Analysis of Lesson: First Grade Language Class with Ms.

Mai Funaki

Drexel University

Professor Ulrich

EDUC 540

January 24rd, 2020

 Over few weeks, I have observed my mentor teacher (MT) Ms. V’s first grade class at the

Ashiya International School in Japan. The class consist of five students-two girls and three boys.

Four out of five students are Japanese learning English as second language and one student is

American. From what I have observed, all students in this first grade speaks fairly good English

with occasional reference in Japanese for clarifications with concepts and vocabularies. Ms. V

has been teaching here at this International school for three years. For this analysis, I have

observed one of her lesson and will present a reflection on her techniques and classroom

management based on the four domains as well as what I had discussed with her on her methods

of planning, preparations and professionalisms.

Ms. V’s first grade language lessons follow the design of the textbook used. Here lessons

are usually 45 minutes and mainly constructed around the textbook and its teacher’s manual. The

textbook they use was “Letters and Sounds 1” fifth edition from Phonics Seatwork Text by

Abeka. Through the discussion with Ms. V about her preparation, I learned that she doesn’t do

too much preparations since the language lessons follows the textbook design and curriculum.

For specific preparations, she looks over the previous class materials and the homework that the

students have finished and have been graded. Through these homework’s and reviewing her

lesson notes from the previous lesson, she looks out for any areas that needs repetition or further

review. If necessary, she adds a review session at the beginning of her lesson. Even if a review is

not needed, Ms. V seems to connect the previous lesson into the new lesson so that the transition

is smooth. Additionally, for preparations she tries to think of activities and games that she can be

done with the class during the lesson-especially for topics that she feels that it will easily lose

their focus. She explained that all her lessons do not consist a game because if it does, she
believes these first graders will fall behind. And if there needs to be a quiz or a test, she

explained that she doesn’t use the textbook text/quiz but an original one that she creates from

scratch based on the student’s needs or weaknesses she sees in the lessons. She observes and sees

each student and incorporates her notes into creating her own quizzes and tests. Her occasional

quizzes (on paper or verbal) are not for grades but more for the students to test themselves and

see what they need to work on still. The quizzes also help Ms. V to check up on their progress

and if they understand the material or not. The chapter test or quarter test is the one that will

matter for their grades. For Ms. V, this was not her first-year teaching first graders at this school

with the same text, so it allows her to plan and prepare for the lessons with short amount of time

since she has done the lessons before. All she does is just making modifications or minor

changes based on the past experience/take aways and on the current student’s needs.

For this analysis assignment I have observed a lesson on adding the word ending -ed and

-ing. Ms. V started the lesson with a review on the homework worksheets and wrote few words

on the white board that students had trouble with. After going over the mistakes and reassuring

with the students about the previous lesson, she then directs the students to open the next page in

their language textbook. Beginning and throughout the lesson, she emphasizes the importance of

reading, understanding and following the directions. As a class with Ms. V, she makes everyone

read the instructions out loud and follows up with writing the first problem on the board. She

does the first problem on the white board together as a class with volunteers raising their hand

and answering. Ms. V expands her guided practice on the white board and interactively asks

questions and calls on students for answers. She gives own examples on the board and further

practices with the students. As soon as the students seem to understand, Ms. V directs them to
do the rest of the section on their own. During this individual time, Ms. V circulates the

classroom checking over their backs, redirecting them if they are not on task or doing something

inappropriate and give assistance to those who needs them. Once they are finished, they raise

their hand and waits for Ms. V to come to them to be checked. There are only five students in

this class, so it makes this process possible for Ms. V to do. I can’t imagine doing it this way

with 20 or more students. Once the students finish their part, Ms. V reads the next section

instructions with the students and repeats the process. Occasionally she uses concept checking

questions (CCQs) and tries to use as much visual aids to support her lessons. She uses personal

stories or any real-life scenarios-realia’s to allow the students to understand better. After going

through the lesson page in the textbook for the day, she expands it by going over more examples

on the whiteboard or playing a game. For this lesson, she used flash cards and had the students

guess out loud how to spell the words with each ending. At the end of the lesson time, she asked

her students to take out her homework log where Ms. V would assign them a worksheet or an

activity page in the textbook for homework.

Domain 1: Planning and Preparation

Ms. V showed proficiency for her planning and preparation. As I have mentioned earlier,

the lessons are mainly based on their textbook material/curriculum and the fact that this was her

third year teaching first grade with this same textbook-it is understandable that she doesn’t have

much to prepare but to make minor modifications depending on the specific needs of the current

first grade students. Ms. V did demonstrate deep knowledge of content and did have effective

instructional strategies that was used to enhance teaching and learning. She does look at the

homework and the previous lesson to understand students’ weaknesses, anticipate student
misunderstanding and the causes. I gave her a 5 for 1a because I felt that she was well prepared

and demonstrated a good content knowledge. She was able to answer all the questions that came

at her from the students with ease. For 1b however, I gave Ms. V a 2 because I thought she still

has some areas of improvements and developments. Her planning and instructions show that she

has general knowledge of the student’s development, learning process, students’ interest and

needs, special needs and cultural backgrounds and applies it to the class as a whole. There is a

student in her class that may have some kind of learning delay or difficulties and I felt that this

plus the class being only five students-the planning and instructions can have more design for

individuals and their needs rather than the whole class. Connecting to this, for 1c Setting

instructional Outcomes- I gave a score of 4 because I felt that not all students’ needs were met

like the one, I just mentioned. For this particular lesson, I saw that Ms. V did not use much

resources-giving her a score of 2 for 1d (Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources). For designing

coherent instruction (1e), I would give a score of 4. The instructions are designed based on their

textbooks and do align with instructional outcomes. She does engage students in higher level

learning, but I also see that there can be some improvements. Finally, for the designing student

assessments (1f)-for this lesson there was no test or any kind of formal assessment, but she does

use concept checking questions throughout the lesson to check if the students are meeting the

learning outcomes. The homework is also graded for a grade and to see if the students learned.

