Edtpa Ell Planning Commentary

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Elementary Literacy
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 the essential literacy strategy for comprehending OR
composing text you will teach in the learning segment.
[The central focus for my students is to learn strategies that will assist them in
comprehending and having substantial conversations by using the book The One and Only
Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Focusing on fiction text, students will learn literacy strategies
for what good readers do. Throughout the four sessions, I will be engaging students in a
lesson on deciphering figurative language, understanding vocabulary, how to properly
respond to comprehension questions, and how to have a substantial conversation about the
text. I will be monitoring students’ progress and understanding throughout the four sessions
through formal and informal assessments.]
b. Given the central focus, describe how the standards and learning objectives within
your learning segment address
the essential literacy strategy
related skills that support use of the strategy
reading/writing connections
[ My central focus of comprehending a text is addressed in the following standard:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.4.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support
comprehension. This central focus is divided into four subcategories: figurative language,
understanding vocabulary, responding to comprehension questions, and having a
substantial conversation about the text. Each session contains a strategy for students to use
in order to better understand their text, The One and Only Ivan. For example, the strategy
they are taught in session 1 deals with determining the author’s meaning behind the
figurative language used. Related skills used in deciphering figurative language are
addressed in the following standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.5 Demonstrate
understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word
meanings.This standard calls for students to show that, as readers, they understand various
types of figurative language and their meanings. The learning goal for session 1 reflects this
standard: IWBAT to determine what the author means when using figurative language and
explain my thinking. The session 2 learning goal states the following: Students will use
strategies to problem-solve words they cannot pronounce or do not understand. This is
addressed in the following standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.4.3 Know and apply grade-
level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. It is essential that students have
strategies to determine the meaning of unknown words in order for them to understand the
text. The session 3 learning goal states the following: Students will provide evidence for their
thinking when responding to comprehension questions. This is supported by the standard
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what
the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. In order to respond to
these questions, students must be able to understand the text, so their knowledge of
figurative language and vocabulary becomes key. It is important that they not only answer
comprehension questions completely and accurately, but that they support their responses
with evidence directly from the text. Session 4 is a culminating lesson that revolves around
substantial conversation. The learning goal states: IWBAT to converse and engage in
collaborative discussions about the text I am reading. This directly relates to the following
standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative
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! Elementary Literacy
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics
and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly. Each of these lessons
build on one another to prepare students for these substantial conversations regarding the
comprehension questions.
Reading and Writing connections are evident throughout the unit. Students are using the
mentor text, The One and Only Ivan, to build their reading comprehension through the
strategies taught in the sessions above. Through building comprehension skills by using
these strategies, students will be able to see themselves as successful readers. Writing
connections are weaved within the unit. It is important that students are responding to
comprehension questions using support and detail from within the text. This is expressed in
the following standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.9.A Apply grade 4 Reading standards to
literature (e.g., "Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing
on specific details in the text [e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions].”). As I assess
students’ understanding of the comprehension strategies being taught, I will also be
assessing their writing. I will look to see that students are using the question to answer the
question (UTQTATQ) and that they are using complete sentences, using the line length
provided, answering the question, using proper mechanics, and supporting their responses
with evidence from within the text (SLAMS). ]
c. Explain how your plans build on each other to help students make connections
between the essential literacy strategy to comprehend OR compose text and related
skills that support use of the strategy in meaningful contexts.
[ The four sessions I have planned build on each other in order to help students better
understand their text, The One and Only Ivan. As students are able to determine the
meanings of vocabulary words more easily, their ability to comprehend the text will increase.
As students learn how to decipher figurative language within their text, they will be able to
understand the author’s intent and the meaning of the words and phrases she uses. Both of
these literacy strategies will assist them in their comprehension, allowing them to create
more accurate and detailed constructed responses. When their comprehension abilities
deepen, they will be able to partake in substantial conversation regarding The One and Only
Ivan, supporting their thoughts and ideas with evidence directly from the text. ]
2. Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching
For each of the prompts below (2a–b), describe what you know about your students with
respect to the central focus of the learning segment.
