The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectations for anchor texts being of publishable quality and worthy of careful reading. Anchor texts include rich language and topics and stories engaging for Grade 8 students. Texts consider a range of student interests including (but not limited to) British colonial Africa and Middle East, Colonial America, American Slavery and the Civil War, 19th century science and technological developments, 20th century art, and competition among countries.

Some examples of included texts that have won awards and/or are written by award-winning authors are indicative of the collection as a whole, and include the following:

• Unit A: Going Solo, by Roald Dahl
• Unit B: Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, by Benjamin Franklin, "Declaration of Independence"
• Unit C: The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Frederick Douglass (CCSS Exemplar Text), Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Ann Jacobs, "Gettysburg Address," Abraham Lincoln
• Unit D: Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
• Unit E: "The Space Race Collection" is an informational and literary text set focused on the development and events of space exploration. A few examples from this collection include (but not limited to): "Moon Speech-Rice Stadium," John F. Kennedy, Rocket Boys: A Memoir, Homer Hickman, “Buzz Aldrin on His Lunar Home, The Eagle," Marc Myers

Anchor texts and text sets include a mix of genres, including novels, informational texts, autobiographies, memoirs, historical documents, and letters.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectations, reflecting the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards. Anchor texts and text sets include a mix of informational texts and literature. Supplemental text within the units are a mixture of literature and informational texts.

Some examples of text sets illustrating the mix of informational texts and literature include the following:

Literature

Unit C: Liberty and Equality

• "Song of Myself," Walt Whitman

Unit D: Science and Science Fiction

• Gris Grimly's Frankenstein, Mary Shelley and Gris Grimly
• Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
• "The Tables Turned," William Wordsworth
• The Innovators, Chapter 1, Walter Isaacson

Unit E: The Frida & Diego Collection

• "Sonnet 130," William Shakespeare
• "Letter to Ella and Bertram Wolfe," from the letters of Frida Kahlo
• Excerpt of "Frida Kahlo" from the Smithsonian

Informational

Unit B: Biography and Literature

• Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, Walter Isaacson
• Letters and Documents authored by Benjamin Franklin
• "Declaration of Independence," Continental Congress

Unit C: Liberty and Equality

• Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Ann Jacobs
• "To My Old Master," Colonel P.H. Anderson
• The Boy's War, Jim Murphy
• A Confederate Girl's Diary, Sarah Morgan Dawson

Unit D: Science and Science Fiction

• "The Introduction to Frankenstein," Mary Shelley
• Selections for The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution, Walter Isaacson
• "Sketch of the Analytical Engine Invented by Charles Babbage," L.F. Menabrea translated with notes by Ada, Countess of Lovelace
• "Debate on the Frame-Work Bill, in the House of Lords, February 27, 1812," Lord Byron

Unit E: The Frida and Diego Collection

• "Rockefellers Ban Lenin in RCA Mural and Dismiss Rivera," from The New York Times
• My Art, My Life: An Autobiography, Diego Rivera
• "Detroit Industry: The Murals of Diego Rivera," from NPR
• The Diary of Frida Kahlo, Frida Kahlo

Other Media

Unit D: Science and Science Fiction

• History of a Six Weeks Tour through a Part of France, Switzerland, Germany, and Holland with Letters Descriptive of a Sail Round the Lake of Geneva of Chamounix, Mary Shelley

Unit E: The Frida and Diego Collection

• Photographs, paintings and murals of and by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera

Throughout the instructional materials, a wide distribution of genres and text types is found including the following examples:

• Diary (i.e., A Confederate Girl's Diary, Sarah Morgan Dawson)
• Historical Documents (i.e., "Gettysburg Address," Abraham Lincoln)
• Biography/Autobiography (i.e., The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Franklin)
• Memoir (i.e., Going Solo, Roald Dahl)
• Speech (i.e., "Moon Speech-Rice Stadium," John F. Kennedy)
• News Articles (i.e., "Rockefellers Ban Lenin in RCA Mural and Dismiss Rivera," from The New York Times)

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 fully meet the expectations of indicator 1c. Texts are appropriately rigorous, meeting the text complexity criteria for the grade. Materials support students’ advancing toward independent reading. According to the publisher materials, the range of quantitative (Lexile) measurement over the year is 870-1540and the range of scores for Qualitative measures ranges from 1.5 to 3.

