6th Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for anchor texts being of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading and consider a range of student interests. The reading selections include published texts, excerpts from published texts, and published authors. Texts are suitable for multiple examinations for multiple purposes, such as building academic vocabulary, gaining content knowledge, and facilitating access to more complex future texts. Texts offer personal perspectives on a variety of topics. Literary texts avoid stereotypes and one dimensional characters, representing instead a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Texts would meet a variety of student interests.

Examples of texts that demonstrate high quality include:

Unit 1

• Dan Gutman, My Superpowers
• Gary Soto, The Jacket
• Langston Hughes, “Thank you, Ma’am”
• Sandra Cisneros, “ Eleven”
• Walter Dean Myers, “ The Treasure of Lemon Brown”

Unit 2

• Sharon Creech, Walk Two Moons
• John Steinbeck, excerpt from Travels With Charley

Unit 3

• Lisa Ling, “Most Dangerous ‘Sport’ of All May be Cheerleading”
• John Adams, excerpt from “Letter on Thomas Jefferson”

Unit 4

• Judith Viorst, The Southpaw
• Lewis Carroll, “Jabberwocky”
• William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that materials reflect the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards. Texts are of varying lengths and formats, and include poems, essays, articles, films, editorials, myths, novel excerpts, short stories, editorials, memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies. Over the course of the year, the program achieves a balance of time spent interacting with both literary and informational texts.

Texts reviewed for Grade 6 encompass a full spectrum of genres, ranging from Greek mythology to online news articles. Additionally, materials call for the use of film and video clips, incorporating a variety of media.

Examples of text types and genres include:

Unit 1 includes personal narrative, novel excerpt, short story, comic strip, picture book, fairy tale, poem. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• “The Circuit” by Francisco Jimenez
• “Flipped” by Wendelin Van Draanen
• “Daedalus and Icarus” by Geraldine McCaughrean
• “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros
• “The Mysteries of Harris Burdick” by Chris Van Allsburg

Unit 2 includes novel, film clip, biography, autobiography. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
• “Farewell to a Faithful Pal” by John Grogan
• Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
• Dogs Make us Human by Temple Grandin

Unit 3 includes editorial, opinion, speech, letter. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• "Should Dodgeball be Banned in Schools?" by staff of TIME for Kids
• “Letter on Thomas Jefferson” by John Adams
• “Print Almost Anything” by Stephen Ornes
• “The First Americans” by Scott H. Peters

Unit 4 includes poetry, drama, play, short story, film. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• “Shakespeare’s Life” The British Library
• “The Southpaw” by Judith Viorst
• “Limericks” by Edward Lear
• “Oranges” by Gary Soto
• The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations for texts having the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and relationship to their associated student task.

Quantitative tools (Lexile) measured dimensions of text complexity such as word frequency, sentence length, and text cohesion. According to CCSS standards, the suggested Lexile levels for grades 6-8 are 925-1185. Texts in these materials range from 660-1390.

Qualitative tools measure such features of text complexity as text structure, language clarity and conventions, knowledge demands, and levels of meaning and purpose that are evaluated by educators. The qualitative measures for Grade 6 materials include an appropriate mix of low, moderate, and high difficulty. While some texts might seem above the grade level expectations in quantitative measure, the qualitative features of texts that fall above or below the text complexity band merit their placement.

The demands of the accompanying student tasks range from low to challenging in their difficulty and demand difficulty correlates to complexity of text. More challenging texts may have lower difficulty task demands. Conversely, an accessible text may be paired with a challenging task.

Examples of texts with appropriate text complexity include:

In Unit 1, five of six anchor texts have an overall text complexity analysis of complex, indicating the upper range of suggested Grade 6 complexity.

• Activity 1.2: Text: “The Circuit” by Francisco Jimenez. Lexile-1020. Qualitative: Moderate. Task Demand: Moderate-Analyze.
• Activity 1.3: Text: “Daedalus and Icarus" by Geraldine McCaughrean. Lexile-750. Qualitative: Moderate. Task Demand: Moderate-Analyze.

In Unit 2, three of four anchor texts have an overall text complexity analysis of complex, indicating the upper range of suggested Grade 6 complexity.

• Activity 2.16: Text: “Travels with Charley” by John Steinbeck. Lexile-800. Qualitative: Moderate. Task Demand: Moderate-Analyze.
• Activity 2.17: Text: "Saying Farewell to a Faithful Pet” by John Grogan. Lexile-1100. Qualitative: Moderate. Task Demand: Moderate-Analyze.

