BEFORE Student Independent Work

Observable Indicators Evident Partially Evident

Not Evident

Not Relevant

Goal Setting: The teacher has a clear instructional focus for the lesson and clearly communicates this focus to students.

Introduction: The lesson is introduced using the Teacher Recommendations in the Before-Reading Poll or other pre-reading activity to activate prior knowledge, pre-teach vocabulary, and set a schema for reading.

Differentiation: As needed, the teacher plans for small-group instruction to target individual student needs (e.g., to build additional background,reinforce academic vocabulary, more scaffolded strategy development, etc.).

Expectations: The teacher gives explicit directions for the work to be completed, the expected quality, and the time frame.

Observer Name: _____________________________ Teacher: _____________________________ Date: ___________________

This Observation Checklist is an instructional coaching tool designed to support coaches and principals as they provide structured feedback to teachers focusing on best practices in literacy instruction with Achieve3000 lessons. Depending on your instructional model and pacing, the indicators in the sections below might occur on multiple days.

Place a check mark in the appropriate box next to the statement that best reflects what you observed. Discuss your observation with the teacher and plan next steps for instruction.

Observation Checklist: Best Practices in Literacy Instruction

DURING Student Independent Work

Observable Indicators Evident Partially Evident

Not Evident

Not Relevant

Throughout the 5-Step Routine: The teacher moves around the room to monitor students and provide independent guidance and feedback, as needed.

Before-Reading Poll: The teacher promotes collaborative discussion to reinforce the importance of citing evidence for an opinion based on prior experience or prior knowledge.

Article: The teacher reinforces expectations for students and, as needed, models those expectations during reading, clearly stating which Reading Connections to use based on the instructional focus for the lesson.

Activity: The teacher reminds students of the benefits of scoring 75% or higher. Teachers should encourage students to preview the questions before reading by clicking on the Print icon, identifying the question type before responding, using the Refer to the Article, as needed, and eliminating answer choices before making a final decision.

After-Reading Poll: The teacher promotes collaborative discussion that reinforces the importance of citing evidence for an opinion based on text-based supports.

Thought Question: The teacher reinforces and models expectations for students for the Thought Question response, highlighting the Include in Your Answer and the Rubric, to reinforce the importance of providing text-based supports.

AFTER Student Independent Work

Observable Indicators Evident Partially Evident

Not Evident

Not Relevant

Stretch Article Teacher Modeling: The teacher reinforces the instructional focus and models how to engage with grade-appropriate text using the digital highlighting tool to annotate text and pulling out additional information to improve Thought Question responses.

Stretch Article Student Practice: The teacher gradually releases responsibility to the students by having them interact with the Stretch Article using the digital highlighting tool to annotate text to prepare for collaborative discussion.

Discussion: The teacher facilitates collaborative discussion around complex text using students’ annotations and the text-dependent questions from the Teacher Recommendations.

Thought Question Revision: The teacher requires revisions to the Thought Question and promotes the importance of providing supporting evidence from the text. Consider peer review of Thought Question responses.

Reflection: The teacher reflects with students on the strategies used as they moved through the lesson, evaluating which ones aided in their comprehension of the content.

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