3rd Grade - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that materials contain sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts.

Throughout the units, teachers are provided with series of questions requiring analysis of all aspects of the texts, including language, details, craft, and structure. Units allow for extensive time with one text, and the discussion questions, writing tasks, and Target Tasks build in depth and complexity from beginning of the unit to the end, and the expectation is eventually that students know to use evidence from the text to support their responses. This expectation increases with each unit, building toward independence throughout the year when students are required to complete extensive writing assignments using the text as evidence and/or mentor text for their own writing. Students are pointed to figurative language and word choice, asked to consider decisions made by the authors in crafting and structuring their work, and consider questions around theme and characterization. The units frame questions for discussion, short writing tasks, and extended "Target Task" writing prompts.

Students analyze language in Literature and Social Studies and Science units. Examples include:

• In Literature, Unit 2, Lesson 2, after reading the poem, "A Dragonfly,” some key questions are: "What does the line, 'and wings like spun glass' describe? What type of figurative language does the poet use? Why?
• In Science and Social Studies, Unit 2, Lesson 2, after reading Magic Tree House, Fact Tracker, Pilgrims by Mary Pope Osborne, students are asked (to) read the sentence from page 17: "Tempers had grown short during the trip. What is a temper? What does it mean if a temper has grown short? Why was this happening? How was it solved?"
• In Science and Social Studies, Unit 3, Lesson 9, after reading Roman Class Structure, students are asked: "Why does the author use the word powerful to describe the patricians? Why does the author use the word 'second-class' to describe the plebeians? Why does the author use the word lowly to describe slaves?"
• In Literature, Unit 6, Lesson 6, after reading Charlotte's Web, students are asked: "What does the phrase his "mind was full" mean? What is Wilbur's mind full with? How does it impact him?"
• In Literature, Unit 7, Lesson 1, after reading The Blacker the Berry by Joyce Carol Thomas, students are asked the following questions to analyze language:"What is the significance of the poem title? What does the phrase 'blacker the berry' mean?"

Students analyze key ideas in Literature and Social Studies and Science units. Examples include:

• In Literature, Unit 1, Lesson 5, after reading The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl, students are asked: "How can people step in to help save others? Do you have to be friends with someone to help them?What lesson is Roald Dahl trying to teach?"
• In Literature, Unit 2, Lesson 14, after reading The People could Fly by Virginia Hamilton, students are reminded that the folktales in the book have similar messages/lessons and characters and are asked: "What common messages/lessons are present across the different folktales? How are the characters similar and different across the different folktales?"
• In Science and Social Studies, Unit 2, Lesson 4, students read “Letters from a Pilgrim Child (Letter 1),” and determine the main idea by using key details from the text to identify the main idea.
• In Science and Social Studies, Unit 3, Lesson 6, after reading Eye Wonder: Ancient Rome, students are asked: "What is the main idea of the section? What key details support the main idea?"
• In Literature, Unit 4, Lesson 8, after reading Classic Starts: Roman Myths by Diane Namm, students are given the writing prompt for the myth "Atlas and the Eleventh Labor of Hercules" and write: "How does the author use key details to convey the central message?"
• In Literature, Unit 7, Lesson 3, after reading The Friendship by Mildred Taylor, students are asked to close read for supporting evidence. "Do Little Man and Stacey have the same perspective on the situation? How does this connect to the theme of racism?"

Students analyze details in Literature and Social Studies and Science units. Examples include:

• In Literature, Unit 1, Lesson 10, after reading The Twits by Roald Dahl, students are asked to describe Mr. And Mrs. Twit. "What evidence does Roald Dahl include to help the reader better understand them?"
• In Science and Social Studies, Unit 1, Lesson 2, after reading, If you Lived with the Sioux Indians by Ann McGovern, a key questions is: "What evidence does the author include to show that the Sioux valued every member of the community?"
• In Science and Social Studies, Unit 3, Lesson 5, after reading Ancient Rome and Pompeii: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #13 by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce, students are asked: "Describe some of the different war machines used by the Roman army? How did they fit with the Romans’ strategy of siege warfare?"
• In Literature, Unit 5, Lesson 10, after reading Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes, key questions include: "Why do the girls decide to go to Wanda's house? What evidence does the author include to show how Peggy feels about her visit to the house? How Maddie feels? Do they feel the same way? Why or why not?"
• In Literature, Unit 6, Lesson 4, after reading Charlotte's Web by E. B. White, a key question is: "'Rain upset Wilbur's plans'. What were Wilbur's plans? What do his plans show about him?"

