3rd Grade - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that 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.

The materials are coherently sequenced, with lesson parts connecting with previous learning. There is clear articulation of how work with previous texts, tasks and skills relates to new learning. The materials include questions and tasks with most texts requiring students to analyze language, key details, craft, and structure. Most lesson parts allow for in-depth analysis for some aspects of language, key details, craft, and structure. Most lessons include question types that help students build understanding, and integrate ideas and knowledge across several days. Students utilize graphic organizers and an English Language Arts journal to analyze the text. Questions are sequenced from basic to more text-based and varied in type. Many of these skills are developed through the instructional tasks included in the PLUS format (Project, Learn, Use, Show) for each Unit. Each unit and/or part requires a different analysis of the language, structure, story elements, and craft, yet ample amount of practice is built into the program and cyclical planning ensures that concepts are introduced, taught, and then practiced at a higher level later in the unit or in another unit.

The following series of daily tasks and question sets exemplifies a coherent and connected sequence:

• In Unit 1, Lesson: How do Authors Begin a Great Story?, Part 3, students answer the questions “What is one action a character took that caused an event to happen? What caused the character to take that action? How does this action contribute to the sequence of events?” after reading chapter 6 of the text The Case of the Gasping Garbage.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Living in Desert and Ice, Part 2, “You’ve seen how writers use illustrations. Art can present information. Let’s learn more about life in an extreme place. We’ll use text and text features to do so. We’ll also use them to find the main idea. Reread the last four pages about the Afar in Deep Down. As you read, think about this question: What are some examples of the extreme life in the Danakil Depression?”
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Living in Desert and Ice, Part 5, “Last time, you worked on finding main ideas. You also linked ideas to compare and contrast them. Today, you will learn about point of view. You also will learn what makes a strong conclusion in a piece of writing. Read the last section of Deep Down, called 'What’s It Like Where You Live?' As you read, think about this question: Do people everywhere think the same things are extreme? Talk to your Learning Guide about this after you read. Good readers use text features to understand what they read. Answer the following questions using details from the text. How is this part of the text different from other parts? How did the author define extreme earlier in Deep Down? What does she mean by it on this page? Write your responses in your English Language Arts journal.”
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Weather Changes on Earth, Parts 2-5, students are reminded in Part 2, “Last time, you read the beginning of Weather and found the main idea. Today you will think about how explanatory texts answer questions about a big idea.” In Part 3, “Last time, you read pages 4-9 of Weather. You thought about how writers use important details in an explanatory text. Today you will read pages 10-15. Think about what key facts and details the author includes and how the graphics relate to the information in the text.” In Part 4, “You found out how weather patterns occur. Today you will read pages 16-21 and learn about different types of clouds and how they develop.” In Part 5, students have already read and learned about weather through the book Weather. In this lesson part, students read a poem titled “Weather” to see another way a writer can explore the topic of weather.

Evidence of the analysis of language, key ideas and details, craft, and structure include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 3, Lesson: Comparing Different Places, Part 1; After skimming the following texts, “Surviving in One of Earth’s Hottest Spots” in Deep Down and Other Extreme Places to Live, and Chapter 4 of The Song of Sky and Sand, students answer the questions “What is similar about the texts? What is different?” Students then compare and contrast the two texts using text information and graphic features to answer the questions, “On page 9 of Deep Down and Other Extreme Places to Live, what do you learn about how the Havasupai felt about their fruit trees? How is the Danakil Depression similar to where Ramata lives? Where does the text say so? How do the text features and photographs in the informational text and the illustrations in the literary text help you understand the cultures?” Students use a Venn diagram to compare the texts' key ideas and details.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Comparing Different Places, Part 3: "Climate is one topic that was shared across all the texts. Climate is part of a larger topic: geography. All three texts have information about what the landscape is like and about where places are. What words and pictures in Deep Down and Other Extreme Places to Live, City Homes, and The Song of Sky and Sand gave you information about location, climate, and geography? What information about transportation did you learn from the words and pictures in Deep Down and Other Extreme Places to Live, City Homes, and The Song of Sky and Sand?” (language)
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Weather Changes on Earth, Part 1 students read Weather and respond to the questions, “What are the main ideas of pages 4-9? What important facts and details support the main ideas?” in their journal.
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Weather Changes on Earth, Part 3, students complete a Cause-and-Effect graphic organizer using pages 10-15 in Weather. Students use signal words to help them locate an effect and then identify the cause.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Paul Bunyan's Tall Tale, Parts 1-8, Students read Paul Bunyan’s Tall Tale, then look for how the story is written and story elements. “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 are some descriptions of other things 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?” “How is it different from your point of view?”

