This document includes a lesson plan that I recorded while I taught and a self-evaluation of my delivery. There are also student work samples showing growth and a reflective essay on those samples.

1. Standard B
Delivers Effective Instruction
Lesson Plan: Perimeter (audio recorded)
Self Evaluation of Recorded Lesson
Student Work Samples Demonstrating Growth
o Student A
o Student B
Reflective Essay on Student Work Samples

2. Perimeter
Grade 4 Math
March 16, 2011 (Wednesday)
45 minutes 9:00 – 9:45
Massachusetts Curriculum Framework:
Mathematics – Measurement 4.M.4 Estimate and find area and perimeter of a rectangle, triangle, or
irregular shape using diagrams, models and grids or by measuring.
Objective:
The goal of this lesson is for students to understand how to define and calculate perimeter of closed
shapes. Another goal is for students to recognize some real world examples of when perimeter can be
used.
Expected Student Outcomes:
At the completion of this lesson, students will be able to:
Define that perimeter is the distance around a shape
Calculate perimeter of polygons and irregular shapes
Use perimeter to calculate the measure of a missing side of a shape
Instructional Procedures:
I will introduce the topic of perimeter by asking students if they have ever heard the word or
worked with perimeter. I will use what they say to build the definition of perimeter as the
distance around a shape. I will then ask students if they can think of any real world examples
where perimeter may be used.
I will then hand out sheet Practice 20.4 to each student and set up the overhead projector to
complete the sheet together as a class. I will use whole class discussion to arrive at answers and
look at strategies while I fill everything in on the transparency of Practice 20.4.
After doing a few problems together as a class, I will give students a few minutes to try some out
on their own. I will bring the discussion back to whole class to check on progress and field
answers.
If there is time, students will practice problems independently from the textbook

3. The students will then break for music. After music, I will pick up wherever was left off and hand
out homework (Lesson 28.2 sheet)
Materials and Resources:
Copy of Practice 20.4 sheet for each student
Transparency of 20.4 and overhead projector
Math textbooks
Assessment of Student Achievement:
In this lesson, I will assess what students already know by asking during the introduction if they
have ever heard of or used perimeter. I will also be able to assess what they already know by listening to
real life examples that they give.
During the lesson, I will be able to check for understanding by asking students not only what
they are getting for answers, but how they arrived at answers and what their strategy was. I will be able
to walk around the room and see what kind of work they are showing on their sheet to check if they are
understanding that to find perimeter you add all of the sides. I will know students are successful if they
are arriving at correct answers to the problems and are able to explain in words that perimeter means
the distance around a shape. They will demonstrate this understanding through verbal answering of
questions and written work on the sheet and textbook work.
Student Evaluation:
Student evaluation during this lesson is focused primarily on informal formative assessing. I will
evaluate students by checking on their progress and understanding to know whether I will be able to
move on to area or spend more time with perimeter first. Perimeter will be formally evaluated on future
quizzes and tests. I will also use the homework on perimeter to evaluate where students need more
help or if they are ready to move on.

4. Self Evaluation of Recorded Lesson - Perimeter
Having to listen to myself on audio tape was a scary assignment. I was afraid of what I
actually sound like in front of a class. However, listening to and reflecting on the lesson was an
incredibly valuable way to understand mistakes I made and where some of my strengths are. I
realized a few things that I would never had if I had not listened to myself teach.
The recording begins with a review of a quiz on similarity, lines of symmetry, and turns,
slides and reflections. I think it is important to sometimes review quizzes even though they are
already graded because quizzes are meant to be a learning experience. I did a good job at having
the students explain and elaborate on answers. I think this helped the students who may have
gotten something wrong but were not brave enough to ask for clarification in front of the whole
class. I then tell the students to put away the quiz to take home and put their folders back in their
desks. I realized that I have improved a bit on telling students exactly where to put things. This
was one of my weaker points when I first started the practicum. I assumed students were as
organized as I am.
I then begin the introduction of the main lesson. I ask the students if anyone has heard of
perimeter or knows anything about it. I do this on purpose to give myself an idea of what the
students already know. It is a quick informal assessment so that I know where my starting point
is. Most already have an awareness of what perimeter is. I then take some time to make real life
connections. I think this is so important because math should be taught in context. Students
should know why they are learning something and how it can be applied. The first student
example of where they think perimeter can be used is when measuring a fence. This is the perfect
perimeter example. I make it a point to emphasize what a great example this is. However, I then
start mentioning area and how sometimes it can be confused with perimeter. I should not have
even mentioned area yet, because I am already putting the idea of confusion in their heads.
Another student mentions an example of her father using perimeter in construction. This is
another great real life example. The students then start to give examples that have to do with
rugs, sheds and tiles. I try to encourage their examples and show how they are important for
perimeter by stressing the word around, but I should have clarified that these examples may have
been better suited for area. A final great student example of perimeter is the border around the
bulletin board. I do a nice job of admitting my own mistake of not using perimeter to help me

