6th Grade - Gateway 3

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation that materials are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing.

The materials for each grade level contain five “Guidebooks” or units of study. The Grade 6 units include "If Stones Could Speak", "Steve Jobs", "Hatchet", "Out of the Dust", and "The Witch of Blackbird Pond". These units are designed around a collection of texts that support a common idea. Each unit is divided into sections that contain lessons. Lessons follow a predictable backward design model and have a suggested pacing of 50 minutes per lesson and also includes a plan for 90 minute block classes. There is a Roadmap document provided for teachers to complete and share with students that helps teachers and students understand the purposeful layout of the lessons. Each lesson launches with a “Let’s Review” section, so students can reflect on what they learned leading up to that lesson, and a “Let’s Prepare” section so they know the learning outcomes, what materials they will need, and how they will demonstrate their understanding at the end.

After teachers launch the lesson, they guide students through a series of tasks that build their understanding of the targeted skills. These tasks are focused on reading (“Let’s Read!”), vocabulary and language (“Let’s Work with Words!”), speaking and listening (“Let’s Discuss!”), and writing (“Let’s Practice!). Each lesson concludes with a “Let’s Express Our Understanding” section which is a formative assessment of what the students learned during the lesson. Finally, the “Let’s Close” section at the end of the lesson reminds the students what they accomplished during the lesson.

• In the “Steve Jobs” Unit, Lesson 7, the teacher launches the lesson by reminding students that they recently “identified how the central idea is conveyed through Steve Jobs’ Stanford University commencement address.” The teacher then shares the activities for the lesson: “Read the poem 'To Failure' by Philip Larkin, determine the meaning of phrases in the poem, and analyze ideas in the poem.” The teacher also points out what materials the students will need for the lesson. The students then perform a series of tasks which incorporate writing, speaking, listening, and reading skills.
• In the "Out of the Dust" Unit, Lesson 14, the teacher launches the lesson by reminding students that they recently “analyzed a speech delivered by President Roosevelt and wrote an argument using text evidence from it.” The teacher then shares the activities for the lesson: read a letter written by Dust Bowl resident Caroline Henderson, answer questions about the text, and examine unfamiliar vocabulary terms. The teacher also points out what materials the students will need for the lesson. The students then perform a series of tasks which incorporate writing, speaking, listening, and reading skills.
• In the "If Stones Could Speak" Unit, in all lessons, the teacher is given suggested pacing for each part of a lesson. For example, in Lesson 1, the suggested pacing for the “Let’s Prepare” section is one minute. Later the students participate in a gallery walk that has ten minutes as the suggested time. The end of the lesson has a five minute suggested time for a lesson reflection.
• In the "Hatchet" Unit,  Lessons 34-35, students participate in six lessons to complete a culminating writing task to “Write a multi-paragraph report explaining how Brian was successful and/or could have improved his situation if he had followed the steps provided in the article case studies.”
• In "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" Unit, there are 43 lessons and four quizzes designed in a sequential order.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation that the teacher and student can reasonably complete the content within a regular school year, and the pacing allows for maximum student understanding.  

All information regarding pacing and content can be found within the LearnZillion Guidebooks, “What’s in the Curriculum?” and “How do I prepare to teach guidebooks?” Also, instructors are presented further pacing overviews through the “Assessment Overview” in every unit. This allows instructors to see the backwards design implemented within every unit. Each lesson equates to roughly fifty minutes, and a full academic year contains four units; however, there are five units included that can be used, depending on individual instructor pacing. The following units are included:  "If Stones Could Speak", “Steve Jobs”, "Hatchet", "Out of the Dust", and "The Witch of Blackbird Pond".

