Task 2b Instruction Commentary Sangiovanni Edtpa

K-12 Performing Arts
Task 2: Instruction Commentary
TASK 2: INSTRUCTION COMMENTARY

Respond to the prompts below (no more than 6 single-spaced pages, including prompts) by typing your responses within the
brackets following each prompt. Do not delete or alter the prompts. Commentary pages exceeding the maximum will not be
scored. You may insert no more than 2 additional pages of supporting documentation at the end of this file. These pages
may include graphics, texts, or images that are not clearly visible in the video or a transcript for occasionally inaudible portions.
These pages do not count toward your page total.
1. Which lesson or lessons are shown in the video clips? Identify the lesson(s) by lesson plan
number.
[ Clip one is from Lesson One, which takes from the first lesson plan from Task 1B that
introduces the notes, “B,” “A,” and “G” on the staff. This is the lesson where the pitch ladder
and finger staff is introduced. Clip two is from Lesson Three, which is the third lesson plan
found in Task 1B. This lesson primarily focuses on student-to-student interaction by dividing
students into groups of 3-5, writing the correct notes on their own worksheet, singing and
playing the excerpt together on recorder, and then discussing which one of the “helps”
learned throughout the unit helped them understand the notes, “B” “A” and “G” and why.]
2. Promoting a Positive Learning Environment
Refer to scenes in the video clips where you provided a positive learning environment.
a. How did you demonstrate mutual respect for, rapport with, and responsiveness to
students with varied needs and backgrounds, and challenge students to engage in
learning?
[As demonstrated in both clips, I showed respectful behavior by always addressing
students in a calm voice, gently reminding them when they should be on task, and
constantly asking for student responses throughout the learning segment. I scanned the
room and looked for students who needed additional help, then knelt down to their level
and worked with them in a calm whisper as the rest of class was doing a task. This was
so I can monitor the student’s individual learning without calling unwanted attention to
the student. I appropriately challenged the class by having them work together to come
to the right answer. This was done in several ways: Working in partners by whispering
the answers to each other, working in small groups to complete a shared task by writing,
singing, and playing the correct notes, and as a whole group via group performances,
both sung and played on recorder. The students were able to see the front of the room,
where a projector showed the different slides that represented what was being shown in
the learning segment (included at the end as Additional Instructional Materials).
In Clip One, I constantly reinforced correct answers with a positive demeanor and calm
attitude. At the timestamp 0:08, I commented how the students had a, “nice singing
voice,” and again at 0:19. I am comfortable enough with the class that at timestamp
0:23, I ask in a playful manner, “What was the next one again?,” To which the class
responded correctly with the answer, “B.” This playful attitude triggers an immediate
response from the class, as they want to “help me out” by giving me the correct answer.
I set a calm and confident tone by telling the students they have a quiz, but that “It might
be easy for you” at 0:35. This was a tactic to get the students relaxed and confident in
themselves, as the word, “quiz” can trigger unease or panic. I demonstrated this at
around 2:20 when a student said, “this is so easy,” and I replied with, “I know this may
be so easy, we’ll get to harder stuff, I promise.” I had the students give themselves a pat
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on the back for correct answers at 1:09 as affirmation to themselves that they answered
correctly. These were all methods that helped engage students on the task while
boosting their own confidence, leading to more responses from more students. At 1:33, I
walk over to help a student who shows an incorrect response by kneeling down to their
level, lowering my voice to a whisper, and walking through the steps to find the answer. I
whispered to the student, “you might want to rethink” and “Let’s go through this” as I held
out my own hand staff and helped them through the process. I then gave an informal
assessment to the student at 1:38, where they pointed to “G” and “A,” and I asked,
“What is “B?” and when they gave me the correct answer, I held my thumbs up and said
“There we go” with a happy face. By looking around for individual student’s answers, I
was able to get down to their level and help them while other students collaborated with
each other, allowing me to walk through the steps with students who needed additional
support. When I ask students to “Hone it in” at around 2:00, followed by a gentle shush,
they respectfully quieted down so we could continue. There is also a schoolwide
attention grabber which I use throughout the segments, “Jaguars, Jaguars” which is the
school mascot. I have built enough rapport with the class that they know to respect one
another and the teacher, and to give each other turns to talk. I thank the students for
quieting down and allowing for my turn. At around 4:10, a student had a method of
remembering lines of the treble clef, and I allowed him, even reinforced him, to share his
method with the class. I made sure to pace the lesson so that all students understood
before moving on. Around 7:30 I told students to “give me a thumbs up when they’re
ready,” so that the class would be comfortable and confident enough to sing “Hot Cross
Buns as a group.”
In Clip 2, I gave the group assignment, to which students worked together in groups of 3-5
