4th Grade - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2a.

In both the Shared Reading and ELA modules, some units are organized around topics to build knowledge, while others are organized around a theme; however, some units are not cohesively organized to build knowledge or do not build knowledge on the intended topics. In ELA, units often build knowledge around text structures. Text sets within each unit typically include three texts, with some units including one or two texts. Some units do not have any texts. The limited volume of texts and varying number of lessons for each text could impede students’ ability to build knowledge.

Some texts are connected by a grade-appropriate cohesive topic. Some texts build knowledge and the ability to read and comprehend complex texts across a school year. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 1, Unit 1, texts are connected around the topic of narrative text structure and author’s craft as they explore how characters’ relationships change over time. Students listen to A Strong Right Arm: The Story of Mamie “Peanut” Johnson by Michelle Y. Green and Love, Amalia by Alma Flor Ada.

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Unit 2, texts are connected by the topic of natural disasters. As they explore the elements of nonfiction text structure, students read two informational texts, Earthquakes: All About Earth’s Crust, Colliding Plates, Tsunamis, and More! by Seymour Simon and Go Straight to the Source: Super Smart Information Strategies by Kristin Fontichiaro.

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 4, Unit 3, students continue building their knowledge of informative and nonfiction narrative text structure. Text selections for this unit include two informative texts and one narrative nonfiction text: The Moon Book: New and Updated by Gail Gibbons; Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean: Remembering Chinese Scientist Pu Zhelong’s Work for Sustainable Farming by Sigrid Schmalzer; and Auntie Yang’s Great Soybean Picnic by Ginnie Lo.

Some texts are connected by a theme. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 4, Unit 2, students explore the theme, “The Power of Actions,” through reading Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins by Carole Boston Weatherford and Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World by Susan Hood. Students learn about “how words inform our actions, how actions impact the world around us, and how we can use our works and actions to promote change for a bette world.”

Some texts are not connected to a grade-appropriate cohesive topic or a theme. Examples include, but are not limited, to:

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 4, Unit 1, students only read one text, The Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin. The unit overview indicates that the lessons in this unit “work together to reinforce students’ understanding of narrative text structure,” but the materials miss opportunities to build knowledge across multiple narrative texts.

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans Module 4, Unit 2, students only read one texts, The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin by James Giblin. The unit overview indicates that the lessons in this unit “work together to reinforce students’ understanding of nonfiction text structure and elements,” but the materials miss opportunities to build knowledge across multiple nonfiction texts.

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 4, Unit 1, students explore the theme, “The Power of Words,” while reading _Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster_b y Debra Frasier. Students “learn about how thoughtful word choice increases the quality of their writing and how word choice can either increase or decrease how well people understand what we’ve said and written, about how words have the power to inform, to help, or to hurt, about constructive ways to respond when words have hurt us, and about how we can effectively use words to express ourselves through telling our stories and supporting our opinions and beliefs.” This is the only text in this unit, with instruction spanning three lessons, which misses opportunities for students build knowledge across multiple texts.

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2b.

Within the Shared Reading and ELA Lesson Plans, students have some opportunities to analyze key ideas and details; however, materials provide few opportunities for students to analyze craft and structure within individual texts and across multiple texts. At times, the questions and tasks that students respond to do not fully align to their correlated standard.

For most texts, students analyze key ideas and details (according to grade-level standards). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lesson 34, students read Can’t You Make Them Behave, King George? by Jean Fritz. Students think about the interesting details that the author used. After reading pages 7–9, the class discusses what they were thinking while responding to this question, “What details can you remember to support the main idea: ‘George acted like a normal boy.’” The class begins a main idea anchor chart for the text. Students add to the chart each day.

