Observation/Reflection Form

Multiple and Single Subject Candidates

Teacher Candidate: Ms. Towne Date: November 1, 2015 Subject: Reading Grade: 2nd
CCSS: RL.2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to
demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
TPE 1: Model of Teaching or Instructional Strategy Integration with other subjects (identify)
Observer of Lesson (circle one):

master teacher (X)

peer colleague

self/candidate

1. Open-ended observation - (A minimum one page dialogue with discussion/insights

Indicate which section of the lesson being discussed- beginning, middle or end-)
(Beginning of lesson)
T- Can anybody tell me what this book is going to be about by looking at the picture?
T- I am just looking for quiet hands.
T- Yes, Lena.
Lena- It is going to be about cows.
T- How do you know it is going to be about cows?
L- There are cows on the cover.
T- Thats very good. Very observant.
T- Anybody else? Yes, Jason.
Jason- I think that a bunch of cows are flying in the story. I think there is going to be someone in
the story that says cows cant fly.
T- Very close. I am not taking any more questions at this time.
T- Okay friends, I need you to be paying attention, looking up here at the book. That means that
your eyes are focused on the book and our mouths are quiet right now.
T- And friends, what I want you to be looking for while Im reading this book is be thinking
about the characters in this book and the setting.
Kendry- Whats the setting?
Jason- Its like where the places are in the story.
T- Youre right Jason. Kendry, did you hear Jason? He just told you the answer for what a setting
was.
T- The setting is where the story takes place. So I want you guys to be looking for the characters
in the story and the setting.
2. Insights:
The students were really observant and insightful with their predictions. Lena was very observant
and simple in her answer. She saw that there were cows flying on the cover, and she predicted
that the story was going to be about cows. She actually did a great job at accurately analyzing the
front cover to make a prediction. Kendry was asking a question about the setting. Jason answered
his question, but Kendry was not listening. I had to stop and make sure that Kendry was listening
to the information that Jason was giving him. Whenever I am talking and instructing, I tell the
students to have their eyes focused on me and their voices should be off, meaning they should
not be talking. When I ask a question, the first inclination of the students is to shout out the

answer. I have to tell the students that I will only call on someone that has a quiet hand raised in
the air, because that means that they are paying attention and ready for what comes next.
3. Does candidate communicate instructional objective to students? Yes (X) No___ What is
it? (TPE 1)
The instructional objective is that students will be able to analyze the story to be able to answer
questions about the text. I also made sure to tell the students to pay attention to the characters
and the setting of the story, since they will be using the characters and the setting of the story for
the lesson activity.
4. Does candidate have a performance task/assessment tied to the learning objective by
which to measure students progress toward achieving standard? If results of students
work are known, how well did students achieve understanding of the content standard?
(TPE 3)
I have four examples of student work from the lesson activity. The students made a flip book
about the story. The three flaps were characters, setting, and favorite part. The front of the flaps
were for drawing pictures of each of the categories. The inside of the flaps were for writing
sentences that explained each picture. The first example I have is for my low student. Kianas
pictures on the front flaps were detailed and fully colored. When I turn the flaps to see the inside
sentences, her sentences are minimal and do not explain what her pictures were about. She
struggles with creating grammatically correct sentences that give the reader details. Natalie is
one of our middle students. She follows directions and does what she is told. Her pictures tell a
story. She was able to depict the main parts of the story and accurately draw them. Her sentence
structure is okay, but she could still use some more details in her writing to give the reader a
better picture as to who the main characters are and where the story took place. She needs to
work on her spelling and grammar in her writing. One of our high learners is Zaid. He gets easily
distracted and gets in trouble a lot, but he does a good job in completing his assignments. Zaids
pictures are very detailed, and I am able to easily depict what his drawings mean. His sentence
structure and grammar seem to be advanced for a 2nd grade student. He includes a lot of detail in
his writing, but his sentences could still be a lot more detailed. Diana is our EL student. Her
drawings are very simple. Her sentence structure is good, but she greatly struggles with grammar
and spelling. This makes her writing difficult to read and understand. The standard of this lesson
were to RL.2.1: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to
demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. During the second reading of the text, I asked
questions like, Can anyone guess what the book is going to be about by looking at the front
cover picture? and What would have happened if the people looked up? and What do you
think is going to happen when the boy finishes drawing his dog? and What is the boy
drawing?. The students were able to accurately answer all of the questions I asked them about
the book. The questions that I asked had to do with the characters in the story, the setting, and
prediction.
5. Does candidate explain content clearly? Describe how candidate reinforced content, such
as the use of written and oral presentation, manipulatives, physical models, diagrams,
visual and performing arts, non-verbal communication, or technology. (TPE 4)
I explained the content clearly. I was reading a giant book for shared reading that all the kids
could see. For the activity, I used a flip book where the students colored the top flap and wrote

