6th Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations of Indicator 1b.

Students engage with a variety of literary and informational texts throughout the units. There is a wide range of texts throughout the units that reflect a balance of literary and informational texts. Texts include, but are not limited to, dramas, poetry, legends, plays, narrative fiction, memoirs, informational social studies, informational science, and research nonfiction.

The following are examples of literature found within the instructional materials:

• Unit 1, “City Kids, Country Kids” by Amanda Jenkins
• Unit 2, “In Hiding” by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
• Unit 3, Revolutionary Dreams by Nikki Giovanni
• Unit 4, “Uphill and the Road” by Christana Rosetti and Helene Johnson
• Unit 5, “Galileo’s Gift” by Colleen Kessler
• Unit 6, The Legend of Mulan: The Ballad of Mulan; Mulan Joins the Army by Ouyand Yuqian
• Unit 7, “James Madison: The US Constitution” by Jill Purdy
• Unit 9, Going East by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

The following are examples of informational text found within the instructional materials:

• Unit 1, The Writings of John Muir by John Muir
• Unit 3, The Haudenosaunee Confederacy by Monica Halprin
• Unit 5, “The Science of Flight” by Alexandra Hansen-Harding
• Unit 7, Rome’s Augustan Age by Tracy Telling
• Unit 9, Going Out by Leslie T. Chang

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations of Indicator 1c.

The texts included in the instructional materials fall within the Lexile level band for Grade 6. Some texts have a complex set of events and characters including historical fiction that require an understanding of the time period, a complicated plot, time shifts, and unfamiliar vocabulary including academic and domain specific words. Student instruction and tasks are included for many texts to provide the necessary support to make the texts above or below the Lexile grade band appropriate for Grade 6 students.

Some specific examples of texts that are of an appropriate complexity level include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 7, Week 1, students read Short Read 2: Ancient Egypt Golden Empire with a Lexile of 1070. The text complexity is moderate making the text appropriate for Grade 6. The text has a single purpose as stated in the title: to describe Ancient Egypt Golden Empire, but it conveys this description with facts and details the readers can compare and contrast and from which they can then draw conclusions.
• In Unit 2, Week 2, students read Extended Read 1: “Cassie’s Fight” an excerpt from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry with a Lexile of 930. Although the Lexile is at the low end of the recommended Grade 6 Lexile band, the qualitative measures are in the highest complexity range. The setting is in a rural mid-20th century southern area and examines issues of racism. This excerpt tells a sequence of events that leads up to the narrator and another character having a confrontation. Student tasks include drawing inferences, open syllable patterns, summarizing, compare and contrast, demonstrating understanding of connotations and nuances of word meanings, recognizing vague pronouns. Close reading is required to analyze how words develop plot and character’s response to plot events.
• In Unit 8, Week 1, students read Short Read 1: “The South Pole” an excerpt from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea with a Lexile of 930. The text is written in novel form and is chronological and features multiple characters. Student tasks include applying metacognitive strategies, analyzing the impact of word choice on meaning, examining vowel patterns, comparing and contrasting reading a story to listening to a story, and recognizing vague pronouns.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations of Indicator 1d.

Texts are worthy of students’ time and attention. The units are designed to build upon one another with increasing demands for knowledge and application as the student progresses through each unit and lesson. Anchor texts are listed within every unit and provide quantitative measures and qualitative measures of complexity. Included in the Additional Resources materials for instructors is a detailed rubric for evaluating dimensions of text complexity. Students engage in texts of varying levels and complexity within each unit. Consumable anchor texts containing two Short Reads, two Extended Reads, three Word Study Reads, and one Poetry read for each unit. The complexity of the texts supports students proficiency in reading independently. Reading routines support students gaining increasing independence in reading throughout the year. Tasks are sequenced with an increase in complexity throughout the year with unit assessments to determine student mastery of skill and strategies. Strategies and Skills, a unit overview of weekly skills that indicates which skills are previously taught or introduced, is included in the Teacher Resources. Unit assessments provide an opportunity to measure student proficiency throughout the year, at the end of each unit, and at the end of the academic year.

