Cycle 1 Class Observation

Kristen Tibbetts
Date: 5-19-11 Time: 9:00am 9:40am
Lesson Focus: Daily 5 Learning Centers
Grade: 2
Observer: Julie Crane-Cory
Lesson Objective: In this lesson (word sort on inflected endings), I want the
students to culminate all theyve studied and extend their understanding by
working together to construct the rules themselves....I want the classroom to be
80/20 - 80% of the students time is spent working (they are engaged); 20% of the
learning time I am teaching them. My students should have countless activities
with multiple outcomes in their products and their thinking. I also want the kids to
be able to learn at varying rates and levels. Kristen
Observation Focus: "Please watch my lesson briefly, but more importantly, please
watch what the kids are doing around the class to see if theres evidence of...
thinking, choice, differentiation, cooperation, student-centered activities, student-
driven centers/student independence and safety - an environment where the kids
feel comfortable taking risks in their speaking/thinking/choices/ideas. Its the total
learning environment Im aiming to create! - Kristen
Cycle 1 Goal: My goal is to craft a challenging learning environment
characterized by child-centered decision-making, differentiated curriculum and
instruction, and a nurturing climate so that learners educe their risk-taking and
independence.
Dear Kristen,
Thank you for the opportunity to visit your classroom. Your students were already
engaged and immersed in their Daily 5 Learning Centers, student-centered
activities, throughout your classroom and on your lanai. I visited your brown table
first, Working with Words, to observe your lesson on inflected endings.
Word Work: You had shared with me ahead of time that the group you were
working with had been learning how to add -ing (to words with four different
vowel/consonant patterns, double the consonant, drop the e at the end of a word,
do nothing to the end of a word, add -ed to words, and add -es to words, in addition
to unusual past tense words and unusual plurals). However, this group of students
were not explicitly taught the definition of an inflected ending. What you wanted
the students to do today was to construct
the rules themselves as a culmination and
extension of the previous lessons.
It was quite remarkable to see the students
quickly write down their own definition of
inflected ending on their own slate. One
such example is: An inflected ending is
when you change your ending of a word.
play - playing. You praised the students by saying, This whole year, I never gave
you the definition, but you were able to come up with a definition of your own.
Hows that? You were paying attention, analyzing and thinking about the endings!
Kristen, you have a way of empowering the students by allowing them to figure
things out on their own, but with such loving guidance, practice and careful
scaffolding along the way.
After I made my rounds to visit the other
Daily 5 activities, I returned to your
group. I noticed that their slates had some
words on them (tamed, begged) and that
you were holding a card with the word,
clean on it. You had just asked the
students to think about how cleaned is
spelled. When some students were not sure
about the spelling, they used the
dictionary to figure it out. What a great
mini lesson on how to use resources! You
stressed the importance of figuring out
what the generalizations are and what the
exception words are. To conclude todays
lesson, your group of students came up with
an Observation of -ed chart: VVC=just add
-ed, VCC= just add -ed, VC= double the
consonant and add -ed.
Your Daily 5 chart was located visibly in front of the
classroom with the names of the 5 groups (Word Work,
Computers, Writing Letters, Reading to Self, and Plexors)
and names of students under each section. The students didnt
even notice I entered their classroom as they were very
focused on their own learning. It was quite evident that the
Daily 5 instills literacy habits that allow for independent
work. There was only one table that had the teacher leading a
group. The rest were on their own!
Read to Self: There
were five students
spread out around the
low round table reading and reflecting in
journals about their book. I noticed that the
students were reading different titles,
genres and levels. They were fully
immersed in their own reading or writing/
drawing in their journal. Once student was
very focused on drawing a maze to go with
the story.
Writing Letters: There were students spread
out around the class, some sitting and some standing in front of their desk. A
student explained to me that he was writing a letter to friends. He said, Each
student writes to everyone in class about what we learned together and what you
liked about them. What
a wonderful activity to
reflect back on the year
and to celebrate each
other! These students
were very independent
as they knew where to
get their supplies and
where to turn in their
work when completed.
Computers: Each student had an earphone on while listening to a story being read
aloud on the computer screen. Some students were mouthing the words silently,
reading along with the computer, while others giggled and make comments along
the way, reacting to the story being revealed to
them. One student who was reading about
dinosaurs was taking meticulous notes, while
rereading what was on the screen and reading
what he wrote. It was great to see such diverse
content, reading level and interest in this one
little nook of the classroom!
Plexors:
This group of five was sitting around a
table out on the lanai. While the other
groups worked independently, this group
was exercising reading aloud,
collaborating, negotiating, reasoning and
working together to solve a problem. These
Perplexors, logic problems, can help
students develop deduction reasoning
skills. It was great to hear comments and
suggestions such as:
!
Why dont we read the clues again!
!
Maybe it tells us, but in a hard way.
!
How do you know?
The problem they were trying to solve
was actually quite complex. One
student started to give up, Its almost
time. Can we move on? I dont get
it! and started to play with a dice.
Another student corrected him and
redirected him, Dont play with that!
Are we sure that Billy is Apricot?
They carried on, everyone taking
risks at one point or another, to try
and figure out the answer (Double
click on left picture to run video). (*
When you went to check on these
students, their frustration of not
arriving at the answer easily and
getting the answer wrong was shared
with you. Their comment prompted you to say, Process is most important...not the
answer! and you gave the most encouraging smile!
Kristen, your Daily 5, a series of literacy tasks which students complete daily while
you meet with small groups, is more than just a management system; it is also a
curriculum framework. This structure clearly helps students develop the daily
habits of reading, writing and working collaboratively with peers. Your explicit
modeling and students practicing, reecting and rening have prepared them to be
independent learners with content and instruction that are differentiated to meet the
needs of each student. Reading is addressed through partner and independent
reading, shared and guided reading and reading aloud. Writing, both form and
process, are reinforced. Daily 5 develops shared awareness and routines while
giving you, the teacher, exibility to meet with a small group or one-on-one while
providing students choice and independence. I am constantly in awe at how you
plan your lessons effectively, stimulate critical thinking, actively involve students
in their own learning and evaluate student progress along the way. You create a
safe environment of respect and rapport with students. The exible, non-
threatening atmosphere allows students to become condent learners. Your clear
expectation that all students can learn successfully at their own pace is
communicated as you encourage students to take risks!
Discussion questions:
Do you feel that your Daily Five is working well? Which part is the most
challenging to manage?
!
Your Daily 5 is so successful! Have you been able to share with your team?
Would you be interested in running a workshop for teachers?
If you could completely have your way with the weekly schedule, what would a
typical day look like for you?
Again, thank you for the opportunity to observe your class, Kristen. Your class is
consistently a pleasure to visit and observe.