1

Tuning Protocol

In Partial Fulfillment
For
RED 303,403, and 414 Course Bundle

Authored By: Madison Morse

Course Instructor:
Dr. Bryan Matera

November 10th, 2023

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Table of Contents

Context for Learning……………………………………………………………………………3-4

Educational Themes…………………………………………………………………………….4-7

Classroom Practices……………………………………………………………………………7-14

edTPA Lesson Plans………………………………………………………………………….14-22

Signed Permission Slips…………………………………………………………………...…22-23

Lesson Videos………………………………………………………………………………..…..24

Self-Analysis……………………………………………………………………………...….24-27

Student Data and Analysis………………………………………………………………...….28-32

Overall Reflection………………………………………………………………………………..33

Resources………………………………………………………………………………...………34
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Context for Learning

For the first six weeks, I was in a kindergarten class at Woodson Kindergarten Center

located in Austin, MN. Woodson Kindergarten Center is the only school that kindergarteners

attend in Austin, MN. But this will change for the 2024-2025 school year as kindergarten is

getting put back in the elementary schools. The district is an urban pre-k through 12th grade

district. The district has nine school buildings, a community learning center for preschoolers, the

kindergarten center, four elementary schools for 1st-4th grades, an intermediate school for 5th and

6th graders, a middle school for 7th and 8th graders, and a high school for 9th-12th graders. In the

kindergarten class I taught in there were 24 student’s total. There were 11 girls and 13 boys. The

racial distribution of the class is 29% Hispanics, .04% Russian, 37% White, 12% African

American, 12% Asian, .04% Pacific Islander. Four students are in SPED and have IEP’s. One

student is in speech, four of the Hispanics are in ELL two of the students didn’t have any trouble

understanding or speaking English but the other two did. Three of the four students that are in

SPED are full time in their SPED room and only come into the gen-ed class for special occasions

like a birthday celebration or when we go to the play centers room. The other student in SPED

comes to our classroom more often during the day, they can attend the reading block and during

math with no problems. The demographics of the classroom is a great variety of diversity.

Woodson kindergarten was a very welcoming school, and everyone greeted me in the hallways

and made me feel welcomed during my time there from day one. They didn’t have a principal,

but they did have a dean of students and she was a very nice lady and was always there to help

when behaviors occurred in my CT’s classroom. Overall, I had a great experience here at

Woodson and would have loved to go back if I was able to. I found this off the district’s website

about the mission of our schools in Austin. “At Austin Public Schools, our mission is to Inspire,
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Empower, and Accelerate every learner. Austin Public Schools serves approximately 5,200

students at 9 different sites, including a community learning center, an all-day Kindergarten

center, four elementary schools, one intermediate school, one middle school, and one high

school. APS also has an alternative learning center for students in grades 9-12, offers online

instruction through our Austin Online Academy, and serves adult learners at a site located at

Riverland Community College. We serve a highly diverse population of students who speak more

than 45 different home languages. In order to more effectively serve our students, we have

developed partnerships with many different organizations, including The Hormel Foundation,

the University of Minnesota, and the MacPhail Center for Music, as well as a partnership with

Albert Lea Area Schools in the Austin Albert Lea Area Special Education Cooperative

(AALASEC).” This describes the district of Austin and how they strive to help the students we

teach learn in a better environment.

Educational Themes

What educational themes exist within the classroom?

There are many educational themes that can exists within the classroom that

you teach in. Many of these themes depend on the curriculum and the goals you

have as a teacher. One main educational theme I saw in my CT’s classroom was

inclusivity and diversity. This was a huge theme in my CT’s class because he was

all about including everyone and making sure he celebrated everyone and their

backgrounds. For example, we had a students have a birthday, but her family

doesn’t bring anything to school to celebrate but my CT still made sure we sang to
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her and that she got a birthday crown on her birthday. Another way my CT showed

inclusivity in his classroom was by respecting students learning style and made

sure to adapt things to how they learn to make sure they feel included.

What is the social curriculum and how is it implemented?

In the Kindergarten class I was in they used a few different social curriculums. These

curriculums were zones of regulation, conscious discipline, peekapak, and mind heart and soul.

The one that I saw the most implemented during my experience was zones of regulation. The

zones of regulation were implemented every day. Each morning the students would walk into the

class and choose their feelings, they would grab their stick with their name on it and go over to

the board that was designated to the zones of regulation. They had the choice to put their stick in

the green, yellow, blue, or red bin and we aimed to have students in the green or even yellow

zone as yellow meant they could be excited about something. It was very rare for students to be

in the red zone right away in the morning, if they were we would talk to the students to see if

there is anything we could do to help regulate their feelings to have a good day. Throughout the

day if students felt their feelings weren’t the same as what they picked in the morning, they could

go move their stick so my CT could know how they were feeling. Another way zones of

regulation worked was if the students felt that they needed a break they could go to the tent. The

tent was a space my CT set up to help students calm down when they had big emotions. This tent

has different type of calming toys in it. But the tent was only allowed if you were in the red zone,

it was made very clear to the students it wasn’t a place to go play. Peekapak was another way for

students to learn about the importance of their feelings. This is an app that provided stories,

lessons, and digital games and it was used during down time for students to go on their and listen

to a story or play a game. During my experience my CT hadn’t really gotten into this one yet
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because he was introducing each social curriculum slowly, but the students did play around with

it a few times to get the hang of it. The other two social curriculums used in my CT’s class had

yet to be introduced so I am unsure of how they would be implemented.

How do students learn within the classroom?

In the kindergarten class I was in the students learned best by “we do”. “We do” is a very

guided instruction where the teacher shows the students step by step of what they will be doing,

when it comes time to “I do”. “I do” is where the students work on things independently, but for

kindergarteners this is a very slim chance of getting to this stage. It may seem like

kindergarteners work independently but most of them still need to be guided by the teacher as

they work through it. My CT would thoroughly go through everything the students were going to

do. For an example we did a letter craft for the alphabet and my CT, or I would demonstrate up

front how to cut everything out and where to glue all the pieces. This helped tremendously as

every student was able to complete the craft. But you could see what students didn’t pay

attention to the demonstration as they would glue stuff in the wrong spots. Every student learning

is different due to their learning abilities and we as teachers need to be there to assist our students

in any way, we can to help them learn.

Is there opportunity for students to collaborate with one another? If so, what

does this look like?

