K12 Performing Arts

Planning Commentary
Copyright 2013 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. 1 of 5 | 9 pages maximum
All rights reserved. V2_0913
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 terms of a written license agreement.
Planning Commentary Directions: Respond to the prompts below (no more than 9 single-spaced
pages, including prompts) by typing your responses within the brackets following each prompt. Do not
delete or alter the prompts; both the prompts and your responses are included in the total page count
allowed. Refer to the evidence chart in the handbook to ensure that this document complies with all
format specifications. Pages exceeding the maximum will not be scored.
1. Central Focus
a. Describe the central focus and purpose for the content you will teach in the learning
segment.

[The students will learn and apply knowledge of the musical staff. They will display abilities
of both naming and playing musical notes on piano as well as their wind band instrument.]
b. Given the central focus, describe how the standards and learning objectives within your
learning segment address creating, performing, or responding to music/dance/theater by
applying
artistic skills (e.g., self expression, creativity, exploration/improvisation)
knowledge (e.g., tools/instruments, technical proficiencies, processes, elements,
organizational principles)
contextual understandings (e.g., social, cultural, historical, global, personal reflection)
Illinois State Standard Related Objective
26.A.3d Music: Read and interpret traditional
music notation in a varied repertoire..
Students will demonstrate ability to determine name
notes within the staff
Students will demonstrate ability to name and play any
note within their range
Students will demonstrate understanding of
enharmonic notes
Students will be able to name any note above or below
the staff by using the musical alphabet
Students will identify any note on a piano keyboard
Students will play any note that they are told,
demonstrating their knowledge of enharmonic notes
[Throughout the lesson series, students will evolve from reading music because they have
memorized it, to truly understanding the musical staff. By first learning the musical alphabet,
students will realize that the notes always go in order and each space and each line get a
note. This information will allow them to determine any note above or below the staff as they
transfer their knowledge to ledger lines. Knowledge of the musical staff and its notation are
important for reading all types of music.]
c. Explain how your plans build on each other to help students in creating, performing, or
responding to music/dance/theater and make connections to artistic skills, knowledge,
and contextual understandings.
[Students will begin with a lesson they might have received the year before in beginning
band. Reviewing this lesson will ensure their understanding of the musical staff with a higher
K12 Performing Arts
Planning Commentary
Copyright 2013 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. 2 of 5 | 9 pages maximum
All rights reserved. V2_0913
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 terms of a written license agreement.
level of thinking. After this first lesson students will then be able to transfer that knowledge to
music notation beyond the staff by determining notes on ledger lines. This information will
connect to other very high and very low notes that they have seen, but could not previously
read.]
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, 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 focusWhat do
students know, what can they do, and what are they learning to do?
[The students are able to read music notation on a very basic level. They currently have
strange systems for remembering where each note is placed on the staff. They know the
fingerings or slide positions for most of the notes on the staff (or below the staff for our tuba
player). None of the students in this class have previous piano experience.]
b. Personal/cultural/community assets related to the central focusWhat do you know
about your students everyday experiences, cultural backgrounds, practices, and
interests?

[The students in this class come from varied cultural backgrounds. Some of them have
musical families, and others have not experienced music outside of music class. This is a
small group of nine students; trombones, baritones and a tuba. This mixed group can make
things difficult because the tuba player normally reads notes that are below the staff while
the baritones and trombones read notes within the staff. This class meets during 9
th
period,
which is the last hour of the day. The students are often a little riled up by this point because
they are ready to go home.]
3. Supporting Students Performing Arts Learning
Respond to prompts (3ac) below. To support your explanations, refer to the instructional
materials and lesson plans you have included as part of Task 1. In addition, use principles
from research and/or theory to support your explanations.
a. Explain how your understanding of your students prior academic learning and
personal/cultural/community assets (from prompts 2ab above) guided your choice or
adaptation of learning tasks and materials.
[Knowing that the students come from a wide range of backgrounds and musical
backgrounds, it was important I started basic. The students were given a pretest prior to this
lesson which gave me an exact idea of what information they knew and what they didnt.
Their responses on this pretest were all over the map and it is necessary that I do not skip
any steps of this information. Their responses on the pretest also gave some insight on their
lack of understanding of the musical alphabet and the musical staff as a whole.]
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.
K12 Performing Arts
Planning Commentary
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The edTPA trademarks are owned by The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. Use of the edTPA trademarks is
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Consider students with IEPs English language learners, struggling readers,
underperforming students or those with gaps in academic knowledge, and/or gifted
students.
[I designed these lessons so that students of all different learning types could succeed. By
using worksheets, the white board and the piano I will give students the opportunity to truly
grasp this concept. There are also many different ways which the students can practice the
new concepts before they will be tested on them in a couple weeks. Constant questioning
throughout lessons to bring back the ideas of the concept will help the students to constantly
be thinking about their understanding of the musical staff.
There are no students in this class with IEPs, but I know their learning styles and their
classroom habits and I have designed my lessons in order to keep all students engaged as
much as possible.]

