3rd Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the expectations for anchor texts being of publishable quality and worthy of careful reading and consider a range of student interests.

Texts are high quality, including rich language and engaging content. Accompanying illustrations are high quality as well, supporting students' understanding and comprehension of the associated text. Examples of quality texts include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, students read The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies. The Lemonade War is an award-winning, engaging realistic fiction story. Students are likely to relate to the characters, and the plot is uncomplicated but captivating. Illustrations are realistic, pleasing to the eye, and support the text.
• In Unit 1, students read The Frog Princess: A Tlingit Legend from Alaska by Eric A. Kimmel. The Frog Princess: A Tlingit Legend from Alaska is a retelling of a magical tale of transformation. It is a unique cultural experience for readers. Students are likely to enjoy the rich language, determination of the princess character, and relate to the parents’ protective actions and intolerance of their daughter wanting to leave to live with the Frog People. Watercolor illustrations are appealing and support the story.
• In Unit 2, students read, Treasure in the Trees by Christopher Cheng. Treasure in the Trees is a realistic fictional text that focuses on scientific observation. The text contains dialogue, past-tense, third-person narrative, and use of flashback. It also contains domain-specific descriptive vocabulary, academic vocabulary with definitions in context, idioms, and figurative language. Students will learn about the preservation of animal habitats and ideas about land development.
• In Unit 2, students read About Earth by Pauline Cartwright. In this informational text, students will understand several explanations about geographical and environmental phenomena that occur on planet Earth. The sections of the text are organized by headings, text features, diagrams, and photographs that offer varying degrees of text support. The text contains domain-specific vocabulary with definition support in the glossary and varying sentence length. Students learn about several scientific processes and phenomena of Earth including gravity, water, light, weather, and geology.
• In Unit 3, students read Deep Down and Other Extreme Places to Live by Shirin Yim Bridges. Deep Down and Other Extreme Places to Live is an informational text that assists students in understanding the way of life of people who live in extreme climates and building knowledge of people students have never encountered. The text contains diagrams and photographs, domain-specific vocabulary including words in other languages, and geographic and cultural proper nouns. Students will be exposed to cultural diversity and the impact of climate on people's way of life.
• In Unit 4, students read Weather by Seymour Simon. Weather is an informational text. Students will understand the forces of weather and weather patterns. The diagrams, pictures, and specific word choice help students understand the topic.
• In Unit 5, students read Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault. This narrative text focuses on a blind Native American boy whose grandfather tells the story of the grandson’s birth and a great race. It uses the story as a metaphor and students are exposed to strong vocabulary such as wounded. Students are expected to use the word wounded and explain how it makes them feel as they read.
• In Unit 5, students read Paul Bunyan by Stephen Krensky. Students are asked to read the literature chapter text Paul Bunyan and are exposed to vocabulary such as hitched, stubborn, and comfortable. This text is of publishable quality and worthy of children’s interest.
• In Unit 6, students read Back of the Bus by Aaron Reynolds. In this historical fiction text, students are introduced to Rosa Parks. They are asked to understand the meaning of segregation, boycott, and racism. These are large concepts for students to comprehend. This is an example of a challenging piece of text.
• In Unit 6, students read Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel. This is the true story of an immigrant girl who proves to be brave. Students learn the central focus and character traits by comparing this story with others that they have read.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the expectations for materials reflecting the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards.

Texts include a mix of informational and literary texts. There is a wide array of informational and literary text integrated throughout every module. Additional supplementary texts are included, resulting in a wide distribution of genres and text types as required by the standards, including folktale, historical fiction, legend/fairy tale, poetry, tall tale, realistic fiction, and explanatory text.

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

• Unit 1, Lesson: What Makes a Great Story?: The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies
• Unit 1, Lesson: Elements of a Great Story: The Frog Princess: A Tlingit Legend from Alaska by Eric A. Kimmel
• Unit 1, Lesson: Begin a Great Story: The Case of the Gasping Garbage by Michele Torrey
• Unit 2, Lesson: Mystery in the Trees: Treasure in the Trees by Christopher Cheng
• Unit 2, Lesson: Zudu’s Tour of Earth: About Earth by Pauline Cartwright
• Unit 4, Lesson: What Causes Weather to Change on Earth?: “Weather” by Anonymous
• Unit 4, Lesson: Surviving a Natural Disaster: “Tornado Season” by Adrien Stoutenberg
• Unit 5, Lesson: Reading About Characters’ Perspectives: Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin Jr. and Paul Archambault
• Unit 5, Lesson: Stories Passed Down Through Generations: Storm in the Night by Mary Stolz
• Unit 5, Lesson: Paul Bunyan’s Tall Tale: Paul Bunyan, adapted by Stephen Krensky
• Unit 6, Lesson: Meeting Rosa Parks: “Our Garden” by Jessica Quilty
• Unit 6, Lesson: The Hidden Power of Poetry: “Walking Home After School” by Ann Whitford Paul

