Elementary Literacy

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.
[The lesson shown in the provided video clip is Day 2, Lesson 2. The lesson shown in
the video clip is the Bio Poem portion of our 5 day poetry lesson. In this lesson students
are focusing on creating a Bio Poem about themselves. We will also go over the parts of
a Bio Poem and what descriptive words are. In the previously submitted lesson, Bio
Poems were supposed to be introduced on day 1 of the lesson. Since students were
introduced to Acrostic Poems during ​Snack and Story​ prior to the start of this lesson, it
was decided that we would switch the two days. This resulted in Acrostic Poems being
taught on day 1 of the lesson and Bio Poems on day 2.]
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?
[In the second lesson, you can see that the teacher, Ms. Frazer, uses her own
experiences and thoughts to help students make a connection to what a Bio Poem is -
the life story of the person writing the poem. When Ms. Frazer is asking students what
they learned about their teacher she is saying the students name, making eye contact
with them, and repeating their responses so that all students can hear (1:34 - 4:38). By
doing this she is showing students that she respects and values what the students have
to say through her words and her body language. In doing this she is also modeling the
expectation that she wants the other students to follow. Ms. Frazer is also creating a
rapport with students by letting them share some personal connections they have made
to the poem she created about herself. Another way that the teacher creates a positive
learning environment (9:56) by acknowledging the students who are following
expectations by sitting quietly and raising their hands when they have an answer instead
of blurting it out. She also provides fun ways to help the students refocus their attention
(8:44 - 10:02).
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 an essential literacy strategy
and related skills.
[In the lesson taught on day 2, the students were engaged throughout the lesson
because their teacher was able to provide them with multiple opportunities to participate.
This was also done through keeping the lesson moving and not staying on one topic for
too long. First students listened to Ms. Frazer read a Bio Poem about herself. When she

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 Elementary Literacy
Task 2: Instruction Commentary

was done reading Ms. Frazer asked the students what they learned about their teacher
(0:00 - 3:10). When they were done sharing Ms. Frazer did a quick recap of the parts of
a Bio Poem and then shared with them what tasks they would be working on at the end
of the ​Guided Reading ​lesson. Ms. Frazer ended the ​Guided Reading​ lesson with
students working together to create a Bio Poem about their Daring Dragon family (class
name) (6:08 - 9:08). The full clip of the students creating their Bio Poem is not shown
because we ran out of space on the device we were recording with. (a typed document
of the poem has also been uploaded as well) Through this, the students are able to
share their thoughts and ideas verbally, as well as listen to the thoughts and ideas of
their classmates. By having the students participate in the lesson this way they are given
the opportunity to explore descriptive words and make connections that they could
include in the Bio Poems that they are creating about themselves.

During this lesson, the teacher engages the students in developing the essential literacy
strategies of synthesizing by taking what they learned from the poem Ms. Frazer shared
and the poem that they created as a class about the Daring Dragon family (0:00 - 1:06
and 6:08 - 9:08).
b. Describe how your instruction linked students’ prior academic learning and personal,
cultural, and community assets with new learning.
[In the lesson taught on day 2, the teacher introduces students to the concept of drafting
a poem as the class creates a poem as a whole group (6:08 - 9:08) before working on it
on their own. The teacher decides to do this review because she knows that in previous
lessons the students have learned about creating a first draft when writing (ie/ personal
narratives and acrostic poems). The poems being created throughout this lesson are
linked to the topic of family and are something that the students can make personal
connections to. For example: when the students created their personal narratives
previously they described a specific event that they experienced with their family. When
the created their acrostic poems that created them using the word FAMILY and included
what their families meant to them personally. Through the personal connections that the
students have made when creating their personal narratives and poems, the students
are able to easily identify the main focus and focus more of their attention on the literacy
strategy being introduced.
4. Deepening Student Learning during Instruction
Refer to examples from the video clips in your explanations​.
a. Explain how you ​elicited and built on student responses​ to promote thinking and apply
the essential literacy strategy using related skills to comprehend ​OR ​compose text.
[In the lesson presented on day 2, the teacher asks the students if they learned where
the person the poem is about lives. The first student called on says Ireland. Hearing this
the teacher reminds the students that the person writing the poem said that she would
like to see Ireland and that she does not live there. The teacher then points out the
words “resident of” to the students and states what it means (0.16 - 0:29). Later in the
lesson the teacher asks the students what places they could be a resident of. Michigan?
The United States? To this the students have mixed answers (6:08 - 6:13). Throughout
this lesson students are using the essential literacy strategy of synthesizing as they
change their thinking as they write.When asked what the Daring Dragons loved, the first

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 Elementary Literacy
Task 2: Instruction Commentary

student responded with friends and the second student responded with a specific friends
name. Ms. Frazer helped the students change their thinking about the people the loved
and how they could share it by helping them understand that the word “friend”
encompassed all the students in the classroom. The students then linked this to the word
synonym that they were learning about during word work.]
b. Explain how you modeled the essential literacy strategy ​AND​ supported students as they
practiced or applied the strategy to comprehend ​OR ​compose text in a meaningful context.
[During the Bio Poem lesson on day 2, the teacher modeled how she wanted students to
change their thinking by asking them what the word “friend” encompassed. The students
who wanted to use a specific friends name were able to change their thinking and
understand that the word “friend” included all the students in the classroom.]
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).
[To improve the students understanding of day 2 teaching students about Bio Poem, the
teacher would have liked to give the students more time to collaborate with their peers
about what words could be used to describe them. Because the students were only able
to collaborate with one of the their peers, they were only able to learn about what one
friend thought of them. By having them collaborate with more of their peers, students
could have learned a larger variety of words to describe them. Another aspect of my
lesson that I would have liked to change is how I worked with the students who were
struggling. Instead of me moving around the room jumping from student to student I think
it would have been a better idea to bring them all into one part of the room and work with
them as a small group. Because I moved from student to student there were some
struggling writers who fell behind and needed more help catching up.

Another aspect of my instruction I would have liked to change is checking where the
students were in their writing more carefully and frequently during the lesson. By doing
this I would have been able to make sure that all of the students in the room were
writing their ideas in the correct place; as well as correct any misspellings and answer
any questions that they had about the lesson.]
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.
[In the second lesson, by giving the students who were struggling support in a small
group I would have been better able to monitor their progress and they would have been
able to help one another. I also would not have had to repeat the same thing more than
once. This would have also helped in giving the students a purpose in their writing. Jean

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 Elementary Literacy
Task 2: Instruction Commentary

Piaget, believed that by making children naturally motivated we were giving them a
greater chance of being lifelong learners. By giving my students a purpose for their
learning, they were able to make real world connections to the content that was being
taught. In order for a student to become a lifelong learner, they must want to improve
and increase what they already know on their own. We cannot make this choice for
them.]

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All rights reserved. V5_0916
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.