NORWIN SCHOOL DISTRICT

OBSERVATION REPORT OF PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE

Teacher

Kristie Lynn

Class Observed

ELA, PM Kindergarten

School

Sheridan Terrace Elementary School

Length of Visit

1:30 2:30 p.m.

Date

2/19/16

A.

Give a brief description of the learning situation observed:

The students sat on the carpet and watched you pull objects from your bag. You said, If you
know what I am pulling out of my bag, raise your hand. The items you pulled out all shared the short e
sound (Ken, pen, bed, net, etc.). You asked, Why did I put all those things in my bag? Volunteers
suggested several reasons including the fact that they all had the e sound in the middle. You reminded
them of e being a vowel and then led the singing of a familiar vowel song. You explained todays
learning goal this way: Our goal is going to be to read a book with words with lots of es in the middle
Weve read words with a; weve read words with o. Today were going to read words with e.
You showed word cards with es in them. The students whispered the word they read in their
fists and then raised their hands to say the word aloud. After reading the word aloud, students stretched it
out by emphasizing each sound. You explained the Write the Room activity and reviewed a few key
pictures and words. You said, We are getting a little bit closer to reading books with words with e in
them. Students returned to their seats and gathered their materials. Once all were ready, you directed the
students to begin the Write the Room activity. You watched and prompted, as needed, while students
located the pictures and words that matched the pictures on the paper they used to record the words they
found. While they completed this searching and writing activity, you also distributed another activity at
the tables.
You concluded the Write the Room activity and brought the students back to the whole group
carpet. You demonstrated the next practice activity which was a matching activity with e words and
pictures. You explicitly explained and showed each step. You also repeated the critical rules of not
disputing turns or order. You designated spaces in the room for each table group to meet and then
circulated from group to group to check the students progress. With each interaction, you asked the
students to read the word to you. You offered strategies such as stretch it out and Well say it first and
you can say it back.
You announced the next transition in which students went to their seats to get their books and then
guided them through the movement back to the whole group carpet. You checked for understanding by
asking several times, What sound does e say? You previewed the text and explained the cats name as
being Jet to avoid a misunderstanding. Then, you excused students in pairs to find a place to read in the
room. You worked with four students on the carpet to read their book. After they read the book to you,
you excused them to read the book with a partner. Then, you circulated around the room to check the
progress of all readers.
You directed students back to their chairs with a ring of the classroom bell. Students indicated
with their thumbs up/thumbs in the middle/thumbs down if they were able to read the book with es in it.
You asked them to put their books in their Take Home folders to read to someone at home over the
weekend. With that, you started the transition to gym.
B.
Commendations:
Domain 2: Frequently throughout the lesson, you made your expectations of students behavior
expectations explicit. You repeated for students to raise their hands and then called on those students who
did so. You redirected a student who was pronouncing e in silly way by simply saying, Thats not the
sound of e. You modeled the correct pronunciation and he complied by saying it correctly back. You
offered choices that previewed your expectations of their behavior before the students made a mistake. For
example, you asked Should we be walking or running? and Should we be whispering or running?
Other examples of explicitly stating your expectations are when you said, Ill know youre finished
because you put away your clipboard and When Mrs. Lynn is talking, who else should be talking?
Domain 3: You incorporated many creative ways to harness students exuberance. For example, you asked

them to whisper and raise which allowed them to still talk in their fists and then raise their clenched
hand. You encouraged this technique and even told the students, I want all of us practicing, of course.
Domain 1 & 3: The Write the Room activity engaged students oral reading and writing. They practiced
identifying, reading, and writing words with the e sound without quite realizing, it seemed, that they
were doing it. I could also hear them saying the words to each other. I was really impressed with their
willingness to help each other. I could hear students saying, Does anyone need help? and Who needs
help, guys?
Domain 1: You predicted that there would be discussion about turn taking and order at the beginning of
the matching game. You emphasized several times that the point of this activity is to learn and not to argue
about order or turns. Sure enough, the very first exchanges in the small groups around me were around
who gets to go first and what order to follow. Your accurate prediction of their behavior enabled you to
avoid losing too much time dealing with interaction issues and enabled the students to work productively
on this matching activity together.
Domain 3: You explained several times during the lesson that e is a vowel. As such, it sometimes says
its name and sometimes makes its sound. I could tell that these look fors regarding vowels are taught
and reinforced throughout the year. They were familiar and accessible tools for students to use in their
learning today.
Domain 1 & 3: You provided an additional text for a few students who could handle the reading of two
books in the given time. You also worked with a small group who needed your support before asking them
to read the text independently. These aspects of the lesson evidenced your attention to enrichment and
remediation.
C.

Recommendations and/or suggestions for improvement:

Recommendation(s):
None

Suggestion(s):
Domain 2: Table groups were called to get a clipboard. In the middle of this transition, a student asked
where the clipboards were, and you pointed out the location. While this was certainly a quick solution to
this minor question, you might want to choose to instruct students in future similar situations to look and
learn or find a friend in order to answer his/her own question.
Domain 2: You reminded students that they should be whispering and not yelling. Despite this, several
students continued to call out Who needs help or I need help. Maybe a hand signal could be
established to indicate a students need for help and another students willingness to help? This would
enable them to communicate without you needing to remind them multiple times of the appropriate volume
level to use.
Domain 3: While you incorporated an enrichment option with the additional texts at the end of the lesson, I
am thinking of other ways to easily enrich for students ready for the challenge. I wonder if the words on
the cards hidden around the room could be concealed with a flap. You can encourage the students to move
the flap to see the word. Then, on some students papers, you can mark that they should not use the flap.
This would require them to write the word independently. Or another way to enrich the lesson might be
to add lines for early finishers to write other words with the e sound?
D.

Teacher's response to observation:

Teachers Signature
Principals Signature
Superintendent's Signature
X
Lesson Plans
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