Observed Teacher: __________

_________

Grade/Subject: ___________ Date:

Evidence Collection Organizer

Full Observation

DOMAIN 1: PLANNING AND PREPARATION

(Evidence pre-populated from pre-conference form)
1A. What will
you teach?

i. Plans units and lessons

effectively

Learning targets
aligned with
standards and
student data
inform planning

General Goals of the lesson include (From Lesson Plan under

Standards Addressed:
Communicate the essential understanding by stating that by
the end of the lesson, students should understand that: 1theme is the message or truth about life revealed in a story
that helps us make personal connections, and 2 by
understanding the theme of the story, it helps us comprehend
and enjoy what we read.
Specific Objectives for the lesson include (From Lesson Plan
under Specific Objectives):
Students will be able to identify and analyze theme as
evidenced via group activities and exit slips.
Teacher will communicate the purpose of the learning objective
by stating to the students:
T: understanding theme will help you, the reader, better
understand what the author is trying to communicate to you
and you will be able to gather a deeper understanding of that
storys message
Students will be practicing identifying themes and supporting
their claims with text evidence using three books they have
already read: Heartbeat, Walking With Living Feet, and Money
Hungry
T: This lesson builds off of their prior knowledge, their
understanding of conflict, character development, and working
in groups

ii. Applies content

knowledge and
knowledge of how
students learn

Teacher always starts each lesson with an essential question followed

by a series of questions designed to hook the learner into the
lesson. This series of follow up questions will require students to
connect their favorite songs to the concept of Theme
Teacher will provide students with an academic definition of Theme
and have the students copy it down into their notebook using Cornell
Notes
Teacher will provide students with a handout designed to help guide
conversation during group work

1B. How will

you teach the
lesson?
Uses content,
resources and

i. Designs coherent
instruction

STEP by step procedures;

Anticipatory set (lead-in)
Connect theme to song lyrics
Connect song lyrics to personal connections
Connect person connections to themes in stories and

tie this back to the objective

student
knowledge to
design coherent
instruction

Connection to previous learning;

The four tips (title, characters, big moments, and
resolution)
Encourage students to implement Cornell Notes, restate
questions and to use inferencing skills
Plan for independent practice:
Students will work in groups, ask previously prepared
questions, restate questions, use Cornell notes and display
student work on the Elmo.
Closure
At the end of the lesson ask individual students to reflect on
how they used the four tips. To answer the essential question
and write their reflections on post-its
Teacher will intentionally have students sit with their Book
Groups for this introductory lesson
ii. Uses relevant
resources and
technology

Required Materials:
Post-it notes
Timers
Document reader: Elmo
Chart with written objectives/purpose for the lesson
Chart paper for reflection notes at the lend of lesson
List of questions for students to ask each other in
groups
Book: Money Hungry by Sharon Flake
Students will use the Elmo document reader towards the end
of the lesson to help visual learners within the classroom

iii. Designs culturally

relevant instructional
strategies

T: Money Hungry is a book weve already read in this class Its a

good story to teach theme because it deals with things that a lot of
students can relate to
Lesson plan affords students the opportunity to choose which text
they would like to read while working in groups
T: Choices increase buy in, create ownership Apt to be more
involved Students are part of managing the classroom

1C. How will

you know if
students
learned what
you taught?

i. Plans formative and

summative assessments

From Lesson Plan:

Student Reflections
Exit Slips
How does understanding theme help us comprehend the
story?
What is theme?

Plans for
assessment and
differentiation

Determine if their answers to the essential question ensure

that they understood theme
ii. Plans for
differentiation

Adaptations (for student at varying learning rates):

Students at a variety of ability levels will be included in
each group in order for them to provide peer support to
each other if necessary

Teacher will also circulate during the group discussions

to ensure that students at varying learning rates are
able to identify theme

DOMAIN 2 & 3: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION

(Evidence collected during observation)
2A. How does
your classroom
promote a
culture of
learning?

