Lead Lit Topic: Demonstration Lessons
Literacy leaders are more than “bag ladies” (or bag men), toting a set of books and tricks into classrooms to present dazzling lessons. A successful demonstration lesson is as much about collaborative planning, discussion, and debriefing with teachers as it is about what is actually presented in the classroom. Here is where you’ll find tools and strategies for working with teachers to get the most out of demonstration lessons, using them as a catalyst for discussions about assessment, curriculum, and standards.
Results
Lesson Observation Debrief
Leslie Lloyd debriefs with teachers and her principal in this quick video after a minilesson observation.
Interview on Lesson Plans
Leslie Lloyd explains her plans for a demonstration lesson.
Writer’s Notebook Minilesson
Sean Moore shows his second graders how he develops topics in his writer's notebook in this demonstration lesson.
Organizing Writing: Demonstration Small Group
Kathy Provost meets with a small group to help fourth-grade students organize their writing. The demonstration lesson includes a prebrief and debrief with the teacher, Jaime Leger.
Taking Notes in Fourth Grade
Tammy Mulligan works with a group of fourth graders to help them build their nonfiction note-taking skills. The demonstration small group includes a prebrief and debrief with the teacher. ...
Finding Evidence in Texts
In this demonstration lesson, Tammy Mulligan confers with fourth grader Hailey, helping her hone her develop skills in finding textual evidence. The lesson includes a prebrief and debrief with the...
Grade Three Writing Checklist
Tammy Mulligan uses a checklist with third-grade writers in this demonstration lesson. The lesson includes a planning session and debrief with the teacher.
Coaching Notetaking Skills
A few weeks ago, I was in a fourth-grade classroom as the teacher taught a lesson on notetaking. Listening to her, watching the students approximate what she was doing, and...
Five Notebook Pages I Can’t Live Without (and Neither Should Students)
Looking through baskets full of my writing notebooks, I find a handful of pages repeated in each one. They aren’t repeated in the sense that they are identical; rather, the...
First-Grade Writers: Demonstration Small Group
Clare Landrigan leads a demonstration small group with first graders. The video includes a planning session and debrief with the children's teacher.
Monitoring for Meaning: Fourth-Grade Small Group
In this demonstration small group, Tammy Mulligan teaches fourth graders strategies to monitor for meaning. The demonstration lesson includes a planning session with the teacher and a debrief.
Monitoring Meaning in First Grade
In this demonstration small group, Clare Landrigan helps first graders Tristan and Abby monitor meaning. The video includes excerpts from the planning and debriefing sessions with the children's teacher.
Reading Response in Third Grade: Demonstration Small Group
Tammy Mulligan leads a group of third graders in a small group designed to deepen their reading response. The video includes excerpts from the planning and debrief sessions with their...
Learning Labs for Professional Development
With a staff of 42 teachers ranging from one year of experience to 30-plus years of experience, differentiation of professional learning is something our school leadership team is constantly struggling...
The Value of Story Play
Recently we were talking with some kindergarten teachers about how we could include opportunities for talk and verbal response to reading. Our data showed that their students needed more opportunity...
The Staircase Reading Response: Demonstration Small Group
In the second of a two-part video series, Clare Landrigan leads a demonstration small group with fourth graders who have an intriguing way of responding to reading.
The Staircase Reading Response: Planning Session
In this first video in a two-part series, Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan meet with fourth-grade teachers to assess student reading responses and plan a demonstration small group that Clare...
Coaching the Nuts and Bolts of Book Bags
We are seeing reading workshop thriving in classrooms where we coach teachers. It is so exciting to hear students talking about the books they like, the authors they have discovered,...
Pictures First
In this demonstration lesson, Clare Landrigan instructs a group of kindergartners who are stuck on the strategy of only "sounding it out" to decipher text.
Demonstration Lesson: Reading Response in Notebooks
Tammy Mulligan leads a demonstration small group with fourth graders on writing responses to reading. The session includes a prebrief and debrief with the fourth-grade teaching team.
Demonstration Lesson: Learning from Series Books
Tammy Mulligan leads a demonstration lesson with a group of fourth graders who are reading series books. The lesson includes a prebrief and debrief with their teacher.
