Kellie ThompsonStudent Teaching

Evidence Based Practices

Evidence based practices consist of checking students for understanding, comparing a

subject that you are teaching to a real life situation or object, or types of assessment.

Assessments are not always in the form of a test or quiz in many cases. On this page, I will

discuss some of the evidence based practices that I have used in my class. Under each picture, I

will explain the practice in the photograph.

Visual evidence for a math lesson on arrays.

Kellie ThompsonStudent Teaching

I used these pictures and items in a lesson for Engage New York Math. In this lesson, we

were focusing on arrays. We discussed the meaning of arrays and how objects in arrays are

arranged in rows and columns. I found as I taught arrays, students continued to get confused

about the difference between rows and columns. I went to the internet and printed pictures of

items in rows and put them on the Elmo for the class to see. We discussed how flowers and

corn are planted in rows. We also talked about how movie theater seats are arranged in rows.

When I discussed columns with the class, I put up a picture of the White House with the long

white columns on the front.

I also brought a checkerboard from home which is arranged in both rows and columns

and shared it with the class. The other item I brought from home was an unopened box of Ritz

Crackers. I showed the students how when you open the box it reveals a row of 4 sleeves of

crackers. When you pull the sleeve out, the crackers are packaged in columns. The class was

really engaged in this lesson. The photos of the rows of flowers, corn, and movie theater seats

and the columns on the White House were provided as a visual to the students. The

checkerboard, and the box of Ritz Crackers demonstration gave students a picture in their mind

of rows and columns that they could relate to in real life. This was also effective for the ELL

students I have in my class as pictures can speak louder than words when there is a language

barrier. I continued to use these examples of each day while studying arrays to talk about our

prior knowledge of rows

and columns. In

conclusion, this was an excellent

lesson for visual learners and was

relatable to real life.

Kellie ThompsonStudent Teaching

This is a picture of my class giving me a thumbs up for understanding. If the class

understands the concept I am teaching, I tell them to give me a thumbs up. If they partially

understand the lesson, I tell them to give me a sideways thumb. If they don’t understand, they

are instructed to give me a thumbs down. This helps me decide if I need to provide more

examples and continue to teach the lesson or continue on to the next subject. It has been a

great tool to check for student understanding and I use it daily.

My School Promise is a poem that we

shared with the class this week. I really liked this

poem as it encourages students to always do their

best in school. We just completed a week of

studying poetry, rhyming words, and how rhymes

give the poem a beat. This past week, students

were instructed to memorize a nursery rhyme and

recite it to the class. There were 12 points

possible on the rubric. This is a copy of the rubric

verbal assessment the students were graded on in

reciting their nursery rhyme. This common core

standard relates to R.L.2.4. Describe how words or

phrases supply rhythm and meaning to a story,

Checking for student understanding using the thumbs up signal.

Kellie ThompsonStudent Teaching

poem, or song. Most students did very well reciting their poem. This was a verbal assessment

rather than a written test or quiz.

Poetry recite rubric:

Did they memorize the poem? 3 points possible

Did they speak clearly and loudly? 3 points possible

Did they stand well during their presentation? 3 points possible

Did they make eye contact with their audience and not look down? 3 points possible

Total possible points=12

This concludes my examples of evidence based practice.