The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that texts are organized around a topics and/or themes (or, for grades 6-8, topics and/or themes) to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently. 

Every unit revolves around a specific topic or theme and uses many texts to support the guiding ideas. Throughout all units, students read a variety of genres and texts that relate to the unit goals and overall topic of the unit. Additionally, students display their knowledge in the completion of end of unit tasks that always include writing and/or a multimedia project.

• In Unit 8A, “Perspectives and Narrative,” students are working on reading like writers using passages from Roald Dahl’s Going Solo, Amy Tan’s “Fish Cheeks,” and Kaitlyn Greenidge’s “My Mother’s Garden” to focus on not just what the writers are saying, but also how they are saying it. Then the unit overview explains that:  “Students respond to writing prompts that alternate between analytic and narrative writing. By the end of the sub-unit, students will write a small personal narrative about a moment in their childhood.”
• In Unit 8B, “Liberty & Equality,” Topic & Theme: The meaning of "all men are created equal." Students read about the beginnings of our country and the documents that guided our nation only applied to some. The lessons allow students to dive into these important texts, with a clear focus on how each writer reflects on this question, and give them many opportunities to reflect on, discuss, write about, and debate ideas of equality, opportunity, justice, and freedom. 
• In Unit 8C, “Science and Science Fiction,” students will focus on two women: Mary Shelley and Ada Lovelace and how they both looked at the way technology could shape our world. Specifically, the unit goal states that after reading the graphic novel adaptation of Frankenstein by Gris Grimley, students will “write to determine whether or not Victor's creature should ultimately be considered human.” In addition, students will “read two poems, a speech, and excerpts from Chapter 1 of Walter Isaacson’s The Innovators to compare and contrast the ways in which William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, and Ada Lovelace viewed humanity’s relationship with technology.” All of this exploration will help students with the culminating task of the argumentative essay the humanity of Frankenstein’s monster.
• In Unit 8D, “Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet,” Topic & Theme: Introduction to Shakespearean themes and language, students read five short excerpts from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Students are introduced to the plot of the play as they explore and closely read several of its most famous scenes. 
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning,” students read a variety of texts to come to a critical understanding of the Holocaust and the responsibility of society to such a tragedy. Students will read from Holocaust: Memory & Meaning Anthology as well as excerpts from Shores Beyond Shores by Irene Butter to achieve the culminating task. This final task asks students to answer the following prompt: The Holocaust did not happen overnight. As the Nazis laid the groundwork for what would eventually become known as the Holocaust, they used a number of strategies to isolate, oppress, and control the Jewish population of Europe, and to convince others to go along with their plan. Choose two of the strategies that stood out to you as you explored this unit. Using examples from the texts and images you analyzed, describe each strategy and the impact it had.”
• In Unit 8F, “The Space Race Collection,” Topic & Theme: The successes and sacrifices associated with space exploration, students read about the dramatic story of the Space Race offering students a rich research topic to explore. Students examine primary source documents and conduct independent research to develop a deep understanding of this unique international competition.

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials contain sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts.

The Grade 8 units provide students with frequent opportunities to practice identifying and studying specific elements of texts, from analyzing words to looking at the structures of paragraphs and the larger text itself. Each unit focuses on how the writer has crafted his/her narrative and students are examining the text for examples. Each lesson includes a list of vocabulary words to use. Questions and tasks help students build comprehension and knowledge of topics and themes, and they build on each other in a coherent sequence so that by the end of the year, items are embedded in students’ work rather than taught directly.  There is an ample amount of written work throughout lessons that allows teachers to gage students’ understanding of each concept. Questions and tasks help students build comprehension and knowledge of topics and themes. 

Throughout the materials, students independently and as a whole group complete questions and tasks that require analysis of individual texts. Students complete multiple reads of text with scaffolds such as read aloud, partner reading, and independent reading. The instructions have students answer questions and/or complete tasks that move from a literal understanding of the text to deep analysis within the texts or multiple texts. This scaffolded progression can be seen across the units, the sections, the lessons, and the assessments.

Examples of materials that contain sets of coherently sequenced questions include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8A, “Perspectives and Narrative,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 5, the following sequenced questions and tasks address language and/or word choice:
• Students identify moments in the story where Tan “zooms in” and slows down to give precise descriptions.
• Students reread paragraph 3, highlight sensory words and phrases, and analyze how Tan's word choices impact the reader and convey the narrator’s tone.
• Students respond to a poll and discuss their favorite piece of Tan’s sensory language. 
• In Unit 8B, “Liberty and Equality,” Sub-unit 4, Lesson 2, Activity 2, students independently read an excerpt from The Boys’ War. The instructions for this lesson ask the teacher to “Draw students’ attention to the first line of paragraph 3, ‘The biggest fear, however, was of being killed, and not having their bodies identified properly.’ Are those the words of a boy who was fighting or the author of the book?" Then it asks the teacher to, “Draw students’ attention to paragraph 4, ‘The horrors of a battlefield were brought vividly before me...the most woebegone twelve-year-old in America.’ Whose words are these? What does this boy seem to be feeling based on this textual evidence?"
• In Unit 8C, “Science & Science Fiction,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 1, students read Volume I, Chapter 1, discuss how the text and images evoke each character, and use a family tree to keep track of how the characters are connected. "Card 1: Students look through the opening of the book and learn more about how the story is structured. Card 2: Students read pages 14–17 and work to identify specific characters and their relationships. Card 3: Students complete a partial Frankenstein family tree to solidify their understanding of key characters and their relationships."
• In Unit 8D, “Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 2, students analyze and interpret Shakespeare’s figurative language after completing a “Fill-in-the-Bard” activity where students identify synonyms for words in the first three lines of “The Prologue." Students are then asked to refer back to the text and “Choose one of the highlighted pairs of lines. Translate those lines precisely into your own words, then use details and words from the passage to explain what the lines mean and what they suggest will happen in the play.”  Students must write a minimum of 100 words for this formative assessment.
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 1, students analyze images from 1930 and 1943, explore Holocaust Timeline, Read and analyze “I Cannot Forget” by Alexander Kimmel. In Sub-unit 2,  Lesson 1, students read from memoir Shores Beyond Shores by Irene Hasenberg Butter and analyze a Nazi propoganda poster.  In Sub-unit 3, Lesson 1, Activity 3, questions include:
• Why does the author include so many numbers? What impression of the ceremonies do these numbers communicate?
• "Caesar" was a title given to ancient Roman emperors. Why does the author call Hitler "the new Caesar of this era" (3)?
• Based on your reading, what point of view (impressions, feelings, or ideas) do you think the author is trying to communicate about the opening ceremonies?
• In Unit 8F, “The Space Race Collection,” Sub-unit 5, students write a research essay on the following prompt, "Write an informative essay about Katherine Johnson and the other key women who worked at NASA during the Space Race era. Who were the other key women who worked with Katherine Johnson and what roles did they play? What barriers did they face? How was the Space Race impacted by their work?” For this assessment, students are asked to gather evidence, make a claim and write body paragraph, write a conclusion as well as create citations and a work cited list.