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that materials contain a year long, cohesive plan of writing instruction and tasks which support students in building and communicating substantive understanding of topics and texts.

At the beginning of each unit, background knowledge for content and writing skill areas is embedded into the first select lessons. As the unit continues, selected texts, writing tasks, writing stamina, and any projects increase in length and complexity. The learning guide gradually releases responsibility to students; from modeling and full support to independent completion with scaffolded support. Students demonstrate this understanding through a variety of instructional tasks within the PLUS structure (Project, Show, Use, Learn).

Throughout the units, students have multiple opportunities to respond using text-based evidence to support their answers. Students respond in their ELA Journals, through discussion with their learning guide, show their learning via interactive online tasks, and complete culminating projects that encompass a unit’s worth of knowledge. Students participate in shorter writing tasks and have opportunities to go back to the writing tasks to revise by adding content or incorporating the skill they are learning (e.g., description) In multiple units throughout, the smaller writing tasks are pieces of the culminating project. Each unit has an assessment or culminating task that at some point would have required interaction from all four literacy domains (reading, writing, listening, and speaking).

According to the Support Services document, “Instead of providing ancillary materials for Learning Guides, Calvert provides customers access to highly-trained, certified professional educators for any questions or needs that arise from the curriculum! Education Counselors have considerable experience in the classroom and are extensively trained on the curriculum. The Advisory Teaching Service (ATS) is an optional service that may be purchased from Calvert that enhances the services offered by education counselors.”

Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

In the Unit 1, Tell the World Your Story, Project, students plan, craft, revise, and publish their own narrative. Students read several stories from a variety of genres, in order to understand fundamentals of storytelling such as narrative structure, character development, and lively description to support the development of a unique, narrative story.

• Students examine author’s craft in four narratives: “Location, Location, Location” from The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies; The Frog Princess, a Tlingit Legend from Alaska retold by Eric A. Kimmel The Case of the Gasping Garbage by Michele Torrey; Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco. In each narrative, students examine the main ideas, the development of characters and their impact on the story, and how the author connects events to bring the story to life. By reading each of these texts, students take note of exemplary author’s craft across genres that can then be replicated in their own writing.
• Students also practice writing components of a narrative throughout the unit, practicing with mini-narratives and composing sections of their final project throughout the unit.
• At the end of the unit, students combine the elements of their narrative, revise for the natural unfolding of events, and for conventions. They publish their narrative either by writing out a print copy, creating an illustrated mini-book or by using an online publishing platform (for example, storybird.com).
• Students also review their own writing using the rubric criteria, which include the following: event sequence unfolds naturally; characters and events are developed through dialogue, actions, and thoughts; temporal words and phrases signal event order.

Unit 2 begins with, Project, Welcome to Earth, the Perfect Vacation, students will 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 will use the information learned from reading nonfiction and fiction texts about features of Earth and important natural and human-made phenomena. The brochure will include an introduction, three explanatory paragraphs one 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: Our Special Moon, Parts 1-3: students read the explanatory text, The Moon Seems to Change. This text provides students with an example of a text that explains information and gives students information about space. Students use the text to write about the main idea and supporting details and think about the main idea and details that will be the focus of their brochure. Students also analyze the text features used in the text and begin to plan which text features they are going to include in their brochure.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: Our Special Moon, Parts 4-5: Students read the text, A Whale of a Rescue.” The purpose is to give students more opportunities to practice looking for supporting details in a new text, which will then enable them to complete this task more successfully in their brochure. During these lesson parts, students start to analyze example brochures and think about the following questions: “What kind of information do brochures have? How do they present the main idea? What kind of details do they give? How do they use headings to make some information stand out? What kinds of illustrations are there? How do they help a reader make sense of the information?”
• In Unit 2, Lesson: Mystery in the Trees, Parts 1-4: In the previous unit, students practiced identifying the main idea, details, and text features to begin preparing for the brochure project. During the lesson parts of Mystery in the Trees, students are using the texts to start developing the background knowledge about natural features in the world. Students will use this information to determine what natural features they are going to include in the brochure for aliens.
• As students move into Unit 2, Lesson Let's Solve Nisha’s Mystery!, Parts 1-4, they continue the work of developing ideas and using pictures along with text to convey information.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: Zudu’s Tour of Earth, Parts 1-7 students read the text, About Earth, about an alien named Zudu that is taking a tour of Earth and writes about what he sees. Students pull information from this text as inspiration for how to design a brochure for an alien. This text also shows students how fiction texts can include similar components of informational text such as text features.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: Thinking About Our World, Parts 1-2, students will deepen their understanding of the texts by comparing and contrasting the texts, The Moon Seems to Change, Treasure in the Trees, and About Earth. By comparing main ideas, students will learn more about Earth. They will also compare research and sources that they will be using for their brochure.
• Unit 2 wraps up with students taking all the information, skills, and strategies they learned throughout the unit to complete the unit project brochure. Students will present the brochure to the teacher guide when completed.