Consider the variety of learners in your class who may require different strategies/support
(e.g., students with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners, struggling readers,
underperforming students or those with gaps in academic knowledge, and/or gifted
students).
a. Prior academic learning and prerequisite skills related to the central focus—Cite
evidence of what students know, what they can do, and what they are still learning
to do.
[ Prior to the four sessions on figurative language, understanding vocabulary, responding to
comprehension questions, and having a substantial conversation, students students will
have basic knowledge on these strategies but have not practiced them independently.
Students took a pretest which tested their ability to recognize and decipher figurative
language. Asking them to write a summary, it also showed their ability to write paragraphs
which included complete sentences and capitalization and punctuation. After analyzing this
test, I found that an overwhelming majority of students had little to no knowledge on
figurative language. Students have knowledge of idioms and homophones after completing
a mini-lesson covering these, but they have not yet worked independently on this concept.
The majority of students also struggled with completing the summary properly with
paragraphs, complete sentences and mechanics. Since then, students have been working
on identifying words in which they do not know the meaning by writing them in their writer’s
notebooks and determining their meaning either by using context clues or by looking a word
up in a dictionary. Students have also been working on how to properly answer constructed
response questions using the acronym S.L.A.M.S. This reminds them to use complete
sentences, to use the number of lines to determine the length of their response, to
completely answer the question being asked, to use proper mechanics such as
capitalization and punctuation, and to support their answer with details from within the text. ]
b. Personal, cultural, and community assets related to the central focus—What do you
know about your students’ everyday experiences, cultural and language
backgrounds and practices, and interests?
[ The community is an upper middle class town that is majority white, but is becoming more
and more diverse in cultures and languages. My school district heavily uses and teaches the
“Habits of Mind” through a variety of thinking routines among both the students and the staff.
Students are regularly reminded of these habits and are given opportunities to practice.
They are even given a score on their report cards in each of the categories. My school has
its own set of expectations for their students. The Pioneer Points of Pride are consistently
embedded within the curriculum and teach leadership skills that builds a positive community
and will benefit students throughout their entire lives.
I have one ELL student whose family came to the states from Mexico. He loves to write
about his family heritage and Mexico. I have a few students who come from very low income
families and are not supported academically at home. I have another student whose mother
recently passed away from a drug overdose. She struggles to connect at school, and needs
to be motivated as a learner. It is important that all students see themselves as readers, and
this unit helps students to gain confidence in their reading comprehension. They do this by
learning strategies to decipher figurative language, learning strategies for understanding
vocabulary, and collaborating with a group on responding to comprehension questions. ]
3. Supporting Students’ Literacy Learning
Respond to prompts 3a–c below. To support your justifications, refer to the instructional
materials and lesson plans you have included as part of Planning Task 1. In addition, use
principles from research and/or theory to support your justifications.
a. Justify how your understanding of your students’ prior academic learning and personal,
cultural, and community assets (from prompts 2a–b above) guided your choice or
adaptation of learning tasks and materials. Be explicit about the connections between
the learning tasks and students’ prior academic learning, their assets, and research/
theory.
[Each of the standards covered within my unit build upon the standards from the previous
year (3rd grade) allowing for a seamless transition towards taking these concepts to the next
level. Students took a pretest which tested their ability to recognize and decipher figurative
language. Asking them to write a summary, it also showed their ability to write paragraphs
which included complete sentences and capitalization and punctuation. After analyzing this
test, I found that an overwhelming majority of students had little to no knowledge on
figurative language. They also struggled with composing sentences with proper
capitalization and punctuation as well as paragraphs. This unit builds off of their prior
knowledge of these concepts. I created a unit with four sessions that each teach different
strategies that are essential to comprehending their text, The One and Only Ivan. Because
students lack the knowledge of deciphering figurative language as noticed on the pretest,
session 1 will focus on figurative language. It is important that students are able to
determine what language is literal and what is figurative in order to comprehend completely.