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials contain a coherently sequenced set of high-quality text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas within individual texts as well as across multiple texts.

High-quality text-dependent questions and tasks are embedded throughout the sub-units to provide opportunities for students to understand and analyze the texts in order to respond to tasks requiring students to develop, evaluate, and support their claims. The text-dependent questions and tasks are coherently sequenced and structured within each unit and across units to support students’ literacy skills. By the end of the year, the summative essays and tasks integrate knowledge and ideas from throughout the unit.

Examples of this include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8A, “Perspectives and Nature,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 4, students read two passages and then compare the two styles of writing. First, students read an excerpt from The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King. After reading, they answer the prompt, "Copy a moment from the first passage where it feels like time is slowing down. Describe what the author does to slow down the passage of time." Then, students read a second passage from Life of Pi by Yann Martel and complete the same task. Next, they “compare and contrast how the authors use words, sentence structures, or punctuation to slow down the moment.”
• In Unit 8B, “Liberty and Equality,” students read a collection of works by Americans engaged in the debate over equality and liberty during the Civil War time period. A major text in the unit is Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The text is accompanied by text-dependent questions and tasks that require analysis. One example of a student task is “Frederick Douglass describes the attack on Aunt Hester as 'the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery' (9). How does his telling of the event support this description? Examine Douglass’s description to find details to use in your explanation.” Other examples are “What is one thing that Douglass wants his readers to understand about 'justice' within a slaveholding society?” and “Compare Douglass's statement, 'There were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and children, all holding the same rank in the scale of being' (2) with the words of the Declaration of Independence. How does the scene that Douglass describes compare with the idea that 'all men are created equal?'” Questions about the readings throughout the unit build students’ analysis of the idea of what equality meant in that time period.
• In Unit 8C, “Science and Science Fiction,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 3, students read Volume 1, Chapter 4 of Gris Grimsley’s Frankenstein. While reading this particular section, students highlight all the words Victor uses to talk about his creation instead of using a name and then answer the question, "look at the words that you highlighted. How do you think Victor feels about his creation?"
• In Unit 8D “Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet,” students study five key excerpts from the play. Questions and tasks guide students to put the play into their own words, to notice metaphors, and to trace them through different scenes. An example of one such task is, “Choose one of the highlighted pairs of lines. Translate those lines precisely into your own words, then use details and words from the passage to explain what the lines mean and what they suggest will happen in the play.” Other examples are “How does Romeo and Juliet’s language show that they make a good couple? Develop your reasons with evidence from the text” and “If Romeo gave up his name, would all of his and Juliet’s problems be solved?”
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning,” Sub-unit 4, Lesson 4, students read an excerpt of the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel after they previously read a selection from the graphic novel Maus by Art Speigelman. After reading the excerpt, students answer the question, "In Maus, you saw how Vladek Spiegelman was affected by the events of the Holocaust. How do you think they affected Elie as an adult?"
• In Unit 8F, “Scavenger Hunt and Internet Research,” Sub-unit 2, Lesson 3, students respond to the question citing text evidence, “Write one or two paragraphs. State your research question as a claim at the beginning of the first paragraph. Include evidence from your sources.”
• In Sub-unit 3, Lesson 2, students respond to the question citing text evidence, “In character, write at least three blog entries describing your experiences and feelings during your mission. Use the information on your Space Card and your Research Chart to help craft your writing.”
• In Sub-unit 4, Lesson 3, students respond to the question citing text evidence, “Write one or two paragraphs. State your research question as a claim at the beginning of the first paragraph. Include relevant evidence that you selected and analyzed from your sources that conveys an answer to your research question.”

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

The materials include culminating tasks that are multifaceted, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of different grade level standards, including writing and presentation of knowledge and ideas. Each unit has questions and activities that increase in rigor and depth and support students in developing an ability to complete a culminating task. Culminating tasks vary for each text and include activities comprised of multiple types of reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.

Examples of high quality questions and assignments that lead to multifaceted culminating tasks include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8B, “Liberty and Equality,” the culminating task is for students to write an essay to “explain how Lincoln or Douglass tries to change what his readers/listeners believe about what it means to be dedicated to the American idea that ‘All men are created equal.’” Earlier in the unit, in Sub-unit 2, Lesson 8, Activity 4, students read a passage from the Declaration of Independence and consider how Frederick Douglass would respond to the ideals expressed in it. The three questions asked of students regarding this passage are:
• 1. What does this passage from the Declaration of Independence say about human beings?
• 2. What do you think is the most important phrase in the passage?
• 3. Would Frederick Douglass say that the society of his day had these values? Why or why not?

These questions directly connect with the culminating task topic at the end of the unit. 

• In Unit 8C, “Science and Science Fiction,” the culminating task is an essay exploring whether or not Frankenstein possesses humanity. Sub-unit 1 supports students as they read a graphic novel version of Frankenstein and answer text-dependent questions to aid their comprehension. These lessons consist of a combination of independent, partner, and whole-class work and involve reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing. One example is Lesson 7 in which students close read two chapters of the graphic novel and discuss how the creature evolves. Sub-unit 2 supports students in the writing of their essays with lessons on drafting claims, including evidence, transitioning between ideas, revising, and editing.
• In Unit 8D, “Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet,” the culminating task requires students to write an essay on the question, “Did the power of love contribute more to Romeo’s death or were the forces of hatred more of an influence on Romeo’s death, or both?”. Earlier in the unit, Sub-unit 1, Lesson 12, Activity 5, students had to read Romeo’s lines from Act 3, Scene 1. After reading they compare Romeo’s first lines before the fight to the lines they have just translated considering the dramatic shift in tone and what it reveals about Romeo. 
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning”, the culminating task is an informative essay about the strategies used by the Nazis to isolate, oppress, and control the Jewish population of Europe, and to convince others to go along with their plan. In the first four sub-units of this unit, students read collections of texts of various genres and from multiple points of view. An example is Sub-unit 2, Lesson 2 in which students read two excerpts, one written by a Holocaust survivor and one written by a Aryan boy who was caught up in the Nazi movement. Students compare and contrast the two depictions of the Hitler Youth. The writing of the essay is supported in Sub-Unit 6 which consists of five lessons in which students are taught to develop a claim, integrate evidence, write body paragraphs, revise, and edit.
• In Unit 8F, “The Space Race Collection,” the culminating task is an argumentative or informative essay and the construction of an interactive timeline on what they have researched on this topic. Earlier in the unit, Sub-unit 4, Lesson 3, students are asked to think back to "the questions you first had about the Space Race. Did the texts answer all of them? What else do you want to know? Use the 5 Ws (Who, What, When, Where, Why) to help you think of a question you’d like to research. You may also look at some of your favorite Space Race texts, images, or seminar notes to find a topic that excites you the most, and brainstorm a list of questions you still have about it." This activity prepares students for the culminating task they complete at the end of the unit.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts. 

