Task 1 Planning Commentary 2p3i2o

Early Childhood Task 1: Planning Commentary

TASK 1: PLANNING COMMENTARY Respond to the prompts below (no more than 9 single-spaced pages, including prompts) by typing your responses within the brackets. Do not delete or alter the prompts. Pages exceeding the maximum will not be scored.

1. Central Focus a. Describe the central focus and purpose of the content you will teach in the learning segment. [ For the learning segment, the central focus is on President’s Day. The learning segment works with the students across the content areas with a strong focus on technological applications tied to their work with language and literacy skills in social science. The ability to use of a variety of technology tools is becoming integral in classrooms. Providing students with a means of learning how to use these tools, even at a young age, will only benefit them. The learning segment’s intent is to help the students build upon their existing language and literacy skills through writing, along with being able to compile their research and writing in a variety of ways, all while using the key vocabulary in the learning segment. Students will not only be able to use their research skills to gather information about their assigned president, but will be able to convey it through a written paragraph and a presentation. Thus, they will work on their research writing skills, comparing and contrasting skills, and their presentation abilities.] b. Describe how the standards and learning objectives for your learning segment children’s

 active and multimodal learning  language and literacy development in an interdisciplinary context [ The learning segment features standards and objectives from across content areas, particularly those of language and literacy and social studies. Language and literacy development is a crucial area of early childhood development. The day 1 lesson will incorporate literature as a book about George Washington is read aloud. It will also allow students to work on their writing skills, in of constructing a formal informative paragraph while using proper conventions of Standard English. Not only does this lesson incorporate crucial language skills, it provides children with a chance to work on their research and presentation abilities as well. Students also will have to write an opinion statement regarding whether or not they believed their president was or was not a good leader. Students will also work on their skills at comparing and contrasting in the day 3 lesson.] c. Explain how your plans build on each other to children’s language and literacy development through active and multimodal learning. [ For the day 1 lesson, the students will incorporate vocabulary words relevant to their presidents, such as “president,“ “elect,” “leader,” and “vote” into their paragraphs. Many of the key vocabulary words are inherent to the nature of the central focus and theme, therefore, these such words should appear throughout the entire learning segment. At the start of the week the students were given a list of these words. Although outside of the direct learning segment discussed here, this list was reviewed with the class at the start of the week. The students had to put the words into sentences, and then were given a spelling test on these words at the end of the week. Thus, the students were already familiar with the vocabulary prior to the learning segment.] d. Describe how the physical environment in which you are teaching s the active and multimodal nature of children’s learning. (If, in your view, the physical environment in

Copyright © 2015 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. 1 of 6 | 9 pages maximum All rights reserved. V4_0915 The edTPA trademarks are owned by The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. Use of the edTPA trademarks is permitted only pursuant to the of a written license agreement.


which you are teaching does not adequately the active and multimodal nature of children’s learning, please describe the changes you would make.) [ The physical environment somewhat s the active and multimodal nature of children’s learning. Since it is a second grade classroom, there are no centers for each subject and learning area such as would be in a preschool environment. However, the classroom is clean and fairly spacious, providing the students with plenty of room to walk around and work without feeling cramped. There is always children’s artwork and projects displayed around the room on the walls and any other open space, which makes the room feel very child-centered and positive. One possible change to the environment would be to include a science and math discovery area, where children could conduct experiments and investigate topics as related to the current unit in the curriculum. This area could include tools for measurement, scales, magnifying glasses, a variety of materials for investigation, and even relevant books and literature. This would provide students with opportunities for hands-on exploration during the day.] 2. Knowledge of Children to Inform Teaching For each of the prompts below (2a–c), describe what you know about the children in your class/group with respect to the central focus of the learning segment. Consider the variety of learners in your class/group who may require different strategies/ (e.g., children with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners, children at different points in the developmental continuum, struggling readers, children who are underperforming or those with gaps in academic knowledge, and/or gifted children). a. Children’s development—What do you know about their

