6th Grade - Gateway 2
Back to 6th Grade Overview
Note on review tool versions
See the series overview page to confirm the review tool version used to create this report.
- Our current review tool version is 2.0. Learn more
- Reports conducted using earlier review tools (v1.0 and v1.5) contain valuable insights but may not fully align with our current instructional priorities. Read our guide to using earlier reports and review tools
Loading navigation...
Building Knowledge
Building Knowledge with Texts, Vocabulary, and TasksGateway 2 - Partially Meets Expectations | 81% |
|---|---|
Criterion 2.1 | 20 / 24 |
Criterion 2.2: Coherence | 6 / 8 |
The grade 6 materials include core and supplemental texts organized around the topic or theme of “coming of age” to promote knowledge building. Materials provide opportunities for students to analyze key ideas and details according to grade-level standards and include coherently sequenced questions and tasks to support students in developing these skills. They also include sequences of text-based questions and tasks that support students’ abilities to integrate knowledge and ideas in individual texts and across multiple texts. The materials provide opportunities for students to improve their analytical skills through questions and tasks that are purposefully sequenced to assist students in deepening their understanding of texts.
Throughout the program, the majority of tasks and assessment questions are aligned with the grade-level standards. However, the materials provided are high-level lesson skeletons that can not be used for instruction to fully meet the grade-level standards. By the end of the school year, most standards are repeatedly addressed by the program.
The grade 6 materials provide the teacher with a clear pacing guide for the school year, and the implementation schedule provided may be reasonably completed in a school year because there are fewer lessons provided than average school days, allowing teachers the freedom to add re-teach lessons or extend others.
Criterion 2.1
Materials build knowledge through integrated reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language.
The grade 6 materials include core and supplemental texts organized around the topic or theme of “coming of age” to promote knowledge building. Materials provide opportunities for students to analyze key ideas and details according to grade-level standards and include coherently sequenced questions and tasks to support students in developing these skills. They also include sequences of text-based questions and tasks that support students’ abilities to integrate knowledge and ideas in individual texts and across multiple texts. The materials provide opportunities for students to improve their analytical skills through questions and tasks that are purposefully sequenced to assist students in deepening their understanding of texts.
The program includes culminating tasks that allow students to demonstrate knowledge of the unit topics and themes by integrating reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Though the culminating tasks focus primarily on writing skills, students fulfill the grade level standards across the year. While there is writing practice, there is insufficient explicit writing instruction. In addition, while the materials include research projects to build knowledge, there is neither a clear progression of research skills in the assignments moving from providing more scaffolding to less scaffolding nor an increase in rigor in the research-based assignments. Moreover, the Teacher Tools include some general information about teaching research-based assignments in the classroom but the lesson-specific information about how to teach individual lessons is lacking.
Indicator 2a
Texts are organized around a cohesive topic(s) to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently.
The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 2a.
Materials include core and supplemental texts organized around the topic or theme of “coming-of-age” to build students’ ability to read and comprehend texts independently and proficiently. The Course Summary states that students “read texts that feature protagonists from diverse backgrounds, places, and time periods, all of whom face significant challenges as they struggle to define their identities and claim their place in the world. The stories of these young people are simultaneously unique and universal, and students will likely recognize parts of themselves in these texts, even as they are introduced to characters whose lives may initially look very different from their own.” Each unit begins with a clear statement of how that unit’s materials fit within the theme and what students will be learning. Essential Questions support the theme that students explore; the texts explore literary characters’ coming of age and real-world stories and questions that build upon the initial theme. Students critically think about real-world applications of the theme in their own lives. The associated tasks connect to the theme and require students to demonstrate their understanding in various ways. The text sets, including informational texts, build knowledge and students’ content knowledge and ability to read and comprehend complex texts across a school year.
Texts are connected by a grade-appropriate cohesive topic/theme/line of inquiry. Texts build knowledge and the ability to read and comprehend complex texts across a school year. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
In Unit 1, texts are organized around the unit theme of Developing Resilience and connect to the yearlong theme, “coming of age.” The materials state, “Students explore the topic of ‘coming of age’ through the story of an African-American boy growing up during the civil rights era, and his family's strong bond in the face of tragedy.”
The Unit Prep section includes the Essential Questions which refer to the theme: “How do personal and historically significant events shape the way a person sees the world? How do family dynamics shape a person’s identity?”
The Enduring Understandings for the unit also help students understand the theme: “All experiences in a person’s life, both positive and negative, shape a person’s view of the world and of themself. Coming of age sometimes includes a loss of innocence—a realization that the world is less simple, kind, or fair than we previously believed.”
In Lesson 1, students start reading the core text, The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis.
In Lesson 6, students read the supplemental nonfiction article, “Siblings Share Genes, But Rarely Personalities”, and write an objective summary.
In Lesson 21, students read the supplemental nonfiction article, “‘Segregation Forever’: A Fiery Pledge Forgiven, But Not Forgotten” and view three photographs to explain the impact of the article.
Throughout the unit, students read the core text and 13 other texts centered on the theme. The texts directly grow students' knowledge as they work toward the Essential Questions and Enduring Understandings.
In Unit 3, texts are organized around the unit theme of Expressing Yourself and the yearlong theme, “coming of age.” The materials state, “Students explore the topic of ‘coming of age’ through stories about the experiences of professional female artists of color who have fought to claim their space in a world that has long excluded people who look like them.”
The Unit Prep section includes the Essential Questions which refer to the theme: “Why do people make art? Why does an artist’s identity matter? What are some of the obstacles female artists—and specifically female artists of color—encounter?
The Enduring Understandings for the unit also help students understand the theme: “Women and minority artists have historically faced many obstacles to their success, and the fight against prejudice and discrimination in the art world continues today. Art is a powerful way to express oneself and one’s own identity and can be a platform for an artist to communicate their unique perspective to the world. All people benefit from the inclusion of more diverse voices in the art world.”
In Lesson 1, students begin reading the core text, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, by Misty Copeland, who encounters many experiences as a ballerina of color that lead to her coming of age in the world of professional dance. Knowledge students gain connects to the Essential Questions in the unit, including “Misty Copeland is an African American ballerina who is famous for breaking barriers within ballet; Copeland’s performance as the first Black woman to play the Firebird is historically and personally significant.”
