6th Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the criteria for anchor texts being of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading and consider a range of student interests.

Anchor texts in the majority of lessons and across the year-long curriculum are of publishable quality. Anchor texts are well-crafted, content rich, often award winning titles, and include a range of student interests, engaging students at the grade level for which they are placed. However, many texts include excerpts that may be missing information needed for students to understand the text. In some texts, much background knowledge is needed for students to engage with the materials. For example:

• In Theme 1, Lesson 2, students read an excerpt from “The Color of My Words” by Lynn Joseph. This is an age/grade appropriate text which contains thought-provoking material and vibrant illustrations.
• In Theme 2, Lesson 7, students read an excerpt from “S.O.R. Losers” by Avi. This is a modern, thought-provoking, age/grade appropriate text.
• In Theme 3, Lesson 11, students read “Life Under Ice” by Mary M. Cerullo. This award-winning nonfiction is an age/grade appropriate text containing vibrant photographs and strong content and academic vocabulary worthy of multiple reads.
• In Theme 4, Lesson 17, students read an excerpt from “Maniac Magee” by Jerry Spinelli. This Newberry Medal winning text is age/grade appropriate text and worthy of multiple reads.
• In Theme 5, Lesson 23, students read “The Sons of the Dragon King: A Chinese Legend” by Ed Young. This text contains strong academic vocabulary and vibrant illustrations.
• In Theme 6, Lesson 29, students read an excerpt from “The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster. This age/grade appropriate adaptation on a classic play contains strong academic vocabulary worthy of multiple reads.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the criteria for materials 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.)

As the year progresses, students read texts at a variety of complexity levels. For each text, the routine for reading and analyzing the text is similar and does not change based on text complexity. Scaffolding remains the same with no gradual release of responsibility and very little increase in expectations. Expectations from beginning to ending units don't seem to increase significantly. Most comprehension skills or strategies so not spiral back during the year, and don't necessarily increase in rigor or increase students' skill development. Culminating tasks do not require an increase of skills across the year and do not lead to proficiency in reading independently at grade level at the end of the school year.

While there is a variety of text complexities across the year, and most texts increase in difficulty throughout the year quantitatively, scaffolding remains the same with no gradual release of responsibility and very little increase in expectations. For example, in the beginning of the year, Theme 2 includes direct instruction with summarizing. Students are told to "use only the main ideas and combine them into a description of the whole passage", and "you must use your own words to summarize." That is the extent of the instruction. In Theme 6, when summarize is taught again, students are told "to write a summary, identify the main idea and the series of events that it includes. Identify details necessary to report the important events. Write one or two sentences, putting the main idea and details in your own words. Put events in the correct order." Paraphrasing isn't mentioned or modeled. There is no increase in student independence or ability to complete a summary without teacher assistance.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the criteria that anchor and supporting texts provide opportunities for students to engage in a broad range of text types and disciplines as well as a volume of reading to achieve grade level reading proficiency. There are opportunities for students to read a range and volume of texts. The materials provide some experiences with independent reading. Teacher materials lack explicit directions to help students build their skills to read on grade level independently by the end of the year, and weekly lessons have minimal time dedicated to students reading independently.

In each lesson, students interact with a getting started story, a read-aloud, a whole-group vocabulary selection, anchor text, paired text read, and a self-selected text read during center work. Leveled readers are provided for small-group, differentiated work. Resources are provided to offer students a variety of texts of different lengths and genres. There are longer main selections, which often are excerpts from complete literary or informational books for children. There are paired selections, shorter in length, provided as a companion text, so students can compare and contrast characters, genre elements, text features, content, and other aspects of the texts.

There are opportunities for students to read a range and volume of texts. The materials provide some experiences with independent reading. Teacher materials lack explicit directions to help students build their skills to read on grade level independently by the end of the year, and weekly lessons have minimal time dedicated to students reading independently.

A Reading Adventure: Student Magazine is used for supplemental lessons to extend the Common Core. Additional texts related to the Themes are provided as leveled reading selections. These selections are suggested in the Resources section of the Teacher Edition on pg. R9.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the criteria for materials providing frequent opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions (small groups, peer-to-peer, whole class) that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax.

The curriculum provides opportunities for students to engage in evidence-based discussions but not all are rich and rigorous. The opportunities provide limited protocols to support vocabulary and syntax throughout each unit or within lessons. Materials include practices to build robust vocabulary and application of content words, but not academic vocabulary and syntax. Themes provide limited information on how teachers can provide support and scaffolds with collaborative conversations. Most discussions are whole group with limited opportunities for small group or peer-to-peer discussion.