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

• Unit 2, Lesson: Our Special Moon: The Moon Seems to Change by Franklyn M. Branley
• Unit 3, Lesson: Reading to Learn About Big City Life: City Homes by Nicola Barber
• Unit 3, Lesson: Reading to Learn About Big City Life: When a Storm Comes by Jennifer Johnson
• Unit 3, Lesson: Using Main Idea to Understand Life in the Grand Canyon: Deep Down and Other Extreme Places to Live by Shirin Yim Bridges
• Unit 4, Lesson: What Causes Weather to Change on Earth?: Weather by Seymour Simon
• Unit 4, Lesson: Weather Around the World: “On the Same Day in March” by Marilyn Linger
• Unit 4, Lesson: Surviving a Natural Disaster: Living Through a Natural Disaster by Eve Recht
• Unit 6, Lesson: Meeting Rosa Parks: “Back of the Bus” by Aaron Reynolds
• Unit 6, Lesson: Meeting Rosa Parks: “Rosa Parks: Hero of Our Time” by Garnet Nelson Jackson
• Unit 6, Lesson: Step by Step by Step: Every Story has a Path: “Honoring Code Talkers” author unknown

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for texts having the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and relationship to their associated student task.

Most texts fall between the text complexity range for third grade. Examples of texts that support appropriate complexity include, but are not limited to, the following:

Unit 1

• The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies: This realistic fiction text, with a quantitative measure of 580 Lexile, requires students to keep a large conflict in mind as the main characters solves multiple smaller conflicts. The text structure and elements of fiction are familiar to students.
• The Frog Princess: A Tlingit Legend from Alaska retold by Eric A. Kimmel, 530L: This retelling of an Alaskan legend (fairy tale) helps students understand fantasy elements and characters’ opposing motivations. Character actions reveal the theme. It is written in episodes as a third-person narrative. There is complex vocabulary without in-text definition (awoke, headman, morsel, summons), but students are able to follow the plot that leads to a moral.
• The Case of the Gasping Garbage by Michele Torrey, 460L: This realistic fiction (mystery) requires students to understand conflict and resolution, and use logical thinking and observation to note how characters develop and change. The novel is divided into chapters; episodes are often formatted as scientific experiments. The text includes domain-specific vocabulary with context clues and definitions, low linguistic support from illustrations, and use of idioms and figurative language.
• Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco, 630L: In this text, strong thematic messages are interpreted through character change. The text organization is familiar and illustrations support understanding of the story. Sentence structure is very complex. Students are able to relate to the characters and theme of being afraid in a thunderstorm.

Unit 2

• Treasure in the Trees by Christopher Cheng, 710L: In this realistic fiction chapter book, students build understanding of character motivation that utilizes scientific observation and proof about preservation of animal habitats and land development.
• About Earth by Pauline Cartwright, 650L: In this informational text, students develop understanding of geographical and environmental phenomena that occur on Earth. Students are introduced to text features, diagrams, and photographs offering varying degrees of complexity and text support.
• The Moon Seems to Change by Franklyn M. Branley, 530L: This supporting text contains scientific concepts and vocabulary about the moon supported by diagrams.

Unit 3

• Deep Down and Other Extreme Places to Live by Shirin Yim Bridges, 740L: This informational text builds knowledge in the way of life of people living in extreme places. Most of the text is organized in text features, including diagrams and photographs, requiring the reader to discern in which order to read the information.
• City Homes by Nicola Barber, 740L: This supporting text helps students build knowledge in text about different kinds of dwellings in cities and cultures that might be unfamiliar.
• The Song of Sky and Sand by Stephen Davies, 680L: This supporting text contains complex thematic narrative organized in chapters and episodes over multiple settings with extensive use of dialogue.