Ai. Creates a safe learning

environment

Creates a
respectful
classroom culture
of trust, safety and
high expectations

Teacher walking around the room conferencing with groups

during discussion. Both teacher and students laughing with
one another. Teacher responds to a students comment
with:
T: You hold onto that
Teacher high fiving with a student during group discussion
T: I like that!
T calls group to the board for presentation. S1 reads theme
statement prepared by group. S2 reads 2 passages from the
book to support their claim as text evidence. Afterwards,
the classroom claps.
Students in chairs throughout the lesson
Students walking throughout the classroom without
touching each other

Aii. Establishes high

cognitive expectations

Teacher introduces students into the concept of theme by

having them discuss their favorite song
T: Think about your favorite song of all time really think
about it
T: Everybody got it? Good.
T: I want you to turn and talk with your neighbor about why
its your favorite song.
Students turn and talk with one another
S1: My favorite song is
S2: Its deepits really deep
Teacher follows up her initial question by asking:
T: Why does a particular song mean so much to particular
listeners?
-Students turn and talk with partners at their tables
-Teacher calls group together, cold calls on student
T: Shavon, can you share out why you think that a particular
song means so much to a particular listener?
S: I think a particular song can mean so much to a person
because theres certain obstacles that they may be thinking
about, or maybe a friend or somebody close to them that
mightve gone though, so they may think this song is kinda
nice because I experienced something similar to it.

Students provide answers to prompts when Cold Called

T: I want to hear from somebody I havent heard from yet
Debbie?
S1: One scene I remember vividly
T: Thea?
S2: A scene I remember vividly is when
T: Jamari?

Aiii. Creates a culture of

persistence

As teacher is wrapping up the lesson, 2 groups have not

presented
T: Youre ready?
Student shakes head
T: Do we need to come back to you?
Student nods head
T: Okay, these two groups we will hear from later today.
They will finish this up before we go to lunch.
When talking about what you need to do in order to make
and inference, teacher pushes a students thinking further
T: What do we do when we make an inference
S: We make an educated guess based on our knowledge
T: Our knowledge and
S: Our knowledge and what we know about the text
At the end of the lesson the teacher asks the group to
define theme, a student chooses to read from his notes:
S: A theme is a message or truth about life that helps the
reader make personal connections

2B. How do
you manage
your
classroom?

Bi. Establishes and

maintains classroom
routines and procedures

When teacher is talking, students are silent

When working in groups students take turns talking
Students using Accountable Talk (IFL) during group
conversation
S1: I agree with
S2: I disagree because
Conversations begin within 2 seconds after students are
dismissed for Turn and Talk
When dismissed to Stop and Jot all students began writing
within 15 seconds

Bii. Monitors and provides

feedback on student
behavior

T: I can use the characters in the story to help me figure out

the theme. One question I might ask is how do the main
characters change in the course of the story? Or what do
they discover that could have meaning for other peoples

lives including your own? I want you to turn and talk about
that right now.
(Students begin discussing the relationship between theme
and the characters in Money Hungry)
T: Okay, I heard some groups share, and share, and share.
Now you see how the characters can give us some clues as
to the storys theme.
T: Im hearing some really good conversations at your
tables (following a Turn and Talk opportunity)
After being dismissed to their groups to write their themes
on a piece of paper, the Teacher informs the students that
this activity has a time limit:
T: The timers on so lets come up with those themes

At the end of class the teacher says:

T: Thank you to the groups that presented today. I think we
need to give them a Power-Clap-Snap
-Teacher calls on a student to lead them through the ritual

3A. How do
you
communicate
content to
students?

Ai. Uses content language

to promote learning

Communicates
learning targets
and content
clearly and
effectively

Some students demonstrate a working knowledge of

content related vocabulary:
S1: An inference is
S2: One moment I remember vividly
S3: Do all books have a resolution?
T: What does the word revelation mean?
S: Its another word for reveal.
T: What does reveal mean?
S: To show.
After a Stop and Jot opportunity, students read their
writing out loud to the group:
S1: and you can overcome any obstacle
S2: accused Raspberry of taking the money and that
reveals to me
S3: The scene most vivid in my mind

Aii. Communicates learning

targets and directions.