There was plenty of opportunity for the students in the classroom to collaborate with one

another every day. Students had the chance to talk with peers about questions or prompts during

morning meeting. They loved being able to turn and talk to their peers. I think this is a great form

of collaboration because it teaches students to talk come up with ideas with someone else and not

just by their selves. Another way students could collaborate amongst each other was during
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breakfast, breakfast was a time where students got to either sit quietly and eat or talk about

anything they wanted to with their peers. Some students wouldn’t talk and would get antsy just

sitting quietly so we would prompt them with some questions to ask their peers. Examples of

these questions are “What did you have for supper last night?” “Did you have a good night?”

“What did you choose for lunch today?”. After giving some prompts, students would then

collaborate, but many students wouldn’t just collaborate without a prompt. There was also

opportunity for collaboration during small groups but again the student’s needed guidance in

what to collaborate about. At this age many students are still shy or don’t know how to answer a

question. My CT and I did a lot of examples of stating a question and then answering it for the

students to get an example of what they could say. We noticed this helped the students, but we

also noticed some students would say what my CT or I said and or what their peers said as they

might not of understood the question/prompt.

Classroom Practices

Morning Meeting

I think that morning meetings are a very important part of the day in a kindergarten

classroom. During my first 6 weeks in the classroom and reading The First Six Weeks from

Responsive Classroom I saw the importance of morning meetings and learned a lot that I will use

when I become a teacher. Morning meetings set the tone for the day and help keep a routine by

doing a meeting daily. The book provides us with ideas of different ways to conduct a morning

meeting but also says why these meetings are important, “The purpose of these meetings is to set

a tone for engaged learning in a climate of trust, to build and enhance connections among class

members through meaningful interactions and lively activities and to give students practice in

academic and social-emotional skills. Morning meeting addresses students basic needs to feel a
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sense of belonging and significance and warms them up for the day of learning ahead”

(Responsive Classroom, p.257). I found that it was helpful to have all the students in one place

for morning meeting to get them ready for the day. Students loved the morning meeting in the

class I was in as they knew it was a time they got to socialize and had the opportunity to ask

questions with their peers. Every time I did morning meeting I did it the way my CT did his to

keep the routine the same for the students. I started off with a message this message included a

fun thing we would do during the day, and this brought excitement to the students as they got to

look forward to it. We also made it a point to ask questions during morning meeting to get their

brains thinking, and sometimes the question was as simple as “What did you have for dinner last

night?”. Kindergarteners love the opportunity to talk, and morning meeting is the perfect time for

them to do so. Many of the students in the classroom I was in thrived with a routine in place, so

we always made it a point to let them know about different things happening in our day. During

morning meeting, we would also always go over the daily schedule that was posted on the white

board in the front of the classroom. My CT used an arrow to show exactly what we were doing in

the moment, so right after morning meeting it would be switched to the next thing on the

schedule.

Interactive Modeling

Interactive Modeling is very important especially for the younger students. I had an idea

of what it was going into my placement but in kindergarten it was implemented every day. I had

the opportunity to see so many ways of interactive modeling. I feel like that is one of my strong

areas as I have more knowledge on it. Interactive modeling is a way for teachers to model

strategies so our students can effectively learn and gradually do things on their own without

reminders. Kindergarten is most students first time in a school, and we must teach them a lot of
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basic things that seem simple but aren’t for these students. One of the first things my CT did for

interactive modeling was showing the students how to sit on the carpet. This again seems simple

but if you don’t model how the students need to sit then they will sit however they want and

might even lay down if they don’t have those reminders that we sit criss-cross applesauce hands

in our lap. Another thing my CT did lots of modeling on was how we line up. This consisted of

walking feet and hands behind their back, so they didn’t touch anything they weren’t needing to

touch in the hallways. Both took lots of reminders but over time most of the students got the

hang of it. More interactive modeling I saw was how students needed to behave during math

centers. One day we restarted math centers about five times because the students weren’t

following along. My CT likes his math centers completely quiet so every time someone talked,

we would go back to the carpet and try again. In kindergarten I don’t think there is ever too much

interactive modeling since school and expectations are new to these students. Interactive

modeling reminds me a little bit of how the GRR model is. Just like GRR teachers start off with

the “I do” in interactive modeling so students can see what is expected but then you can go into

the “we do” by having them try with you to get the hang of it and then later which hadn’t been

accomplished by the time my six weeks was up but the “you do”. When students get to the “you

do” stage is when they should know what’s expected and can just do things without reminders

but for kindergarten this takes time as everyone learns at a different pace. Many of the

opportunities for me to see interactive modeling happened in all areas of the building, the

cafeteria, play centers, the bathroom, and the hallway. I also noticed interactive modeling when

doing fire drills, the students were told about the first drill we were going to have, and we

modeled what we do but when that second drill came around many students needed reminders

that we need to stay calm, walk and stay safe.

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Class Rules

Rule creation in a kindergarten class but also in any elementary class in crucial for

creating a positive and productive learning environment for the young students. Rule creation

can help the students socially and emotionally to help with routine and safety in the classroom.

Building rules with your students help create a community that makes them feel welcome in the

classroom. Some teachers just use the same rules year after year, but I think to make them

effective for your students is by having them help you create them. On the third day of school

my CT started to share all the school building rules with the students and what the students

needed to do to stay safe in certain areas of the school such as the lunchroom, play centers and

the playground. After they learned about these, he had the students help him make the classroom

rules. In kindergarten they may not understand the whole concept of creating them, but it was the

thought of my CT including them that counts. He went around and let each student share

something they thought could be a rule. Once everyone shared their idea, we voted on five we

thought were most important. Once we had them picked my CT wrote them on a poster board

and displayed it on the wall to look back on when students needed a reminder of a rule.

Collaborative structures

Collaborative structures in the classroom are a way for students to work together and

create skills amongst each other. Collaborative structures help with engagement and keep

students on task when they can collaborate with peers. Keeping expectations with these

structures is crucial so the students know what to expect when collaborating. Collaborative

structures also help students develop critical thinking skills. There are many ways to collaborate

in the classroom but a couple of the ways my CT used collaboration was through sharing aloud

at circle time and using peer sharing. During the circle time my CT would go around the circle
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and have each student give their thoughts or answers to what he was asking. Some students

didn’t have an answer, or they said what the person next to them said but this way students can

get the hang of what is expected for future circle time share aloud. When students would share

with just their partners, they would sometimes get off task but with a little of redirection they

would be back on task. I think collaborative structures in the classroom helps in building those

relationships between students. Another way student got to collaborate with one another was

during play centers. For play centers we would go to the playroom and students got to play with

anything they wanted in the room. Some of the toys required students to collaborate with one

another when building and many students enjoyed this time of the day because they got to play

with their friends of choice.