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 3, Lesson 2, students read Tangerine by Edward Bloom. After reading pages 12–22, the teacher models how to use key details to summarize the text. Students do not have the opportunity to determine the theme from details in the text or summarize the text. Students discuss their responses to the following questions: “How does Paul’s mom react to the smoke? How does Wayne treat Paul’s mother? What does Paul learn about Windsor Downs when he rides around? Contrast Erik’s father and Mr. Costello. How are they different?” Then, students begin a class anchor chart to track the character traits of characters in the text. It is unclear whether students draw on specific details in the text when describing characters.

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lesson 36, students choral read The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin by James Cross Giblin and explain story events, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text. Students discuss the following questions: “If you were in Ben’s place, how would you start your autobiography? What would you say about your brother, James, the printer? What would you say about your son, William? What would you say about your daughter, Sarah? What would you say about your son, Francis, who died as a small child? Can you believe a man might be in so much pain, he would wish to die?”

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lesson 16, students listen to _The Moon Book: New and Updated _by Gail Gibbons. Students respond to the following prompt to explain what the text says explicitly and to draw inferences from the text, “Remember back in Module 1 when we wrote an entire News Article about what happened to the Roanoke settlers? Today, we’ll write another news article, but just a paragraph this time! Pretend that a solar eclipse will occur over our town. Everyone is excited and wants to observe it as it happens. The mayor calls our class. He/she is worried that people will injure their eyes. The mayor asks us to write a short warning for the city’s web page. Our mission is to write a one-paragraph warning article summarizing what happens during a solar eclipse and explaining how people can observe it safely. We need to make sure we remember to write a headline for the article that tells our main idea!”

For most texts, students do not analyze craft and structure (according to grade-level standards). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lesson 29, students read the first of six poems in Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World by Susan Hood. The teacher provides background knowledge on the structure of the text, explaining the purpose of the poetry and the “tools the author has provided to help us understand how the book is structured,” including the contents page, timeline pages, and the author’s note. The teacher reads the first poem aloud so students “have the opportunity to hear the rhythm and pace and emotion of the language and structure the author has used.” Afterwards, students respond to the questions, “What did you notice about the structure and phrases of the stanza?” Students then review and discuss the rhyme pattern used in the poem. When listening to the teacher read aloud the last two stanzas, students listen for what is different about the rhyme scheme of the very last stanza.

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2c.

Students have some opportunities to analyze the integration of knowledge both within individual texts and across multiple texts. During both Shared Reading and ELA, the teacher pauses multiple times to ask students questions to help build knowledge. Although students have several opportunities in each module in both ELA and Shared Reading to analyze knowledge across multiple texts, there are instances in which the sequence of questions students answer or the task students complete does not align to the integration of knowledge and ideas standards.

Some sets of questions and tasks support students’ analysis of knowledge and ideas. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 3, Lesson 15, materials indicate that standard “RI.4.7 Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text” is addressed. During the writing task, students think back to a prior read aloud text, which does not align with the standard’s description of an oral presentation of the text. Although students read Tangerine by Edward Bloor, students respond to a prompt during which they make connections between two texts, rather than between a text and a visual or oral presentation of the text as required by the standards. The prompt is as follows: “Sometimes stories have a really pivotal moment where a character realizes something has changed in their relationship with another character or with a group of characters. One example of this is from our Shared Reading book Love, Amalia, at the end of Chapter 15, when Amalia reads the note in the yellow envelope that her Abuelita had left for her. (If you need a reminder of what the note said, it’s on page 98.) In our book today, we have just read one of those pivotal moments, and you’ll be writing about it in your response today. On the bus after the game, Victor tells Paul he has brothers to back him up. Why is that such an important expression in the context of the story so far? Give evidence to support your response.”

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 11, students engage in an interactive read aloud of Earthquakes: All ABout Earth’s Crust, Colliding Plates, Tsunamis, and More! by Seymour Simon. During the interactive read aloud, the teacher projects a diagram from the text and asks students, “Which kind of fault is this? How do you know? Do you think the girl in the photo on page 9 would have felt the earthquake if she’d been there when it occurred? What if she moved over here?”