In Unit 3, eight of eleven anchor texts have an overall text complexity analysis of complex, the remaining three texts have an overall text complexity analysis of very complex.

• Activity 3.6: Text: “Letter on Thomas Jefferson” by John Adams. Lexile-1010. Qualitative: Moderate. Task Demand: Moderate-Analyze
• Activity 3.11: Text: “The First Americans” by Scott H. Peters. Lexile-1000. Qualitative: Moderate. Task Demand: Challenging-Evaluate.

In Unit 4, three of four anchor texts have an overall text complexity analysis of complex to very complex.

• Activity 4.8: Text:”The Southpaw” by Judith Viorst. Lexile-660. Qualitative: Moderate. Task Demand: Moderate-Analyze.
• Activity 4.3: Text: “Shakespeare’s Life” by The British Library. Lexile-1390. Qualitative: High. Task Demand: Accessible-Understand.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for supporting students’ increasing literacy skills over the course of the school year. (Series of texts should be at a variety of complexity levels appropriate for the grade band.) Series of texts are at a variety of complexity levels appropriate for the grade band.

Students progressively build literacy skills through work with a variety of texts over the course of the school year. Texts sets are at various complexity levels, quantitatively and qualitatively, and therefore support learners as they develop literacy skills and background knowledge to support independent and proficient reading practices.

The overall reading and writing demands start at an accessible range in Unit 1 and gradually increase in complexity and challenges over the course of the school year. This range includes measures of quantitative and qualitative demand. In Unit 1, five of six texts have an overall text complexity analysis of complex, using qualitative and quantitative measures, indicating texts are in the upper range of suggested 6th grade complexity. In Unit 2, three of four texts have an overall text complexity analysis of complex, using qualitative and quantitative measures, indicating texts are in the upper range of suggested 6th grade complexity. In Unit 3, eight of eleven texts have an overall text complexity analysis of complex, using qualitative and quantitative measures indicating texts are in upper range of suggested 6th grade complexity. The remaining three texts have an overall analysis of very complex. In Unit 4, three of four texts have an overall text complexity analysis of complex, using qualitative and quantitative measures indicating texts are in upper range of suggested 6th grade complexity.

Further student supports online allow students to access texts audibly. Print and online student editions provide grammar handbooks, explaining language standards, as well as a variety of reading and writing strategy explanations. The print and online teacher edition contains these resources as well, along with teaching tips, resources, and suggestions, such as extra grammar lessons, Teacher to Teacher tips, and adapt and extend opportunities for ELL, struggling, and advanced students. There are multiple opportunities during collaborative discussions, Literature Circles, and class presentations to practice speaking and listening skills.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that anchor texts and series of texts connected to them are accompanied by a text complexity analysis and rationale for purpose and placement in the grade level.

The core texts, and series of texts connected to them, are accompanied by a text complexity analysis and rationale for educational purpose and placement at grade level. The publisher includes a complete “Text Complexity Analysis” for each text used. This document includes a text description, a locator for where it is used, a section on context, a chart of the quantitative and qualitative measures, the qualitative considerations, the task and reader considerations, and the placement considerations.

In the online Teacher Edition, a complete text complexity analysis and rationale for that text's inclusion in the program is available. Included in the text analysis is the following: a paragraph setting the context of the reading within the rest of the unit; a quantitative/complexity measure; qualitative considerations including purpose/levels of meaning, structure, language and knowledge demands; as well as task, reader, and grade level placement considerations.

In the forward of the print Teacher Edition, an explanation of the metrics used for text complexity measures is provided. Quantitative measures are indicated with Lexile scores. Qualitative measures are indicated as "High," "Moderate," and "Low" difficulty and were determined by teachers considering meaning, purpose, structure, language, and knowledge demands of each text. Task difficulty was measured using Anderson's and Krathwohl's taxonomy based on the cognitive demands of tasks associated with the text.

At the beginning of each unit, the Teacher Edition lists rationale for materials included in the “Planning the Unit” section through Context, College Readiness Standards, and Instructional Practices and Pacing. When texts appear to fall below the grade 6-8 level band, a rationale is provided for justification. In the Print Teacher Edition, Text Complexity Icons and information appear as sidebars alongside the beginning of all prose text in Grade 6 student and teacher editions.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that support materials for the core text(s) provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to support their reading at grade level by the end of the school year.

