1. Lesson Study:
Collaborating with Our Colleagues in Other Languages
Adlai E. Stevenson High School – Lincolnshire, IL
ACTFL 2013
Kirstin Erickson, Justin Fisk, Justin Frieman, Carla
Wood

2. Discussion
What does professional development look like in your
school?
In your department?

3. Professional Development
TRADITIONAL
 Begins with answer
 Driven by expert
 Communication trainer
-> teachers
 Relationships hierarchical
 Research informs practice
By Lynn Liptak, Paterson School #2, New Jersey.
RESEARCH LESSONS
 Begins with question
 Driven by participants
 Communication among
teachers
 Relationship reciprocal
 Practice is research

4. What is Lesson Study?
Lesson Study is a professional development process
that Japanese teachers engage in to systematically
examine their practice. The goal of lesson study is to
improve the effectiveness of the experiences that the
teachers provide to their students.

5. Lesson Study provides an opportunity to:
● examine, build, and share our knowledge about teaching
● deepen our knowledge of subject matter
● develop our knowledge of students and student thinking
● see our own teaching through the eyes of students and
colleagues
● think carefully about our goals in teaching a particular
lesson, unit, and subject area
● ask and seek answers to our own pressing questions
● carefully consider our long-term goals for students
● build professional community & team building

6. Teachers’ Activities to Improve
Instruction
Choose curriculum,
write curriculum,
align curriculum,
write local standards
Plan lessons
individually
Plan lessons collaboratively
Watch and discuss each other’s
classroom lessons
U.S.
JAPAN

7. Lesson Study is not meant
to provide a “perfect”
lesson.
Though you do get a really nice one out of it.

8. Before You Start:
● Develop a shared understanding of Lesson Study
● Take a learning stance
● Share ownership and responsibility
● Put emphasis on students, not the teacher
● Develop group norms
● Make a time commitment and set a schedule

9. Roles of Group Members during
Lesson Study
● Facilitator
● Recorder
● Note-taker
● Norm Monitor
● Researcher
● Convener

10. The Process for Setting Levels of Goals
in Lesson Study
Step 1
• The teachers select an overarching lesson study goal
Step 2
• The teachers identify content-specific goals to focus on in the
study lesson
Step 3
• The teachers think about the relationship between the study
lesson’s content-specific goals and the overarching lesson study
goal.
Step 4
• The teachers identify areas to focus on for the content-specific
goals.

11. Examples of the Levels of
Lesson Study Goals
Step 1
Step 2
• Students will become independent problem solvers.
(Overarching lesson study goal)
• How to conjugate the regular forms of the preterit indicative in
Spanish.
(Content-specific goal)
Step 3
• Students will independently discover how to conjugate the forms of
the preterit indicative in Spanish.
(Connect overarching goal to content goal)
Step 4
• To explore how concept attainment or discovery activities can
encourage acquisition of discrete grammar.
(Explore areas on which to focus specific to content)

12. What is Lesson Study?
1. Consider goals for student learning
2. Identify a pressing issue in student learning
3. Examine research related to the issue
4. Plan a “research lesson”
5. Conduct the research lesson
Process:

13. Develop a Research Theme
● Ideally, what qualities will students have when they
graduate from our school?
● What are the actual qualities of our students now?
Choose a Topic
● What topics are persistently difficult for, or disliked by,
students?
● What topics do teachers find most difficult to teach?
● Are there new curricula, frameworks, or standards that
teachers want to understand and master?

14. 1. STUDY
CURRICULUM AND
FORMULATE
GOALS
4. REFLECT
2. PLAN
3. CONDUCT
RESEARCH
LESSON

15. Lesson Study Cycle:1. Study Curriculum
and Formulate Goals
Consider long-term goals for student learning and
development
Study curriculum and standards, identify topic of interest
1. STUDY
CURRICULUM
AND
FORMULATE
GOALS
2.
PLAN
4.
REFLECT
3.
CONDUCT
RESEARCH
LESSON

16. Lesson Study Cycle:2. Plan
Select or revise research lesson
Write instruction plan that includes:
●Long-term goals
●Anticipated student thinking
1. STUDY
CURRICULUM
AND
FORMULATE
GOALS
●Data collection plan
●Model of learning trajectory
●Rationale for chosen approach
2.
PLAN
4.
REFLECT
3.
CONDUCT
RESEARCH
LESSON