Some sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze across multiple texts as well as within single texts. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lesson 10, after reading Blood on the River: JamesTown, 1607 by Elisa Carbone, students write a response to the following prompt comparing the themes in two books they have read: “Think back to A Strong Right Arm, when Mamie and Rita wanted to try out for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The man wouldn’t let them try out, and Mamie was so angry she was fighting back tears. But instead of letting her anger get the best of her, she channeled that anger into firing a baseball all the way across the field to land just beyond home plate, proving just how good she was. In our book today, Captain Smith tries to teach Samuel a very important lesson about anger. Think about that idea of channeling anger as you write your response today. In our book today, Captain Smith tells Samuel: “Don’t let your anger get the best of you… Learn to channel it, and it will become your strength rather than your weakness.” Describe an event where John Smith kept his anger under control rather than letting it out.” The prompt does not require students to compare and contrast the themes of the two texts.

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 3, Lesson 50, students continue reading My Life as a Book by Janet Tashjian. Afterwards, students write in response to the prompt about two texts they have read: “Sometimes when characters are faced with a very stressful situation, they choose not to tell the truth about what happened. We saw that in our Shared Reading text Tangerine, when Paul’s parents lied to him for so long about how he lost his sight. Think about this as you write your response today. Why do you think Mrs. James did what she did? Was she right or wrong? Tell why you think that.” The prompt does not require students to compare and contrast the themes of the two texts.

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 22, students work on their natural disasters research project. As they read multiple texts about the same topic in their research, the teacher directs them to, “Remember you should take notes from both of the sources that you have found so far. Put checks next to any information that you found in both sources instead of writing the same information more than once.”

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 3, Lesson 46, before reading aloud the next section of Alabama Moon by Watt Key, the teacher asks, “What do you really think the theme of this story is? Is it about survival in the woods, similar to the survival theme in Hatchet? Is it about friendship and the challenges it causes, similar to themes in Love, Amalia, Worst of Friends, and Tangerine? Is it about whether Moon should live as his father taught him or try to make a life in the regular world? Think about it from Moon’s perspective. Since he is the main character, the theme usually revolves around him. Today there will be lots more action. Later we’ll make another prediction.” Students do not respond to this question, however. The question serves to activate students’ prior knowledge and does not allow students to “compare and contrast the treatment of themes.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2d.

Materials include culminating tasks at the end of the ELA Lesson Plans modules that require students to use and build knowledge from both the ELA and Shared Reading lessons. Culminating tasks typically require students to use the texts they have read throughout the module. In lessons leading to the culminating task, students read, write, and engage in partner and whole class discussions; however, the culminating tasks are limited to writing tasks. The culminating tasks rarely integrate speaking and listening, but heavily focus on language standards. Additionally, in Module 4, students reflect on themselves as a leader through a narrative writing piece but do not integrate what they learned in the module; students can successfully complete the culminating task without demonstrating knowledge of the Module 4 topic and texts. 

Culminating tasks are evident, but are not varied across the year and are sometimes multifaceted, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of several different standards (reading, writing, speaking, listening) at the appropriate grade level, and comprehension and knowledge of a topic or topics through integrated skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Bookworms 2–5 Teacher Manual provides information about the culminating tasks and explains, “We locate them in ELA because they are a good match to the structures of our community of writers. We have planned tasks that require listening, speaking, reading, and writing. They are not independent performance tasks. They involve teacher scaffolding and peer support and collaboration. Lessons continue to include teacher modeling, student work sessions, and a sharing of daily progress.”

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lessons 21–30, students write an informative research piece about natural disasters that brings together what they have learned in both the ELA and Shared Reading lessons. Throughout this task, students learn how to structure an informative piece and research a topic. To build knowledge and skills, students have engaged in partner and whole class discussions in addition to smaller writing pieces throughout both sets of lessons. The introduction to the task explains, “In this Culminating Task, students will select a natural disaster from a provided list, then plan and write a research report on that natural disaster. To successfully complete this task, students must apply what they have learned so far during Shared Reading and Read Aloud about how to make meaning from texts and from Genre Based Writing about how to share their thoughts and understandings in writing.”