There are numerous opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of texts throughout the year. Furthermore, students are given many opportunities over the course of school year to practice oral and silent reading fluency, and self-monitor their progress. Materials include a breadth and depth of text types. Student and Teacher Editions contain an extensive list of suggested fiction and nonfiction texts, correlated to each unit’s theme, along with Lexile level, in the front of each unit. Students are instructed at beginning and midpoint of each of four units to select a text from the list, or a similar one of their own, corresponding to unit’s theme. Students keep a Reader’s/Writer’s Notebook through the course of the year’s study. There, they record connections between anchor text and text selected for independent reading. The journal also serves as a repository for self-reflection on the success of reading strategies employed; multiple reading for multiple purposes, rereading, visualizing, and summarizing. The texts provide ample opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to achieve grade level reading. Additional support is given to struggling readers and English Language learners, as well as extension opportunities for those reading above grade level. Online programs include Desmos and Link, and all selections are available as audio versions for practice of oral fluency.

There are numerous opportunities for students to engage with a range and volume of texts throughout the year both in print and in mixed media. Suggested independent reading texts and support texts, when combined with anchor texts, provide a robust collection of opportunities for students to read broadly and deeply. Texts range in length and form from online articles to plays and novels.

Activity 1.3 in Unit 1 introduces students to independent reading expectations. “Use your Reader/Writer Notebook to create your reading plan and respond to any questions, comments, or reactions you may have to your reading. Your teacher may ask questions about your text, and making notes in your Reader/Writer Notebook will help you answer them.” Students are also asked to record their reading pace in their notebook, monitoring and recording growth.

Access to text is available through a variety of methods. The Teacher Wrap on Springboard Digital gives suggestions and options for instructors to monitor student reading growth by employing reading strategies such as grouping students or reading aloud difficult passages. The Teacher Wrap in Unit 1, Activity 1.5, gives these instructions: “Based on the complexity of the passage and the knowledge of your students, you may choose to conduct first reading a variety of ways; independent, paired, or small group reading, or teacher read aloud. As students are reading, monitor their progress. Be sure they are engaged with the text. Based on the observations you made during first reading, you may decide for the second reading to read aloud certain complex passages, or you may group students differently.”

The instructional materials for Grade 6 meet the criteria that most questions, tasks, and assignments are text-dependent, and require students to engage with the text directly. The questions and tasks require the students to draw on textual evidence, and often support students working with questions that ask students to make inferences.

Teacher materials provide support for planning and implementation of text-dependent writing, speaking, and other activities. Every anchor and supporting text has a Second Read component that asks students to look at a particular section of the text and complete a text-dependent activity. Questions students have about the text are recorded daily in students-required Reader’s/Writer’s notebook. The Teacher Wrap in both online and print teacher’s editions provides extensive guidance to teachers. Students record, revise, and edit their responses digitally with online text, and are encouraged to use digital tools such as Highlight, Note, Mark, Annotate, and Question to help with understanding. Further support is provided to students digitally through Zinc and Desmos.

• In Activity 1.2, students read “The Circut” by Fransisco Jimenez and are asked, “ On page 6 and 7, Jiménez describes the family’s departure. What do the details of the family’s departure help you understand? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.” There are additional Scaffolding the Text-Dependent Questions such as, “How does the ending to this story reinforce your understanding of the life of migrant workers? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer. To support students in answering this question, review the sequence of events for this narrative. How did it begin and how is the ending similar?”
• In Unit 2, students read the novel, Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech, or an optional novel of the teacher’s choice. The culminating task for the unit asks students to pick from the following writing prompts: "Explain how internal or external forces cause one character to grow or change; Identify one subplot from the novel and explain how it relates to the main subplot of the novel; Describe one setting from the novel and explain why it is important to a character or plot; or Discuss how plot, setting, characters, or conflict contributes to one of the novel’s themes."
• In Activity 3.4, students read the text, “Most Dangerous ‘Sport’ of All May Be Cheerleading” by Lisa Ling and Arash Ghadishah. Students are asked questions such as, “ What kinds of evidence do the authors use in the beginning of this article to convey the idea that cheerleading is dangerous?” and “How do the comments from cheerleaders in paragraphs 13–17 contribute to the idea that cheerleading should have uniform safety and training standards?”
• In Activity 4.11, students read the text, The Millionaire Misor by Aaron Shepard and are asked questions such as, "At the end of the story, how does Sushil feel about Nirmala making dumplings for the entire town?" and "Which details in the drama show the reader how Sushil feels? What is the story’s theme? Choose details from the text (e.g., events) and explain how they contribute to the development of the theme."

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that materials include a mix of on-demand and process writing throughout each unit in a variety of styles, formats, and lengths.