Students analyze craft throughout Literature and Social Studies and Science units. Included in the publisher's documents are questions for teachers to consider when planning the lesson that will support this type of questioning. Examples of questions include:

• In Literature, Unit 1, Lesson 16, in the unit assessment, students are asked: "How do the three farmers feel at the end of the selection? How will their feelings influence the plot?"
• In Literature, Unit 2, Lesson 13, after reading The Twits by Roald Dahl, students are asked: "The text ends with the following sentence, 'And everybody, including Fred shouted... Hooray!' Why does Roald Rachel end with this sentence?"
• In Science and Social Studies, Unit 2, Lesson 2, after reading Magic Tree House, Fact Finder: Pilgrims by Mary Pope Osborne, students are asked: "Why does the author include the detail that the Mayflower was a cargo ship and didn’t usually carry passengers?
• The author ends the chapter with the following sentences: “The Pilgrims could not know that even worse times still lay ahead. All the rules in the world could not help them survive.” Explain the power of these sentences and why the author included them.
• In Literature, Unit 3, Lesson 3, after reading the poem "Fishes' Evening Song" by Jack Prelutsky students are asked: "Identifying the onomatopoeia. What is the effect on the onomatopoeia?"
• In Science and Social Studies, Unit 3, Lesson 12, after reading Eye Wonder: Ancient Rome, a writing prompt in the Target Task is: "Explain how the author uses different text features and illustrations to support the idea that gladiators and bath houses were an important part of Roman society. How does this information build on the information from Ancient Rome and Pompeii?"
• In Literature, Unit 5, Lesson 6, after reading The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes, students are asked: "Why does the author include the details about Wanda and her reading? What does the author want a reader to understand about Maudie and Wanda by including these details?"
• In Literature, Unit 6, after reading Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, students explain the different perspectives by analyze different characters' points of view and reactions to key events in Charlotte's Web (Lesson 8). They also participate in a class discussion about Wilbur and Charlotte's relationship (Lesson 20).

Students analyze text structure in Literature and Social Studies and Science units. Examples include:

• In Literature, Unit 1, Lesson 3, after reading The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl, students are asked: "How do Humpy - Rumpy and Monkey's words and actions influence the plot of the story?"
• In Literature, Unit 2, Lesson 9, after reading Tales Our Abuelitas Told: A Hispanic Folktale Collection students are asked: "What common messages/lessons are present across the different folktales?How are characters similar and different across the difference folktales?"
• In Science and Social Studies, Unit 2, Lesson 6, after reading Magic Tree House, Fact Tracker, Pilgrims by Mary Pope Osborne, students are asked: "Why does the author include the section on Master Jones's Map? How does this help the reader better understand where the pilgrims finally settled?"
• In Science and Social Studies, Unit 3, Lesson 3, after reading Eve Wonder: Ancient Rome, students are asked: "What is the logical connection between sentences and paragraphs in the text?"
• In Literature, Unit 5, Lesson 8, after reading The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes students are asked: "How does the first part of the chapter build on to earlier sections of the text?"
• In Literature, Unit 6, Lesson 2, after reading Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, students are asked: "'Fern loved Wilbur more than anything.' Why did the author start with this statement? What evidence does the author include to support it?"
• In Literature, Unit 7, Lesson 3, after reading The Friendship by Mildred D. Taylor, students are asked: "Analyze the power of the illustration on pp. 18 - 19. What does it reveal about the different characters and their relationship with one another?"

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that materials contain a coherently sequenced set of text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts.

In most units, students have multiple opportunities to analyze across texts. Although not all units have multiple texts, students have opportunities to analyze within those specific texts when they are the focus of the unit. Every lesson has a set of carefully sequenced key questions that increase in complexity both within the lesson and throughout the unit. Questions ask students to look into the text and consider why the authors use specific text features, phrasing, and character/plot decisions. Students also delve into recurring themes and commonalities of text structure within a specific genre, such as folktales and myths. Sometimes the same questions are repeated in successive lessons for multiple texts over several days, leading to a more complex or comparison question across all the texts once they have been read. Target tasks also include discussion and writing prompts that ask students to dive a bit deeper on more summative ideas.