In Lesson 8, students watch a documentary, A Ballerina’s Tale, directed by Nelson George. Students answer Close Read Questions which connect to the Enduring Understandings of the unit, such as “How do the interviews with other dancers from 00:19:16-00:23:04 help develop your understanding of race and racism in ballet? Why is it helpful to hear other dancers’ experiences?”
In Lesson 13, students “Describe gender and racial discrimination in the art world, and how the Guerrilla Girls have responded to this issue through art and activism.” Students read the article, “The Guerrilla Girls: 'We upend the art world’s notion of what’s good and what’s right'” by Nadja Sayej and watch the video “Guerrilla Girls – 'You Have to Question What You See' | Artist Interview | TateShots” by Tate.
Throughout the unit, students read the core text and 13 other texts centered on the theme. The texts directly grow students' knowledge as they work toward the Essential Questions and Enduring Understandings.
In Unit 5, texts are organized around the unit theme of Fleeing Conflict and the yearlong theme, “coming of age.” The materials state, “Students explore the topic of ‘coming of age’ through the stories of young refugees from different time periods, all of whom face unthinkable hardships as they desperately seek safety.”
The Unit Prep section includes the Essential Questions which refer to the theme: “Why do people make the decision to flee their homes and seek refuge elsewhere, and what are they willing to sacrifice to find safety? How do people respond when they see others in need? What does it mean to ‘come of age’ during times of crisis and war?”
The Enduring Understandings for the unit also help students understand the theme:
“Refugees are people who choose—or are forced—to flee their homes because of war, political unrest, violence, or persecution. Currently, there are millions of refugees around the world—the highest number in recorded history.
The Syrian civil war has sparked one of the largest refugee crises in recent history as many millions of people have left the war-torn country seeking refuge and asylum elsewhere.
Refugees often face extreme hardships and even risk death in their search for safety for themselves and their families.
The response to refugees can vary widely; some individuals and governments are welcoming, while others are unwelcoming or even hostile to those who seek their help.”
In Lesson 2, students read The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown and the website How to Read Comics by Tracy Edmunds. Students connect to the Essential Questions when considering the reason why the Syrian refugees flee their homes. For example, in the Writing Prompt, students answer the following question: “Why did many people make the decision to flee their homes and leave Syria? Provide evidence from both the text and images to explain your answer.”
In Lesson 8, students read Refugee by Alan Gratz to gain knowledge that “Mahmoud’s whole family survives the bombing, but his father decides that they need to leave Syria immediately.”
In Lesson 10, students continue their reading of Refugee by Alan Gratz and “Explain how Refugee can be considered a ‘coming-of-age’ novel and describe how each of the three protagonists are changing as the text progresses.” The reading and activities connect to the overall grade-level theme and the Essential Questions for the unit.
Throughout the unit, students read the two core texts and two other texts centered on the theme. The texts directly grow students' knowledge as they work toward the Essential Questions and Enduring Understandings.
Indicator 2b
Materials require students to analyze the key ideas, details, craft, and structure within individual texts as well as across multiple texts using coherently sequenced, high quality questions and tasks.
The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 2b.
Materials provide opportunities for students to analyze key ideas and details according to grade-level standards. Students determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular key ideas and details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments; and analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes). Materials include coherently sequenced questions and tasks to support students in developing these skills. Students analyze craft and structure according to grade-level standards, such as determining the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyzing how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the ideas; and determining an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text. These skills are systematically built over the course of the unit through increasingly complex Close Reading Questions, Discussion Questions, and Writing Prompts to complete the Socratic Seminar and Content Assessment.
For most texts, students analyze key ideas and details (according to grade-level standards). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
In Unit 1, Developing Resilience: The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963, students participate in a Socratic Seminar about the main ideas and themes from The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis.
In Lesson 1, students answer a Writing Prompt about the big ideas introduced in the first chapters: “How does Momma and Dad's discussion of Birmingham (and the American South more generally) help to establish the setting of The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963?”
In Lesson 4, students show how the story unfolds by answering the Writing Prompt: “How and why do Kenny’s feelings toward Larry Dunn change over the course of this chapter? Support your answer with two pieces of specific evidence from the text.”
In Lesson 12, students answer the Writing Prompt with key ideas: “Write a 5–6 sentence objective summary of Chapter 9 of The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963.” The lessons build knowledge of the novel and support students to participate effectively in the Socratic Seminar.
In Unit 3, Expressing Yourself: Women in the Arts, students complete a research-based presentation about a female artist and the impact that their work has had on contemporary culture. Throughout the second part of the unit, students focus on determining the central ideas of multiple texts and how those ideas are conveyed through details.
In Lesson 13, students answer a series of questions about the informational texts they read, and the Writing Prompt states: “Based on what you have read and watched today, how do you think the Guerilla Girls would answer the following question: ‘What do you hope to see in the future in the art world?’ Support your answer with at least one piece of evidence/ example from the article and/or the video.”
In Lesson 15, students answer a series of questions about the informational texts they read and respond to the Writing Prompt: “Based on the sources you have read and watched today, how do you think Jaune Quick-to-See Smith would answer the following question: ‘Why do you make art?’ Provide details from at least two sources to support your answer.”
In Lesson 17, students answer a series of questions about the informational texts they read and respond to the Writing Prompt: “Based on the sources you have read and watched today, how do you think Favianna Rodríguez would answer the following question: ‘Why do you make art?’ Provide details from both sources to support your answer.” The repetitive practice with different types of informational texts related to the same ideas gives students a chance to develop their skills with different scenarios and use them in the culminating task when they conduct their own research and create a presentation.
In Unit 4, Finding Connection: The Outsiders, students determine themes in multiple texts.
In Lesson 7, students complete tasks to “Determine the theme of ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’ and explain how poet Robert Frost uses literary devices to develop that theme.” Students answer the Writing Prompt: “What is the theme of the poem, ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’? How does Robert Frost develop this theme? Support your answer with specific words and phrases from the poem.”
In Lesson 14, students identify themes in The Outsiders by S,E, Hinton and explain how the author develops those themes. The Objective states, “Identify themes in The Outsiders and explain how Hinton develops these themes in Chapter 12.”
For most texts, students analyze craft and structure (according to grade-level standards). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
In Unit 2, Challenging Authority: The Giver, Lesson 2, students analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot. Students focus on explaining how “specific words, sentences, and passages in the first two chapters of The Giver help establish the setting.” A series of Close Read Questions include:
“Read the first two pages of the text. What sentence of the text first indicates to the reader that Jonas’ world is different from our own? Explain how this specific sentence demonstrates the difference between the two worlds.
