Sarah O’ConnorPlanning Commentary

EPS 51310/26/12

I am a resident in a first grade classroom at Tarkington School of Excellence in the

Marquette Park neighborhood on the southwest side of Chicago. My lead teach will occur on

November 5th and 6th, and this planning commentary is a rough estimation of the mathematic

skills that will be focused on during those two days.

1. Content Focus and StandardsSummarize the central focus for the content you will teach in this learning segment. Describe the standards that relate to this content.

The central content focus during my lead teach will be counting up and back on the

number line and encouraging the transfer of knowledge from the number line to traditional

addition and subtraction. Tarkington is transitioning to the use of the Common Core State

Standards in the classroom. The Common Core State Standard that aligns with counting up and

back on the number line is 1.OA.5 Relate counting to addition and subtraction (e.g., by counting

on 2 to add 2). An important skill to note is that the transference of number line knowledge helps

children to begin counting on instead of counting all of a specific item. Students will practice

whole group by using a number line on the wall, practice within their own math journals, have

scaffolded whole group instruction in counting on and counting back, and then work

independently. Finally, students will play Bunny Hop, an Everyday Math cooperative game

encouraging counting on to twenty.

2. Knowledge of Students to Inform TeachingDescribe what you know about your students’ prior learning and experiences with respect to the central focus of the learning segment. What do they know, what can they do and what are they are learning to do? Be very specific about how you have gained knowledge about your students.  What sources of data have informed you?  What teaching experiences have informed you? a) Academic development (e.g., prior knowledge, prerequisite skills, ways of thinking in the subject areas, developmental levels, special educational needs)

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Students have progressed through the first two units of study in Everyday Math, and they

are beginning their third unit. Skills have been supplemented as deemed appropriate according to

both formative and summative assessments, and the third unit of study in Everyday Math has

been supplemented as well. Students have a strong grasp of number identification and comparing

two numbers to determine the largest. Basic addition and subtraction skills are steadily emerging

within the group, as evident by their addition and subtraction review on October 23rd and 24th,

where 2/3 of the class demonstrated mastery.

b) Academic Language development (e.g., students’ abilities to understand and produce the oral or written language associated with the central focus and standards/objectives within the learning segment)

Students in first grade took the NWEA MAP test for Mathematics on October 14th, 2012.

Because this learning section focuses on Operations and Algebraic Thinking, those scores were

assessed to gauge a holistic view of students' understanding. Seven students scored in the

twentieth percentile or lower, twelve students scored in the low average percentile grouping (21-

40), and three students scored in the average percentile (41-60). Two students scored in each the

high average (61-80) and the high percentile (80+). A large percentage of the class is

academically behind where they should be, and so lessons must be adjusted to teach to the needs

of the majority of the class.

When taught new academic vocabulary, students are able to incorporate their new words

into their knowledge base after repeated practice and scaffolding. Regarding the math

curriculum, students are quick to identify patterns within speech (example: ______ o’clock), and

they are eager to demonstrate their understanding. Within the classroom, students struggle with

the transference of knowledge and identification of academic language when related to

mathematics. They are able to solve complex verbal number stories and questions related to

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composition and decomposition of numbers. However, when asked to transfer this knowledge to

written work or solving number sentences, students show visible frustration.

c) Family/community/cultural assets (e.g., relevant lived experiences, cultural expectations, and student interests)

At Tarkington School of Excellence, 95.8% of the students are considered low income.

The school also has a high population of Hispanic students and English Language Learners. In

this classroom specifically, 60% is Hispanic and 40% is African American. All students speak

English fluently. However, many of their parents speak only Spanish, which could account for

the language development of these students.

Parent involvement within their child’s education, as evident by the homework returned

to school, is about 80% of the class. Two students in particular have very limited parent

involvement with schoolwork. Conversely, about 1/3 of the class has very involved parents that

reinforce academic concepts at home and hold their children to high expectations. This is seen by

notes written to the school, frequent homework completion, after school conversations and

attendance at Open House and other school events.

d) Social and emotional development (e.g., ability to interact and express themselves in constructive ways, ability to engage in collaborative learning, nature of contributions to a positive literacy learning environment).