Positive Teacher Language

“Our language serves as a powerful tool that can positively influence how children think,

act, and feel” (Responsive Classroom, p.261). Being an upbeat teacher with a positive attitude

but also using positive language in the classroom can help build relationships with our students.

Many students focus on the way that we speak to them and if we don’t talk in a nice tone, we

may make students scared or feel unsafe in our classroom. Many students can feel and sense

when we are upset with them, and this can cause them to feel sad as well. Even though

sometimes teaching may not be easy it is always important to focus on using that positive

language and to not get upset. Using positive language can help having a classroom community

of happy students. My CT was very good at using positive teacher language in his classroom.

When things would happen that you would want to get upset and change your tone of voice, he

kept calm in these situations. He showed a good example to me on how to handle things when

students do things that may frustrate you. I do believe I could grow in this area as I noticed my
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tone of voice changing when I got overwhelmed with things the students knew they shouldn’t

have been doing. Instead of showing this anger off and making the students scared I could just

redirect them and ask them to what they’re supposed to be doing. Every morning students would

eat breakfast and then color a coloring sheet when they finished before we started morning

meeting, we had this one student almost every day not follow directions. It did become

frustrating, and I could sense the frustration from my CT but over time I learned you either

ignore it and go on with the morning since this is just a 15-minute chunk of the morning he did

this or redirect him and ask him to do what he has been told to do. I think positive teacher

language is one of the most important things we can do to make our classroom community

welcoming and safe for our students to be able to learn appropriately.

Energizers

“Essentially, energizers are a playful, purposeful way to incorporate physical exercise

and mental stimulation into even the most tightly scheduled classroom days. Energizers don’t

take much time, but they can have a huge impact on learning” (Responsive Classroom, p.252).

From reading the book and learning about energizers I always wondered what ways teachers

used to include them into their day. I believe that energizers do have an impact on learning as it

gives the students a break from learning and to be able to take a few minutes to calm down. In

the kindergarten class I student taught in energizers were huge. Each day we did at least 5 if not

more. My CT didn’t call them energizers he called them brain breaks, but I think they fit right in

as energizers. Right at the start of the day during morning meeting about 10 minutes in we would

stop for a calm breathing activity to help get students engaged after the silly parts of morning

meeting. My CT also used dance breaks as a form of an energizer, and this was a very fun way

for the students to get up and move their bodies. Through these six weeks I have truly seen the
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impact energizers have on students and how it helps them to transition from one part of the day

to the next.

Academic Choice

Academic choice in the classroom is very beneficial to the students, it gives them the

opportunity to have a say in what they learn and how they learn it. Academic choice makes

students feel welcome in the classroom with being able to help make decisions on what we do

during the school day. In the kindergarten classroom I was in there wasn’t necessarily a lot

academic choice for the students when it came to the context of the lessons. Although there

wasn’t a choice for the students in what they learned, students had the choice of how they did

their work. For example, if the students got to use crayons for an activity, we were doing they

got to pick the colors, they weren’t limited to specific colors. Another thing the students had a

choice on was what they got to do after we finished the lesson, they got the choice of reading

from their book bins, writing the room or coloring a picture of their choice. Many students chose

something different every day and I really believe this helped engage them as it was something

they were looking forward to doing. The book The First Six Weeks states that “academic choice

is a structured way of giving children these kinds of confidence- and competence-building

experience” (Responsive Classroom, p.251). Giving students the confidence in the classroom and

having them help chose what they want to learn will lead to their future success.

Collaborative Problem-Solving

Collaborative problem solving helps students understand expectations, reduces behaviors,

and builds connections between students and educators. In collaborative problem solving

working directly with your students to meet their needs and it will create that sense of safety in

the classroom and help the students who may have challenges. Many behaviors can occur in the
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classroom and its best to work with the students to identify what is going on and how to control

it. Allowing the students to be a part of the process of what to do when problems are happening

makes for a better solution if the student can help decide what to do to calm down. In my CT’s

classroom he had a tent designated for behaviors and had calming toys in it to use for students to

get back in the green zone. I thought this was a cool approach to problem solving because when

the student felt a need for the break and my CT could sense a student needed a break to, they

would just go in the tent for as long as they needed. He did make it aware the tent was not a

place to play and that it is used to regulate feelings because kindergarteners have big feelings and

should be validated when needed. Being able to help our students when there is a problem it will

make them feel that they have a voice in what is happening.

EdTPA Lesson Plans

Lesson One: Chapter 1 lesson 7; Greater Than

Teacher Candidate Name: Madison Morse
Grade & Subject Area: Kindergarten, Math
Date for Planned Lesson: September 18th, 2023

Lesson Title Greater Than

MN/CC State Standard(s)
- direct quote from MN standards MN Standard: [Link].6 Identify weather the number of objects in one group is
documents greater than, less than or equal to the number of objects in another group,
- if only focusing on one part of a e.g., by using matching and counting strategies.
given standard, underline the
part being focused upon
Central Focus
- derived from standard, Identifying objects that are greater than objects in another group.
- communicates general goal

Learning Target for this Students will be able to use one-to -one correspondence to identify a group that is
Lesson greater than another group.
- concisely says what students
Essential question- How do we show how many?
will be able to know and do
- start with appropriate language
function (active verb)
a. Less than, greater than, equal to
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Academic Language (AL) b. Counting, objects, matching, extra, more

a. Domain-specific Acad c. This group of blue fish is greater than the group of red fish.
vocabulary
b. General Academic vocabulary d. Students may see these vocabulary words throughout the lesson. When we
(Words used in school across come across these words, I will define what these words mean so the student
many subject areas) understand.
c. Syntax Sentence Frame:
Example sentence that
students can use to
accomplish target.
d. Point in lesson where students
will be given opportunity to
use Academic Vocabulary
(Note: It
is important that this appears
in TPA videotape segments