to write the correct notes on their worksheets to either “Hot Cross Buns” or “Merrily We Roll
Along” (see Task 1C—Instructional Materials). At around 4:40, the students in group 1
helped one of the students with an Intellectual and Developmental Disability with writing
and locating the notes, showing respect for the student by helping them out as I was
passing out the assignment. One student reminded their peers around 5:50 that, “they were
supposed to be writing,” keeping their group on task. This student demonstrated respect for
my assignment by trying to focus on the task, instead of goofing off and not following the
instructions, enough so that they tell their peers to do their work. At around 6:00, I help a
student who is having trouble by approaching them and explaining the directions. This was
to help catch the student up with their peers. I walk around the room to observe the groups
to make sure they were understanding the directions and to answer questions, like at 6:22
when a student asked about the singing/playing portion of the assignment. When it came
time to listen to the groups, I repeated the instructions again, so that the group knew what
to do next.]
3. Engaging Students in Learning
Refer to examples from the video clips in your responses to the prompts.
a. Explain how your instruction engaged students in developing and applying
 knowledge/skills (e.g., tools/instruments, technical proficiencies, processes,
elements, organizational principles),
 contextual understandings (e.g., social, cultural, historical, global, personal
reflection), AND/OR
 artistic expression (e.g., interpretation, creativity, exploration/improvisation, individual
choices).
[Students demonstrated their learning by using one of the helps learned in class (pitch
ladder, solfege, hand staff, recorder fingerings). By demonstrating multiple methods to show
the notes, “B,” “A,” and “G,” it gave students the individual choice to pick which one helped
them the best. They then used their chosen method to aid them with the notes while singing,
transferring the kinesthetic motion to the pitches on the staff shown on the projector and
their worksheets. Each lesson used methods that were learned in the previous lesson, so
students showed pitch with the pitch ladder and hand staff for all three days. New
kinesthetic methods were added to the existing ones, giving students the opportunity to pick
and choose which ones they like the best. Students engaged in whole group, small group
and individual performance and responses to complete tasks and demonstrate their
understanding. Once the whole group demonstrated their learning of the segment, we were
able to move on to the next slide and new material.
Clip 1 shows students constructing meaning to “B” “A” and “G” by demonstrating methods
that were given in class. The students transferred the kinesthetic aids, like pitch ladder and
finger staff, to their own singing. This was demonstrated at 8:20 and 8:50, where students
used finger staff while singing. Not only did this help them sing high or low pitches, but it
also gave them ways of visualizing and conceptualizing the notes, “B” “A” and “G” on
numerous occasions. The students also practiced the pitch ladder, not shown in this clip,
where each pitch represented a different plane on their bodies. This helped with practicing
the notes and giving the students more ways to choose from, instead of just reading off of
the conventional staff. The methods in Lesson One gave tangible ways for students to
understand notes by putting “B” “A” and “G” on their hands and their arms. Students can
also use these methods anywhere, as all they need are their bodies to practice the notes by
using pitch ladder, solfege, and hand staff.
In Clip 2, students are seen working together to write the notes “B” “A” and “G,” sing the
notes using one of the helping methods practiced in class, and playing the notes, “B,” “A,”
and “G” on their recorder all together. At around 7:20, students in group 5 (closest to the
camera) sung and performed their piece using recorder fingerings as an aid to singing. At
this point, members of group 1 were practicing another method, the pitch ladder, in
preparation for singing. Group 2, not shown in this clip, came up with another method
entirely. This method was a derivative of the recorder fingerings, in which the students held
up one finger for “B,” two for, “A,” and three for “G.” This demonstrates that every student in
every group has a preferred method that they chose to help them with pitches, and that their
methods help them the best with learning the notes, “B,” “A,” and “G.” Then, after I went
around to hear their group performances, they were tasked with talking to each other about
which kinesthetic method helped them the most, and why. This lead to the students
discussing their preferred methods, interpreting the method to their own learning, and
comparing and contrasting the different aids to determine which kinesthetic motion helped
them the most.]
b. Describe how your instruction linked students’ prior academic learning and personal,
cultural, and community assets with new learning.
[Each lesson builds from the previous one, where the students picked up more kinesthetic aids as
the lessons progressed. This is an example of Jerome Bruner’s Spiral Curriculum, where each
lesson provided methods that were learned and practiced in the previous lesson, in order to
build new skills. We started with the hand staff, which is finite motor movement, and with the
pitch ladder, which was gross motor movement. These two different types of movements gave
students the option of larger or smaller motions from the first day. The second day introduced
solfege and the recorder, which gave students another set of finite (recorder fingerings) and
gross (solfege) motor skills. At the end of Lesson two, students had four ways of demonstrating
