EdTPA Task 1 Commentary

Secondary History/Social Studies
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 for the content I will be teaching in this learning segment, is the foundations
of the legislative branch and the branchs primary job of creating laws. My purpose through this
segment is for the students to not only understand the legislative branch but to be able to know
the information well enough so that they are able to apply it to their lives. The central focus and
end goal will be to have students create a law of their own. By doing this, students will gain an
understanding of how the legislative branch of government completes its primary job.]
b. Given the central focus, describe how the standards and learning objectives within your
learning segment address
facts and concepts

interpretation or analysis skills
building and supporting arguments
[On the first day of my learning segment, my learning objective requires students to examine
aspects of a congressmans day. Through this examination students can become introduced to
the congressmans position and what it entails. They will be able to visualize what the congress
building looks like along with being introduced to concepts such as a constituent through the
short video. The next objective entails students comparing and contrasting the Virginia and New
Jersey Plans during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and discussing how it leads to the
Great Compromise of 1787. The following day, in order to work towards the central focus of
students having the knowledge of how our congress works and how laws are made, they will
need to identify and examine the powers of congress. They will do this in order to accomplish
this they will look at Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, which outlines the powers of
Congress.
Through this analysis, students are to make an argument as to why a law may be
constitutionally sound, based on the laws expressed in the Constitution. In order to accomplish
this objective, students will need to understand concepts such as expressed and implied
powers, along with exactly what the legislative branch is. The final objective in this segment will
be for students to understand the facts as to how an idea goes from being a bill to becoming a
law.]
c. Explain how your plans build on each other to help students make connections
between facts, concepts, and interpretations or analyses, to build and support
arguments about historical events, a topic/theme or a social studies phenomenon.
[My plan begins by giving an overview of congress by having students watch a video about a
congressmans average day. This builds off the previous unit (Foundations of the American
Government) because I now start to teach about a specific branch of government. At this point,
students know very vague and general ideas about what each branch does. The next day I then
take a few steps backward to examine how congress was developed, so that the connections
can be made back to the video. For example, when Congress was created there were two
houses established, both of which are addressed briefly in the movie. When teaching about the
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powers of congress that are outlined in the Constitution, the students will read Article 1, Section
8. They have already examined parts of the Constitution (even this article briefly) so they will go
back to the articles to read them closer and build off of information they had previously learned.
I also will be teaching students about the expressed and implied powers of congress. In the
previous unit, students learned about the expressed and implied powers of the national
government so they will be able to take their general knowledge of these facts and connect
them to powers specifically related to the legislative branch.]
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).
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.
[Thus far in their academic careers, students are able to create opinions with support, however
their support is not always organized in the most effective way. This was seen in the last unit as
students were asked to have an opinion regarding the Declaration of Independence and if the
colonists went about Independence in the best way. Students were able to support their
decision, but not in a way that was always coherent. Also, students are still learning to support
their ideas in writing. They know their ideas and are able to state them, but they do not see the
importance or meaning behind expanding upon those basic ideas.]
b. Personal/cultural/community assets related to the central focusWhat do you know
about your students everyday experiences, cultural backgrounds and practices,
and interests?
[My students are very into their daily social lives and discussing them with each other and me.
Many of my students are also involved in extracurricular activities such as band, cheerleading,
dance team, football and golf which is a part of their daily activity. Anything that affects them in
their lives or could affect them they have an opinion on. I plan to be able to tie some of these
things that influence them into the central focus by having students take something that they
experience and use that to think about how it could be legally changed as they see fit.]
3. Supporting Students History/Social Studies Learning
Respond to prompts below (3ac). 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.
[Due to the lack of description found in previous work the students have turned in, I will need to
clearly state that students need to explain their thinking thoroughly, instead of answering in brief,
one sentence responses. I will do this verbally by repeating multiple times that students need to
be explicit in their explanations. I will also read the prompted responses that students submitted,
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each night and respond to them the next day in order to clarify responses and to explain how to
better justify an answer.]
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.
[One instructional strategy found in this segment will include a discussion-based lecture. I will
ask students questions based on a topic, whether it is regarding a definition to a key term or an
opinion aspect to the lesson. During this strategy students will be expected to take relevant
notes. In order to help my students with IEPs, I will have mostly completed worksheets so they
are able to focus more on the discussion as opposed to worrying about getting every bit of
information written down. For my students who are more developed, I will be asking them to
share a bit more after the other students have given the basic ideas. Through having them
share later they will be able to add deeper ideas, therefore not giving the opportunity to do the