Select two details from pages 6-8 and carefully explain how they help to establish the setting of the book.
How does the family’s discussion of the newchild on pages 9–11 help to establish the setting? Provide at least two pieces of evidence from the text, and explain your thinking.
What is a transgression? What happens if there is a transgression?”
Materials provide additional opportunities to practice the same skills with the
same core text in Lessons 5, 6, and 13. In Lesson 22, students read the informational text, “Kids Must Learn to Control Their Own Screen Time” by John Kielman, and answer questions, such as: “Read the third paragraph of the essay. What is the purpose of this paragraph? How does it contribute to the development of ideas in the essay?”
In Unit 4, Finding Connection: The Outsiders, Lesson 1, students' instructions state: “Explain how S.E. Hinton begins to develop the narrator’s point of view in The Outsiders.” Students answer the Writing Prompt: “How does Hinton develop the idea that the way others see him (and greasers in general) affects the way Ponyboy feels about himself? Provide two pieces of evidence from chapter 1 to support your answer, and be sure to explain your thinking.” In Lesson 3, students analyze how the author develops Ponyboy’s point of view when responding to a series of Close Read Questions:
“How does Cherry view greasers? Does Ponyboy share her point of view? Provide two pieces of evidence from pages 37–38.
How does Ponyboy’s perspective of his family differ from the way Johnny sees it? How does Ponyboy’s beliefs about his family impact his behavior? Provide two pieces of evidence from page 42 and page 51 to support your answer and explain how the author develops their differing perspectives.”
Materials provide additional opportunities to consider points of view, connecting
to the same core text, in Lessons 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, and 13.
In Unit 5, Fleeing Conflict: Refugee & The Unwanted, students create a group informational presentation on a current refugee crisis somewhere in the world while reading Refugee by Alan Gratz and The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown. To develop the skills for this research and presentation, students practice the reading skills of understanding the text by looking at how information is developed and built over the course of the text.
In Lesson 2, students answer Close Read Questions to analyze how Brown builds the ideas in the texts, such as: “How do pages 2 through 5 develop your understanding of the setting? Why did Brown most likely open the text with these images? Support your answer with specific details from these pages. How does Brown use text and images on pages 8–9 to communicate the public’s response to the imprisonment of the Dara’a boys? Provide at least two details from these pages to support your answer.”
In Lesson 6, students answer questions to help them understand the structure of the text and how the Gratz is using that to build and support ideas, such as: “How do pages 5–6 develop the reader’s understanding of the conflict in Josef’s story? Provide specific details from the text to support your answer and carefully explain your thinking” and “How does the second chapter help to develop the setting of Isabel’s story? Provide specific details from the text to support your answer and carefully explain your thinking.”
In Lesson 10, students answer a series of questions to support their understanding of how specific scenes in Refugee contribute to changes in the characters and the plot: “What is the significance of Mahmoud’s decision to stop the car in the middle of the street and ask for help? What does this reveal about his character and how he has changed? Provide evidence from pages 125 through 128 to support your answer. What is the significance of Josef’s decision to slap his own father? What does this reveal about his character and how he has changed? Provide evidence from pages 132 through 135 to support your answer, and use the word ‘idolize’ in your response. What is the significance of Isabel’s decision to jump into the water after Señor Castillo? What does this reveal about her character? Provide evidence from pages 136 through 139 to support your answer.”
Indicator 2c
Materials require students to analyze the integration of knowledge within individual texts as well as across multiple texts using coherently sequenced, high quality text-specific and/or text-dependent questions and tasks.
The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 2c.
Materials include sequences of text-based questions and tasks that support students’ abilities to integrate knowledge and ideas in individual texts and across multiple texts. Materials provide opportunities for students to improve their analysis skills through questions and tasks that are purposefully sequenced to assist students in deepening their understanding of texts. The questions help students in the successful completion of the culminating tasks, such as Socratic Seminars.
Throughout the units, students analyze a series of big ideas using the knowledge they have built throughout the unit. These big ideas are evaluated in one, and sometimes both, of the culminating tasks at the end of the unit. In all units, students read a variety of texts that center around the theme and central idea of the unit. They use the different texts to convey their understanding in the culminating tasks.
Most sets of questions and tasks support students’ analysis of knowledge and ideas. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
In Unit 1, Developing Resilience: The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963, Lesson 21, students analyze a text set that includes an article, “‘Segregation Forever’: A Fiery Pledge Forgiven, But Not Forgotten” and three photographs. Students answer a writing prompt about how the images help “develop understanding of the impact of segregation on African Americans in Alabama.” Later in the lesson, Close Read Questions expand this line of questioning into how the images help students understand the impact of segregation in the South. Students use the context knowledge from the article and photographs about segregation in the South, particularly in Alabama, to support their understanding of the historical context in The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. During the Socratic Seminar culminating task, students can reference the information from the text set to support their dialogue about the impacts historical events can have on individuals.
In Unit 2, Challenging Authority: The Giver, Lesson 15, students participate in a Socratic Seminar where they discuss the concepts of a dystopia, the sacrifice of identity for peace, and coming of age. The texts help students build an understanding of the ideas through completing questions, discussions, or writing tasks.
In Lesson 1, students watch a video “How to recognize a dystopia - Alex Gendler” by TED-Ed and read an article “Dystopias: Definition and Characteristics” by ReadWriteThink about the genre of dystopia. The Close Read Question asks, “How did events in the real world lead to the development of the genre of dystopia? Support your answer with examples from the video.” The writing prompt asks, “What is the purpose of dystopian fiction? Support your answer with examples from the video.”
In Lesson 7, the Discussion Question asks, “What is your reaction to the idea of Climate Control and ‘sameness’? Do you see any benefits of these systems? What are the downsides?”
In Lesson 12, the writing prompt asks, “After witnessing the release of the newchild, Jonas and The Giver decide that Jonas must leave the community. Why does this event convince Jonas that this is the only way forward? In your response, be sure to answer the following questions: How will leaving the community benefit Jonas? How will Jonas’ leaving benefit the community? Provide at least two pieces of evidence from the text to support your answer.”
These activities throughout the novel support students in building a foundational knowledge of both the dystopian genre and the ideas found in the novel that correlate with the genre.
In Unit 5, Fleeing Conflict: Refugee & The Unwanted, Lesson 4, students complete tasks and a series of questions connecting to the reading of The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown. Students integrate information presented in different media or formats, as well as in words, to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue. Students deepen their understanding with Close Read Questions:
“How does Brown use illustrations on page 57 to develop the reader’s understanding of what it is like to live in refugee camps? Provide specific details from these images to support your answer.
