Lesson Self-Assessment for ED 215R

Name: Sarah Fadness

Literacy Objective: The students will be able to use what they know about
characters, the series, and text in the book to make predictions about what is going
to happen in the story

Balanced Literacy Component: Mini-lesson into a Workshop

Date: 4.29.15
School/grade level/ number of students: Brookfield Elementary/2nd
grade/20 students
Name of Cooperating Teacher: Jodi Erickson
Planning

and
preparation:(AEA:Conceptualization,Diagnosis
WTS:1,2,3,4,5,7DISP: Respect, Responsibility, Collaboration, Communication)
Clearly identify the range of literacy development of the learners in your classroom
and describe how you planned to address that range throughout your lesson plan.
Thoroughly explain how an effective theoretical model such as Holdaway or
Vygotsky guided you as you planned your lesson. Explain what worked well in your
plan and what you would have changed/did change and why.
The range of literacy development of my learners encompasses level B to L or
early to self-exceeding. I had a wide range of literacy needs to meet and I did so by
gathering information from my cooperating teacher about the students. She knows
the students very well and I value that.

Her assistance helped me to plan my

lesson. She informed me about a new student who came recently from Kentucky,
and went on to say that this student received testing to see what developmental
level she is at. From that testing, my cooperating teacher was able to see that this
new student is at a level D, a level she said that tends to be in kindergarten. Also,
there is an ELL student in the classroom who is at the same reading level as this
new student.

From her informing me about that, I was able to take that and be

sure to meet the needs of those students.

She went on to say she pairs them

together because they are so close in developmental levels.

That knowledge

helped me to better plan ahead, something that came in handy. Also, I sought out
information from my cooperating teacher about what the students have been
learning up until my lesson. I know the students have recently started a brand new
Series Unit. During this unit they read multiple books from the same series. My
cooperating teacher has students separated based off of reading developmental
levels. From these developmental levels they are placed in groups and they read

the same books as their group members, but at their own pace individually. During
this unit they have been looking at characters over many books to find patterns in
their behaviors. For example, when working with a student we talked about how the
Franklin series has Franklin trying new things. From that we know his character is
adventurous and we know that because we saw a pattern over multiple books.
Also, the students have been gathering clues about the characters, text, and series
and have been looking at all three. What they have been learning helped lead up to
what I was going to be doing with them.
When planning my lesson, Holdaways model was on my mind. I thoroughly
like his model and I find his four stages beneficial. With that being said, I made sure
to include all four stages, demonstration, participation, practice, and performance,
in my lesson. I began my lesson by restating what the students have read up until
that point. Following that, I went into demonstration. My lesson objective was to
have the students making predictions in the books by looking at the characters,
text, and the series. I demonstrated for the students how I made a prediction based
off of the title. I brought in knowledge about Iris and Walter being best of friends, so
I know that they are going to be inseparable. I added background knowledge about
field trips from when I was Iris and Walters age. My experiences with having to
have a buddy on field trips makes me think that Iris and Walter may have too and
I predict that they will be partners because I know that they are best friends. I went
on to say that having a buddy is important so no one gets lost, but I predicted
that if Iris and Walter were separated that the other one would go looking for them.
I believe that by giving examples, the students were able to see what I wanted the
students to do when making predictions.

My demonstration was not only in my

mini-lesson, but also in the workshop. When conferencing with students, I saw two
students struggling when making predictions. They both were able to write on post
it notes, but they did not state evidence to why they made that prediction. I wanted
them to go a step further to cite evidence they were seeing in the book.

I re-

demonstrated to the students how I made predictions when I read the book Iris and
Walter and the Field Trip. I showed them on a more personal basis how to make
predictions from what I know about the characters, the text, and the series. From
that, I believe they began to understand what I wanted them to do.