Similarly, it is essential that students have an understanding of the vocabulary within the
text. In session 2, students will use strategies determine the meanings of unknown words—
another skill essential to comprehension. Building off of this in session 3, I chose to teach
students how to respond to comprehension questions using details and evidence from the
text to support their response. In session 4, they will be engaging in substantial conversation
with groups to discuss comprehension questions and deepen their understanding of The
One and Only Ivan. Each of these sessions build off of the previous, connecting each of the
learning goals as well as students’ prior knowledge. As stated in an article from Concordia
University Portland, this scaffolding process is important because students are able to gain
confidence in their abilities so that they are gradually able to increase independence and
move into more difficult tasks (“Benefits of the Scaffolding Theory,” 2012]. This gradual
process of teaching comprehension strategies will allow my students to gain confidence in
themselves as readers, becoming increasingly independent.
b. Describe and justify why your instructional strategies and planned supports are
appropriate for the whole class, individuals, and/or groups of students with specific
learning needs.
Consider the variety of learners in your class who may require different strategies/
support (e.g., students with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners, struggling
readers, underperforming students or those with gaps in academic knowledge, and/or
gifted students).
[In my class, I have one ELL student, seven students with IRIPs, and a student with a visual
perception deficit. Reading comprehension is difficult for these students, so teaching
strategies to improve comprehension is essential. For these students, teaching multiple
strategies for deciphering figurative language and vocabulary will help to scaffold an
understanding of how to comprehend the text, The One and Only Ivan. For my student that
needs visual support, he will be provided with images that represent the vocabulary words in
session 2.
During the first three sessions, I have two students that I will pull to read the text to. I will
meet with my struggling students and have them tell me their thinking verbally before writing
it down. These students need to share their thinking before they are able to organize their
thoughts in writing. This ideas of making thinking visible is used throughout my unit. In
session 3, students will be doing a verbal See, Think, Wonder while analyzing a
comprehension question that I have answered. This is a strategy within the Cultures of
Thinking, supported by research of Project Zero from Harvard University. This initiative
focuses on making students’ thinking visible, promoting engagement and increasing
understanding (Ritchhart, 2016). The instructional strategies within the unit are beneficial to
the class as a whole as each lesson builds off the last, providing additional strategies to add
to their tool kits. By using The One and Only Ivan as the mentor text throughout the unit, all
students are able to practice the strategies I will be teaching them during their independent
reading. ]
c. Describe common developmental approximations or common misconceptions within
your literacy central focus and how you will address them.
[ In the debriefing portion of each session, we will look at what students have come up with
for their interpretations of figurative language, definitions of vocabulary words, and answers
to comprehension questions. When going over figurative language, students may interpret
the author’s intent incorrectly. When going over vocabulary, students may come up with
inaccurate definitions for words if they rely solely on using context clues and do not use a
dictionary. When answering comprehension questions, students may misinterpret the
question or what the author was intending. In each of these cases, it will be important to
teach students how to respectfully disagree with their classmates. These is a key skill used
in having a substantial conversation. By doing this, students are making their thinking visible
in accordance to the Habits of Mind. ]
4. Supporting Literacy Development Through Language
As you respond to prompts 4a–d, consider the range of students’ language assets and
needs—what do students already know, what are they struggling with, and/or what is new to
them?
a. Language Function. Using information about your students’ language assets and
needs, identify one language function essential for students to develop and practice the
literacy strategy within your central focus. Listed below are some sample language
functions. You may choose one of these or another more appropriate for your learning
segment.
Analyze Argue Categorize Compare/contrast Describe Explain

Interpret Predict Question Retell Summarize
[The central focus of my unit revolves around the student’s ability to comprehend their text,
The One and Only Ivan. In doing so, they must use details and evidence from within the text
to support their response. With that being said, I believe that the most important language
function for students to develop would be inferring. Students are analyzing their text in order
to find support in which they can use to infer the author’s meaning. ]
b. Identify a key learning task from your plans that provides students with opportunities to
practice using the language function in ways that support the essential literacy strategy.
Identify the lesson in which the learning task occurs. (Give lesson day/number.)
