Over the past few years, MCPS has developed staff development video resources to illustrate best practices in effective teaching. The videos range from complete model lessons broken into segments with guiding questions, support material, and teacher reflections, to highlights of lessons that illustrate specific strategies and practices such as activators, summarizers, or equitable teaching strategies.

Complete Lessons

Note: Upcoming lessons that will soon be available include a grade 5 lesson highlighting math talk moves, two kindergarten reading lessons, two math lab lessons from kindergarten and grade 5 and two ESOL reading lessons.

Handwrtiting/Writing - Kindergarten:
This model lesson for kindergarten includes segments on handwriting, literacy centers, and writing workshop.
Note: not in video database at this time

Small Group Reading - Kindergarten:
This lesson includes two small group lessons on reading as will as the use of a Promethean Board in the morning message segment.
Note: not in video database at this time

Math Labs- 4th Grade: The video on this website features a fourth grade math lab lesson in which the teacher differentiates her instruction using centers.

* Biology - High School: This AP Biology class is studying evolution.   Students make finishing touches on projects on topics of micro-evolution, then give short presentations. This lesson was taped as part of PD on motivation.

* Spanish - High School: This Spanish 3 class is beginning a unit on wellness. Many of the vocabulary terms are quite similar to their English equivalents (cognates or near-cognates). This lesson was taped as part of PD on motivation.

* Learning Stations - Middle School Social Studies: The videos show students using an extensive range of learning stations developed by a team of teachers. Extensive teacher reflection section regarding development and implementation of stations are included.

* Head Start Math Centers: The videos show a head start teacher and paraeducator demonstrating appropriate small group instructional practice for a Full Day Head start program in a lesson on "more and less." Note: analysis and reflective questions for the site are coming

* Head Start Literacy Centers: The videos show a head start teacher and paraeducator demonstrating appropriate small group instructional practice for a Full Day Head start program in a lesson on rhyming. Note: analysis and reflective questions for the site are coming soon.

*Read 180: The videos in this website show two teahers implementing a Read 180 lesson with a small group instruction component, instructional software center, and individual reading center.

* Math - Using Grouping Symbols: The videos in this website show a Math Content Coach and a classsroom teacher team teaching a lesson to 4th grade students on using grouping symbols.

*Shared Inquiry - Tom Sawyer: The videos on this website show a 7th grade class discussing the novel using an approach to classroom discussion of difficult questions in complex text.

* Shared Inquiry - Freak the Mighty: The videos on this website show a 7th grade class exploring questions of genuine doubt by supporting ideas with details from the text.

* Math Labs Program: The videos on this website feature a first grade math lab lesson in which the teacher differentiates her instruction using centers.

* Promethean Tools = Support Site for MCPS Promethean Classrooms

* Promethean Tools - English 6: The purpose of the lesson is to introduce the students the theme of Foundations using poetry as the vehicle. Concrete poetry is used as the literary element for the instruction. The video segments were recorded during Promethean Tools training with middle school teachers as an example of how interactive software can be integrated in instruction.

* Promethean tools - Math 6 (MS): This lesson comes from the MCPS Grade 6 instructional guide for Math A: Unit 1 - Graphing Data and Analyzing Statistics(pp.6-7). The essential question this lesson addresses is, " Which measure of central tendency is most appropriate in a given situation?" The video segments were recorded during Promethean Tools training with middle school teachers as an example of how interactive software can be integrated in instruction.