Planning Commentary

K12 Performing Arts
Planning Commentary
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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.

[Students will focus on learning the major scale and solfege, as well as learn different
methods of demonstrating their understanding and knowledge of both.]
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
K12 Performing Arts
Planning Commentary
[During this lesson segment, students will learn what the major scale is, what solfege is,
what is the solfege for the major scale, as well as how to use solfege hand signals to show
the difference between each note. By the end of the lesson segment, they will be able to
sing a major scale using numbers and solfege, they will be able to sing an ascending and
descending major scale using solfege, they will be able to sing several age-appropriate
songs using solfege, and will be able to create their own melody using solfege as part of
their formal assessment. Students will also be able to understand that solfege is used to
show that each note in the major scale is different, and that each note is higher or lower
than the other.]
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.
-Its So Good To See You-Ascending major scale within the song using numbers (students
did not realize yet that they were singing a major scale. Will be able to sing that exact
ascending major scale using solfege within the song.
-Will associate the numbered major scale from Its So Good To See You and use it to
Illinois State Content Standards:
25A-1. Distinguish between loud/soft, high/low sounds.
25A-6. Distinguish between same and different phrases or sections in a
simple song.
25A-7. Identify the sensory element that creates a mood, emotion, or idea
in a musical example.
25B-1. Compare sensory elements, organizational principles, and
expressive qualities shared among several art forms that express a similar
idea (e.g. beginning, middle, and end in music, dance, and drama).
25B-2. Compare the use of sound, movement, action, or visual images to
express similar ideas (e.g., subject matter such as night, ocean;
emotions/moods such as sad, scary).
25B-3. Examine the same sensory elements, organizational principles, and
expressive qualities in two different works in the same art form.
26A-5. Use appropriate vocal timbre and volume when singing classroom
songs.
26A-7. Sing or play accurately simple pitch notation using a symbol system
(e.g., icons, syllables, numbers, letters).
26B-3. Create short vocal or instrumental melodic and rhythmic phrases
within specified guidelines.
27A-1. Listen attentively to and observe performances and art works.
27A-2. Identify and demonstrate the qualities of good audience behaviors.
27A-3. React to performances/ art works in a respectful, constructive, and
supportive manner.
27A-5. Interpret movements, sounds, and visual images in art works made
by self and others.
27B-1. Identify the images, objects, sounds, and movements from a work
of art and describe what they tell about people, time, places, and everyday
life.
K12 Performing Arts
Planning Commentary
teach solfege syllables to the students. Students will be able to use those numbers to
better organize the solfege syllables, and it will help them to sing the major scale using
the correct solfege for each number.
-Do Re Mi from The Sound of Music using what they learned about solfege to
[Students will begin their learning of the major scale and solfege. In order for students to
better understand the concepts of the major scale and solfege, students need to be able to
apply what theyve learned to songs and ideas they already know. Students being provided
several opportunities to make connections, is the only way this learning segment will be
successful. For example, the students dont realize that they have already been singing a
major scale in their warm-up song, Its So Good to See You. They have known this song
since the beginning of the school year. Based on what they learn about the major scale,
they can connect it to their warm-up song. Students will also use the numbers sung in Its
So Good to See You as a way to organize the solfege syllables in the correct order.
Through the use of Its So Good to See You, Do-Re-Mi, Mary Had A Little Lamb,
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, and the song We Are Playing in the Forest, all songs the
students already know or will come to know, students will be better able to make
connections between solfege syllables and how the hand signs can be used to identify each
note in a melody. They will learn that solfege can be used for other songs and musical
concepts, besides the major scale. Another connection they can make is using what they
will learn about solfege and apply it to Do-Re-Mi from The Sound of Music.]