pitch: two gross motor and two finite motor movements. These gave students the option, out of
the four, which method they could choose for Lesson Three, which required students to
combine all the skills used in the previous two lessons to demonstrate their understanding of the
notes, “B” “A” and “G” while they sang. By having students work in groups for the final lesson,
they compared the methods they learned with each other and discussed why they preferred one
method over the other. Because all students learn differently, they each had their own preferred
way, demonstrated in Clip 2. This shows Barbe and Swassing’s Learning Modalities, where the
students use preferred sensory channels (aural, visual, kinesthetic) to process information. In
this case, students used the kinesthetic styles that worked best for them, sung and played on
recorder to help aural learning, and were given worksheets and projector slides to look off of to
aid in visual learning.]
4. Deepening Student Learning during Instruction
Refer to examples from the video clips in your explanations.
a. Explain how you evoked and built on student performances and/or responses to
support students’ development and application of knowledge/skills, contextual
understandings, and/or artistic expression.
[Using the skills and methods I provided students in class, I gave quick informal assessments to
large groups, small groups, and the individual in order to gauge learning and pace. As a class,
the students practiced the process of audiation, a term coined by Edwin Gordon, referring to the
sounding of pitches in a person’s head. Once students had enough time to think and practice in
their head, they sang together. I also gave students time to work in groups to practice singing
and playing recorder. When students gave an incorrect response, I helped guide them to the
right response without giving the answer away.
In Clip 1 at around 7:20, students were tasked to use their hand staff while singing the excerpt
in their head. This gave students time to practice the pitches individually while using the hand
staff to practice their aural, visual and kinesthetic aids simultaneously. I would constantly ask
students what note they started on, demonstrated at 8:05. I also gave an informal assessment
at 6:05, where I had students point to their hand staff to the note I chanted, and then I switched
it around and asked students to call out what note I’m pointing to on my own hand staff. Once
students showed that they can find pitches both ways, I moved on to “Hot Cross Buns” so they
could transfer their knowledge to an actual song to give the notes context. The first time
students sang, there were a few who sang the same pitch, “B,” throughout without changing
notes at around 8:30. In response, I told the students, “Not bad,” and then instructed them to
listen and point as I sang (8:43-9:12). The next time they sang it, the pitches were cleaner
(9:30). I went around to help individual students during their think time at 1:35, and went through
the steps to find the correct note. For this, I used Albert Bandura’s Social Learning theory,
where children observe and emulate adult models to aid in learning (Campbell and Scott-
Kassner (2014) Music in Childhood ch. 2, table 2.1, p. 19). By using models and having
students repeat them, I gave them the tools to practice the notes “B” “A” and “G” on their own.
Clip 2 had students work together to sing on letter names while demonstrating one of the
models in class. I provided them with the individual choice of a method that worked best for
them, to socialize with each other to write the notes to their song, and then had them perform
together. This is based upon Vygotsky’s theory of Socialization, where the students interact with
each other with limited guidance and interference from the teacher in order to build their
knowledge. By having students respond to each other, they collaborate to work towards a
common goal while using the methods that they choose. I would walk around and help the
students when needed, but mainly left it up to them to work with each other to write, sing, play,
and discuss the notes “B” “A” and “G”. At 6:50, students in group 5 told me which method they
wanted to use and demonstrated this on their informal group assessment. The first time they
sang, they were not together, so I told them they need to sing the pitches together. I then gave
them a second attempt (7:45). On the second try, they all demonstrated correct finger position
while singing (7:55) and on their playing (8:15-8:30). One student had trouble with her recorder,
but showed the fingering without playing, which I praised. Once they sang and played the
excerpt, I had them talk in their group about which method they liked the most and why. This
was to get them to compare and contrast their responses, and talk about the notes on a higher
level of thinking. Instead of just answering what the notes were, they showed their peers what
mode of finding notes helped them out, and shared their responses to build upon their
knowledge.]
b. Explain how you used modeling, demonstrations, and/or content examples to develop
students’ knowledge/skills, contextual understandings, and/or artistic expression for
creating, performing, or responding to music/dance/theater.
[Throughout the learning segment, I taught the kinesthetic aids using primarily teacher
modelling. I had students perform tasks using Bandura’s theory of Social Learning, where I
would demonstrate the method first and have students follow along using a kinesthetic model.
This is shown mainly in Clip one, starting at 0:06, where I have students model the note, “G”
after I sing it. I constantly have students model their hand staff throughout clip one when
learning the lines and spaces on the treble staff (3:00) and the notes “B” “A” and “G” as they
relate to the rest of the staff (5:45) I showed the steps on how to find pitches on the hand staff,