Examples of students analyzing within and across texts in Literature include:

• In Unit 1, students read two texts written by Roald Dahl. In both texts, students analyze the characters. For example, in Lesson 1, students are asked what evidence does the author include to help the reader better understand the Enormous Crocodile. In Lesson 8, students give evidence to show that Mr. Twit is an instigator.
• In Unit 2, Lessons 2 and 4, students are asked what lesson the author is trying to teach in the folktales. This leads to the students answering the question, what common lessons are present across different folktales in Lessons 9 and 14. In Lesson 19, students engage in a debate to analyze the essential question, and they are encouraged to use the various texts throughout the unit.
• In Unit 3, students read different poems. In Lesson 11, students can pick a poem that they have read and they need to describe how the poet uses the structural elements of poetry to help the readers better understand the central message of the poem. This question of how does the poet convey the central message is also found in Lesson 3.
• In Unit 4, students read Roman myths, and answer how the author uses key details to convey the central message in Lesson 2, and again in Lesson 14.
• In Unit 5, students read The Hundred Dresses and in Lesson 15, the students identify the central message of the story and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text. This question is asked not only in this unit, but other units including Unit 4 and Unit 6. In Lesson 27, students take what they learned from The Hundred Dresses and Garvey’s Choice to brainstorm ways to prevent bullying at their own school and create a poster to explain what bullying is, the roles people play in bullying, and two suggestions on how to prevent or stop bullying.
• In Unit 6, students read Charlotte’s Web and, similar to previous units, students explain the central message or lessons in the book in Lesson 25. This requires students to analyze this specific text, and take what they have learned both in this unit and in other units about central message to answer this question.
• In Unit 7, Lesson 20, students compare and contrast the settings of the books, The Gold Cadillac and The Friendship, both written by Mildred Taylor, by analyzing the similarities and the differences between settings and explaining why. In Lesson 22, students compare and contrast how Mildred Taylor develops the theme of racism in the two stories.

Students analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across individual and multiple texts in Science and Social Studies. Examples include:

• In Unit 1, students learn about Native Americans. Students analyze the various tribes that they have read about in Lesson 22, by explaining why Native American cultures differ across North America. They need to explain the similarities and differences in the way that the various tribes met their needs for survival.
• In Unit 2, students read about the Pilgrims and Colonial America. Lesson 4 is the third text that students read about the Mayflower, and are asked how the information in this article is similar to and/or different from the information from the other sources. In Lesson 9, students are asked to compare and contrast the Wampanoag tribe with some of the other Native American tribes that they have read about.
• In Unit 3, students learn about Ancient Rome. In Lesson 7, students are given the writing prompt, “Your friend told you that the Roman army was not very powerful or organized. Do you agree or disagree? Write a letter to your friend explaining why.” Students use both Ancient Rome and Pompeii: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #13 and Eye Wonder: Ancient Rome to successfully answer the writing prompt.
• In Unit 4, students read about the animal kingdom and adaptations. In Lesson 12, students think of the desert habitats they have read about across multiple texts and describe if they think all of the different types of animals survive in the desert habitat. In Lesson 20, students take everything they have read so far and describe the different strategies for helping to prevent water pollution.
• In Unit 5, students read about different forces and motion, yet are asked very similar questions. For example in Lesson 10, students are asked to explain how Newton’s Three Laws of Motion connect to soccer by describing the relationship between scientific concepts in a text and in Lesson 12, students explain how the parts of a race car affect how it moves by describing the relationship between different concepts in a text.
• In Unit 6, students read about different world religions. In Lesson 3, students write an essay that compares and contrasts the key details presented in the two articles they had read about the importance of religions. Similarly, in Lesson 7, students compare and contrast the key details they read about Judaism in two different articles. Students are given the same writing prompt in Lesson 11, but with Christianity.
• In Unit 6, students read about machines and, in Lesson 15, students analyze and explain how simple and complex machines make our lives easier by integrating information from all of the unit texts.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic (or, for grades 6-8, a theme) through integrated skills (e.g. combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).

Units in both Literature and Science and Social Studies have final projects that require students to demonstrate their knowledge of a topic. All units have a culminating project and the questions and tasks throughout the unit prepare the students for the final project. Sometimes the same writing task is given multiple times leading to the end of the unit. All of the questions and tasks support the integration of skills and knowledge by the end of the unit and provide students practice opportunities with a gradual building of expectations. The mini tasks embedded throughout the unit prepare the students for the final task, both by providing multiple opportunities for the same writing prompt with increasing expectations, and addressing the genre and daily series of of text dependent questions. There are reading, writing, and discussion (speaking and listening) elements throughout the unit.