• Small Group Reading text within the odd units ranged from 760L to 1180L. The Lexile range expectations for Grade 6 are 955-1155. Texts are below and above grade level expectations.
• Unit 1 Teacher’s Resource Components at a Glance Lexile ranges for Short Reads, Extended Reads and Word Study Reads are between 900L and 1180L which is slightly below and above the range of expected Lexile levels. The qualitative measures for the Short Reads and Extended Reads on the Guide to Text Complexity page describe substantial complexity based on the four dimensions of qualitative complexity. There are no qualitative measures for the Word Study Reads although they are part of the consumable anchor text. During Week 2, Extended Read 1, students read “This Fascinating World of Nature” by Wangari Maathai from the consumable anchor text. Mini-Lessons 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 12 require students to use this story. The purpose of each Mini-Lesson connects to the Apply Understanding student task in each Mini-Lesson. Tasks in this section occur daily during independent work time, over the course of the week during independent time and as homework when specified. Apply Understanding tasks include read the story and write during-reading questions in the margins and one after-reading question, complete the Build Vocabulary section in the consumable anchor text, write sentences summarizing how two stories are alike and different, complete the Build Grammar section in the consumable anchor text, and answer questions 1, 2 and 3 in the Write: Use Text Evidence in the consumable anchor text. Note, Mini-Lesson 4 uses this story, but not during the Apply Understanding task. Skills in Apply Understanding include:
• Specific Skills: Determine a Central Idea and How It Is Conveyed Through Details, Analyze How a Key Idea is Developed in a Text, Compare and Contrast Authors' Presentations of Events, and Analyze Features of Poetry.
• Unit 3 Teacher’s Resource Components at a Glance Lexile ranges for Short Reads, Extended Reads and Word Study Reads are between 910L and 1140L which is slightly below and above the range of expected Lexile levels. The qualitative measures for the Short Reads and Extended Reads on the Guide to Text Complexity page describe substantial to highest complexity based on the four dimensions of qualitative complexity. There are no qualitative measures for the Word Study Reads although they are part of the consumable anchor text. During Week 1, Short Read 1, Students read “Aristotle and Democracy” by Michael K. Smith from the consumable anchor text. Mini-Lessons 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8 require students to use this story. The purpose of each Mini-Lesson connects to the Apply Understanding student task in each Mini-Lesson. Tasks in this section occur daily during independent work time, over the course of the week during independent time and as homework when specified. Apply Understanding tasks include read and underline important information making notes in the margin to show how details support the central idea, reread and determine domain-specific meaning of the word equality confirming the meaning using a dictionary, complete Build Vocabulary in the consumable anchor text, complete Build Grammar in consumable anchor text. Note, Mini-Lesson 7 uses this story, but not during the Apply Understanding task. Skills in Apply Understanding include:
• Specific Skills: Analyze How a Section of Text Contributes to the Development of Ideas, Determine Author's Point of View or Purpose, Analyze How a Key Event is Developed in a Text, Determine Central Ideas and Key Details, Cite Text Evidence to Support Inferences and Analysis, Integrate Information from Multiple Texts, and Analyze Author’s Word Choice and Structure in a Poem.
• Unit 5 Teacher’s Resource Components at a Glance Lexile ranges for Short Reads, Extended Reads and Word Study Reads are between 950L and 1220L, which are both below and above the range of expected Lexile levels. The qualitative measures for the Short Reads and Extended Reads on the Guide to Text Complexity page describe moderate to highest complexity based on the four dimensions of qualitative complexity. There are no qualitative measures for the Word Study Reads although they are part of the consumable anchor text. During Week 3, Extended Read 2, students read “Updating Archaeology” by Ken Floyd from the consumable anchor text. Mini-Lessons 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 9 require students to use this story. The purpose of each Mini-Lesson connects to the Apply Understanding student task in each Mini-Lesson. Tasks in this section occur daily during independent work time, over the course of the week during independent time and as homework when specified. Apply Understanding tasks include; underline important details and mark in the margins why these details support the big idea, complete Build Vocabulary in the consumable anchor text, answer Write: Use Text Evidence Close Reading questions 1, 2 and 3, and complete Build Grammar and Language section in the consumable anchor text. Skills in Apply Understanding include:
• Specific Skills: Analyze How a Key Idea is Developed; Trace and Evaluate an Author’s Argument, Claims, and Evidence; Integrate Information in Different Media or Formats to Develop a Coherent Understanding; Determine an Author’s Point of View or Purpose and Explain How It Is Conveyed in the Text; and Determine a Central Idea of a Text and How It Is Conveyed Through Particular Details.
• Unit 7 Teacher’s Resource Components at a Glance Lexile ranges for Short Reads, Extended Reads and Word Study Reads are between 940L and 1070L, which is slightly below the Lexile expectations. The qualitative measures for the Short Reads and Extended Reads on the Guide to Text Complexity page describe moderate to substantial complexity based on the four dimensions of qualitative complexity. There are no qualitative measures for the Word Study Reads although they are part of the consumable anchor text. Teacher’s Resources, Components at a Glance indicates Word Study Mini-Lessons occur 15 minutes per lesson. Evidence found did not validate that statement. Word Study reads were only found in one weekly Mini-Lesson that focused on Grammar and found as a bullet point under Apply Understanding and Build Fluency. In Week 1, Mini-Lesson 5, students were asked to spend a few minutes during the week reading “The Great Wall of China” to develop fluency and automaticity with /ou/ and /oi/ vowel combinations. Students are reminded to monitor their reading to make sure they read accurately using knowledge of word families and syllables. Skills in Apply Understanding include:
• Specific Skills: Trace and Evaluate the Author’s Argument, Claims,and Evidence; Analyze How a Particular Sentence or Section of Text Fits into the Overall Structure and Contributes to the Development of Ideas; Cite Evidence to Support Analysis of the Text; Integrate Information from Two Texts to Develop a Coherent Understanding of a Topic; and Compare and Contrast Authors’ Presentation of Events.
• Unit 9 Teacher’s Resource Components at a Glance Lexile ranges for Short Reads, Extended Reads and Word Study Reads are between 920L and 1150L, which are slightly below the range of expected Lexile levels.The qualitative measures for the Short Reads and Extended Reads on the Guide to Text Complexity page describe moderate to highest complexity based on the four dimensions of qualitative complexity. There are no qualitative measures for the Word Study Reads although they are part of the consumable anchor text. During Week 1, students read Short Read 2: “Kublai, the Great Khan” by Susan Virgilio from the consumable anchor text. Mini-Lessons 10, 12 and 13 require students to use this story. The purpose of each Mini-Lesson connects to the Apply Understanding student task in each Mini-Lesson. Tasks in this section occur daily during independent work time, over the course of the week during independent time and as homework when specified. Apply Understanding tasks include read and annotate text to support comprehension and integrate information from the story and another story writing five to six sentences about how timeline events correspond with events from the other story. Note, Mini-Lesson 12 uses this story but requires the students to select a previously read biography to determine author point of view and answer a specific question by writing three to four sentences using text evidence. Skills in Apply Understanding include:
• Specific Skills: Cite Textual Evidence to Support Analysis and Inferences, Integrate Information Presented in Different Media and Formats, Determine an Author’s Purpose and Point of View in a Text, Determine Central Ideas and Key Details, and Compare and Contrast How Different Texts Approach Similar Topics.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations of Indicator 1e.

Each unit has a Unit Resources for Responsive Teaching Guide to Text Complexity within the teacher resources listing total qualitative measures for Short Reads and Extended Reads in the student consumables. Word Study texts within each unit have Lexile levels listed in the Teacher’s Resource Guide Components at a Glance. The text complexity guide provides measures of complexity including purpose and levels of meaning, structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands. Each small group text includes an Accessing Complex Text analysis with quantitative and qualitative measures. The Teacher Resources for small groups include a text level and a Lexile measure for each text. Each unit contains three Word Study Reads; the genre and Lexile level are provided for these material.