solfege, pitch ladder, and recorder throughout the learning segment, and finally had students
practice with each other at the end of the unit. In Clip 2, students use the methods that were
modelled in class to help each other sing and perform either, “Hot Cross Buns” or “Merrily We
Roll Along.” Students in group one demonstrated the pitch ladder at 7:20, a concept that was
covered in Lesson One. The PowerPoint slides kept the lessons sequenced while also providing
an aid to the visual learners and the students who had trouble with reading. The worksheets
gave both a way to show syntax and check each other’s work to make sure they were all singing
and playing the correct notes. When the students were done performing, they discussed what
method for “B” “A” and “G” they liked the most, and why. This was a wrap up to get students
talking about “B” “A” and “G” in a context other than just “right or wrong,” and required them to
pull from their own experiences in the class to demonstrate knowledge in a higher level of
thinking.]
5. Analyzing Teaching
Refer to examples from the video clips in your responses to the prompts.
a. What changes would you make to your instruction—for the whole class and/or for
students who need greater support or challenge—to better support student learning of
the central focus (e.g., missed opportunities)?
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).
[If I were to teach this unit again, the first thing I would change for the whole class is my own
pacing. This group did not have as much time with recorders, and it felt like a race to the end. If
I would have made an extra day to teach just recorders, that would have been more beneficial
than teaching both recorders and solfege on the same day. The second day felt rushed because
of the two new concepts, solfege and recorder. If I had one day for just solfege and another for
just recorder, that would have helped with the pacing, and students could have been more
comfortable with these methods. As a result, the class also didn’t get as much time with the
solfege, so many students opted for another help that was more familiar to them, like pitch
ladder. For individual students, I noticed that some of them were having trouble focusing. There
was one student in Group 1 on an IEP, and one student in group two who had difficulties with
the material. These same students showed involvement in Clip One, where they were engaged
in the informal assessment and showed correct notes on the hand staff (Clip one, 0:45, 3:45). In
Clip 2, members of Group 1 were helping this student write their notes (Clip two, 4:40), but he
did not get a chance to demonstrate the pitches with his group (Clip two, 9:20). I gave additional
accommodations to these students by giving them a worksheet that had the PowerPoint slides
on them, but they still were falling behind. For next time, I will meet with these students
individually and give modified lessons outside of class to walk them through the steps to find,
“B” “A” “G.” The student on the IEP may need more gross motor movement instead of finite
motor movement, so that they have an easier time moving. Reinforcing the pitch ladder with
these students will be the most beneficial.]
b. Why do you think these changes would improve student learning? Support your
explanation with evidence of student learning AND principles from theory and/or
research.
[By pacing out the lessons more slowly, more material will be covered in a longer span of time.
Because the lessons build off of each other, the more time students have practicing and
applying these methods to the songs, the more confident they will feel with the newer methods.
Using Jerome Bruner’s Spiral Curriculum, students build upon knowledge they have been
taught previously, and continue to build upon skills and applying their older knowledge to newer
concepts and learning. By spacing out the lessons more, and giving extra time to solfege and
the recorder, it will allow students extra time to practice, explore, and develop these skills.
For the student with the IEP, giving individualized instruction at his pace will ensure learning at
his own pace. The unit went pretty fast, so getting this student caught up by slowing down
instruction and continuing to model will help him build his skills. This relates back to Albert
Bandura’s theory of Social Learning: by guiding this student through modelling, it will improve
his perception and recognition of musical patterns. The student in group two had a better
understanding of the concepts, and demonstrated the models correctly, but became
overwhelmed with the pace of the rest of the class. By taking this student aside and slowing
down the pace, she will start to grasp the concepts at her own time. This goes along with
Vygotsky’s Socialization theory, where with enough adult guidance, this student will be able to
gain conceptual knowledge. To help these students achieve a higher level of musical learning,
both students will be given more time to complete their assessments, a modified version of the
singing/playing assessment, and extra time outside of class to go over the concepts.]
Lesson 1
Instructional Supports—PowerPoint Slides
These visual aids represent the slides shown in the PowerPoint on the projector screen in Clips 1 and 2. The
numbers to the left represent which order they appeared. Not all the slides were visible in the clips, so the
ones shown in the videos were all included here.
7.)
1.)
2.) 8.)
3.)
9.)
4.) QUIZ:
10.)
Answer: G
5.) QUIZ:
11.)
2.
Answer: B
6.) QUIZ: 12.)
QUIZ:
3.
Answer: A
Lesson 1
13.)
14.)
Lesson 1
Lesson 3
15.) 16.)
Lesson 3

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K-12 Performing Arts

Task 2: Instruction Commentary

TASK 2: INSTRUCTION COMMENTARY

6.) QUIZ: 12.)

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