Needed Modifications and Support- For students who may need extra support for this
modifications/supports. lesson the teacher will provide this help one on one when it is independent work
time. The students will rotate through groups and one of the groups will be at the
a. Identify how some form of
table with the teacher getting in depth help on this lesson. We will also provide
additional support will be hands on activities for students who may learn better using actions.
provided for some aspect of
the lesson for given student(s)
- visual, graphic, interactive
- reduced text, rewritten text, fill-
in the blank notes, word
banks
- graphic organizers, sentence
frames
Resources & materials Slides for lesson, independent practice work sheet, guided practice worksheet
needed pencil, number cards

Lesson Part Activity description / teacher does Students do

Phase 1 Learning Target: Teacher will read: “Students will Students will use what
State Target & Activate be able to use one-to -one correspondence to they have learned from
identify a group that is greater than another prior lessons to answer
Prior Knowledge group.” the problem of the day.
a) Post the learning target Activate Prior Knowledge: To activate prior
statement and indicate knowledge before we start this lesson, we will
whether the teacher or go over the problem of the day. The problem has
student(s) will read it aloud students look at the groups and then ask to
b) Engage students in activity identify how many objects are in each group.
to elicit / build prior
background knowledge
Phase 1 Assessment Assessment: I plan to capture data from this phase Student will use hand
Explain the plan to capture of the lesson by having students give me a thumbs gestures to show if they
data from this phase of the up if they know what group was “greater than”. understand.
lesson.
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Phase 2 Teacher Input / To demonstrate the task on how to recognize if a Students will be looking
Inquiry - Explain group is greater than the other group, we will and learning to see what
investigate the math and start with the questions group has a greater
procedures.
that says, “What does it mean to have a group that amount
- Demonstration the task has more?”. We will than use pictures with objects
- Teacher think aloud with showing one group with more than the other

Phase 2 Assessment Assessment: I plan to check for understanding from Students will self-analysis
Explain the plan to check for this phase by noting on the class roster a + or – with thumbs up or down
understanding of steps / stating if the students understood or not. to signal their
understanding
procedures demonstrated
in this phase.

Phase 3 Guided Practice The teacher will put students into groups of 4-5 Students will rotate to
- Paired/collaborative work depending on the number of students in the class for different groups working
- Teacher(s) may roam & this lesson. In these groups the students will rotate on math and learning
from 5 different math centers. 3 centers are about greater than more in
assist
independent groups with students working on math depth.
related topics and 2 other groups are with teachers
doing the guided practice worksheet and the
independent practice worksheet.
Phase 3 Assessment Assessment: I plan to check for understanding from Students will complete
Explain the plan to check for this phase by having the students complete their their guided and
ability to apply guided and independent practice worksheet. independent practice
worksheets.
demonstrated
steps/procedures during
guided practice.

Phase 4 Independent practice Students will take an individual practice worksheet Students will complete
- Individual student work home to practice more on the lesson their worksheet at home.

Phase 4 Assessment Assessment: I plan to check for understanding from Students will bring their
Explain plan to check for this phase by having the students bring back their worksheet back.
ability to apply independent practice worksheet and I will review it
demonstrated
steps/procedures during
independent practice.

Phase 5 Restatement & Learning Target: Students will be able to use one-to Students will give me a
Closure a) Restate -one correspondence to identify a group that is signal with their thumb on
greater than another group. to show me their
learning target.
Plan for mastery: I plan to check for mastery of the understanding
b) Explain a planned lesson by having students show me a thumbs up, to
opportunity for students the side, or down on how they feel about the lesson.
to self-assess their
perceived level of
mastery for the target.
Phase 6 Summative Next I will take a class roster and put a + or – next to the Students will have
Steps student’s name. The + will be for the students who mastered the lesson or
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Attach a class roster (first understood the assignment and the – will be for the have a time set aside to
names only) with space to students who need more instruction. have extra support on this
indicate for each student lesson.
the needed next steps of
instruction.

Lesson Two: Less Than

Teacher Candidate Name: Madison Morse
Grade & Subject Area: Kindergarten, Math
Date for Planned Lesson: September 19th, 2023

Lesson Title Less Than

MN/CC State Standard(s) [Link].6 Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than,
- direct quote from MN standards less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using
documents matching and counting strategies.
- if only focusing on one part of a
given standard, underline the
part being focused upon
Central Focus Identifying objects that are less than objects in another group.
- derived from standard,
- communicates general goal

Learning Target for this Students will be able to use one-on -one correspondence to identify a group that
Lesson is less than another group.
- concisely says what students
Essential question: How do we show how many?
will be able to know and do
- start with appropriate language
function (active verb)
Academic Language (AL) a. Less than, greater than, equal too
a. Domain-specific Acad
vocabulary b. Counting, objects, matching, symbols
b. General Academic vocabulary c. This group of blue fish is less than the group of red fish.
18

(Words used in school across d. Students may see these vocabulary word throughout the lesson. I will
many subject areas) make sure when we come across the important vocab of this lesson to
c. Syntax Sentence Frame: describe the meaning.
Example sentence that
students can use to
accomplish target.
d. Point in lesson where students
will be given opportunity to
use Academic Vocabulary
(Note: It
is important that this appears
in TPA videotape segments

Needed Modifications and support- For students who may need extra support and even
modifications/supports. one-on-one help with this lesson, I will provide an activity using dominos. With
the dominos I will use one with 3 dots and one with 2 dots I will have the student
a. Identify how some form of
count how many dots each domino has and ask what one has less than. This
additional support will be activity will give students a good visual to see what domino has less dots.
provided for some aspect of
the lesson for given student(s)
- visual, graphic, interactive
- reduced text, rewritten text, fill-
in the blank notes, word
banks
- graphic organizers, sentence
frames
Resources & materials Slides for lesson, independent practice work sheet, guided practice worksheet
needed pencil

Lesson Part Activity description / teacher does Students do

Phase 1 Learning Target: Students will be able to use one- Students will answer the
State Target & Activate on -one correspondence to identify a group that is problem of the day
less than another group.
Prior Knowledge
a) Post the learning target Activate Prior Knowledge: To activate prior
statement and indicate knowledge of this lesson we will go over the
whether the teacher or problem of the day. The problem of the day has
student(s) will read it aloud the students look at a group of apples and draw a
b) Engage students in activity line from one group to the other and circle the
to elicit / build prior greater group.
background knowledge
Phase 1 Assessment Assessment: I plan to capture data from this phase Students will self asses by
Explain the plan to capture of the lesson by having students give me a thumbs giving a thumbs up or
data from this phase of the up or thumbs down on their understanding of the down.
problem of the day.
lesson.

