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: Ashley Holland Date: 4/3/2017

1. What is the topic of your lesson?

The topic of my lesson is determining the theme of a story, drama, or poem from
details in the text while also studying gender stereotypes in childrens literature.

2. Why are you teaching this lesson? What is your rationale for teaching it?
I am teaching this lesson to satisfy the literacy requirement of my Re-Envisioning
the Day final project as well as my culturally relevant pedagogy requirement for
ELM 375. In this lesson, students will learn how to use a graphic organizer to
determine the theme of a story while simultaneously considering how gender
stereotypes are portrayed in the text. It is a Common Core standard for fifth
grade students to be able to identify a theme in a drama, story, or poem using
details from the text and to describe how characters approached a problem.
Gender stereotypes permeate multitudes of childrens literature, so if students
are aware of them, they can critically think about behaviors typically associated
with a gender or sex and how theyre portrayed in the text, and feel more
confident in pursuing anything that may not be typically associated with their
gender or sex.

3. What is your Teaching Behavior Focus? Why did you choose this?
My teaching behavior focus is calling on a variety of different students instead of
calling on the same handful of students. I chose this because I noticed that some
students are very eager to participate and voice their ideas, but other students
prefer to remain quiet and do not feel comfortable voicing their ideas in front of a
lot of their peers.

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?)
I designed my instruction this way after participating in my ELM 375 and ELM
335 courses. The hook activity at the beginning spurs off of how we start each
class in ELM 375. This brainstorming activity encourages students to critically
think about gender stereotypes while also building classroom community. I then
had students share out their idea and posed the question of where gender
 stereotypes originate from. I then presented examples of other countries where
people typically defied the gender stereotypes we are familiar with. Taking a note
from my ELM 335 course, I read a book aloud and then modeled how I would
determine theme from the text on a graphic organizer before allowing students to
do this themselves. I then transitioned into the You All Do portion of the lesson
where students worked with a partner to read a different text and fill out their own
graphic organizer. Beyond this, students also had to determine if the main
character in their texts adhered or defied gender stereotypes. This will require
students to think critically about the text when examining the role of the main
character.

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?
I believe the most challenging part of this lesson will be managing classroom
conversations and behavior. With it being close to spring break, students have
been more rowdy and antsy than usual, requiring more reminders to stay on task.
I also think that when some students read about characters of one gender doing
something substantially different than what is typically expected of that particular
gender, they may possibly make comments which will need to be confronted.

6. How will you know if your learning outcomes for the students are met
successfully?
I will know that the learning outcomes for the students are met successfully by
viewing their graphic organizer that involves them determining theme and details
that contributed to the theme. I will also be able to hear their responses in their
small groups or whole class discussions about gender stereotypes and if the
main character in their text adhered or defied a gender stereotype with the use of
evidence from the text.

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

My classroom management will support the learning outcomes by the students
having expectations for working in groups or with others successfully. When
working with others to brainstorm gender stereotypes and fill out the graphic
organizer based on a shared text, students will refer to their expectations to
manage their volume and on-task behavior. Give me 5 will also be used to bring
students back together for whole class discussions and to refocus attention.

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?
I would like for my observer to pay attention to how I manage classroom behavior
and how I model a graphic organizer for students based on the text. Managing
classroom behavior in fifth grade has been something that Ive had to adjust to
compared to last semester since these students have different attitudes and
arent quite motivated by tangible things like a behavior chart. During the lesson,
I hope to be able to quickly manage noise and redirect behavior if it is off-task. I
also want my observer to focus on how effectively I model determining a theme
of a text, story, or poem. During the lesson study assignment, this was one area
that I felt I needed more practice with.
9. Is there anything else you would like your observer to know before the
observation?
I am excited to teach this lesson, though this will be first time teaching a lesson
revolving around a social justice topic.