 social and emotional development  cognitive and physical development  language development for communication [ There are no students with IEPs or 504s in the class. In of social and emotional development, there is one student who has some minor behavioral issues, but there have been no formal accommodations made for him. He has difficulties paying attention, staying on task, and properly following directions. He has been monitored throughout the year and if no improvement has been made, steps may be taken to provide some modifications and put in place a system for him if necessary. In regards to cognitive and physical development, all students seem to be on track with this area. However, there are 9 students (8 males and 1 female) who have been placed in a higherlevel math group and are further ahead cognitively than the rest of the class. Twice a week, a resource aide comes and pulls these children from class for 30 minutes on these days to provide them with enrichment activities related to math. This group is based on their standardized test scores in math. Finally, for language development, there is one student who has a mild case of dyslexia and has a few of her own accommodations made outside of the school for her that can be incorporated into the class. For example, she receives her own spelling list from a tutor, and has separate spelling homework and tests than the other students. She also has all of her tests read aloud to her. One other student has recently been struggling with test anxiety and has been having some accommodations made for her, such as being given extra time to complete exams and having her test read aloud. There are no students who currently require any form of speech therapy.]



b. Personal, cultural, and community assets—What do you know about your children’s everyday experiences, cultural and language backgrounds and practices, and interests? [ The children come from largely middle to upper class families. Almost all of the students are raised by both parents, except one student whose parents are divorced and another student who is mainly looked after by her grandparents. Almost every single student is White/Caucasian and all speak English. Every child in the class is Catholic except for 4 students who are of other related denominations. There are no English Language Learners in the class. The students share many of the same interests and hobbies. Many of the students participate in team sports and clubs, and almost all of the boys are in Cub Scouts and the girls in Brownies. The students all have parents and guardians that are actively involved in their school lives, assist them with their homework daily, and frequently come into the classroom for parties and other activities. Having parents so actively involved in these students’ lives has proven to be highly beneficial for the children’s education and social relationships.] c. Prior learning and prerequisite skills related to language and literacy development— What can they do and what are they learning to do related to language and literacy development? Cite evidence from your knowledge of this class/group of children. [ In of language and literacy development, all the students are able to read and write at their appropriate grade level. The school has Accelerated Reader testing, and many of the students are able to read at a grade 3 and above level. The students all express enthusiasm for reading. They have 15 minutes every day dedicated to silent reading after lunch. Any free time they have during the day they will pull out a book and read. During class read alouds with the teacher, they are attentive and responsive and prepared to ask and answer questions. The students love to offer their own stories and make meaningful connections from books to their own lives. For literacy development, the students are able to compare and contrast two versions of the same story, can use grade-level phonics to decode words, identify main topics and themes, and understand key details in a text, both in literature and informational texts. In regards to language development, the students are able to demonstrate command of Standard English in both speaking and writing, to produce paragraphs with simple and compound sentences, participate in positive conversations with both adults and their peers, and produce informal presentations to the class. These are only a few of many more skills that the students are able to do that are d with the language arts Common Core standards; overall they are strong, competent readers and speakers both in every day and with curriculum. ] 3. ing Children’s Development and Learning Respond to prompts 3a–c below. To your justifications, refer to the plans and materials you included as part of Planning Task 1. In addition, use principles from research and/or developmental theory to your justifications. a. Justify how your planned learning experiences and materials align with your understanding of the children’s development, prior learning, and personal, cultural, and community assets (from prompts 2a–c above). Be explicit about these connections and your justification with research/developmental theory. [Lev Vygotsky is an influential theorist in education. He emphasized that children develop cognitively through complex social interactions between individuals (Neff, n.d.). This social environment in turns influences the learning process. Learning can take place through social interactions with peers, teachers, their parents, and so forth. In of the learning segment, keeping in mind his ideas on social interaction is important. Throughout the learning segment, Copyright © 2015 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. 3 of 6 | 9 pages maximum All rights reserved. V4_0915 The edTPA trademarks are owned by The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. Use of the edTPA trademarks is permitted only pursuant to the of a written license agreement.


