SubTwo Content Knowledge

Ryan Leis
Melinda Langeberg
EDTPA Task 1
Planning Commentary
1. Central Focus
a. Describe the central focus and purpose of the content you will teach in this
learning segment.
The central focus for this learning segment will be to identify
themes in The Crucible, and then locate and analyze these themes
throughout several other texts. Then to use these themes to create
an argument which will be applied to a literary analysis of a text
using reasoning and evidence to support your claims. To
understand literature it is necessary for the student to be able to
identify and understand themes.
b. Provide the title, author, and a short description of salient features of the
text(s) that a reviewer of your evidence, who is unfamiliar with the text(s),
needs to know in order to understand your instruction. If there is more than
one text, indicate the lesson(s) where each text will be the focus.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play written in 1953. It is a
fictionalized version of the Salem witch trials. In the play a group of
young girls start to spread lies and accuse people of witchcraft to
cover up the fact that they were dancing and doing other things in
the woods that they werent supposed to be doing. Things quickly

spiral out of control as people in the town get worked into a frenzy
about satan being in control. Central themes and ideas involved in
the play include, injustice, people using religion for horrible things,
standing up for your honor
A Soldier for the Crown is a short story by Charles Johnson about
three slaves going to fight in the Revolutionary War for a chance at
gaining their freedom. The story is told from 2nd person narration
with a twist at the end.
c. Given the central focus, describe how the standards and learning objectives
within your learning segment address students abilities to use the textual
references to
i. Construct meaning from, interpret, or respond to complex text
ii. Create a written product, interpreting or responding to complex features of a
text.
The students will investigate how a theme from The Crucible is represented in a variety of
literary and informational texts to construct meaning from text. To understand the
meaning of a text a student must be able to identify and analyze theme.
Students will analyze how the theme is presented which is connected to interpreting or
responding to complex features of a text. Themes can often be complex and difficult to
understand.

Students will develop an understanding of how societys values are influenced by events of
the time period. Draw evidence from the text to support analysis and reflection of theme

which is connected to interpreting complex text. To draw upon evidence in the text will you
need to understand it.

d. Explain how your plans build on each other to help students make
connections between textual references, constructions of meaning,
interpretations, and responses to a text to deepen their learning of English
Language Arts
Reading The Crucible, the students will identify multiple themes
from the play, analyze and form opinions on these themes. The
following lessons will then build off of that when we proceed to read
A Soldier for the Crown identifying new themes but also trying to
find themes from The Crucible that are also present in this story.
The students will then analyze and interpret how these themes are
being used in A Soldier for the Crown. Analyzing and interpreting
these themes are building towards the summative assessment of
creating an argumentative essay.
2. Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching
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.
The students have previously read plays and short stories, and so
they understand the genres and characteristics of them. They have
done literary analysis before. They are in the process of learning

and understanding theme, how to identify and analyze theme and

then to form thesis statements from those themes to create an
argumentative essay
b. Personal, cultural, and community assets related to the central focus What
do you know about your students everyday experiences, cultural and
language backgrounds and practices, and interests?
My students come from an area that is only mildly diverse culturally.
The school district has about 85% white/non-Hispanic population.
The Crucible consists of almost exclusively white, Christian
characters, but A Soldier for the Crown deals with slavery and
African-American characters. My students do have diverse
backgrounds and come from different cultures but exposure to this
content should also be new and informative to many of them. In
todays world, religion, culture and tolerance are very prominent
issues and my students have shown great interest in these issues in
the past and so discussing such issues in these lessons should be
something that they fully engage in.
3. Supporting Students English Language Arts Learning
a. Justify how your understanding of your students prior academic learning and
personal, cultural, and community assets (from prompts 2a-b 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.

The mild level of diversity within the district showed me that I

would need to provide multiple examples of texts that show
common themes, especially one of them being injustice. I also
supplemented this with additional resources such as the TED video
to provide additional context for the students. The students
knowledge of the genres growing understanding of theme and
forming arguments also meant that with some additional support
provided in the lessons they would be able to create the literary
analysis at the desired level.
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.
There is ample differentiation within this unit for a class that
consists of 16 males, 14 females, 2 ELA students, and 2 IEP
students. By using several instructional strategies such as small
and large group discussion, modeling, video etc I am able to
provide each student with the individualized learning they need to
be successful.
c. Describe common student errors or misunderstandings within your central
focus and how you will address them.
Students often struggle with developing specific themes. They
often make them much too broad and because of that it is difficult
for them to form an opinion that can be argued for and against. I

will address this by modeling several themes for the students so

that they have a representation that they can refer to when they
are creating their own. I will then take class work time to meet
briefly with each student to discuss the theme and argument they
have formed to know whether or not they have done it properly.
4. Supporting English Language Arts Development Through Language
a. Language Function. Using information about your students language assets
and needs, identify one language function essential for students 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.
The language functions essential for student learning within my
central focus are to analyze and argue. The students must be able
to analyze themes found in the text so that they can form opinions
to create a thesis statement to argue for and against in their
literary analysis.
b. Identify a key learning task from your plans that provides students with
opportunities to practice using the language function identified above.
Identify the lesson in which the learning task occurs.
The key learning task that gives students the opportunity to
practice using (Analyze) is the small group discussion following the
modeled reading of A Soldier for the Crown, where they will discuss
and analyze the themes common throughout the texts.
The key learning task that gives students the opportunity to
practice using (Argue) their literary analysis which consists of an

argumentative essay where they will have to gather evidence from

the text to support their position.
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:
The students will be given a vocabulary sheet for The Crucible as it
is set in the 17th century and uses a substantial amount of
antiquated language. The syntax that students will need to
understand in A Soldier for the Crown is its structure due to the
story being written in 2nd person narration. The students know that
this language and style of writing is very unique and rarely used
and they will need to understand the authors purpose in using it.
d. Language supports. Refer to your lesson plans and instructional materials as
needed in your response to the prompt.
i. Identify and describe the planned instructional supports to help students
understand, develop, and use the identified language demands.
The students will be given a vocabulary sheet to help guide them
with words that they may not be familiar with. This sheet will help
them to understand these words, how and why they are used, and
why they are important.
I will also be doing a guided reading where I explain the syntax used
in the 2nd person narration to help the students to understand its
use.
5. Monitoring Student Learning

a. In response to the prompts below, refer to the assessments you will submit
as part of the materials for Planning Task 1.
i. Describe how your planned formal and informal assessments, including a
written product, will provide direct evidence of students abilities to construct
meaning from, interpret, OR respond to a complex text throughout the
learning segment.
The vocabulary sheet from The Crucible will show that the students
have been informed of key terms and their meanings and context of
use. When interpreting text it is important that the students
understand the language that is being used in the text.
The guided discussion worksheet will help draw the students
attention to the important aspects of the text such as syntax,
structure, themes, symbols, etc
The informal assessment that I will do of each students thesis
statement will tell me whether or not they are understanding theme
and how to form an argument.
ii. Explain how the design or adaptation of your planned assessments allow
students with specific needs to demonstrate their learning.
The vocabulary sheet will be given with plenty of time for the
students to come to me with any questions that they might have.
The guided worksheet will come after a guided reading A Soldier for
the Crown and I will be coming around for support during their
completion of it as well. The assessment of the students thesis

statements will allow me to spend as much time as needed with

each student to see where their understanding is at.

Rationale:
This is a practice EDTPA that we did in my methods course. It focuses
on the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. This EDTPA demonstrates my
knowledge of the play as well as details on how I would implement the play
into a classroom unit. The level of detail needed in an EDTPA exhibits the
knowledge of the content that is required for this part of the portfolio.