c. Describe common student errors, weaknesses, or misunderstandings within your
content focus and how you will address them.
[Beginning band students will often develop their own way of remembering notes on the staff
and their fingering or slide position. For example, an A is on the second space so that
means that the fingering is 1 and 2. Although this may work for a period of time, as the
music increases in difficulty, students will not be able to go through this thought process
quickly enough. That is why it is so important for students to be able to read music just as
well as they can read a book, and then be able to immediately transfer this reading to a
physical motion with a fingering. It is my goal to rid the students from writing hieroglyphics
on their music in order to read it, and to help them understand music notation so that it is
natural.]
4. Supporting Performing Arts Development Through Language
a. Language Function. Identify one language function essential for students to learn the
performing arts knowledge 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 Compare/contrast Describe Explain Express
Identify Interpret Perform Summarize Synthesize
b.
[ Identify ]
b. Identify a key learning task from your plans that provides students with opportunities to
practice using the language function. Identify the lesson in which the learning task
occurs. (Give lesson/day number.)
[ All of my lessons actually provide the students with an opportunity to practice identifying.
Each lesson requires that students are able to identify different note names on the staff, off
the staff, and with accidentals. ]
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:
K12 Performing Arts
Planning Commentary
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All rights reserved. V2_0913
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 terms of a written license agreement.
Vocabulary and/or symbols
Plus at least one of the following:
Syntax
Discourse
Consider the range of students understandings of the language function and other
demandswhat do students already know, what are they struggling with, and/or what is
new to them?
[These lessons do include some new vocabulary for the students, the biggest being the
word enharmonic. This is not only new vocabulary, but a new concept that will be discussed
throughout a lesson and beyond. Some syntax that could create a problem in the first lesson
is for my tuba player. She is used to seeing notes below the staff, because those are the
notes she plays. In what is supposed to be a review lesson, she will be required to read
symbols that she never has, whereas the other students read them in their music every day.
I will also be covering the actual definitions of sharp and flat. Previously the students have
simply used them as a way to label a note, but these lessons will require that they
understand their actual meaning. ]
d. Language Supports. Refer to your lesson plans and instructional materials as needed
in your response to the prompt below.
Describe the instructional supports (during and/or prior to the learning task) that help
students understand and successfully use the language function and additional
language demands identified in prompts 4ac.
[Students will have the opportunity to practice using the new language function during
informal assessments throughout the lessons through varied responses to questioning.
Continued repetition of definitions and problem solving will ensure that every student gains
understanding and is able to use the new language successfully. ]
5. Monitoring Student Learning
In response to the prompts below, refer to the assessments you will submit as part of the
materials for Task 1.
a. Describe how your planned formal and informal assessments will provide direct
evidence of students creating, performing, or responding to music/dance/theater by
applying artistic skills, knowledge, and contextual understandings throughout the
learning segment.
[Throughout my lessons I have included both formal and informal assessments. Throughout
the lessons I check in with the students to ensure they have grasped one concept before
moving on to the next. Little things like bringing them up to the piano to play a specific note
will show that they understand the information enough to transfer their knowledge to a real
keyboard. Formal assessments include worksheets and tests. ]
b. Explain how the design or adaptation of your planned assessments allow students with
specific needs to demonstrate their learning.
Consider all students, including students with IEPs, English language learners,
struggling readers, underperforming students or those with gaps in academic
knowledge, and/or gifted students.
K12 Performing Arts
Planning Commentary
Copyright 2013 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. 5 of 5 | 9 pages maximum
All rights reserved. V2_0913
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 terms of a written license agreement.
[This class does not include any students with IEPs or English language learners. When
planning my lessons though I did consider students who I knew are currently
underperforming in band. I made sure to make my lessons basic enough for them to grasp
the concepts from the beginning, but I kept my other students engaged by asking them more
difficult questions. Example what is the enharmonic of Gb versus what is the enharmonic of
Cb.]