In Unit 3, students read about how people live in different places around the world. Students create a television advertisement about one of these places trying to convince someone to move to an extreme place.

• In Unit 3, Lesson: Using Main Idea to Understand Life in the Grand Canyon, Part 2, students develop information about the topic chosen by adding facts, definitions and details to the introduction paragraph that has already been written.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Great Readers Use Illustrations to Understand a Story, Part 3, students previously planned an essay by writing an outline to organize thoughts and choose the categories. Students use that outline to write a draft of an essay. In this step, students will write down ideas in the correct order including, an introduction to the topic, facts and details that support the topic, transition words or phrases to connect ideas, a conclusion.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Comparing Illustrations of Different Places, Part 1, students previously wrote a draft of an informative essay. The next step is to revise. There are different ways to revise an essay. Students are tasked with adding more details if something is not clear or removing text if it does not contribute to the topic.
• In the Unit 3, Coming to You Live From…?, Project, after reading about how people live in different places around the world, students create a television advertisement about one of these places. In the ad, they try to convince someone to move to an extreme place. Through their advertisement, students must: Introduce the topic; state their opinion; support their opinion with reasons; use linking words so that reasons flow in a logical way; provide a concluding statement. Students write and record the advertisement before presenting it. Students can use pictures, backdrops, props, even background music. Some online tools they might use include: Apple iMovie, Windows Movie Maker; PhotoStory3; Animoto, or Voicethread. A Project Rubric helps students understand how their advertisement will be scored.

In Unit 4, Lesson: Weather Changes on Earth, Parts 1-5, introduce students to the concept of weather through the text, Weather by Seymour Simon. During this unit, student complete two writing pieces. A news report about weather and an essay about a weather event. Students work throughout the Weather Changes on Earth, identifying main idea, details, purpose/use of graphics, and learned more about weather and clouds.

• In Unit 4, Lesson: Why is Weather Important?, Parts 1-5, students are using the “tools” gained previously, to determine which “tools” (main idea, using pictures and illustrations, and connecting ideas in texts) will be most helpful to apply while reading. Student use these “tools” to develop the weather topic they will be using in their news story.
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Weather Around the World, Parts 1-3, students work to revise and edit their news reports to strengthen how they have organized the information and the word choice they use to explain the weather topic.
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Surviving Natural Disasters, Parts 1-6, students develop the news report further by including personal events to the writing. Student take the weather topic and using examples from the text, Living Through A Natural Disaster, students draw on personal experiences with the weather event they have chosen and add additional paragraphs to their writing to includes these experiences.

In Unit 5, Lesson: Reading About Characters’ Perspectives, students learn about the features of opinion writing: a clear statement of topic and opinion. reasons for your opinion supported by details and facts, a structure that groups information in a way that makes sense, words and phrases that show reasons for your opinion, and a concluding statement linked to the opinion. Students select a favorite text they have read this year, and write an opinion of it.

• In Unit 5, Lesson: Stories Passed Down Through Generations, students write another opinion statements about another book they have read, and opinion statements with reasons about relationships between people of different generations. They also write a paragraph about the central theme of “Storm in the Night.”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Paul Bunyan’s Tall Tale, Parts 1-2, students learn to write concluding sections in an opinion piece. They write a conclusion section for their previous writing about relationships between people of different generations.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Paul Bunyan’s Tall Tale, Part 3, students learn how to take notes of facts that back up reasons in opinion writing.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Paul Bunyan’s Tall Tale, Part 4, students take what they have learned about opinion writing to begin a complete essay about which of two pets is better to own.

In Unit 6, students are reading stories about real-life characters whose actions have changed the world.