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 3, Lessons 23–28, students write a narrative survival story that builds on their learning from the interactive read-aloud, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Throughout the task, the teacher models how to write a narrative piece that is engaging. To build knowledge and skills, students engage in partner and whole class discussions in addition to smaller writing pieces throughout both sets of lessons. The introduction to the task explains, “This culminating task will take 6 days to complete. In this task, students will reinforce their narrative writing structure and purpose knowledge. Within this structure, they will apply what they’ve learned about the structure and purpose of narrative writing and the necessary components of a survival story to independently plan, write, revise, and edit a survival story writing piece. Successful completion of this task allows students to demonstrate the ability to incorporate survival story components into a fictional narrative text structure, and tell a fictional survival story convincingly.”

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lessons 33–37, students write a narrative piece about how their reading and writing identity has changed over the course of the year. This does not have direct connections to previous Shared Reading or ELA lessons, though the materials indicate that this task incorporates what was learned previously. The introduction to the task explains, “This Culminating Task will take 5 days to complete. In this task, students will reinforce their understanding of the structure and purpose of narrative writing. Within this structure, they will incorporate what they’ve learned about narrative text structure from books across the curriculum this year in both Shared Reading and Read Aloud lessons and apply what they’ve learned about the structure and purpose of narrative writing and personal narrative writing techniques, to independently plan, write, revise, and edit a personal narrative of how they have grown and changed as a reader and a writer this year.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2f.

While materials provide opportunities for students to engage in research projects within some of the Culminating Tasks, research skills do not progress over time or increase in rigor. The focus within the Culminating Task is the process of writing rather than explicit, extended instruction on research skills. During the research projects, students use what they have learned about topics from texts read in previous Shared Reading or ELA lessons in addition to additional research about topics from text- or web-based research. In most cases, students do not conduct research to answer a question; rather, the research task focuses on ensuring students can identify, evaluate, and apply traits of informative writing. The support for teachers focuses mainly on modeling how to organize the information students find and writing the research reports.

Some research projects are sequenced across a school year to include a progression of research skills that build to mastery of the grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lessons 21–30, the teacher uses a graphic organizer and the ELA text Earthquakes: All about Earth’s crust, colliding plates, tsunamis, and more! by Seymour Simon to model how to collect information from a source and put it into their own words. The teacher models using the Informative Checklist in conjunction with the graphic organizer to ensure they address all elements of informative writing. The teacher models using websites as additional sources for researching earthquakes. As with the text, the teacher models reading a paragraph and paraphrasing what the author says. The teacher models how to decide which information to keep and which information to remove. The teacher models using their notes and information from the graphic organizer to write a research report on earthquakes. The teacher does not model how to provide a list of sources.

  • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lessons 31–40, the teacher models how to plan and write a persuasive letter using a graphic organizer and information from the Shared Reading text, Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone. The teacher uses a chart to record a list of students’ responses outlining positive and negative experiences of commoners and gentlemen. The teacher models writing a persuasive letter from the perspective of a wealthy class member. Afterwards, the teacher models how to complete the Topic, Introduction, Reason 1 with Support, Reason 2 with Support, and Conclusion sections of their opinion writing graphic organizer. The teacher does not model how to provide a list of sources.

  • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lessons 4–8, the teacher uses the Shared Reading text My Life As a Book by Janet Tashjian, along with a graphic organizer and the Opinion Checklist, to model planning and writing an opinion piece on a controversial topic. The teacher models using personal experience, information from the text, and a counter argument to provide reasons and evidence that support their opinion. Then, the teacher models four options for the conclusion: an opinionated reinforcement or lasting thought, a quotation that supports their opinion, a question for readers to ponder, and humor. The teacher uses the Transition Words anchor chart to model using specific words to express an opinion and then creates a Compare/Contrast Word Pairs list for students to use during independent writing. The teacher uses sticky notes, the Opinion Checklist, and the Editing Checklist to model providing feedback for peer editing. The teacher does not model how to provide a list of sources.

