Edtpa Pfa Planning Commentary Task 1

K-12 Performing Arts
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 of the content you will teach in the learning
segment.
[In these lessons, my central focus is for the students to perform Ukrainian Bell Carol correctly
and musically, with new attention and understanding of the rhythmic pattern (ostinato) and
cultural background and meaning behind the piece. We will explore ostinatos by playing the
main theme of the Bell Carol and by listening to recordings of other pieces which prominently
demonstrate an ostinato. Later, we will even create the opportunity for artistic expression
whereby students will compose their own ostinato patterns to share with the class. Since there
are a few students in the class who are Ukrainian, we will also build the classs contextual
understanding by bringing in family members who can inform the class about Ukrainian
traditions such as folk songs, holidays, food, and costumes. ]
b. Given the central focus, describe how the standards and learning objectives within your
learning segment address creating, performing, and/or responding to
music/dance/theater by applying
knowledge/skills (e.g., tools/instruments, technical proficiencies, processes,

elements, organizational principles)
contextual understandings (e.g., social, cultural, historical, global, personal reflection)

artistic expression (e.g., interpretation, creativity, exploration/improvisation, individual
choices)
[ The entire class will benefit from this focus on the Ukrainian Bell Carol in many ways. Not only
will they achieve the technical ability to play the most difficult part of the song for a playing test,
students will also identify and compare the compositional devices more comprehensively
(ostinato and bell tones). This experience will prompt them to individually consider their cultural
background and how they would compose a New Year's song. By using experiences and ideas
from rehearsal on the Bell Carol, students can expand their understanding of holiday music to a
deeper view of another culture, and explore how it informs their own holiday music-making. ]
c. Explain how your plans build on each other to help students to create, perform, and/or
respond to music/dance/theater and in making connections to knowledge/skills,
contextual understandings, and artistic expression.
[ The scaffolding of the five lesson plans will lead first to a more accurate performance of the
song due to deconstructing the ostinato theme and introducing a formal assessment of their
performance abilities. Then, as the notes, rhythms, and bowings improve, the students will
have increased opportunities to engage and connect with extra-musical aspects of the song.
These include historical, creative, and mathematical perspectives on how to translate their
knowledge to other art forms. For individual students, their encounter with another culture will
better inform their musical performance and allow them to examine their own background in a
new way. For the students who struggle with playing perfectly, the formal assessment of
performance will not be their only grade or chance to prove their ability to contribute in
orchestra. Rather, the assessments will invite students to use their creativity and writing abilities
to synthesize their own interests and the concepts taught to formulate their own musical ideas.
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They can understand the song from a historical perspective even if they are not adept at its
performance.
Also, the formal assessment asks for each student to reflect on their playing and create goals
for the future. Each student, no matter how well they play, can improve in some area. My goal
in assessing their playing tests will be to offer specific and concrete feedback to each student so
that they can focus on a specific area of their playing in a manner that is appropriate to each
students personality, work ethic, and ability. ]
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.
[ All students are able to read music and perform on their instruments, since all have been
playing for at least two years. With that said, there is a great variety of performance ability in the
class since it includes 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. Many students are highly advanced, good
readers (of music and words), and have been in the REACH (Gifted) program. Conversely, the
6th graders in the class have had much less experience playing in an orchestra and are still
applying basic bowing and fingering techniques. A few of these students also struggle with
reading and two students have a need to sit at the back of their sections because they
frequently become unfocused and nervous. For these students in particular, I will be careful to
observe how they are doing and give special attention during the Lesson #3 Playing Test. The
struggling 6th grade cellist in particular will most likely need extra repetitions of the playing test
spot before officially performing it for the video recording, in addition to other learning supports
which are detailed later. ]
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?
[ As mentioned earlier, some of the students in the orchestra have a Ukrainian background
which is one reason why we (the students and I) chose the piece. This piece avails us the
opportunity to make use of parents in our community who have direct experience with this
culture. Even more relevant, one parent in particular was trained in the Ukraine as a musician.
Her presentation and insights into Ukrainian music in particular are certainly a community asset
that the students will benefit from immensely.
In addition to students of other Eastern European cultural backgrounds, the rest of the class
consists of five African-American students, four students with a Latin American background, two
students with family from India, and three Asian American students. In our class, 10 students
speak another language at home (Spanish, Chinese, etc). And also, some students do not seem
to have a strong connection to any culture at all, as their families may be thoroughly absorbed
into the towns well-established American culture. For all of these students, there is certainly
something to be gained by this lesson segments in-depth view of a specific culture.
Some students have unique family situations, such as one student with a white father and
African American mother. One student's father passed away last year. Another student's father
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just got diagnosed with cancer. All of this information is taken into consideration especially when
discussing family traditions and holidays.
In general, the students love to play in orchestra; for them it is an extra-curricular choice. And
yet many students also find time for a wide variety of other activities: one violinist was the lead
role in the play last month, and another is the school's fastest cross country runner. Some
students take piano lessons, sing in a choir, or play on one of the school's sports teams. Others
are highly involved in their church and other cultural activities. An overwhelming percentage of
the students are Christian but not all are practicing. ]
3. Supporting Students Performing Arts Learning
Respond to prompts below (3ac). 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.
[ Earlier in the school year, a student approached my cooperating teacher and me, asking if we
could play the Ukrainian Bell Carol. It is a popular piece for middle school orchestras and upon
hearing it elsewhere, the student wanted to know if it would be appropriate for our orchestra. My
cooperating teacher and I discussed it and quickly determined that it would be an excellent
piece to use. It is very short (only two minutes long) and would be relatively easy to put together.
Research of Vygotsky points to the importance of scaffolding in the lessons, and this song lends
itself perfectly to this research-supported work. By starting with selecting appropriate music,
modeling the desired bowings, and testing the students on the bowings, our class will be led
through the first two elements of scaffolding. Most importantly, it is a quality piece of music with
a wonderful arrangement by a Ukrainian American, Dr. Sandra Dackow who happens to be
one of the most famous arrangers of string orchestra music. The piece features interesting
rhythmic and melodic material and is a familiar holiday tune but it also has an interesting
background and different lyrics in Ukrainian and English. All of this makes for a great choice in
repertoire and a nice short piece to make a lot of comprehensive progress in a five-lesson
sequence.
According to Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development, students at the middle school level are
beginning to understand and use symbols and more abstract concepts. This early
understanding needs reinforcement in real-life examples, and the Ukrainian Bell Carol is a
perfect opportunity to incorporate these cognitive skills into rehearsal. For this song, this
includes identifying how the Ukrainian Bell Carol has many sets of lyrics and applications in
culture and life. Also, students will determine how the symbol of the bell is incorporated into the
sound of string instruments.
Finally, our community has a significant amount of Ukrainian students and families. In
particular, having a parent who is a musician from the Ukraine is a unique opportunity to give
the students a genuine look into Ukrainian culture and music instead of playing an orchestra
version and passing it off as a cultural experience. I am glad that students will be able to get a
better glimpse into this culture and its customs at the expertise of a knowledgeable community
member and parent.]