The majority of texts have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative and qualitative analysis and relationship to their associated student task.

Unit A, World War II and Narrative includes a focus text that is quantitatively in the middle of the stretch band recommended by the CCSS (1080 Lexile). While much of the emphasis of the unit is the use of the text as a mentor text for writing, reading skills, such as close reading for detail and comparing and contrasting are specifically addressed. The qualitative measures are midrange, and the tasks associated with the first texts in the school year make this an appropriate placement. Students write about their own experiences with detail before reading Dahl as a model for writing with detail. Activities require a close reading of the text with annotations and discussion and comparisons of events from the story.

Unit B, Biography & Literature includes texts with quantitative measures ranging from 1300-1450, exceeding the stretch band of quantitative rigor. Therefore it is appropriate that the qualitative measures are somewhat lower to ensure students' comprehension of the texts. Reading tasks, such as text annotation, are emphasized, as well as an in depth character study of Franklin, which leads to several tasks where students analyze the "Declaration of Independence" in light of what they know of Franklin’s character.

Unit C, Liberty and Equality, includes texts with the quantitative measures ranging from 900-1500. This is another unit focusing on leaders and their language use to make meaning and connect history, meaning the qualitative measures are mid-to high range. Paraphrasing, and other reading activities are required to unpack the text. Activities include interactive readings and other medias to help students understand complex language and structures.

Unit D, Science and Science Fiction, includes texts with quantitative measures ranging from 980-1540. Qualitatively, the materials are midrange, supporting students' engaging with unfamiliar language and structures. The structure of the graphic novel allows for emphasis on working with story structure. The texts within the Poe section allow many opportunities to compare texts. In this unit, there is an interesting connection to today's technology using the past inventions and ideas or authors.

Unit F, The Space Race, includes texts with qualitative measures ranging from 870-1490. Qualitative features of the texts in this unit skew lower, as the content is more complex. Students tackle reliability and ethical use issues within the variety of texts. The research and conversation on space and independent research is appropriate for 8th grade students as they prepare to go to high school in a few months. The tasks in this unit give students an opportunity to demonstrate skills required for higher level reading and synthesis.

The instructional materials for Grade 8 fully meet the expectations of indicator 1d, supporting students as they grow their literacy skills over the course of the school year. By the end of Grade 8, students have support and opportunities to read and comprehend texts that meet the requirements for the end of the Grade 8 and possibly beyond. Texts are placed so students interact with increasingly complex literacy learning over the year. Texts themselves increase over the course of the year in reading levels starting in this range and building through the year, starting in the range 955–1155, and building.

For the Grade 8 materials, the program starts with texts in the middle of the grade band in terms of rigor and complexity. Texts "maintain" the grade band complexity and toward the end of the year, students are presented with increasingly complex texts. During instruction there are many formative assessment opportunities to help a teacher guide decisions about their students' learning, and there are summative benchmark assessments that are to be given after three weeks of instruction then after 20 weeks of instruction. The online library offers opportunities for students to select independent reading texts that are on their level of reading along with differentiated opportunities embedded in the program, to support their building stamina with reading alongside being presented with the increasingly complex texts.

Thereis a clear progression of complexity throughout the Grade 8 year seen in both the complexity index of texts and increasing demands of reader’s tasks. Following is a sample of how the program organizes tasks and texts to support growing students' skills over the school year:

• Unit A in Grade 8 starts with a writing sub-unit, then goes into a close read of Roald Dahl’s Going Solo, with writing about the text. The high quantitative level combined with a fairly uncomplicated narrative structure and simple reader tasks starts off the year. (Note: Students have also read a text by Dahl in grade 6. The revisiting of the author makes the writing more accessible. Writing and reading grow more complex through the following units, with higher demands on the student to work through text.
• From finding evidence in the text to supporting a point in Unit A, they move to looking at the motivations of characters in Unit B, Biography and Literature.
• In Unit C, Liberty and Equality, students are evaluating details in memoirs that cross genres and writing that is evidence-based.
• Science and Science Fiction, Unit D in the series, students debate human experiences and moral issues on complex topics, such as, scientific and technological developments.
• In Unit E, The Frida and Diego Collection, students synthesize multiple texts to develop an argument and evaluate various perspectives on a topic.
• In Unit F, The Space Race Collection, students take a research topic from beginning to end, starting by developing a question, conducting research and synthesize many documents in order to write an essay and create a multi-media project.
• The final unit is Advanced Story Writing where students create a believable character and write an original short story. This unit also draws from previous grades' work, building from grade 6 to grade 8 in complexity, each year referencing and offering practice of skills taught previously as students creating a new narrative furthering the development of the narrative elements.

The materials for Grade 8 fully meet the expectations of indicator 1e. How the publisher identifies text complexity is laid out at a glance in the Teachers Program Guide (TPG) on page 33, with specific measures given for qualitative, quantitative, and reader and task considerations. There is also provided a complexity index that places the text holistically within the 6th-8th grade band. The materials reviewed use an aggregate score for a unit based on text complexity.

The program uses quantitative, qualitative, and reader and tasks measures to place the unit within a 6-9 grade band. The visual of this is the familiar triangle with each section providing information for each component’s complexity. Alongside this triangle is a grid that uses the Amplify formula to present an overall complexity score. On pages 44, the analysis and rationale are presented which states that texts are sequenced for text complexity as well as to intentionally build content knowledge and skills through each grade and throughout the program.

With this method, Amplify has placed units in an order that shows increasing text complexity. This ordering also creates increasing complexity of the skills students require to meet grade level Common Core standards. This is seen within units when, for example, Unit 8D, Science and Science Fiction, students begin reading graphic novels and progress to writing evidence-based arguments based on scientific and technological developments. The culminating research project builds on the skills previously learned. Also, The Space Collection Unit 8F requires students to develop a question, research and create a multi-media project.

Lexiles are used as the quantitative measure, a scale of .5-5 is used for the qualitative measure and reader and task are identified within a scale of .5-5. The complexity index was developed by Amplify to “reflect aggregate scores as a guideline to present appropriate curriculum materials and track the students’ path through each grade.”

Page 241-244 of the TPG discusses the rationale for the selection of text for the core units. It calls out “stair casing” the text complexity, explains how the digital environment was designed to help students “tap into the power” of the selected texts, the importance of student engagement in selection of the texts and activities, and the importance in including traditional texts.

Pages 246-318 of the TPG provide a unit by unit discussion of where the texts fit in the sequence of knowledge building by describing both prior knowledge and future learning that will build upon the texts. Additionally, recommendations for enrichment activities, independent reading, and interdisciplinary connections are provided.

The Appendix to the TPG lays out the research foundations for Evidence in indicator 1c and 1d reflect that the texts in the program are of quality and meet the text complexity ranges for the Grade 6 level. The program also has a digital library which allows students to choose from a range of simpler texts to more complex texts for independent reading purposes. There is a teacher edition guide (3-ring binder, page 33) that gives an overview of each unit. It lists the genres and the qualitative measure, quantitative measure and reader and task measure to give an overall text complexity range. It does not list this for each text within the unit. On pages 44-47 of the teacher guide the progression of content and skills is explained. It addresses text complexity. On pages 323-336, in the teachers guide the approach to research is given that explain the selection process for the texts in the program.

The instructional materials for Grade 8 fully meet the expectations for indicator 1f, providing opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to achieve grade-level reading over the course of the school year. There are many opportunities outside of the core coursework that supports students to practice with different texts in and out of the topics being studied at the time. Students practice reading orally and silently, and there are built in components of the curriculum for teachers to attend to students' development in reading.

The Amplify Library provides more than 600 texts including a range of genres and texts of varying complexity. The online texts come in a format with the ability for students to highlight and annotate text supporting students' engagement with different texts. The Reading Tracker encourages students to read broadly, following students year to year and can be accessed to provide a view of the breadth of independent reading that is being done by a student over time. To assist students with book selection there are starter lists by genre/subject (pages 680-700 of TPG), independent reader’s guides that group works around each unit of study (pages 710-736 of TPG), books encountered on Lexica (a game embedded in the library), and peer recommendation lists.