the children will be engaged in discussions with the teacher and their peers. Children will discuss their research and what they have learned about their presidents with their partners, and will also share this information with the whole class. These are all social experiences that will lend to their learning. Vygotsky also stressed the importance of language, and how it is the main tool when it comes to learning. Language promotes reasoning, problem solving, critical thinking, reading, and writing (Neff, n.d.). These are all skills that children need to develop as they continue to learn. Learning is dependent on the social context and language. In the learning segment, children will have a variety of opportunities to use their language in a meaningful social setting, some of which was discussed earlier, as social interactions heavily rely on language.] b. Describe and justify how you plan to the varied learning needs of all the children in your class/group, including individuals with specific learning needs. Consider the variety of learners in your class/group who may require different strategies/ (e.g., children with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners, children at different points in the developmental continuum, struggling readers, and/or gifted children). [ For the day 1 plan, in order to those who may require extra , the teacher will stay in proximity of students who need extra reminders to stay on task, as well as to answer any questions the students may have while they work on writing their paragraphs. Students who need extra time to write their paragraphs can be given extra time later in the day if necessary. Students will also be assisted with spelling words upon request. For their media presentations on day 2, for students who are gifted/talented, they will be instructed on how to do more advanced things with their presentations, such as how to create transition effects or bullet points in their presentations. For students with other learning needs, they will be given extra time to complete their presentations, as some students are slower at typing and working with the computers than others. Students may also need help on how to find relevant images or how to choose a theme or edit their slides, and will be assisted in doing so. On the day 3 lesson when they create their Venn diagram, those who are gifted/talented will be allowed to fill out more than 3 differences and 2 similarities for their presidents. For students with other learning needs, they may need assistance in coming up with ideas for similarities and/or differences for their presidents, so the teacher can assist them with this and guide them to some other resources they can use to look up more information.] c. Describe common developmental approximations1 or misunderstandings that pertain to the learning experiences you are planning for the children and how you plan to address them. [ One common misunderstandings for second grade students is knowing the difference between comparing and contrasting. They still will get these two mixed up, and they will need to know these in order to fill out their Venn diagrams for the day 3 lesson. In order to address this, I will go over these words with them and their meanings at the beginning of the lesson. After a brief overview, I will do an example Venn diagram with the class on the Smart Board so that they will have a visual example to follow. ] 4. ing Children’s Vocabulary Development

1

For example, common beginning or transitional language errors or other attempts to use skills or processes just beyond a

child’s current level/capability.



Respond to prompts 4a–c below by referring to children’s range of vocabulary development related to the learning segment—What do they know, what are they struggling with, and/or what is new to them? a. Identify the key vocabulary2 (i.e., developmentally appropriate sounds, words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs) essential for children to use during the learning segment. [ The students will be using a list of key vocabulary words for the learning segment. These words will be given to them in the beginning of the week for their spelling list. These vocabulary words include: White House, February, president, elect, vote, leader, country, Washington, Lincoln, slogan, penny, and dollar. Lincoln and Washington are included because these are two of the most famous, well-known presidents, and being familiar with these names is important. The vast majority of the students will already recognize and know these vocabulary words, but they are important to know how to read and pronounce on sight as well as how to spell them, as the students will be using these words to write their paragraphs, for their presentations, and their Venn diagrams. Aside from this list, there are a few more key vocabulary that the students will be using, which include: compare, contrast, similarities, and differences. These words will be primarily associated with the day 3 learning experience. ] b. Identify the learning experience that provides children with opportunities to develop, practice, and/or use the key vocabulary identified in prompt 4a. (Identify the plan day/number.) [ In the first plan for day 1, the students will use many of the key vocabulary while they write their paragraphs. They will use the president, White House, leader vote, elect, and depending on their president, will use the term dollar and penny (if they have Lincoln). Some students may bring up a famous presidential slogan while they write their paragraphs. In day 2, the students should be using the same words as they are using their paragraphs to create their media presentations. As mentioned previously, the students will use the key vocabulary words compare, contrast, similarities, and differences, in the day 3 learning experience. These are crucial to the lesson, as they are completing a Venn diagram. Many of the key vocabulary are inherent to the nature of the theme of this learning segment and should appear regularly both in writing and in conversation with their peers and with the teacher during the learning segment.] c. Describe how you plan to the children (during and/or prior to the learning experience) to develop and use the key vocabulary identified in prompt 4a. [ As previously discussed, prior to the learning segment I will have given the students a list of vocabulary words that they will need to learn. They will not only have to learn how to spell these words for a test at the end of the week after the learning segment, but they will have to use them during the learning segment. Giving them the list ahead of time will allow them to review the words and become familiar with them, as they will be commonly appearing throughout the learning segment. ] 5. Monitoring Children’s Learning In response to the prompts below, refer to the assessments you will submit as part of the materials for Planning Task 1. a. Describe how your planned formal and informal assessments provide direct evidence to monitor children’s multimodal learning throughout the learning segment. 2