Unit 4

• Weather by Seymour Simon, 1020L: This text includes complex sentence structure and complex domain-specific vocabulary. Knowledge demands include natural processes of Earth, how scientific tools and methods are used to understand weather, and the driving forces of weather and weather patterns.
• Living Through a Natural Disaster by Eve Recht, 940L: The headings and text features throughout this selection are critical to full understanding of the content. This text includes complex domain-specific vocabulary.
• On the Same Day In March by Marilyn Singer, 950L: This text requires students to have an understanding of geography, weather related events, and understand differences in weather around the world.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that anchor texts and series of texts connected to them are accompanied by a text complexity analysis and rationale for purpose and placement in the grade level.

In the platform’s Before You Begin materials, the publisher provides a description of several text selections. The materials state, “TEXT SELECTIONS: You can find more information about some texts you will read in your course in the text selection rationales. As you select texts to read independently, find books that have similar challenges to what you are reading, as well as finding books of different genres and topics. Use your Reading Log to create a balanced reading life!” The text selection rationales are provided through a link to a document that includes each text title, author, text genre, student task, and both quantitative and qualitative text features. The quantitative measure is provided through a Lexile score and the qualitative feature chart gives measures such as levels of meaning, structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands.

A text complexity analysis is provided for the anchor texts in each unit. Most texts include instructional notes, text notes, and the rationale for the purpose and placement of the anchor and support texts is embedded into the student and teacher notes. The instructional notes include a recommendation for how students should read the text (e.g., silently and independently, listen to text, read aloud) and support students with vocabulary they will encounter in the text. At times, the teaching notes also indicate specific strengths in the texts. For example, some texts are chosen for their value in reinforcing literary techniques while others were chosen as appropriate introductions to a particular time period or topic. All texts were chosen with third grade students in mind, as well as intentional variability in genre, readability, and interest.

Instructional and text notes found in Grade 3 materials include information in the introduction box such as, “This document outlines the complexity of each anchor text as text complexity is defined in Appendix A of the Common Core State Standards, Figure 1. Quantitative complexity of the text is measured in Lexile Level for each text. Task complexity refers to how the text demands contextualized within a larger learning activity, often the unit project. Qualitative complexity descriptors, as identified by the Common Core, are listed in the table according to the factors of qualitative evaluation as listed in Appendix A. Across these three complexity domains, the reader will see that complexity monotonically increases across the course of the year.”

In Unit 1, Tell the World Your Story!, students read the text The Frog Princess by Eric A. Kimmel. The complexity information provided by the publisher includes the quantitative measure of Lexile 530L and the qualitative features of:

• Levels of Meaning: Understand fantasy elements and character motivation; character actions revealing theme; opposing motives
• Structure: Episodic; dialogue; past-tense, third-person narrative; plot supported by illustrations; diverging character subplots
• Language Conventionality and Clarity: Complex vocabulary (awoke, headman, morseL summons, shaman) without in-text definition support; some complex vocabulary is necessary for comprehension; brief, self-contained fairy tale
• Knowledge Demands: Fantasy elements; structure of fairy tale to provide a moral

In Unit 3, Coming to You Live From...?, students read the informational text Deep Down and Other Extreme Places to Live by Shirin Yim Bridges. Students utilize this text, among others, as they create a persuasive advertisement to convince others to live in an extreme place. The publisher includes the quantitative measure of Lexile 740L and the following qualitative features:

• Levels of Meaning: Understand the way of life of people living in extreme climates; build knowledge in context of people never encountered
• Structure: Most text organized in text features; reader must discern in which order to read information; text features, diagrams, photographs carry the majority of information; sections organized in similar structures; introductory and concluding sections
• Language Conventionality and Clarity: Domain-specific words including words in other languages; geographic and cultural proper nouns; domain specific words defined in context; low glossary support
• Knowledge Demands: Cultural diversity; the impact of climate on way of life

In Unit 5, Learning from the Stories of Our Elders, students read the fiction book Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault. Students will form opinions as they read and will use this text and others, to write an opinion piece that will convince others to live in an extreme place. The publisher includes the quantitative measure of Lexile 550L and the following qualitative features:

• Levels of Meaning: Learners will explore content to understand that oral histories transmit experience, explanations and wisdom for generations. Readers understand that stories help us explain the world to each other and through generations, through central message, moral and theme.
• Structure: picture book, told as a narrative from grandfather to grandson.
• Language Conventionality and Clarity: word knowledge used from writing expectations, words specific to Native American culture
• Knowledge Demands: cultural diversity and knowledge of Native American storytelling

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that anchor and supporting texts provide opportunities for students to engage in a broad range of text types and disciplines as well as a volume of reading to achieve grade level reading proficiency.