Oral reading is addressed primarily through the “Working with Text Out Loud” and “Working with Text as Theater” learning experiences within the program. Students regularly read along while they listen to a dramatic reading as well as performing themselves with the text orally. Page 95 of the TPG specifically addresses foundational skills. Among the areas discussed here are that there are Teacher Tips that are embedded in the lessons that provide purposeful attention to oral reading skills and offer ways for teachers to be more explicit and intentional with reading strategies for students who struggle with phonics and phonological awareness. Differentiation strategies give specific information about how to use the audio and video recordings and how to provide additional fluency work for students who struggle with this foundational skill. There is access to a resource www.freereading.net that is to be used for Tier III intervention activities that can be used in conjunction with Amplify’s supplemental reading intervention program, Burst: Reading.

Students regularly listen to professionally read audio versions of the reading while following along with the text. Students often act out sections of dialogue within texts that are not written as plays, in order to capture different characters’ speech patterns and reveal traits. (For example, in Unit B, students are introduced to Lincoln and Douglass through dramatic readings and animations.)

Flex Days are built into the curriculum to provide extra time to revisit or expand on the curriculum. Reading assessments are built into the program and are short quizzes to check understanding. Checks occur throughout the week in the lessons as independent or "solo" tasks. Each of the units provides time for students to be read to, to read aloud and with partners at times. The audio is another tool used by the program to support the development of reading skills.

The Grade 8 instructional materials fully meet the expectations of indicator 1g. The majority of questions and tasks students complete are text-dependent and/or text-specific, engaging students in going back to the text. The Grade 8 unit has several opportunities for students to respond to text-dependent questions in the form of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ). Throughout all of the units, there is a combination of text-dependent and non-text-dependent questions. Non-text dependent questions are used to build knowledge and connections for students in the readings they will encounter. Some of the more difficult readings (e.g., those with more complex language and/or content) are supported by asking students questions that help them make connections for better understanding. Students are required to provide evidence from the text to support their responses in almost all of the questions throughout the unit. Several of the questions require longer responses that a short written responses and ask students to make inferences as well.

The units in the Grade 8 are dense with text-dependent and specific questions in the form of multiple choice questions used to assess reading comprehension as well as constructed responses that delve more deeply into the texts. Students are required to provide text evidence throughout the units in responding to questions and prompts. Most often, responses show an understanding of the text at an inferential level. Each unit, focuses on how the writer has crafted his/her narrative and students are examining the text for examples.

Some text-dependent questions and tasks that students will encounter in the Grade 8 materials include the examples listed here:

Unit A: WWII and Narrative combines multiple choice text dependent questions to check comprehension with constructed responses.

• "Describe one difference between the ways that Mdisho and Roald think about war. Use details from the text to show what you mean."
• "Choose one of the details listed on the board (or one of your own) and explain how it connects to your idea about whether Mdisho or Roald acted more heroically in his encounter with the Germans. (This new detail might add to your idea, or it might change it. Either way is fine!)"

UNIT B: Biography and Literature combines multiple choice text-dependent questions to check comprehension with constructed responses,

• "What does Isaacson mean when he calls Franklin 'the founding father who winks at us' (1)? Make sure you cite textual evidence to support your ideas."
• "Isaacson asserts that the change from 'sacred and undeniable' to 'self-evident' was made by Franklin, but other historians are not so sure. Does this edit sound like something Franklin would have written? Cite textual evidence to support your ideas."

Unit C: Liberty and Equality combines multiple choice text-dependent questions to check comprehension with constructed responses.

• "What does Douglass emphasize in the beginning of his autobiography and what is he telling the reader about what matters to him?"
• "Do you agree with Jacobs’s statement, 'Such were the unusually fortunate circumstances of my early childhood' (1, 3), that she was fortunate for not knowing until she was 6 that she was a slave? Note that there is no wrong answer here, but you must support your reasons for agreeing or not agreeing with evidence from the text."
• "Why is this chapter titled 'What a Foolish Boy'? Give two concrete details from the chapter and tell how you think each supports your answer."

