5th Grade - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 5 meet the expectations for texts organized around topics to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently. The instructional materials for grade 5 fully meet the expectations of indicator 2a. Materials are organized to build students’ knowledge through topic-focused texts. There are many topics explored over the school year, spanning topics such as Native American culture, to the United States in the 1930’s and the Depression, to study of animals.

For example, in grade 5 during the second nine weeks, the topic centers around planet Earth and earth science. Samples of texts include the following titles:

• The Sun (nonfiction)
• Volcano (nonfiction)
• Oceans (nonfiction)

In grade 5, the first nine weeks, the topic focuses on informational texts, two of the informational texts are:

• Plant Cells (nonfiction)
• Animal Cells.(nonfiction) While reading Animal Cells, students work independently to synthesize information, listing and describing the events that happen as you eat food and it becomes cells. Students write a brief description in their own words.

The Grade 5 instructional materials meet expectations that the materials contain sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts. Through the Comprehension Discussion Questions, Model Comprehension Strategies and Ask Questions During Reading, and Written Responses (in some places called Written Follow-Up) students address facets of this indicator with nearly every text. As students read and engage in large class, small group, and individual work, they engage in study of words and components of texts.

The following examples demonstrate how students analyze author’s craft and language:

• Students analyze author’s craft and language in the First Nine Weeks of Shared Reading in Week 1, Day 1 of Walk Two Moons: Why do you think the author compares the story to a plaster wall? How does that use of language serve the author's purpose? (p. 3)
• Students analyze author’s craft in the Second Nine Weeks of Interactive Read-Aloud in Day 2 of The Flu of 1918: So is this a mistake, or did the author mean something else? What do you think she might have meant? (p. 6)
• Students analyze author’s craft and language in the Third Nine Weeks of Reading Reading in Week 1, Day 4 of Bud, Not Buddy: What does the author mean to say Bud’s mother was like a tornado? Use context to understand the figurative language here (p. 7)

These demonstrate a few of the frequent opportunities for students to analyze key ideas, details, and structure are also part of daily analysis. For example:

• In the Second Nine Weeks of Shared Reading, Week 1, Day 2 students read Volcano and students respond to the following discussion questions: “Why would an earthquake trigger an avalanche? Why would a steam explosion be so dangerous? What actually caused all of the trees to be flattened? What was the difference between the stone wind and the avalanche? Why were the pumice and ash dangerous?” (p. 4)
• In the Third Nine Weeks of Interactive Reading, Day 3, students read The Boy Who Loved Words and students respond to the following discussion questions: How have people's opinion of Selig changed, now that he has found his purpose? How does Selig feel now? And please use a word other than lonely or solo! (p. 6)
• In the Fourth Nine Weeks of Shared Reading, Week 1, Day 1, students read The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg and respond to the following discussion questions: Why does Squint lie about Harold's age? Does Squinton Leach actually sell Harold to the army? Use evidence from the text (p. 2).

The instructional materials for Grade 5 meet expectations that materials contain a coherently sequenced set of text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts.

The majority of the questions and tasks are coherently sequenced to support students’ analysis and integration of knowledge and ideas. On page 17 of the teacher’s manual, it is stated: “Nearly all questions provided for in shared reading are inferential, meaning that students have to combine information from within the text, or between the text and prior knowledge to answer.” And on page 18: “Students will have the opportunity to complete one text-based written response per day.” This relates to standards RI.5.1 and RL.5.1.

Students are often asked to examine and analyze details and key ideas to integrate their knowledge and ideas. Students will have to take earlier learning and synthesize it into the new task to complete the questions and analyses below.

• In the first few days of the text Walk Two Moons (First Nine Weeks Shared Reading), students are asked 5-6 comprehension questions in most lessons, which help students examine and analyze details in the story.
• In The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (Fourth Nine Weeks Shared Reading), students are instructed to pay attention to details of setting to focus in on key ideas to help them make sense in regard to time and place in the story: “This book is a narrative. The events are in time order. So we’ll often stop to review what’s occurred. What are the main events that have happened so far in the story?” (p. 3)

• In the first lesson, students respond to: “The author hints that Phoebe is going to be an important character. What do you think the relationship between Phoebe and Sal might be? How could she be important?” (p. 3).
• In the second lesson, students respond to: “What do we learn about Phoebe in these chapters? What sort of character do you think she is going to turn out to be?” (p. 4).
• In the ninth lesson, students are asked to ponder: “Think about what we are learning about Phoebe’s family” (p. 13).

Students are asked integrate knowledge and ideas from multiple texts:

• In both The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (Day 1, Day 2, Day 9, Day 11, Day 15) and The Thief (Day 29, Day 38), many of the writing activities instruct students to write from a certain character’s point-of-view. A student would certainly need to analyze details to be able to successfully do this.

• In the Third Nine Weeks Interactive Read-Aloud, students compare The Boy Who Loved Words to the story of Johnny Appleseed. “Write two paragraphs. In the first, tell how the two stories are similar. In the second, write about how they are different. So, in the first paragraph students compare the two stories. In the second paragraph you’ll contrast them (p. 7).

The instructional materials for Grade 5 fully meet the expectations of this indicator, with a year-long plan to build academic vocabulary. For these materials, academic vocabulary is defined as words that are traditionally used in academic dialogue and text. Specifically, it refers to words that are not necessarily common or frequently encountered in informal conversation.

Academic vocabulary practice is embedded throughout the fifth grade materials, mostly supported in the Interactive Reading lessons, under the headings “Model a Comprehension Strategy and Ask Questions During Reading.” For example, in the third nine week unit, when reading The Boy Who Loved Words, the following is included:

• “As we finish our book today, think about how it is similar to the story of Johnny Appleseed, and also how it is different. Later I will ask you to write two paragraphs, one comparing the two books and the other contrasting them. So be thinking about similarities and differences as I read today.”
• “So what exactly is Selig’s [the author’s] purpose? Talk it over with your partner.”
• “If you look closely at these two pictures you will see that they are the same people. It looks to me like the first page is all about negative words, and the second page is all about positive words. Let’s look closely so that we can compare and contrast. [If you can project the illustrations, point out a few of the differences, window by window.]”

Academic vocabulary can also be found (and is explicitly defined) in the Word Study Scope and Sequence amongst Tier 2 vocabulary words. For example, in the fourth week of the second unit under “Meaning and Spelling Vocabulary,” the following is included in the lesson plan:

• “Mo tive (open, closed) is a noun that means a reason to do something. For someone to kill someone else, there has to be a strong motive. The verb form is motivate. A motive motivates someone to do something.”

Similarly, in the fourth nine week unit of Word Study, the following is included in the lesson plan:

• “In quir ies (closed, vce, vowel team) is a noun that means questions one might ask to find out particular information. Professor Fleabottom has been making inquiries about the movement of the troops. The verb form is inquire.”