• Within the “What’s in the Curriculum?” Guidebook, the Suggested Pacing provides the following information regarding “how long a slide might take; however, this is a suggestion, not a mandate. The pacing for each lesson totals no more than 50 minutes, but teachers will likely find they need to spend more time on some lessons depending on the needs of their students. Thus, teachers can adjust the lesson timing as needed given their school schedule and students’ needs. When adjusting the pacing, consider the ratio of time. Pacing is a meaningful signal about where the focus of a lesson is--the biggest chunk of time often signals the most important part of the lesson and where teachers should think first about what scaffolding needs to be in place to ensure productive struggle. A full academic year includes four Guidebook units.”
• In the “How do I prepare to teach guidebooks?” Guidebook, the following design is indicated: “The units use a backwards design model, which means the lessons and sections build students’ knowledge and skill in preparation for the unit assessments. The unit assessments are aligned to end-of-year expectations and grade-level standards.” The Guidebook gives the following two examples: “1) In a section, students might read the same text multiple times across several lessons or students might read several texts to extract evidence and ideas to complete a task, such as writing an essay, delivering a formal presentation, or engaging in a Socratic seminar. 2) In a lesson, students engage with one or more unit texts to build the knowledge and skills they will need for the unit assessments.”
• In "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" Unit “Assessment Overview,” students complete the following major tasks throughout the unit: Daily Formative Assessments, Section Quizzes, Culminating Writing task, Extension task, Cold Read task.

1. The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation that the student resources include ample review and practice resources, clear directions, and explanation, and correct labeling of reference aids (e.g., visuals, maps, etc.).  

Each lesson ends with “Let’s Express Our Understanding” which is a formative assessment that allows students and teachers to monitor learning progressions. Digital quizzes at the end of sections provide progress check-ins and practice for standardized testing. Unit assessments gauge the students’ ability to apply what they are learning over the course of the unit by reading, understanding, and expressing their knowledge of a complex grade-level text. Within the lesson plan structure, activities are scaffolded and structured in such a way that students have ample opportunities to practice skills. There are clear step-by-step directions and explanations for both teachers and students for every phase of the teaching and learning process. Supplemental materials are provided for each lesson and are well-labeled and organized. Each lesson also references the standards addressed and the goal.

• In all Units, clear directions and explanations are included in each lesson design.  Each lesson launches with “Let’s Review!” and “Let’s Prepare!” and ends with an assessment of student learning through “Let’s Express Our Understanding!” and “Let’s Close!”. Each lesson includes at least one or more tasks focused on reading (“Let’s Read!”), vocabulary and language (“Let’s Work With Words!”), speaking and listening (“Let’s Discuss!”), or writing (“Let’s Practice!”).  In the “Let’s Close!”, students are provided a summary of the lesson they just completed.
• In the "Hatchet" Unit, Lesson 7, after having read Chapter 5 of the text independently in Lesson 6, reread the chapter with a partner. This rereading gives students the chance to discuss the words and phrases that stand out to them as they study the author’s use of diction. Partners share their findings with the whole class, and afterward students write individual responses to the prompt “How does Gary Paulsen use diction to develop the main character, Brian?” in their reading journal handout.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation that materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items.  

In every unit, instructors are presented with a scope and sequence that indicates all standards listed within the CCSS for ELA: Reading literature (RL), reading informational (RI), writing (W), speaking and listening (SL), and language (L). When viewing individual lessons standards appear under the title of the lesson, and when accessing lessons, the standards still appear in list format at the top of the lesson, above the slides; however, when instructors hover over the standard, a detailed description from CCSS is provided.