• In Unit 6, Lesson: Meeting Rosa Parks, Part 1-6, students learn about Rosa Parks through the fiction text, Back of the Bus and the nonfiction text, Rosa Parks: Hero of Our Time. They practice writing opinion paragraphs around the concept of theme or central message.
• In Unit 6, Lesson: Giving Reasons to Be Right, Parts 1-4, students build on their previous learning of Rosa Parks, a person who stood up for what she believed in and now learn about factory workers that stood up for workers’ rights through the text, Brave Girls: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909. Students begin to write their opinion piece on the topic of “What Makes a Good Citizen?” Students write an introduction, supporting reasons for their opinion, and an outline.
• In Unit 6, Lesson: Clara Stands Up, Parts 1-4, students continue the opinion work. They begin by reviewing the outline for word choice and linking words. Students then work on writing a strong conclusion that readers remember.

The materials for Grade 3 meet the expectations for materials providing a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

The materials provide some ideas for independent reading. The Before You Begin section states there is a reading log. The lessons provide scaffolding opportunities to help foster independent reading. Guidance is provided through the teaching notes. The Before You Begin section says that the students will be reading two to three books per week outside their class texts.

The LEARN Card activities as students are encouraged and reminded to read books independently, while noting the titles of the books read in their Reading Log. In the Getting Started portion of the platform, the following information is provided for students: “You should be working to read at least 2–3 books per week in addition to the books in your ELA course. Your Reading Log is a great way to see how much you have read and the kinds of books you enjoy reading. To create your Reading Log, make a table that contains the book’s title, author, number of pages, and the dates you were reading the book. Remember to keep your Reading Log up to date all year long, since you will refer to it in some of your lessons. To find texts to read outside of your classwork, you can use independent reading resources, or visit your local library and ask your librarian.”

Information about Independent Reading expectations is found in the “Before You Begin” portion at the beginning of the school year. The materials suggest 30 minutes of independent reading per day of instruction. The Learning Guide is at liberty to decide when students actively engage in Independent Reading throughout the day.

Students are asked to keep a Reading Log as noted in the “Before You Begin” section. It is suggested that students read on average two to three books per week above and beyond curriculum expected materials and texts. A link is provided for the Learning Guide to assist in helping students find independent reading books at their level. The resource that is provided includes Lexile bands that are appropriate for each grade level and a listing of retail stores and online platforms to find books. No specific mention of titles is provided, only a list of suggested guidelines to support the Learning Guide.

In the “Before You Begin” materials, there is a section dedicated to “Reading Log.” Within this section there is a hyperlink to a document titled, “Independent Reading Resource.” This document is intended for the Learning Guide. It provides directives about text selection, a table with Lexile bands, and links to websites for book lists. Students are directed at different times during the units to apply a standard/skill they have learned during instruction to their independent reading. Students then complete self-selected reading and record their progress in their reading log. The Learning Guide has flexibility to have students read texts independently. Therefore, it would be up to the discretion of the Learning Guide, not the design of the curriculum. Teachers are provided limited instruction on how to support reader independence. Directives for both student and Learning Guide are repetitive. There is no pattern or routine to when students are given directives towards independent reading and the reading log.

• In the Getting Started Section of each unit students can access the protocols in the Independent Reading Resources Link under the Reading Log section. Criteria for independent reading selections is provided as well as the quantitative complexity measures for each grade level. This section also contains several resources containing reading lists and a Lexile website where Learning Guides can obtain quantitative complexity of a text. The materials state:
  
• "Texts are comprehended by your student while reading independently (or comprehended when read aloud to emergent readers)
• Encompass a wide breadth of topics, genres, formats, and challenges
• Include both fiction and nonfiction texts
• Be of interest to your student and allow him or her to explore new areas of interest
• Strive to meet quantitative complexity requirements for your student’s grade band"

Students are tasked with reading at least two to three books per week in addition to the books in the ELA course. Students create the Reading Log, make a table that contains the book’s title, author, number of pages, and the dates. Students are tasked with keeping the Reading Log up to date all year long, since it will be referred to it in some of lessons.