Developmentally appropriate sounds, words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that you want children to use or create to

engage in the learning experience.



[ In of informal assessment, observations will be made throughout the learning segment for each day’s lesson. Such observation will include monitoring whether or not the students are able to stay on task, pay attention, and follow directions. Written notes of the observation will be included for the day 3 lesson, where the teacher will write notes about the student’s engagement in the activity and their ability to collaborate with their partner, as well as whether or not they accurately filled out the Venn diagram. In of formal assessment, the lesson for day 1 will use a checklist, and the lesson for day 2 will use a rubric. Day 1’s lesson will use a checklist to determine whether or not the student wrote a grade-level appropriate paragraph. It will also assess whether they used proper conventions of Standard English, if it was factually correct, and if it used a variety of vocabulary and sentence structures. Day 2’s lesson will use a rubric to assess the students’ media presentations. Checklists and rubrics are particularly practical when it comes to assessing children's work, as they can be used to make comparisons between children in the class, and can easily align with the standards and objectives for the learning segment, which will provide direct evident of children’s learning.] b. Explain how your design or adaptation of planned assessments allows children with specific needs to demonstrate their learning. Consider the variety of learners in your class/group who may require different strategies/ (e.g., all children along the continuum of development, including children with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners, struggling readers, and/or gifted children). [ It’s important to keep the variety of learners in mind and make all necessary adaptations in order to best each individual child and allow them the opportunity to participate to the best of their ability during any learning experiences. As discussed earlier, there are no children with IEPs or 504 plans in my class. However, there are 9 children who are in a gifted program for math, and 2 students who receive some accommodations for test taking. The two girls who receive accommodations for test taking also typically need extra time to complete lessons and activities. The assessments for the learning segments will include a checklist, a rubric, and written observation notes. These forms of assessments are more authentic and child-centered than simply having them take a test on what they have learned about their presidents. Allowing them to show what they have learned through various means such as writing, a presentation, and comparing and contrasting this information is much more beneficial to their learning and assessment overall than an exam.] References Neff, L. (n.d.). Lev Vygotsky and social learning theories. Retrieved from https://jan.ucc.nau.edu/lsn/educator/edtech/learningtheorieswebsite/vygotsky.htm


Task 1 Planning Commentary 2p3i2o

Overview 5o1f4z

More details 6z3438

Related Documents c2h70

Task 1 Planning Commentary 2p3i2o

Task 1 Planning Commentary 2p3i2o

Pact - Task 2 Planning Commentary 3k5g1a

Task 1 - Part E - Planning Commentary 705o5g

Edtpa Task 1 Commentary 3c1f5h

Spec Educ Task-1b Planning Commentary 4s1o58