Students interact with several texts in each unit within the PLUS framework of Project, Learn, Use, and Show. The stories read and reread in lessons are underlined and hyperlinked. Learners can independently read text or enable the audio read-aloud capability by clicking on the hippo icon. Students are provided opportunities to read paired texts in Sleuth that provide information on a range of topics. Materials also include leveled readers.

Students also read independently selected texts outside of the course materials. Students keep a Reading Log during the course. They are asked to read at least two to three" books per week in addition to the books in the ELA course. Students are asked to keep their Reading Log up to date all year long and it is also referred to in some of the lessons. To find books, students can refer to a document called Independent Reading Resources, or visit their local library.

The materials ask the learning guide to select the option most appropriate for an individual student to access the text. For example in Unit 1, the Teaching Notes state:

• "Read the story aloud to your student while he or she follows in the text.
• Play an audio recording of the story (if applicable) while your student follows in the text.
• Have your student read the story aloud with another student or with you, either chorally or by reading alternate sections.
• Have your student read the story independently."

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Tell the World Your Story!, students read several fictional texts from the Text Collection including Lemonade War, The Frog Princess, The Case of the Gasping Garbage, The Case of the Gasping Garbage, and Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco.
• In Unit 2, Welcome to Earth, the Perfect Vacation Spot, students read expository and fictional texts from the Text Collection including The Moon Seems to Change, “A Whale of a Rescue,” Treasure in the Trees, About Earth, and “Backyard Safari.”
• In Unit 4, What Is Weather and What Can It Do?, students read multiple text types related to weather. Texts include “Weather” (informational text), “Weather” (poem), On the Same Day in March, “Tornado Season,” and “Living Through a Natural Disaster.”
• In Unit 6, Is it Truth or Fiction, or Both?, students read a variety of text types including informational, historical fiction, and poetry.

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the expectations that most questions, tasks, and assignments are text dependent/specific, requiring students to engage with the text directly (drawing on textual evidence to support both what is explicit as well as valid inferences from the text).

Materials for lessons and lesson parts include guiding questions, journal topics, and graphic organizers that require students to engage in or refer back to the text. Students engage with each text directly by writing in an English Language Arts Journal and using textual evidence to support answers. Although questions and tasks are mainly text-dependent, many are surface level and do not ask students to analyze texts deeply.

Examples of text-based questions, assignments, and tasks include but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: What Makes a Great Story? Parts 1-5, students answer questions over several daily sessions connected to “Location, Location, Location” from The Lemonade Wars, including the following questions:
• “Who are the characters?”
• “What big problem do they have?”
• “What is the plot?”
• “What is the theme?”
• “Where does Evan set up his lemonade stand?”
• “How much does he charge for lemonade?”
• “What good thing happens as a result?”
• “What bad thing happens as a result?”
• “Why does Evan go into the Big Dipper?”
• “What does he learn while he’s there?”
• “What does he decide based on what he learns there?”
• “How do Evan’s ideas and actions affect what happens next?”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Paul Bunyan’s Tall Tale, Parts 1-5, students answer questions over several daily sessions connected to the text, Paul Bunyan, including the following questions:
• “Who are the characters in this story?”
• “What do the illustrations show about the text?”
• “How are Paul and Babe alike? How are they different from most living things?”
• “What are some ways the narrator describes Paul Bunyan’s size that could not be true in real life?”
• “What do these wild exaggerations tell you about the narrator’s view of Paul and his story?”
• “What happens to the characters? How do they feel about what happens?”
• “What do the key details reveal about the central message of the story?”
• “What trait does Paul share with Babe and the Elmers as well as with Sam’s pots and other cooking tools?”
• “Paul brushes his hair with a half-grown pine tree. Is this detail realistic or exaggerated?”
• “How does the storyteller exaggerate how cold the winter was?”
• “What effect do these exaggerations have on the reader? What does that tell you about the author’s main purpose?”
• “What is the central message of ‘The Year of the Two Winters’?”
• “If you believe the storyteller, what geographical features did Paul and Babe create in North America?”
• “What comments by the storyteller reveal his or her point of view?"