Materials support teachers in employing projects that develop students’ knowledge on a topic via provided resources. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 21, the teacher shows students a video about natural disasters to support students with the research they will conduct. Students use a graphic organizer to take notes about the natural disasters addressed in the video. Materials provide the graphic organizer, as well as a link to the video clip, “Natural Disasters.”

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lesson 17, materials provide a chart of words to show comparisons and contrasts. The teacher references this chart as a resource to support students with writing the compare/contrast paper about Roanoke: The Lost Colony: An Unsolved Mystery from History by Jane Yolen and Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple and Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone.

Materials provide opportunities for students to synthesize and analyze content tied to the texts under study as a part of the research process. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lessons 21–30, students watch a video on natural disasters and take notes on each to decide which natural disaster they want to research. After selecting a natural disaster, students draw information from three different sources to write their research report. Students use a graphic organizer to plan and write their report. The graphic organizer includes sub-topic sections, allowing students to investigate different aspects of the natural disaster they selected to research.

• Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lessons 31–40, students use a graphic organizer and information from the Shared Reading text, Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone, to write a persuasive letter. Students write a letter from the perspective of a working class member and use information from the text to either persuade their family member to come to the New World or not come to the New World.

  • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lessons 4–8, students use the Shared Reading text My Life As a Book by Janet Tashjian, along with a graphic organizer and the Opinion Checklist, to write about their opinion on doing what’s right for the group versus doing what’s right for them. To support the reasons for their opinion, students use personal experiences, information from the text, and counter arguments.

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2g.

While materials list the standards addressed with the lesson or within a section of the lesson, there are, at times, upwards of 20 standards listed for a given lesson. Materials do not indicate how a teacher might know what the priority or focus standard might be and leave it up to teacher discretion to determine which instruction, questions and tasks, and assessments align to the standards listed. Outside of the writing rubrics that accompany the culminating tasks and some other smaller tasks throughout the year, there is no mechanism for the teacher to determine whether students have mastered a standard. Additionally, the Bookworms 2–5 manual states that the materials do not contain a system or sequence for standards mastery. Materials provide a scope and sequence document, which states the genre of reading or writing and the standards covered in each lesson. The materials include a standards coverage document in the Appendix of the Teacher Manual, which allows the teacher to see how standards repeat across lessons, units, and modules.

Over the course of each unit, some instruction is aligned to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Appendix of the Bookworms 2-5 Teacher Manual, the materials provide the standards by lesson for both the Shared Reading and ELA lessons, but it is unclear which standards listed are the priority and to which part of the instruction they align.

• Materials are organized by module, unit, and lesson. Each lesson includes a list of standards addressed. The Shared Reading Lesson Plans list the standards at the beginning of each section. The ELA Lesson Plans list the standards at the beginning of each lesson.

  • In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 25, materials list L.4.5, RF.4.4, RL.4.1, RL.4.3, RL.4.4, RL.4.10, SL.4.1, and SL.4.6. Although materials list L.4.5 “Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings” and RL.4.4 “Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean),” instruction does not address language or word meaning. It is unclear where that instruction occurs. 

  • In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lesson 13, students read Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin. Under the Word Study section, the following standards are listed: L.4.4, L.4.5, L.4.6, and RF.4.3a. The teacher provides instruction on the definition of indignation. For example, the teacher says,“Indignation is a noun that means anger or annoyance caused by something considered unfair or unworthy. I might say when my friend was accused of doing someone else’s homework, she erupted with indignation because she hadn’t done it. She felt Indignant.” It is unclear which standard this instruction aligns to.

  • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 7, the teacher provides instruction on the parts of an opinion writing piece. Materials list SL.4.1.b,  SL.4.1.d, and W.4.1 as the standards addressed in the lesson. The teacher provides sentences out of order and models how to place the sentences in the order the events occurred, while discussing why this is important to do as a writer. It is unclear where instruction aligned to SL.4.1b and SL.4.1d occurs.   

  • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 3, Lesson 12, the teacher continues reading Hatchet by Gary Paulsen aloud to students. The teacher provides instruction on the vocabulary words ignite and exasperation. The teacher provides limited explicit instruction on sentence combining. Materials list L.4.1, L.4.1.d, L.4.4, L.4.6, RL.4.1, RL.4.2, RL.4.3, W.4.1 as the standards addressed in the lesson. The teacher may model writing a response to the Respond Together prompt or the teacher may choose to co-construct a response with students or allow students to respond to the prompt independently. It is unclear when explicit instruction aligned to RL.4.1, RL.4.2, RL.4.3, and W.4.1 occurs.  

Over the course of each unit, some questions and tasks are aligned to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Bookworms 2–5 Teacher Manual describes how questions in the Shared Reading Lesson Plans are sequenced to increase in complexity throughout the text and over time: “But the common design element is that the questions are carefully sequenced every day to generate a rich representation of the meaning of that day’s segments. Because the texts themselves are more difficult over time, answering the gist-level inferential questions requires increased comprehension competence across texts.” While each section of the Shared Reading Lesson Plans lists standards, it is unclear which standards the discussion questions students answer refer to. The ELA Lesson Plans have a similar design in that the standards addressed in the lesson are listed at the beginning but it is unclear which particular tasks are aligned to those standards.

  • In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lesson 5, the Assignments section of the lesson lists RI.4.7, RL.4.3, W.4.2, W.4.8, W.4.9, and W.4.10 as the standards addressed. Students write in response to the following prompt: “We know that people usually have some sort of reaction when they are faced with having done something wrong or when they have been accused of doing something wrong. When we read Love, Amalia, the author described how Amalia reacted as she told Abuelita about how she took the DVDs from school and then Abuelita helped her decide what she should do about it. In our book today, we have read that Captain John Smith has been arrested and charged with a crime. Write a description of Captain John Smith’s reaction to the charges brought against him.”  

  • In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lesson 2, students read Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin. The text engagement section lists L.4.5, RF.4.4, RL.4.1, RL.4.3, RL.4.10, SL.4.1, and SL.4.6 as the standards covered in this section. It is unclear which standards align to each question. Questions for partners to discuss together include: “Why was Peiyi so angry as she showed Rendi around the village? How does Peiyi’s story about the Stone Pancake also explain the name of their village? The text says Rendi was not used to doing chores. Does this make sense to you? Tell why or why not. How does Rendi learn to do his chores? Peiyi sounds sad as she tells Rendi that everyone leaves the Village of the Clear Sky, but then happier when she says even Rendi will leave one day.  Does that make sense to you?  Tell why or why not. Why are Rendi and Peiyi surprised when Master Chao tells them a new guest has arrived at the inn?”

• In the ELA Lesson plans, Module 2, Lesson 10, students read Worst of Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the True Story of an American Feud by Suzanne Tripp Jurmain. Students respond to the following questions during the interactive read aloud: “Why were they so mad at each other?”; “Did George Washington ever live in the White House?”; “Explain events based on specific information in the text.”; “Let me add that year (1790) to our timeline. How can I explain what was happening in just a couple of words?” The teacher leads the discussion and creates the timeline. The lesson focuses on RL.4.1, RL.4.3, RL.4.4, and RL.4.5. It is unclear which standard aligns to each question. 

• In the ELA lesson plans, Module 4, Lesson 24, students read Auntie Yang’s Great Soybean Picnic by Ginnie Lo. The Discussion section of the lesson lists the standards L.4.6, RL.4.1, RI.4.1, and SL.4.1. During the discussion section, students answer the following question, “We read that Mama was homesick for a long time, because it was too dangerous at that time to return to China. But the families still found ways to stay connected to their culture. What are some of the things that the families do together to keep their Chinese culture present in their lives?” It is unclear which standard aligns to the question.