corresponding sentences on the inside flaps. I also had the use of technology with the document
camera. I used it to project the activity onto the screen. The use of manipulatives was the flip
book I had the students make to show they mastered the content of the story.
6. Does the candidate ensure student engagement by making instruction relevant and
extending students thinking with stimulating and challenging questions, projects,
discussions, debates, or investigations? How so, or how might this be improved? (TPE 5)
I made sure to engage the students all throughout my lesson. I was asking stimulating questions
such as What do you thinkwhat would happen if? When I asked these questions to the
students, it challenged their thinking and encouraged them to think outside of the box regarding
the book.
7. Is the candidates lesson and instructional activity challenging, yet developmentally
appropriate, for students grade and skill levels? How so or how might it be improved?
(TPEs 6 and 8)
The lesson and instructional activity was challenging and also developmentally appropriate for
the students skill levels. I had all of the students participate in the creation of the flip book. For
those students that worked quickly, I had an extension activity that required the students to write
a response to a creative prompt about the story.
8. Did the candidate make adjustments in the lesson for English learners? (TPE 7) How?
(Explain aspects of the lesson which support English learners.)
When I was reading my story, I made sure to pronounce my words and read slowly so that the
students were able to comprehend the details and main idea of the story. When I was explaining
my activity, I made sure to project what I was doing up on the screen using the document
camera, so that the students were able to see and copy what I modeled.
9. Do students have adequate time to practice and apply what they learned? Describe
candidates use of instructional time (pacing and carrying out procedural tasks and
transitions). (TPE 10)
When I was describing the activity to the students, I made sure to give them a few minutes of
work time before I checked in with them again to determine their progress.
10. Describe how candidate monitored student learning during instruction. (TPE 2)
I asked every few minutes whether any students had questions or if anyone needed help. I
walked around the classroom to check on the progress of the students with the activity I gave
them.
11. Describe candidates maintenance of student discipline through classroom management
and leadership for the successful delivery of the lesson. (TPE 11)
It was difficult at times during the lesson for me to manage discipline of the 2nd grade classroom.
I mean, I had to frequently tell them to quiet their voices and pay attention to me. The students
are a talkative and social group, and there are a few of the students that were especially
disruptive and were unable to pay attention all the time. I could have been a little harder on them

and used the discipline measures when needed. I also could have rewarded the good students
with table points or by allowing them to move their pins up on the behavior chart.
12. Does the candidate provide evidence of high quality instructional planning (e.g., written
lesson plan; standards-based objectives; assessment plan)? (TPE 9) (Submit the draft of the
lesson plan with Prof. initials and revised/adjusted lesson plan, if the lesson had to be revised.)
The lesson plan I had was very thorough. I planned out every detail, down to the specifics of
what I was going to say to the students throughout my lesson.
13. How will you use what you learned from this lesson experience to plan for future
instruction? (TPE 13)
This was definitely a good experience for me. I have reflected and noticed the things I did well
and the things can improve for next time. The things I will make sure to do in the future are to
not be afraid to engage in the classroom disciplines and rewards. I will make sure to keep getting
to know the students on a more personal level so I can build up my rapport with them, and I will
try my best to keep the students engaged at all times. I will also make sure to model more when I
am laying out my activity for the students.