• In Unit 1, Lesson: How Do Characters Impact a Story?, Part 1, students are tasked with choosing the two best books or stories independently read in the past two weeks from the Reading Log. Students will use the books to make a T-Chart in the ELA Journal. Students are instructed, "Fill in the title of the chart, "Characters’ Motivations." Use the titles of the two stories chosen as the column headings. Who was the main character in each story? Write each character’s name under the title of his or her story, then think of a problem each character faced. How did they solve it? Write the characters’ actions below their names, finally, remember the characters motivations. Were they alike or different? Write each character’s motivations at the bottom of the column." Students tell the Learning Guide about the two characters. Students then use the T-Chart to write a short paragraph comparing the actions and motivations of the two characters chosen.
• In Unit 1, Lesson: What Makes a Great Story?, Part 4, students are tasked with reading two to three books per week for enjoyment and record titles as well as why those books are better and write the reasons in the Reading Log, remembering to mention some details from the text.
• In Unit 2, Lesson: Mystery in the Trees, Part 4, “Reading Log,” students are reminded that while reading the text, Treasure in the Trees they thought about what characters say and do. It states, “When you read for fun, you can do the same thing. As you read, think about the characters. What do they say? What do they do?” Students are directed to write the titles of the books they are reading in their reading log. The teaching notes for the Learning Guide state to ask students to share the books they are reading independently and to encourage them to talk about the characters in the books. The Learning Guide is given a suggestion for a question, “How do the character’s create the plot?”
• In Unit 2, Lesson: Let's Solve Nisha’s Mystery!, Part 2, “Reading Log,” students have been thinking about the key events within a chapter of the story. As students read, they are to think about which events change what happens in the story. Students are to write the titles of books they read in their reading log. The teaching notes for the Learning Guide include a reminder to have students share out the books they are reading and to encourage students to talk about the key events and why the even counts as key events.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Living in Desert and Ice, Part 3, students read a section of Deep Down and consider the following question: “What makes the Sami homeland an extreme place to live?.” As students reflect upon the reading, the teaching notes provide the following guidance for the Learning Guide: “Talk about your student’s thoughts on the reading. He or she should share examples such as how cold the land is, the fact that they live farther north than anyone else on Earth, and the fact that the sun never sets in the summer.”
• In Unit 3, Lesson: What’s Different? Two Authors, Two Approaches, Part 1, the teaching notes include the following guidance for the learning guide in order to promote fluency and accountability in student reading: “Monitor your student’s accuracy, a key part of fluency. As he or she reviews the texts, have him or her read a section aloud to you. He or she should read the texts aloud with few mistakes because the texts are already familiar. Have your student read aloud a brief passage from each text to establish accuracy. Then, discuss your student’s responses to the questions. Your student might find any of the places mentioned and shown in photos to be interesting—or unappealing. Prompt him or her to give specific reasons for wanting to visit the selected places. You might also ask your student to elaborate on why.”
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Weather Changes on Earth, Part 1, students read the text Weather, the teaching notes for the Learning Guide state that the Learning Guide can select the best student option for reading, which can include the student reading the story independently. The other additional notes are directives for students reading aloud and how to give feedback for fluency.
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Why is Weather Important?, Part 3, students read the text Weather. As they read, they learn how scientists use information to understand weather now and in the future. Students think about the following questions: “How do the illustrations help me better understand the text in this section? How does the writer use linking words to connect scientific ideas?” In the teaching notes, the Learning Guide is directed to choose the best approach for reading for the student and the encourage the student to write down vocabulary words that are unfamiliar.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Stories Passed Down Through Generations, Part 1: students read the text Storm in the Night. As they read, the following guidance is provided in the teaching notes for the Learning Guide to support and assess fluency in student reading: “While your student is reading, assess his or her fluency. Explain that reading with expression means that people change their voice as they read. They can read faster or slower, louder or softer. They can use their voice to show feelings such as excitement or fear. Have your student follow along as you model reading aloud from Storm in the Night, first reading without expression and then reading with expression. Explain that reading with expression makes a story more exciting. It also helps the listener understand what is happening.”
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Paul Bunyan’s Tall Tale, Part 1: students read the section “Growing Up” in Paul Bunyan. The following guidance is provided in the teaching notes for the Learning Guide to support accuracy in student reading: “Explain that reading with accuracy means reading words without mistakes. Have your student follow along as you read aloud pp. 22–27 of “Growing Up,” focusing on the pronunciation of longer or unfamiliar words for accuracy. Model reading with accuracy. Have your student read the same passage aloud, stressing accuracy. Monitor fluency, accuracy, and understanding. Monitor progress and provide feedback. For optimal fluency, your student should read the passage three to four times.”
• In Unit 6, Lesson: Meeting Rosa Parks, Part 3, students reread the text Back of the Bus and are analyzing 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?”
• In Unit 6, Lesson: The Hidden Power of Poetry, Part 1, students read the poem, “The Little Black-Eyed Rebel,” about a person who lived during the time of the American Revolution. Students think about the question, “Why is the black-eyed rebel watching the boy?” In the teaching notes, the Learning Guide is reminded about vocabulary students might need to help with understanding (rebel), suggestions to help student understand how poetry is read differently than a story, resources to help students with poetry, and guidance on fluency.