After re-

demonstrating, they were able to stop and jot on the post it notes. I saw them
making predictions and using evidence to the best of their ability. Demonstration

did not end in the mini-lesson, but I was responsive to the students and if they
needed, I re-demonstrated.
During participation, I had the students turn and talk. I had preselected two
spots in the book where I wanted the students to turn and talk to make predictions
about what they think is going to happen next in the book. Before I had them turn
and talk, I stated what type of evidence they should use. That evidence includes
what they know about the characters, the text, and the series. I had them turn and
talk about their predictions and I listened to their thought processes. I listened to
the connections and had some students go a step further by citing evidence. That
got them thinking deeper. When I asked why? they had to answer and not just
stare at me. After turn and talks, I had a volunteer share their prediction with the
class. That was a way for me to also see students train of thought. I had another
spot to turn and talk along with taking a different volunteer. By having them turn
and talk again, this helped me to see where they were at with their thinking.
The students practiced their reading and making predictions during
independent reading time. I planned ahead to incorporate that opportunity for the
students.

In this new unit, the students are in book clubs in which they meet with

peers at their reading levels. The students read the same books with the peers in
their club.

They met with their peers in their book club reading spots to create

goals for how far they were going to read in their books that day. After they created
their goals, they started reading.

They read next to their peers in their group.

During the students practice, I was able to walk around and conference with
students.

While conferencing, I was able to speak with students on a more

individual basis.

This was the time, I re-demonstrated to students how to make

predictions and had them dig deeper.

During practice, I went straight to the

students who were at the lowest reading levels. I wanted to make sure those two
were understanding what I wanted them to do. I believe that by talking with them,
that was able to clear some gray areas for them. After speaking with them, I went
on to other students and some students fell within the Vygotskys theory of
scaffolding and the students were able to do while I watched. I took notes while
they were speaking. Part of my notes entailed the level of independence they had
when making predictions, how detail their explanation was, if they used evidence
about the characters, text or series, and if they needed prompting to get them

going.

I took note about what they were saying and thinking aloud. I do believe

that each student was able to make predictions and use evidence. They each
worked at it at their developmental levels.
Lastly, the fourth piece of Holdaways model is performance.

I had the

students perform by talking about their predictions, knowledge of the characters,

the text, and the series with the members in the group.

I demonstrated to the

students how I wanted them to talk with each other which is why I had a volunteer
help me by telling the class a prediction she has made. After the demonstration the
students spoke with peers in their groups about the books they have read along
with their predictions.

I walked around during this time to speak with students

about what their group was talking about. Performance was another tool for me to
reference the students knowledge.
When reflecting about my planning and preparation, I believe I did a good
job. I spoke ahead of time with my cooperating teacher to get an idea of what she
wanted me to teach the students. She gave me a copy of the unit plan and the
Teachers College unit plan. Both helped tremendously because I was able to get a
clear idea of what she wanted the students to learn along with what they had been
learning up until that point. Both were helpful in creating my lesson. Also, I sought
out feedback on my lesson ahead of time to allow for time to revise. I emailed my
cooperating teacher my lesson plan and asked her how she thought it would work
with her group of students because she knows them very well. Planning ahead is
beneficial because it allows me to know what I am teaching and how I am teaching
it.
Things do not always go as I planned, but I went with the flow. Late the night
before teaching my lesson, my cooperating teacher emailed me informing me that
the students were already in book clubs and have chosen books they want to read.
With that being said, that took away my plan of having them read different books
and how they were going to be divided up. Also, she said she wants to keep them
doing their goal plans. It was not what I had in mind, but my cooperating teacher
knows them best and I wanted to honor that. By doing that it created a sense of
normalcy for the students. At times I was not sure what was going to happen next,
but my CT and the students helped guide me. I had to create flexibility.

Classroom environment: (AEA: Coordination, Integrative Interaction WTS:

1,2,3,4,5,6 DISP: Respect, Responsibility, Collaboration, Communication)

Explain how you set up a positive learning environment and encouraged student
participation in the learning. How did you focus student attention throughout the
learning experience to engage them productively in the learning the lesson
objective? Evaluate your interactions with the students and their interactions with
each other.
To set the tone of my lesson, I stated classroom behaviors such as being
respectful, eyes and ears forward, being elbow to elbow, and sitting next to their
partner. That showed the students what I was looking for and it correlates to what
my CT does, so it the students were used to it. Every lesson that I have seen my CT
teach, she states those expectations because it creates a positive environment with
everyone on the same page. With every lesson I tried bring a positive attitude to
the classroom to make it a good experience for the students.