5. plan to hang up the border. It is important for students to know everyone makes mistakes and
that is ok.
I then transition to using the overhead and a worksheet to try out some perimeter
problems. While listening through this part of the lesson, I realized that I use questioning
effectively to get at student thinking and understanding. For example, one thing I say is, “Why
wouldn’t it be a trapezoid?” I can hear myself thinking aloud, which is good modeling for
students. Other examples of questioning I use are: “What am I supposed to do with this grid to
find perimeter?” “Do I count this tiny part? Is that important? Did I get everything?” “Can I put
15 on the bottom of the rectangle? No? Why not? I think it could go there.” “45 feet is that my
perimeter? No? Why not? Why would I do that?”
Another effective strategy I heard myself using was not just telling students yes that’s the
answer and moving on. I search and probe for why that’s the answer. I poll students on what they
got for an answer and I then work out the problem to show strategies and demonstrate why an
answer is correct. For example, for one problem I field through the answers of 55, 40, and 30.
“Did anyone else get 55? Who else got 30?” I then check for strategies. “What did you do? How
did you get there?” Through this polling of answers and checking strategies, I realize that the
students’ understanding is not great at this point so I do the problem together. “Let’s count
together and see what we get.” For another problem, I field the answers of 10, 13 and 14. I again
see that the understanding is not where it should be so I do the problem together as a class. I also
make it a point here to ask, “Do you see what you missed if you got 13?” This strategy is an
effective way to quickly informally assess students. I find this very useful and will continue to
utilize it.
After the problem with the varying answers of 10, 13 and 14, I do a good job of waiting
to clarify any confusion before moving on, however I make a mistake. I should have done
another similar problem to assess understanding again and reinforce how to do that type of
problem, but I move on to a different problem that uses perimeter to find missing sides of
polygons. I made this mistake because I was just following along with the worksheet. I should
have stepped away from the sheet and made up a similar problem to the one the students
struggled a bit with.
Another mistake I noticed while listening was that I may have moved too quickly from
just adding every single side to using multiplication to help with congruent sides. In my mind, it

6. should have been easy for students to see how multiplication and addition can be used together to
find perimeter. But, after listening to the lesson, I fear that I may have contributed to some of the
later confusion students had with area and perimeter by introducing multiplication here. It may
have been clearer for students to strictly equate perimeter with addition and area with
multiplication. During this lesson, students already began confusing perimeter and area and we
had not even tackled area yet. For example, at one point, Meghan announces she is confused on
something. I ask her to come up to the board and show me what she is confused about. She is
already doing area instead of perimeter. I then do a good job of refocusing as area begins
creeping in by asking, “What’s perimeter again?” and stressing that it means around the figure.
Something about perimeter that I noticed I did well, but also made a mistake on was
emphasizing that units are important. I do not let a student get away with an answer of just 26. I
ask 26 what to look for the unit of centimeters. However, one student suggests that perimeter is
measured in square units. I take what he says and keep going with it for a bit until I realize that
it’s wrong. I try to then direct the students to use just units and not units squared, but I can hear
the uncertainty in my voice because I did get slightly confused on it. I should have quickly
referenced the textbook to be confident and clear about it.
Overall, I feel that there is a very good flow to the lesson. At one point, students who
were with the math specialist come back into the classroom and I seamlessly integrate them back
in by asking a student to explain what we are doing, which was a nice review, and getting them
to the problem we were working on. I also think there is a good flow with asking various
students to participate and having them build on each others’ answers. For example, I first ask
Kate a question and when I see she is struggling, I ask Sean to build on what she said. This
builds a community of learners by helping students create knowledge together. I also do a nice
job of switching back and forth between whole class and independent work. I introduce some
problems together and then have students try some on their own, but then I bring it back to whole
class to check their understanding. I am able to answer their questions as the lesson goes and
tailor what I am saying and doing to what the students are asking and what I see they need
clarification on. I also try to keep a relaxed feel by saying things like “give everyone a second to
try” and “we’ll see if we can get through 10 and 11 before music.” Keeping the atmosphere
relaxed and flowing smoothly helps build a productive learning environment.

