Instruction Commentary Template



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 learning experience(s) are shown in the video clips? Identify the learning experience(s) by plan/day number.

[The two learning experience video clips I have chosen are from Learning Experiences two and three. Learning Experience Two was a lesson in which students were completing a KWH chart where they shared information that they want to know about teeth, information they know about teeth, and lastly how they will receive that information. The specific section of the learning experience that I chose to video record was the portion where students shared the “how” part of the KWH chart.

Learning Experience Three was when students performed their own research and began creating their own section of a non-fiction text about teeth. In this video I met with a small group of three students in order to assist them in planning how they would share their research, and how they would divide the work to create their page in the class-wide non-fiction text.]

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 children with varied needs and backgrounds, and challenge children to engage in learning?

[In the whole group video for Learning Experience 2, students are seated on the floor with a flip-chart in front of the classroom. It poses the question “How do we find information?” To begin creating a positive learning environment for students, they are all seated comfortably and exceptions are made for students who are unable to sit on the floor. For example, there is a male child in a grey shirt who is sitting on a chair. Due to his occupational therapy requirements, it is easier for him to focus his body and mind while seated in a chair as opposed to when seated on the floor.

I began the lesson by asking students to recall their prior knowledge about the components of the chart that they have already created. They recalled that we made a “K” chart that states "What we know about teeth”, and a “W” chart which states “What we want to know about teeth”. By recalling students’ knowledge about the activities they have already engaged in, they were more able to take the next step in the activity and share the “H” portion of the chart: “How do we find information?”

At time mark 2:33 I exhibited to students that teachers also make mistakes. While I was writing the word “YouTube”, I accidently forgot the “u” and went back to write it. I find it important to highlight these moments to students as it allows them to feel more comfortable making mistakes. A current theme in the school is “growth mindset” where we as educators are showing students how to embrace the process of learning, and not simply focus on the product of their work.

At time mark 3:37 I create a community of respect, rapport, and responsiveness by reminding students to raise their hands in order to answer questions. This allows for children to work efficiently, have their voices heard, and also allows for me as the teacher to assess which students are engaging, and which are not.

I also demonstrated mutual respect for children by incorporating visual cues for students that each have different meanings. These signals were established very early on in the school year. It is noticeable that I tap my shoulder a number of times. This indicates to students that they should be sitting in a listening position where their bodies are calm and they are able to pay attention to the teacher. It also indicates to them that they should be sitting in a place where they will not be tempted to talk to a classmate nearby. In addition, it can be seen that I nod at one student who holds up one or two fingers to indicate that he needs to leave the area to use the restroom or to get a drink of water. These signals create a community of mutual respect as I rarely use students’ names when asking them to correct their behavior, or give them permission to leave the area, and prevent any kind of embarrassment for the students. It also allows me to communicate with them without having to interrupt the learning of other students. ]

3. Engaging Children in Learning

Refer to examples from the video clips in your responses to the prompts.

a. Explain how your instruction engaged children in

0. language and literacy development AND

0. the active, multimodal nature of young children’s learning

[In the video for Learning Experience Two, from time mark 3:04 until the end of the video at 6:09, most students are thoroughly engaged in sharing ways in which they can find information about teeth. Most students can be found with their hands eagerly raised, and striving to answer the question “How do we find information”

In Learning Experience Three, the two focus students are engaged in their research findings, and are all team-players in their project. Some language and literacy development occurs at the beginning of the video when I instruct children about the necessary components of a title. I explain to them, briefly, which words should be capitalized and why. Language and literacy development is further enhanced when vocabulary words from the unit and the students’ specific research questions are referred to. These words are “non-fiction, incisor, molar, and canine”. These words have been reviewed throughout the learning segment.

The children’s multimodal and active nature is addressed in Learning Experience Three as students are given an opportunity to work together as a group. Not depicted in the video is when students move around the classroom to collect materials they will need to use to create their non-fiction book page. Students were able to tap into their creative, independent, interpersonal, and leadership abilities through this project.]

b. Describe how your instruction linked children’s development, prior learning, and personal, cultural, and community assets with new learning.

[This lesson included children’s prior learning as it followed other components of the Learning Experience in which children shared the information they already know about teeth, and questions they would like answered about teeth. This was very relevant to children’s development as I provided them with the necessary spellings and read each component that they needed throughout the learning experience. This shows that each children’s learning needs were met since less fluent readers did not need to worry about decoding the information, or spelling anything correctly. The purpose of Learning Experience 2 was specifically to gain information from students that they thought up on their own.