Also, setting

expectations creates responsibility for students and makes them accountable for
themselves. The accountability aspect is huge because it takes their education into
their own hands inevitably preparing them for third grade. Every student is told the
same expectations and it is universal in the classroom.
I am a huge proponent of praise and I made sure to tell students they did well
when they deserved it. I believe that through praise, you can boost the confidence
level of students which makes them want to share and participate more.

I had

positive interactions with the students. I can tell that the more time I have spent in
my field, the more comfortable the students are with me.

When I walk into the

classroom every Wednesday, I get greeted by some students who always give me
hugs. Through all of these interactions over the past couple of months they help
me when I teach them. Not only am I comfortable, but it feels good to know the
students are as well. Also, throughout conferencing with students, I made sure to
tell them they were doing a great job. It is important for students to receive that
praise because it helps them to know they are doing a good job and it is noticed.
At times during my read aloud, I would say something about the book as I
turned the page and the students would go off to say something about that. For
example, I talked about the aquarium and a few students went into detail about
going to an aquarium on vacation last summer.

I liked that they were making

connections based off of their background knowledge, but that was getting us off
topic. I had to re-gather their attention which I did by saying I liked the connection

they made, and that I was going to keep reading.

At times they became talkative

when I turned the pages in the book, so I put my finger over my mouth as a sign
that they need to quiet down. I did that in my previous lesson and that seemed to
work, so I used it again in my third.
During the turn and talks, I liked the way students were speaking with their
partners. Students were making great predictions. One student predicted that Iris
and Walter were going to get lost because the book would not have mentioned it if
it was not going to happen. That prediction showed me they were really thinking
about the text. During turn and talks, I spoke with students about their predictions
and prompted them to think deeper by providing evidence. Turn and talks helped
me gage which students needed more assistance. From that, I was able to go right
to those students during their practice.
Classroom environment is crucial because it sets the tone not only for the
lesson, but student learning.

I believe I had a positive environment and I have

created positive relationships with the students over the past few months. From
this field consistently seeing the students every week since the first week of
February, I see the importance of relationships.
classroom environment.

Relationships help mold the

The stronger the relationships between the teacher to

students and students to students, it makes for a better classroom environment.

Instruction:

(AEA: Communication, Coordination, Diagnosis,

Interaction WTS: 1,2,4,5,6,7,10 DISP: Respect, Communication)

Integrative

Thoroughly explain how you taught this lesson to meet your literacy objective.
Evaluate your implementation of your plan in relation to student
learning/performance and the theory. Did it have the effect you intended? Were the
needs of your literacy learners met? Explain what you found most difficult in
teaching this lesson. What changes would you make if you repeated this lesson?
Why?
I began my lesson stating expectations and after that I went on to restate to
them what they have learned up until this point. In the beginning of my lesson
when I reiterated what I saw the students do last week with noticing patterns, I
referenced working with a student. In the previous week I worked with a student to
notice patterns in Franklin books.

I went on to tell the class that we saw

Franklin as a magician, in a school play, and in a pumpkin growing contest. This

showed the student and me that Franklin was very adventurous because in each
book he was trying new things to the best of his ability. I thought to say that on my

feet and I am glad I did. It got the attention of the student who I worked with, but it
also was another example to the whole class how we can notice patterns in
characters over many books in a series. I made other connections about patterns
with characters and series with the students.