Domain 2: The Classroom Environment

Ms. V successfully creates an environment of respect and rapport. In her class, students

seem to respect, and Ms. V does show her students that she has authority. They seem to have

positive interactions. When students have questions, options or anything they want to share-they
don’t feel hesitant to share. They seem very open and trusting towards Ms. V. Ms. V seems to be

sensitive enough towards their cultures and their differences. A lot of time when students run

into trouble or seems lost-she uses Japanese (their home language) to help getting the message

through to them. When an inappropriate behavior occurs with one of the students, Ms. V would

get their attention and right away the students will calm and get back on track. In Ms. V’s does a

great job creating a good classroom culture that keeps high expectations for students and allows

students to demonstrate pride in their work. Classroom procedures for these first graders are in

place and they are all clear to the students. They have a strict system where if they don’t follow

routines or not behave appropriately, they lose their recess time. This creates little loss of time in

instructions, procedures and transitions. Not just Ms. V but all teachers involved with these

students all implement the same consequences for the student’s misbehavior. All teachers

monitor the student behaviors and give positive awards. Physical space in the classroom is

appropriate for all the students. They each get a desk with a place to hang their backpack and a

cubby for their school belongings like textbooks and materials. Generally, the score for this

domain was between 4 to 5.

Domain 3: Instructional Delivery

Ms. V clearly communicates with her students. Ms. V’s class is constantly interchanging

discussions between her and the students. Her explanations are clear and expressive. She keeps

an open mind for any questions her students will want to ask. Sometimes, the questions can be a

little off topic but she tries to put herself in their shoes and tries not to ignore their inquiries. Like

I have mentioned before, Ms. V uses the CCQ (concept checking questions) to engage students

and start discussions. There is not much discussion between students but mostly a discussion
between her and the students. Oral questions, discussion and sometime pop quizzes on the

whiteboard assesses the students, give students opportunity to check their understandings. At the

end of the chapter or section, Ms. V creates a test for grades. Like I have mentioned in my

previous sections, Ms. V modifies the lesson so that it’s suitable for her students. She monitors

the students and adjusts the lesson. She seems always flexible and responsive to the students

throughout the lesson.

Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities

Ms. V seem to not really take any kind recording throughout the lesson. However, she

does keep record off the student’s homework’s, completion of assignments and student progress.

Everything seems to be kept in her mind. She explained that with only five students, keeping non

instructional records in mind is possible. On the other hand, Ms. V has expressed her difficulties

with communicating with her student’s families. She is an African American and can not

completely speak fluent Japanese and some of her student’s parents do not speak English

fluently. The communication difficulties exist for a frequent and effective communication tends

to be difficult. Ms. V tries to recommend the parents to engage in instructional activities and

assignments at home. There are other elementary teachers that are fluent Japanese speakers, so

communications of concern or any requests from parents will come through those teachers to

Ms. V. She expressed that communication between teachers are very important and what makes

the communication with families possible for her. This school being a Christian school, the

church is very much involved. Ms. V attends Sunday churches where she sees and meets

families. She actively participates in school events and meetings. Regarding her growth and

developmental professionally, she expressed that she is receiving feedbacks from her colleagues
occasionally and from the principal. The school’s principal tends to step in and observes the

lessons. Ms. V welcomes feedbacks and opinions of others.

After observing Ms. V’s lesson, I feel that if I were to take over there are few things that

can be changed or added. One of the changes I would implement has to do with the planning and

preparation about individual students. Ms. V addresses the lesson to the whole class most of the

time. I would focus a little more on the individuals and look specifically on their learning

development, process and needs. Designing an individual learning plan would be nice to have for

those who needs one. Especially with only five students in the class, I think creating a plan for

individuals will be possible and easier to monitor compared to a large number of class. Another

change I would make would be the usage of resources. There are definitely available resources in

the classroom, however I don’t see Ms. V using much of it. Using the whiteboard is good but

incorporating other resources and providing different opportunities and styles for the lessons will

be fun and interesting for the students. For an example, if we are learning about the word ending

-ing and -ed then ipad or computer may be used to access the online game for word ending

practice (https://www.eslgamesplus.com/adjectives-ing-ed-catapult/). This will be fun for the

students and at the same time be a good practice. Some usage of the body movement would be

nice too for some activities relating to the lesson content. For an example a word scavenger hunt

in the classroom. Finally, the third thing that I would add is giving pop-quiz more frequently.

Ms. V doesn’t really give much quiz or test in language lessons. I think frequent quizzes will

allow the students to assess themselves on how they are doing and at the same time will allow

the teacher to know where the common errors are, or student’s weaknesses are. This will help

with planning the next lessons/reviews and tests.