8th Grade - Gateway 3

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."