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 have recently done a lot of work with rhythm. The students can identify
quarter note, an eighth note, and a half note. The students are also able to tell you why
these notes are different from each other. Students can recognize iconic notation. They
understand that a rest is a beat with no sound, and they are able to recognize a quarter rest
when they see it. The students can keep a steady beat, as well as hear a rhythmic pattern
and echo it back. The students can replicate a rhythmic pattern using their hands to pat on
their laps, and they can use rhythm sticks as well. Students are aware of what call and
response is, and are quickly able to replicate a musical idea that they hear. The students
know what melody is. They know that melody is a musical line that can travel up, down, and
stay the same. Students are able to play a rhythmic pattern to accompany a melodic line.
Students can sit still and follow directions. The students have no IEPs, but some of the
students are from countries outside of the U.S. For half the class, English is not their first
K12 Performing Arts
Planning Commentary
language, yet they are able to speak in English fairly well. The students are able to count to
10 in English without any problems. By focusing on the major scale and introducing it using
numbers, the students will all be learning the concept at the same level. Using their warm-up
song Its So Good To See You, students will be already be able to sing an ascending
major scale using the numbers. The students have been singing this song since the
beginning of the year, they can sing those numbers accurately and on pitch, they just dont
realize that they are actually singing a major scale. In terms of solfege, the students can
think of solfege as a type of musical language. They will all be learning it together by singing
it, visually seeing it on the board, and physically learning the syllables using hand signals. I
will be using multiple methods to show them how to sing a major scale and use solfege. I
will also be using songs that the students already know from class such as, Its So Good To
See You, Mary Had a Little Lamb, We Are Playing in the Forest. Students being able to
make connections between what they are learning and their prior knowledge will make a big
difference in how much the students will understand, and how successful this learning
segment will be.]
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 come from different cultural backgrounds. The school is an international
school, where 60% of the student population speaks fluent English. The other languages
that can be found within the student population are Chinese, Spanish, Urdu, Portuguese,
etc. The school is also located in one of the poorest areas in Urbana, with 85% of the
students being on the free lunch program. The students come from different cultural
backgrounds, which means they each have their own ideas about what music should be
like, how to hear rhythm, what is a fun melody to sing to, etc; you ask each student what
they think music is about and you will get 20 different definitions. Class meets in the
morning, meaning that if the students are having trouble at home, it is possible for those
emotional problems to come into the classroom, and may have an impact on how willing the
student will be to participate. The students know that if I catch them talking in class or not
following directions, they are given a warning first, before they go to timeout. After two
timeouts, the students will stand outside in the hall, where I will personally talk to them. This
class meets at 9:00am, which is 30 minutes after schools starts. This class also meets right
before half of the class goes to native language class. After music, half of the students
return to homeroom and the other half go to native language class. Half of the class can
speak language, but it is not their first language, so their fluency is something to consider
during these lessons. I wanted to pick a lesson where language would not be a boundary to
prevent some students from learning. The students can view solfege as a musical language,
that all of the students are learning to speak. I wanted to teach a concept where I could use
verbal and physical activities to show the students what they are learning. The class is made
up of 10 first graders and 10 second graders. The 10 second graders have documented
ESL, which can impact how well the student can focus, how they get along with others, and
can affect their willingness to participate in discussions. Some of the ESL students are more
tempted to talk to other students in class, and may have a difficult time standing still for too
long. This statement is based on my own observation and experiences teaching them. ]

3. Supporting Students Performing Arts Learning
K12 Performing Arts
Planning Commentary
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.
[Its important to use songs within the lesson segment that the students already know,
because they will be able to make more connections between prior knowledge and new
musical concepts. Varying how much time we spend on each activity and when we do that
activity during the lesson (students cannot do the same activity for more than four days,
otherwise they loose focus, become less engaged and get really bored.) Because they are
1
st
and 2
nd
graders and cannot stay sit still for 30 minutes straight. It is okay to have the
students stand up and sit down multiple times through out the lesson. It is also okay to do
certain activities like Simon says through out the lesson, to break up the class period and
to help remind students to listen and stay focus. Playing Simon says like games during the
class is a fun way to get students refocused if they start to not pay attention. In terms of
assessment, a lot of my assessment will be informal, because a lot of my students are
learning how to read and write. Some of them are currently learning how to write sentences
in English. With that being said, when I planned the formal assessment, I wanted to make
sure the sentences were short, as well as the assessment. The big thing about 1
st
and 2
nd

