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UCLA Center X TEP

ELEMENTARY UNIT/ LESSON PLANNING COMMENTARY

Your Name: Crystal Puentes
Date: 03/12/2014
Unit/Lesson Title: Math Lesson-Decomposing 11-19
Grade Level and Content Area: Kindergarten
Number of Students: 27
Total Amount of Time: 40 min

1. Learning Goals/Standards: What concepts, essential questions or key skills will be your focus? What do
you want your students to know at the end of this unit/lesson?

The objective for the lesson is for my students to be able to decompose numbers 11-19 as a class, in groups, and
individually. By the end of the lesson, the students should have a better understanding of place values and how
numbers 11-19 can be decomposed using groups of tens and ones.

2. Rationale: Why is this content important for your students to learn and how does it promote social justice?

This content is very important for my students to learn because it is the foundation of mathematics. Having a
better understanding of the tens and ones place value is pivotal in their ability to move forward with other topics
in mathematics such as double digit addition and subtraction. This content promotes social justice because the
students will be asked to identify these place values in the future. In addition, students will be given the
opportunity to work collaboratively through the incorporation of pair shares, group work, and class
participation. Each child will be given a diverse array of opportunities to interact with the material, which will
assist them in truly engaging with the lesson.

3. Identifying and supporting language needs: What are the language demands of the unit/lesson? How do
you plan to support students in meeting their English language development needs (including academic
language)?

The students will be exposed to the following vocabulary: decomposing, ones, tens, plus, addition, equals, and
total. English Language learners will be supported through the incorporation of visuals, manipulatives, and
colors. By providing independent work opportunities, pair shares, and group work, students will be given the
chance to not only learn from their peers, but also be exposed to conversation throughout the lesson.

4. Accessing prior knowledge and building upon students backgrounds, interests and needs: How do
your choices of instructional strategies, materials and sequence of learning tasks connect with your students
backgrounds, interests, and needs?

The students recently completed their lesson on decomposing numbers 1-10 with yellow and red chip
manipulatives. To assist the students in transferring what they learned the previous week to what they will be
learning this week; the students will be using the same tools. For my students, this is something that works and
makes sense to them, which is why I decided to not differentiate from what they are comfortable with. In
addition, they truly enjoy taking their learning into their own hands and incorporating colors in the process.
Therefore, on the back of every worksheet, each student will be given the opportunity to be creative and feel
challenged in developing their own decompositions.


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5. Accommodations: What accommodations or support will you use for all students (including English
Language Learners and students with special educational needs, i.e. GATE students and students with IEPs)?
Explain how these features of your learning and assessment tasks will provide all students access to the
curriculum and allow them to demonstrate their learning.
All learners will be given the opportunity to engage with the material being presented through the incorporation
of pair shares, group work, and individual activities being presented. In addition, the students assessments will
differ based on their ability levels. Students who recently tested at the benchmark level will be asked to
complete four problems working with numbers 11-19. Students who tested at the strategic level will be asked
to complete four problems working with numbers 11-17. Lastly, the students who recently tested at the
intensive level will be asked to complete four problems working with numbers 11-14. To assist students with
special needs, the use of visuals, colors, and manipulatives will assist them in engaging with the lesson. Lastly,
all students will be given the opportunity to work with a teacher or the teachers assistant when needed.

6. Theory: Which theories support your unit/lesson plan? (explain the connections)

John Deweys Experience and Education and Barbara Rogoff, Jean Lave, and Etienne Wengers Community of
Learners are two theories that I believe support my lesson plan. John Dewey emphasizes the need for educators
to provide an experience for their students. Activating prior knowledge, providing an engaging environment,
and presenting a purpose for the material being learned; my lesson plan is a combination of interactive moments
that were created to ensure that my students are enjoying and interested in the curriculum being presented.
Also, due to the incorporation of pair shares, group work and class work, Barbara Rogoff, Jean Lave, and
Etienne Wengers theory on creating a Community of Learners is supported in my lesson through the ability for
students to learn from one another. What a student is able to understand and learn individually cannot be
compared to what they are able to acquire by collaborating and communicating with their peers. Therefore, I
believe that my lesson is supported by a combination of both of these theories.

7. Reflection: (answer the following questions after the teaching of this unit/lesson) what do you feel was
successful in your lesson and why? If you could go back and teach this learning segment again to the same
group of students, what would you do differently in relation to planning, instruction, and assessment? How
could the changes improve the learning of students with different needs and characteristics?

I think that the lesson went very well. Although we did run out of time and had to finish the lesson after we
returned from lunch, I felt as though the kids were engaged and we had a great time together. If I could go back
and do things differently, I would probably put away the manipulatives for the students and hand them out
based on the students needs. This will allow the students to focus solely on their worksheet and not feel
tempted to play with the manipulatives until it is really needed. Also, I would probably use a different colored
marker to teach the lesson. Although the students could see the yellow, the color that was chosen was not as
bright and visible as it could have been. Overall, In spite of these two adjustments, the students and I had a
great time learning together and I am happy that they all understood and had fun during the lesson.



**COMMENTARY IS REQUIRED FOR ALL UCLA ELEMENTARY FORMAL OBSERVATIONS **