Each Theme has a Speaking and Listening page that provides minimal scaffolding of instruction for students to prepare and share their writing. Although speaking and listening tasks are included in various spots throughout the year, there is limited instruction to support students’ mastering of listening and speaking skills. The opportunities do not adequately address the mastery of grade-level speaking and listening standards. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In each lesson, the Warm-Up Routines include objectives such as “listen attentively and respond appropriately to oral communication; and to write and speak in complete sentences." There are some basic directions about communicating with words and without words. Two discussion questions are included after each warm-up read aloud.
• In Theme 2, Lesson 8, following the reading of “The Great Serum Race,” students are to complete the Think Critically section in their book. The teacher has the option to assign students to either discuss or write their responses to the questions. This pattern is followed after the reading of each anchor text for each lesson. Some of the evidence-based questions include: “How did the author show that the sled dogs were brave and loyal? What is the main idea of the selection? How do you know that dogsleds were a common form of transportation in Alaska at the time the events in this story took place?” However, there are no directions reminding students to return to the text or use evidence from the text in their discussion. Other questions do not require students to reference the text to answer the questions. For example, in the Suggested Lesson Planner before each lesson, there is a Question of the Day. One example from Theme 2, Lesson 6, Day 3 is “Imagine that you are helping someone prepare for an important performance. Give your best advice for overcoming nervousness or stage fright.” The questions do not require that students utilize text, are not addressed at any other point during the lessons.
• On Day 4 of each lesson, there is a Speaking and Listening mini-lesson. For example, in Theme 4, Lesson 19, Day 4, students are asked to tell a folktale they know or the one they are writing. Students are provided with Speaking and Listening Strategies. However, there is not a protocol to support evidence-based discussions that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax in the Leveled Reader routine pages.
• In Theme 4, Lesson, Day 4, Speaking and Listening, students are asked to discuss and listen to each other’s review of an artist’s masterpieces A rubric is provided for students to follow as they present their persuasive speech. However, the teacher’s guide does not provide scaffolded instructions to support students speaking and listening skills.
• In the supplementary students magazine, Reading Adventures, Theme 2, pg. 18-19, after reading the selection, “The Pole,” students are assigned to small groups and asked to read the statement, “Exploring new territories is one of the bravest and most important things a person can do” and determine if they agree or disagree with it. They are to then “assign discussion roles and share their opinions, remembering to use evidence from the selection to support their ideas, to ask and answer questions, and to reflect on and paraphrase each other’s thoughts to show understanding.” This is the only example of using this protocol for discussion.
• In Theme 3, Lesson 11, in the Speaking and Listening section, students prepare and deliver an oral presentation that describes a setting. The teacher shares strategies for listening (focus attention on the speaker, create a picture in your mind of what you hear, save questions until the end). After listening to peers’ presentations, students are asked to share any sensory details the speaker used that were effective and are encouraged to ask questions about details that could use elaboration.
• In Theme 5 of the “Teacher Support Book: Extending the Common Core State Standards,” in the Speaking and Listening section, the teacher discusses the importance of listening carefully during group discussions so that the listener can draw conclusions about the topic. In small groups, students deliver a persuasive speech while each group member listens then asks clarifying questions then summarizes the speech. Students then draw conclusions on the opinions presented in each group member’s speech.
• In Theme 6, Lesson 29, Speaking and Listening section, the teacher shares the following organizational and speaking strategies with students to support them as they present aloud a persuasive composition written from writing prompts: “Plan your presentation beforehand. Make sure you introduce the topic and your position on the topic. Support your opinions with detailed evidence presented in a logical sequence. End with a strong conclusion in which you restate your position. Be prepared to further defend your argument and answer any questions. Use a tone, volume, and rate that are appropriate to your audience. If you need to look at written notes, look up before starting to speak. Use occasional hand or body gestures to clarify information or to make a point.” Further instruction is provided on listening strategies including: “Listen for the speaker’s topic and identify the speaker’s position or point of view on the topic. Listen for the evidence and reasons that the speaker uses to support his or her point of view. Write down questions that you will later use to clarify information or challenge the speaker’s point of view.” Students then evaluate the content of each speech and if they thought the speaker used compelling evidence or reasoning to support the argument.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially meet the criteria for materials including a mix of on-demand and process writing (e.g. multiple drafts, revisions over time) and short, focused projects, incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

Within each lesson, students read paired texts. Following these readings, a writing prompt requires students to use their knowledge of the texts to complete an on-demand writing task. As part of the daily, small group instruction, students have a short writing assignment aligned with the whole-class writing activity for that lesson. In each Lesson, students are asked to work through the writing process to produce a short piece of writing. Day 1: Introduce, Day 2: Pre-write, Day 3: Draft, Day 4: Revise/Edit, and Day 5: Revise/Share.