17. Lesson Study Cycle:3. Conduct Research
Lesson
One team member conducts research lesson, others
observe and collect data.
1. STUDY
CURRICULUM
AND
FORMULATE
GOALS
2.
PLAN
4.
REFLECT
3.
CONDUCT
RESEARCH
LESSON

18. Lesson Study Cycle:4. Reflect
Formal lesson colloquium in which observers:
●Share data from lesson
●Use the data to illuminate student learning, disciplinary
content, lesson and unit design, and broader issues in
teaching-learning
Documentation of cycle, to consolidate and carry forward
learnings, new questions into next cycle of lesson study 1. STUDY
CURRICULUM
AND
FORMULATE
GOALS
2.
PLAN
4.
REFLECT
3.
CONDUCT
RESEARCH
LESSON

19. 2013 AESHS World Language Lesson
Study Group Norms
● We will invite and accept constructive feedback from
peers.
● We will actively engage in structured and goal-oriented
discussions while maintaining a friendly environment.
● We will be open to trying anything: no idea is a bad idea!
● In true support of our synergism, we will respectfully limit
our own personal distractions.
● We will be guided by our shared and clear vision.

20. 2013 AESHS World Language Lesson Study
Group’s Research Themes
● Students will implement specific action steps to achieve
their goals.
2013 AESHS World Language
Lesson Study Group’s Topics
● Students will use the target language during travel.

21. Research Theme:
Unit Plan:
Research
Lesson
Plan
Students will use target
language during
Students will travel.
implement specific
action steps to achieve their
goals.

22. 2013 AESHS World Language Lesson
Study Group
Social Emotional Learning Goal
Discipline: French 1
●8th year French teacher
(taught levels 1 & 3)
●1st year Spanish teacher
(taught level 2)
●2nd year Spanish teacher
(taught levels 1 & 2)
●12th year Spanish teacher
(taught AP and AP Lit.)

23. Research Lesson Final Draft:
Teacher’s support
1. Introduction “I Want to Go to France!”
-All Write-Round Robin
Warm-up
-Table forms a list.
-Compare lists and
prioritize order.
-Thanks to you all, I’m now
in France!
-Students will create their
own personal or academic
goal which will be revisited
at the end of class.
(10 min.)
Points of evaluation
Anticipated
Student Responses
Students will be
able to prioritize
actions step to
make travel plans
to France.
Students are
showing that they
can think of
particular action
steps to achieve a
known goal.
“Why to
France?”
“What type of
goal?”

24. Research Lesson Final Draft:
Teacher’s support
Points of evaluation
Anticipated
Student Responses
1.5
Refresh of the
turning
directions.
Direct instruction of
tournez, continuez,
traversez, rue, avenue,
boulevard, quai, and pont
(<2 min.)
1.75
Agenda
Why are we
doing these
activities?

25. Research Lesson Final Draft:
Teacher’s support
2. Posing the
Problem
How are action
steps to a goal
as a map is to a
destination?
Points of evaluation
Anticipated
Student Responses
Activity#1: seven folders,
each containing a destination
with specific instructions on
how to get there. One partner
of the pair grabs a set of
instructions and reads them to
their partner, who is then
going to use their map to
figure out what the location is.
When they have reached their
destination they switch roles
and retrieve a new set of
instructions found in that
place’s folder. Repeat until
time expires. (10 min)
Students will
converse in English
after the
instructions are
given to reaffirm or
clarify the activity.
What are we
supposed to be
doing?
I don’t get this!
Students will arrive
at the correct folder
with the route
What’s the
traced on their
piscine?
maps.
Students will be
checking partners
map for accuracy
and intervening if
wrong.
We’re done.

