Elementary Education

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 of my learning segments is that students will be able to demonstrate
understanding of informational texts through referring back to the text and providing textual
evidence. Comprehension if informational texts will be improved by referring back to the text
and examining it thoroughly for the authors purpose, the main idea, familiar and unfamiliar
vocabulary, and text features.]
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

[The essential literacy strategy is demonstrating understanding of informational texts. This

literacy is directly related to standard ELAGSE3RI1: Ask and answer questions to
demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the
answers support my central focus by requiring students to refer to the informational text to
pose and answer comprehension questions. Students will not only have to read through the
informational text carefully, but also examine it thoroughly in order to answer several higherorder comprehension questions about the information within the text. Additionally, students
will compose a written response to a prompt in question ten that requires them to support
their explanation with text evidence.]
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.
[Each lesson is structured so that students will complete a different portion of the Informational
Text Breakdown guide in a specific reading group. Each section of the Informational Text
Breakdown involves a specific skill students need to demonstrate a through understanding of
an informational text. (For example, determining the authors purpose, understanding the main
idea and supporting details.)]
2. Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching
For each of the prompts below (2ab), 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).

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Elementary Education
Task 1: Planning Commentary

a. Prior academic learning and prerequisite skills related to the central focusCite
evidence of what students know, what they can do, and what they are still learning
to do.
[The large majority of these students are able to answer comprehension questions from
informational texts that are explicitly stated within the text. (For example, What year was
Lyndon B. Johnson born in?). This is evident through my examination of the scores on previous
reading comprehension assessments wherein answers were found explicitly. However, as
indicated by my pre assessment scores, students are still unable to correctly answer higherorder comprehension questions on informational texts, such as What is the main idea of
paragraph two? for example. I knew that I wanted to expose my students to strategies that will
aid them in analyzing informational texts in order to correctly answer higher order
comprehension questions.]
b. Personal, cultural, and community assets related to the central focusWhat do you
know about your students everyday experiences, cultural and language
backgrounds and practices, and interests?
[My students are from families where reading is highly valued and done each night. I know this
because we have fluency passages that parents must sign nightly indicating their child has read
through the passage. Additionally, students have a library bag at their desks. These bags
contain books from both the class and the school library. Students are allowed to read from their
library bag whenever they have spare time in class. Although the majority of my students are
reading each night and throughout the day from their library bag, these texts are generally either
fiction texts that the students have chosen themselves for entertainment or read aloud to
parents in order to measure reading fluency, not comprehension. Additionally, comprehension
questions (particularly higher order comprehension questions) are not being posed to the
students regularly on their self-selected books or reading fluency passages. Therefore, students
need to become more familiar with strategies for analyzing and comprehending informational
texts. I know that I have one student who struggles with unfamiliar vocabulary/overall reading
comprehension, as she is an English Language Learner and receives pullout services.
Additionally, I know that I have one student who struggles with overall reading comprehension
due to her medical history as she is on Tier II of an academic Response to Intervention. I also
know I have one student who struggles with reading comprehension due to his lower
socioeconomic status and overall cognitive ability level. I know this as he is on Tier III of an
academic Response to Intervention as well as beginning the special education referral process.]
3. Supporting Students Literacy Learning
Respond to prompts 3ac below. To support your justifications, refer to the instructional
materials and lesson plans you have included as part of Literacy 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 2ab 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.
[Knowing that answering higher-order comprehension questions was a weakness of the majority
of my students, I wanted to provide them with a resource to examine and break down lengthy
informational texts. Research shows that higher order questioning promotes a much deeper
level of comprehension that does basic questioning. By posing higher order questions
throughout my learning segments, I will deepen the level of comprehension of the students.]
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Elementary Education
Task 1: Planning Commentary

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).
[I determined that the Preview section of the Informational Text Breakdown guide needed to
be conducted in a whole group setting so that I could introduce the Informational Text
Breakdown Guide, the informational text Memorials in Washington D.C., as well as the
procedure for completing the remainder of the sections of the Informational Text Breakdown
guide. I determined that the Authors Purpose/Vocabulary, So Whats the Big Idea, and Text
Feature Scavenger Hunt sections should be completed in a small group setting so that I could
make myself available for differentiated instruction and questions. Additionally, my students are
familiar with the structure of instruction through reading groups and frequently request to be
instructed in that format due to its kinesthetic and interpersonal nature.]
c. Describe common developmental approximations or common misconceptions within
your literacy central focus and how you will address them.
[I will address misconceptions about main idea and supporting details by providing additional
one-on-one support to this group through posing higher order questions and prompting students
to refer to specific places within the text to support their opinions.]
4. Supporting Literacy Development Through Language
As you respond to prompts 4ad, consider the range of students language assets and
needswhat 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

Interpret

Predict

Question

Retell

Summarize

Explain

[Students will demonstrate understanding of informational texts through referring back to their
text for concrete, specific evidence and support.]
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.)
[The So, Whats the Big Idea section of the Informational Text Breakdown guide prompts
students to not only determine the main idea of the text, but also to provide three specific
supporting details using textual evidence.]

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Elementary Education
Task 1: Planning Commentary

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

[Students will demonstrate understanding of an informational text by referring back to the

Memorials in Washington D.C. informational text to provide written responses to each of
the sections within the Informational Text Breakdown guide. For any unfamiliar vocabulary
found within the Text Feature Scavenger Hunt lesson, students will reference the
Nonfiction Text Features Chart for clarification and understanding, which strengthens both
independent learning as well as reference skills. Additionally, students will raise their hands
quietly to request any further clarification on directions/procedure or unfamiliar vocabulary
within the informational text.]
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).

[I lead the completion of the Preview section and gave very detailed instructions for completion
of the Informational Text Breakdown guide. I was available for any specific questions
throughout the completion of the other three sections of the Informational Text Breakdown
Guide (Authors Purpose/Vocabulary, So, Whats the Big Idea, and the Text Feature
Scavenger Hunt). Additionally, I provided an Informational Text Features Chart in the Text
Feature Scavenger Hunt group so that students could use it as a reference for any text features
that were unfamiliar.]
5. Monitoring Student Learning
In response to the prompts below, refer to the assessments you will submit as part of the
materials for Literacy 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.
[The pre and post assessment Men on the Money is an informational text that includes
corresponding higher order comprehension questions. Students answers on both the pre and
post assessment will indicate their ability to fulfill the learning objective of analyzing and
comprehending informational texts. Similarly, the informational text analyzed within the learning
segments Memorials in Washington D.C. is an informational text that includes text features.
Each section of the Informational Text Breakdown guide that students will use to analyze the
informational Memorials in Washington D.C. provides evidence of a specific component of
comprehending informational texts as it prompts students to determine the authors purpose,
unfamiliar vocabulary, and the main idea of the text as well as examining text features.]
b. Explain how the design or adaptation of your planned assessments allows students with
specific needs to demonstrate their learning.
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Elementary Education
Task 1: Planning Commentary

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).
[By conducting the Informational Text Breakdown in a jigsaw format instead of a whole class
format, I was able to provide my group of lower-level learners with additional support for any
questions they may have had. For example, one student who is on Tier III of a Response to
Intervention asked me for further clarification on direction in the Text Feature Scavenger Hunt
section. Additionally, I was able to pose more in-depth questions to my higher-level learners and
prompt them to answer more creatively. For example, in the So Whats the big Idea Section, I
challenged higher-level students to write a sentence using all three of their words they chose
that supported the main idea.]

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