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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).
[ By including a formal assessment (playing test) in these lessons, I am offering an opportunity
for all the students to individually demonstrate what they have learned during the lessons. Since
it is a very specific individual assessment, I can give specific feedback according to the skill and
need of the student. I realize that each student will not play it the same or completely correct.
However, the goal is for them to improve over time as they learn the piece, practice it, and apply
new knowledge of the ostinato pattern and the cultural meaning of the song. As mentioned
earlier, I am especially conscious of the organizationally-challenged, struggling reader in our
cello section. Not only is it hard for her to read cello music, but she is also absent from half of
the orchestra rehearsals since she also participates in the school choir. For her, I will be
especially sure to let her know ahead of time about the playing test and offer extra opportunities
for her to learn the music and feel successful. If needed, I will write an easier cello part for her,
but I believe she will be able to play the music (albeit slower than the others). Also, I will spend
extra time with her to ensure she has some fingerings and understands the difficult bowing as
best as she can. I realize she will probably struggle the most with the playing test (also due to
the fact that she is absent during half of the orchestra rehearsals for choir class). For this
reason the extra support is necessitated in order for her to feel a measure of success and
perform the piece, even if that means the extra repetitions and also playing at a slower tempo
than the others.
For the gifted students, I will encourage them to try different fingering options, for example not
playing open strings (using 4th finger instead) and also trying 3rd position which is a more
advanced way to play the correct notes. ]
c. Describe common student errors, weaknesses, or misunderstandings within your
content focus and how you will address them.
[ In this piece, common student errors may lie in the time signature of . Counting some of the
notes will feel different than in the common time of 4/4. For this reason we will spend extra
time understanding the rhythm and the three-beat patterns. Also, there is a difficult bowing
(double down) that will need plenty of repetition. We will begin every rehearsal with some
variation of this bowing in order to reinforce this difficult skill.
In addition, I anticipate that some students will be confused about what an ostinato is. We often
get new vocabulary in orchestra derived from Italian terms, and I do not expect students to be
experts at these terms within the first week of learning them. However I want the students to
grasp the concept of ostinatos as soon as possible, so I will make every effort to reinforce their
understanding and eliminate false definitions or misconceptions. For example, students may
think that ostinato refers to the difficult double down bowing we will be working on. I will be sure
to distinguish the difference verbally, visually, and through modeling on an instrument. ]
4. Supporting Performing Arts 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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a. Language Function. Using information about your students language assets and
needs, identify one language function essential for students to learn the performing arts
knowledge 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
Create
Describe
Evaluate
Explain
Identify
Improvise
Perform
Respond
Summarize
[ Since the central focus of these lessons is the performance of the song, I will ask our class to
demonstrate their understanding through the main language function to Perform. With student
help, I will pick only the most difficult eight measures so they have a passage to focus on.
Then, I will ask them to perform it for me with correct rhythm, bowing, and posture (among
other student-determined criteria).]
b. Identify a key learning task from your plans that provides students with opportunities to
practice using the language function. Identify the lesson in which the learning task
occurs. (Give lesson/day number.)
[ The students already received this piece prior to the five lessons and have had a little time to
get acquainted with the notes and rhythms. However I will make sure to give them more
opportunities to practice the piece in class by practicing it during the first two lessons and even
in sectionals. Then, Lesson #3 will include the key learning task, which consists of the students'
performance of playing test for a formal recording. Using the recording, I will assess individually
success in the performance of the eight measures. After this, I will determine whether or not the
whole class is ready to move forward and learn other aspects about the piece, including more
about the Ukrainian culture and featured rhythms. ]
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/or symbols