Unit 4: Science and Science Fiction combines multiple choice text dependent questions to check comprehension with constructed responses. Some examples include:

• "Chapter 2 of Volume II ends with Victor Frankenstein saying, 'For the first time I felt what the duties of a creator towards his creature were' (85). What does this mean, and why does he say it? We know that the creature has demanded a mate, and we know that Victor is afraid of disappointing him. So why does Victor destroy the mate he was creating right after seeing the creature’s face in the window?
• "What would Lovelace, Byron, or the speaker in Wordsworth's poem (choose two) say about the world Brautigan imagines?"

Unit D: The Frida & Diego Collection contains a scavenger hunt where students comb texts by doing close reading to answer a number of text-dependent questions. In addition, there is an opportunity for constructed response where students are applying the knowledge gained through the scavenger hunt to new questions that relate to Grade 7, Unit 1.

• "In seventh grade, while reading Red Scarf Girl, you may also have studied the use of propaganda posters in China. They were designed in very specific ways, and you explored what they were meant to communicate. Let’s venture beyond the current scavenger hunt and revisit 'Mao as the Sun.' Study the poster again. You will compare this poster to Diego Rivera’s painting Man, Controller of the Universe. Select three design details from each of the two pieces of artwork, and compare how they communicate their message."

Unit E: The Space Race unit also contains a scavenger hunt where students comb texts by doing close reading to answer a number of text dependent questions. In addition, there is an opportunity for constructed response where students are applying the knowledge gained through the scavenger hunt to new questions.

• "During the scavenger hunt, you read diverse texts and you examined several images. Read the poem 'Stars' by Robert Frost and describe what he sees. Support your answer with at least three details from the text."
• "Man has been dreaming of space travel for hundreds of years. In the 1960s, the dreams became a reality. But man has also been thinking about 'aliens' who may one day visit our planet. Published in 1898, The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells is about Martians invading earth. Read the passage below and respond to the following prompt: How do Wells's opening paragraphs create a feeling of suspense. Cite at least three examples."

The Grade 8 instructional materials fully meet the expectations of indicator 1h, as sequences of text-dependent questions and tasks to build to culminating tasks to support students' literacy learning. All units end with a writing task that requires students to take what they have learned and evaluated throughout the unit and apply to the task, citing evidence from the associated texts. There are different types of writing that is required within the culminating tasks.

The writing tasks require evidence based arguments, narratives, and information research. From Unit A to the last unit, students are building their writing skills in addition to the text-dependent questions they are challenged to address in writing and speaking. Samples from the materials that represent this indicator include the following:

The culminating task in Unit A is an essay: "Choose two people that Dahl meets over the course of his three years away from home and compare the overall idea Dahl presents about each person. How do the details Dahl uses convey this idea?"

The culmination for Unit B includes an essay and an activity. Students write a culmination essay to the prompt: "What are two different sides of Franklin that you’ve noticed in the readings? Describe each side, discuss where you remember seeing evidence of it, and explain whether the two sides seem connected or contradictory."/. In a culmination activity at the end of Sub Unit 1, students imagine how Franklin would behave in various modern-day scenarios.

The culmination essay for Unit C asks student to choose from two prompts:

• "How does Lincoln, in the Gettysburg Address, try to change what his readers/listeners believe about what it means to be dedicated to the American idea that 'All men are created equal'?"
• or "How does Douglass, in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, try to change what his readers believe about what it means to be dedicated to the American idea that 'All men are created equal'?"

For Unit D, students write a culminating essay and debate an argument on the following prompt: Is the creature human? Students are assigned a group, a side, and a role, and then groups develop the arguments they will deliver during the debates on the question of who better deserves our sympathy: Victor Frankenstein or his creature.

In Unit E, the culminating activity is research and writing. Students select Frida & Diego-related topics that they would like to explore, work independently to construct effective research questions, then search the Internet for reliable sources that will provide the relevant information they need to answer their questions.