What idea is Brown trying to communicate through the graphs, maps, and statistics he includes on pages 60-61? Provide specific evidence to support your answer.”
Sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze across multiple texts as well as within single texts. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
In Unit 1, Developing Resilience: The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963, Lesson 11, students compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics. The questions and tasks connect to two texts, the poem “The Children's Hour” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and the core text The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. Students answer Close Read Questions including the following:
“How is the passage on page 104 in The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963 similar to ‘The Children’s Hour’? What topic do they both share?
What is Kenny’s perspective of his father and their relationship? Provide at least three pieces of evidence from the text to support your answer.
What is the speaker’s perspective in ‘The Children’s Hour’ on his children and their relationship? Provide at least three pieces of evidence from the poem to support your answer.”
Students complete a writing prompt around the following question: “How do
Christopher Paul Curtis and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow use different narrative
perspectives to communicate a similar idea about the relationship between
children and their parents? Provide specific evidence from both texts to support
your answer and explain your thinking.”
In Unit 2, Challenging Authority: The Giver, Lesson 25, during the Writing Prompt, students take a position: “What are the benefits and downsides of parents limiting their children’s screen time?” During the prompt, students “Create a poster of a pros/cons chart, listing at least three reasons on each side of the argument, providing evidence from the texts to support each reason. Cite your sources using MLA format.” To be able to answer the prompt, students read various texts and answer questions to build knowledge:
In Lesson 8, students read The Giver by Lois Lowry and answer the writing prompt, “How does Lois Lowry develop the central idea in Chapter 13 that Jonas feels conflicted about the idea of people being able to make choices about their own lives? Provide at least two pieces of evidence that demonstrate this conflict.”
In Lesson 15, one of the questions in the Socratic Seminar asks, “Is it worth sacrificing freedom, choice, and individuality for peace, contentment, and ease?”
In Lesson 21, students read two different articles about the impact of screens on children and answer Discussion Questions: “If you were a parent, do you think you would put limits on your children’s screen usage? Why or why not? Has anything you have learned about over the last two days influenced your answer to this question?”
In Unit 3, Expressing Yourself: Women in the Arts, Lesson 8, students compare their previous reading of a portion of the memoir Life In Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland to the film version, A Ballerina’s Tale directed by Nelson George. Students answer questions such as, “What do you now understand about Misty Copeland and her life that you did not understand from simply reading her memoir? Provide at least two things you learned or understand better as a result of watching this documentary.” Other questions ask how interviews help viewers better understand the issue of racism in ballet. Additional questions include:
“How is Copeland’s story of first connecting with Susan Fales-Hill (p. 181-182) different from the story Fales-Hill tells (00:15:02-00:16:45) in the documentary? What do we learn from the documentary that we did not learn from the text?
How do the interviews with other dancers from 00:19:16-00:23:04 help develop your understanding of race and racism in ballet? Why is it helpful to hear other dancers’ experiences?”
Indicator 2d
Culminating tasks require students to demonstrate their knowledge of a unit's topic(s) through integrated literacy skills (e.g., a combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).
The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 2d.
The Grade 6 materials include culminating tasks that allow students to demonstrate knowledge of the unit topics and themes by integrating reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Though the culminating tasks focus primarily on writing skills, students fulfill the grade level standards across the year. One type of culminating task is a Content Assessment that “pushes students to synthesize unit content knowledge or unit essential questions orally or in writing” and “should be used as the primary assessment because it shows mastery of unit content knowledge and standards.” Content Assessments are found at the end of each unit and include three sections that include vocabulary questions, multiple choice and/or short answer questions connected to excerpts from multiple texts in the unit, and an essay connected to the same texts. In addition to the Content Assessment, culminating tasks within each unit include Socratic Seminars, essays, and presentations. The culminating tasks connect in a meaningful way to the unit themes and essential questions. The questions and tasks in each lesson that are connected to texts and research opportunities scaffold students towards the successful completion of the culminating task. For example, Writing Prompts, Close Read Questions, and Discussion Questions provide opportunities for students to explore the topic and themes to demonstrate their understanding. The culminating tasks offer some variety for students since Teacher Tools offer different types of academic discourse, and the questions vary according to the unit texts and themes. The guidance is general in the Teacher Tools that connects across Grades 6–8.
Culminating tasks are evident and varied across the year and they are multifaceted, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of several different standards (reading, writing, speaking, listening) at the appropriate grade level, and comprehension and knowledge of a topic or topics through integrated skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
In Unit 1, Developing Resilience: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, Lessons 24–27, students write a memoir as one culminating task. In Lesson 24, the Writing Prompt states: “Write a short memoir about an important event in your own life.” The Objective states that students “analyze a mentor text in preparation for writing a memoir.” Throughout this culminating task, the teacher walks students through the process of writing a memoir using the mentor text. In Lesson 28, in the Content Assessment Section 3, after reading What the Moon Saw by Laura Resau, students complete an essay for the following prompt: “You have read the excerpt from What the Moon Saw, which is written from Clara’s [point of view]. Rewrite the excerpt from the perspective of one of her grandparents. Your essay should reflect a strong understanding of the passage, but also demonstrate your own creativity and originality, and your understanding of strong narrative writing. Additionally, you should include one of the following words/phrases in your narrative: coming-of-age; conscientious; perspective; hostile; vehement; narcissist.” Students use a combination of reading, writing, and language skills to complete these culminating tasks. To build the skills necessary to complete the memoir, students practice skills in other lessons, such as:
In Lessons 6–8, students write a summary of an informational text. Teacher guidance under the Skills and Strategies section for these lessons specifies that students should: “Identify the most significant people, events, and settings in shorter and longer sections of text; omit unnecessary details from summaries; maintain a consistent level of detail in a summary; write with objectivity” building skills necessary for writing their memoir.
In Lesson 10, students evaluate the impact of literary devices and how they help develop mood and meaning in writing. Specific skills addressed include: identifying the connotations of words, identifying mood, explaining how mood is developed, identifying metaphors and explaining what is being compared, explaining what a metaphor is trying to communicate, providing strong evidence to support an answer, and explaining how the evidence supports their assertions.