Examples of how the program shows text complexity include:

• In Unit 1, Week 3, Extended Read 2: “The Writings of John Muir” has a text complexity description stating:
• “Purpose and Levels of Meaning: Score of 3; These excerpts from John Muir’s writings give a firsthand account of the author’s childhood in Scotland and Wisconsin, and later as a young man. It is straightforward in style but serves as a window for the reader into the formative years of this well-known naturalist and preservationist.
• Structure: Score of 3; The voice is first-person. The text is sequential, however there are substantial gaps in time in some cases from one entry to the next, and some episodes have a heavy narrative, anecdotal structure,while others are treated more succinctly as field notes or quick observations.
• Language Conventionality and Clarity: Score of 4; The language by turns is formal and whimsical, but heavily detailed, with rich academic terms and content vocabulary, as well as many instances of figurative language. The text contains many complex sentences that may be challenging for many students.
• Knowledge Demands: Score of 3; Familiarity with elementary Earth Science and Life Science terms (such as hollow, prairie, etc.) is helpful. The references to specific types of animals and vegetation are supported with images.
• Total QM: Score of 13; Substantial Complexity.”
• In Unit 3, Week 1, Short Read 1: “Aristotle and Democracy” has a text complexity description stating:
• “Purpose and Levels of Meaning: Score of 2; The text has two purposes: to provide information about Aristotle and to offer insight into his contributions to our understanding of government, with students being given opportunities to analyze the development of ideas and draw conclusions.
• Structure: Score of 2; The predominant structure is thematic, with the two themes of Aristotle and democracy presented concurrently.
• Language Conventionality and Clarity: Score of 3; Sentences are complex, with subordinate clauses, and the language includes Aristotle’s own highly academic, somewhat archaic constructions and vocabulary that is domain specific to politics.
• Knowledge Demands: Score of 4; Most readers will not have prior knowledge of either Aristotle or his challenging, theoretical concepts of government.
• Total QM: Score of 11; Substantial Complexity.”
• In Unit 6, Week 2, Extended Read 1: “The Legend of Mulan” has a text complexity description stating:
• “Purpose and Levels of Meaning: Score of 4; Along with a lengthy introduction, this text group combines a ballad about the legendary female warrior Mulan with a play on the same topic. The ballad conveys subtle meaning through language and images that call for interpretation. The play has a simple theme reflected in the title: Mulan joins the army, but the fact is only revealed over the course of the text.
• Structure: Score of 3; Structure is in two modes; a poetic ballad with rhyming lines and clear stanzas and a play with dialog and stage directions. There are multiple characters in both modes, and some of the action in the play is hard to predict.
• Language Conventionality and Clarity: Score of 3; The ballad’s language is richly figurative, adding to the tone, with archaic constructions and vocabulary (steed, hie, wintry), though some are directly defined or given strong context. Language of the play is slightly stilted in a period fashion, but has few complex sentences; vocabulary is mostly familiar.
• Knowledge Demands: Score of 2; Familiarity with ballads about legendary characters would be helpful for full comprehension.
• Total QM: Score of 12; Substantial Complexity.”
• In Unit 10, Week 3, Extended Read 2: “Track Cycling for Young People: Pros and Cons” has a text complexity description stating:
• “Purpose and Levels of Meaning: Score of 2; The clear purpose of this selection is to present three different opinions about the sport of track cycling.
• Structure: Score of 3; Three different opinions are clearly presented. Connections between argument and evidence are clear and direct. The text includes a Q&A section, a bulleted list, and photos that help support concepts in the running text.
• Language Conventionality and Clarity: Score of 3; Paragraphs include complex sentences, academic vocabulary, and other context-dependent words.
• Knowledge Demands: Score of 3; Track cycling may not be a sport of which students have a lot of background knowledge.
• Total QM: Score of 11; Substantial Complexity.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations of Indicator 1f.

Anchor and supporting texts provide a variety of opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of texts to achieve grade level reading. The consumable anchor text contains two Short Reads, two Extended Reads, three Word Study Reads and one Poetry Out Loud selection. Students have multiple opportunities to engage with the text during the Short Reads and Extended Reads. Benchmark provides several Additional Resources (AR), in addition to unit-specific mini-lessons to provide a framework or options for students to engage in reading. Each grade level provides pacing options/sample literacy blocks so that students engage with texts daily with notes, annotating, analyzing text with writing and constructive conversations with read aloud text, anchor text, leveled texts and suggested trade-book lists and novel studies for independent reading. Grouped by instructional level, students have daily opportunities to develop their reading abilities during Small Group reading instruction. During Reader’s Theater, students are in heterogeneous small groups. One-week or three-week pacing guides are available for Reader’s Theater texts. Teachers are encouraged to use Read Alouds to model thinking while reading. Online materials contain a Read Alouds Handbook. Each unit contains suggested Read Alouds titles, model prompts for the teacher and lesson plan for each suggested title.

Instructional materials clearly identify opportunities and supports for students to engage in reading a variety and volume of texts to become independent readers at the grade level. The materials also include a mechanism for teachers and/or students to monitor progress toward grade-level independence. Some examples include:

• Three Pacing Options are offered as Sample Literacy Blocks:
• 150 minutes reading block: 15 minute read aloud, 75 minute reading and word study, and 60 minute writing and grammar
• 120 minute reading block: 10 minute read aloud, 75 minute reading and word study, and 50 minute writing and grammar
• 90 minute reading block: (no read aloud) 60 minute reading and word study and 40 minutes writing and grammar
• Read Aloud Text provides suggested routines for teaching and student support including student-generated questions, partner work, If I were the author, and word study. The teacher selects a recommended trade book from the list in Additional Resources or uses the short selection in the Read Alouds Handbook. The Teacher’s Resource contains a Comprehensive Literacy Planner at the beginning of each week.
• Fluency Routines (FR) provide routines for inflection, intonation, pitch, expression, phrasing, word recognition,and pacing with partner time, practice time, and independent reading time.
• The Think, Speak, Listen resource models and teaches students to support ideas with reasons, evidence, examples, and explanations.
• Teacher Resource Components at a Glance lays out 10 minutes each day for Read Alouds. The teacher selects a recommended trade book from the list in Additional Resources or uses the short selection in the Read Alouds Handbook.