Plus at least one of the following:
Syntax
Discourse
[ The major vocabulary word in this segment will be ostinato. The word itself is not written
anywhere in their music but we will discuss how it appears musically, in the repeated note and
rhythm pattern. In order to understand the word ostinato, we will identify the origin of the word
(country, use, etc.) and I will use real-life examples to help students understand what the word
means and how to apply it in music. This may sound juvenile, but also the word Ukrainian will
be discussed so all students can learn where Ukraine is, and what the language is like (and how
it differs from English). Finally, we will often be comparing our playing to the sound of bells.
Using this symbol I hope to encourage a more authentic sound as we play bell tones on our
string instruments.
Regarding the syntax of the piece, the bell tones play an integral role in the harmonic context of
the piece. The ostinato is one thing, but the way the bell tones complement it provides much of
the harmonic interest of the piece. By hearing and playing both the ostinato and bell tones,
students will apply their understanding of the syntax of the piece. ]
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d. Language Supports. Refer to your lesson plans and instructional materials as needed
in your response to the prompt below.
Identify and describe the instructional supports (during and/or prior to the learning
task) to help students understand, develop, and use the identified language
demands (vocabulary/symbols, function, syntax, discourse).
[ In order to better understand Ukraine and Ukrainian culture, a map of Europe will be shown in
Lesson #5 so that students can visually identify where the country is in the world. However, this
may only result in a superficial geographical knowledge of the country. In order to gain a
deeper understanding, students with Ukrainian background will be asked to point out where they
come from in Ukraine to help all students understand how it is part of their heritage. Also,
Ukrainian parents will be invited to share their experiences and insights into Ukrainian culture in
an interactive manner.
Every student has heard a bell before, but perhaps few have played them before. In class I will
ask students to imagine they are ringing bells either by pulling on a rope in a carillon, or by
ringing little handbells with a flick of the wrist. By imagining and even acting out this motion, my
hope is that it will translate this symbol into a better sound on their instruments. Also, they will
learn that the dotted half notes in their musical notation are not boring long notes, but rather
they are the beautiful bell tones. The students will recognize how the notation translates into
sound and how to play it in a certain style: with vibrato and extra pull on the beginning of each
note. ]
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.
a. Describe how your planned formal and informal assessments will provide direct
evidence of students creating, performing, and/or responding to music/dance/theater by
applying knowledge/skills, contextual understandings, and artistic expression
throughout the learning segment.
[ During the first two rehearsals, I will be conducting plenty of informal assessments by watching
the students' bows and fingers as they play the warm-ups and as they learn the piece. I will
circle around during warm-ups to give specific feedback, and will continue to watch for
observable improvement from day to day and evidence that they are applying the difficult double
down bowing from the warm-up into the piece itself. On Day 3 I will actually formally assess all
students through recorded playing tests. Upon playing the most difficult eight measures for me,
students will complete a self-evaluation on their playing. Later I will review the videos and write
down my own evaluation on each student's assessment, so that I can see how they felt they
performed and write my own comments. This will also serve to officially give the students a
grade to reflect their preparation and playing on this piece.
During the remaining two lessons, I will give many opportunities for students to respond to and
create their own ostinatos. One day (Lesson #2) will be dedicated to learning about Ukrainian
culture by examining the original lyrics to the song in Ukrainian, and comparing the translation
with another setting of the lyrics in English. We will also look at pictures of traditional Ukrainian
clothes and learn about how the song was first performed in the Ukraine and then in the United
States. Students will be asked to respond to this in the form of exit slips (answering questions
about what they learned) and also by encouraging verbal participation in class. By asking
guided questions I hope to facilitate their responses to the music and the culture. During
Lesson #4, the students will be invited to create their own ostinato and share it with the class
during the scale warm-up. Finally, the understanding of Ukrainian culture will extend all the way