22. Reflective Essay: Student Work Samples
Following student work was a great opportunity to see progression and changes in
students in just a short amount of time. For this reflection, I choose to follow Reading work of
two students. One student (student A) was a struggling student. It was clear from the beginning
of my time in the classroom that this student was not always eager to pay attention or to give one
hundred percent effort. As I got to know the student, I became more aware that a lack of effort
may not be the only issue. This student needed more time than some to think and to arrive at
answers. This student also needed some reminders to stay on task and to focus in on the work.
Student B however was the opposite. This student was someone who worked well independently
and without much checking in from me. Student B would eagerly get right down to work on
whatever the task at hand was. At first, it seemed this student was always giving one hundred
percent effort. I choose these two students because I wanted to see how their different
approaches to learning were reflected in their work.
I tracked Student A’s progression through work with two novels that I taught. The first
sample is the student’s response to questions from Chapter 4 of Sadako and the Thousand Paper
Cranes. The student missed the mark on question four by just restating the question without
answering it. Getting question three wrong was a red flag to me that he did not understand what
happened in the chapter. Mitsue and Eiji were Sadako’s siblings and they were sad and upset
because Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia. Sadako getting sick was the major theme of the
novel, but he answered the question with a much less important detail from the chapter. After
correcting this work, I talked to the student and made him aware that he really needed to try to
focus in on what was most important in the novel. The chapter five questions were self corrected.
The student marked all of his answers with a great big C for correct. I asked him to look at it and
I saw that he was still making some small errors, but he seemed to be getting at the themes
better. By Chapter 6, the student’s answers were complete and thoughtful. This made me realize
that the student needed some time to work with the novel and digest all of the themes and ideas.
After the novel was completed, I asked the students to write a letter to Sadako’s parents telling
them three things they learned about their daughter and one lesson that she taught them. I was
expecting Student A’s work to be just as thoughtful as his last response to Chapter 6, however, as
the sample shows, his writing was disorganized and did not focus on the most important details
and themes of the novel. I was disappointed that the student’s progression did not continue. I

23. spoke with the student about the writing and it seemed as though he was just unfocused about it
and did not take the assignment seriously. I should have spent more time with this particular
student while planning the letter. It made me realize that seeing progression in a couple of pieces
of work does not mean the progression will automatically continue. It was clear this student
needed more help with focusing and planning.
The next sample from Student A is a packet of work from the second novel I taught,
Pearl Harbor is Burning. This time, the student received an A+ for the work. Throughout the
novel, his answers were complete, insightful and focused. I made sure to tell the student how
proud of him I was and he was visibly proud of himself for his effort. I believe that after the
student’s work with Sadako he realized he needed to approach this novel with a more serious
attitude. I checked in with him more often while he was working and helped him to organize
some of his thoughts. I also believe the student did well with this work because many of the
questions asked for personal connections and opinions. This helped the student make sense of the
novel. I learned that students approach literature differently and taking a personal approach may
be helpful for some. I was proud that I was able to help this student work towards such a great
grade and understanding. The last sample from Student A is the test from Pearl Harbor is
Burning, which solidified for me that he truly had made progress.
Student B was an excellent student throughout my practicum time. I always expected his
work to be well done. However, his first sample shows that even an excellent student sometimes
loses focus and motivation. His answers are not written in complete sentences, which all students
knew was the expectation, and he made a very weak connection in question one. This page was
part of the packet that the students completed while reading Pearl Harbor is Burning. The next
sample is another page from the packet where the student demonstrates his usual complete
sentences and focused answers. The student’s growth with these two samples is mainly a
function of his own self motivation. I made it clear to the students that I would be grading the
packet at the end of the novel and I expected that all answers be well thought out and written
completely. This student was able to self correct by knowing expectations. The next samples are
a graphic organizer and a paragraph that is well organized and planned. In contrast to Student A,
this student understands how to organize ideas and how to include the most important details. It
was effective to ask the students to first do a web. Even though this student is very capable, I
know the paragraph would not have turned out as organized without the use of the web. Using

24. graphic organizers and webs is something that I will continue to do in my teaching. The last
sample is Student B’s Pearl Harbor is Burning Test where I did not take points off anywhere.
The student demonstrated that he understood the text.
Student B shows less significant growth than Student A because he is already at a higher
level. However, I think it is important to acknowledge that students will not always be at one
hundred percent at all times, as Student B demonstrated in the first sample. It is also important to
challenge students who are already at a higher level. There is always room for growth. As I
reflect back on these work samples, I would have liked to have differentiated the questions more.
Each student answered the same questions, regardless of what level they were at. I realized that
using novels to teach reading is an excellent way to differentiate because there are various points
of entry for students. For the students such as Student B, I could have challenged them with
questions that asked for deeper connections and interpretations of the novels. For students such
as Student A, I could have used more of the personal connection questions to then build up to
text comprehension questions. Following these two students showed me the importance of
effective instruction being tailored to student needs.