Specific examples of reading opportunities include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Mini-Lesson 12, students read Short Read 2: “Protectors of the Land Wangari Maathai and John Muir” by Laura McDonald. The teacher explains the purpose is to examine figurative language called personification. The teacher models by reading a quote and interpreting Muir’s use of personification in the quote. During Guided Practice the teacher poses a question to student partners, gives them time to read, annotate, and confer. The class is brought together to share ideas they identified. Additional modeling from the teacher may be needed. During Share and Reflect, partners reflect on how the use of personification helps them understand point of view. One or two students share their ideas with the class. During independent Apply Understanding time, students reread, identify one example of personification, and explain how this helped them form a picture in their mind. To check for understanding, students may work with a partner to identify an example of personification on page 9 or have students complete Personification Quick Check A or B in Grade 6 Language Quick Checks.
• In Unit 2, Mini-Lesson 4, Short Read 1: In Hiding from the Diary of Anne Frank: A Play during guided practice in the annotate, pair, share section of the student consumable book, in two to four sentences, students write a summary of Anne’s soliloquy after reading. Students then discuss.
• In Unit 3, Week 3, Mini-Lesson 11, students utilize the Poetry Out Loud selection, “Revolutionary DREAMS” by Nikki Giovanni. Learning Targets are provided in the Sidebar. Teacher guidance is provided to model how to define the words militant, radical and riot using examples from the poem. The student task is a partner Guided Practice to read line 11-16 and think about how author word choice shows change in speaker attitude. During Guided Practice, the teacher checks in with students needing support and calls on one or two students to share their ideas. During Share and Reflect, partners reflect on how the poem adds to their understanding of how people can be change makers. The teacher asks one or two students to share ideas with the class. During independent time, students reread the poem with a partner and they may listen and follow along with the audio-assisted ebook.
• In Unit 6, AR Week 1, L3 mentor text, Traveling West in the Mentor Planning Guide: Journal entry, after reading the text, students analyze the prompt: "Imagine that, like James you traveled west on the Oregon trail in 1846. Write a journal entry describing what you saw and felt on the first day of your journey."
• In Unit 7, Week 3, Mini-Lesson 4, students read Extended Read 2: ”The Golden Age Of The Inca Empire” by Vincent Banks. The teacher sets a purpose by displaying and discussing the close reading question reminding students to annotate when reading. Partners reread and annotate sections in this text and locate and annotate evidence in another text. Based on teacher observations during this time, the teacher determines the level of support students need. Based on observations, the teacher selects students to share their responses with the class. To provide additional support or extensions the teacher can use the Reinforce or Reaffirm the Strategy. During independent Apply Understanding, students answer question 1 in Write: Use Text Evidence in the consumable anchor text.
• In Unit 8, Short Read 1: The South Pole an excerpt from “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” by Jules Verne, students read the text and answer the question: "What did you learn about the relationship between people and Earth from the story and science text? Make a chart. List details that you might include in an essay about relationships people have with Earth and its structures."
• In Unit 9, Week 2, Mini-Lesson 1, students read Extended Read 1: “The Silk Road, Yesterday and Today” by Alexandra Hanson-Harding. The teacher previews the text and sets a purpose to monitor comprehension by drawing on strategies students know. Students read and annotate paragraphs 1-4 underlining text that helps support their comprehension. During Share and Reflect, partners address three questions and as a class one or two students share ideas. During independent time students can reread paragraph 2 to build fluency. During independent Apply Understanding time, students reread paragraphs 5-12 continuing to apply strategies and annotate to support comprehension. Students may listen and follow along with the interactive ebook referring back to anchor charts as they progress through the story.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations of Indicator 1g.

Text-dependent questions, tasks and assignments support students’ literacy growth over the course of the school year. Materials include tasks and assignments which require the implementation of text-dependent writing and speaking. In both Short Read and Extended Read activities (Build Reflect Write pages, Extended Thinking Questions) and Mini-Lesson tasks (Apply Understanding, Share and Reflect, Guided Reading Practice), students are required to draw on textual evidence to support answers to questions and in discussion opportunities. Students have opportunities to work with partners and independently locate evidence throughout the materials. Teacher materials provide support for planning and implementation of text-dependent writing, speaking, and activities. The Teacher’s Resource provides a variety of text-dependent questions and tasks for the teacher to use throughout the program. Routines provide daily guides and suggestions for the whole group such as constructive conversation, book discussion questions, specific text-dependent questions, and making connections. The Teacher’s Edition Mini-Lesson Guides provide modeling, independent and small group support, guided practice and apply understanding for implementing text-dependent writing, speaking and activities. Most Constructive Conversations provide a prompt that asks the student and a partner to look back in the text to provide support to answer a given prompt. Students then use that evidence to share their response to the class. Writing prompts are also provided during the independent work time that ask students to provide evidence from the text. Sample answers are provided in the answer guide, to give the teacher an example of an acceptable answer that provides text evidence.