basic work of giving simple explanations. I will also use an activity-based strategy. Students will
separate into groups for the powers of congress in day three. Here students will be asked to
work in groups in order to justify their thoughts. This will follow the needs of all my students, as
students who are at different learning speeds will be able to converse with one another in order
to organize their ideas and come to a common agreement of their thoughts.]
c. Describe key misconceptions within your central focus and how you will address them.
[One key misconception found with my central focus is that the legislative branch is more
powerful than the other two branches. I plan to address this when I introduce how congress was
formed by once again highlighting that the branches are in a system where they have to check
one another in order to function to their greatest potential.]
4. Supporting History/Social Studies Development Through Language
a. Language Function. Identify one language function essential for students to learn the
history/social studies content 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
Construct
Describe
Evaluate
Examine
Identify
Interpret
Justify
Locate
[One essential language function for my central focus is construct. I feel that this is an
appropriate function of language, as it will enhance the information that the students will be
gaining in the classroom. Plus this function will allow for a bit of individual learning, which will
help students become more individually aware.]
b. Identify a key-learning task from your plans that provides students with opportunities to
practice using the language function identified above. Identify the lesson in which the
learning task occurs. (Give lesson day/number.)
[In lesson five, students will be constructing a law that they believe is an important issue. They
will strengthen this language function by creating a bill, and constructing an opinion, along with
relevant research in order to convince their fellow students their bill should become a law.]
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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 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?
[In order to accomplish my central focus, students will need to understand what a bill, law,
committee, veto, and floor debate is. Students will do this through demonstrating discourse. My
students already know how to write on a topic, but it appears to be at a basic level. By asking
them to include detail and support for their bills, they will be asked to show great understanding
in both a written form and through verbal presentation.]
d. Language Supports. Refer to your lesson plans and instructional materials as needed
in your response to the prompt.
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 lessons, I will explain my reasoning with different examples and logic. For example,
when explaining my reasoning of why the Virginia Plan would have failed I explain it in terms of
study hall groups in the school and how they would make decisions in a student council type
setting. I find this to be helpful as students are able to further grasp concepts such as that. I will
also continue to ask them the question of why to continue their development of ideas. While this
question does annoy them, I have found it useful so far as it has resulted in students explaining
themselves more than they were at the beginning of the year. Therefore during a learning task, I
will try and gain verbal discourse of their ideas. Prior to a learning task, I will ask them to
construct an answer to the final question of class.]
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 the planned formal and informal assessments provide direct evidence of
how students learn and use facts, concepts, and interpretations or analyses to build and
support arguments about historical events, a topic/theme, or a social studies
phenomenon throughout the learning segment.
[Each day I will require an exit slip as a way for me to track progress and learning from the
students. The first day as they are introduced to the legislative branch, I will require them to
write down some questions they have about congress, along with something they know. This
way I am able to adjust my lesson plans to make them more basic or more in depth. The next
day I will have them answer a question regarding which of the two plans from the constitutional
convention they think would have been more effective, had one of them been chosen. Through
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asking this question it will require them to think about the two plans that were presented and
analyze which may have been more effective if the Great Compromise had not occurred. By
doing this they will also be looking at the facts surrounding the founding of our nations congress
again before they leave for the day. The last informal assessment will ask them to reflect on the
challenge of determining if a law is constitutional through an implied power from the
Constitution. This will require student to reexamine what they know about implied powers and
what they had examined in the Constitution.
The final assessment will ask students to construct a law of their choosing. Through
participating in this assessment, students will need to take facts that they know about the
legislative branchs powers in order to justify their law and prove that it could be a law. Students
will also need to go through each step of the process of law making therefore experiencing the
how the system works, themselves.]
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.
[The design of my planned assessment allows all students needs to be met as it is not specific
for each student at the beginning stages. As students progress I will monitor them and have
individual meetings or group meetings with students. Through these encounters, I will be able
to either adjust it to a more basic level or to a more advanced level to fit the students needs.
For example, for many students I will expect them to have multiple supports for their bill (3-5
pieces of evidence). For some of my students who may struggle more to only have 2-3
supports for their bill. For my students who are more advanced than their classmates, I will
have them construct a bill, and then explain in their reflection how they would propose their bill
to a member of congress if given the opportunity.]

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Secondary History/Social Studies

Task 1: Planning Commentary

TASK 1: PLANNING COMMENTARY

facts and concepts

Secondary History/Social Studies

Secondary History/Social Studies

Secondary History/Social Studies

Vocabulary and key phrases

Secondary History/Social Studies

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

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