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for materials including a mix of on-demand and process writing (e.g. multiple drafts, revisions over time) and short, focused projects, incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

Students have frequent opportunities for on-demand and process writing, as well as short, focused projects completed through a variety of instructional tasks. Students write drafts for process pieces over several days with time and guidance in revising and editing their writing. Students publish their work for various audiences using digital resources and technology. The teacher guide provides explicit instruction and modeling throughout the writing process. Students analyze examples of high quality writing from the texts they read. Writing lessons embedded in each unit are based on the texts students are reading. On-demand writing occurs as students respond to reading in various formats. Materials include both short and longer writing tasks and projects, which are aligned to the grade-level standards being reviewed. Writing tasks include longer projects, short constructed response, writing in English Language Arts journals, and completion of graphic organizers.

Opportunities for on-demand writing include, but are not limited to, the follow:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: How Do Authors Conclude, Part 3, students look at the narrative they are drafting and find one section that could use more description. Students add in a paragraph describing how a character responds to a situation, which ends with a sentence describing what will happen next. Students use examples from The Case of the Gasping Garbage to help if needed. The paragraph is written in the English Language Arts journal and shared with the Learning Guide. Students are also tasked with looking at conclusions using the text The Case of the Gasping Garbage. Students pick one of the chapters from The Case of the Gasping Garbage and choose one of the main characters. In the English Language Arts journal, students describe how that character helped solve a problem in the chapter in order to create closure by following the sequence of events.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: Thinking About Our World, Part 2, students are asked to take their learning from throughout the unit to compare the main ideas of three texts. Students will write a paragraph about the main ideas of the three texts. Students state the main idea of each text and compare and contrast any ideas from within the text. Students refer to all three texts in their writing.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Learn about Big City Life, Part 2, students participate in the following on demand writing assignment, choosing one of the chapters from The Case of the Gasping Garbage and one of the main characters. In the English Language Arts journal, students describe how that character helped solve a problem in the chapter in order to create closure following the sequence of events. At the end of the description, students explain how the conclusion creates closure: “Did the character’s actions lead to the conclusion?” “Were all the problems resolved?”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Reading About Character’s Perspectives, Part 1, students engage in on-demand writing by selecting a favorite text from those read thus far this year and writing an opinion of it. Texts students select from include: Case of the Gurgling Garbage, Treasure in the Trees, About Earth, and Weather. Students consider the topic, their opinion about the topic, about what specifically they wish to convince readers, how to support their opinion, and how to clearly express their opinion to their audience.

Opportunities for process writing include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Project: Tell the World Your Story!, students engage in process writing by designing, crafting, revising, and publishing a narrative. Students will read a series of narratives and analyze the author’s craft in each, in order to replicate this in their own writing. They examine the fundamentals of storytelling such as narrative structure, development of characters and their impact on the story, and how the author connect events to bring the story to life. Students practice writing components of a narrative throughout the unit by practicing with mini-narratives, and compose pieces of their final project throughout the unit. Students revise their writing to ensure the story unfolds naturally, and edit for conventions. Finally, students publish their narrative in a print version illustrated mini-book or by using an online publishing platform.
• In Unit 2, Lesson:Thinking About Our World, Part 2, students are asked to take their learning from throughout the unit to compare the main ideas of three texts. Students write a paragraph about the main ideas of the three texts. They must state the main idea of each text and compare and contrast any ideas from within the text. Students must refer to all three texts in their writing.
• In Unit 3, Project: Coming to You Live from…, students create a television advertisement about one of the places in the world they learn about during the unit. In their ad, students try to convince someone to move to an extreme place. Their ad includes an introduction, opinion supported with reasons, linking words that flow in a logical way, and a concluding statement. Students are encouraged to record and publish their advertisement after writing it, using online tools to create their presentation. This is a process piece of writing.
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Why Weather is Important?, Parts 1-5, students are using the text Weather to gather information and background knowledge to write a news report on a weather related topic. Students spend time during each lesson part gathering evidence or writing a portion of the news report. Students are directed to use the text Weather as an example of how to organize the information they are including in their informative news report.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Stories are Passed Down Through Generations, Part 1, students use a Main Idea Chart to organize the reasons and examples for opinions. Students write an opinion in the top box of the chart. Then students write the most important reason in the first detail box. Below the reason they list the examples that support that reason. Students are then asked to place the next most important reason and examples in the middle detail box. Finally, students place the least important reason and examples in the last detail box. Students show the Main Idea Chart to the Learning Guide.
• In Unit 6, Lesson: Meeting Rosa Parks, Part 3, students use the text Back of the Bus to look for evidence to support their opinion of the theme of the text. Students analyze the character, the connection between actions of the character, and their effects in the story and other characters. Students also analyze the author’s point of view in how they describe the events in the story and the clues they provide in the text to help the reader determine the theme.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the expectations for providing opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards.