• In Unit 1, Week 2, students read Short Read 1: “Marjory Stoneman Douglas Friend of the Everglades” by Amanda Polidore and Extended Read 1: “This Fascinating World of Nature from Unbowed” by Wangari Maathai. Students then answer the following prompts: "In 'The Fascinating World of Nature,' Wangari Maathai uses personal anecdotes to describe how she has interacted with nature. What idea developed from her sharing the specific examples of when she interacted with nature? Compare and contrast the details in ‘Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Friend of the Everglades’ (page 4) to ‘The Fascinating World of Nature’ (page 12). How do the similarities and differences in the ways these authors approach the themes of conservation and activism help build knowledge of these subjects.”
• In Unit 2, Week 3, Mini-Lesson 7, Constructive Conversation, students engage in a partner conversation. The teacher displays and discusses the following close reading question and reminds students they should annotate their copy of the text: “Both ‘Feyrouz the Brave’ and ‘Jason’s Challenge’ contain scenes in which the main characters have fateful encounters with an old woman. Compare and contrast the way each of these scenes contributes to the plot of each story. Cite evidence from each text to support your thinking.” During Apply Understanding, the teacher tells students that during independent time they will answer question 2 in Write: Use Text Evidence: “Compare and contrast the endings of ‘Feyrouz the Brave’ and ‘Jason’s Challenge.’ Which ending provides a better sense of resolution? Cite specific text evidence to support your writing.”
• In Unit 4, Week 2, Mini-Lesson 11, during Guided Practice partners reread paragraphs 9-15 in “A Little Seed” to find evidence of Bud’s voice and determine how they can convey his voice in their journal entries. Students underline and write notes about the evidence in the consumable anchor text and create and record this information in their own Character Voice Chart. During Share and Reflect, the teacher brings students together to share evidence they collected during Guided Practice. The teacher asks them to “reflect on how they will use the information to develop and convey Bud’s voice in their journal entries. Add student evidence to the class chart. Save the chart to use again in Week 3.”
• In Unit 6, Week 1, Mini-Lesson 3, Discuss the Source Text, students engage in a text-dependent discussion about the narrative using some or all of the following questions: “Who are the characters? Where and when does the narrative take place? What do the characters do? Why do they do it? What events happen in the narrative? How do the characters feel about the events?” During Analyze the Source Text time, the Details and Events Chart is displayed. Students work in small groups to find details and evidence in the narrative that answer the questions stated during Discuss the Source Text time. Students are invited to share their answers while the teacher enters the information into the Chart.
• In Unit 7, Short Read 1: “The Golden Age of Greece” by Catherine Goodridge and Short Read 2: “Ancient Egypt’s Golden Empire” by Vidas Barzukas, in Build Reflect Write, students answer, "What did you learn about life in ancient Greece and ancient Egypt? Make a chart like example (2 column), on a separate sheet of paper. List details from each text you might include in an informative essay about the different ways people lived in ancient civilizations.”
• In Unit 8, Read-Aloud Handbook, six options for read alouds are offered. Each title has a one-page sheet containing the text, objective, four suggested prompts the teacher can use to model thinking as he or she reads the text, ELL comprehension support questions, and two Extend Thinking questions. In “The Truth About Crater Lake” by Elizabeth Barber, the teacher guidance for the Extend Thinking questions states, “Pose one or more questions to engage students more deeply with the text.” The two questions provided are: “What evidence does the article provide that origin myths have an important function for the survival of a culture? Why do places like Crater Lake often become sacred to indigenous people?”
• In Unit 9, Week 1, Mini-Lesson 7, Short Read 1, students read “Marco Polo, China Trader.” During Constructive Conversations, students are given the following prompt to answer with a partner: “How does Marco Polo’s role change during his travels to China, while living in China, and upon his return to Europe? How do these changes make him a global citizen? Annotate text evidence to support your ideas.” Students share their answers with the class and possible responses are provided for the teacher’s use.
• In Unit 10, Week 2, Mini-Lesson 12, Constructive Conversation: Partner, the teacher displays the close reading question and reminds the student to annotate the copy of the text. The close reading question is “In ‘Humans to Mars: Yes or No?’ the author quotes a NASA spokesperson who says, ‘Curiosity and exploration are vital to the human spirit’ How is the view of the human spirit conveyed in ‘Flip, Spin, and Soar!’ similar to this view? How is it different? Support your thinking with evidence from the text.” During independent Apply Understanding time, students answer question 3 in Write: Use Text Evidence in the consumable anchor text: “Compare and contrast how ‘Mission to Mars’ and the section ‘Biking’s Unsolved Physics Mystery’ present how scientists develop and test their theories. Support your thinking with evidence from the text.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations of Indicator 1h.

Culminating tasks are rich and of quality, provide opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know and are able to do in speaking and writing, and are evident across a year’s worth of material. The instructional materials contain a Culminating Research and Inquiry Project for each unit that relates to knowledge gained throughout the unit. Guidance is provided for introducing the project, guiding questions are included for researching, and presentation suggestions round out the support. Students reference texts used throughout the unit to complete the culminating task with some projects being completed individually and others in small groups. Culminating tasks ask the students to create presentations and present them to the class. A teacher and student rubric for the project is found in Additional Resources or each unit. Culminating tasks are supported with coherent sequences of text-dependent questions and tasks. Some examples include:

• In Unit 1, for the Culminating Research and Inquiry Project, students select an environment and use text evidence and additional resources to show how humans continue to raise awareness about the region. The Learning Targets says the students should “create a presentation on a topic, using technology, audio recordings, and visual displays when appropriate”
• In Unit 2, Research and Inquiry Project, students select a character from the unit texts and one from their own reading to analyze how they respond to challenges. The guiding questions are: “How has this fictional character’s story changed you? What did this character do or say to inspire you to change? Based on what you have read in the unit texts and in your own reading, what qualities do inspiring these characters have in common? Why do you think readers admire these qualities? How can the inspiring actions of fictional characters help people in real-life situations?”
• In Unit 4, Research and Inquiry Project, students select an author from the unit texts and one from your own reading to analyze their writing style. The guiding questions are: “How did the author’s life experiences influence their work and writing style? Select another author from the unit text and compare and contrast his or her writing style with the authors in your presentation. How is it similar or different? How do the authors’ own experiences shape the points of view of the narrators in their works?”
• In Unit 5, Culminating Research and Inquiry Project, students select a career from one of the texts and do additional research to determine how they use technology in their career. In the introduction for the Inquiry Project, the teacher is provided with guiding questions for students to use in completing the project: “What are the benefits of using this advanced technology in the workplace? What are the negative aspects? (Essential Question), How can the technology you have researched be applied to offer careers discussed in the unit texts? Can this technology be combined with other technologies to help people in other fields? (text evidence), As technology continues to advance, how will it affect the workforce in the future? (Enduring Understanding)” In Week 1, Mini-Lesson 8, Short Read 1, students answer the following question during the Guided Practice: “One robot can cost as much as $250,000 and many smaller police units cannot afford that. Their officers, therefore, have a higher risk of injury or death in dangerous situations that could be more safely handled by robots.” In Week 2, Mini-Lesson 6, students learn to write an argument essay and support their claim with reasons and evidence. This is direct preparation for the culminating project.
• In Unit 9, Culminating Research and Inquiry Project, students learn about an item traded along the ancient Silk Road and on traded along the modern Silk Road and compare and contrast those two items. In Week 1, Mini-Lesson 7, Short Read 1, students respond to the following prompt during the Constructive Conversations: “How does Marco Polo’s role change during his travels to China, while living in China, and upon his return to Europe? How do these changes make him a global citizen? Annotate text evidence to support your ideas.” In Week 2, Mini-Lesson 10, Extended Read 1, students answer the following question during the Apply Understanding: “In the past and present, consumer demand has dictated the manufacturing and transportation needs of global trade. Based on the evidence in the text, what can you infer about consumer demand and how it affects trade on the modern Silk Road?” These questions help prepare the student for the culminating task.
• In Unit 10, Research and Inquiry Project, students select a modern mode of transportation and use additional resources to compare and contrast what has been learned about space exploration and bicycling. The guiding questions include: “How does this technology use physics to help us understand Earth? How can we apply the physics from this modern technology to other activities, such as sports? How can understanding physics help us in our everyday activities and tasks?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations of Indicator 1i.