Grade 6 materials contain a mix of on-demand and process writing opportunities for students. Each unit has a culminating activity that focuses on the steps of the writing process. Materials include writing instruction aligned to the standards for the grade level, and writing instruction spans the whole school year.

On-demand opportunities include daily writing options in class instruction as well as opportunities in every unit to attend to the text at hand. Some examples representative of the program as a whole include:

• In Unit 1, Activity 1.7, after reading an excerpt from Flipped and using a graphic organizer to prewrite about an incident in their life that was witnessed by someone else, students will respond to a narrative writing prompt. The prompt asks students to write about the incident in a way that shows the differing attitudes about what happened, making sure to establish the incident, create dialogue that incorporates the feelings of the characters, use descriptive language, and correctly use proper nouns and pronouns.
• In Unit 2, Activities 2.2-2.3, students are introduced to several expository writing prompts and practice writing paragraph responses. Students work with classmates to write a response to a film clip from UP that explains character's life changes in response to internal forces, including a topic sentence that states the main idea, supporting details from graphic organizer, and commentary.

Process opportunities are woven throughout the program, and by the end of the year, students have had robust support in learning and working with the writing process. Multiple opportunities require short and extended research. Mode-specific Writing Workshops are in the online teacher's edition, which include open-ended prompts and Embedded Assessments with scoring guides to provide regular practice. The student edition includes writing instruction such as brainstorming, controlling idea, details, dialogue, drafting, editing, evaluating, feedback, outlining, planning, prewriting, quickwrites, research, revision strategies, multimedia components, writing process, and writing prompts. The Planning Unit section of the teacher’s edition provides an explanation of expectations of Embedded Assessments, as well as a comprehensive Instruction and Pacing Guide. A Writer's Workshop is available online for extra support.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for materials providing opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards and may include blended styles.

Grade 6 materials provide opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflects the distribution required by the standards over the course of a school year. Embedded Assessments (2 per unit) cover a wide variety of writing activities which meet 6th grade level standards. Some examples include writing a personal narrative, writing a short story, responding to literature, writing an expository essay, researching and debating a controversy, writing an argumentative letter, and researching and presenting written work on Shakespeare.

Writing lessons and activities that represent this distribution of text types include the following examples:

• In Unit 1, writing instruction includes writing a personal narrative and writing a short story. Language and writer's craft instruction includes transitions, revising for transitions, vivid verbs, and varied sentence patterns.
• In Unit 2, writing instruction includes responding to literature and writing an expository essay. Language and writer's craft instruction includes pronoun usage and agreement, sentence variety, revising for figurative language, and parallel structure.
• In Unit 3, ELA instruction includes researching and debating a controversy and writing an argumentative letter. Language and writer's craft instruction includes format style, using appositives, and revising by creating complex sentences.
• In Unit 4, ELA instruction includes researching, presenting, and performing Shakespeare. Language and writer's craft instruction includes choosing sentence structure and pronoun usage.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for materials including frequent opportunities for research-based and evidence-based writing to support analysis, argument, synthesis and/or evaluation of information, supports, and claims.

Grade 6 materials provide frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information appropriate for the grade level. Evidence-based responses are required as follow up activities for all reading selections. Materials provide frequent opportunities throughout the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply their new knowledge in writing. Writing tasks often reference the reading content and mode in which the reading was presented. As students study a text for form and content, students are provided prompts and guidance to identify the components and then practice replicating or analyzing those components.

Across the consumable student edition, there are graphic organizers and note-taking prompts to assist students in producing writing associated with the texts being read. Prompts include questions that are dependent to the text, but used with multiple texts as well as text-specific writing demands. In the sidebars, students are provided organized space and guidance to annotate and collect evidence to use in the writing tasks at the ends of each text and/or section. This progression of working from reading to note-taking to organizer to frame to writing is common throughout the program.

Most writing tasks explicitly require students to cite components as students write, even in low-stakes annotations and note taking that occur almost daily. Cues such as "record evidence" and "cite phrases" occur throughout to build students' habits of going back to the text. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Activities 1.4-1.7, students "record evidence of setting, character, conflict, and dialogue from film and personal narratives" as they engage with them.
• In Unit 2, Activities 2.4-2.7, students use a double-entry journal as a primary tool for identifying relevant textual evidence on characterization, plot and subplot, and setting, addressing Response to Literature prompts. Also in Activities 2.16-2.17, students practice writing an expository essay that incorporates examples from text and research to support a thesis.
• In Unit 4, Embedded Assessment 4.1, students support a focused main idea with relevant descriptions, facts, and details from a variety of sources, including a complete and accurate bibliography or works cited page.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for materials including instruction of the grammar and conventions/language standards for grade level as applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts, with opportunities for application context.