Students have frequent opportunities to write in multiple modes and genres of writing over the course of the school year. Writing projects, prompts, and short constructed response tasks are balanced among narrative, informative, and opinion writing. Each unit includes a writing type which connects to the texts students are reading. Texts from various genres serve as models that students are asked to emulate in their writing. Each lesson part includes support in building specific skills within the focused writing genre. Modeling and guiding questions have students apply craft elements in their writing. Though narrative, informative, and opinion prompts are addressed in Grade 3, informative and opinion writing are more heavily emphasized.

Examples of writing prompts that address the different text types of writing and reflect the distribution required by the standards include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1 Project, Your Story, Narrative, students complete a narrative writing project in which they teach a story about a lesson learned to others. Throughout the unit, students will use the English Language Arts to record analysis of texts, responses to questions, graphic organizers, and notes that will be used to complete the project. Over multiple lesson parts, students will complete a character chart analyzing the characters in the text Lemonade War to assist in character development of their narrative story, use a four column chart to record ideas for character, problem, solution and events for their story, learn about dialogue and choose two characters and an event from their own story to develop dialogue, use the text ThunderCake to analyze character change and sequence of events, and analyze their writing revising for descriptive words and phrases.
• In Unit 2, Project, Welcome to Earth, the Perfect Vacation Spot, Informative/Explanatory, students design, write, revise, and publish an informative brochure that explains to a family of aliens visiting Earth for the first time for vacation. The brochure will help the aliens learn characteristics of planet Earth. Students use the information learned from reading nonfiction and fiction texts about features of Earth and important natural and human-made phenomena. The brochure includes an introduction, three explanatory paragraphs, at least three different features of Earth, an explanation of why the aliens might want to visit that feature, and pictures or captions. Students are able to publish their writing either by creating a hard-copy version or by using online publishing platforms.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: Zudu’s Tour of Earth, Part 7, Informative/Explanatory, students apply all the learning throughout the lesson to write an informative paragraph related to one of the topics they read about in the text About Earth. Students use facts and details from the text to explain the topic. Students are encouraged to conduct additional research to expand on the topic further. Once students have collected all the facts, they analyze the facts for a common main idea. Students use the main idea to organize the information in the writing.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Using the Main Idea to Understand Life in the Grand Canyon, Part 3, Informative/Explanatory, students read Deep Down and write a paragraph telling the key details the author includes to develop this topic.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Learning from the Stories of Our Elders, Opinion, students learn the process of opinion writing and use text analysis to understand how an author creates this type of writing. Students are tasked with writing an opinion about an environmental issue. This takes place over multiple lessons. In Lesson: Reading About Character’s Perspectives, Part 2, students plan the opinion piece with consideration to the following questions: “What is my opinion about the text? How can I express my opinion clearly to my audience? What reasons might I give to support my opinion? What details from the text can I use to support my opinion?” Students then write a paragraph about an opinion about the text Knots on a Counting Rope. In Lesson: Stories Passed Down Through Generations, Part 2, students use text evidence from the text Storm in the Night to support four opinion statements written in the ELA journal. In Lesson: Paul Bunyan’s Tall Tale, Part 7, students revise the opinion essay.
• In Unit 6, Lesson: Giving Reasons to Be Right, Parts 1-4, Opinion, students are moving forward with the writing of their opinion piece on the topic "What makes a good citizen?" Students have already completed an opinion statement from the previous lesson, Meeting Rosa Parks. In this lesson, students identify and draft the key points they want to include in their opinion writing to support their opinion statement. Students are guided through writing the introduction paragraph using the opinion writing reminders that the introduction should introduce the topic and state the writer’s opinion in a way that gets the reader’s attention. Students use the previous texts they have read and guidance from the teacher guide to create a list of reasons that support their opinion statement. They begin to work through putting it all together into an organized opinion writing.
• In Unit 6, Lesson: Truths in Finding Truths in Historical Fiction, Part 1, Opinion, students read Brave Girl, a historical fiction text about factory workers and a workers’ strike. Students analyze the characters Clara and Grace and how their actions in the text support the author’s perspective. Students compare and contrast the actions and choices of Clara and Grace and write an opinion paragraph explaining how the characters are similar.