Materials provide multiple opportunities for students to use speaking and listening skills to apply their knowledge with a partner, in a small group, or the whole class including Constructive Conversations. The Think-Speak-Listen Flip Book provides teachers and students with a visual guide and scaffolds to show the structure of conversations including sentence stems for various skills within a conversation. The Reviews and Routines provide multiple lessons to help establish speaking and listening routines and procedures. Materials provide grade-level opportunities. There are many opportunities for discussions with partners, and some opportunities for discussions in large/whole groups during Constructive Conversation: Partner, Share and Reflect, Guided Practice, and Apply Understanding.

Materials provide multiple opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions across the whole year’s scope of instructional materials, including support for teachers to identify students struggling with these skills. Some examples include:

• In the Think-Speak-Listen Flip Book, sentence stems are provided to support student questioning and evidence-based discussions. For example, under the “Describe the Purpose of the Text” section, students are given a list of sentence stems, including: “I think the purpose of this text is to____. An important question I have from reading this text is ____. The title is ___, but the main focus of the texts is really _______.
• In Reviews and Routines, there are 15 lessons that help to create routines for the classroom. On Day 4, the class creates an anchor chart to determine the expectations during Constructive Conversations. A sample chart is included in the Review and Routines Additional Material and gives suggestions such as, “Make eye contact with the speaker. Say something meaningful.”
• In Unit 2, Unit Resources for Responsive Teaching, Vocabulary Development, the document gives a list of words to use to assist with Speaking and Listening. The document states: “The following words and phrases may be useful during your class discussions around the topic of characters at crossroads. Consider using these terms as you introduce and reflect on the Essential question. Only some of these words appear in the unit selections.”
• In Unit 4, Mini-lesson 7, Extended Read 2: “Miguel’s Prophecy,” Constructive Conversation: Partner, students “reread paragraphs 16-17. How does the proverb Miguel quotes from Esperanz’s papa show Miguel’s point of view towards Esperanza? What do you think the proverb means? Describe how it relates to Miguel and Esperanza’s conversation. Cite specific evidence from the text to support your answer.” Students then share their analysis with a partner and then the partnership shares with another set of partners.
• In Unit 9, Week 2, Mini-Lesson 10, Extended Read 1: “The Great Migration and the Growth of Cities,” the teacher displays and reads aloud the Close Reading question requiring students to “Cite specific evidence from the text to support your thinking.” Possible correct students' responses and evidence are located in the sidebar. Reinforce or Reaffirm the Strategy provides support and extension ideas for this time. During independent Apply Understanding time, students answer a question from the consumable anchor text which asks students to “Cite specific evidence from the text to support your answer.”

Support for evidence-based discussions encourages modeling and a focus on using academic vocabulary and syntax. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 2, Unit Resources for Responsive Teaching, Vocabulary Development, there is a list of words to use to assist with Speaking and Listening. The document states, “The following words and phrases may be useful during your class discussions around the topic of characters at crossroads. Consider using these terms as you introduce and reflect on the Essential question. Only some of these words appear in the unit selections.”
• In Unit 6, week 1, Build Grammar and Language: Focus on Fragments in Dialogue and Conversation, students find and read the fragment in context on page 8. Students are told: “Fragments are often used in written dialogue, though they may not be grammatically correct.
• Find and write a second fragment from the text that captures the way people may speak or converse.
• Write your own fragment. It can be a common expression or something you often say when conversing informally with others.”
• In Unit 9, Week 2, Mini-Lesson 5, Extended Read 1: “The Great Migration and the Growth of Cities,” students use context clues to determine word meaning. During Constructive Conversation: Partner, a sample Context Clues Chart is provided and partners are tasked with finding context clues, developing a definition and finding a dictionary definition for each word provided by the teacher. A Reinforce or Reaffirm the Strategy suggestions are provided for students needing support or extensions. During Share and Reflect partners discuss what they found and why it is important to understand the meaning of the words.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations of Indicator 1j.

Speaking and listening instruction is applied frequently over the course of the school year and includes facilitation, monitoring, and instructional supports for teachers. Students engage in whole-class and peer discussions as part of partner work, culminating research and inquiry projects, and presentations. Teacher guidance is within the Mini-Lessons and at the end of each unit in Additional Resources and under Program Support in Managing Your Independent Reading Program. The Additional Resources contain specific instructions for each piece within the Mini-Lessons. The Managing Your Independent Reading Program provides teachers with specific guidance for conferring with students and group discussions. Materials include practice of speaking and listening skills that support students’ increase in ability over the course of the school year, including teacher guidance to support students who may struggle. Guidance for teachers to support students is found in most Mini-Lessons via Ways to Scaffold the First Reading, Constructive Conversation Checklists, Anchor Charts, and Reinforce or Reaffirm the Strategy which provides resources for the teacher to help students who may struggle. Speaking and listening work requires students to gather evidence from texts and sources. Most units have a Constructive Conversation, Guided Practice, and Share and Reflect components that require students to use evidence from the texts to support their discussions with their classmates.