I referenced other Iris and Walter

books that they have read. I noticed patterns in front of them that Iris and Walter
are inseparable and are best friends. They always work things out in the end. I
went on to make predictions about the book, Iris and Walter and the Field Trip,
saying that I know this book will be about Iris and Walter because their names are in
the title. Also, by seeing the words field trip I know that they will be on a field trip
away from the classroom. I brought my prior knowledge to the class about field
trips that I went on when I was their age. On those field trips, we always had to
have buddies and I predicted that if Iris and Walter had to, they would be buddies
because I know that they are best friends. I believed these connections helped the
students to see what kind of thinking I wanted them to do.
I began reading the book to the students and I was sure to show them all the
pictures.

When I read that the first chapter was The Aquarium, I asked for a

volunteer to tell me what that was. I did this to make sure we all knew what it
meant. I kept on reading and I had preselected two spots I wanted the students to
turn and talk with their partners to make predictions.

I stopped on page thirteen

and when the students turned and talked, I scoped out the carpet listening to
conversations and joined in on a few. With my cooperating teacher there it was
helpful because she talked to half of the students and I spoke with the other half. I
know it will not always be like that, but as I get my feet in the water, it is very
helpful. When listening to their turn and talks, a student walked in late and I had to
catch him up to make sure he was on the same page. I made sure to keep my eyes
on everyone and tell them how much time they had left to talk. I had a volunteer
share their predictions and I made sure to praise them. I continued to read a few
more pages and I had stopped on another page for the students to turn and talk.
During this turn and talk, I tried to talk to other students than the first time. That
way I could see more students and listen to their train of thought. I finished reading
and went on to tell the students what we were going to do today.

I stated my

directions to the students multiple times that they were going to make predictions
in the books they were reading by looking at the characters, the text, and the
series. I restated directions to make sure everyone heard and we were all on the

same page. I did not necessarily know what the students were supposed to do in
their book clubs, but they did which was very helpful. My cooperating teacher was
awesome and helped guide me to what the students would be doing next in their
book clubs.
Each student went into their particular book club.

The book clubs were

divided up by students with similar reading developmental levels. In their clubs,

they were reading the same books as their partners. Before they read, they spoke
with their group about the reading goals they had for themselves that day. It was
very cool to see the level on independence that these groups had. While they were
reading, I went around and conferenced with students.

My look fors included

making logical predictions, using evidence from the text to explain those
predictions, and the degree of independence they had. I kept notes on my chart
with their names and made notes on the book they were reading. The first students
I conferenced with were the two students that are lower developmental readers. I
spoke with them first to make sure they knew exactly what to do. When speaking
with them, I re-demonstrated my thought process about making predictions like I
did during my mini-lesson. That helped the students because it was more individual
and they got to hear it one more time. After I explained their task, I listened to
them read and make predictions in their books. Once I knew those students were
taken care of, I went on to conference with others. I took note of my look fors and
each student I spoke with was able to make predictions and state why they made
those. A particular student was able to make predictions, but did not state evidence
which lead me to ask the student, why? He went on to explain why he made that
prediction. He could thoroughly explain why, he just needed prompting and I made
note of that.
After conferencing with many students, I re-gathered them on the carpet.
They were told to bring their book bins and sit in puddles with their book clubs.
This was the part of the lesson that they were going to talk with their fellow book
clubs members about the book they have read. Before I had the students speak
with each other, I had a volunteer help me in demonstrating how I wanted them to
talk with each other. After that, the students were speaking amongst their group
and I told them to look at the characters, text, and the series. While they were
doing that, I went around speaking with students that I did not get the chance to
conference with during independent reading time. This was another chance for me

to assess student understanding and I loved hearing them talk with their groups in
depth about the book they read.
To close the lesson, I was not aware of their routine, which is why I refocused
the students and my cooperating teacher told them what she needed them to do for
tomorrow. My cooperating teacher asked me if I was okay with her closing and I of
course was because I wanted the students to be in the routine they know.
Flexibility was key and I went with the flow.

All the students knew what was

expected and what to do which was all that mattered.

Assessment: (AEA: Diagnosis, Integrative Interaction WTS: 1,2,3,7,8,9 DISP:

Reflection) Explain how you knew if the students learned what you taught them.

