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 purpose for the content you will teach in the learning
segment.
[The central focus of this lesson is cause and effect. The purpose of using the volcano story is to
show students examples of how cause and effect relates to real life scenarios. ]
b. Given the central focus, describe how the standards and learning objectives within your
learning segment address

an essential literacy strategy

requisite skills that support use of the strategy
reading/writing connections
[Students will describe the cause and effect of a volcano erupting. This applies to the standard
because students are supposed to be able to describe the connection between scientific ideas
or concepts. In this lesson, students will read the story about volcanoes and they will have to
use prior knowledge about plant and animal life cycles in order to describe and infer the effect
the volcano would have on the life cycles. They must also predict what would happen to the
people living in the areas surrounding the volcano.
The requisite skills necessary to support the strategy include knowing what a prediction
is and understanding plant and animal life cycles. Students must also know how to hold a group
discussion so that they are capable of describing the cause of the volcanoes eruption and the
effects it would have on the surrounding area.
Students will write complex sentences about the cause and effect of the volcano. They
will also read the story and make connections to their lives while reading the story about
volcanoes. ]
c. Explain how your plans build on each other to help students make connections
between skills and the essential strategy to comprehend OR compose text in meaningful
contexts.
[I will first read the volcano story and then introduce the terms cause and effect. Once students
are aware of the definition of cause and effect, they will practice by viewing cause and effect
sentences and determining which part of the sentence is the cause and which is the effect. We
will then move on to students revisiting the story so that they may determine which part of the
story is the cause and which is the effect. Students will then have to write their own cause and
effect sentences. This way, students are able to make connections between the story we have
read as a class and their lives. Students will be able to make connections to their lives when
they write their own cause and effect sentences. ]
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.
[ Students, prior to these lessons, do not know the meaning of cause and effect. When
presented with sentences and asked to circle the cause and underline the effect, students are
unable to complete the activity. Students were also asked to write their own cause and effect
sentences and they were supposed to determine the meaning of cause and the meaning of
effect. The majority of students found this very challenging. Students will learn about the
definitions of cause and effect in the first lesson of the unit. ]
b

Personal/cultural/community assets related to the central focusWhat do you know

about your students everyday experiences, cultural backgrounds and practices,
and interests?

[I know that none of my student s have experienced volcanoes, but I do know that many of them
have experienced tornadoes. We can relate these two events to one another so that students
can use real life experiences. We can also apply cause and effect to students lives because all
decisions that people make have some sort of effect. It would especially be pertinent for many
of my students because many of them believe that when their clips are moved down on the
behavior chart, it is someone elses fault. During this lesson we can discuss students behavior
and the effect it has on their day. ]
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 Task 1. In addition, use principles from research
and/or theory to support your explanations.

a. Justify 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. Be explicit about the connections between
the learning tasks and students prior academic learning, assets, and research/theory.
[On the first day, students will listen to a think-aloud and then we will discuss the definition of
cause and effect. We will go over these definitions because on the pre-assessments, students
could not determine the meanings of these two words. It is important for students to understand
these definitions because then they can discuss the causes and effects of a volcano erupting.
According to Vygotsky, it is important to scaffold students, this is why first students will
learn the meaning of cause and effect, then they will have to recognize the cause and effect in
sentences and finally they will have to write their own cause and effect sentences. Students will
be building upon their prior knowledge with each lesson, students will work independently and I
will be there to scaffold students who need extra support.
I am also aware that my students enjoy competitive or active games. Therefore we will
be playing games with cause and effect to get student sup and moving. This will also help to
keep them engaged and it will make the activity memorable. ]
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 students with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners, struggling readers,
underperforming students or those with gaps in academic knowledge, and/or gifted students.

[The activities are appropriate for the whole class because we hold group discussions and all of
my students participate in a group setting. I dont have any students that are too shy to answer a
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Elementary Education
Task 1: Planning Commentary

question or make a comment. It is also beneficial to my students because when playing the
games, they will be working in small groups and I will be available to walk around and work with
small groups, giving students individual attention as needed. ]
c. Describe common developmental approximations or common misconceptions within
your literacy central focus and how you will address them.
[The common misconceptions are that the cause is found in the beginning of the sentence and
the effect is found in the last part of the sentence. These will be addressed by reviewing the
meanings of the terms cause and effect. It will also be addressed by exposing students to a
variety of cause and effect sentences so that they can get a lot of practice determining the
cause and effect/ ]
4. Supporting Literacy Development Through Language
a. Language Function. 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

[ Describe ]
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 strategy. Identify
the lesson in which the learning task occurs. (Give lesson day/number.)
[ On day three, lesson 3, students will discuss the cause and effect of the volcano erupting.
They will focus on describing the effects of the erupting volcano on the surrounding area. They
will have to describe how the people, animals and plants are all effected by the volcano. ]
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
Consider the range of students understandings of the language function and other language
demandswhat do students already know, what are they struggling with, and/or what is new
to them?

[Students will need to understand the terms cause and effect as well as solid, steep, active,
local, island, explode, properties, earth. This will be a lesson in discourse because students will
be having a class discussion about the effects of the volcano. ]
d. Language Supports. Refer to your lesson plans and instructional materials as needed
in your response to the prompt.

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Elementary Education
Task 1: Planning Commentary

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.

[We will begin the lesson with me reviewing the terms with the class. Students will then have a
chance to share their own views. Eventually, the hope is it will flow into a discussion that
students will hold with one another and not me. Other supports include me modeling for the
students how to describe a cause and effect sentence. ]
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 that students can use the essential literacy strategy and requisite skills to
comprehend or compose text throughout the learning segment.
[ The assessments students use for this unit will include the record sheet for a matching game
the students will play. It will also include students written work and illustrations of the sentences
that students have written. At the end of the unit, students will take a multiple choice
assessment about the story and about cause and effect sentences.]
b. Explain how the design or adaptation of your planned assessments allows students with
specific needs to demonstrate their learning.
Consider all students, including students with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners,
struggling readers, underperforming students or those with gaps in academic knowledge,
and/or gifted students.

[Many of my students enjoy drawing and therefore will get to show their strengths with their
sentence illustrations. Other students enjoy playing games and their assessments will be the
record sheet to show how they played the game and how well they did as well as their
participation. Finally, students whose talents lie in writing will get to write sentences which show
their knowledge of cause and effect. ]

Copyright 2014 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.

4 of 4 | 9 pages maximum
All rights reserved.
V3_0914
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.