• In each unit, a Scope and Sequence document is included which identifies which Common Core Standards are addressed in each section of the Unit. For example in the "If Stones Could Speak" Unit, Lessons 1-3 cover the literature standards RL6.1, RL 6.2, RL 6.4, RL 6.6, PL 6.10 and the informational text standards  RI 6.1, RI 6.4, RI 6.7, RI 6.10.
• For each Cold Read task, the answer key provides the Common Core Standards for each questions. For example, in the “Steve Jobs” Unit, Lesson 29, the first question of the Cold Read task measures mastery of RI 6.4 andi 6.10.
• In each lesson the standards addressed in that particular lesson are listed on every page of the Lesson Plan. For example, in the "Hatchet" Unit, Lesson 6 covers these standards L.6.5a, L.6.5b, L.6.5c, RL.6.1, RL.6.10, RL.6.3, RL.6.4, RL.6.5, RL.6.6, SL.6.1, SL.6.1a, SL.6.1c, W.6.10, W.6.9. A task in Lesson 6 that incorporates standard RL 6.1 is when students respond to the question “What did Brian’s English teacher, Perpich, teach him?” and in the Teacher Notes the teacher is instructed to “ provide evidence to support their claims (Goal Three).”  Another task including standard RL 6.5 is “Think about this question: What is Brian learning about survival? As you read, make annotations on your sticky notes when you notice parts in the text that help you to respond to that question.”
• In "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" Unit, there are section quizzes with the standards listed for each question in the Teacher’s Notes section. For example, the section two quiz the first question measures Standards RI.6.2. “What is the central idea of the excerpt?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation that materials contain a teacher’s edition with ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student edition and in the ancillary materials.

The materials provide detailed lesson plans for every step of the instructional process. The lessons are designed as slideshows, and as the students view each slide (“card”), the Teacher Edition lists detailed directions for explaining the content of the card and the instruction that goes along with it. Along with directions (Teaching Notes), the materials list “student look-fors,” “supports for differentiation,” “guiding questions and prompts,” and “additional notes.” The Teaching Notes also include links to numerous instructional strategies that can be used in the lesson. In the additional resources section for each unit, teachers have access to “Let’s Set the Context” videos that can be used “for students who need extra support with the content and texts in advance of the unit.”

• In the "If Stones Could Speak" Unit, Lesson 4, Card 3, the “Teaching Notes” list these directions for the teacher: “Read the slide. Briefly explain how this lesson prepares students for another lesson and/or the end-of-unit assessments. Throughout the lesson, compare students’ responses and work to the student look-fors. Determine the students who need additional support with reading, understanding, or expressing their understanding of complex, grade-level texts. During this lesson or before the next lesson, support those students individually or in a small group using the Additional Supports for Diverse Learners.”
• In the “Steve Jobs” Unit, Lesson 12, Card 5, the “Teaching Notes” list directions and Supports for Differentiation Supports for Differentiation (ELL, SPED, etc): "If students are not providing answers similar to the Student Look Fors: Ask: How can we analyze Wilbur Wright throughout his letters? Ask: How is Wilbur Wright introduced? What do we learn about him during the events he describes and illustrates through his examples? Ask: What about his letters can give us information about what kind of person he was?"
• In the "Out of the Dust" Unit, there are three additional videos that teacher can watch or assign to support struggling student. These videos are found in the “Section Resource” in the “Out of the Dust: Let's Set the Context Videos”: “These instructional videos are for students who need extra support with the content and texts in advance of the unit. Assign one or more videos to those selected students to watch on their own on any device.”
• In the "Hatchet" Unit, Lesson 3, students are given this question “How does Brian use prior knowledge to guide his decisions at the end of chapter 2? Use evidence from the text to support your response.” The teacher is given detailed steps for the directions for the student task, support for differentiation and student look-fors as the students complete the task in the “Teaching Notes.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation that materials contain a teacher’s edition that contains full, adult-level explanations and examples of the more advanced literacy concepts so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject, as necessary.

Instructors are presented with a large body of supporting materials to improve knowledge of the subject including all LearnZillion “Understanding the Curriculum” Guidebook supports. Teachers are also presented with extensive “Teaching notes” that accompany every lesson included within the unit; this includes prompting, explanations, and tips. Within the “Teaching Notes,” teachers are provided with how-to guides, research, examples for certain reading /discussion strategies. Within each lesson, instructors are also given student exemplar responses, especially for larger, writing projects so that instructors understand the task presented to students and the level at which students should perform.