In Unit 3, Expressing Yourself: Women in the Arts, students read multiple texts related to female artists, specifically, how different aspects of life impact art and how art impacts different aspects of life. In Lesson 18, students participate in a Socratic Seminar as one culminating task with a provided series of questions. In the homework for Lesson 17, students are directed to “prepare for tomorrow’s Socratic Seminar.” Students answer preparation questions such as, “What does it mean to be an artist? Consider all of the artists we studied in this unit. Does a person’s life experience influence the art that they make? What impact does making art have on a person’s life?” In Lessons 19–22, students complete another culminating task to research a contemporary female artist and create a group presentation that fulfills these requirements:
“Provides a biography on the artist, including any obstacles faced by the artist and a photograph of the artist;
Describes the artist’s style;
Describes at least three of the artist’s major works of art, with images;
Reveals what is/was important to the artist;
Reports on the artist’s impact on contemporary culture.”
This project requires students to use information learned earlier in the unit to inform their research and presentation. Over the course of the project, students practice language, writing, and speaking and listening skills. In Lesson 23, students complete the Content Assessment that includes writing three informational paragraphs that provide a biography of the artist detailed in the passage read, a description of the work, and what is important to the artist. In Lessons 14–17, students read texts on various female artists and explain how their backgrounds influence their perspectives and art. To build the skills necessary to complete the culminating tasks, students practice the skills in earlier lessons in the unit. In Lesson 2–7, students read Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland and identify different obstacles that stood in her way as she worked to achieve success and how she overcame them.
In Unit 4, Finding Connection: The Outsiders, Lesson 19, students participate in a Socratic Seminar for the culminating task. In the discussion, students refer to the unit texts including The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, and any other unit texts that they may have gathered additional knowledge on the topic of social class and stereotypes as they present ideas and use evidence from the texts to support their ideas. Teachers determine what type of discourse students will use and present questions, such as, “What message is this book trying to communicate about social class? How does Ponyboy change over the course of the text? What about him does not change?” Speaking and Listening standards are assessed through these activities. In Lessons 20–23, students write a four-paragraph essay explaining whether they believe that Polyboy would agree with the proverb, “Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but baked in a different oven.” This task requires the development and utilization of the skills needed to complete the Content Assessment including making a claim, writing an introduction, citing evidence to support a claim, and writing a conclusion. In Lesson 24, students complete the Content Assessment which includes a task where they read “The War of the Wall” by Toni Cade Bambara and write a four-paragraph essay on the following prompt: “First impressions are always unreliable -- Franz Kafka. In a four-paragraph essay, explain whether you think that the narrator of ‘The War of the Wall’ would agree with this quote. Write a strong introduction and conclusion and provide sufficient evidence from the text to support your answer.” The content assessment addresses several Reading: Literature and Writing standards. The task connects to the theme and essential questions in the unit, such as, “How do stereotypes and prejudices influence the way we see others and ourselves.” To build on the skills for the culminating tasks, students practice the skills in earlier lessons in the unit, such as in Lesson 3, students focus on identifying a character’s perspective and articulating how it has changed including identifying “strong” evidence that demonstrates the perspective and how the evidence supports the claim. These are essential skills in identifying how Ponyboy changes over time.
Indicator 2e
Materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to achieve grade-level writing proficiency by the end of the school year.
The materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2e.
Materials include frequent writing opportunities and address different types of writing to support students’ writing development; however, materials miss opportunities for explicit writing instruction and lesson guidance. Students practice writing in every lesson, and student directions for tasks encourage them to use tools, such as graphic organizers, checklists, and rubrics to help them brainstorm, organize, and edit their writing. Materials include different types of writing tasks that are embedded in the curriculum, connecting to the topics and texts students are studying. Writing opportunities include short written responses, research projects, presentations, and longer writing tasks. Many lessons include the practice of essential writing skills to meet grade-level standards; however, explicit connections to the standards and guidance to assist students in their learning and completion of the writing tasks are lacking. Student writing lessons at the beginning of the year provide appropriate scaffolds and structure in the design of the lesson prompt and correlating materials. While opportunities for growing students’ writing skills are present in the materials through more challenging writing tasks and scaffolding across the year, teacher guidance is minimal.
Though students practice writing consistently and have supports such as mentor texts and sample answers throughout the units, very little teacher support occurs in the lessons. The guidance available for teachers is general rather than lesson-specific, so teachers must provide their own tools for the majority of the lessons. The general guidance appears in the Teacher Tools, such as Instructional Strategies for Writing Lesson (6–8), which is a separate resource. Teachers do not have access to all the additional Teacher Tools for Progress Monitoring and Assessment in the free version. Each lesson does not explain how to teach the different parts. For example, each lesson starts with a writing prompt, so it appears that that should be done first in the lesson; however, the writing prompt is meant to be the last activity of each lesson with discussion questions and close reading that build to the writing prompt.
Materials include some writing instruction that aligns with the standards for the grade level and supports students’ growth in writing skills over the course of the school year. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
All units and lessons include opportunities for students to write in some form. Throughout each unit, each lesson plan begins with a writing prompt, though the prompt is intended to be answered by students at the end of the lesson. An educator could make the connection that the Close Reading and Discussion questions will assist students in successfully answering the prompt, but the order of the lesson is not explicitly stated. The answers expected for each prompt vary in length, with all questions relating to the lesson texts. A smaller project, such as analytical paragraphs or research presentations, incorporates writing within the first third of each unit. At the end of each unit, students complete a full process writing assignment that spans multiple lessons. Students learn about the mode of writing being used and collect evidence, brainstorm, write a draft, edit, and publish their final papers. Although materials frequently include sample answers and mentor texts, as well as specific ways for teachers to address gaps in learning and rubrics to assist in grading and self-assessing, materials include limited explicit instruction and lesson guidance.
In Unit 1, there are seven lessons on narrative writing. The task is to rewrite pages from another character’s perspective connecting to The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. Students practice skills, such as including dialogue, establishing a setting, and providing descriptive and sensory details. The same unit includes another opportunity for students to demonstrate mastery of the narrative writing skills they practiced earlier in the unit. Students write a short memoir about an event in their own lives. Materials include limited explicit instruction and lesson guidance, aside from a writing prompt and sample response.
In Unit 2, there are eight lessons on argumentative writing. In four lessons, students find evidence from The Giver by Lois Lowry to support their position on whether ignorance is bliss. They must use two vocabulary words from the lesson in their argument. In the other four lessons, students argue whether parents should limit their children’s screen time, using evidence from at least two articles.