graders is if they do not understand how to do something, they will not want to do it. The
students ability to make connections between the new material they are learning and songs
they already know is whats going to make this learning segment successful. When the
students are able to make connections to prior knowledge, they are more able to understand
what is going on in the lesson, and if they are able to understand what is going on, they will
be more encouraged to participate in discussion and in the activities. These students need
different types of activities to keep them engaged, and they are also very positive people.
They like to be silly and they like to have fun, so I wanted to base my unit around activities
where they could be mentally stimulated in different ways, and have fun. Students will get
the chance to take what theyve learned about the major scale and solfege, and apply it to
songs like Its So Good To See You, Mary Had A Little Lamb, We Are Playing in the
Forest, and Do-Re-Mi from the musical The Sound of Music. ]

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 English language learners, struggling readers,
underperforming students or those with gaps in academic knowledge, and/or gifted
students.
[These instructional strategies are appropriate for the whole class, because it uses different
types of activities to keep the students engaged. This lesson segment uses songs the
students already know, the lesson uses solfege as a type of musical language that all
students will be learning at the same time, and there are a lot of activties that require the
K12 Performing Arts
Planning Commentary
students to practice their listening skills. There are no students in the class that require IEPs
or aid assistant. The way I planned these activities involves the students observing my
behavior and observing the behavior of their classmates, so if they are unsure about a
solfege syllable or need to ask a question, it would be easier for them to observe what
others are doing and be able to problem solve to figure out their question. While this lesson
does use different activities to keep the students focused and engaged, it also provides
students the opportunity to ask question, gives them opportunities to participate, and the
learning segment gives them many approaches to learning (aurally, orally, visual, physical
activity, singing, writing, etc.) ]

c. Describe common student errors, weaknesses, or misunderstandings within your
content focus and how you will address them.
[ In terms of learning the major scale, whether the students are using solfege or numbers,
students might not recognize that each note is different; that you dont just speak the
numbers or solfege syllables in order. The students need to understand that every note in
the major scale is different, and thats why we have different numbers and different syllables
for each note. Students also have a difficulty recognizing that the major scale can be sung in
an ascending manner and a descending manner; they need to understand that pitches of
the notes get higher as you sing the ascending major scale, and the pitches of the notes get
lower as you sing a descending major scale. Because the students are in first and second
grade, the students might have a tough time understanding the significance of the solfege
syllables; for all they know the solfege syllables are just funny words you can sing to. I will
inform the students that the different solfege syllables are used to represent each note. I
need to help the students understand that the reason each note gets a different solfege
syllable, is because each note is different. Its important for me to explain the concepts of
the major scale and solfege using age-appropriate language, to make them easy for the
students to understand. Overall, students will get a lot more out of this learning segment
when they are physically active, either through doing the solfege hand signs, singing, raising
their hands and answer questions. ]