Once a week, students participate in small group Math Explorations, where they are able

to explore math manipulatives in both a structured and unstructured way. In addition, math ends

each day with a 5-10 minute game to reinforce prior learning as given by the Everyday Math

Curriculum. These open-ended explorations have helped students to develop the language and

social skills necessary to work collaboratively with their classroom peers on math concepts.

When working in a whole group setting, students are able to raise hands and wait

patiently, respect the contributions of their classmates, and respond to verbal prompts. An

emerging skill for these students is the ability to provide hints or clues to peers regarding

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unknown answers. This is a scaffolded skill for students, and is frequently monitored by both the

residents and the mentor teacher in whole group settings.

e) Learning strategies:  what instructional and learning strategies have been effective for your students?  How do you know?

Students are very responsive to the current structure of a math lesson, which includes 5

minutes of mental math, 15-20 minutes of whole group instruction, 15 minutes of independent

work and 10 minutes of a reinforced math game with their math partner. There are select

students who need more individualized instruction, and small groups will be used to increase

their knowledge base and understanding during the whole group independent work time. Many

students in this class are visual and enjoy the use of manipulatives. This has been gauged by their

choices when available, and the love of drawing seen during writing workshop.

3. Supporting Student Learning Respond to prompts a-e below to explain how your plans support your students’ learning related to the central focus of the learning segment. As needed, refer to the instructional materials you have included to support your explanations. Cite research and theory to support your explanations. a) Explain how your understanding of your students’ prior learning, experiences and development guided your choice or adaptation of learning tasks and materials, to develop students' abilities to successfully meet lesson segment outcomes.

Understanding students’ prior knowledge through their MAP scores, previous

participation in number line games and mental math, and performance on number line activities

guided me to adapt the number line lesson to include more guided practice. In addition,

struggling students’ learning styles demonstrated the need to include more number lines and less

work on a modified sheet for them, providing them with an opportunity to work through their

math problems with visual scaffolding.

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b) How are the plans for instruction sequenced in the learning segment to build connections between students ‟prior learning and experiences and new content skills and strategies?

The Everyday Mathematics Curriculum, created by the University of Chicago, is a spiral

curriculum developed to "substantially raise expectations regarding the amount and range of

mathematics that children can learn" and "to support teachers and children with the materials

necessary to enable the children to meet these higher expectations." (Everyday Mathematics

Teachers Reference Manual p. 2, 2007). Everyday Math was designed to meet the need of how

students in lower grades actually develop their mathematical knowledge, "first through normal

exposure and then through more formal and directed instruction." This facet of Everyday Math

directly correlates to building off of students' prior knowledge. Using a curriculum grounded in

theory allowing for gradual understanding and frequent revisiting of topics permits Tarkington

first graders a more holistic knowledge base.

In addition, Everyday Math employs the use of math games in the curriculum, reinforcing

concepts in a fun way: "Games relieve the tedium of rote repetition, reduce the need for

worksheets, and offer an almost unlimited source of problem material because, in most cases,

numbers are generated randomly" (Teachers Reference Manual, p. 4). With this learning

segment, students will play Bunny Hop, an Everyday Math game designed specifically for

teaching the concept of counting up to 20 on the number line.

c) Explain how, throughout the learning segment, you will help students make connections between skills and strategies in ways that support their abilities to deepen their content learning.

By connecting the idea of counting up to the game Bunny Hop, a game that students

already know how to play, students are able to make a personal connection to deepen their

learning before beginning this lesson. This connection can help students transfer the ability to

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count back, knowing that it is just like moving backwards while playing Bunny Hop. Students

also know how to play the game Rolling to 50, which includes counting back. This connection

can be made for students to help with deeper understanding and transference of knowledge.

d) Describe common developmental approximations and misunderstandings within your content focus and how you will address them.