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for materials including frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information appropriate for the grade level.

Each day students carefully analyze and synthesize texts, write to sources, use texts as a source, and defend claims as part of writing instruction. They respond to text-dependent questions to understand texts more deeply, and use texts as a source of information to support their opinions. Student responses to English Language Arts Journal questions provide students with frequent opportunities to gather and use evidence from the text to support their responses. There are many writing opportunities that are focused around students’ analyses and claims developed from reading closely and working with texts and sources to provide supporting evidence. The materials provide opportunities that build students' writing skills over the course of the school year. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: What Makes a Great Story? Part 3, as students read “Location, Location, Location” in The Lemonade War, they notice how characters are the engine of a story. They are asked to respond to the following questions: “Where does Evan set up his lemonade stand? How much does he charge for lemonade? What good thing happens as a result? What bad thing happens as a result?” Students respond to these questions in their English Language Arts Journals.
• In Unit 1, Lesson: How Do Authors Begin a Great Story, Part 4, students write one to two paragraphs about a character, choosing either Drake or Nell. Students review Chapters 1–3, looking for details that help show who the character chosen is. Students include the details already noted and other details, too. Students are tasked with finding words and phrases in the text that help paint a picture of the character, either Drake or Nell.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: Solve Nisha’s Mystery, Part 1, students are reading Treasure in the Trees with a focus on learning more about a character as the story and events unfold. Students are asked to respond to the questions: “How do we see that Nisha is good at science? How does Nisha use her imagination? How do the pictures in the book help us see these things about her?” Students respond to these questions in their English Language Arts Journals.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: Zudu’s Tour of Earth, Part 3, students continue to read the text Dry Places on Earth with a focus on main idea and details and how the photos in the text can support the reader’s understanding of the main idea. Students respond in their English Language Arts Journal to the following questions: “What is the main idea of the section? How do the photos support the main idea?”
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Comparing Illustrations from Different Places, Part 1, students compare and contrast two texts using text information and graphic features. They respond to the following questions: “How is the Danakil Depression similar to where Ramata lives? How do the text features and photographs in the informational text and the illustrations in the literary text help you understand the cultures?”
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Living in Desert and Ice, Part 7, students read Watch Out for Hurricanes and When a Storm Comes and fill in a two column chart. Students make use of these notes and write a brief paragraph that compares the main ideas of these two books making sure to include an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Why is Weather Important?, Part 1; Using the text Weather, students analyze the text to determine how illustrations and words help a reader to understand important information in the text. Students answer the following questions: “How do the illustrations help you understand the text better? Describe one example. How does the writer introduce and develop a topic with facts, details, and features? Describe one example. How does precipitation form clouds and fall to Earth?”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Stories Passed Down Through Generations, Part 3, students read a section of Storm in the Night and look for clues about the central message. They respond to the following questions: “Why does Thomas say that the man should have thought about his grandfather? How can you tell from the details and the illustrations that it’s getting late at the end of the story? Why do you think Grandfather chose to tell Thomas the story about the storm?”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Paul Bunyan’s Tall Tale, Part 5, students read Paul Bunyan and identify the differences between the students’ own point of view and those of the storytellers and characters in the tall tale. Students are tasked with thinking about the following questions: "What comments by the storyteller reveal his or her point of view? What is my point of view about what I am reading in this story? What in the text leads me to respond this way?" Students write the analysis and answers to the questions in the ELA journal.
• In Unit 6, Lesson: Meeting Rosa Parks, Part 3, students reread the text Back of the Bus and analyze the text for clues about the plot and theme/message of the story. Students look for evidence in the text to answer the following questions: “On page 71, what seems to be the reason the police are called to the bus? On page 77, what does the policeman do when he arrives? How does this event affect the plot of the story?”