What did you learn from listening to student responses, examining their work or
listening to their interactions? What were your assessment procedures and how well
did they inform you about student attainment of your lessons objectives? To followup this lesson, what would you teach next? Why?
I gathered evidence that they students were learning what I taught them in a
couple of ways. First I began gathering evidence during their turn and talks. That
was during my mini-lesson and it gave me an idea of their thinking and who may
need more assistance. While they were speaking with their partners, I listened in to
hear their thought processes. I went on to prompt the students to go further and
explain why they made that particular prediction. I had two turn and talks during
my read aloud and after each I had a different volunteer share a prediction that they
made. This was another gage for me on student understanding. I liked that I was
able to hear others predictions, but students were able to hear what their peers had
to say.
Another form of assessing the students understanding of the learning
objective was conferencing with them. During the conferences, I was able to assist
the students I saw struggling during the turn and talks. I re-demonstrated making
predictions and was able to assess their understanding. I used my chart to take
notes on the students while conferencing with them. I spoke with over a handful of
students. All were able to make predictions and state why they made those. I was
truly impressed by their level of thought and predictions. I made note of their level

of independence, if they needed prompting, their prediction, and their use of

evidence. Every student I spoke with but one did not explicitly state evidence until I
asked him why and then he was able to. Speaking with students on an individual
basis really helps get an idea of where they stand and it allows me to get into their
head more.
Lastly, my third form of assessment for the students was during their talks in
the book clubs. I listened to what they were saying in their groups and how they
were talking with each other. This was a great time for me to speak and listen to
students that I was not able to conference with during independent reading. I made
note of my look fors their train of thought.
These three forms of assessment helped me to see if students were
understanding the objective.

I was able to see that a few were not originally

understanding which is why I spoke with them first during independent reading
time. I did not want to leave them hanging, I wanted them to know exactly what to
do. Assessments also helped me to see that perhaps I should have given a few
more examples to benefit the students. If I were to follow up the lesson I would
teach, students how predictions may change as we continue to read. This would be
beneficial for students because it teaches them flexibility and as good readers we
need to be flexible.

Professional responsibilities: (AEA: Communication, Integrative Interaction

WTS:
1,2,6,7,9,10 DISP: Respect, Responsibility, Reflection, Collaboration,
Communication

Explain how you will apply what you learned from the feedback you received on this
lesson to teaching future lessons.

From each lesson every piece of feedback I have received went into it. That
includes feedback from my professor to feedback from my cooperating teacher.
Feedback from both are important to me because both are experienced literacy
teachers.

I am not an expert, I am beginning to learn what it takes to be an

effective teacher of literacy which is why my mind is wide open to feedback.

Feedback is given to make me a stronger more effective future teacher of literacy
which is why I embrace it. I am continuously look for better ways to teach and get
my learning objective through to the students.
Before I began lesson planning, I sought out what my cooperating teacher
wanted me to teach. She already had an idea in mind and she gave me her unit

plan. From that I knew what I was going to teach, but also what they were going to
be doing before and after my lesson. I was able to speak with her about what book
she wanted me to read and how much of it I should read. By speaking with her it
gave me a clear idea of what to do. Her feedback was beneficial. By getting the
lesson idea from her ahead of time, I was able to plan ahead and think on it.
I submitted my lesson to get feedback about my ideas and received valuable
information which I put into my lesson when revising. I thought more about the
logistics of my lesson such as will the students understand what I am trying to say.
Also, I put feedback from my other lessons into this one. From my first lesson, my
cooperating teacher said be aware of who you call on to volunteer, so the same
students are not always speaking. Since then, I have made a conscience effort to
spread the volunteering around and I have no called on the same student twice in a
lesson. Things such as that make me more aware of my teaching and will continue
to help me in future fields.

Reflection: (AEA: Diagnosis WTS: 9 DISP: Reflection)

What did you learn about teaching an effective literacy lesson from this teaching
experience? How will it affect your planning for future teaching of literacy?
Describe, with examples, how your learning in ED 225 or ED 325 and/or from prior
ED215R literacy lessons you taught improved your performance on this lesson.
Explain how this lesson demonstrates your growth in ONE Wisconsin Teaching
Standard and ONE Alverno Education Ability. (Make sure to state the WTS and AEA in
your own words in your explanation.)
Overall, I am very pleased with how my lesson turned out. I have received
great feedback that will be implemented in future fields. A main takeaway for me
from this lesson about teaching effective literacy is flexibility.

