Johnnie Tankersley Cornerstone Literacy Fellow

It was a few minutes after nine o'clock on an early fall morning when we walked calmly, but with trepidation, into the sixth graders' space. The students and their teacher were patiently waiting for us, a group of educators who were there to watch the learning in their classroom. Adult-sized chairs were strategically placed around the edge of the children's work areas. We carefully seated ourselves and settled in to see what we would see.

Each of us observers had been assigned a student to watch. I located student #6 and told my brain to concentrate on the observation. I wanted to study the room: what was on the walls, how was the room organized, what was the feeling, the aura, of this special place? I had to force myself to focus on the assigned task.

The teacher rang a small, crystal bell. The children gathered their clipboards, pencils, and papers, and assembled on the carpet, obviously locating and sitting with their pre-assigned partners. The teacher looked into each pair of eyes and remained silent until all eyes were riveted on her. As observers, we tried to melt into the walls so our presence would not be a distraction.

The teacher began to craft, to read aloud, from an informational text related to the Westward Expansion. She modeled the questioning strategy as she read aloud and thought aloud. She paused about halfway through the text and asked the students to turn and talk to their partners. Student #6's partner began the conversation by asking a question and giving reasons for her wonderings. She asked student #6 what she thought and student #6 joined in the conversation with insightful questions and answers. They wrote their questions on sticky notes and posted them on the questioning chart.

When the teacher again rang the crystal bell, the children turned back to her, and she continued reading and thinking out loud through the remainder of the book. She charted her thoughts, also.

The students were then asked to go with their partners to another space and read an article related to the crafting text. Student #6's partner again took the lead and began to read aloud from the article. She paused in her reading to discuss her connections and questions. Student #6 again joined in with perceptive thoughts.

Students then began to write in response to their reading, still with their partners. The children talked softly and supported each other as they wrote. They were still writing as we observers filed quietly out. I could almost hear the collective sign of relief from the classroom as it emptied.

What is Lesson Study?

Lesson Study is a way for educators to collaborate to improve particular lessons, and in the process, improve their practice. Lesson Study teams plan a lesson together. They choose a team member to teach the lesson. The team members observe the students during the lesson and record their observations. Then, the team members meet to discuss how the lesson could have better met the instructional needs of the students. They revise the lesson, and another member of the team then teaches the revised lesson. The team observes the students, and the process continues until the lesson is as good as it can get.

In the real scenario in this article, we observed a lesson planned by an upper elementary team. As participants in Lesson Study, our next duty was to make suggestions to the teacher and the lesson planning team about how the lesson could be improved and revised. I was not sure I could contribute much to the discussion. My student, the one I was watching, benefited greatly from this lesson design. She was partnered with a student who could lead the partnership and encourage the participation of both partners. She was able to contribute to the discussion because of the support given her by her partner. In my mind, this was a great example of Differentiated Instruction!

Becky, Kelly, and Rahshene recently attended a conference on Lesson Study. The Foundation schools in Talladega County and their sister schools are using Lesson Study as a model for this year's Lab School Sessions. In other words, Lesson Study is something about which we will be hearing more.