[ Opportunities to make inferences occur throughout the unit. For example, in session 1 on
day 1, students are looking at the figurative language used in the text The One and Only
Ivan. After completing a mini-lesson reviewing the different types of figurative language,
students will return to their seats and work on the figurative language section of their packet,
using specific pages in The One and Only Ivan to answer the questions. With their
knowledge of context clues and figurative language, students are inferring the meaning of
the author’s words and phrases. In session 2 on day 2, students are using context clues
from the text to infer the meaning of vocabulary words. ]
c. Additional Language Demands. Given the language function and learning task
identified above, describe the following associated language demands (written or oral)
students need to understand and/or use:
Vocabulary or key phrases
Plus at least one of the following:
Syntax
Discourse
[ In order for students to be successful in inferring from a text in order to comprehend, they
must be familiar with the associate academic vocabulary. Academic language that is used
throughout the unit include the following: figurative, literal, simile, metaphor, idiom,
homophone, evidence, and substantial conversation. Participating in discourse allows
students to share their thinking with others, leading to deepened understanding and
comprehension. ]
d. Language Supports. Refer to your lesson plans and instructional materials as needed
in your response to the prompt.
Identify and describe the planned instructional supports (during and/or prior to the
learning task) to help students understand, develop, and use the identified language
demands (function, vocabulary or key phrases, discourse, or syntax).
[ Students will be participating in discourse both written and orally. In session 3, students are
writing out their responses to the comprehension questions, supporting their responses in
evidence. When students feel comfortable in determining the meaning of figurative language
and vocabulary, comprehension increases. In session 4, students will be completing a
“Chalk Talk.” To begin, students will be writing their responses on a poster. After they travel
to each question and make it back to the start, they will discuss their thoughts with their
group members. They will then be given a teacher generated data sheet where they will be
analyzing what their classmates have written on the poster, writing down what discoveries
they are noticing or any misconceptions that they can find. ]
5. Monitoring Student 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 will provide direct
evidence that students can use the essential literacy strategy to comprehend OR
compose text AND related skills throughout the learning segment.
[ Students will be turning in their The One and Only Ivan packets in which they have
answered the questions on figurative language in session 1, vocabulary in session 2, and
comprehension in session 3. I will be collecting these packets before going over them so
that students are not able to change their thinking while discussing. This is important for me
to get a clear understanding of what students know and do not know. I will then use the
packet to assess where they are with their understanding of the literacy strategies taught.
Then, I will be able to determine which students are still struggling, and I will meet with them
further to follow-up and help them better understand the concept. I will also be able to use
their packets to assess their writing and reading. I will be able to look at their responses for
writing to see if they are using UTQTATQ and their SLAMS. Informal assessment will take
place in session 4 as students are participating in substantial conversation. I will have my
notebook that I use to assess the students informally, and I will sit in on their conversations
and make notes about any areas I see students doing well in or struggling in. Then, I will be
able to use this information to help drive my instruction to make sure that all students are
reaching the learning goal. ]
b. Explain how the design or adaptation of your planned assessments allows students with
specific needs to demonstrate their learning.
Consider the variety of learners in your class who may require different strategies/
support (e.g., students with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners, struggling
readers, underperforming students or those with gaps in academic knowledge, and/or
gifted students).
[ Assessments will look slightly different for my students with specific learning needs. Since
the majority of the assessments that I chose are formal, I have made adjustments to what
will be submitted for grading. In session 1, my struggling students will complete two
examples of figurative language with me and the other two on their own. In session 2, these
students will be given a shortened list of vocabulary to define. Again, they will complete two
with me and two on their own. In session 3, my struggling readers will be given sentence
starters to help them answer the questions. They will be answering smaller portion of
questions. With all of these sessions, students will verbally share their thinking with me
before writing it down. My gifted students will be given extra tasks to complete after
completing the questions in their packet. For example, in session 1, these students will
create sentence that contain figurative language. In session 2, they will be analyzing other
vocabulary words in which they do not know the meaning. In session 3, they will be creating
their own comprehension questions with answers. These students will use higher level
thinking skills to demonstrate their learning. ]

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TASK 1: PLANNING COMMENTARY

Analyze Argue Categorize Compare/contrast Describe Explain

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