Students have multiple opportunities over the school year to demonstrate what they are reading and researching through varied speaking and listening opportunities. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Mini-Lesson 7, Short Read 1, students read “In Hiding” and complete the Guided Practice tasks for partner work: “Read the remainder of Anne’s soliloquy. Underline two examples of text evidence that help you identify the scene as part of the rising action. Write your reasoning in the margin.” Students share their answers. Possible responses are provided. Under Share and Reflect the Teacher’s Resource says, “Ask partners to share how knowing the stages of plot development adds to their understanding of the text. Ask one or two students to share with the class.”
• In Unit 5, Week 2, Mini-Lesson 10, Constructive Conversation: Partner, students discuss the following Close Reading question with a partner: “How does the author support the claim that ‘Understanding the ocean and its impact on Earth’s other spheres is critical to human survival?’” Time permitting, the teacher may ask students the extension question: “What evidence was most effective in supporting the author’s argument? Why?” During Share and Reflect, partners discuss how reading closely has deepened their understanding between the ocean and the Earth’s other spheres. During Access, partners discuss why the author noted the giant squid in the text.
• In Unit 7, Week 1, Mini-Lesson 2, Share and Reflect, students answer the following questions: “What strategies did you use as you read? How did they help you? What new knowledge did you gain about the golden age of Greece and ancient cultures from you reading? How did this selection change or expand you thinking about the Essential Question? Why do we consider certain civilizations 'great'?” One or two students will share ideas with the whole class. During Access, “Allow students to listen and follow along with the interactive e-book. Have them orally discuss their strategies with a partner, if necessary.”
• In Unit 10, students complete a Culminating Research and Inquiry Project about Physics at Work. The following guidance is given for expectation during presentations: “Assign audience members a meaningful purpose for listening attentively to the presentation. For example: Listen and take notes to write an article about the presentation you heard. Students should be prepared to identify the reasons and evidence a speaker provides to support particular points. Encourage students to actively listen by using a two-column chart to second the speaker's reason and evidence from the presentation. Be prepared to conduct a follow-up Q&A with the presenters.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations for materials including a mix of on-demand and process writing grade-appropriate writing (e.g.,grade-appropriate revision and editing) and short, focused projects, incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

The materials provide opportunities for students to complete narrative, informational, and opinion writing with each unit focusing on a type of process writing. Opportunities exist for students to revise and edit their process writing during mini-lessons with teacher guidance. Each unit contains three Build/Reflect/Write sections. In Week 3 of each unit, students reflect on the year’s worth of cumulative writing in each genre and evaluate what they have learned. Technology is incorporated through research, and students are asked to type their essays to finalize them.

Materials include a mix of both on-demand and process writing that covers a year’s worth of instruction. Some examples include:

• Students participate in on-demand writing.
• The consumable anchor text in each unit begins by having students write a personal goal that will lift their learning. At the end of the unit, students return to the same page to write what they did to make progress towards their goal, describing the strategies they used.
• In Unit 1, Small Group Leveled Text, “Living Things and Their Environments,” students write a press release where they gather information, write a headline, write the body of the press release, edit, include a photo or drawing, and submit the press release.
• In Unit 7, Week 1, Mini-Lesson 12, Apply Understanding, students reread a passage and star details that add support to the idea that the pharaohs lived very different lives from ordinary Egyptians. Students then write a few sentences explaining how the section contributes to the development of the idea that life was different for the Pharaoh and for other people.
• In Unit 9, in the student consumable in Writing: Informative/Explanatory Essay, after reading Short Read 1: “Marco Polo, Chine Trader,” Short Read 2: “Kublai, The Great Khan,” Extended Read 1: The Silk Road, Yesterday and Today, and Extended Read 2: Going Out, students write how different societies can affect one another even from different parts of the globe. They explain what it means to be a global society using details from the text as examples.
• Students participate in process writing.
• In Unit 2, Week 1, the teacher introduces students to argumentative writing using modeling, anchor charts, and Mentor text to analyze the author’s use of facts, details and writing structures. In Week 2, Mini-Lesson 3, the teacher reminds students of their earlier work and how that work will help them plan their own argument essays about what qualities a true friend must have. In Mini-Lesson 6, partners use “In Hiding” to find friend qualities and add them to a three-column chart. In Mini-Lesson 9, students use evidence to form a claim. In Mini-Lesson 11, students plan and organize their argument essay. In Week 3, Mini-Lesson 3, students build an opening paragraph by discussing and orally rehearsing with a partner during Guided Practice and then working independently to draft their own. In Mini-Lesson 6, students focus on drafting reasons for their claim using supporting text evidence. In Mini-Lesson 8, students focus on ways to clarify relationships between their claims and reasons and varying sentences by using correlative conjunctions. In Mini-Lesson 10, students continue to draft, revise, and edit paying close attention to any inappropriate shifts in pronouns and verb tense. In Mini-Lesson 12, students self-evaluate their work using a rubric.
• In Unit 5, Week 1, Mini-Lesson 3, Process Writing, students begin their argumentative essay. The teacher models brainstorming how to come up with a topic, and during the Guided Practice, students work with partners to brainstorm ideas. Students then create a brainstorming notes chart and fill out two rows of the chart. Student work continues on this writing through Unit 5, Week 3, Mini-Lesson 12 when they finalize and publish their essays.
• Opportunities for students to revise and/or edit are provided. Examples include, but are not limited to:
• In Unit 4, Week 3, Mini-Lesson 6, students are revising with a focus on looking for ways to add temporal transition words, phrases, and clauses to better convey sequence. In Mini-Lesson 8, students revise and edit to add precise words and phrases and sensory language to improve their descriptions. Students can refer to the Journal Entry Anchor Chart and the Journal Entry Writing Checklist for support.
• In Unit 7, Week 3, Mini-Lesson 10, Process Writing, students edit their historical fiction writing. The teacher models how to use a dictionary to help correct spelling in a text. Students then work with partners to practice editing text to correct spelling. The Teacher’s Resource gives instructions for students to pay attention to their spelling when revising using the dictionary as necessary to correct misspelled words.
• In Unit 10, Week 2, Mini-Lesson 11, students use the Limerick Anchor Chart and the Limerick Writing Checklist to edit and improve their drafts. Using the checklist, students make necessary corrections and check off each item on the list.
• Materials include digital resources where appropriate. Some examples include:
• In Unit 3, Week 3, Mini-Lesson 12, Process Writing, students use technology to publish their informative/explanatory essay by typing their final copies on a computer. A keyboarding lesson is provided in the additional materials.
• In Unit 3, Week 3, in the Culminating Research and Inquiry Project, students use the information learned from the unit texts and combine it with research from other sources to create a multimedia presentation that explains the similarities and differences between democracy in the United States and the British monarch.
• The culminating Research and Inquiry Project provides presentation suggestions for students which include digital resources. In Unit 2, suggestions include a video or podcast interview, magazine profile or digital slide-show. Both the teacher and student rubric for this activity include a presentation component evaluating the creative way the group is sharing data. Teacher guidance for this project is located in the Teacher’s Resource prior to Week 1 Mini-Lessons.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations of Indicator 1l.