Examples of questions and tasks that support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic in Science and Social Studies include:

• In Unit 1, students complete a research and writing project. They write an informational text about what it would be like to live with the Hopi or Cherokee Indians by conducting a simple research project. On Day 1, students begin taking notes, which was taught in the unit, then on Day 2, students can continue researching, and on Day 3, students review how to turn notes into powerful sentences. Finally, on Day 4, students finish their writing, revise based on feedback from peers and teachers, and share.
• In Unit 2, students complete a four-day project to further their understanding of Pilgrims and the Colonies. Potential ideas for the project are to research a different colony that was not studied in this unit or the different roles and responsibilities in Colonial America. Students need to integrate what they learned so far as well as reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills because students not only write a research paper, but they share their findings.
• In Unit 3, the culminating task is to pick another topic about ancient Rome to explore in depth. Students create a brochure and visual representation to show what they learned. Students both read texts and use their writing skills that they learned to complete this task. Students also integrate speaking and listening because students have to share their brochures and visuals with the class.
• In Unit 4, students are told that they live in a seaside town that is experiencing large amounts of water pollution and different animals and organisms are becoming extinct as a result. The project requires the students to come up with a solution to the problem, and persuade others in the community to agree. Students make a presentation and use what they learned about animal adaptations throughout the unit.
• In Unit 6, students learn about different religions such as Judaism and Christianity and, for a culminating project, research a religion that was not covered in the unit and students present their findings to the class.
• In Unit 7, students use what they learned about simple machines to write a design proposal and create it. This integrates many skills since students have to write about the challenges and successes they had while building their machine.

Examples of questions and tasks that support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic in Literature include:

• In Unit 1, the culminating task is for students to write their own creative narrative with a focused plot using Roald Dahl as a mentor author. This task builds on the knowledge of Roald Dahl as an author and the knowledge of narrative writing gained in this unit and the close reading of Roald Dahl’s books utilized in this unit.
• In Unit 2, the culminating task is for students to write their own folktale. Previous lessons leading up to this include in Lesson 8, students do a close read of a folktale and they engage in a discussion on the central message and in Lesson 9, students write the common messages that are across the folktales they have read so far. Similarly, in Lesson 14, students discuss the different themes they have read about. These tasks and questions will help students successfully write their own folktale with a central message.
• In Unit 3, students learn about poetry and, in Lesson 13, the culminating task is to write a poem about an object or an animal, and it must include at least three poetic terms. Students must use their knowledge of poetry and the various elements learned throughout the unit to complete this task. On the first day of this task, students analyze poems before writing their own, then on the second day, students review how structure enhances the poem before continuing to write poems, and on the third day, students share their poem.
• In Unit 4, students demonstrate their knowledge on the topic of Roman Myths by engaging in a discussion about the unit-essential questions.
• In Unit 5, students brainstorm ways to prevent bullying and show this on a poster that explains what bullying is, details the different roles people play in bullying, and has at least two suggestions for how to prevent or stop bullying. Students use their knowledge from The Hundred Dresses and Garvey’s Choice to successfully complete this project.
• In Unit 6, students have to integrate what they learned about Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web to write thank you notes to each of the characters in the book explaining why Wilbur is thankful for their friendship.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that materials support students’ increasing writing skills over the course of the school year, building students’ writing ability to demonstrate proficiency at grade level at the end of the school year.

Materials support students’ increasing writing skills over the course of the school year. Writing demands in each unit increase. Materials also include spiraling lessons and differentiating for individual student needs. The Unit Summary and Teacher Intellectual Prep sections explain that over time, there is an increase in depth and expectations for student writing. Each unit summary specifies the writing focus of the unit and the expectations for students. Each Unit Overview also specifies expectations for student achievement and the focus for Areas of Correction. The units at the beginning of the year focus on quality sentences and paragraph writing, and gradually build throughout the year toward proficiency with essays. The use of evidence also evolves from students using direct quotations to citing to paraphrasing evidence. Support materials are included in the program as well to help teachers plan when to deliver a mini lesson for example and how to decide which correct area to provide. There is also a Writing Instruction Q & A that includes detailed information on how writing instruction is organized and distributed throughout the year and a rationale for why it is taught this way. This document explains that there are many short, targeted writing days that provide students practice and fluency with a specific writing genre. Teachers gather feedback and data on students’ understanding so the teacher can provide focus correction areas.

Writing instruction supports students’ growth in writing skills over the course of the school year, building students’ writing ability to demonstrate proficiency at Grade 3 by the end of the year.