The materials provide a year-long approach to building students' academic vocabulary, providing them opportunities to master many new words and apply new vocabulary across multiple contexts. The lesson plans include daily support for this goal at the start of each sub unit. Time is allotted at the beginning of each lesson for vocabulary development delivered through the Amplify Vocab App. “Words to Use” are also listed in the daily lesson guide. Teachers are encouraged to use these words throughout instruction along with the activities that utilize that vocabulary. Students complete assessment activities which show their mastery of using the word in context. The app also provides games for students to study morphology, figurative language, dictionary skills, words in context, and synonyms/antonyms.

Examples of how students are supported to accelerate vocabulary learning with vocabulary in their reading, speaking, and writing tasks include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8A, “Perspectives and Narrative,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 3, the lesson brief for teachers provides vocabulary information for teachers. There are two sections for teachers to look at. One is the words to use which gives a list of the core vocabulary words that will be used in the sub-unit. The second section is titled “Differentiation” which gives instruction to teachers about the vocabulary in the sub-unit explaining that for Activity 2 teachers should, “Ensure ELL students understand the meaning of “tense” before responding to the poll. For Activity 3,  “Before completing the activities on Card 2, determine if your ELL students understand that the scene takes place in Dahl’s plane. If not, have students identify words in the passage they think reference the plane’s equipment and capabilities." For Activity 3, “review the vocabulary as needed with students individually or in small groups before completing the activity….” Then, for Activity 4, “To assist students in locating vivid verbs in the paragraph, you may want to point out that the verbs are mainly in past tense form or end in “-ing” (past progressive)."
• In Unit 8B, “Liberty & Equality, Lesson 2, students are introduced to using context clues. They first are introduced to defining words from context, “Information about a word’s meaning contained in the sentence or sentences surrounding the word.” Students then learn why they need to use context clues, “Learning to identify context clues to guesstimate a definition can improve your reading AND your vocabulary!” Students are then tasked with steps of Defining words from context: “Step 1. Identify the part of speech; Step 2. Identify the context clues; Step 3. Make an inference; Step 4. Determine a likely definition; Step 5. Check your likely definition.” Students practice using each step with an example paragraph that guides them through each step. 
• In Unit 8C, “Science and Science Fiction,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 12, students learn the core words: affected, exuberant, malleable, speculation. One way students can work on the core words is in the Vocab App. For example, for the word “exuberant," students can do an activity called “Hashtag." For this activity, the directions explain, “read the status update (which contains the word exuberant) of this oversharer and pick which hashtag best fits this status.”
• In Unit 8D, “Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet,” Vocabulary Module: Figurative Language, students are tasked with learning figurative language versus literal language. Students are introduced to metaphors, similes, and personification. To practice the figurative language students are asked, “Does the example below use literal language or figurative language?” They are also asked to determine what type of figurative language it is - metaphor, simile or personification. “ Students are then given a new word task, “Come up with your own figurative language (metaphor, simile, or personification) that communicates what it feels like to be envious (jealous). Write a paragraph that incorporates at least one type of figurative language.”
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning,” teachers are given a specific vocabulary strategy to focus on. In the “Materials” section, which can be found on the Unit Overview, teachers can see a vocabulary guide for a particular area of focus. For this particular unit, the focus is on “Connotations and Denotations”. For example on page 6 of the guide, “words with very similar denotations can have very distinct connotations." Then a few examples are listed.

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan to support students’ increasing writing skills over the course of the school year, building students’ writing ability to demonstrate proficiency at grade level at the end of the school year.

Writing is used across lesson plans and assessments as an opportunity for learning and as a way for students to express their understanding. Lesson plans are carefully put together and scaffolded so students read and analyze a text in careful, specific detail before having to write thoughtfully about them. Within lessons, students complete smaller writing tasks such as taking notes, responding to short-answer questions, and writing quick reflection responses before they complete a more demanding writing task which is present in every unit. As the year progresses, students produce a number of essays that include a variety of styles and text types, gradually increasing in rigor and complexity. In addition, the final essay requires students to incorporate multimedia components or research. Materials include writing instruction aligned to the standards for the grade level, and writing instruction spans the whole school year.

Instructional materials include well-designed lesson plans, models, and protocols for teachers to implement and monitor students’ writing development. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8B, “Liberty and Equality," Sub-unit 6, students write a brief essay and explain how Lincoln or Douglass tries to change what his readers/listeners believe about what it means to be dedicated to the American idea that "All men are created equal." Over the course of five lessons, students decide a claim and gather evidence. Then students decide on the strongest evidence before generating two body paragraphs. Next, students draft an introduction and conclusion before revising and sharing their work.
• In Unit 8D, “Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet," Sub-unit 1, Lesson 5, students are engrossed in Act 1, Scene 5. Then, in Activity 5 students “develop a claim about key ways Shakespeare uses language in this sonnet to show Romeo and Juliet’s attraction.” The instructions further explain that students need to write for at least 10 minutes producing at least 100 words. Next, the instructions ask teachers to “push [students] to move beyond writing about what the characters are saying to also consider how the words sound and why those sounds might matter.”
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory & Meaning,” Sub-unit 2, Lesson 2, students are prompted to respond, "Compare and contrast how Irene Butter and Alfons Heck present the Hitler Youth. What do you understand about the Hitler Youth as a result of reading both interpretations?" Then, in Sub-unit 5, Lesson 1 in the solo reading students are asked to "Create a “witness” poem that will help you share the ideas you chose with others." This builds upon the ideas they explored earlier in the unit.
• In Unit 8F, “The Space Race Collection”, Sub-unit 5, students write an informative essay about Katherine Johnson and the other key women who worked at NASA during the Space Race era. Over the course of eight lessons, students make a claim and gather evidence, write body paragraphs and an introduction, revise and write a conclusion, edit and revise their work, create citations and a works cited list, put together an interactive timeline and present their work to their peers. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials include a progression of focused research projects to encourage students to develop knowledge in a given area by confronting and analyzing different aspects of a topic using multiple texts and source materials.

Research projects start on a smaller scale in the beginning of the year and then gradually progress to a comprehensive research project at the end. 

