TASK 1: PLANNING COMMENTARY

Respond to the prompts below 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 for the content you will teach in the learning segment.

b. Given the central focus, describe how the standards and learning objectives within your learning segment address students' development of communicative proficiency in the target language

- in meaningful cultural context(s)

- with a focus on all three modes of communication:

- Interpretive

- Interpersonal

- Presentational

c. Explain how your plans build on each other and make connections between language forms and language functions to help students develop communicative proficiency in the target language within meaningful cultural context(s).

Consider how you make connections between language forms (e.g., vocabulary and grammar) and the accomplishment of language functions (e.g., expressing self, greeting others, introducing family members and friends, ordering food, giving advice).

2. Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching

For each of the prompts below (2a-b), 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, readers who struggle in their first language, students at varying levels of language proficiency, students who are underperforming or those with gaps in academic knowledge, heritage-language speakers, and/or gifted students).

a. Prior academic learning and prerequisite skills related to the central focus-Cite evidence of what students know, what they can do, and what they are still learning to do.

b. Personal/cultural/community assets related to the central focus-What do you know about your students' everyday experiences, cultural backgrounds, practices, and interests?

3. Supporting Students' Communicative Proficiency in the Target Language

Respond to prompts below (3a-d). To support your justifications, refer to the instructional materials and lesson plans you have included as part of Task 1. In addition, use principles from Second Language Acquisition/Teaching research and/or theory to support your explanations.

a. Justify how your understanding of your students' prior academic learning and personal/cultural/community assets (from prompts 2a-b above) guided your choice or adaptation of language tasks and materials. Be explicit about the connections between the learning tasks and students' prior academic learning, assets, and research/theory.

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, readers who struggle in their first language, students at varying levels of language proficiency, students who are underperforming or those with gaps in academic knowledge, heritage-language speakers, and/or gifted students).

c. Explain how the language tasks promote comparisons and connections between the experience and knowledge students bring (i.e., students' prior academic learning and personal/cultural/community assets) and the cultural practices, products, and perspectives of the target language.

d. Describe common errors and misconceptions about the target language and/or the cultural practices of the target language within your content focus and how you will address them.

4. Monitoring Student Development of Communicative Proficiency in the Target Language

In response to the prompts below, refer to the assessments you will submit as part of the materials for Task 1.

a. Describe how your planned formal and informal assessments will provide direct evidence of students' development of communicative proficiency in the target language in meaningful cultural context(s) throughout the learning segment.

b. Explain how the design or adaptation of your planned assessments allows students with specific needs to demonstrate their development of communicative proficiency in the target language in meaningful cultural context(s).

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, readers who struggle in their first language, students at varying levels of language proficiency, students who are underperforming or those with gaps in academic knowledge, heritage-language speakers, and/or gifted students).