The culminating activity for Unit F is Socratic Seminar where students rely on their research to examine issues inherent in the history of the Space Race. At the end of the unit, students synthesize all of the skills they’ve developed to tackle a culminating research assignment that is part-essay, part-media project.

The materials fully meet the expectations for indicator 1i, providing students frequent opportunities to practice academic vocabulary and syntax in their evidence-based discussions. Each unit/lesson is set up in the same manner, beginning with a vocabulary lesson. Then it poses a class discussion topic and offers other opportunities for students to work in pairs or small groups to have discussions. On pages 134-141 in the teacher guide, the vocabulary words for each unit/lesson are listed.

Frequent oral language opportunities to do Think-Pair-Share, peer questioning in groups, and partner talk. Sentence frames are provided to support students who need more help applying new vocabulary and syntax.

Samples of how students get practice in modeling academic vocabulary include work with Socratic seminars and debates. A few ways students use this speaking and listening protocol to practice is illustrated in the following examples:

• A routine that provides an opportunity for evidence-based discussions is the spotlight procedure. Student work is posted digitally and discussed by the class. An example of this routine is found in Grade 8, Unit 8A, Sub Unit 2 Getting Started, Lesson 2 “Focus on a Moment.” The spotlighted assignments facilitate discussion around exemplary work. In this unit, papers that have an effective focus are used. The Spotlight app allows teachers to display work on a classroom digital “wall” and tag the selection with a citation for its effectiveness.
• Unit B: Students discuss questions with a partner, referring to specific words and phrases in the text to substantiate your answers: "Whom are the writers of the Declaration of Independence talking about? Whom are the writers of the Declaration of Independence talking to?"
• Structured classroom debates provide opportunities for students to choose their position, prepare opening arguments, listen to the opposing side, and construct impromptu rebuttal.

Examples of different listening and speaking activities that support students' development with practicing language over the course of the school year include the following:

• Unit D: Science and Science Fiction, Lesson 2, Victor’s Scientific Passions. Students translate four quotations from the block of text on pages 34-35 to understand what Victor wants to know, how he looks for answers, and what he ends up discovering.
• In the Liberty and Equality unit students perform speeches from Frederick Douglass after watching interpretations and reading speeches. Students study the content, language, and structure of these texts to prepare.

The Grade 8 materials fully meet the expectations of indicator 1j. Students have multiple opportunities for text-dependent discussions in each unit. Each lesson has an opportunity for the teacher to pose a question and have the class discuss it. In addition, each lesson provides opportunities for students to share with partners.

For example in Unit E, The Frida and Diego Collection, Sub Unit 1 Information Literacy Lesson 1, students participate in a class discussion about the credibility of a text. In addition to working as a class, students work in pairs. Instructions include, “Students work with partners to discuss the reliability of the tree octopus site and then participate in a class discussion about source dependability.”

Each Unit/lesson is set up in the same manner generally, starting with a vocabulary lesson, then posing a class discussion topic. The materials offer other opportunities for students to work in pairs or small groups to have discussions. The discussions are always text-dependent and the students are instructed to answer questions citing evidence from the text. Videos, audio recordings or photos/images are sometimes used to promote/start the discussion. The materials include dramatic readings, debates, and other protocols for teachers to provide students multiple opportunities and ways to build their speaking and listening skills while using the texts as anchors.

In the teacher guide, questions are provided as models for teachers to move student discussions and listening skills. Pedagogy for the program include three areas that address speaking and listening. Daily Lesson Patterns include 15-25 minutes at the beginning of each lesson for collaboration and interpretation. Included are the following:

• Working the Text Out Loud
  • (Page 78, Teacher Program Guide): Early units have students listening to, and sometimes watching a dramatic reading of the text.
  • This includes follow-up discussions that ask students to consider how the the performer interprets the texts, students are asked to interpret and make meaning out of the texts.

Some examples of these materials meeting the expectations of these indicators include:

• Reading the Novel
  • For example, in Unit B, students listen to an audio clip and follow along in the reading, and are introduced to Franklin’s many interests and accomplishments.
• Debate

• • Students are engaged in activities that require debating ideas and push to use language purposefully and respond to other students and what they say.
  • Example: Unit D, Sub Unit 1, Frankenstein, students engage in a “Sympathy Debate.” Students continue with the routine of preparing for a debate with a group, side and role by finding the main idea of their position. After the debate, the class holds a discussion and receives feedback of their performance.