26. Research Lesson Final Draft:
Teacher’s support
2. Posing the
Problem
How are action
steps to a goal
as a map is to a
destination?
Points of evaluation
Activity#2:
In same pairs, they will
give directions to and from
the same locations but
from a different starting
point and order. (assign
different start folder for
each pair).
(15 min.)
We will see speaker
trace the map while
giving directions and
the listener doing
the same as they
interpret the
instructions.
Student maps should
match up.
Anticipated
Student Responses
What are we
supposed to be
doing?
What folder
should I go to?
Her directions
Students rephrasing don’t make any
sense!
directions.
Hand gestures.
What’s a pont?
Asking for
clarification /
restate

27. Research Lesson Final Draft:
Teacher’s support
2. Posing the
Problem
How are action
steps to a goal
as a map is to a
destination?
Points of evaluation
Anticipated
Student Responses
Activity#3 Post Assessment:
Students are given the task
to write directions (5 steps)
to a specific location to a
friend.
Students are
looking at the
map and writing
independently.
Which way is
north?
Students are instructed on
how to tie back their
original goal and create
action steps to achieve it.
(10 min)
Do I have to
write five
directions?
Do I have to
write this in
French?

28. Roles of Groups Members during
Research Lesson
● Teacher of Research Lesson
● Observer of Student Engagement
● Observer of Questioning & Discussion Techniques
● Observer of Understanding & Following Directions

29. Reflection on Research Lesson
CHANGES MADE TO FIRST LESSON
RESULTS IN SECOND LESSON
●From the first to the second lesson
we added essential question on the
first slide.
●We are unsure what tangible impact
this made but we agree that it framed
the lesson more appropriately. In
addition, it created clarity for why we
were doing these particular activities.
●Added transitions in between
activities that discussed.
●We made the instructions more
explicit, with modeling, in activities.
●More time was spent explaining and
modeling, which resulted in less work
time for students, but the instructions
were clearer than the first class.
●Questions students after instructions
were given to re explain.
●Demonstrated that they understood
the instructions and helped clarify it
for others.

30. Reflection on Research Lesson
CHANGES MADE TO FIRST LESSON
RESULTS IN SECOND LESSON
●We more explicitly linked action
steps with goals.
●Created a stronger connection with
goals and activities.
●Closing activity required them to
write a response to the original three
questions.
●Accountability of student
participation.
●Closing activity was expanded to
include 2 more questions about
referring to the essential question.
●Using the essential questions at the
end provided the connection needed to
tie together the activities and the
goals.

31. Research Theme:
Unit Plan:
Research
Lesson
Plan
Students will use target
language during
Students travel.
will demonstrate
perseverance and adaptability
when faced with challenges.

32. 2013 AESHS World Language Lesson Study
Group’s Research Themes
● Students will demonstrate perseverance and
adaptability when faced with challenges.
2013 AESHS World Language
Lesson Study Group’s Topics
● Students will use the target language during travel.

33. 2013 AESHS World Language Lesson
Study Group
Social Emotional Learning Goal
Discipline: Spanish 2-3 Accelerated
●1st year Hebrew teacher
(taught levels 1 - 4)
●5th year Spanish teacher
(taught levels 1 & 2)
●9th year Spanish teacher
(taught levels 2-3x & 4)
●11th year Spanish teacher
(taught level 2 & AP)

34. Learning Objective:
Students will demonstrate perseverance and
adaptability when faced with challenges.
●
Transfer Goal for end of the lesson: Students will be
able to distinguish between good and bad advice so
that in the future they will be able to make educated
decisions about travel that best fit their needs.
●
Plan backwards from post-assessment: Conflict
situation where the students had to react and come up
with possible good suggestions for the scenario in a
conversation

35. Lesson Sequence
1. Pre-assessment: Students looked at a list of “good
advice” and ordered them 1-7 based on their personal
preferences.
2. Mid-assessment: Students create a list of top pieces of
advice for travelers.
3. What are characteristics of good advice?
4. Post-assessment: Conflict situation where the students
had to react and come up with possible good suggestions
for the scenario in a conversation “You and a friend are in
Spain traveling by train, and there’s a strike. What do you
do?”

36. Roles of Groups Members during
Research Lesson
● 2 teachers of research lesson
● Observers looked for the following evidence:
● the justification of personal priorities
● student questions that occur during the activity
● types of conversations in which students are engaged
● thought process and rationale
● connection that students made to the learning target

37. Reflection
1. Be sure to make a realistic amount of changes in
between the first and second lesson.
2. Be sure to focus on a research theme that will be
achievable in one lesson.
3. This lesson allowed for students to improve SEL (Social
Emotional Learning) through content.
4. Be sure that everyone has a vested interest in the
research goal.