Over the course of each unit, the majority of assessment questions are aligned to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Bookworms 2–5 Teacher Manual describes how the materials provide standards-based writing rubrics that use the language of the standards to assess student writing.

  • Shared Reading Lesson Plans include assessment opportunities every five days.

    • In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 15, the materials list RI.4.1, RI.4.7, W.4.1, W.4.8, W.4.9, and W.4.10 as the standards addressed in the Assignments section. Students write a response to the prompt, “Why was playing baseball such a different experience for Black people than it was for White people? Give reasons for your claim.” Materials provide a rubric for scoring this response; however, the rubric does not address all of the standards listed in this section of the materials. Standard RI.4.7 reads “Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.” Instead of using graphics within the text, students use the class-created timeline about the text.

    • In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 3, Lesson 30, the materials list RI.4.7, W.4.1, W.4.8, W.4.9, W.4.10 as the focus of the written assessment. The teacher frames the assignment, “Paul felt like Luis became part of him after he dug out the sod and let his tears pour into the hole he dug. If Luis is part of Paul now, what do you think Paul is going to do?” Materials provide a written response rubric containing two categories: accuracy and evidence. 

  • ELA Lesson Plans include an informative writing rubric, an opinion writing rubric, and a narrative writing rubric. Materials also include a separate editing and revision rubric addressing capitalization, punctuation, grammar, spelling, and word choice.

    • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 34, students begin writing a news article. Materials list W.4.2, W.4.2.a, and W.4.5 as the standards addressed in the lesson. Materials include an Informative Rubric to score this response. The rubric is based on the language of the standards.

    • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 3, Lesson 23, students begin writing a survival story. Materials list W.4.3 and W.4.3a as the standards addressed in the lesson. Materials provide a Survival Story Rubric and an Editing and Revision Rubric to assess the culminating task. The Survival Story Rubric contains the following categories: Content Knowledge, Literacy Knowledge, Integration of Knowledge and Ideas. The Editing and Revision Rubric addresses capitalization, punctuation, grammar, spelling, and word choice. Both rubrics use language from the Writing and Language Standards associated with the culminating task. 

  • Materials include a speaking and listening rubric for individual student evaluation. The rubric addresses collaboration, comprehension, participation, description, and oral expression. Standards indicated for this rubric include: SL.4.2, SL.4.3, SL.4.4, and SL.4.6.

By the end of the academic year, some standards are repeatedly addressed within and across units to ensure students master the full intent of the standard. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Shared Reading and ELA print materials include a Standards Coverage document that indicates which standards are covered in each lesson, allowing teachers to see how standards progress across units and modules, including which standards are repeated over time to allow mastery of the standard. This document is not available in the digital materials at the time of the review. 

• In the Bookworms 2–5 Teacher Manual, the materials indicate that there is not a plan for standards mastery at certain intervals, but rather standards are consistently addressed over time in the various components of the program: “Neither do we have a plan for mastery of specific standards at specific marking periods. That only works for foundational skills, and we will address them in the section on DI. You will see that we address many standards each day in Shared Reading. In fact, we see the standards as consistently applied in groups during engaged, grade-level reading and writing tasks, but never fully mastered. The goal of our Shared Reading is that students apply them with teacher and peer scaffolding in more and more complex, authentic text. When you consider all of Bookworms (Shared Reading, ELA, and DI together) you will see that our attention to standards is broad, deep, and relentless.” Materials also note, “Since Bookworms is not designed with a standards-mastery timeline, these students can be fully included in Shared Reading and increase their participation in practicing all standards as their language skills improve.”

• Shared Reading and ELA Lesson Plans miss opportunities to address the Speaking and Listening standards. SL.4.1 is addressed in all four ELA Modules, while SL.4.2 and SL.4.5 are not addressed in any ELA Module. SL.4.3 is addressed twice in ELA Module 4, and SL.4.4 is covered twice in ELA Modules 2 and 4. Speaking and Listening Standards are not addressed in the Shared Reading Lesson Plans.