Phase 2 Teacher Input / To demonstrate the task on how to recognize if a Students will pay close
Inquiry - Explain group is less than the other, we will investigate the attention to the lesson
math and go over the question that asks “When learning how to identify
procedures.
would you want a group that has fewer than another groups with less objects
- Demonstration the task group?” an example of wanting a group with less than the other group.
19

- Teacher think aloud objects would be if there were two bags of apples
you would want to carry the one with less so it’s not
as heavy. Students will than follow along with the
lesson and answers several questions pointing out
groups that are less than the other group. We can
show less than by having a group of four busses and
a group of three cars. Students will than recognize
that the three cars are less than four busses.
Phase 2 Assessment Assessment: I plan to check for understanding of Students will come up and
Explain the plan to check for this lesson by having a select few of students come show me what group has
understanding of steps / up and show what group is less than. I will then be less objects.
noting what students understand or not by having
procedures demonstrated
them giving me a thumbs up.
in this phase.

Phase 3 Guided Practice The teacher will put students into groups of 4-5 Students will rotate in
- Paired/collaborative work depending on the number of students in the class for groups working on math
- Teacher(s) may roam & this lesson. In these groups the students will rotate and learning more in
from 5 different math centers. 3 centers are depth about how to
assist
independent groups with students working on math recognize less than.
related topics and 2 other groups are with teachers
doing the guided practice worksheet and the
independent practice worksheet.
Phase 3 Assessment Assessment: I plan to check for the ability to Students will complete
Explain the plan to check for demonstrate steps during guided practice by being their worksheets to the
ability to apply able to complete their worksheets with 70% best of their ability.
mastery.
demonstrated
steps/procedures during
guided practice.

Phase 4 Independent practice Students will each take an individual worksheet Students will work on
- Individual student work home to practice recognizing groups less than the their worksheet at home.
other.

Phase 4 Assessment Assessment: I plan to check for the ability to Students will bring their
Explain plan to check for demonstrate the steps of less than by having the completed worksheet
ability to apply students bring their worksheet back to school and I back to school.
will review it and take note who completed it or not.
demonstrated
steps/procedures during
independent practice.

Phase 5 Restatement & Learning target: Students will be able to use one-on Students will complete
Closure a) Restate -one correspondence to identify a group that is less their exit slip.
than another group.
learning target.
b) Explain a planned Plan for mastery: I plan for students to be able to
opportunity for students self-asses their level of mastery by completing an
to self-assess their “exit slip” and turning it in at the end of the math
perceived level of lesson.
mastery for the target.
Phase 6 Summative Next I will take a class roster and put a + or – next to the Students will have
Steps student’s name. The + will be for the students who mastered or may need
understood the lesson and the – will be for the extra instruction on the
20

Attach a class roster (first students who need more instruction. lesson.
names only) with space to
indicate for each student
the needed next steps of
instruction.

Lesson Three: Compare Numbers 0 to 5

Teacher Candidate Name: Madison Morse
Grade & Subject Area: Kindergarten, Math
Date for Planned Lesson: Septembers 20th, 2023

Lesson Title Compare Numbers 0 to 5

MN/CC State Standard(s) [Link].6 Identify whether the numbers of the objects in one group is greater
- direct quote from MN standards than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by
documents using matching and counting strategies.
- if only focusing on one part of a
given standard, underline the
part being focused upon
Central Focus Identify if a group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in
- derived from standard, another group.
- communicates general goal

Learning Target for this Students will be able to use one-to-one correspondence and counting to compare
Lesson groups and determine which group is greater than, less than, or whether the
groups are equal to each other.
- concisely says what students
will be able to know and do Essential question: How do we show how many?
- start with appropriate language
function (active verb)
Academic Language (AL) a. Greater than, less than, equal to, numbers, compare
a. Domain-specific Acad b. Counting, objects, groups
vocabulary
b. General Academic vocabulary c. The number 5 is greater than the number 3.
(Words used in school across d. Throughout the lesson students will see these vocabulary words. We
many subject areas) will go over these words at the beginning of the lesson so student have a
c. Syntax Sentence Frame: better understanding when we come across them, some of these words
Example sentence that will be from prior lessons.
students can use to
accomplish target.
d. Point in lesson where students
will be given opportunity to
use Academic Vocabulary
(Note: It
is important that this appears
in TPA videotape segments
Needed Modifications and support- For students who may need extra support for this
modifications/supports. lesson the teacher will provide this help one on one when it is independent work
time. The students will rotate through groups and one of the groups will be at the
a. Identify how some form of
21

additional support will be table with the teacher getting in depth help on this lesson. We will also provide
provided for some aspect of hands on activities for students who may learn better using actions.
the lesson for given student(s)
- visual, graphic, interactive
- reduced text, rewritten text, fill-
in the blank notes, word
banks
- graphic organizers, sentence
frames
Resources & materials Slides for lesson, independent practice work sheet, guided practice worksheet
needed pencil

Lesson Part Activity description / teacher does Students do

Phase 1 Learning Target: Students will be able to use one- Students will activate
State Target & Activate to-one correspondence and counting to compare their prior knowledge by
groups and determine which group is greater going over the problem of
Prior Knowledge than, less than, or whether the groups are equal the day that goes over the
a) Post the learning target to each other. lesson we did the day
statement and indicate Activate Prior Knowledge: To activate prior before.
whether the teacher or knowledge to start this lesson we will go over
student(s) will read it aloud the problem of the day. The problem of the day
b) Engage students in activity has two different groups one has 3 objects and
to elicit / build prior the other has 4, it asks what group has more.
background knowledge
Phase 1 Assessment Assessment: I plan to capture data from this phase Students will self asses by
Explain the plan to capture of the lesson by having students give me a thumbs giving a thumbs up or
data from this phase of the up or thumbs down on their understanding of the thumbs down.
problem of the day.
lesson.

