Elementary Literacy

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 the essential literacy strategy for comprehending OR
composing text you will teach in the learning segment.
[ ] The central focus of the literacy content is to determine and identify the main topic and
support it with details by gathering, interpreting, and analyzing evidence from the text. The goal
of this learning segment is for the students to be able to analyze text and find meaningful and
purposeful details from a story. Teacher will model how to identify the main topic in a story or
nonfiction literature and analyze text to find details that relate back to the main topic. Thinkaloud will be utilized to model the process of identifying, analyzing, and organizing main topic
and supporting details.
b. Given the central focus, describe how the standards and learning objectives within
your learning segment address

the essential literacy strategy

related skills that support use of the strategy

reading/writing connections

[ ] The essential literacy strategy is to identify the main topic and retell key details from text.
Students will address these standards and learning objects by analyzing text, determining and
identifying the main topic, and retelling key details that relate back to the main topic. Students
prior knowledge will be essential for students to perform these skills and strategies. Identifying
the main topic and retelling key details is an essential skill in literacy that has been modeled,
practiced, and performed throughout the school year. In this learning segment, students will be
identifying the main topic and retelling key details from a nonfiction literature. The reading
literacy skill addressed in this learning segment is heavily connected to writing. In the first grade
standards for writing by Common Core State Standards, students are to name the topic, retell
facts, and provide closure to their writing. Students will go through the stages of the writing
process to guide their writing and help break down the different skills needed to become
competent and proficient writers. The stages of the writing process is prewrite (research), draft
(write), revise, edit, and publishing. During the prewriting stage, students will build background
knowledge and brainstorm ideas to use in their writing by reading their text. Next, students will
draft their writing by introducing their topic, retelling key details, and providing a sense of
closure. Then, students will reread and revise their writing to brainstorm ideas on how to make
their writing better. After, students will edit their draft and look for grammar, spelling, punctuation,
and any other editing that is needed. Lastly, students will publish their writing into their booklets
and illustrate a picture to match each key detail.
c. Explain how your plans build on each other to help students make connections
between the essential literacy strategy to comprehend OR compose text and related
skills that support use of the strategy in meaningful contexts.
[ ] Identifying the main topic and retelling key details is an important skill that will be carried on
throughout the students education. Being able to determine what is important text that supports
the main topic is an essential skill that the students will need to learn. The plan of the lesson is
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Elementary Literacy
Task 1: Planning Commentary

to build students comprehension to identify main topic and provide key details/facts. Students
will self-select a book within their reading ability. They scaffold by identifying the main topic
within the text and analyzing text for supporting details to guide in comprehension.
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.
[ ] Students know how to identify the main topic of the story by asking themselves what the text
mainly focused on. Students have filled out graphic organizers related to main topic and key
details. Students are able to identify the main idea of a fictional text and retell key details.
Students are able to search for key details in a text by rereading, using the table of contents, or
by close reading. Students are able to ask and answer questions using key details from the
story. The class is still learning to distinguish the difference between a fact/key detail and an
opinion from the author or caption that explains a picture. Students are still learning how to read
pictures to obtain new information that the text may not mention.
b. Personal, cultural, and community assets related to the central focusWhat do you
know about your students everyday experiences, cultural and language
backgrounds and practices, and interests?
[ ]Students select books every morning from our classroom library. Books are to be selfselected by the students and their responsibility is to choose books that are appropriate for their
reading level. It is discouraged to select a book that is either too easy or too difficult for the
reader. Students are read to every day and their favorite books are non-fiction informational
books about animals. Students are engaged, explore, learn, and ask questions during read
aloud. During read aloud, the teacher asks questions from the book and students are able to
recall and answer them using evidence from the book. Students have completed a storybook
that focused on sequencing events in chronological order. Living in Hawaii, students do not
have much exposure to wild or different kinds of animals. Through this lesson segment,
students will not only be able to learn more about different animals but learn about the different
habitats each animal lives in and how its different body structures help them survive in their
environment. s
3. Supporting Students Literacy Learning
Respond to prompts 3ac below. To support your justifications, refer to the instructional
materials and lesson plans you have included as part of Planning Task 1. In addition, use
principles from research and/or theory to support your justifications.
a. Justify how your understanding of your students prior academic learning and personal,
cultural, and 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, their assets, and
research/theory.
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Elementary Literacy
Task 1: Planning Commentary