Examples of the type of opportunities students have to engage in both short and long projects using language skills to synthesize and analyze their grade level reading include, but are not limited to: 

• In Unit 8B, “Liberty and Equality,” Sub-unit 4, Lesson 1, students examine a variety of sources to build historical context of the Civil War before they begin reading The Boys’ War by Jim Murphy. Students study two different maps, then they read an excerpt from Chapter 1 of The Boys’ War. Then students discuss causes of the Civil War and the importance of the war. 
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning,” includes one of the two major research units in the Grade 8 materials. Students read materials in different genres that present events from several different perspectives, including those of perpetrators, survivors, victims, bystanders, and witnesses. The unit contains both shorter and longer projects that provide students with an opportunity to build their research skills. For example, in Sub-unit 2, lesson 2, after reading from a memoir by a Holocaust survivor and another by a former member of Hitler Youth, students compare the two writers’ accounts and descriptions of the propoganda.
• In Unit 8E, another example of a shorter project is the writing prompt from Sub-unit 4, Lesson 3. As they read Maus I: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman, they write to this prompt: “In Maus, Art Spiegelman tells his father’s story as a survivor of the Holocaust. How did he portray his father: mainly as a victim, mainly as a resister, or something else?” The culminating task for the unit is an informative essay which requires them to synthesize their learning and analyze across texts. Students write an informative essay about the strategies the Nazis used to isolate, oppress, and control the Jewish population of Europe, and to convince others to go along with their plan. They choose two strategies from the texts, then describe each strategy and the impact it had.
• In Unit 8F, “The Space Race Collection,” the culminating assignment is an essay and project. The overview explains that in the unit, “students learn how to tell the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources; determine if a source is reliable; and understand ethical uses of information. Then, students construct their own research questions and explore the internet for answers." After that point, each student is assigned a cosmonaut or astronaut from the Space Race era. They research their cosmonaut or astronaut and write entries into their space blog from their person’s point of view. The next sub-unit is a Socratic seminar in which students rely on their research to examine the complicated issues inherent in the history of the Space Race. As students reach the end of the unit, they synthesize all of the skills they’ve developed to tackle a "culminating research assignment—part essay, part media project." Then students write either an argumentative or informative essay and then create an interactive timeline of events in the space race. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials provide a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

Lessons include some independent reading followed by text-specific questions and tasks that reflect student accountability. Procedures are organized for independent reading included in the lessons for each unit under the headings of “Extra” or “Solo”. There is sufficient teacher guidance to foster independence for readers at all levels. Students have access to additional texts within the Amplify Library. This library allows teachers to track students’ progress and monitor their choices for reading. Also, each time students read a text independently, there is a tracker for them to monitor their own progress. Assessments are available for the independent reading selections and teachers can assess students formatively during flex days. Student reading materials span a wide volume of texts at grade level (and at various lexile levels within the grade). 

Examples of readings inside and outside of class include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8A, “Perspectives and Nature,” Sub-unit 2, Lesson 2 in the Grade 8 Solo Workbook on page 9, students are given the option of independent reading. Specifically, the directions for this activity state, “Go to the Amplify Library and choose a book to read. As you read, highlight and annotate a passage that includes 5–7 sentences focused on the same moment or idea. Write your highlighted sentences below."
• In Unit 8B, “Liberty & Equality,” students read excerpts of four books, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs (900L), The Boys’ War by Jim Murphy (1060L), and A Confederate Girl’s Diary by Sarah Morgan Dawson (1030L). Other texts include The Gettysburg Address (1060L); speeches by John C. Calhoun, Francis Watkins Harper, and Sojourner Truth; and the poem “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman. Each day, students read and answer questions. Their written work serves as a tracking system. Interspersed are four days in which students read materials of their own choosing and fill out a tracking form.
• In Unit 8C, “Science and Science Fiction”, Sub-unit 3, Lesson 5 in the Grade 8 Solo Workbook on page 123, students can be given the option of reading the passage from “Core of an Idea” in Steve Jobs: Technology Innovator and Apple Genius by Matt Doeden. After reading the passage, the directions explain that students should “Note TWO words or phrases that caught your attention and explain what you noticed and think about this place in the text. Then, they are asked five multiple choice questions and one short answer questions about this passage." 
• In Unit 8D, “Romeo and Juliet,” students closely read five key scenes from Shakespeare’s play, with a focus on interpreting Shakespeare’s language. Each day, students read and answer questions. Their written work serves as a tracking system. Interspersed are four days in which students read materials of their own choosing and fill out a tracking form.
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning,” Sub-unit 4, Lesson 2 in the Grade 8 Solo Workbook, students are given the option of reading Maus I: My Father Bleeds History, Chapter 4: “The Noose Tightens”by Art Spiegelman. After reading this excerpt, students are asked six different questions. One question asks students to put events from the text in the proper order, and the other are close reading questions that require students to look carefully at the passage. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectations that materials are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing.

There are six units of study that are designed around a collection of texts that support a common idea. For example, students read about how on October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into orbit. The dramatic story of the Space Race offers students a rich research topic to explore. Students examine primary source documents and conduct independent research to develop a deep understanding of this unique international competition. In the lessons on information literacy that begin the unit, students learn how to tell the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources; determine if a source is reliable; and understand ethical uses of information. Having practiced these skills, students are ready to develop and sharpen their sourcing abilities in the next lessons in which they construct their own research questions and explore the internet for answers. Each unit is divided into sub-units that contain lessons. Lessons follow a predictable guided instruction design and have a suggested pacing of 45 to 60 minutes per lesson. There is a Lesson Brief document provided for teachers that helps teachers understand the layout of each lesson. Each lesson launches with a “Vocabulary Activities” section that centers on the Vocabulary App, a “self-guided and adaptive means of learning new vocabulary,” that “introduces students to words that are integral to understanding the texts and key concepts in each unit.” Lessons include whole class, partner or small group, and individual practice with the intended outcomes through the “Present”, “Introduce”, “Connect Text”, and “Discuss” cards. The “Wrap Up” and “Exit Ticket” cards close the class with a review of the lesson and a formative assessment. The “Solo” card provides students with independent practice based on the learning outcomes for the day. Opportunities to differentiate instruction for individual students are available through the lesson. Each unit also includes Flex Days: The Flex Days provide an opportunity for students to receive regular instruction on needed grammar.

Examples of unit set-up, structures, suggested timings, and sub-units include, but are not limited to: 

• In Unit 8C, “Science and Science Fiction,” Sub-unit 1, Unit Overview, the following explanation is provided for teachers: 
• “Frankenstein is a timeless tale that asks universally resonant questions about scientific exploration, the responsibilities inherent in creation, and man’s tendencies toward prejudice and compassion. 
• As students read Gris Grimly's graphic novel, they will paraphrase key excerpts, unpack Shelley’s language, trace Victor’s and their own responses to the creature, discuss whether Victor should comply with the creature’s request for a mate, analyze how the characters evolve over the course of the book, and debate who ultimately deserves more sympathy.” 
• Then it adds as another option for teachers: “To keep up the story’s narrative momentum, students will skim rather than read certain nonessential passages." 
• "The text of the entire graphic novel is available if students want to read skipped passages on their own.”
• In Unit 8F, “The Space Race Collection,” the lessons within Unit are: 
• Sub-Unit 1, Information Literacy
• Sub-Unit 2: Scavenger Hunt and Internet Research
• Sub-Unit 3: Space Blogs and Collection Research
• Sub-Unit 4: Socratic Seminar and Internet Research
• Sub-Unit 5: Write an Essay Unit Formative and Summative Assessments
•  The lesson structure for each lesson appears in the Lesson at a Glance Compilation for the unit of the section as follows:
• Vocabulary Activities
• Teacher: Before Class Preparation for Activity
• Class Activities - Download unit texts
• Individual - Read: Exploring a Website
• Class Discussion
• Class Discussion
• Partner Discussion
• Individual - Present
• Class - Exit Ticket
• Individual - Solo

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that the teacher and student can reasonably complete the content within a regular school year, and the pacing allows for maximum student understanding.