• Within the “Understanding the Curriculum” Guidebook,  instructors are presented with the following Guidebook supports: “What’s in the curriculum? How are the materials designed for the classroom? How do the materials support all learners? How do I prepare to teach Guidebooks? How do I customize the curriculum to meet my districts unique needs?” All Guidebooks present instructors with teaching strategies and research-based approaches on how to deliver content to students. Instructors are also presented with a “Unit at-a-glance” in every unit, and in this section of the unit, instructors are presented with the following supports: Unit goal, scope and sequence, assessment overview, text access, and text complexity and vocabulary analysis.
• In each individual lesson, instructors are presented with “Teaching Notes” on the right hand side; they are formatted in a bulleted list. For example, within the “Steve Jobs” Unit, Lesson 7, the Teaching Notes are as follows for Slide four: "Say: Before I begin reading aloud, complete the 'Title' section of the TP-CASTT handout. Make a prediction of what the poem might be about based on the title. After students write a prediction, say: Since the title of the poem is 'To Failure,' you might have predicted that the poem is about failure. Since the word 'to' is in front of 'failure,' the author might be speaking to failure.’”
• In the "If Stones Could Speak" Unit, Lesson 5, on Slide 4, in the “Teaching Notes”, teachers are given supplemental information on each instructional strategy presented: Accountable Talk, Summarizing, and Reading Logs. The strategies are hyperlinked to an explanation, implementation steps, research to support each strategy, and other supplemental information such as videos to show the strategy being used in a classroom. This information would be helpful if teachers are not familiar with the strategies being used.
• Within each lesson presented, there are tabs presented above the presentation: Lesson plan, Additional materials, and About this lesson. Within the “Additional materials” tab, instructors are often presented with complete, exemplar student examples so that instructors are able to evaluate student performance as students complete assignments. This is even referenced in the “Teaching notes” to the right hand side of the presentation within “Steve Jobs” Unit, Lesson 7: “Throughout the lesson, compare students’ responses and work to the student look-fors to determine the students who need additional support with reading, understanding, or expressing their understanding of complex, grade-level texts. During this lesson or before the next lesson, support those students individually or in a small group using the Additional Supports for Diverse Learners.” In the “About this lesson” tab, instructors are also presented with an overview of the lesson so that they may apply backwards planning based strategies. For example from “Steve Jobs” Unit, Lesson 7: “Students will read 'To Failure,’ by Philip Larkin, and analyze the figurative and connotative meanings to determine the message of the poem.”
• In the "Hatchet" Unit, Lesson 10, on the right side each, card in the “Teaching Notes” is included. Listed in the “Teaching Notes” section, there are the following items: directions for the teacher to teach the lesson, a suggested pacing guide, supports for diverse students and students look-fors. There are even scripted questions and statements that the teacher may follow: "Say: As you read with your partner, think about what challenges Brian faces and how he responds to these challenges. Pause to record annotations on your sticky notes as you read.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation that materials contain a teacher’s edition that explains the role of the specific ELA/literacy standards in the context of the overall curriculum.

The materials state that “The goal for the LearnZillion Guidebook units is to ensure that all students read, understand, and express their understanding of complex, grade-level texts…[and] for all instruction to meet the standards in reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language.” The materials provide extensive supports for teachers in the “Understanding LearnZillion Guidebooks” section. These support materials include “What is in the curriculum?” which details the unit and lesson designs; ‘How are the materials designed for the classroom?” which outlines the instructional framework, including approaches to whole-class instruction, small-group instruction, and independent reading; “How do the materials support all learners?” which offers guiding principles for diverse learners and identifies supports for reading, writing and language, and speaking and listening for all students during whole-class instruction and small group instruction; “How do I prepare to teach Guidebooks?” which provides step-by-step instructions, a roadmap template for instruction, and a resource library; and “How do I customize the curriculum to meet my district’s unique needs?” which explains how to modify the content of the materials to suit one’s needs.