Over the course of the year, students engage in a variety of writing text types. Materials include the following writing text type opportunities: two informative/explanatory, two narrative, two opinion, poetry, and a research writing project. In the Program Support, the teacher is provided with the K-6 Writing Plan. On the Text-Based Writing document, the materials list at least one mini-lesson for each unit that is based around a text-based prompt. Other writing opportunities are listed on the document, such as Build/Reflect/Write activities based around the close reading.

Materials provide multiple opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply different genres/modes of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards. Some examples include:

• Students have opportunities to engage in argumentative writing.
• In Unit 2, Week 1, Mini-Lesson 3, students use the Mentor Opinion Essays, “The Dog and the Bone” and “The Ant and the Dove”, to highlight key features such as a clearly stated opinion, topic introduction, text evidence used as a support, and a conclusion related to the opinion and prepare students to write about which fable has the more important message. In Week 2, students begin to form their own ideas, gather evidence, and organize their essay. In Mini-Lesson 11, students organize their information and plan their essays. Using the Opinion Planning Chart, students record their ideas for the introduction, paragraph 2, paragraph 3, and the conclusion. In Week 3, students begin writing, starting with the introduction in Mini-Lesson 3. In Mini-Lesson 6, the teacher explains that students will finish drafting their essays. With a partner, students orally rehearse ideas for their body paragraphs and during independent writing time students who are ready draft body paragraphs. In Mini-Lesson 8, students revise and edit focusing on verbs. In Mini-Lesson 10, students revise and edit focusing on linking words, and in Mini-Lesson 12, students determine if they are finished and use a rubric to evaluate their essay.
• In Unit 5, students write an argumentative essay on a topic of their choosing. Students go through the writing process, beginning with brainstorming. In Unit 5, Week 3, Mini-Lesson 12, Process Writing, students complete their argumentative essay. The Teacher’s Resource states, “Direct students to consult their Argumentative Essay Writing Rubric.” The Argumentative Essay Writing Rubric is provided in the Additional Resources.
• In Unit 5, in the student consumable, after reading Short Read 1: “Robot Cops” and Short Read 2: “Robots in the Workplace,” students write an opinion essay answering the prompt: “Technology innovations have completely changed the way people work. Is this technology good or bad for people's jobs?”
• Students have opportunities to engage in informative/explanatory writing.
• In Unit 1, students work on an informative/explanatory essay. The writing prompt is based on mentor text read during the unit. In Unit 1, Week 1, Mini-Lesson 3, Writing to a Text-Based Prompt, the prompt is included in the additional materials. The prompt states, “Write an explanatory essay in which you discuss effective ways to protect nature. Your essay must be based on ideas and information from ‘Marjory Stoneman Douglas’ and ‘Protectors of the Land.’ Be sure to use evidence from both sources and avoid overly relying on one source.”
• In Unit 3, Build/Reflect/Write, after reading Short Read 1: “Aristotle and Democracy,” Short Read 2:“The Haudenosaunee Confederacy,” Extended Read 1: “Queen Elizabeth I of England, and Extended Read 2: “Queen Elizabeth of England”, students write an informative essay answering the prompt: “Why might some societies be democracies and others monarchies? Write an informative essay about why societies might form different kinds of government. Use text evidence from this unit.”
• In Unit 6, Week 2, Mini-Lesson 11, students begin to write their drafts for the writing prompt: “Think about famous historical figures you have studied. Choose one specific person who interests you. Write a brief informative/explanatory essay about the person you selected. Include evidence from at least one source text in your response." In Mini-Lesson 13, students revise and edit their work checking for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.
• Students have opportunities to engage in narrative writing.
• In Unit 4, Week 1, students work to develop characters from the Mentor Text. During independent writing time, students create a Character Traits Chart for a character from a previously read leveled text. During Week 2, students plan their narrative journal entries based on an event in “A Little Seed.” In Mini-Lesson 3, the writing prompt is, “You are Bud Caldwell. Write a journal entry in which you recount your first conversation with Herman E. Calloway and how you explained to him why you think he could be your father. Be sure to use what you have learned about the setting, characters, and events in ‘A Little Seed.’” In Week 3, Mini-Lesson 8, students revise and edit using their Journal Entry Anchor Chart and Journal Entry Writing Checklist to look for places to use precise words and phrases and sensory language to improve descriptions.
• In Unit 6, Week 1, Mini-Lesson 11, students organize their notes using the Journal Entry Writing Checklist and write in response to the prompt, “Imagine that, like James, you traveled west on the Oregon Trail in 1846. Write a journal entry describing what you saw and felt on the first day of your journey. Use details from ‘Traveling West’ in your journal entry.” In Mini-Lesson 12, students revise and edit their entries.
• In Unit 7, students work on writing a Historical Fiction narrative piece. Students begin by reading the mentor text, “The Ship’s Boys,” and looking at the Historical Fiction Writing Checklist. Both are provided in the additional materials. Students work through the writing process to finalize this narrative in Unit 7, Week 3, Mini-Lesson 12, Process Writing. A rubric is provided in the additional materials for this lesson.