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ELEMENTARY UNIT/ LESSON PLANNING COMMENTARY

Your Name: Crystal Puentes
Date: May 15th, 2014
Unit/Lesson Title: U.S. Symbols and Landmarks
Grade Level and Content Area: Third
Number of Students: 28
Total Amount of Time: 50-55 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 of the lesson is for students to learn about different symbols and landmarks in the United States.
The students will be asked to learn the vocabulary and be able to identify the following: American Flag,
California Flag, Statue of Liberty, White House, State Capital, U.S Constitution, Golden Gate Bridge, U.S
Capital Building, Bald Eagle, California Flag
2. Rationale: Why is this content important for your students to learn and how does it promote social justice?
This content is important for my students to learn because the symbols and landmarks in the lesson are items
that my students will continually be exposed to. By discussing the meaning of these symbols, my students will
also learn why these items are important in the United States. This lesson will not be the first or last time that
they will be exposed to this material; learning this content will benefit their academic progress in the future.
This lesson also promotes social justice because it is closely tied to their previous lesson on what it means to be
good citizens and the rights that we have as human beings in this country.
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!?
"he students will be asked to learn the following vocabulary# symbols, $merican %lag, &alifornia %lag, 'tatue
of (iberty, White House, 'tate &apital, )*' &onstitution, +olden +ate ,ridge, )*' &apital ,uilding, ,ald
Eagle, &alifornia %lag* - plan on supporting students in meeting their English language development needs
through the incorporation of visuals, pair shares, group work, and whole classroom responses* -n addition,
because - strongly believe in the power of hands.on activities in learning, the students will also be able to put
their learning into practice throughout the lesson* %rom orally saying the vocabulary to using it in their writing,
they will be given multiple ways to comprehend and acquire the material*
4. Accessing prior knowledge and building upon students backgrounds, interests and needs: How do
your choices of instructional strategies, materials and sequence of learning tasks connect with your students/
backgrounds, interests, and needs?
My students are very interested in sports. Therefore, I thought it would be a great idea to take some of their
interests and incorporate them into my lesson about symbols and landmarks in the United States. Soccer teams,
restaurants, fast food places, Disneyland, Lego land, and movies are all popular places that are known and
represented by certain colors or symbols. By making a connection with items that the students are already
familiar with, their ability to understand and acquire the information will increase. Also, the students recently
learned about what it means to be a good citizen and I think what was learned will tie in very nicely to the
material being discussed in the lesson. Understanding our rights as human beings and the importance of our
responsibilities, our freedom is closely tied to how we are as individuals and the choices that we make.
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. Acco!!odations: What accommodations or support will you use for all students including English
(anguage (earners and students with special educational needs, i*e* +$"E students and students
with -E0/s!? E1plain how these features of your learning and assessment tasks will provide all
students access to the curriculum and allow them to demonstrate their learning*
To accommodate and support all of my students, my focus for the lesson is on collaboration. Creating an
activity for students to work together, my students will be given a chance to use the vocabulary with their peers
as they complete their puzzle and worksheet. In addition, because the majority of my students are English
Language Learners (levels 2&3), the incorporation of visuals and media is imperative in their understanding of
what each term means and signifies. If students are in need of additional help, a teacher will be available.
However, oral communication and interaction with their peers will be emphasized.
". #$eor%: Which theories support your unit/lesson plan? e1plain the connections!
The theories that support my lesson plan is
The theories that support my lesson are Barbara Rogoff, Jean Lave, and Etienne Wegners Community of
Learners and Luis Molls Funds of Knowledge. Barbara Rogoff, Jean Lave, an Etienne Wegner all emphasize
the significance of collaboration in learning. Supporting my students as they work together to understand and
learn the material, they are then able to take their learning into their own hands. By emphasizing their
participation and interaction throughout the lesson, students will be able to learn from one another during the
completion of their individual and group activities. As stated by Luis Moll, each student enters the classroom
with knowledge that should be valued and embedded in the curriculum. For this reason, I incorporated items of
interest and symbols that my students are familiar with, contributing to their formation and acquisition of the
material. 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?
The lesson went well. The students had a great time with the opening activity where they named the different
symbols and landmarks from around the world. Seeing their favorite soccer teams and being able to come
together in knowing the different items being displayed on the power point; my students had a great time and
were completely engaged from the very beginning of the lesson. Once we started the scavenger hunt, the kids
had a blast. It was amazing and the kids were excited about being able to work together to complete an activity
that they had never done before. If I could go back and change a few things, I would probably break down the
activity into steps. Giving everyone two minutes to find and read their symbols together and then transitioning
to giving each group two minutes to put their puzzle pieces together; my students would then all know the
expectations that I have of them for each segment of the activity. Also, because the lesson felt a bit rushed and
the students were not able to spend as much time critically thinking about each symbols and landmark, I would
also probably take out one activity to allow this communication and discussion to occur. Overall, I am pleased
with how the lesson went, but I do think that making these two adjustments would assist the students in not only
learning about the symbols and landmarks, but also critically thinking about the meaning that these symbols
have to them personally as individuals.
**COMMENTARY IS REQUIRED FOR ALL UCLA ELEMENTARY FORMAL OBSERVATIONS **
2013-2014