The teacher and students in Grade 8 can reasonably complete the content within a regular school year, and the pacing allows for maximum student understanding. The Amplify ELA materials include core lessons for 180 days of instruction as well as an extensive amount of supplementary materials that teachers can use at their discretion to support and enrich that experience. Additional instructional experiences have also been created for students to use independently. Working with the pacing guide, teachers see how the biggest parts of the program—units, Quests, and major assessments—can be scheduled over the 180 days of instruction. 

Examples of this include, but are not limited to:

• Within the “Planning Your Year” section of the “Program Guide”, the “Pacing and Flexibility” section provides the following information: “Most of the Amplify ELA lessons are designed as a carefully sequenced series of experiences that build students’ skills in order to master the grade-level CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy. Teachers should follow the lessons, one by one, in most units, using Amplify’s formative assessment tools to decide when they can speed up or when they need to slow down. These lessons are generally described as taking around 45-60 minutes, but teachers should monitor student progress, looking in the instructional guide to find out what sorts of mastery to look for before moving on from activity to activity. Certain lessons will span more than one 45-minute block. And most lessons contain enough activities to explore with students for an extended double literacy block if the teacher has that option.”
• In some units, options are provided to contract or shorten the unit if necessary. Lessons are identified within each sub-unit that might be unnecessary for some students and would be the lessons to eliminate first if there is a need to do so. For example, in “Perspectives & Narrative,"  Sub-unit 2, Lesson 7 could be eliminated. Lesson 7 “provides additional instruction on the distinction between showing versus telling, and on the steps for completing a Revision Assignment.” 
• In Unit 8C, “Science and Science Fiction,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 5, teachers are instructed to pace the lesson with the following instructions, "Prediction (5 min)Students predict what will happen in the lesson's reading. Discuss: Skim Volume II, Chapter 1 (5 min). Students skim through the chapter, noticing a few key moments. Read: Volume II, Chapter 2 (10 min) Students read the encounter between Victor Frankenstein and the creature. Dialogue Paraphrasing (5 min) Students learn about paraphrasing dialogue and discuss how particular lines of dialogue propel the action, reveal aspects of characters, and provoke decisions. Use the Text as Referee: Group 1 Dialogue Summary (15 min) Group 1 pairs rewrite the encounter between Victor and his creation so that it's easier for a modern-day audience to understand. Use the Text as Referee: Group 2 Dialogue Summary (15 min) Group 2 pairs rewrite the encounter between Victor and his creation so that it's easier for a modern-day audience to understand. Work-Out-Loud Performances (10 min) Students perform their paraphrased scenes, adapting their speech to the demands of the text. Write: Final Words to the Creature (12 min) Students write about what Victor means by his final words to the creature in the scene they've been studying.Share: Writing (5 min) Students share their writing and have the opportunity to respond to a peer’s writing. Exit Ticket (4 min) Students select the evidence that best supports a claim about Victor's beliefs and analyze how a particular line of dialogue reveals aspects of his character. Solo (15 min) Students read Volume II, Chapter 1, and answer questions. Challenge Writing (30 min)"

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that the student resources include ample review and practice resources, clear directions, and explanation, and correct labeling of reference aids (e.g., visuals, maps, etc.)

There are clear, step-by-step directions and explanations for both teachers and students for every phase of the teaching and learning process. Supplemental materials are provided for each lesson and are well-labeled and organized. Each lesson also references the standards addressed and the goal. Throughout most lessons, there are numerous formative assessments built-in to the lesson activities to monitor progress and check for understanding. Each lesson begins with “Vocabulary Activities” that provide differentiated vocabulary support and ends with “Wrap-up” which is a formative assessment that allows students and teachers to monitor learning progressions. “Solo” assignments at the end of lessons provide progress check-ins and practice for standardized testing. Unit assessments gauge the abilities of students to apply what they are learning over the course of the unit by reading, understanding, and expressing their knowledge of a complex grade-level text. Within the lesson plan structure, activities are scaffolded and structured in such a way that students have ample opportunities to practice skills. 

The program has several pieces that provide students with ample review and practice resources, specifically, “Library," “My Work," and “Misunderstanding Notebook”. When students click on the Library tab they are taken to a digital library which contains many digital texts that students can read. The My Work tab shows students copies of all of their previous work done online including those pieces with teacher feedback. Each assignment is organized in the units that have been completed. In the “Misunderstanding Notebook” students can document misunderstandings that have occurred during their learning and then connect it to a particular lesson they have studied.

Examples of resources within the materials include, but are not limited to: 

• In Unit 8C, “Science and Science fiction,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 4, students are asked to read an excerpt from Chapter 1 of The Innovators: How a Group of Inventors, Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson. The directions for the lesson explain that students need to do the following, “in paragraph 1, highlight in green any words or phrases that give you a clue about Ada’s personality. In paragraph 2, highlight in yellow any words or phrases that show the side of Ada that came from her father. In paragraph 2, highlight in blue any words or phrases that show the side of Ada that came from her mother. 
• In Unit 8C, “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning,” Print Edition, Sub-unit 1, Lesson 1, page 475, students are asked to “turn to the Holocaust: Memory and Meaning timeline on page 462. Locate image A and image B on the timeline. Follow along as your teacher presents the images in the timeline. Look for connections between the images in the timeline.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items.

For Grade 8, instructors are presented with a correlations guide that indicates all standard listed within the CCSS for ELA: Reading literature (RL), reading informational (RI), writing (W), speaking and listening (SL), and language (L). Each sub-standard has the correlated lessons identified with focus “cards” and lessons that most strongly support that standard.

When viewing individual lessons standards appear under the “Focus Standards” section of the Prep portion of the Lesson Guide and the “Other Standards Addressed in This Lesson” section. For “cards” providing opportunities to specifically focus on a standard, there is a “Standards” tab and the focus standard for the activities on that card are identified. For the Unit Assessments a Teacher Rationale document aligning “questions to specific grade level standards and standard strands” is provided.

Examples of this include, but are not limited to:

• In each unit, once teachers click on the Unit Overview page, they scroll down below the unit icons to the section labeled “Planning for the Unit." Then, they click on the standards button and all the standards for each of the lessons are listed. For example in the 8C unit “Science and Science Fiction” sub-unit 3, lesson 1 the focus standards are:
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.4--Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.9--Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
• The other standards addressed in this lesson are:
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.1--Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.10---By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.4.C--Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning or its part of speech.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.4.D--Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.10--Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
• In the 8E Unit “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning” print edition, sub-unit 2, lesson 2 page 54, the standards for the lesson are written in the top left corner underneath the words “Lesson 2: Competing Visions of Hitler Youth”. Specifically, they read Standard: RI.8.9

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8meet the criteria that materials contain a teacher’s edition with ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student edition and in the ancillary materials. Where applicable, materials include teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning.

