Kristy Willinger Coach, Martin Luther King School New Haven, CT

As a Cornerstone coach, I decided to choose Mrs. Cappella's first grade classroom for a possible lab classroom site at Martin Luther King School.
Mrs. Cappella co-taught with a Cornerstone coach last year, and it is evident that she benefited from that experience. The classroom environment supports literacy instruction, with student work displayed, evidence of strategy instruction, and cozy book nooks. I was able to meet the children when I demonstrated a lesson in their classroom a couple of weeks ago. They seem to know the class routines and are eager to learn. I really felt that this classroom had potential for being a "lab classroom site."

After receiving approval from our principal, I spoke to Mrs. Cappella about inviting teachers to see her teach a crafting lesson. She agreed, and we scheduled a time to work together to create a crafting lesson that integrates comprehension strategies to letter writing. At our meeting, Mrs. Cappella decided to link connecting and guessing to writing an invitation, using the book A Letter to Amy by Ezra Jack Keats.

Prior to the lesson, I asked another teacher in our school if she would like to visit Mrs. Cappella's classroom to observe a crafting lesson. I explained the "Protocol for Observing a Model Lesson" to both teachers. The morning before the lesson, the teachers met to discuss the lesson. After the lesson, they met briefly to go over the Protocol sheet.

I think that this activity went very well. Mrs. Cappella was very easy to work with, and open to suggestions. I think that this was also beneficial for the other teacher, based on her comments about the lesson. In the future, I would like to provide this opportunity to all the teachers at King.