Phase 2 Teacher Input / To demonstrate the task, we will go over the power Students will be following
Inquiry - Explain point slides for the lesson. We will investigate the along being engaged in
math starting off by asking the students “how can the lesson.
procedures.
you use objects to compare numbers”
- Demonstration the task
- Teacher think aloud

Phase 2 Assessment Assessment: I plan to check for understanding of Students will have
Explain the plan to check for this phase by noting on a roster a + or – for students participated.
understanding of steps / who participated and were able to answer questions
when called on
procedures demonstrated
in this phase.

Phase 3 Guided Practice The teacher will put students into groups their math Students will rotate in
- Paired/collaborative work center groups of 4-5 depending on the number of groups working on math
- Teacher(s) may roam & students in the class for this lesson. In these groups and learning more in
the students will rotate from 5 different math depth about how to
assist
centers. 3 centers are independent groups with recognize less than, equal
students working on math related topics and 2 other to or great than groups.
groups are with teachers doing the guided practice
worksheet and the independent practice worksheet.
22

During the math centers with the teachers the

students will be learning more in depth about the
lesson we just did on the board.
Phase 3 Assessment Assessment: I plan to check for understanding Students will complete
Explain the plan to check for during the guided practice part of the lesson by their guided practice
ability to apply students being able to complete their practice sheet worksheet with the
with 70% mastery. teacher.
demonstrated
steps/procedures during
guided practice.

Phase 4 Independent practice Students will take home a worksheet to practice Students will work on
- Individual student work more at home. their worksheet at home

Phase 4 Assessment Assessment: I plan to check for understanding from Students will bring their
Explain plan to check for this phase by having the students bring their worksheets back.
ability to apply worksheet back to school and I will check it.
demonstrated
steps/procedures during
independent practice.

Phase 5 Restatement & Learning target: Students will be able to use one-to- Students will complete
Closure a) Restate one correspondence and counting to compare their guided and
groups and determine which group is greater independent practice
learning target.
than, less than, or whether the groups are equal worksheets.
b) Explain a planned to each other.
opportunity for students
to self-assess their I plan for student to self asses the mastery of this
perceived level of target by being able to complete their guided and
mastery for the target. independent practice worksheet during math
centers.

Phase 6 Summative Next Assessment: I will make a class roster with + and – Students will either have
Steps on it indicating what students have mastered and mastered the lesson or
students who made need more instruction. need some extra
Attach a class roster (first
instruction.
names only) with space to
indicate for each student
the needed next steps of
instruction.

Signed Permission Slips

Parents Release Forms

Dear Parent/Guardian:
23

I am a Teacher Candidate from Winona State University-Rochester. I am currently in my first

6- week student teaching experience in your child’s classroom. As part of my experience and
growth, I will be videotaping and taking pictures of the class and my teaching in order to
reflect and improve my teaching skills. The videos and pictures will be for my own personal
use and not posted or shared with anyone else. I will not identify your child or use his/her
name in any notes or assignments submitted to the instructor.

It's a pleasure to work in your child’s classroom. I appreciate your support of my growth as a
teacher. If you could pick weather, you want or don’t want your child to be in any videos or
pictures, please chose one and sign below and return the form.

Sincerely,

Madison Morse

Student Release Form

I am the parent/legal guardian of the child named below. I understand the use of videotaping
and pictures of my child for the purpose described above.
I DO NOT give permission to include my child.
I DO give permission to include my child.

Student’s name:
Student’s School:

Signature of Parent or Guardian:

Date:

Videos

Double click the links to play videos.

 24

Self-Analysis

Self-Evaluation (part
one)
Entire Recorded
Observation: Circle
the number that best
reflects your
perception of your
abilities and competencies as they relate to the totality of your recordings.
Video from Lesson 3 Video from Lesson 3 Video from Lesson 1
1 Not observed 2 - 3 Area for Growth 4-5 Proficient 6 - Area of strength
Phase 1&2 Phase 3 Phase 1&2
6 Minutes 5 Minutes 4 Minutes
1.
media/ Voice https:// 1 2 3 4 5
https:// 6
2. Speech
Video+1+Lesson+3IMG_745 1 2
[Link]/ 3 4 5 6
[Link]/
3. Energy and Vitality
8/1_x6awst3l media/ 1 2 3 4 5
media/ 6
4. Eye contact with all students Video+2+Lesson+3IMG_746
1 2 3 4 Video+3+Lesson+1IMG_7404
5 6
5. Use of teaching aids (maps, board, etc.) 1 2 3 4 5 6
6. Class participation/engagement 1 2 3 4 5 6
7. Ability to hold interest of class 1 2 3 4 5 6
8. Amount of time you talked 1 2 3 4 5 6
9. Academic language used 1 2 3 4 5 6
10. Use of student ideas 1 2 3 4 5 6
11. Variety of questions asked (memory 1 2 3 4 5 6
convergent, divergent, evaluative)
12. Efforts to make lesson concrete 1 2 3 4 5 6
13. Use of directions 1 2 3 4 5 6
14. Use of praise or encouragement 1 2 3 4 5 6
15. Amount of pupil response to questions 1 2 3 4 5 6
16. Amount of pupil initiated talk 1 2 3 4 5 6
17. Class discipline 1 2 3 4 5 6
25

18. Class climate 1 2 3 4 5 6

19. Objective of lesson clear 1 2 3 4 5 6
20. Evaluation of teaching as a whole 1 2 3 4 5 6

Self-Evaluation (part two)

1. What are some of your personal idiosyncrasies? What can you do about them?

One of my personal idiosyncrasies is that I get nervous when other teachers are in the
classroom when I’m teaching a lesson or in the class to observe me. Everyone who saw
me teach told me I am doing a good job at the lesson I’m teaching and that I do a good
job keeping all the kids engaged but I have a hard time to accept that I did good. A big
part to these personal idiosyncrasies is that I haven’t developed the confidence in
teaching yet that I need to work on developing. I need to work on believing in myself
and ask for help when I feel like I may need some guidance. Confidence is very
important for everyone especially when being observed or just around other teachers so
they can’t see the fear I might have. Another idiosyncrasies is that I tend to repeat things
over and over that I have already said. Sometimes it is okay to repeat things to students
but if they got what I said the first time there isn’t a need to keep repeating it. I think it’s
just a habit that I developed thinking that the students didn’t get what I said at first. I can
work on this by observing that the student understood what I said so I don’t keep
repeating it or I could even just repeat it to an individual who may need to hear what I
said again.

2. What did you do at the start of each lesson to set the mood or climate for learning?
Looking back, would you do anything differently, and if yes, what, why and how?