Examples of how writing progresses throughout the year in Science and Social Studies include:

• In Unit 1, the foundation of writing is laid out. Students focus on the power of a single sentences and how to create and write different types of sentences. They also begin to learn different brainstorming structures.
• In Unit 2, students continue to learn more brainstorming structures by grouping ideas and evidence together and then writing strong paragraphs. The goal is for students to do this with fluidity by the end of the unit and to be able to write a paragraph with strong topic sentences and at least one text-based detail.
• In Unit 3, students learn how to explain evidence in a way that shows a deeper understanding of the content and text. Students also learn how to write a solid introduction and conclusion to the claim.
• In Unit 4, the main goal of this unit is on explaining evidence in a way that shows a deeper understanding of the content and text. This begins introducing analysis in writing. Students also continue practicing introductions and conclusions.
• In Unit 5, the expectation is that students begin moving from a Level 3 on the writing rubric to a Level 4. Students are expected to use transition words as a way of linking evidence and to provide structure and order in their writing.
• In Unit 6, the unit builds on writing instruction from the previous five units. The teacher is expected to use data from the previous unit assessments to select a priority focus correct area for the unit based on the needs of the classroom. The goal is to write longer pieces with information from multiple sources.
• In Unit 7, students have a culminating writing task and the goal is for all students to receive a 3 or a 4 on the rubric.

Literature examples include:

• In Unit 1, the writing focus is on establishing expectations and procedures for writing about reading and to write creative narratives using Roald Dahl as a guide.
• In Unit 2, students write both narrative stories and begin learning literary analysis essays. Students learn how to write a strong claim that answers a question and use evidence from the text. Students also learn a paragraph structure. Lesson 21 specifically states in the Notes section that by using the structure of the stories and folktales in the texts in this unit, students will dive deeper into narrative writing.
• In Unit 3, the writing focus continues to be on literary analysis essays.
• In Unit 4, students learn how to take what they have learned from close reading a text to rewriting a section of the text or to extend the text further. Students also learn how to include vivid and precise descriptive details to help readers visualize the events of the story.
• In Unit 5, the main focus of the unit is on writing literary analysis essays that show a deep understanding of character, genre, and central message.
• In Unit 6, students work on developing claims and elaborating on evidence. They will also be taught how to explain their ideas across multiple paragraphs.
• In Unit 7, the focus is on narrative journals and literary analysis that focuses on how the authors develop a theme at a nuanced level.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that 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.

Materials include focused research projects. In some units there is one large project, and in others there are multiple smaller ones. Sometimes these projects are through hands-on learning lab experiences. Students are given opportunity to analyze topics through varied sources and experiences. The rigor of these projects build throughout the year and by the end of the year projects are more independent and require deeper levels of research and analysis. All research projects are located in Science and Social Studies units.

Below are examples of research projects that encourage students to develop knowledge in a given area by confronting and analyzing different aspects of a topic using multiple texts and source materials in the Science and Social Studies units:

• In Unit 1, students engage in a shared research project on what it would be like to live with the Hopi or Cherokee Indians hundreds of years ago. This project occurs over four days and detailed notes for each day are provided.
• In Unit 2, teachers have the opportunity to design a hands-on project for students to participate in that helps build a deeper understanding of Pilgrims and Colonies. Potential ideas include researching a different colony that was not studied in this unit or researching different roles and responsibilities in Colonial America. The content of the project is based on class interest and available resources.
• In Unit 3, students pick another topic about ancient Rome, and then students create a brochure and visual representation to show what they learned.
• In Unit 4, students use what they know about animal characteristics, life cycles, and adaptations to design an animal that they think is best suited for survival in a variety of habitats.
• In Unit 6, students research another religion. Students research and take notes on the different beliefs, history, people, and rituals that are unique to the particular religion. Students take what they learned through research and present it to the class.
• In Unit 7, students are given a chance to research different types of playground features to come up with a solution for a design problem.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that materials provide a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

The Text Consumption Guidance document provides the rationale for independent reading and explains that during independent reading, students gain independence by reading a text on their own that requires them to use all of the strategies learned in class. During independent reading, students actively annotate and make meaning of the text with limited support from the teacher or peers. The materials suggest that independent reading can be used at the end of the lesson as independent practice, on days when the majority of the text is accessible and/or there are features of the text students need to practice accessing independently, or at the beginning of the lesson to allow time for independent analysis before a close-read or a discussion.

In the Approach to Independent Reading Document provided it states, "students in grades 3-5 have an additional 45-60 minute independent reading block, as well as independent reading assigned daily for homework." The document also includes tables to give suggestions of how to accomplish independent reading during the school day, gradually increasing so that students can sustain independent reading for 6o minutes by the end of the school year. The document explains how a teacher should set up their classroom library and provides an independent reading weekly planning template with samples.

Teachers are also provided with grade-level aligned suggested independent reading lists for both literary and informational texts. There is guidance and protocols for hosting book clubs, book talks, and book reviews. A reading log is provided to keep track of the texts read. Sample prompts and log entries are provided. Protocol is provided for student/teacher conferences based on the reading logs.