[ ]Confucius believes that education is an ongoing process that never stops until the day we
pass. Every human will learn through his or her own personal experiences and education. I
believe identifying the main topic and searching for supporting details that relate back to the
main topic is a skill that will be useful for students to become college and career ready. It is an
ongoing process for students and the more practice they receive, the better they will become at
finding strong evidence from texts, online websites, and other resources. Confucius also
believed in individualization. Confucius saw each student differently and adjusted his teaching
methods to the needs of his students. Unfortunately, time is short during a school day and it is
near impossible to adjust teaching practices to fit every students need. Allowing students to
self-select their own reading books gives students independence and ensures that students will
select a book that is appropriate at their reading level. Students were being scaffolded
throughout the year to help students identify the main topic and retell key details from a text. It is
a skill that is modeled, practiced, and performed throughout many units in our Language Arts
Wonders Reading Program and a skill used beyond first grade in greater detail. My materials
and learning tasks were designed for students to practice skills that will be needed beyond first
grade such as identifying main topic, retelling key details, going through the writing process to
become proficient writers, distinguishing fact from opinion, and more.
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 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).
[ ] Allowing students to be self-directed and take charge of their learning, students will selfselect an informational text that is appropriate for their reading level. It allows independence for
the students to choose, but also has the students be aware of what is too hard or too easy.
English language learners, struggling readers, and accelerated learners are all able to be
comfortable to choose a text either at their reading level or a little bit harder.
b. Describe common developmental approximations or common misconceptions within
your literacy central focus and how you will address them.
[ ] It is a common misconception in my classroom that everything in the text is true and related
to the main topic. The fact that it is published as a book gives it credibility for students to think
that everything must be true. Students also believe that every sentence is going to relate back
to the main topic. Essentially it is true, but does each sentence support the main topic? Is it
giving a fact or is the author just trying to create a book that is more engaging. To address this
misconception, teacher will model how to choose appropriate facts from a book. Teacher will
give examples of good and bad evidence to allow students to hear the difference. Is the
example stating a fact and telling us more about what we are reading? If yes, this example is an
important evidence that tells more about the main topic.
4. Supporting Literacy Development Through Language
As you respond to prompts 4ad, consider the range of students language assets and
needswhat do students already know, what are they struggling with, and/or what is new to
them?
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Elementary Literacy
Task 1: Planning Commentary

a. Language Function. Using information about your students language assets and
needs, identify one language function essential for students to develop and practice the
literacy strategy 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

Argue

Categorize

Compare/contrast

Describe

Interpret

Predict

Question

Retell

Summarize

Explain

b. Identify a key learning task from your plans that provides students with opportunities to
practice using the language function in ways that support the essential literacy strategy.
Identify the lesson in which the learning task occurs. (Give lesson day/number.)
[ ] Lesson 3: Students will rewrite their writing pieces into their storybooks. Students will retell
their fact/supporting detail rephrased in their own words and publish them into their storybook.
Students will use illustrations to enhance and support their writing.
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 or key phrases

Main topic

Supporting details

Plus at least one of the following:

Syntax
Discourse

Storybook: how to organize information and types of information about the

main topic to include.

[ ]
d. Language Supports. Refer to your lesson plans and instructional materials as needed
in your response to the prompt.

Identify and describe the planned instructional supports (during and/or prior to the
learning task) to help students understand, develop, and use the language demands
(function, vocabulary or key phrases, discourse, or syntax)
[ ] During read aloud, students will be asked guiding questions that will relate to our central
focus. Students will retell key supporting details and/or facts that relate back to the main topic.
Students will be given graphic organizers to organize their details and main topic. Students will
retell facts and key supporting details from their book of choice and complete their organizer.
5. Monitoring Student Learning
In response to the prompts below, refer to the assessments you will submit as part of the
materials for Planning Task 1.
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Elementary Literacy
Task 1: Planning Commentary

a. Describe how your planned formal and informal assessments will provide direct
evidence that students can use the essential literacy strategy to comprehend OR
compose text AND related skills throughout the learning segment.
[ ] During read aloud, students will be given opportunities to buddy-buzz and share answers to
the guiding questions the teacher may ask. This formative assessment is a quick way to check
for understanding throughout the whole classroom to see who got it and who doesnt. The
summative assessment from lesson plan 3 will show if students has met the standard to identify
the main topic and give supporting details that relate back to the main topic. If the student is
able to identify the main topic of their book and give 4 details, the student has met the Common
Core standard.
b. Explain how the design or adaptation of your planned assessments allows students with
specific needs to demonstrate their learning.
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).
[ ] Students with specific needs will be given additional time to complete their work. Allowing
students to choose their own books allows them independence and to self-directed learners
because they are expected to choose a book that is at a level that they are able to read at.

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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.