Unit Plan and Commentary
This assignment parallels Depta Task 1: Planning for Instruction and Assessment. For this
assessment, you will first plan 3–5 consecutive mathematics lessons. For the purpose of this
assignment, we will describe these lessons as a unit (this may or may not coincide with a “unit” in
your textbook or curriculum map). Your unit should be consistent with the Common Core State
Standards for Mathematics and the Principles to Actions (NCTM, 2014). The unit should reflect a
balanced approach to mathematics. This means your unit should include lessons in which.
students have opportunities to develop:
• conceptual understanding
• procedural fluency
• mathematical reasoning and/or problem-solving skills
• precise communication
In addition to the actual lesson plans, you will provide justification for your plans in the
Commentary section.
For this assignment, you will complete and submit:
1. Contextual Information about your class (maximum: 3 pages) – OPTIONAL
For those of you who are currently teaching, it is recommended that you complete the
Contextual Information so that you are familiar with this component of the Depta before
you actually have to submit it. However, since not everyone is currently teaching, this is an
optional element of the assignment.
2. Lesson Plans & Instructional Materials (handouts, PowerPoints, etc.)
You are required to submit 3-5 lesson plans AND any instructional materials to be used in
the lessons. NOTE: These lesson plans are NOT the abbreviated versions that you are able
to submit in your teaching setting. The Depta lesson plans must be detailed enough for
the reviewer to understand exactly what will happen in the lesson from beginning to end.
For this reason, it is necessary to include any instructional materials that will be used in
the lesson. Failure to include the associated materials (either by uploading to Canvas or
providing a link) will result in a grade deduction.
3. Commentary
The Depta Commentary is where you provide explanation/justification for your lesson.
plans. For this class, we are doing a “practice” version of the commentary so that you are.
familiar with the prompts and the process. However, the more detail and examples you
include in this practice run, the better prepared you will be for the actual Depta.
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Unit Plan and Commentary
OPTIONAL Context for Learning
For the purpose of this assignment, the Context for Learning is OPTIONAL. However, IF YOU ARE
TEACHING, I strongly encourage you to submit the contextual information for your class. This is a
required component of the Depta. For those of you who are doing the Depta next semester, it is.
especially important to get some experience not only writing up the Context for Learning but also
aligning your Commentary response with this information.
Your School
1. In what type of school do you teach? (Elem, Middle, High)
2. Is it urban, suburban, or rural?
3. List any special features of your school or classroom setting (e.g., charter, coteaching, themed magnet, remedial course, honors course) that will affect your
teaching in this learning segment.
4. Describe any district or school requirements or expectations that might affect your
planning or delivery of instruction, such as required curricula, pacing plan, use of
specific instructional strategies, or standardized tests.
Your Class
1. What is the name of the course (e.g., Algebra II) or the grade-level of the class?
2. What is the class schedule (e.g., 50 minutes every day, 90 minutes every other day)?
3. Is there any ability grouping or tracking in mathematics? If so, please describe how it.
affects your class.
4. Identify any textbook or instructional program you primarily use for mathematics
instruction. If a textbook, please provide the title, publisher, and date of publication.
5. List other resources (e.g., electronic white board, graphing calculators, online
resources) you use for mathematics instruction in this class.
6. Number of students:
Male: Female:
7. How many students in your class have IEPs or 504s? Describe supports,
accommodations, or modifications for these students.
8. How many students in your class are English Language Learners? Describe supports,
accommodations, or modifications for these students.
9. How many students in your class are struggling readers? Describe supports,
accommodations, or modifications for these students.
10. How many students in your class are underperforming or have gaps in academic
knowledge? Describe supports, accommodations, or modifications for these students.
11. How many students in your class are gifted? Describe supports, accommodations, or
modifications for these students.
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Unit Plan and Commentary
LESSON PLANS
Write a lesson plan for each lesson in the unit. Your lesson plans should be detailed.
enough that a substitute or other teacher could understand them well enough to use.
them.
Your lesson plans should include the following information:
• State Standards and Common Core Standards (if you are using the TN standards,
you only need to list the state standards)
• Learning objectives associated with the content standards. What are the specific?
objectives students will meet in the lesson.