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

[Compare/Contrast ]
K12 Performing Arts
Planning Commentary
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.)
[ Lesson #1 students will be able to compare the new concept they learned to a song that
they already know. Their warm-up song, Its So Good to See You. The students will learn
that when they sing the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and when their voices get higher doing
that, they are actually singing a major scale using numbers. Then the students will take what
they learned about the solfege for the major scale and compare it to the same song also. By
making that comparison, they will be able to compare the similarities between singing the
major scale using numbers and singing the major scale using solfege syllables. ]
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 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?
[ Students need to be able to understand what a major scale is, what solfege is and why the
syllables are significant. Students must also be able to show the different solfege syllables
using the solfege hand signals. These symbols and numbers are used to show that each
note is different, and the notes in the major scale are the building blocks for creating a
melody.
In terms of Syntax, if I am talking about solfege to the students, I need to have all of the
syllables written on the board while Im talking about them. This is so the students can listen
to me instruct them on solfege and physically see the syllables as well. Not only do all the
syllables need to be written in the correct order, their needs to be a row of numbers listed
above the solfege syllables. Their needs to be one row of numbers, and one row of solfege
with each solfege syllable lined up with its correct number in the major scale sequence. If
the students are not able to understand that there are eight notes for eight syllables, they
are not going to be able to make that connection between the major scale and Its So Good
to See You. They also wont be able to remember the solfege in the correct order if it is not
written out this way, which will make it difficult for the students to sing Do-Re-Mi from The
Sound of Music. Neatly organizing the numbers next to the solfege syllables is essential to
how the students will be able to sing a major scale using solfege. ]
d. Language Supports. Refer to your lesson plans and instructional materials as needed
in your response to the prompt below.
K12 Performing Arts
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.
[ During all of the lessons, the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 will need to be written up on the
boar. The solfege syllables for the major scale will also need to be written below the number
line. This is so the students can refer back to it through out the entire lesson, because it
shows them how the major scale is organized and how to sing a major scale using the
solfege syllables in the correct order. While the students are learning and singing along to
Do-Re-Mi, they will use a solfege diagram to follow along with the song. They will see me
refer to it when we listen the first time to the song, and then during Lesson #2 they will get a
paper handout of that same diagram, listen to Do-Re-Mi and follow along using it. The
reason the students are learning the solfege hand signals is to give them a visual aid to see
that each note is different, and in what way. Their arms will also move from their waist to
their head at eye level, which will give them another visual aid to show that as you sing the
major scale the pitches get higher or lower, depending on if you are singing an ascending or
descending major scale. ]
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.
[My formal assessment will be in written form, but my informal assessment will be in the
form of video. The reason why I am having the formal assessment in written form is because
I want to analyze individually if each student is understanding what the major scale is, how
is it connected to solfege, does each student know the solfege for the major scale. This is so
I can representation of each individual students progress, and I will be better able to track it.
While the formal assessment will be helpful to track the progress of each student, I will need
to rely a lot on informal assessment in class, and it will be shown in the form of video for two
reasons. One reason I will use informal assessment in video form is for me to analyze if all
the students are participating with each activity, and it will help me to time out how fast
students are responding to questions I ask them; I want to see how quickly they are able to
identify each solfege syllable. Finally, this will help me to gage student behavior, and to see
if the students who are asking questions are actively listening and following directions when
I give instruction. Informal assessment in video form will show class participation as a
whole.]
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.
[To the best of my knowledge, none of the students in my class have learned about the
major scale or about solfege. I wanted to teach completely new concepts to the students,
but I wanted to connect those concepts to songs and ideas they already knew. Also, to
K12 Performing Arts
Planning Commentary
avoid confusing half of the class who are English language learners I described how to sing
the major scale using numbers and solfege. I knew that all of the students knew how to
count to eight in English, and I wanted these students to learn the major scale and solfege
through different activities, not through me talking and giving a lecture. Organizing different
activities will help to keep the students engaged, the students will have fun, and having the
students engaged in different activities will reduce the number of behavior problems and
outbursts. If the students are engaged, they will be less likely to talk while I am teaching,
and they will be less likely to disrupt the learning environment of other students. Their will be
opportunities for students to review during each of the four lessons. The reason I am leaving
my formal assessment for the last day is to not only assess each student individually, but to
also give the students more time to learn the major scale and how to sing it using solfege,
which increase the students chances for succeeding on the assessment. It will also give
them an opportunity to prepare for the create your own melody portion of the learning
segment; the students need to be very familiar with the major scale, melody structure, and
solfege before we can attempt that. Saving the formal assessment for the last lesson gives
the students more time to understand the new concepts they are learning, apply what that to
what they already know, and use it to create their own melody using this new knowledge.]

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