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: Lauren Stone Date:11/5/17

1. What is the topic of your lesson?

The Revolutionary War

2. Why are you teaching this lesson? What is your rationale for teaching it?
I am teaching this lesson to give students meaningful and memorable
experiences related to this time period in American history in an effort to
make Social Studies more engaging and real than simply reading a
textbook. The Revolutionary War fits into this unit of their curriculum and is
a critically important time period for students to learn about. By acting out
various aspects of the war, students will better relate to the events and
how this piece of history shaped our country.

3. What is your Teaching Behavior Focus? Why did you choose this?
My Teaching Behavior Foci are to utilize cooperative learning &
monitor learning activities effectively. I chose this because I want to
ensure that I am creating a cooperative learning environment that
the students can genuinely learn from as well as supporting
students as needed and making sure that no one is left behind or
left out.

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 this lesson with the intention of engaging students in a subject
that many find boring. By allowing students to be creative and act out
different roles, it is creating a memorable experience that will help
strengthen their understanding and recall of this content. I also wanted to
integrate arts within my lesson because this is proven to aid in student
learning as well as be very inclusive of all learners.

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 that the most challenging aspect of this lesson will be to ensure
everyone is contributing and understanding the content. I also am
concerned about the comfort level of some students to perform in front of
their classmates, however I am a huge proponent of getting students
comfortable with public speaking at an early age. It is important to hold all
students to high expectations and believe that they can do it.

6. How will you know if your learning outcomes for the students are met
successfully?
Each group will be accountable for teaching the rest of the class about
their event, so their knowledge will have to be accurate and encompass all
the information included in their passage. In addition, all students will
answer a variety of questions to conclude the lesson that will more
formally assess how successfully they met my learning outcomes.

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

My classroom management will support the learning outcomes through
allowing students to directly apply what they learned and convey this
knowledge to their peers in a fun and engaging manner.

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 you to focus on my ability to meaningfully use specific
questioning to deepen student learning.

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