• Informal and formal assessments used to monitor student learning, including
type(s) of assessment and what is being assessed
• Instructional strategies and learning tasks (including what you and the students
will be doing) that support diverse student needs.
• Questions that you will ask the students
• Instructional resources and materials used to engage students in learning (submit
all accompanying materials that you would use in this lesson, including student.
assessments)
Individual lesson plans must be no more than 4 pages in length. You will need to condense.
or excerpt lesson plans longer than 4 pages.
For the purpose of ICL 7993 and ICL 4914, you will be required to use the Ready2Teach.
Lesson Plan template. While I recognize that those of you who are currently teaching are
typically, not required to create such detailed plans, the goal is to prepare you for success.
on the Depta. For this reason, we will use the Ready2Teach template (available in the
Course Materials module) for this assignment.
Unit Plan and Commentary
COMMENTARY
Respond to the prompts below. Your commentary should be no more than 9 single-spaced.
pages, including the prompts.
1. Central Focus
a. Describe the central focus and purpose for the content you will teach.
in the unit. Why did you choose this central focus?
b. Given the central focus, describe how the standards and learning.
objectives within your unit address
conceptual understanding
procedural fluency
mathematical reasoning and/or problem-solving skills.
c. Explain how your plans build on each other to help students make.
connections between facts, concepts, and procedures, and to develop them.
mathematical reasoning and/or problem-solving skills to deepen them.
learning of mathematics.
2. Knowledge of Students to Inform Teaching
For each of the prompts below (2a–c), describe what you know about your
students with respect to the central focus of the unit. Consider different student.
needs: students with IEPs, English language learners, struggling readers,
underperforming students or those with gaps in academic language, and/or
gifted students.
a. Prior academic learning and prerequisite skills related to the central focus—
What do students know, what can they do, and what are they learning to?
do?
b. Personal/cultural/community assets related to the central focus—What do.
you know about your students’ everyday experiences, cultural.
backgrounds and practices, and interests?
c. Mathematical dispositions—What do you know about the extent to which.
your students
• perceive mathematics as “sensible, useful, and worthwhile”
• persist in applying mathematics to solve problems
• believe in their ability to learn mathematics
3. Supporting Students’ Mathematics Learning
Respond to prompts below (3a–c). To support your explanations, refer to the
instructional materials and lesson plan you have included in your unit. In
addition, use principles from research and/or theory to support your
explanations.
a. Explain how your understanding of your students’ prior academic.
learning, personal/cultural/community assets, and mathematical
dispositions (from prompts 2a–c above) guided your choice or
adaptation of learning tasks and materials.
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. Be sure to address how your strategies and
supports meet the needs of students with IEPs, English language learners,
struggling readers, underperforming students or those with gaps in
academic knowledge, and/or gifted students.
c. Describe common mathematical preconceptions, errors, or misunderstandings within your central focus and how you will address them.
4. Supporting Mathematics Development Through Language
a. Language Function. Identify one language function essential for students to
learn the mathematics within your central focus. Some examples of
language functions include compare/contract, conjecture, describe,
explain, and prove.
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. (Give lesson
day/number.)
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:
Vocabulary and/or symbols
Mathematical precision (e.g., using clear definitions, labeling axes,
specifying units of measure, stating meaning of symbols), appropriate to
your students’ mathematical and language development
Syntax
Discourse
Unit Plan and Commentary
d. Language Supports. Describe the instructional supports (during and/or
prior to the learning task) that help students understand and successfully
use the language function and additional language demands identified in
prompts 4a-c. In other words, how are you providing support for students to
meet these academic language demands?
5. Monitoring Student Learning
In response to the prompts below, refer to the assessments you will submit as
part of the materials for your unit.
a. Describe how your planned formal and informal assessments will provide direct evidence of students’ conceptual understanding, procedural fluency,
and mathematical reasoning and/or problem-solving skills throughout the
unit.
b. Explain how the design or adaptation of your planned assessments allows students with specific needs to demonstrate their learning. In
other words, how will your assessments allow the following students.
to demonstrate their learning: student with IEPs, ELL students,
struggling readers, underperforming students or students with gaps in
academic knowledge?
more detail and examples you
include in this practice run, the better prepared you will be for the actual Depta. Use APA referencing style.