In Unit 3, there are three lessons on informative writing. Students reports on a female artist’s impact on contemporary culture, and they create a digital presentation to share with peers. Materials include limited explicit instruction and lesson guidance, aside from a writing prompt and sample response.
In Unit 5, students have an opportunity to write informatively in one lesson. In Lesson 22, students write an informative piece to educate their “classmates on a refugee crisis currently taking place somewhere in the world.” Students create a digital presentation, and the task asks students to “Provide information about the causes of the crisis.” Materials include limited explicit instruction and lesson guidance, aside from a writing prompt and sample response.
Instructional materials include models, but lack well-designed guidance, protocols, and support for teachers to implement and monitor students’ writing development. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
In the Teacher Tools, the Target Task Writing Support (6–12) includes various instructional strategies to support students during the prewriting, drafting, and post-writing stages. In the prewriting stage, teacher guidance includes breaking down the prompt, providing sentence stems, and encouraging rereading. During writing time, teacher guidance includes giving batch feedback, chunking independent time, and holding teacher conferences. The after-writing guidance includes having students reflect on their writing, using a rubric, and using a Show Call and Discourse routine. Also, in the Approach to Language and Grammar Instruction section, teachers can download an Editing Checklist (6–8.)
In the Teacher Tools, materials provide teachers with five sections to use during instruction: Preparing for A Writing Lesson, Writing Structures and Frameworks, Instructional Strategies for Writing Lessons (6-8), Giving Writing Feedback, and Target Task Writing Support (6-12). These sections provide various guidance to support writing instruction, such as rubrics, sample feedback, and structures for using mentor texts.
In Unit 2, Challenging Authority: The Giver, Lesson 16, students complete a graphic organizer to help organize ideas for their argumentative essay. Students draw on evidence from the text The Giver by Lois Lowry around the following writing prompt: “Is ignorance bliss?” Materials suggest students use a graphic organizer, though this is unavailable for access, and the lesson does not include an embedded link. In Lesson 17, the objective states that students should “craft strong thesis statements and effective body paragraphs.” The lesson does not include any other guidance for teachers, other than the following statement in the Homework section: “Complete both body paragraphs.” Materials do not provide teachers with guidance or a structure for which Instructional Strategies for Writing Lessons (6–8) they should use.
In Unit 3, Expressing Yourself: Women in the Arts, Lesson 19, students work on a collaborative research project about contemporary female artists, their work, and their impacts. The objective asks students to brainstorm, but the lesson does not provide guidance on how teachers should have students brainstorm or how teachers should begin teaching the lesson.
In Unit 5, Fleeing Conflict: Refugee & The Unwanted, Lesson 12, students answer a writing prompt to reflect on Refugee by Alan Gratz and answer whether times of crisis bring out the best or worst in people. As students collect evidence, teachers can refer to the Instructional Strategies for Writing Lessons 6–8 document in the Teacher Tools section; however, the lesson does not include guidance on how to support evidence collection; rather, the lesson includes directions noting that evidence collection is what students should be accomplishing.
Indicator 2f
Materials include a progression of focused research projects to encourage students to develop knowledge in a given area by confronting and analyzing different aspects of a topic using multiple texts and source materials.
The materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2f.
Materials include research projects to build knowledge; however, there is neither a clear progression of research skills in the assignments moving from providing more scaffolding to less scaffolding, nor an increase in rigor in the research-based assignments. While the Teacher Tools include some general information about teaching research-based assignments in the classroom, the lesson-specific information about how to teach individual lessons is lacking. Research projects are present in some units, but there is no explicit instruction around the research writing standards. Research projects follow a topic closely related to the overall unit theme but do not draw on texts in each unit in conjunction with outside sources. Throughout the year, students are provided some guidance in doing research that sets a foundation for the research they will be conducting in Grade 7 and Grade 8. They are provided with opportunities to gather information from print and digital sources The Teacher Tools, Instructional Strategies for Writing Lessons (6–8) explains the different structures and routines included in the writing lessons; one structure includes Researching/Gathering Evidence.
Research projects are not sequenced across a school year to include a progression of research skills according to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source, and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
The Teacher Tools include a general suggestion in the Instructional Strategies for Writing Lessons (6–8) for students to cite research, sharing Citation Machine as a possible online citation builder. There are also suggestions for presenting examples and non-examples of credible sources to students.
In Unit 2, Challenging Authority: The Giver, Lesson 26, students read multiple informational texts from different sources on screen time for children. Using evidence from the sources, students write an argumentative letter that answers the question: “Should parents limit their children’s screen time?” While the supporting standard, “Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources” appears in this lesson, it is not a focus in other units.
In Unit 3, Expressing Yourself: Women in the Arts, Lessons 19–22, students choose a contemporary female artist from a list, and with a small group, conduct research to educate their peers in a presentation: “Provides a biography on the artist, including any obstacles faced by the artist and a photograph of the artist; Describes the artist’s style; Describes at least three of the artist’s major works of art, with images; Reveals what is/was important to the artist; Reports on the artist’s impact on contemporary culture.” They include researched facts and background information. In Lesson 20, they evaluate their research on their artist. The sample response shows the use of MLA citations. There are no instructions about assessing credibility of sources or how to paraphrase. The Instructional Strategies for Writing Lessons (6–8) in the Teacher Tools section of the materials includes general suggestions for teaching research, such as presenting examples and non-examples of credible sources and how to cite research, sharing Citation Machine as a possible online citation builder.
In Unit 5, Fleeing Conflict: Refugee & The Unwanted, Lesson 20, the objective states, “Begin to gather information for their presentations from provided resources and those they have found online, differentiating between credible and non-credible sources.” There is no mention of credible or non-credible sources anywhere else in the materials. In Lessons 20–23, students “create a digital presentation that educates your classmates on a refugee crisis currently taking place somewhere in the world.” Students include “accurate facts, statistics, and quotations from at least three reputable sources” as well as “Include a bibliography that cites all sources.”
Materials sometimes support teachers in employing projects that develop students’ knowledge of different aspects of a topic via provided resources. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
In Teacher Tools, general guidance to Research/Gathering Evidence is provided: “There are many ways to approach research tasks depending on the main objective of the writing project. If the focus is on selecting, analyzing, and disseminating information, it can be helpful to provide students with the research to use. This process can be scaffolded, depending on student need and development, from using all instructor-selected research, to using provided research as a starting point, or to guiding students in the practice of finding their own research.” Other suggestions include annotating, using a graphic organizer to keep track of information, offering a mini-lesson on paraphrasing, and supporting students in learning how to collaborate, evaluate sources, and cite research. The lessons lack sufficient explicit instruction of research skills to ensure student mastery of grade-level standards.