The Scope and Sequence document for each unit lists each of the Common Core State Standards for the appropriate grade span and indicates each section that each of the standards is included. Each lesson includes a list of standards included in the lesson. The standards are listed by code, but the teacher can hover his/her cursor over each code to reveal the wording of the entire standard.

• The materials  “English Language Arts Framework” states, “The lessons in each LearnZillion Guidebook unit are meant to be taught as whole-class instruction. During this time, all students should meet grade-level standards for reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language with complex texts.”
• “The guidebooks approach to support” lists “Guiding Principles for Diverse Learners,” including “All students should regularly engage with rich, authentic grade-appropriate complex texts.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation that materials contain explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research-based strategies.

Within the “Understanding the Curriculum” section, instructors are presented with the following Guidebook supports: “What’s in the curriculum?” “How are the materials designed for the classroom?” “How do the materials support all learners?” “How do I prepare to teach Guidebooks?” and “How do I customize the curriculum to meet my districts unique needs?” All of these resources include explicit explanations of the instructional approaches of the program. The research-based strategies included in the curriculum are listed and cited throughout the program. All units within the program utilize a backwards design approach and teach to CCSS. Explanations include research-based strategies of whole class, small group, and independent reading. Also, supplemental texts and anchor texts are provided with “Text Access” that includes a Reading Guide paired with works cited and a “Text Complexity and Vocabulary Analysis” per anchor text. Within the Teaching Notes of each lesson, research-based instructional strategies are included in which they are hyperlinked for easy access for the teacher with explanations, implementation steps, research, and videos of the strategy being used.

• At the close of “What’s in the Curriculum?” section, “instructors are presented with a list of writing and reading resources are made available to represent how this Guidebook was created to support the strategies listed within the Guidebook. For example, one of the reading resources is as follows: “Beers, K., & Probst, R. (2012). Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading. Heinemann.”
• Within the “What’s in the Curriculum” section, in the “Unit Design” section, the rereading strategy is presented and explained in the following statement: “In a section, students might read the same text multiple times across several lessons or students might read several texts to extract evidence and ideas to complete a task, such as writing an essay, delivering a formal presentation, or engaging in a Socratic Seminar.”
• In the “How do the materials support all learners?” section, the program list the research that supports that all learners must “regularly engage with rich, authentic grade-appropriate complex texts” and that “Instructional supports should not supplant or compromise rigor or content.”
• In the "If Stones Could Speak" Unit, Lesson 5, on Slide 4, in the Teaching Notes, teachers are given supplemental information on each instructional strategy presented: Accountable Talk, Summarizing and Reading Logs. The strategies are hyperlinked to an explanation, implementation steps, research to support each strategy and other supplemental information such as videos to show the strategy being used in a classroom. This information would be helpful if teachers are not familiar with the strategies being used.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress.

Each of the five units is divided into sections and lessons, and assessments are built in at each level. Each lesson ends in a formative assessment called, “Let’s Express Our Understanding,” and teachers can use the outcomes from these written tasks, handouts, or discussions to inform their instruction moving forward. Digital quizzes at the end of sections assess the knowledge that students have accumulated, and the format of the quizzes provide practice for the students on the structure of standardized tests. At the end of each unit, students complete three assessments: a Culminating Writing task, a Cold Read task, and an Extension task. For the culminating writing task, “students synthesize the topics, themes, and ideas of the unit into a written product such as an essay, narrative or article.” The Cold Read task requires that “students read a new text or two related to the unit topic and answer multiple-choice questions as well as respond to a writing prompt.” For the Extension task, “students extend what they have learned in the unit to make connections between their learning and their lives through a narrative or personal essay or between their learning and the world through research about a related topic.”