Language skills are taught explicitly and then applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts. Language skills addressed in the materials include active voice, adjectives, adverbs, appositives, clauses, conjunctions, dependent markers, parallel structure/parallelism, phrases, pronouns, punctuation (commas, dashes, exclamation marks, periods, quotation marks, semicolon), repetition, sentence variety, sentences, series, and verbs.

Grammar and conventions are taught in a sequence consistent with the demands of Grade 6 standards and are integrated with reading and writing instruction. Language standards for the grade level are found in forward of student edition. A comprehensive grammar handbook is in the back of the book for continual reference, as well as an Index of Language Skills identifying where instruction can be found in text. This handbook can also be found in both the student and teacher online editions. The Teacher Resources Online also have additional grammar lessons. In addition, there are ten separate Writer's Workshops online that incorporate grammar and language instruction. The Planning the Unit section at the beginning of each unit, in teacher's print edition, lists expectations for Embedded Assessments as well as a comprehensive Instructional Activity and Pacing Guide that provides grammar support and instruction in the context of actual reading and writing. English Learners and struggling students are supported by Language Checkpoints in each unit, as well as specifically designed lessons in Academic Language, Close Reading, Text Interpretation and Collaborative Discussions. Language Checkpoints are found in each unit, that address specific grammar or syntax skills.

Examples include the following:

• In Unit 1, Activities 1.4-1.7, students practice command of conventions through Language and Writer's Craft lesson on commas, reflexive and intensive pronouns, and dialogue punctuation. Language Checkpoint 1.5 focuses on punctuating complete sentences. Students will understand the difference between complete sentences and sentence fragments, revising writing to use fragments appropriately for effect. Activities 1.8-1.10: Language and Writer's Craft focus on using transitions. Activities 1.13-1.17: Language and Writer's Craft lessons support students' use of varied sentence patterns to add variety and interest to writing, as well as use of indefinite and possessive pronouns. At the end of the unit, the Embedded Assessment 1.2: Write a Short Story, asks students to use a variety of transitions. "Use precise words and sensory details (vivid verbs, figurative language). Demonstrate command of pronoun use, sentence variety, dialogue punctuation."
• In Unit 2, Activities 2.2-2.3: Language and Writer's Craft, the lessons teach students to use appropriate verb tenses. Activities 2.4-2.6: Continued writing practice gives students opportunities to use appropriate transitions and demonstrate correct verb tense and pronoun use. Lessons on sentence variety show students how to revise using compound sentences. Language Checkpoint 2.4 focuses on noun agreement. Activities 2.7-2.10: Language and Writer's Craft lessons revisit specific figurative language techniques from Unit 1. In the middle of the unit, Embedded Assessment 2.1: Write a Response to Literature, asks students to use a variety of transitions and topic sentences to create coherence. "Use precise, accurate diction to illustrate the topic and demonstrate command of parallel structures, commas in a series, and semicolons." In Activities 2.16-2.17, as modeled in Language and Writer's Craft lesson on parallel structures, students compose sentences, paying attention to variety.
• In Unit 3, Embedded Assessment 3.1: Research and Debate a Controversy, students are asked to demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English. Activities 3.11-3.13: Language and Writer's Craft lesson ask students to use appositives as an effective way to cite sources. In Activities 3.14-3.15, students draft and revise writing by using transitions and creating complex sentences. At the end of the unit, Embedded Assessment 3.2: Write an Argumentative Letter, asks students to use a variety of transitions, persuasive and connotative diction and demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English.
• In Unit 4, Activities 4.3-4.4: In the Language and Writer's Craft lessons, students continue to practice using a variety of sentence structures as they collaboratively write an explanation of information gained from research. In the middle of the unit, Embedded Assessment 4.1: Research and Present a Portrait of Shakespeare, asks students to "maintain appropriate style and tone, consistently use academic and literary vocabulary. Demonstrate a command of the conventions of standard English, including a variety of syntax." In Activities 4.9-4.10, correct pronoun usage is revisited and reinforced through Language and Writer's Craft lessons. At the end of the unit, Embedded Assessment 4.2: Perform Shakespeare, asks students to use punctuation cues ( periods, commas, semicolons, dashes, exclamation points) accurately and consistently to inform vocal delivery.