• W.4.7 is addressed twice in ELA Module 1; however, this standard is not addressed in the Shared Reading Lesson Plans. 

• RI.4.6 is not addressed in the Shared Reading or the ELA Lesson Plans.  

• RL.4.6 is addressed within and throughout the Shared Reading Lesson Plans; however, RL.4.6 is not addressed in the ELA Lesson Plans.

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2h.

Materials provide a general overview of implementation, describing how curriculum components fit into a day; however, materials do not provide a scope and sequence document that details pacing or length of modules and units. Materials indicate that the Shared Reading and ELA lesson plans should work in concert and provide overview documents in the Teacher Manual that show how the Shared Reading and ELA lessons fit together. Each grade level includes 180 Shared Reading lessons and 180 ELA lessons, which does not allow adequate time for interruptions to the school year and reteaching. The materials also provide flexible schedule documentation, though it is unclear whether students would master all standards if lessons were omitted. 

Suggested implementation schedules and alternative implementation schedules align to core learning and objectives. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Bookworms 2–5 Teacher Manual states the system is broken into three instructional blocks: Shared Reading; ELA, which consists of interactive read alouds, writing instruction, and culminating tasks; and the Differentiated Instruction block. Each day, the teacher teaches a Shared Reading lesson and an ELA lesson, and provides small group instruction through the Differentiated Instruction block. 

• The Bookworms 2–5 Teacher Manual includes a scope and sequence document. This document lists the lesson number, reading or writing genre, type of reading or writing, and the standards covered. 

• In the Bookworms 2-5 Teacher Manual, Planning for Success, the materials provide various flexible schedules for schools with fewer days or planned interruptions. These schedules can reduce the curriculum by either 10 or 20 days, though the impact on students’ mastery of the standards is not addressed.

Suggested implementation schedules cannot be reasonably completed in the time allotted. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Materials allot 45 minutes for each instructional block, resulting in a total of two hours and 15 minutes of instruction each day. The Differentiated Instruction block is designed to include time for the teacher to provide small group instruction to three small groups. The materials state, “Each of the 3 blocks of time that we planned for in Bookworms must be 45 minutes long. It will not be possible for teachers to shorten any of them.” 

• Both Shared Reading and ELA include 170 lessons each, which does not allow time for lessons that may take longer, state testing requirements, local assessments, reteaching, and other general interruptions that schools experience. Materials do not provide information regarding pacing within lessons, including how to be responsive to students’ needs by slowing down or speeding up. It is up to the teacher to determine how long each section of the lesson should take.

  • In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 24, the lesson is broken into multiple parts with multiple facets within each part. The Word Study section consists of a vocabulary lesson. The Text Engagement section consists of Pair-Share Responses, Vocabulary, First Focus, Choral Reading, Discuss Focus, Partner Focus, Discussion, Make Anchor Chart, and Assignments where students complete a short writing task. The lesson includes a list of 18 standards addressed. While each part of this lesson appears to be fairly short, depending on the level of student understanding and how they respond to the instruction, the teacher may not be able to cover all of the lesson components in the allotted 45 minutes. 

  • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 6, the teacher states, “Today I’m going to ask you to plan and write an opinion paper on your own. When you are writing about your opinion, you tell your reader what you think about a topic and why or you try to convince your readers to agree with you and you provide them with the reasons why they should. You may write on any topic you choose. When you’ve finished the plan, you can start writing your opinion paper.” Materials direct the teacher to have students write their opinion paper with minimal guidance and support. With this lesson occurring early in the year, it may not be feasible to ask fourth grade students to write for a 45-minute block of time. Materials do not provide information to the teacher about lesson pacing, including guidance for early finishers or students who may need more than 45 minutes to complete the task.

Optional tasks do not distract from core learning. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• No evidence of optional materials found

Optional tasks are meaningful and enhance core instruction. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• No evidence of optional materials found