1.

How do the learning objectives set goals and objectives for content learning and

promote access to the core curriculum for all children?

The learning objectives set goals by providing sentence structures for the children to go off of.

Most importantly the teacher made sure to model these sentence frames before giving out

instruction, 0:58. After giving out proper instructions that incapsulated the core curriculum, the

children were able to put what they learned into practice.

2. How do the learning objectives apply literacy-related academic standards and the

themes of the California English Language Arts/English Language Development

Framework?

The learning objectives apply academic standards from the framework specifically in the first-

grade craft and structure section. Standard five states, "Know and use various text structures

(e.g., sequence) and text features (e.g., headings, tables of contents, glossaries, electronic menus,

icons) to locate key facts or information in a text.” In the video, the students are actively using

sentence structures to ask and answer questions from the text they were given. They are also able

to brainstorm different ideas for their cities as represented in 3:21.

3. How did the materials used within the lesson support literacy instruction that is active,

motivating, and engaging; responsive to students’ age, language and literacy

development, and literacy goals?

The specific material used was an image of a city. The teacher asked questions such as what do

you see in the city? What will your city have? In order to begin to stimulate the brainstorming in

the students. She made sure to make her language about the descriptions specific but simple

enough for the students to understand. She also used total physical response at 1:17, to visualize

the shape of a skyscraper.

attending to vocabulary knowledge and use, grammatical structures (e.g., syntax), and

discourse-level understandings as students read, listen, speak, and write with

comprehension and effective expression.

The basis of the activity was rooted in the use of sentence structures. I would assume that these

sentence structures change every few weeks and are replaced with new ones or more advanced

ones. The ones that they are focusing on currently help provide a starting line for the students to

begin practicing their grammar. The students are also challenged with actively listening to what

their peers are saying, 7:43.

5. Discuss how the lesson effectively makes effective use of instructional time to maximize

learning opportunities and provide access to the curriculum for all students by

removing barriers and providing access to learning.

At 2:02, the teacher points out that there is a challenging vocabulary word. This word is optional

to be used for all students but most importantly it is taking care of the needs of all students. Some

students may feel like they are ready to move onto more challenging words so they may use it in

their responses. Others may feel that they are not ready and that is okay as long as they use the

basic vocabulary that they are learning. This removes barriers for students and makes the

learning standard broader.

6. How did the materials used within the lesson create environments that foster students’

oral and written language development, including discipline-specific academic

language.

An important material that they teacher used in this lesson was not just the image or the sentence

structure examples. The location in which she is teaching is also a material. She has them sitting
on the carpet. In this location, students may feel more relaxed and as a result more inclined to

participate in the activity because it is set up informally. The sentence structures are there to

provide the discipline-specific academic language. So that because the setting is informal, they

are still reminded that they are encouraged to speak formally when answering or asking

questions.

7. Discuss one area where the lesson needs to be adjusted to make better use of

instructional time to maximize learning opportunities and provide access to the

curriculum for all students by removing barriers and providing access to learning.

One area where the lesson can be adjusted is when students are sharing out and

brainstorming with their partners. Although it is crucial for students to consult one another, the

instructions and the time given may have been too much or too little for some students. For

example, at 3:30, after the girls finish sharing their ideas, they sit in silence for the remaining

time. This is time that has been wasted for them because now they are no longer engaged in the

activity. Perhaps more instructions could be given like after you discuss your ideas for your city,

describe what your buildings would look like. Use shapes and colors to describe them.

8. How does the literacy lesson engage students in meaning making by building on prior

knowledge and using complex literary and informational texts (print, digital, and

oral), questioning, and discussion to develop students’ literal and inferential

comprehension, including the higher-order cognitive skills of reasoning, perspective

taking, and critical reading, writing, listening, and speaking across the disciplines?

The literacy lesson engages students in using their prior knowledge on an activity that they did

prior to this activity. At the beginning of the video, the teacher discusses how the students were

tasked with writing realistic fiction where they described characters and settings, 0:09. Through
their own writing they are now able to put into practice what kind of setting they want for this

next activity. They are challenged with coming up with new ideas for what they want their cities

to include. They are also able to build off of their peers by sharing and brainstorming ideas.

9. Discuss how to advance students’ progress in the elements of foundational skills,

language, and cognitive skills that support them as they read and write increasingly

complex disciplinary texts with comprehension and effective expression.

In order to advance students’ progress in foundational skills, language, and cognitive skills. The

teacher must begin from the bottom and work their way up. Just like the teacher in the video, she

did not introduce these concepts for the first time. They had done activities prior to this one

where they practiced describing the setting in realistic fiction. They already practice the written

concept now they are moving onto one that is more visual based. I am unsure if the next step of

this activity would be making an actual city out of paper or even just drawing it out. However,

the point is through visual and writing practice the students all have a background of what to

expect.