Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Elementary Education Program

Pre-Observation Form

Directions: This form is to be completed prior to every lesson that will be observed by the mentor
teacher or university supervisor. It is to be submitted no later than 3 business days prior to the actual
observation along with your lesson plans.

Name:Adair Sheppard Date:11/5/17

1. What is the topic of your lesson?

a. Colonial Karaoke: The Revolutionary War and the relationship between
King George III and the colonists.

2. Why are you teaching this lesson? What is your rationale for teaching it?
a. Arts Integration Lesson for ELM 450 as well as the Social Studies Final
Unit project for ELM 460. Students are also currently discussing the
revolutionary war so that is why I chose this topic. It is important for
students to understand the relationship between King George and the
colonists because it is the whole foundation of why the war started and
why the events of the war took place.

3. What is your Teaching Behavior Focus? Why did you choose this?
a. Monitors learning activities. I chose this because I want to make sure all
students/members of the groups are engaged and participating in the
activity. This is something that I think is important, as well as something I
could improve on from the last lesson I taught. This lesson has a similar
activity to the last that is engaging and involves students working in
groups so I want to be able to monitor their group work better this time.

4. Why did you design your instruction in this lesson the way that you did? Why did
you choose this way of teaching the lesson (e.g., Was the idea from a methods
course? From your mentor teacher? Another source?)
a. I used concepts from the Gradual Release of Responsibility model. But
instead of doing whole class -> small group -> independent, I am doing
whole class -> independent -> small group because I want students to
think about ideas individually so they are all bringing something valuable
to their group when they start to write their songs together. This will
hopefully increase students participation in the groups and ensure that
every student is contributing equally.
b. I also referred to Blooms taxonomy to incorporate higher order thinking
skills such as analyze, justify, and create. That is why we will analyze King
Georges message by breaking apart his argument to understand the
supporting details of his argument. Then students will list supporting
 details for the colonists perspective to create an argument that supports
the opposition of King George. And they will create a piece of original
work, a song back to King George using what they know about the
Revolutionary War and the colonists relationship with King George.
c. Lastly, I conversed with my mentor teacher to gauge really how much prior
knowledge my students have and if she thinks the activity is feasible for
them.

5. As you are thinking through this lesson, what do you believe will be the most
challenging part of this lesson for you when you teach it? Why?
a. Time management because I want to give ample time for students to work
on their graphic organizers and create their songs, but I dont want them to
run out of time. Also behavior management, like I said before managing
group work and making sure students are engaged.

6. How will you know if your learning outcomes for the students are met
successfully?
a. I will look at their graphic organizers and song lyrics to see if students
show understanding of the relationship between King George and the
colonists, and if they were able to use supporting details to do so.

7. How will your classroom management support the learning outcomes?

a. I will make sure students are quiet when working independently on the
graphic organizers. I will also circulate between groups while students are
working on their songs, and help students stay on task so they are
discussing supporting details and related content.

8. List 1-3 areas which you would like for your observer to pay particular attention.
Why do you want your observer to focus on these areas?
a. Monitoring learning activities to make sure students are on task
b. Managing time efficiently because I want students to have as much time
as possible on each activity, but dont want to feel rushed at the end
c. Paraphrasing student content because we will be having a discussion/
filling the first graphic organizer out together so I want their ideas to be
heard and portrayed correctly.

9. Is there anything else you would like your observer to know before the
observation?