The Teacher Edition provides numerous support materials in multiple formats. The materials can be accessed digitally or in a print version. There are Unit Overviews for each unit and Lesson Guides for each individual lesson.The Unit Overviews provide tips on contracting the unit when necessary, the reading and writing assignments within the unit, applications to be used, differentiation, and assessment information. Additional teacher references are available with standards, vocabulary, and supplemental texts. Within the Lesson Guides, teachers will find an overview of the lesson, the preparation necessary, the objective, key vocabulary, skills and standards addressed, and methods of differentiation.

Examples of materials available to teachers include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8B, “Liberty & Equality,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 1, Activity 2, the Instructional Guide explains to the teacher how to download the unit texts. The Instructional Guide also notes several technology tips and reminds teachers of the sensitive nature of the content of the unit.
• In Unit 8D, “Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 2, Activity 3, students are looking at the denotative and connotative meanings of Shakespeare’s language. In the teacher edition’s instructions it explains that teachers should “inform students that Shakespeare is commonly referred to as the Bard, and that a bard is a wandering singer and storyteller.” Also, the end of the instructions explain that “The goal of Fill-in-the-Bard is to have students consider and discuss possible meanings, figurative uses, and connotations of Shakespeare’s original words, phrases, or lines. They do not need to arrive at one 'correct' answer.”
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory & Meaning,” students download the unit texts that they will need. The instructions in the Teacher Edition explain that teachers should tell students to “make sure all students have bookmarked the Amplify Library. Note: Students are able to reset their own PINs when online. When reading a book in the Amplify Library, click the Settings icon in the top right corner, then click 'Reset PIN.' Students do not need to remember their initial PIN to reset it.” The instructions go on to explain: “TIP: You may want to keep a record of each student’s PIN or have them write it down in a designated place. Students will need their PIN to access downloaded texts if they lose connectivity during class. Circulate to guide students through the process.”
• In Unit 8F, “The Space Race Collection,” Sub-unit 5, Lesson 7, the students create a timeline using the myHistro Timeline interactive timeline website. The Lesson Brief prepares teachers for the lesson and provides guidance for differentiating the activity for ELL and below grade level students. The Instructional Guide guides teachers through introducing the activity and explaining to students how to create their own interactive timelines in their small groups.

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials contain a teacher’s edition that contains full, adult-level explanations and examples of the more advanced literacy concepts so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject, as necessary.

The Program Guide provides a pedagogical approach to assist teachers in establishing a classroom where students thrive in every area, academically, socially, emotionally, as well as developing age-appropriate skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking. 

The Program Guide Pedagogical Approach gives teachers steps in order to design a well-balanced classroom, supporting the needs of all learners. For example, in the Critical Collaboration and Engagement section, it states that it gives students lessons that immerse them in close reading activities and cognitively challenging work that engages them with collaborative, digital and project based learning opportunities. 

In the Program Guide Integrated Approach Targeted Objectives section, it states that it guides students with working through the text using key standards. While reading analytical texts, using evidence based writing, and academic discussion to support their ideas. Text at the center supports teachers in using complex and diverse texts that develop students skills in middle school and beyond.

Examples of materials provided to teachers for their advancement in the subject area include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8D, “Romeo and Juliet,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 1, students read the prologue of the Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet. In order to assist teachers with Shakespeare the following instructions are provided in the preparation section of the unit overview. "Make sure you know how to add a bookmark on the devices your students are using. Practice reading the Prologue aloud before class. Preview the Viewing Guidelines, provided to display before each video clip. Preview the WordPlay Shakespeare scene. Photocopy the Memorization Cards PDF, one copy per student. If you cannot provide paper copies, students can use the electronic memorization cards provided in Activity 8, but it will make the memorization process more challenging. Students should cut the paper memorization cards apart so that they will see just one card at a time. If you are going to allow class time for this, provide scissors and a one-hole punch. (Optional: Many students stay organized with a ring clip for the cards.). In addition, they provide two video resources for teachers to view and/or show to their students along with specific time codes for the part of the movie that connects with the prologue."
• In Unit 8E, “Holocaust: Memory and Meaning,” Sub-unit 6, Lesson 2, students develop their reasoning and evidence into body paragraphs for their essay on the Holocaust. To assist both teachers and students, the materials provide teachers with a list of sentence starters, a sample essay and a teacher’s copy of the events of the Holocaust.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials contain a teacher’s edition that explains the role of the specific ELA/literacy standards in the context of the overall curriculum.

The Teacher Edition explains the role of specific ELA/literacy standards within every individual lesson, sub-unit and unit as a whole. In addition, there is a Common Core State Standards correlations guide for each grade level and a Common Core State Standards Unit Level Standards Alignment document where educators can see the standards at a glance for each unit. 

Examples of explanations of the role of specific standards include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8D, “Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet,” page 25 of the Grade 8 Curriculum Map explains that at the culmination of the unit that students “will have learned how to spot and follow an extended metaphor, discovered that they can understand Shakespearean English by putting it into their own words, and become curious about the play in its entirety.” The Unit Summary also indicates that “students write an essay arguing whether the forces of love or hate are responsible for Romeo’s death.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials contain explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research based strategies.

The Program Guide provides explanations of the instructional approaches of the curriculum as well as the research based strategies included. The Amplify materials have been created based on research around the developmental needs of middle-grade students including their learning, cognition, and how they develop literacy skills.

The guide lists five research-based pillars: 

1. A focus on middle grade engagement recognizes that middle grade students thrive when they are given collaborative, social and experiential learning opportunities that provide exploratory curricula using varied and diverse teaching approaches.
2. Text at the center focuses on providing text that is high quality. The curriculum includes text that promotes a range of cultures and experiences that include a variety of texts that appeal to culturally diverse students. Reading, Writing and Vocabulary are emphasized in the Amplify curriculum. Students are engaged in close reading - the intensive analysis of high quality texts, “in order to come to terms with what it says, how it says it and what it means.” This emphasis is a key component of college and career readiness. Amplify also believes that strong writing instruction improves reading comprehension and fluency. Students write routinely for an authentic audience and are given frequent writing prompts to interpret and paraphrase the texts they are reading. Vocabulary knowledge plays a critical role in reading comprehension and overall success and should include frequent, varied, direct, and contextualized exposures to words and extended in-depth instruction in definitonal and contextual information and word learning strategies. They also include encounters with Tier Two vocabulary. 
3. High expectations and strong supports meet students where they are, while ensuring grade-level rigor. Differentiated instruction is the core instructional model that Amplify uses to provide six levels of activities, designed to support a range of students from ELL, special needs and advanced students. Amplify uses scaffolds such as text previews, word banks, guiding questions and graphic organizers to support reading comprehension.
4. Active, multimodal, and collaborative learning is the focus of Amplify’s curriculum, since research suggests that active engagement is key and that students thrive when classroom activities are social and varied. Amplify ELA employs a variety of pedagogical styles, multimodal instruction, and ample opportunity for student collaboration. Varied teaching styles are used across Amplify ELA’s curriculum - Explicit instruction, Active learning, Multimodal instruction Collaboration as well as Effective constructivist learning environments all these teaching styles are incorporated into Amplify’s curriculum in order to support middle grade learners.
5. Feedback and assessment Amplify ELA curriculum incorporates many opportunities for students to receive feedback on their work. Utilizing formative assessment students are provided with feedback about their work. Regular feedback is critical for teachers and students to monitor their performance.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectation that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress.

