KS Date: 6/11/23

Grade Level: fourth grade

Topic or Focus of Lesson: vocabulary and background knowledge frontloading

Objectives: What objectives were apparent in the lesson? If there was a lesson plan
available, did the objectives in the plan match the ones you observed being taught?

The teacher stated that the class was “getting prepared for reading a new passage next
week” and promptly dove into some new vocabulary. There was no other evidence of an
objective.

Teaching: What did you see the teacher do? What teaching techniques were used? Pay
attention to materials, grouping options, instructional strategies, pacing…

The teacher began introducing new vocabulary words to the students in a repeated
sequence of procedures: pronounce the word by echo reading (and tap out syllables,
identify parts of speech), have students choral read the definition of the word (and share
synonyms), illustrate the meaning of the word with examples (in slide presentation, often
relating back to Ben Franklin), and checking for understanding (by having students share
meaning with partners often with a sentence starter, and sharing individually). The words
were lightning, mischief, and hilarious.

During the check for understanding, the teacher often monitored the students throughout
the room and went to partners for answers and to help guide them when necessary.

The teacher also introduced three suffixes that would be relevant to Ben Franklin and the
story: -cian, -er, -ist. She shared that they all related back to a person (musician is a
person that plays music, writer is a person who writes, cartoonist is a person who draws
cartoons). Students read musician, electrician, politician, writer, printer, experimenter,
cartoonist, and scientist in sentences. The teacher related them all back to Ben Franklin.

The teacher began the second part of the video introducing new vocabulary words to the
students in much the same way they were done in the first part of the video. The words
were convinced, independence, and dizzy. Her wait time was better in the second part of
the video. She also modeled the think aloud in the second part of the video. In the second
part of the video, there were also some words that were compound words, or the root
word was important to the meaning of the word. She broke down the compound words
with the students one word at a time and used a word from each to help with the meaning
of the word. She showed how handy had the word hand in it and it helped with the
meaning of the word. The words were whirlwind, nowadays, and handy.
During the check for understanding, the teacher often monitored the students throughout
the room and went to partners for answers and to help guide them when necessary. One
activity had the students rapid naming things that were handy, which is a good
comprehension strategy.

Students: What were the students doing? How were they engaged in the learning? Were
they engaged in the learning? Any off-task behaviors?

Students were seating in their seats for the lessons. They responded to the teacher in
many ways including echo reading, choral reading, talk to partners, individual responses.
Students tapped out syllables for each word. The students were engaged in the lessons.
No major off task behaviors to note.

Interesting observations: What did you see that was interesting, unusual, surprising…?

The teacher was very patient with the child that stuttered. She did not try to finish the
sentence for him or put any other words into his mouth. She waited for him to share and
that was fantastic!

I found it interesting that the teacher repeated the students’ responses nearly every time.

I found it interesting that the teacher never used the students’ names. Was she not
allowed since the lesson was being videoed? Was it not her class?

I found it interesting that the story title had the word lightning in it and there was
evidence of the class working with the long i sound on the board (long i spelled igh and
ie). I wonder if that is on purpose and if there are more long i words to work with from
the story.

Questions you have after the lesson about the teacher, teaching techniques, students,
content of the lesson, literacy learning, literacy instruction, etc. What did you leave the
lesson reflecting on, wondering about, etc.?

This vocabulary lesson was led by the teacher and a lot of good information was shared.
What will the children do independently or in groups to enhance their understanding of
the new vocabulary words?

How will you assess their understanding of the new vocabulary words after reading the
story?

I wonder if the story is connected text to the phonics work that is going on with the long i
work written on the board?

Positives: List two positive things (related to literacy learning) you observed from each:

Teacher Students
 The teacher modeled thinking The students were efficient at, and
1. aloud. This is an excellent strategy aware of how, to tap out syllables
to show children how and what to when pronouncing the new vocabulary
think in different instances. words.
The teacher used partners often Students had a high level of
2. during vocabulary lessons. engagement.
Working with partners is a
beneficial learning strategy. (It’s
obvious she uses this strategy often
because the students knew who
were the 2,1 partners and who were
the N,S partners.

Support: List two areas in which you could assist or support the teacher with the
instruction of the lesson in Ideas 1 and 2 below. Include the specific standard # you
would be assisting the teacher with, a thorough description of your suggestion and
support, and cite a resource the teacher could use (this could be a textbook, article,
website, video, book or any other resource that could enhance or extend their
lesson). Even if the lesson is absolutely wonderful, consider what adaptations for
individual literacy needs (both high and low) might be made, what extensions could
follow, etc.

A link to the ILA Standards is included with the assignment directions in Canvas.

Support:

Idea 1: ILA standard # 2

Candidates use foundational knowledge to critique and implement literacy curricula to

meet the needs of all learners and to design, implement, and evaluate evidence-based
literacy instruction for all learners.

The vocabulary instruction was sound. It was engaging and students gained a good
understanding of the meanings of the words introduced. I wonder if you ever thought of
including adding illustrations of the words to show meaning to your instruction. Marzano
has a 6-step process for better vocabulary instruction which you can access at this link,
https://spedellreadingstrategies.weebly.com/four-corner-vocabulary-chart.html. He has
been sharing evidence-based learning strategies for years to help students achieve. Part of
his 6-step process includes illustrating new vocabulary words. Look it over and let me
know what you think.

Again, your vocabulary instruction was very sound. I just wanted you to be aware of
Marzano’s 6-step process to better vocabulary instruction. Maybe you can use this
strategy in your classroom in some capacity. If you’re interested in his book, it’s called
The Art and Science of Teaching/Six Steps to Better Vocabulary Instruction.
Idea 2: ILA standard # 3

Candidates understand, select, and use valid, reliable, fair, and appropriate assessment
tools to screen, diagnose, and measure student literacy achievement; inform instruction
and evaluate interventions; participate in professional learning experiences; explain
assessment results and advocate for appropriate literacy practices to relevant
stakeholders.

During your lesson, I noticed that when you called on students to respond to your
questions, you did not provide 3-5 seconds of wait time. Did you know that providing
that wait time to students increases the length and accuracy of their answer, decreases the
number of “I don’t know” responses, and increases the number of students that want to
answer? Test scores increased too, which means they understood the content better,
because they had that little bit of extra time to process and understand it before sharing.
You may hear wait time referred to as think time, because that is exactly what you are
doing during wait time. So, I want you to work on giving the students some wait time or
think time after asking them questions. I attached a link here about wait time,
https://www.thoughtco.com/importance-of-wait-time-8405. I hope you find it interesting
and helpful.