• In the "If Stones Could Speak" Unit, after Lesson 6, students take a quiz after having completed the first two sections of instruction. This quiz covers the first three texts that students have read and studied: the informational piece “Archaeology 101" by the Archaeological Institute of America, the poem "Travel" by Robert Louis Stevenson, and the video "What is Archaeology?". Students answer multiple choice questions and order and organize information to practice the skills they learned.
• In the "Out of the Dust" Unit, after Lesson 29, students take a section 6 and 7 quiz. The quiz “assesses students’ retention of knowledge based on what was taught and read in sections 6 and 7 of the Guidebook unit Out of the Dust.” Options for teachers are also given: It is “up to the teacher to give students access to the text(s) or not when administering the assessment. Similarly, the teacher can decide whether or not students may use their filled in graphic organizers from this section.”
• In "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" Unit, Lesson 33, students complete a Cold Read task: “Students read 'Identity.' Then students answer a combination of questions.”
• In the "Hatchet" Unit, students complete a Culminating Writing task after completing the anchor text, Hatchet. They write a multi-paragraph essay with a claim, reasoning, and evidence in response to the prompt: “Select an event from Hatchet. What did Brian do to aid or hinder his survival? Does Hatchet have instructional value as a survival guide?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation that assessments clearly denote which standards are being emphasized.

The following assessments are included throughout all units: Daily formative assessments, section quizzes, culminating writing tasks, extension tasks, and cold read tasks. Within every unit, an assessment overview is included detailing and overviewing the purpose for all types of assessments including writing rubrics with CCSS language dictating the scoring categories. Also, when clicking on the drop down menu for each section of lessons, under each individual lesson lists specifically which standards are learned and utilized. When clicking on each individual lesson, hovering over the standards offers the full CCSS description for instructors, as well. This is standard for all lessons; however, this also occurs for lessons that include assessments--including larger assessments that span over the course of entire sections (e.g. culminating writing task, extension task, etc.).

• In the “Steve Jobs” Unit, after Section 1, every question on the quiz is connected with a particular standard. The Standard(s) are denoted in the teacher notes section on each slide. Card 3 of 8 is Question 1 and the standard that the question addresses is RI.6.2, RI.6.1.
• In the "Out of the Dust" Unit, Lesson 39, the students complete a Cold Read task. In the Cold Read task, the standards that are being assessed are denoted in the lesson plan. The standards are RI.6.1, RI.6.10, RI.6.2, RI.6.3, RI.6.4, RL.6.1, RL.6.10, RL.6.2, RL.6.3.
• In the "If Stones Could Speak" Unit, Lesson 30, located in the “Assessment Overview” is the following Culminating Writing task: “Students continue the writing process by editing and publishing an essay to answer the prompt: Write an essay that explains how the author introduces and elaborates his central idea and purpose.” The standards listed are as follows: L.6.1a, L.6.1c, L.6.1d, L.6.2a, L.6.2b, L.6.3a, L.6.3b, L.6.6, RI.6.1, W.6.10, W.6.2a, W.6.2b, W.6.2c, W.6.2d, W.6.2e, W.6.2f, W.6.5, W.6.6.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation that materials should include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress.

The LearnZillion Guidebooks provide teacher a multitude of guidance and opportunities to monitor student progress. Each unit provides daily formative assessments, section quizzes, a Cold-Read task, a Culminating Writing task, and an Extension task. When considered as a whole unit, students are assessed in a variety of ways, including multiple choice, short answer, extended response, essay writing, and performance task. Rubrics and student exemplars are often included in the teacher and student materials. The online quizzes upload to a teacher report that can be used to monitor student progress. Daily lessons have “look-fors” in the “Teaching Notes” for teachers to monitor daily instruction and provide extra scaffolding if needed.