While working with the number line, students struggle to remember not to count the

number they begin on. I will address this by drawing hop marks above the number line,

demonstrating that each semi-circle counts as one. This can also help students who forget how

many they had counted and need to go back and count again. Another struggle students may

have with the number line is their desire to say the answer is the first or last number given

instead of adding on or subtracting back. In order to combat this, guided practice will be a large

focus before students are released to work independently to practice the correct way to count up

and back on the number line.

e) Describe any instructional strategies planned to support students with specific learning needs. This will vary based on what you know about your students, but may include students with IEPs, English learners, or gifted students needing greater support or challenge.

The Everyday Math curriculum includes extensions for differentiation within each given

lesson. These extensions can be used to differentiate for more advanced learners or struggling

learners. Each lesson includes key concepts and skills that are tied to end of year goals, which

allow educators to use backwards mapping when additional lessons created outside the

curriculum are necessary. With the number line lessons, students that are identified as struggling

with math will receive a modified worksheet that contains the number line on each problem,

allowing for additional practice working with the number line and not just transferring the

knowledge to addition or subtraction.

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4. Supporting Student Understanding and Use of Academic LanguageRespond to the prompts below to explain how your plans support your students’ academic language development. a) Identify the key academic language demand and explain why it is integral to the central focus for the segment and appropriate to students’ academic language development. Consider language functions and language forms, essential vocabulary, and/or phrases for the concepts and skills being taught, and instructional language necessary for students to understand or produce oral and/or written language within learning tasks and activities.

Key vocabulary for this mathematics segment are “number line”, “counting up” and

“counting back”. By focusing on these three key phrases, students are able to understand them.

Students already know what a number line is, and using the language “counting up” and

“counting back” with regards to the number line will help them internalize the concept. Without

understanding these three phrases, students will be unable to complete the exit ticket or the

independent work. They will also struggle with the whole group guided practice, though

scaffolding at that level is simpler.

 b) Explain how planned instructional supports will assist students to understand academic language related to the key language demand to express and develop their content learning. Describe how planned supports vary for students at different levels of academic language development.

Students will all be presented the academic language in a whole group setting. Students

that are ready to be presented the concept of counting on and counting back will be introduced

those terms after knowledge is scaffolded and other students are cold called for responses.

Students that are struggling with the terms will receive increased support by explaining the

concept using Bunny Hop and assisting with physical finger movements while counting aloud.

Terms will be reinforced throughout whole group and small group instruction.

5. Monitoring Student Learning 

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a) Explain how the informal and formal assessments you select and/or designed will provide evidence you will use to monitor student progress toward the standards/objectives.  Consider how the assessments will provide evidence of students’ use of content specific skills and strategies to promote rigorous learning.

Checks for understanding throughout the lessons will provide an immediate informal

formative assessment to gauge the understanding of the class as a whole. If 80% of students are

unable to demonstrate understanding during these checks, the skill can be reinforced before

moving on. Checks for understanding that will be employed include thumbs up down or

sideways to demonstrate level of understanding, using fingers to identify the answer (held at the

chest, not in the air to minimize students looking at others).

Cold call will be another informal assessment used to gauge understanding and allow

students to explain their math thinking for a higher order concept. Cold call ensures whole class

accountability, and while one student is answering, the other students are able to think about

their answer and identify whether they agree (thumbs up) or disagree (thumbs sideways) with the

speaker. This allows more participation and further work with math strategies.

At the end of the lesson, students will answer a two question exit slip. This exit slip

serves as a formal formative assessment, allowing for written confirmation of the teaching point.

If 80% of the class does not succeed on the exit slip, valuable feedback is provided that a specific

skill must be retaught.

b) Describe any modifications or accommodations to the planned assessment tools or procedures that allow students with specific needs to demonstrate their learning.

No students present during this lesson are identified with a disability, though there are

several students receiving Tier 3 interventions within RtI and one student undergoing an

evaluation within the next 45 days. For these students, a small group will be pulled during the

independent practice to further scaffold the learning, and an alternative sheet will be given with

fewer number line problems. This sheet will contain the number line on the top of both the front

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and the back so students can refer directly to it. In the whole group instruction, these students

will be selected for initial, simpler problems progressing upward to the other students in the

class. However, these select students will receive the same exit slip as the rest of the class in

order to gauge the effectiveness of the additional small group work.