In Unit 2, Challenging Authority: The Giver, Lessons 25, students conduct research using six provided articles to meet the Objective: “Create a poster of pros and cons of parents limiting kids’ screen time and appropriately cite evidence.” No further instruction is provided except a Sample Response.
In Unit 3, Expressing Yourself: Women in the Arts, Lesson 20, the Objective states: “Working in small groups, compile and evaluate research for a digital presentation about an artist.” Students choose from a list of artists and create a visual aid with details about the artist, including a biography, description of the artist's style, importance, and impact. The project relates to the overall theme of the unit, gender discrimination in the art world. The list of artists is provided, but no resources. The Sample Response shows an image of a slide on style and the Works Cited for images used on the slide. No further instructions or resources are provided.
Materials provide some opportunities for students to synthesize and analyze content tied to the texts under study as a part of the research process. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
In Unit 2, Challenging Authority: The Giver, Lesson 25, students read multiple texts, including five articles and a video, to find the “benefits and downsides” of limiting screen time, providing at least three reasons for each side. “Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate” is a core standard. They are expected to use MLA format to cite sources. In Lesson 26, students use the research from Lesson 25 to “write an essay in which you argue your position” on parents limiting their children’s screen time and use evidence from at least two articles to support their stance.
In Unit 5, Fleeing Conflict: Refugee & The Unwanted, Lesson 20, students continue working on a research project about a current refugee crisis. Students can research using many sources but choose the topic from a provided list, not a line of inquiry.
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
In Unit 2, Challenging Authority: The Giver, Lesson 16, students write an essay to answer: “Is ignorance bliss?” Students must use evidence from The Giver by Lois Lowry to support their position. In Lesson 25, materials address the skill as a core standard when students create a poster of pros and cons when parents limit kids’ screen time. The lesson objective states that students appropriately cite evidence. Students draw on evidence from five informational articles. The Writing Prompt states: “Create a poster of a pros/cons chart, listing at least three reasons on each side of the argument, providing evidence from the texts to support each lesson. Cite your sources using MLA format.” The writing project takes place over five lessons. Materials address this skill as a supporting standard in all the other units in Grade 6.
Criterion 2.2: Coherence
Materials promote mastery of grade-level standards by the end of the year.
The grade 6 materials include tasks and assessment questions that are aligned with grade-level standards. However, the materials provided are high-level lesson skeletons that can not be used for instruction to fully meet the grade-level standards. By the end of the school year, most standards are repeatedly addressed by the program.
Materials include multiple planning tools, including the Pacing Guide for 6th Grade English, to plan for the whole school year. The implementation schedule provided in the materials may be reasonably completed in a school year because there are fewer lessons provided than average school days, allowing teachers the freedom to add re-teach lessons or extend others.
Indicator 2g
Materials spend the majority of instructional time on content that falls within grade-level aligned instruction, practice, and assessments.
The materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2g.
Most tasks, and assessment questions are aligned to grade-level standards, however only some instruction is aligned with the grade level standards given that the materials provided are high-level lesson skeletons that can not be used to fully meet the grade-level standards. Materials outline how the year-long instructional plan aligns with grade-level Core Standards and Spiral Standards as indicated in the Standards Map and in each Unit Overview. At times, standards addressed in lessons are not listed on the Lesson Map; there are also instances where standards are included at the bottom of a lesson, but there is no explicit instruction or connections to the standards present in the lesson. Instructional sequence is relatively consistent as students read core and supplemental texts connecting to a common topic or theme, answer Close Read Questions and Discussion Questions, and complete a Writing Prompt connecting to the assigned reading. Lessons do not consistently include opportunities for the teacher to provide students with standards-aligned explicit instruction. The questions and tasks connect to the required grade-level standards, including Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language Standards, and they require students to include evidence from texts they are reading as they work on skills such as inferencing or analyzing certain aspects of texts. Opportunities to address language standards are present, though instructional support is lacking. Materials provide an answer key for each Content Assessment, which lists the standards addressed by each assessment item. While the Standards Map and lesson plans reflect the standards covered, there are instances in which standards are not revisited across units.
Over the course of each unit, some instruction is aligned to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
The Course Summary includes a detailed description of what will be studied, including a rationale for the anchor texts, the enduring understanding focused on throughout the year and a Standards Map that outlines which standards are addressed in each unit. Although the Standards Map reflects that all grade-level standards are covered at some point in the year, explicit instruction of the listed standards does not always occur during lessons. For example:
In Unit 2, Challenging Authority: The Giver, Lesson 22, the lesson objective is as follows: “Explain how specific sections of an article fit into the overall structure of the text and help to develop meaning.” This objective aligns to RI.6.5, the core standard listed for the lesson. The teacher reminds students that “structure refers to the way a text is ‘built’ or organized” and also notes, “Every part of the text serves a specific purpose, and in an argumentative text (like this opinion piece), the ultimate purpose of every section is to support the central idea.” Students answer a Writing Prompt where they explain how the final sentence of the article “Kids Must Learn to Control Their Own Screen Time” by John Kielman helps to develop the main idea of the article. Later in the lesson, Close Read Questions address other pieces of the article and what purpose they serve in developing ideas further. The teacher does not model how to “[a]nalyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the ideas.”
Over the course of each unit, the majority of questions and tasks are aligned to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
In each unit, different types of tasks align to standards. Close Read Questions require students to analyze complex text and respond to standards-aligned, text-based questions. Discussion Questions connect to the texts. Many questions and tasks, including the Writing Prompts, require students to use text-based evidence, which requires inferencing. For example:
In Unit 1, Developing Resilience: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, Lesson 2, students finish reading Chapter 1 of The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. While reading the chapter, students respond to the following Close Read Questions: “Re-read pages 8–13. How does author Christopher Paul Curtis develop the reader’s understanding that the book’s narrator is a young person? Provide specific pieces of evidence from the text and then explain how each piece of evidence shows this.” and “Christopher Paul Curtis uses hyperbole in the following line from page 18: ‘I bet Byron’s lips stretched a mile before they finally let go of that mirror.’ How does this use of figurative language help the reader understand Kenny as a character and narrator?”After reading the chapter, students write in response to the following Target Task prompt: “How does Kenny see his older brother, Byron? How does Christopher Paul Curtis develop Kenny’s point of view of his brother through dialogue, thoughts, and/or actions? Support your answer with two specific pieces of evidence from the text.” Then, students participate in a class discussion of their responses to the following Discussion Question: “How would this text be different if it were told from an adult’s perspective? Would you be as interested or engaged in the book if it were written from that perspective? Explain your thinking.” Exit Ticket questions include, “How do Kenny’s thoughts and dialogue on page 13 reveal his perspective of the situation with Byron? Provide at least two pieces of evidence from the text to support your answer.” These questions and tasks align to the core standard listed for the lesson, RL.6.6: “Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.”
