UCLA Center X TEP ELEMENTARY UNIT/ LESSON PLANNING COMMENTARY Your Name: Crystal Puentes Date: January 22,

2014 Unit/Lesson Title: Music Lesson- Guitar and Trumpet Grade Level and Content Area: Kindergarten Number of Students: 27 Total Amount of Time: 40-45 minutes

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 key skills and knowledge that I would like my students to know at the end of this unit/lesson are the basic parts, characteristics, and sounds of the trumpet and guitar. In addition, the students should be exposed to concepts of print, be able to compare and contrast the two instruments, and display their understanding of the information being presented in an informal and formal assessment. 2. Rationale: Why is this content important for your students to learn and how does it promote social justice? The content is very important in helping my students learn. As stated by Gardners Multiple Intelligence theory, each individual is a different type of learner (bodily kinesthetic, visual, musical, etc). Therefore, exposing them to instruments that they might have seen, but have yet to learn about in a variety of different ways, allows for the material to be relatable. For example, many of our students have seen or heard these instruments in their homes, community, or parties (mariachi). So their ability to connect with the content is increased because of the associations they are able to make with their personal lives. In teaching something that the students are excited about, they are more willing to participate and are at times unaware that such a lesson also involves phonics, writing, and reading activities that assist in creating an engaging learning environment that is accessible to all students. 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 language demands of the unit lesson consist of 14 words that we will go over with the children (high, low, soft, loud, head, neck, strings, tuning keys, and body, mouthpiece, bell, valves, tuning slide, and the water key). The students will be given the opportunity to collaborate with one another in completing their informal assessment. Also, they will be given the option of working with their neighbor/teacher in completing their formal assessment. The pictorial input chart (drawing of instruments with labels) will be posted in the class at all times and the students will also be able to use the graphic organizer (displaying the differences and similarities of the two instruments). In addition, especially for our English Language Learners, in order for them to

2013-2014

make more connections to the vocabulary, different kinesthetic movements will be associated with the meaning of the words to assist them in their learning. 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? Our pictorial input chart, graphic organizer, display of musical instruments, and kinesthetic movements are all instructional strategies that I believe are aimed at meeting our students needs. The use of visual drawings and labels allows the students to make the connection of the words to the different parts of the instruments. The kinesthetic movements allow the students to use a different method in engaging with the vocabulary. Also, the display and use of different instruments gives the students an opportunity to put their vocabulary into play. Because the students were so excited to watch videos of Mr. Avilas son playing the violin, the interest level in being taught a music lesson we believed was very high. Due to the fact that we had interviewed some of the students for our Community Inquiry Project, we had learned that many of the students enjoyed listening, playing, and dancing to music. Therefore, opening with questions that asked about their experiences and about what they have learned thus far concerning the two instruments allowed for Miguel and I to access their prior knowledge with a topic of high interest. 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. The students will be given the opportunity to use the pictorial input chart and graphic organizer in completing their informal and formal assessments. Having the students work together and collaborate in pair shares throughout the lesson will assist them in understanding the material at a different and more personal level. All students will be provided with concepts of print, visuals, and audio examples to assist them in engaging with the lesson. For students who may need extra assistance, the labeling and identification of the different parts of the instruments will give the students an opportunity to read, understand, and place the vocabulary on the board. If the students are in need of extra assistance in their formal assessment, the ability to work with a teacher or peer is also available. 6. Theory: Which theories support your unit/lesson plan? (explain the connections) Gardners Multiple Intelligence theory supports our unit/lesson plan by offering a variety of strategies in order to engage the students in the topic being discussed. For example, for our visual learners we had incorporated the playing of the guitar (previous day students touched it), and for our kinesthetic learners they will be enacting movements while listening to the instruments. Also, I believe that Vygotskys Sociocultural theory supports our lesson in providing an atmosphere that will focus on our relationships and social interactions with one another in using pair shares, playing of the instruments, and kinesthetic movements. According to Vygotsky, students and all human beings are a result of their social interactions and experiences. Therefore,

2013-2014

our goal during the lesson is to focus on accessing prior knowledge by using open-ended questions that rely heavily on students ability to learn and work together throughout their learning. 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? In reflecting on our lesson, I must say that I was pleased with how everything played out for our first observation. The opening, visuals, instruments, and kinesthetic movements are all things that I really enjoyed. The laughter and smiles that were given throughout the lesson by the students truly acknowledged the fact that they were not only learning through experiences, but were also just having fun. In all honesty, although it was a bit scary because we were being observed, it truly was an engaging lesson that I believe with a few tweaks here and there would be wonderful. In reflecting on things that could be improved, I would say that the modeling of the worksheet would be one. Unfortunately, there was a bit of confusion as to how to complete the worksheet (after we had checked for understanding and asked the students if anyone had any question), but overall I believe that this is definitely something that could be easily fixed in the future. During our conversation with Sue, we were given amazing advice and were provided with other modeling and checking for understanding strategies that I believe would assist the kids in completing their work more independently. Also, because the students were not used to holding onto their work during circle time, the transition from their worksheet time to their closing activity took a little longer and was a bit of a struggle. However, in reflecting on our overall lesson and experience, I must say that I am very proud of our progress thus far and I am looking forward to planning my next lesson.

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

2013-2014