At the start of each math lesson, we would watch a math video that went with the lesson
that was provided with the curriculum. We also started the lesson slides with an essential
question. This question asked, “how do we show how many?”. This essential question got
the students thinking and the essential question was the same question for the whole
chapter so every day the students were asked the question, and they gradually knew the
answer going forward. I would allow 2-3 students share their answer to the question and
then I would repeat the answers they gave me and add a few more so the students had a
variety of how they can show how many. Another way I set the mood for learning was
having the students repeat after me, so the first slide said the chapter and lesson and the
name of the lesson and for student to understand I would have them repeat after me, so
they had a clear idea of what the lesson was about. I would even use my hands to show
examples because one lesson was less than and one was greater than, so I used my hands
to show the difference for a visual to the students. Looking back, I don’t think I would
necessarily do anything different based on the essential question, but I think if I gave
more student the option to talk or even do a turn and talk more students would
participate. For all three of my lesson the same students raised their hands and I wish I
26

would have had more student participating so they would understand the essential
question.

3. Analyze the questions you asked of your students during each lesson. What do you
notice in terms of the quality, levels, wait time, your responses to students, and their
responses to your questions?

I think that the questions I asked during each lesson was a decent amount for the grade
level of the students. Most of the questions were asked with visuals shown either on the
smart board during whole group lesson or during math center with the guided practice
worksheet. I do think having the visuals helped because the students had resource to be
able to think of an answer. I think the quality of my questions were good but, in the
future, I could go more into depth as I felt some were too simple. I think the wait time I
gave was a good amount as well, but some students would raise their hand right away
without having an answer in mind, I would also remind them to only raise their hand
once they’ve thought of an answer and I would wait about a minute before calling on
anyone to give them time. Sometimes when I called on a student with their hand raised,
they wouldn’t have an answer so I would ask if they wanted me to come back to them or
help from a peer. When responding to students I would praise them for their answers, but
I need to work on how to respond to students who give the incorrect answers. I would tell
them nice try but not that’s not what I’m looking for, but I felt like there could have been
a better way to go about it.

4. How well did you involve all students in responding and participating? Were there
any equity issues?

I think I did a good job at getting students involved and engaged in the lessons. Most of
the students in the class always wanted to raise their hands to be called on, even if I
hadn’t even asked a question. That was one thing I tried working on with them was to
only raise their hand when they had a question, or I asked them to raise their hands to
participate in something. I tried my best to make it fair and call on different students each
question and change it up every lesson. Also, some students didn’t like to participate and
raise their hands so sometimes I would call on someone without their hand raised as I
didn’t want to pick someone who had already answered. I don’t think there were any
equity issues when I taught my lesson because like I said I tried my best to include
different students each time and there is only so many students you can call on for a
question. Sometimes I would go around the circle for all students to answer the questions
and I noticed they really enjoyed this.

5. With what skills development or dispositional progress during your student

teaching are you most pleased?
27

During my six-week student teaching placement I grew more than I could have ever
imagined. I am most pleased with how far I came with my comfortable level in front of
the kids. Going into my six weeks I hadn’t had much experience with working in the
classroom. The most I had done were the clinicals leading up to my senior year. At first, I
was very nervous and shy, I felt like I would be judged by other teachers on how I did
things. I think over time it just came naturally to me as this is what I want to do in life. I
want to help these young students succeed in life. I do think I can progress more on how I
feel with other teachers observing me, but I came farther then I was from the first lesson I
taught in the class. One day there was a substitute teacher, so I basically had taken over
most over the day as I knew the routine of the class more than the substitute did. During
this day I still felt nervous as what the substitute could have been thinking about me, but I
felt this only made me stronger and to keep pushing. I overall think I am most pleased
with my comfort level by just experiencing the day-to-day school environment and
interacting with more teachers than I have before. Being able to develop more through
this experience will help make me a stronger teacher when my time comes.

6. In what areas do you still see room for growth and improvement?

I had a really good experience during my placement and learned lots of new skills to use
in my journey ahead when I officially become a teacher. One thing I did not get to
experience but was hoping I would have got to experience and think it would be
beneficial to grow would be sitting in on an IEP meeting. I know and understand what an
IEP is, but I have never got to see a meeting in action and think it would help me
understand more than I already know. My CT didn’t have any set up while I was there,
but he had one coming up but didn’t think I would be able to come back for it because I
wasn’t listed as a student teacher in the building anymore because my time was over. I
think seeing and experiencing a type of meeting like this would have given me an eye
opener for when I’m a teacher and how they are handled. I will bring it up in my student
teaching in the spring and see if I can get in on one to learn more.

Student Data Analysis

Carefully plan how you will determine student learning–both formative and
summative.

For the three lessons I taught I did the assessments off worksheets provided in the
curriculum textbook. For the first assessment I did a summative assessment that assessed the
students on a basic check on if they could write how many objects were shown. Some students
were able to verbally count the objects and say how many there were but when it came time to
write the number two of the students struggled as they need work on writing numbers. For the
second assessment I used a chapter test which would have been formative. It was the end of the
28

chapter after all my lessons, and it was time to take the end of the chapter test. This test gave me
an overview of all my lesson and showed me how the students learned what I taught. Again,
some students could do this assessment no problem, but some had a hard time writing out their
answers and knowing what the direction was asking for. For the third assessment I did another
worksheet that was summative, and it was helping see if students were ready for next steps and if
they could do what they would be learning next. Overall, I determined the students learning
through summative and formative assessments by checking if they were able to complete the
assessments with minimal errors or none at all.

Choose three students’ work–high, middle, and low — and focus upon at least
three different assessments for each student. Write a specific analysis of each
student’s work. Also, plan the next steps in instruction for each pupil (written
into an informal plan).

Student 1: Low achieving

Student worksheet from Lesson 1:

For the first lesson, I used a check my progress

that correlated with the lesson I did. This
student was not able to do the assessment that I
did with all three students. I read the directions
of each question and he tried but didn’t
understand what to do. I can tell by the writing
of his numbers he needs more practice with
writing numbers and modeling.