Teacher starts the lesson with an essential question

T: We start with our essential question because at the end
you should be able to answer that question
T: How does understanding the theme of a story help us
comprehend and enjoy what we read?
Essential question is referenced at both the beginning and
end of the lesson
Teacher explains what the students should be able to do by
the end of the lesson:

T: By the end of the lesson you should know the meaning of

theme. You should understand that theme is a message of
truth about life revealed through a story that helps us make
personal connections.
T: The objective of the lesson is students will be able to
identify and analyze theme as evidenced via group
discussion and exit slips
Teacher explains the discussion protocol to the groups:
T: First thing, in your group, talk about choosing a story.
T: Before you determine the theme I want you to discuss
these four things: the title, the characters, the big
moments, and the resolution
T: I want you to talk for about ten minutes, someone can
take some notes, have that discussion, dont determine the
theme yet. Im setting the timer, talk about that for ten
minutes.

3B. What
strategies do
you use to
engage
students and
promote their
ownership of
learning?

Bi. Uses instructional

strategies to engage
students in learning

Facilitates
activities and
discussions that
promote high
cognitive
engagement

Direct Instruction
Teacher modeling of how to use the title of the story to help
determine theme:
T: When I think about someone who is money hungry I have
negative connotations about them. Theyre probably
greedy. That actually gives me a hint about what one of the
themes might be.
Students were instructed to write the definition of theme
into their notebook using the Cornell Notes format
Students were called up to the front of the room at the end
of the period to present their theme statements to the class

Bii. Uses questioning and

discussion techniques

Cold Call Questioning

Raise Your Hand Questioning
Whole Group Choral Response Questioning
Teacher asked questions to the whole group, had them
respond to the prompts in pairs
Teacher asked a question to the group, had them respond in
writing:
T: Write your thoughts down on paper and then Im going to
call on volunteers to share.
When dismissed to group discussion, teacher provided
students with a discussion sheet, complete with questions.
As you consider a theme for the story, these questions can
help guide your thinking

Biii. Groups purposefully

Students have different roles and responsibilities within the

group:
1. Note taker/Recorder
2. Speaker
3. Materials Collector
During group work only one person from each group left
their seat to retrieve materials
Students were cognitively engaged developing theme
statements:
S1: Youve got to see it to believe it
S2: Use your time wisely because you never know what will
happen tomorrow

Biv. Uses appropriate

pacing and structure

Lesson has a set structure:

Anticipatory set (lead-in)

Connection to previous learning;
Independent Practice
Closure

Teacher leads students through the gradual release of

responsibility:
Theme Statements with Evidence (Teacher Model)
Using title, characters, big moments, and resolution
(Guided Practice, and Student Collaboration)
Group developing Theme Statements with Text
Evidence (Student Collaboration)
Teacher and students transition from Direct Instruction to
Collaborative practice multiple times throughout the lesson
Time limits are given for different components of the lesson:
10 minutes for group discussion (using sheet)
10 minutes to develop Theme Statements/Text
Evidence
3C. How do you
utilize student
data to
advance each
students
learning?

Ci. Uses formative

assessments to inform
instruction

Teacher circulated room during partner discussions

regarding different story elements, checked in with groups
to see if they were able to answer the questions.
T: So how did Raspberry change over time?
Students presented their theme statements with text
evidence to the larger group at the end of the period

Uses varied
assessment
techniques to
advance student
learning

Exit Slip at the end of the class

What is theme?
How does understanding theme help us understand the
story?
Cii. Provides academic
feedback to advance
learning

During a whole group discussion about inferencing, a

student says:
S: Its kinda like a prediction
T: Its almost like a prediction. When you make an inference

you need to read between

-Class responds with: The Lines!
S: Do all books have a resolution?
T: Yes, I think in most cases. But we still might have
questions at the end. For example in Money Hungry I would
say that the internal conflict was resolved because
Raspberry realized that there were things that were more
important than money.
S: Is a theme always more than one word?
T: Thats right, theme is a statement. Its a message. Words
like peace, love, those are topics. Theme is a message.
Ciii. Promotes student selfassessment

Teacher provided students with a rubric for their theme

statements and text evidence
Teacher states explicitly to the students at the beginning of
the lesson:
T: By the end of this lesson you should know the meaning of
theme. You should understand that theme is a message of
truth about life revealed in the story that helps us make
personal connections.
Students are aware of their production as it relates to the
time allotted for activities:
S: We only have 3 seconds left