Classroom: Ms.

Brandon
Grade: 4th
Curriculum Area: Social Studies
What I notice
The teacher asks students to pull out
their copies of the North Carolina state
map.
The lesson begins with a review of the
piedmont, mountains, and coastal
regions.
As a whole class, the teacher has the
students answer discussion questions
relating to the different regions and
borders of NC.
The students are now reading a
passage and identifying what the main
idea of the passage is. The passage is
about the piedmont land and resources.

Observer: Bryson Michael

Date: 10-27-16
Time: 1:15
Thoughts, Questions, Connections to
Methods Classes
I like that the students are working
directly with maps.
The students seem knowledgeable and
aware of information pertaining to the
three regions of North Carolina.
I like that the teacher reviewed
information and activated the students
background knowledge before sending
them to work in small groups.
The small group activity connected to
the students surrounding environment.
This was a very nice addition to the
assignment.

Ms. Brandon is working with a small

group at the back of the class. Other
students are working with partners
around the room to read and annotate
the passage.

I liked that the teacher worked with

students in the back of the class while
still attending to the rest of the class.
This showed that she was provided
modified instruction to students who
needed it.

One student is preparing to read by

assigning roles. This is important
because she stated that after reading
one paragraph they must stop and
determine the main idea of said
paragraph.

I like that Ms. Brandon used this period

of the class to provide students with
supplemental instruction of another
academic subject. The schedule and
structure of this block was very
impressive.

The passage students are reading ties

to geographic locations familiar to the
students. The lesson speaks of
Gastonia, Raleigh, Charlotte, etc.

I liked the temperament of the class

during this lesson. It was very
impressive.

The passage ties geographic landforms

to local areas. Ex: Lake Norman, Lake
Johnson
Ms. Brandon is working on a math
lesson with some of the students in the
small group at the back of the class.

The students have a journal to store

information in and reexamine over the
course of the year. This is a very nice
instructional tool.

Two students are doing a math

assessment on ipads. The others are
there for supplemental instruction for
the geography lesson.
The students seem well mannered and
are working through the passage at a
good pace. There has been zero
distraction.
Ms. Brandon is floating around the class
to monitor the students outside of her
small group. The small group is
independently reading through the
geography passage.
The teacher has given students new
copies of the same passage to be glued
into their social studies notebooks.