Student worksheet from Lesson 2:

For the second lesson, I used the chapter test as

an assessment. This way I could assess a little
more and see progress from all the connecting
lessons. This student really struggled with this
and couldn’t complete it. But we asked him
again to try and he did. But as you can see
again, he can’t write numbers and doesn’t
understand the vocabulary words we used for
what he was supposed to do for each question.
29

Student worksheet from lesson 3:

For the third lesson, I used another sheet that
goes along with all the lessons I did. This
student was able to do some but not all of it
correct. As you can see question one, he
understood but question two he was asked to
only color two objects and he colored all of
them. For question three and four he attempted
but as I was doing it with him, I could tell he
didn’t understand the directions because after
every time he drew an object, he looked at me
wanting me to basically tell him if it was
correct or incorrect.

Next steps for this student:

I think the next steps for this student would be math intervention. This student is Hispanic
so there is a language barrier on how he understands. I think if he was given the directions to all
these assessments in Spanish because that is the language used in his home, he would have been
able to complete them better than he was able to. I also think more practice with identifying
numbers and being able to write them so doing tracing number activities would be beneficial for
him as well.

Student 2: Achieving
Student worksheet for Lesson 1:

For the first lesson I used a check my progress

that correlated with the lesson I did. This
student was able to do this assessment with
minimal errors. On question three he wrote a 5
instead of a 2. When doing this with him he
told me there were 2 but wrote a 5, this could
be because he doesn’t know how to write a 2.
Or cant identify his numbers yet.
30

Student worksheet for Lesson 2:

For the second lesson I used the chapter test to

assess the students. This way I could assess a
little more and see the progress from all the
connecting lessons. Again, for this student he
was able to complete this assessment with very
minimal errors. On the back page of this he was
to count the animals and write the number three
times, he would say the correct number but
didn’t know how to write it.

Student worksheet for Lesson 3:

For the third lesson I did another sheet that

goes along with the lesson I did. This student
was able to compete this assessment with no
errors. For question 3 and 4 the students were
to draw the same objects which was a flower
and bugs but for kindergarteners they are still
learning and don’t know how to draw certain
animals or flowers so even though he drew suns
for the flowers and circle for the bugs I still
think he did this with no errors.
31

Next steps for this student:

For this student I think continuing with instruction and introducing more objects would
be the best next step. If this student can start drawing a wide variety of objects that we use to
show how many numbers, there are he would be right on level with other peers. But even though
he can’t draw other shapes doesn’t mean he isn’t where he’s supposed to be because many of his
peers do what he did on these assessments. I also think he should get more practice with
identifying numbers and tracing them as he writes his number 2’s backwards.

Student 3: High achieving

Student worksheet for Lesson 1:

For the first lesson I used a check my progress

that correlated with the lesson I did. This
student was able to this assessment with no
errors. All I had to do was read the directions
and she knew what to do. This student is one
of the first ones done when we do worksheets
or just in general on anything we do in class.
This student showed clear understanding of
the content and what they were asked to do.

Student worksheet for Lesson 2:

For the second lesson I used the chapter test to

assess the students. This way I could assess a
little more and see the progress from all the
connecting lessons. Again this student was
able to complete this with clear understanding
and no hesitation with their answers.
32

Student worksheet for lesson 3:

For the third lesson I did another sheet that

goes along with the lesson I did. This student
was able to complete this worksheet with clear
understanding as well. They did not have to
ask questions for more direction, and they
didn’t hesitate on the answer they wrote down.

Next steps for this student:

This student is always paying attention in class and always willing to participate without
being asked. They have a strong work ethic and show many signs of high achievement. For this
student I think that continuing with the curriculum that is given but also adding in some things
during math centers at a higher level would help get them thinking even more at the higher level.
To be able to work on things that could be more challenging than what they are learning will
help them keep developing in the right direction that they are learning in.
Overall Reflection

What did you learn from the tuning protocol?

Throughout my first student teaching experience and completing the tuning protocol
assignment, I learned a lot of things I didn’t know but is very important to becoming a teacher.
One of the most important things I learned was to become more confident in myself. Being
confident in what you are passionate about will only help you be a better version of yourself. At
the start of my experience, I didn’t know what to expect and felt super nervous about doing the
lessons. But as time went on, I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and built up more
33

confidence than I had in the beginning to get the experience I was hoping to have. Another thing
I learned by doing the tuning protocol was videotaping yourself helps you see the way you teach
and things you may want to change and improve on. Being recorded has never been a thing I like
but after doing it for this assignment it showed me the importance of being able to grow through
lessons you’ve done. Having this assignment has shown me ways to be more prepared for my
ten-week experience and I’m excited to dive in and have more confidence.

Based upon your reflection and analysis at the end of the connected lessons
what three things would you do differently if you taught this connected lesson
segment again – and why? Think in terms of preparation, differentiation, delivery,
and assessment as you reflect upon your analysis of the connected lessons. Include
next steps in your analysis as well.

If I was to do these lessons again there are a few things I would do differently but also want
to improve on. The first thing I would do differently is my planning. I used the math book and
lessons from the curriculum provided to my CT but also made the lessons my own, but I think if
I planned it differently than I did I would have felt more confident about the lessons. I do feel I
spent enough time planning for these lessons but also feel like spending more time than I did I
could have made the lessons way more effective with more knowledge. Another thing I would do
differently is how I delievered the lesson. For all three lessons like I said before I used the lesson
slides provided to my CT. I think if I made my own slides to deliver the lesson it would have
been beneficial with more understanding of the context on my part. The second thing I would do
differently would be the assessments. For my assessments my CT suggested using stuff from the
book that he had so it was easier instead of creating my own. I do feel like if I created my own I
could of did context from each individual lesson I taught but instead these assessments were like
an overview of all three of my lesson combined. I think if the students were assessed on the
context for each lesson, I would have been able to see their progression and if they were learning
what I taught. The third thing I would do differently would be my eye contact with the students.
When I called on students to answer questions, I gave good eye contact but for the lesson as
whole I felt like I had a tendency of looking at the board a lot and reading directly from that
instead of reading to the students while looking at them. I can change this by studying my
lessons more and remembering what I need to say.

Sources

Charney, R. S. (2002). Teaching Children to Care: Classroom management for ethical and

academic growth, K-8, Revised Edition. Northeast Foundation for Children.

Denton, P. (2015). The Power of Our Words: Teacher language that helps children learn,

Second Edition. Center for Responsive Schools, Inc.

34

Responsive Classroom. (2015). The First Six Weeks of School, 2nd Edition. Center for

Responsive Schools.