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to Lesson #5 where students will get the chance to learn from and ask questions of real
Ukrainian community members.]
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).
[ As mentioned before, the gifted students and high performers will be given the opportunity to
play with more advance performance techniques. I will not require these things but will
encourage students to use these techniques so that they can learn to play at a higher level if
they so choose. These types of advanced adaptations include going at a faster tempo, paying
special attention to bow placement, and using different fingerings (especially 4th fingers and 3rd
position) to contribute to a better, more characteristic tone.
For students who are underperforming (such as the struggling cellist who also attends choir),
not only will I remind them in advance of the playing test but I will offer extra outside time if they
are willing to come in and get some tips. Also, before these students perform the playing test, I
will be sure to go over it with additional repetitions (compared to other students, whom I will
have them play the excerpt once as a group and them go down the line to record). Due to the
school schedule of one extra period of sectional time per week, this kind of individualized
instruction is possible and the time can be used as needed to strengthen student skills before
moving onto another piece (as I will do with more advanced groups of students).
Another way underperforming students can shine is through other language functions besides
that of performing the playing test. While all students will be required to participate in this main
language function, I realize that students learn in a variety of ways and can demonstrate their
learning respectively. For students who are better at mathematics and patterns, the ostinato
concept exists as something that can be understood in this manner and expanded upon in a
creative manner. For those who prefer to write about their ideas, Lesson #2 includes an exit slip
where students can write about what they learned regarding the background of the piece. Also,
Lesson #3's formal assessment will include a section for students to respond to the New Year
carol prompt. They can examine their own cultural background and apply it in a musical way to
inventing a New Year song of their own. Finally, students can respond verbally and ask
questions of our Ukrainian experts during Lesson #5. Thus, there are many opportunities for
our class's variety of learners to show their understanding in many capacities.]

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K-12 Performing Arts

Task 1: Planning Commentary

TASK 1: PLANNING COMMENTARY

knowledge/skills (e.g., tools/instruments, technical proficiencies, processes,

contextual understandings (e.g., social, cultural, historical, global, personal reflection)

K-12 Performing Arts

K-12 Performing Arts

Copyright 2015 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.

K-12 Performing Arts

Copyright 2015 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.

K-12 Performing Arts

Vocabulary and/or symbols

K-12 Performing Arts

Copyright 2015 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.

K-12 Performing Arts

Copyright 2015 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.

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