As a teacher, you

need to be aware that things change and you need to go with the flow based off of

student learning and understanding. From this lesson I had to think more on my
feet than the previous two and go with the flow more.

This will help me in the

future because not every lesson will go as planned and it is unrealistic if I think it
will. Each day and each child is different.
In ED 225 we have talked about how some students may not understand
concepts the first time which is why examples are vital. It is important for students
to see me making predictions to get an idea of what they will be doing individually.
Also, in ED 225 we have learned that not all students will understand it the first time
which is why re-demonstrating the learning objective is key. I have seen firsthand
the benefits of re-demonstrating. Not only was I able to speak with students on a
more individual basis, but I re-demonstrated how I made predictions. From going
over the prediction process, the students were able to see what they were supposed
to do. Learning this is ED 225 helped me to better help the students.
A Wisconsin Teaching Standard that I have begun to develop is number ten,
the teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in
the large community to support students learning and well-being. Although I have
not made relationships with parents or agencies, I have formed a great relationship
with my cooperating teacher. To me at this stage that is the first step. I know I am
able to go ask her questions and she will help guide me. It is great knowing I can
seek feedback from such an amazing teacher. Having a good relationship with my
cooperating teacher helped me in this lesson when I was not sure what the kids
were supposed to do because of the change up.

She told me what she wanted

them to do and I was able to reiterate that to the students.

Having a positive

relationship with my cooperating teacher has been beneficial through this whole
process and I believe fostering a relationship with her is the first step to community
collaboration.
An Alverno Education Ability I believe I have grown at is Integrative
Interaction which states acting with professional value as a situational decisionmaker, adapting to the changing needs in the environment in order to draw out
students as learners.

In this lesson I had to make numerous adaptions to the

varying student needs and re-demonstrated the objective during conferences.

disposition of this ability is showing rapport with students.
demonstrated that.

I believe that I have

I have developed positive relationships with students which

makes it helpful because over the past few months I have learned about their needs

as learners. From that, I can plan ahead to meet those needs. I believe I have
grown at this and I will continue to on my journey to becoming a teacher.
From talking over my lesson afterwards, I received useful feedback, much of
which I was aware that I do. For example, I am a fast talker and have always been.
I am aware that I do that and I try to slow it down, but that feels unnatural and I
speed back up. I need to consciously slow down because it will benefit my students.
Also, I have learned that making comments about the book when I am turning
pages is not always helpful because the students make connections, which is great,
but that takes us off topic. In the future I will try to focus it more. When it comes to
asking questions, I would ask if everyone was on the same page, which reflecting on
it is not the best idea. In reality if a student was struggling they would not say it in
front of twenty peers. I cannot take them saying yes that everyone truly is on the
same page with the same understanding. I need to think of ways to ask students
without anyone being singled out and I know that will come with time.
When talking individually with my cooperating teacher, she said I did an
awesome job which was nice to hear. She said with changing up the lesson on her
part, my flexibility was incredible, I was up to do whatever to reassure the students
routine. Also, she said I handled the student who was on the verge of a meltdown
perfectly. I have observed what she does and have put that to use when I teach.
Her feedback was great reassurance for me. My cooperating teacher said that she
noticed the students read for forty minutes, the longest time they have read in a
while.
In conclusion, I am happy with the way my lesson unfolded. The students
learned the material and I learned ways to better help them.

I learned the

importance of flexibility and as a teacher that is crucial. Lastly, students sticking

with their routine is important because they know what is expected of them and
what they need to do. Everything from the interactions with the students to the
feedback from my CT, it will all be put to use in future lessons. I will continue to
embrace the feedback because it will help me be the best teacher that I can be for
my students.