Quests

Students must participate in speaking and listening when engaging in the Quests, which are interactive and collaborative. Quests create multiple opportunities for students to work in pairs, small groups, and as a class. The discussions, both “in character” and “out of character” within the contexts of the works they read are critical to each lesson. For example, in Declare Yourself, students debate in a mock Second Continental Congress.

The instructional materials for Grade 8 fully meet the expectation of a mix of on-demand and process writing and short, focused projects. Students write both "on demand" and "over extended periods." On Demand Writing is included in multiple lessons within a collection. Students are required to write 10-15 minutes a couple times a week on different topics. Culminating writings are built from the regular writing tasks completed in the context of reading and writing instruction.

On-demand writing activities happen almost daily, with students answering text-specific questions and prompts. Notebook structures support this type of student demonstration in a low-stakes environment. Higher-stakes essay prompts are also employed throughout the materials. One Unit selection of on-demand writing includes:Find something that Lincoln claims the "we" have in common, and say whether you agree or disagree with him based on the readings that the class looked at today. Later in the Unit, students write an essay:

• Essay Prompt: How does Lincoln, in the Gettysburg Address, try to change what his readers/listeners believe about what it means to be dedicated to the American idea that "All men are created equal"?
  or
  How does Douglass, in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, try to change what his readers believe about what it means to be dedicated to the American idea that "All men are created equal"?

Process writing builds over the school year. The lessons usually start with a focus on the body of the essay before considering its other parts. As the year progresses, each essay assignment adds a new structural element on which students focus. By the end of the year, students are writing essays that flow from their internalized understanding of argumentative structure, rather than adhering to the rules of a formula. Each Lesson Overview for the first essay lesson explains the logic behind its sequencing of elements and provides details about writing an essay on each unit’s text. Revision is addressed in the context of authentic writing.

In Unit F, students spend six lessons researching and writing fully processed text. This lesson sequence reinforces skills learned in earlier units and grades, including writing a compelling introduction and a strong conclusion. Students also learn how to create in-text citations, frames for quotes, and a Works Cited page. The unit concludes with a media project and presentation. Students will create a visual representation of their research and essays using the online collage app Loupe. This project requires students to revisit their research to find relevant information for their collage.

The materials meet the expectations providing opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards. Materials provide frequent opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply writing using evidence. Materials provide opportunities that build students' writing skills over the course of the school year. Writing opportunities are focused around students’ analyses and claims developed from reading closely and working with sources.

Some examples that show how the materials meet the expectations of these indicators include, but are not limited to:

Argument Examples:

• Unit D: Argue both sides of a question about the creature’s humanity and defend your final answer.
• Unit E: Frida Kahlo: Who was right Rivera or Rockefeller?

Informative/Explanatory Examples:

• Unit B: Write an essay where you examine the different facets of Franklin and resolve the contradictions within his character.
• Unit C: How does Douglass, in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, try to change what his readers believe about what it means to be dedicated to the American idea that "All men are created equal"?

Narrative Examples:

• Unit G: Advanced Story Telling: This unit is consistent with grade 6 and grade 7 in that is provides an opportunity for students to write narrative and incorporate the elements of the narrative studied for the year. Each year builds on the previous writing tasks and narrative elements.

The materials for Grade 8 fully meet the expectations of indicator 1m, providing frequent opportunities for students to practice evidence-based writing. Students write throughout the year with support to use text in careful analyses, using text-specific evidence to support their thinking. The program addresses evidence-based and evidence-supported writing in varied assignments. One of the highlighted learning experiences in the program involves choosing the best evidence. This is addressed through the themes of making meaning, language development, effective expression, and content knowledge.

Making Meaning: After students find a piece of evidence to support their claim or their answer to a text-dependent question they are asked to write 1-2 sentences to explain how this evidence led them to this answer or connects to their claim.