Over the course of each unit, most assessment questions are aligned to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
In each unit, materials provide an Assessment Answer Key for the end-of-unit Content Assessment. The Assessment Answer Key labels each question with the corresponding standard. For example:
In Unit 4, Finding Connection: The Outsiders, Content Assessment Answer Key, the Essay section lists RL.6.1, RL.6.2, RL.6.3, RL.6.5, RL.6.6, RL.6.9, RL.6.10, W.6.1, W.6.4, W.6.9, W.6.10, L.6.1. L.6.2 as standards addressed during the following assessment item: “‘First impressions are always unreliable—Franz Kafka’ In a four-paragraph essay, explain whether you think that the narrator of ‘The War of the Wall’ would agree with this quote. Write a strong introduction and conclusion and provide sufficient evidence from the text to support your answer.” Students cite textual evidence to support their analysis of the quote (RL.6.1, RL.6.5) during this assessment item, students do not determine theme or central idea (RL.6.2), describe how the plot unfolds or how characters respond or change relative to the plot (RL.6.3), explain how the author develops the narrator’s or speaker’s point of view (RL.6.6), or compare and contrast texts in different form (RL.6.9). Students demonstrate standards W.6.4, L.6.1 and L.6.2 through the formality and writing conventions in their answer.
By the end of the academic year, most standards are repeatedly addressed within and across units to ensure students master the full intent of the standard. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
The Standards Map notes that each unit is designed to deepen “student mastery of a set of grade-level standards. These are split into core standards (standards especially important for understanding the core text and knowledge of the unit) and spiral standards (standards that students repeatedly use as they engage with, discuss, or write about a text).” However, there are instances in which standards are addressed one time across the school year. For example:
The following standards do not repeat across units in the Standards Map for 6th Grade English and in the list of standards for each unit:
IIn Unit 4, Finding Connections: The Outsiders, RL.6.7 is listed as a core standard. Materials address this standard in Lessons 5 and 15, but materials do not provide opportunities to address this standard in other units.
Indicator 2h
Materials regularly and systematically balance time and resources required for following the suggested implementation, as well as information for alternative implementations that maintain alignment and intent of the standards.
The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 2h.
Materials include multiple planning tools, including the Pacing Guide for 6th Grade English to plan for the whole school year. Each unit contains a separate implementation schedule and each lesson includes a pacing guide. The Standards Map shows how the Common Core State Standards are taught over the course of the year. The pacing guide allows teachers to add days to the units to cover the material appropriately for their students; however, no alternative schedules are provided. Additional guidance for planning is included in the Teacher Support tools, such as Preparing to Teach Fishtank ELA, Preparing to Teach an ELA Unit, Components of an ELA Lesson, and Planning for a Year of Fishtank ELA. The implementation schedule may be reasonably completed in a school year because there are fewer lessons provided than average school days giving teachers the freedom to add re-teach lessons or extend others. Materials do not include optional tasks, only core materials and activities. The core materials provide opportunities to practice and reach mastery of most grade level standards, though grammar standards would need additional guidance.
Suggested implementation schedules and alternative implementation schedules align to core learning and objectives. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
In Teacher Support, ELA Teacher Tools, Planning for a Year of Fishtank ELA, materials provide an implementation schedule with suggestions for teachers to address re-teaching and fit other assessments or school events into the lesson progression.
Materials include five units with a total of 132 lessons over 138 instructional days. The Pacing Guide for 6th Grade English states, “Each unit includes a specific number of lessons, including writing lessons, Socratic Seminar lessons, and two days for assessment.” There are no alternative implementation schedules, though the program provides time for teachers to create assessments and make instructional decisions to support students. The Grade 6 Focus Area Overview provides details relating to each unit’s core standards and spiral standards. For example, in Unit 1, Developing Resilience: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, Lesson 23, Notes are available: “Decide which Type of Academic Discourse you want to use in this lesson. We recommend a table-group discussion, fishbowl, or whole-class discussion. Then, choose which of this lesson’s Discussion Questions you are going to have students answer. Consider how much discussion time will be devoted to each question.”
Suggested implementation schedules may be reasonably completed in the time allotted. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
In the Pacing Guide for 6th Grade English, the implementation schedule states, “Our 6th Grade English units span 138 days. We intentionally did not account for all 180 school days to allow teachers to fit in additional review or extension, teacher-created assessments, and school-based events.” There is no alternative implementation schedule present. Similarly, each unit contains a separate implementation schedule. For example, In Unit 1, Developing Resilience: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, there are 28 lessons with a suggested implementation time of 29 days. Two additional days are suggested for the Content Assessment.
In each unit, each lesson includes multiple Close Read Questions, a Target Task Writing Prompt, and often Discussion Questions. Each lesson includes a pacing guide for teachers that presents how long they should spend on each of these tasks within the class period. Homework is listed for almost every day of the unit that students complete to stay on schedule with the pacing guide, typically reading, sometimes writing. In lessons with Socratic Seminars, the task can be completed in one class period.
In Unit 2, Challenging Authority: The Giver, Lesson 5, students answer four Close Read Questions, one Discussion Question, and a Writing Prompt: “Summarize the events of chapter 8. Where does this chapter fall in the overall structure of the text? Carefully explain your thinking, and use the vocabulary word ‘tension’ in your response.” In the Homework section, students are assigned Chapters 9–10 of the novel.
In Unit 4, Finding Connection: The Outsiders, Lesson 20, students participate in a Socratic Seminar. Teachers may choose the discussion question(s) for the day to help with the timing. Since the focus of these lessons is speaking and listening standards, students will receive practice with the standards regardless of the questions chosen by the teacher.
Optional tasks do not distract from core learning. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
No optional tasks are included.
Optional tasks are meaningful and enhance core instruction. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
No optional tasks are included.