• Each lesson can be assigned to a student or many students by clicking on the “Quick Assign” button in the Learnzillion Teacher’s Guidebook. Once students have completed an assessment, the teacher can view the results. The results are color-coded to indicate proficiency.
• Each Grade 6 Unit is designed to provide formative and summative assessments. Including daily formative assessments, section quizzes, Cold Read task, Culminating Writing task and Extension task.
• In the "Out of the Dust" Unit, the “Teacher’s Notes”, “Student Look Fors” instruct the teacher to “compare students’ responses and work to the student look-fors. Determine the students who need additional support with reading, understanding, or expressing their understanding of complex, grade-level texts.”
• In the “Steve Jobs” Unit, every section ends with a type of assessment. This creates a variety of assessments for the unit’s CCSS. Sections 1, 3, and 6 end with a section quiz. Sections 2, 5, 8 and 9 end with a task. Sections 4 and 7 end with a Cold Read task.
• In "Hatchet" Unit, after Lesson 14, students respond to a writing prompt to check for understanding: “Respond to this question in your reading journal handout: Based on what you know about Brian so far, do you think he will survive? Why or why not? What evidence in the text makes you think this?”
• In "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" Unit, a 6-8 writing rubric, and a student exemplar for the Culminating Writing task and the Extension task is provided.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation that materials provide teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of range of learners so the content is accessible to all learners and supports them in meeting or exceeding the grade-level standards.

Each unit includes “Let’s Set the Context” videos that are designed to support students who need help understanding the content and texts before beginning a unit. Each video is paired with a handout that students use to record their understanding of the video. The “Teaching Notes” for lessons often provide “Supports for Differentiation” that guide teachers in knowing how to respond when students are not “providing answers similar to the Student Look-Fors.” Units also include a page titled “Additional Supports for Diverse Learners” which contains information on how to support learners before reading the text with foundational skills, reading fluency, and knowledge demands and during reading the text with support for language, engaging in academic discussions, expressing understanding in writing, and developing language proficiency.

• In the "Hatchet" Unit, in the “More resources for this unit” section, there are three videos that are designed to help students who need additional support understand the context of the unit’s anchor text. Each of the videos is paired with a handout that students use to record their understanding at key points in the video. The topics for the unit include “The North Woods of Canada,” “Survival,” and “Surviving an Avalanche.”
• For those students needing more support outside the grade-level lesson, LearnZillion recommends a small-group structure in addition to the main lesson: “This may be intervention for students below grade level and/or additional time and supports for diverse learners. Groups should be flexible and change size and composition often based on students’ needs.” Suggestions for the small groups included, but are not limited to engage in independent reading on their instructional level or language, engage in targeted reading or writing foundational skills or participate in additional instruction.
• In the "If Stones Could Speak" Unit, Lesson 8, there is a section when the students move to group work that gives these additional instructions: Supports for Differentiation (ELL, SPED, etc.): "Ask: Did you identify the same places in the film? Were the places you identified in the same columns? Were there places in the film where the line between realistic and unrealistic was blurred?”
• Additional Resources are provided for teachers to work with students that need more support. An audio of many of the text are provided. In every unit there is a Text Complexity and Vocabulary Analysis that provide teachers the information on where the complexity lies in the text, and possible vocabulary to instruct. In every unit is a section called “Let’s Set the Context” with videos to provide additional background knowledge for students who need that type of support. There are “Section Supports” within the Units that provide foundational support for students. There are also additional writing, and grammar instruction available in the “ELA Instructional Videos: WriteAlong and more.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation that materials regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level, or in a language other than English, with extensive opportunities to work with grade level text and meet or exceed grade-level standards.

Teachers are presented with the “How do the materials support all learners?” Guidebook which provides many big picture approaches to how instructors can support diverse learners in whole class instruction and small group instruction with reading, writing, language, and speaking and listening. Once instructors begin teaching lessons that appear within their respective sections, each section provides a “Section Supports” specific to each section within the unit; this includes language and fluency supports that require students to read texts already read in class or that represent the same ideas as the Unit Goal. Within all lessons instructors are presented with “Teaching Notes.” This section includes additional assistance and direction for diverse learners are presented under the section titled “Supports for Differentiation (ELL, SPED, etc).” Also, “Let’s Set the Context Videos” are provided for students who need extra support with the content and texts in advance of the unit. Teachers may assign one or more videos to those selected students to watch on their own on any device. Students encounter stopping signs across the video when they pause to complete part of a handout. Students need a printed handout for each video.