Each Theme includes a Reading-Writing Connection that spans the entire five week Theme incorporating the stages of the writing process, prewrite, draft, revise, proofread, and publish. Materials include both on-demand and process writing with opportunities for students to edit and publish pieces. Each process writing is completed within one week. While there are many opportunities for writing, there are few opportunities for students to use technology to produce and publish writing as required by standard W.6.6. Additionally, thematic projects are only partially aligned to the grade-level standards, and there is little evidence to suggest students write routinely over an extended time frame as required by the writing standard, W.6.10.

Writing opportunities exist for on-demand writing at the end of each selection with a timed writing. Writing prompts include some guidance for students but lack pacing guidance. Student writing opportunities frequently do not require textual evidence. There is no provision for utilizing digital resources in writing. On-demand writing opportunities include prompts such as:

• In the margin on page T91, titled “Technology”, the Teacher Edition states, “Students who are proficient on a computer may want to create a graphic presentation, using presentation software. Allow students enough time to prepare the presentations.”
• Think Critically: There is a text-dependent on-demand writing task included with the question set following each main reading selection. For example, in Theme 1, Lesson 1, following Maxx Comedy: The Funniest Kid in America, question 5 asks, “How do Maxx’s feelings toward his stepfather change? Use details and information from the story to support your answer.”
• In Theme 3, Lesson 14, after reading “Brian’s Winter” by Gary Paulsen and “Find Your Way Anywhere Using Only the Sun and Your Wristwatch” by Merry Vaughan, students respond to the following: "Imagine that a new season is approaching. How are you feeling? What you doing to prepare? Create a piece of writing that expresses your concerns or excitement about the change in season."
• Once during each Theme, students are asked to complete one 45-minute on-demand piece of writing in response to a prompt. Students prewrite, organize ideas using a graphic organizer, draft, revise and proofread.

Writing opportunities also exist for process writing during each five week Theme. Writing prompts include guidance for students but lack pacing guidance. Literary selections are utilized as mentor texts but writings do not require textual evidence. There is no provision for utilizing digital resources in process writing. Process writing opportunities include prompts such as:

• In Theme 2, Lesson 16, students write a summary of what they read then form an opinion and support their opinion with details from the text. A side note in the teacher's edition states: "Students may want to use a word processing program to record their questions and answers." Students have the opportunity to write a more extended process piece during the 5-week Theme. Each Theme focuses on one or more traits. For example, the focus traits in Theme 3 are Sentence Fluency and Organization. A literature model is provided, and students self-select their topic within the form being taught. For example, in Theme 3, students write an expository nonfiction piece for a topic of their choice. Students plan, draft, revise for specific craft elements, edit, and publish. Pacing or time allocations for this process piece is not clear.
• The Reading-Writing Connection in Theme 3, following Lesson 1, pages T78-T93, indicates students will analyze an expository nonfiction literature model, narrow a topic, learn and apply note-taking skills, draft their expository composition, elaborate on the initial draft, revise by adding transitions, and publish and present the final version. In the margin on page T91, titled “Technology,” teachers are told, “Students who are proficient on a computer may want to create a graphic presentation, using presentation software. Allow students enough time to prepare the presentations."

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

The Reading-Writing Connection ties a process writing task to the anchor text in Lesson 1 of each Theme. The writing genres for each of the six Reading-Writing Connections are: Narrative, Response to Literature, Expository Essay, Autobiographical Narrative, Research Report, and Persuasive Essay. The writing prompts are balanced between informative, persuasive, and narrative. Weekly lessons partially support students’ skill development to complete the Reading-Writing Connection. Genres for the weekly lessons include: personal letter, news story, summary, problem/solution essay, journal entry, compare/contrast essay, how-to essay. While materials provide sufficient opportunities for a year’s worth of writing, materials lack the rigor to support students in meeting the standards for writing.

Materials lack instructional writing support for students and teachers. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Theme 3, Lesson 12, all daily writing prompts are descriptive composition prompts. On Day 1, students begin a descriptive composition after analyzing the mentor text, “Life Under Ice” by Mary Cerullo, and a student model for sentence fluency. They address the prompt: “Think of the setting of the story you have read or a movie you have seen. Write a descriptive composition that creates a clear picture of this place. Use sensory details and a variety of sentence types in your composition.” Students are instructed to: 1. Introduce the topic, 2. Use a variety of sentence types, 3. Use vivid language, and 4. Conclude with a satisfying statement that sums up the composition. The rubric teachers can provide for students to use during their follow-up peer conference does not address grade level requirements from the standards.
• In Theme 2, Lesson 9, Day 3, the teacher instructions are insufficient to provide support or effectively monitor student progress writing a summary. The directions state, “Have students use a sequence chart like the one below to help them plan their summary paragraphs.” Some additional guided statements are offered to help support the writer. The directions state,”Tell students to check their organizer to make sure all the important events are listed in the correct order." However, students are not explicitly taught what this would look like and sounds like other than the Day 1 model.