There are varied opportunities for teachers to use both formative and summative assessments that genuinely measure student progress. All of the information can be found in the Assessment document in the Resources section of the curriculum.

For formative assessments in writing, students’ writing skills are automatically scored by Amplify’s Automatic Writing Evaluator, using a 0–4 rubric score, although this can be changed by the teacher. For reading, teachers can view individualized reports and “this daily measure provides teachers with an understanding of their students’ ability to independently read a grade-level text with accuracy”. Finally, teachers can assign exit tickets for each lesson as a quick assessment of student learning on that day. There are also several summative assessments throughout each unit and grade level. These include unit reading assessments, writing assessments and end-of-unit assessments. 

Examples include, but are not limited to: 

• Within each lesson, students engage in writing assignments related to the text they just read. According to the assessment documentation, “The work students submit is scored and measures their ability to produce sustained writing, focus on one claim or idea, use textual evidence to support and develop that idea or use conventions to communicate in a clear way.”
• The Assessment document also indicates, “at the end of every lesson, students complete an independent reading activity (“solo”) that measures the accuracy of their answers to auto-scorable reading questions. . .in addition, the reports show where students struggled in the reading, giving teachers and students an opportunity to revisit those portions of the text.”
• Several summative assessments are located in the program that teachers can assign to their students, including unit reading assessments connected to grade level standards. There are also writing assessments, including one extended response question focused on two nonfiction passages, and end-of-unit essays which cover a range of topics and take multiple days to complete.

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that assessments clearly denote which standards are being emphasized.

Within each unit, several sub-units divide a unit’s texts and skills into manageable learning goals. Each unit overview contains a list of the focus standards as well as the other standards that are covered during instruction. 

Examples of how standards being taught are emphasized include, but are not limited to:

In Unit 8D, “Romeo and Juliet,” the final reading assessment addresses many standards which are listed in the unit overview under the subheading “ 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• CSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text. 
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.3 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.5 Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.7 Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors.

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that assessments provide sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow up.

The assessment brochure provided by the publisher list the variety of ways for teachers to interpret student performance and provide suggestions for follow up. 

• Students submit their work at multiple places in each lesson including reading responses and selected response items that check for reading comprehension. Data from students responses is populated into reports that indicate if students are comprehending what they are reading. Writing skills are automatically scored by Amplify’s Automatic Writing Evaluator using a 0–4 rubric score, but can also be updated by the teacher.
• On page 7 of the assessment brochure it explains how “at the end of every lesson, students complete an independent reading activity (“solo”) that measures the accuracy of their answers to auto-scorable reading questions. This daily measure provides teachers with an understanding of their students’ ability to independently read a grade-level text with accuracy. It also gives teachers a picture of progress and challenge with reading comprehension, particularly when a student is working with the same text over multiple lessons. In addition, the reports show where students struggled in the reading, giving teachers and students an opportunity to revisit those portions of the text.”
• On page 8 of the assessment brochure it discusses the feedback that can be received from the unit reading assessments. In addition, it explains how “the assessment report generates data tied to the most common domains found in standards: Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure, and Integration of Knowledge and Ideas”

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials should include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress.

In the lessons, teachers are able to monitor student progress through the use of formative assessments in the form of Lesson Exit Tickets, Solo Reading Comprehension, Formative Writing also Embedded Assessment Measures that includes auto-scored reading activities. Additional progress monitoring takes place through the use of summative assessments in the form of essays, as well as constructed and selected response questions.

Examples of routines and guidance include, but it not limited to:

• In Unit 8B, “Liberty & Equality: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," students evaluate Jacobs’s arguments for abolition in two chapters and develop a claim about which chapter provides a stronger argument, supporting their answer with evidence from the text.
• Lesson 1: Liberty & Equality Reading Assessment, Constructed Response: Informative, students complete a constructed response using evidence from a single passage. “In Chapter 6 of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Douglass writes about how slavery had a negative impact on both slaveholders and those who were enslaved. Write a well-constructed paragraph that uses evidence from the text to explain how TWO people from this chapter were negatively affected by slavery.”
• In Unit 8F, “The Space Race Collection,” Sub-unit 2, Solo Comprehension Questions,students are asked to research "How did the author first learn about satellites?"
• In Sub-unit 5, Write an Essay, Lesson 2: Making a Claim and Writing a Body Paragraph, students write a claim statement about their research topic and draft a body paragraph that uses textual evidence to support their claim.

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials provide teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of a range of learners so the content is accessible to all learners and supports them in meeting or exceeding the grade-level standards. The strategies for the program are well-documented in the Amplify ELA Research base. In addition, there are specific strategies to help teachers reach all learners including: differentiated instruction, formative assessments, scaffolded tasks and a variety of active, multimodal and collaborative learning.

Examples include, but are not limited to: 

• According to page 5 of the Amplify ELA Research base document that can be found in the Resources section of the Amplify ELA curriculum, “Amplify ELA meets students where they are while maintaining grade-level rigor for all. Through its differentiated instruction model, the curriculum is designed to “provide equity of access to excellence for the broadest possible range of learners” (Tomlinson, 2015, p. 203). The document goes on to explain that “this approach follows Vygotsky’s model of support by ensuring that each student is working within their ‘zone of proximal development,’.... In this way, all students are able to work with texts at their grade-band level of complexity and fully participate in classroom culture….Amplify provides six levels of differentiated activities, indicated by a (+) icon in the lessons. For each level of differentiated instructional support, teachers are provided with instructional materials and students are provided with the scaffolds they need in order to complete each classroom activity.” 
• According to pages 7 and 8 of the Amplify ELA Research base document found in the Resources section, there are several different considerations addressed in the curriculum to support all learners, including explicit instruction, active learning, effective learning environment, multimodal instruction and collaboration. 
• On page 9 of the Research base document, descriptions of various routines wherein students work together to tackle complex tasks including breaking off into pairs or small groups to analyze texts, compare interpretations, and refine their understanding of the texts. During writing activities, students frequently share their work with peers and provide one another with constructive feedback. Additionally, student-led activities such as Quests, Reader’s Theatre, fishbowl discussions, Socratic seminars, and debates all involve groups of varying sizes and tap into students’ innate need for social interaction. These collaborative activities are situated as part of the classroom culture as determined by the materials.
• Every lesson has a “Differentiation” tab within the “Lesson Brief” to guide the teacher through the differentiation strategies and techniques available for that particular lesson. Differentiation tips are provided for “Core” students who are on-level and “Substantial, ELL (Dev), Moderate” students who are below-level. Tips range from ensuring the appropriate technology-based accommodations are available to alternate activities within a lesson. For example, if there is an alternate “Solo” available, the “Differentiation” tab will identify and explain the modification and support provided on the alternate version of the “Solo” in contrast to the regular one.According to page 5 of the Amplify ELA Research base document that can be found in the Resources section of the Amplify ELA curriculum, “Amplify ELA meets students where they are while maintaining grade-level rigor for all. Through its differentiated instruction model, the curriculum is designed to 'provide equity of access to excellence for the broadest possible range of learners' (Tomlinson, 2015, p. 203)." The document goes on to explain that “this approach follows Vygotsky’s model of support by ensuring that each student is working within their ‘zone of proximal development,’.... In this way, all students are able to work with texts at their grade-band level of complexity and fully participate in classroom culture….Amplify provides six levels of differentiated activities, indicated by a (+) icon in the lessons. For each level of differentiated instructional support, teachers are provided with instructional materials and students are provided with the scaffolds they need in order to complete each classroom activity.”
• According to pages 7 and 8 of the Amplify ELA Research base document found in the Resources section, there are several different considerations addressed in the curriculum to support all learners, including explicit instruction, active learning, effective learning environment, multimodal instruction, and collaboration.
• On page 9 of the Research base document, there are descriptions of various routines wherein students work together to tackle complex tasks including breaking off into pairs or small groups to analyze texts, compare interpretations, and refine their understanding of the texts. During writing activities, students frequently share their work with peers and provide one another with constructive feedback. Additionally, student-led activities such as Quests, Reader’s Theatre, fishbowl discussions, Socratic seminars, and debates all involve groups of varying sizes and tap into students’ innate need for social interaction. These collaborative activities are situated as part of the classroom culture as determined by the materials.
• Every lesson has a “Differentiation” tab within the “Lesson Brief” to guide the teacher through the differentiation strategies and techniques available for that particular lesson. Differentiation tips are provided for “Core” students who are on-level and other specific materials for students who are below-level. Tips range from ensuring ensure that the appropriate technology-based accommodations are available to alternate activities within a lesson. For example, if there is an alternate “Solo” available, the “Differentiation” tab will identify and explain the modification and support provided on the alternate version of the “Solo” in contrast to the regular one.