For Learning Experience 3, students were grouped in a way that allowed for a wide variety of participation and engagement with their learning. Focus Student 1 (boy on the far left), is dual-language speaker and is in a high grade-level reading group, however he often requires repetition of direction and frequently completes the bare minimum of a task, Focus Student 2, (boy on the far right) is an eager learner, but exhibits low-grade level decoding skills, but average comprehension abilities, however he experiences difficulty in sitting down to work and therefore receives occupational therapy to help focus his body. While there are three children pictured in the small group video, the two male students are the focus students for this learning segment.]

4. Deepening Children’s Learning during Instruction

Refer to examples from the video clips in your explanations.

a. Explain how you elicited and built on children’s responses to promote children’s language and literacy development and take into consideration the active AND multimodal nature of young children’s learning.

[During Learning Experience 2, at time mark 0:34, I used the terms “embark on a journey or go on a journey” This was one way for me to include more vocabulary and include clarification of the word “embark” within one sentence. Some students in the class may already know the word, but others may not. This term also makes learning sound more enjoyable if students feel as if they are going on a journey as opposed to “doing work”, which sounds much more mundane. At time mark 0:49, I also allow students to call out the area they will be doing research about. This calls attention to all students, engages them, and often serves as a reminder or a “pay attention” point for students who have not yet become fully engaged in the material.

Throughout the lessons and interactions with the students, I clarified what they stated or rephrased it in words that were more clear and easily understood by all students. Students’ multimodal approach to learning was enhanced through their interaction with one another, through the use of sharing information, listening, writing their research findings, using different non-fiction texts to find information about teeth, and lastly in Learning Experience 3 by using their artistic and interpersonal skills to work together to create a page In a non-fiction text. ]

b. Explain how you made interdisciplinary connections through the learning experience(s) to promote children’s development of language and literacy.

[This entire Learning Segment is interdisciplinary. By utilizing a topic that is of interest to students – teeth – while teaching about the features and uses of non-fiction texts, students are able to learn about a phenomenon currently occurring for many of them (losing teeth and why) in conjunction with building upon their literacy development. ]

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 class and/or for children who need greater support or challenge—to better support developmentally appropriate practices that promote language and literacy development and take into consideration the active and multimodal nature of young children’s learning (e.g., missed opportunities)?

Consider the variety of learners in your class who may require different strategies/supports (such as children with IEPs or 504 plans, English language learners, children at different points in the developmental continuum, and/or gifted children).

[I feel that I could have found a better way to address the needs of the struggling students in the class when it came to the participating during the whole group discussion of Learning Experience 2. At the beginning of the class I only called on the students who raised their hands to share their thoughts. However, I should have known that the students with IEPs or generally struggling students were not going to be the ones to volunteer to present their ideas. Thus, I wish I had thought of a way to incorporate their ideas into the lesson so that all students felt catered to and acknowledged, not just the average and advanced students who presented. One idea that might have improved the lesson and encouraged the involvement of all students would have been to have had students engage in a talk, pair, and share activity where they turn to a person sitting next to them and share their ideas. After students share their ideas, then their partner shares their idea to the group. This way all students participate, won’t be embarrassed by their answers, and won’t feel intimidated by the large-group setting. I think that the pressure of speaking in front of the whole class, while I tried to create the safest possible environment, can be overwhelming for students. In small group or paired settings, each student would have the chance to share his/her ideas, and it would be a setting that is less pressured and less overwhelming, so that the struggling students could feel more comfortable engaging in the conversation with their peers.

In addition, the environment in which I work is very noisy as there are no walls. It is easy to hear background noise of the class areas near-by. Students have grown accustomed to this style of learning, and can often “tune out” the background noise. ]

b. Why do you think these changes would improve children’s learning? Support your explanation with evidence of children’s learning AND principles from developmental theory and/or research.

[Educational theorist, Lev Vygotsky emphasizes the importance of the social world and of culture in promoting cognitive growth. He believed that learning first takes place in the interaction between people – specifically one’s peers. Due to this reasoning, I believe that if I were to have incorporated a more child-centered lesson for Learning Experience 2, children would have been more likely to participate and share their ideas if they were first given the opportunity to share with a peer. ]

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