• In the “Steve Jobs” Unit, Lesson 11, students must “use textual evidence to support a claim.” Within the “Teaching Notes,” while students reread “Letters of Wilbur Wright” by Wilbur Wright independently, the following support is listed under the section titled “Supports for Differentiation (ELL, SPED, etc)”: “Support individuals with less reading proficiency in reading the text. Choral read the text.” And, “if students need support with the vocabulary of the text, give students access to a visual dictionary for Wright Brothers.”
• In the "Hatchet" Unit, Section 1, the instructor is presented with “Section Supports.” In “Section Supports,” the following supports are outlined and detailed for instructors: “Before the Section,” which includes support for knowledge demands and support for language “During the Section,” which includes support for explicit language teaching and support for meaning that also references the “Additional Materials” of the lesson “Fluency Task,” which lists seven steps. Examples of the steps include: “5. Throughout the week, direct students who need fluency practice to read the passage at least 3 times a day for a week for a fluent reader, who documents the student has read aloud the text. 7. At the end of the week, ask students to read aloud the [Section 1 Fluency Task] for an audience of their peers.” The “Vocabulary Task” is a protocol for explicitly teaching vocabulary that requires diverse learners to complete a vocabulary task. The “Mentor Sentence Language Task” is a protocol for teaching with mentor sentences that requires diverse learners to complete a mentor sentence language task.
• In the "Out of the Dust" Unit, Lesson 24, students “examine themes across genres.” On one slide, students are presented with a photo and asked the following: “What is the subject/topic? What does the photographer wish to communicate about the subject/topic?” The following support is listed under the section titled “Supports for Differentiation (ELL, SPED, etc)”: "If students are not providing answers similar to the Student Look-Fors: Ask: What exactly was the photographer taking pictures of? Ask: What do you suppose was the subject the photographer intended to document? Ask: Pay attention to the emotional reaction you have when you look at the photographs. What is it? Ask: What messages do you receive as a viewer of the photographs?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation that materials provide opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies.

Within both Guidebooks, “How are the materials designed for the classroom?” and “How do the materials support all learners?”, grouping strategies are presented to instructors including small group, whole group, pairs, and individual settings. Within every lesson, instructors are presented with “Teaching Notes” that include specific grouping strategies and reference helpful documentation, such as the conversation stems learning tool.

• In "If Stones Could Speak" Unit, Lesson 5, students review “Types & Processes of Archaeology.” On the slide, students are presented with an excerpt from a text and the question, “What is the meaning of the word ‘conserve’?” In the “Teaching Notes” it provides the following grouping supports: “Assign students to partners using an established classroom routine….Explain to students that using context clues and looking for root words can help us to understand the meaning of words and phrases. Instruct students to turn and talk with a partner, discussing their answer...Prompt pairs to use the conversation stems learning tool as they discuss.”
• In the “Steve Jobs” Unit, Lesson 1, the lesson begins with whole class instruction as the teacher gives an overview of the unit goals then launches a video for the class to watch. After the video, there is a whole class discussion. The teacher then reads a text aloud and students work in pairs to respond to the text. Lastly, the students work individually to write a paragraph about the video and/or the text.
• In the "Out of the Dust" Unit, Lesson 5, students conduct research on the drought years. The teacher reads the text out loud then guides the students through a whole-class discussion. Then she pairs students to continue the discussion. She reads aloud to them again, and afterward the students reread the text in pairs and discuss it. Lastly, students complete an individual writing assignment on the text in their reading logs.