CHARACTERISTICS OF READING INSTRUCTION

LESSON PLAN EVALUATION

The six characteristics of reading instruction are:
1. Assessment
2. Explicit/direct instruction
3. Opportunity to learn
4. Student attention to learning tasks
5. Teacher expectations
6. Classroom management
1.

2.
3.
4.
5.

6.

INSTRUCTIONS
Search for a lesson plan from LearnNC http://www.learnnc.org/?standards for a grade level
you wish to teach, are currently teaching, have taught, or have an interest in learning more
about. The lesson must come from one of the three areas of Reading Literature,
Informational Text, or Foundational Skills.
Read the lesson plan and imagine that you are going to teach the lesson based off of what
was presented. You cannot edit the lesson.
Review the criteria mentioned in the weekly podcast overview and from your book for each
of the six characteristics of reading.
Evaluate the lesson for each of the (6) characteristics of reading providing a score (x) of
using the rating scale provided based off of what you see or do not see explicitly stated in the
lesson plan.
In each area, that you provide your evaluation of their lesson (mark with an x), indicating
whether or not they are Developing, Proficient, Accomplished, Distinguished, Not
Demonstrated (explanations are provided below) you will make notes and include the
evidence as to why you provided them with the score ranking.
At the completion of this evaluation you will respond to the following questions.
I.
What was the easiest part of this assignment?
II.
What was the most difficult part of the assignment?
III.
What can you relate to for your own planning of instruction and lesson planning?
IV. Which characteristic did you feel the most comfortable with assessing? Why?
V. Which characteristic did you feel the least comfortable with assessing? Why?

Rating Scale Description

Developing: Teacher demonstrated adequate growth toward achieving standard(s) during
the period of performance, but did not demonstrate competence on standard(s) of
performance.
Proficient: Teacher demonstrated basic competence on standard(s) of performance.
Accomplished: Teacher exceeded basic competence on standard(s) of performance most
of the time.
Distinguished: Teacher consistently and significantly exceeded basic competence on
standard(s) of performance.
Not Demonstrated: Teacher did not demonstrate competence on or adequate growth
toward achieving standard(s) of performance.

Created for EDU 3410.OL1 by D. Barringer

Evaluations Standards are from NC Teaching Evaluation Process http://bit.ly/NCTeacherEval

CHARACTERISTICS OF READING INSTRUCTION

EVALUATION RUBRIC
Name: Esther Linnartz
Lesson Plan Title: Cloudy with a Chance ofWhat?
Lesson Plan URL: http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/3725
Characteristic

Developing

Proficient

Accomplished

Distinguished

Not
Demonstrate
d

Assessment
x
Notes/Evidence: The assessments were basic and did not delve deeper.
The writing rubric did not seem designed for second grade. It looked at spelling and
grammar, which most second graders do not have the best grasp of. The content and
neatness categories could be appropriate, but the other three categories were not well
suited to second grade work. The homework rubric was not at all matched with the assigned
homework. There was no correlation between the two.

Characteristic

Developing

Proficient

Accomplished

Distinguished

Not
Demonstrate
d

Explicit/Direct
x
Instruction
Notes/Evidence: The teacher reads to the children and checks periodically to see that children
are paying attention by asking questions interspersed through the book reading. Then he or
she proceeds to explain the actual types of precipitation and talk about the water cycle. This
may be confusing to switch gears so abruptly from a book to a science lesson.

Characteristic

Developing

Proficient

Accomplished

Distinguished

Not
Demonstrate
d

Opportunity
x
to Learn
Notes/Evidence: The teacher asks questions of the children, but there doesnt seem to be any
opportunity for children to practice what they have learned except through the writing
activity and maybe through the homework. Maybe Im being too picky, but the writer says
to show the children how to play the Water Droplet game on NASAs website, but never says
to let them play the game. If he or she let the children play the game, that might be another
opportunity for them to learn.

Characteristic

Developing

Proficient

Accomplished

Distinguished

Not
Demonstrate
d

Created for EDU 3410.OL1 by D. Barringer

Evaluations Standards are from NC Teaching Evaluation Process http://bit.ly/NCTeacherEval

Student
attention to
x
learning tasks
Notes/Evidence: Asking questions throughout the book would make sure that children were
paying attention and could summarize what had happened. Also, having the children fill out
the worksheet while listening could do that as well, however, it could also detract from their
listening. It is hard to listen and write at the same time, so that could make it even harder
and some children might give up and do neither or only one and not the other.

Characteristic

Developing

Proficient

Accomplished

Distinguished

Not
Demonstrate
d

Teacher
x
expectations
Notes/Evidence: The teacher seems to have very high expectations of his or her second grade
students. The students that I work with are smart, but still would not be able to multitask
writing and listening. Also, their spelling and writing organization are not perfect so they
would do poorly on the writing rubric.

Characteristic

Developing

Proficient

Accomplished

Distinguished

Not
Demonstrate
d

Classroom
x
Management
Notes/Evidence: Because I could not see how the teacher managed his or her classroom
individually, I cannot give a rating. The questions that are asked throughout the reading of
the book might do a good job of keeping children who have trouble paying attention more
engaged, but without seeing the teacher in action, I cannot comment on the management.

Created for EDU 3410.OL1 by D. Barringer

Evaluations Standards are from NC Teaching Evaluation Process http://bit.ly/NCTeacherEval

Short Response Reflection

Answer the questions below inside of the box for each question.
1. What was the easiest part of this assignment?
Assigning a rating was the easiest part.
2. What was the most difficult part of the assignment?
Not being able to edit the lesson to make it better was hard. Growing up, I always had
opinions (both good and not so good) on my teachers teaching and would discuss them
with my mother. She kept telling me I should be a teacher so I could do it the way I
thought it should be done.
3. What can you relate to for your own planning of instruction and lesson planning?
I have to look at my own lessons and be critical to make sure that I am teaching the
children in the best way that I can in the amount of time that I have. It also gives me a
better idea of what lesson plans look like when they are given to others. My teachers make
very vague lesson plans because they know what they are teaching and how they will be
doing it, so I have only seen bare bones lesson plans before.
4. Which characteristic did you feel the most comfortable with assessing? Why?
Assessmentthere was a specific section that referred to assessments, but there were also
other smaller assessments going on. But because it was explicitly shown, that made it
easier to rate and give evidence.
5. Which characteristic did you feel the least comfortable with assessing? Why?
Classroom Managementthere was no actual teacher and students to watch so I just had to
infer from the few clues given in the lesson plan about how that teacher might have
managed his or her classroom.

Created for EDU 3410.OL1 by D. Barringer

Evaluations Standards are from NC Teaching Evaluation Process http://bit.ly/NCTeacherEval