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ELEMENTARY UNIT/ LESSON PLANNING COMMENTARY

Your Name: Jason Kawana
Date: 2/1/2013
Unit/Lesson Title: Bunny Math: Subtraction Lesson 8.1
Grade Level and Content Area: K Math
Number of Students 27
Total Amount of Time: 30mins
1. Learning Goals/Standards: What concepts, essential questions or key skills will be your focus? What do
you want your students to know at the end of this unit/lesson?
Students will be learning subtraction through both instruction and games to assess their knowledge of the
topic. At the end of the lesson I want students to be a little more familiar with working with subtraction
and its regards to number sentences. I also want students to be able to use the words take away in their
sentences orally and to be able to hone in on the idea that subtraction means to take away from.
2. Rationale: Why is this content important for your students to learn and how does it promote social justice?
Currently this is important because students need to be able to add and subtract within the number 5
comfortable and this is a starting point for them to be able to accomplish this. It aligns with social justice
because I am building on my students foundation skills which can be lacking later on. By teaching these
lessons in a variety of ways Im hoping my students will be able to grasp the content in whatever is best of
them.
3. Identifying and supporting language needs: What are the language demands of the unit/lesson? How do
you plan to support students in meeting their English language development needs including academic
language!? Students need to know the words subtract/ion, left over, minus, as well as the carrots eaten b
the rabbits. Students will be focusing on using their math language and transferring it over to their
everda knowledge of animals eating.
!. "ccessing #rior knowledge and building u#on students$ backgrounds, interests and needs: How do
your choices of instructional strategies, materials and sequence of learning tasks connect with your students"
backgrounds, interests, and needs? % think that b choosing something like rabbits and carrots that students
will be able to gras# the content in a ver real life wa. "lthough man students might not have seen a
rabbit in real life there will be e&am#les throughout the lesson so students can come familiar with the
term. Students will also be connecting the word #roblems with their own e&am#les in their game
worksheet that the will be working on after the lesson. 'ecause m students have (ust learned about
different kinds of animals from )L* time % am connecting this lesson to their enthusiasm for animals.
"lso %$m using lots of kinesthetic which m students usuall react #ositivel to.
+. "ccommodations: What accommodations or support will you use for all students including English
#anguage #earners and students with special educational needs, i$e$ %&'E students and students
with (E)"s!? E*plain how these features of your learning and assessment tasks will provide all
students access to the curriculum and allow them to demonstrate their learning$ Students will be
working in #artners so that the can be hel#ing one another. ,his allows for students with
differing ideas to be able to build off of each other and hel# each other out. ,hose students
that understand com#letel and finish earl can even start to draw their own word #roblem
on the back of their #a#er as a bonus -challenging. task. ,he task also involves man
mani#ulaties, which will hel# students have a solid gras# on the conce#t of subtraction.
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/. ,heor: Which theories support your unit/lesson plan? e*plain the connections! Sociocultural theor will
hel# su##ort m lesson in different was. Students will be able to use their own knowledge to
hel# their #artners succeed. "lso the lesson is building on information the alread know about
animals and their eating habits.
7. Reflection: (answer the following questions after the teaching of this unit/lesson) What do you feel was
successful in your lesson and why? If you could go back and teach this learning segment again to the same
group of students, what would you do differently in relation to planning, instruction, and assessment? How
could the changes improve the learning of students with different needs and characteristics? I think that the
overall lesson went really well but the assessment that was paired with the lesson wasnt measuring what
it was supposed to be measuring. Therefore, the next time that I teach this lesson I wouldnt use my same
assessment. It just appeared that there was a small step that was missing between the lesson and the
assessment that followed. I think that the assessment was great but that students still needed further
scaffolding on the materials before moving on. The step could be that students would be working with the
manipulatives before with partners so that they can get used to the idea of what the assessment later
would be. Students could practice writing out subtraction before as well instead of directly moving into
the manipulative game that was taking place.
**COMMENTARY IS REQUIRED FOR ALL UCLA ELEMENTARY FORMAL OBSERVATIONS **
2013-2014