There does exist a balance of types of writing, but writing tasks do not build in rigor throughout the year as shown by:

• Theme 1 – Reading Writing Connection: Fictional Narrative; On Demand Writing – Fictional Narrative
• Theme 2 – Reading Writing Connection: Response to Literature; On Demand Writing – Response to Literature
• Theme 3 –Reading Writing Connection: Autobiographical Narratives; On Demand Writing – Autobiographical Narratives
• Theme 4 – Reading Writing Connection: Story; On Demand Writing – Story about getting lost
• Theme 5 – Reading Writing Connection: Research Report; On Demand Writing – Expository Composition
• Theme 6 – Reading Writing Connection: Persuasive Composition; On Demand Writing – Persuasive Composition

The materials reviewed for Story Town Grade 6 partially meet the criteria for materials including explicit instruction of the grammar and conventions standards for grade level as applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts, with opportunities for application both in and out of context.

The Teacher Edition materials include a five-day lesson sequence for spelling, grammar, and writing for every lesson in each of the six themes. In each theme, the final lesson includes a five-day sequence lesson that reviews the skills taught in spelling, grammar, and writing. Grammar and convention lessons provide opportunities for students to practice skills both in- and out-of-context. Lessons increase in complexity; however, some lessons include a grammar focus that overlaps with previous grade level language standards. For example, in Grade 6, Theme 1, the grammar focus includes subjects and predicates, compound subjects and predicates, simple and compound sentences, which are introduced in the Grade 3 Language standards. While the majority of the language standards are covered in the materials, several of the standards are not covered in the main materials of the program, but rather in the Extending the Common Core State Standards. In this supplement, students do have the opportunity to learn the skill through modeling, guided practice, and independent practice; however, these are single lessons and do not follow the five-day sequence of the lessons contained in the main materials.

Materials include instruction of grammar and conventions standards for the grade level. Opportunities are missed for students to learn how to recognize and correct vague pronouns, recognize variations from standard English in their own and others’ writing and speaking, and identify and use strategies to improve expression in conventional language, use punctuation (commas, parentheses, dashes) to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements, vary sentence patterns for meaning, reader/listener interest, and style, and maintain consistency in style and tone. For example:

• Students have opportunities to ensure that pronouns are in the proper case (subjective, objective, possessive). For example:
  • In Theme 3, Lesson 14, students identify the possessive pronouns in sentences and tell whether they are singular or plural.
  • In Theme 3, Lesson 13, the teacher explains that a pronoun takes the place of one or more nouns, a subject pronoun replaces the subject of a sentence and that the noun or nouns that a pronoun replaces is called an antecedent. The students identify the subject pronouns and their antecedents in given sentences.
• Students have the opportunities to use intensive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves). For example:
  • In Theme 3, Lesson 14, students work in pairs to discuss their compositions and check to see that the author used possessive, reflexive, and indefinite pronouns correctly.
• Students have opportunities to recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in pronoun number and person. For example:
  • In Theme 4, Lesson 17, the teacher reviews pronouns with students. The teacher points out the first person pronouns and tells students that if they see these pronouns in a story, the story is written in the first-person point of view.
• Students have opportunities to spell correctly. For example:
  • In Theme 4, Lesson 17, over the five-day spelling sequence students take a pretest, participate in a word sort based on the prefix that is used in each word, participate in an activity where they must fill in the missing part of the spelling word, and use reference sources to confirm correct spelling. On day five, students take the post test.

Materials include limited opportunities for students to demonstrate application of skills both in- and out-of-context. For example:

• In Theme 2, Lesson 9, students are instructed to write an expository paragraph that has a main idea and supporting details. Students are encouraged to vary the structure of their sentences to make their paragraphs more interesting to the reader.
• In Theme 2, Lesson 10, students revise their writing for appropriate conventions and students then switch papers to make sure all errors are identified and corrected. This includes using punctuation correctly to assure meaning is understood.
• In Theme 5, Lesson 25, students proofread their writing to ensure pronouns are in proper case and agree with antecedents.
• In Theme 3, Lesson 13, instruction includes daily lessons to teach subject and object pronouns. On Day 1, the class discusses the definition of pronoun, subject pronoun, and antecedent. On Day 2, students complete Grammar Practice Book page 45 by writing the correct pronouns. On Day 3, students identify if the underlined word on page 46 of the Grammar Practice Book is a subject pronoun or object pronoun. On Day 4, students look at their own writing and find five sentences that they can replace the noun with a pronoun. On day five, students copy three sentences by including the correct pronoun.