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level, or in a language other than English, with extensive opportunities to work with grade level text and meet or exceed grade-level standards.

The materials provide six levels of differentiated activities, indicated by a (+) icon in the lessons. For each level of differentiated instructional support, teachers are provided with instructional materials and students are provided with the scaffolds they need in order to complete each classroom activity. These supports and modifications are designed to support a range of English Learners and students with special needs. In addition to these differentiated lessons, they also have reading comprehension support, text previews written with simplified language, and other strategies to support students in their comprehension. Embedded in each unit are Flex Days, these are days that allow students to catch up or move ahead with a variety of activities, including Quests, vocabulary, and language work. Students can work on revisions during these days as well, although there is limited specific support for teachers to assure implementation of this differentiation.

The Program Guide entails how the Amplify curriculum provides ELL supports that allows teachers to provide ELL students access to grade level content that their peers are able to access. The supports are designed to “maintain academic rigor and high cognitive demand while scaffolding to support learners at different language levels.” The supports for ELL are available throughout the curriculum and include Vocabulary App, word banks, chunked directions and prompts, reduced amount of text, sentence frames to provide language conventions and support reading comprehension, and graphic organizers. 

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Students have Flex Days as they move through the units. The rationale for the day (which repeat no matter what grade level or unit a teacher is in) explain that “The Flex Days are an opportunity for you to provide students with needed grammar instruction and also support additional practice in a targeted area of reading, writing, or language. Depending on students’ performance during the previous sequence of lessons, you might assign a particular group to work on reading fluency, revise an existing piece of writing, create a new piece of writing, practice close reading and discussion, or work on one of the key reading strands.”
• Each lesson has a “Solo” activity requiring students to independently read a grade level text, usually one of the core texts, and answer numerous questions. The “Solo” activities are differentiated based on discretion and the Embedded Assessment Measure (EAM) report. Students complete “Solo” activities at the level appropriate for their unique needs. There are five levels ranging from "ELL/Substantial" to "Challenge." The writing prompts within the “Solo” activities are also structured with the assigned level. The “Instructional Guide” and “Lesson Briefs” provide teacher guidance as to the differentiation within each level of each activity.
• On page 6 of the Amplify ELA Research Base document which can be found in the Resources section of the Amplify curriculum, the authors explain how the curriculum has “text previews as well as varying degrees of simplified language and visual supports for each of its differentiation levels. Text previews are not summaries of texts but rather introductions written at a lower level of complexity that prime students with what to focus on while they are reading.”
• On page 7 of the Amplify ELA Research Base document which can be found in the Resources section of the Amplify curriculum, there are several supports that are specific to EL learners. For example, the “EL-specific supports include think-alouds, simple Wh- questions, and additional partner work. For EL students, the provision of a think-aloud allows them to model their own thinking within a new language and to build the skills of code switching appropriately while reading complex, grade-level tasks…... Additionally, there is ample research supporting the inclusion of verbal instructional practices for ELs. Amplify ELA therefore includes many verbal experiences for EL students to increase their language acquisition skills to provide a rich educational experience. Last, ELs receive alternative vocabulary instruction during typical instruction time, to include important high frequency words that will appear in texts and may be familiar to native speakers but unfamiliar to ELs.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials regularly include extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade level.

The Flex Days, included in every unit, provide time for advanced students to read from the Amplify library and expand vocabulary and language knowledge through the vocabulary app. In addition to these days, there are supplemental texts available in the Amplify library that provide additional reading and engagement for advanced learners. The instructional materials include extensions and advanced opportunities throughout, as well as a Challenge level designed for advanced students.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• According to page 5 of the Amplify ELA Research Base document, the approach to vocabulary instruction supports above grade-level instruction by allowing the teacher to adjust portions of the program to reflect more challenging tasks.

The Challenge level extensions provide opportunities for advanced students to engage in more sophisticated comparisons of text, create counterarguments, find evidence to support both sides of an argument, or to extend their thinking about a text or topic. Additionally, advanced students are given challenging writing prompts, asking them to read a new text and explain how it compares to what they have been reading and learning.”

• On page 59 of the Program Overview guide, there is a comprehensive overview of the Challenge Level. In addition to differentiated prompts in the challenge level that push students past the core prompt, there are extra activities at the end of many lessons that challenge students to read a new text and form a written analysis. The novel guides for each of the texts read in the curriculum provide reading questions and writing prompts that are an additional layer of challenge. There are two other activities that students can pursue on the challenge level. Finally, there are 17 curated archives that focus on a challenge for independent study. These include topics that are close to the texts being studied. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials provide opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies.

Within the lessons, students have many opportunities to work in groups and teachers are provided with guidance on how to organize students. Teachers are encouraged to group students by many different categories including ability, proximity etc. with times for both teacher-selected groupings as well as student-selected groupings.

One example of this is, in Unit 8C, “Science and Science Fiction,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 1, students read William Wordsworth poem and then share their first impressions with a partner. The instructions direct teachers to put students in pairs and then answer the question, "What stood out to you in your first reading? Tell your partner about the details you noticed."