• Language Development: Students will learn and practice “describing your evidence.” In other words, noting those aspects of your chosen evidence that best illustrate your idea. As they describe what they notice in those words, students are encouraged to comment at the word level, explaining how an author’s particular word choice impacts the meaning of a sentence or passage.
• Effective Expression: The lessons present multiple opportunities for students to compare how they are using the text to build a claim or develop an understanding. The structure around these moments allow students to learn how to express their ideas and listen to another perspective.
• Content Knowledge: Lessons present multiple opportunities for students to compare how they are using the text to build a claim or develop an understanding. As students review how they might support a particular claim based on the text, they share and become cognizant of the knowledge they are gaining through their close reading.

Some specific examples that represent this program's evidence-based writing include the following examples. All tasks require students to identify specific components of the texts read:

• Unit A: Develop your ideas and weave them together into an argument that’s easy to follow.
• Unit B: Write an essay where you examine the different facets of Franklin and resolve the contradictions within his character.
• Unit C: Claim whether Lincoln or Douglass redefined the concept of equality. How does Lincoln, in the Gettysburg Address, try to change what his readers/listeners believe about what it means to be dedicated to the American idea that "All men are created equal"? How does Douglass, in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, try to change what his readers believe about what it means to be dedicated to the American idea that "All men are created equal"?
• Unit E: Who was right, Rivera or Rockefeller?

The Grade 8 materials include daily writing instruction and practice, end of unit writing, and digital platform writing work.

Materials include 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. Opportunities for grammar instruction are built into the program. The program includes three PDFs named Mastering Conventions with over 1,000 pages of exercises for grammar skills. The program has embedded grammar throughout the curriculum and in each unit.

Instructions for grammar instruction are found on pages 142-161 of TPG, and includes spelling. Flex days are used to teach explicit grammar instruction and is available at the end of the Get Started sub-unit in Unit 1 for each grade level. These exercises cover the language skills for grammar advised by the CCSS for grades 3-8. The program allows pacing to be at the discretion of the teacher depending on the skills of the students. The lessons provide opportunities for the teacher to target specific skills. In addition to the flex days, the program instructs teachers to use time during revision activities and over the shoulder conferences to target grammar skills for students who may need extra time. The program provides examples for teachers on how to encourage students with grammar skills. For example:

In Unit 1, the Getting Started sub-unit focuses on jump-starting student writing by developing their focus and stamina. Continuing throughout the unit with regular opportunities for writing and connections to selected texts, students develop their idea and build their sense of syntax. The lessons start with practice in communicating ideas effectively and develop ideas before formal grammar instruction begins.

Examples:

• Lesson 1: Write about one recent moment from gym class.
• Lesson 8: Write about a moment when you met someone who was very different from what you expected him or her to be.

Revision Assignments are provided and provide time for students to practice revising their own writing. Revision assignments are provided as part of the Flex Days. Each revision assignment focuses on one of the following five areas:

• Complete sentences
• Pronoun use
• Subject-verb agreement
• Verb tense
• Sentence combining

Teachers are encouraged to review each student’s work for the skill they need to work on and provide the lesson appropriate and most beneficial for the student.

Flex Days and Over-the Shoulder conferencing (OTSC) with targeted feedback allowing teachers to “regularly instruct students on grammar” and focus on individual skills for individual students. Flex days are designed to pace the grammar instruction and contain a regular time for review, reinforcement and/or extension activities to help all levels of students. Lessons include short drills and revision assignments to practice the skills. Flex Days examples:

• Flex Day, Grammar 1: Unit 1, Lesson 9: Identifying Participles
• Flex Day, Grammar 7: Unit 3, Lesson 12: Changing Verb Voice for a Different Impact

The OTSC is targeted feedback for students. Each grade level provides models of how a teacher would respond to specific concerns in a text. Teachers are instructed to “point to the sentences, name the skill, and comment on it.” A few examples of the types of feedback provided include, but not limited to;

• “This subordinate clause makes it clear how truly strange his behavior appeared.”
• “These three complete sentences clearly illustrate your idea, and make it easy to follow.”

Rubrics are provided in the TPG to track student progress with their control of grammar in the writing prompts. For example, a conventions rubric has the following language to guide teachers and students: