6th Grade - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Center for Collaborative Classroom Grade 6 partially meet the criteria that texts are organized around a topic/topics to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently.

Within the units of Making Meaning the instructional materials are organized around literary and informational texts and the teaching of reading comprehension strategies. Texts are not consistently organized by topic and students have limited opportunities to build knowledge and vocabulary about topics consistently. Examples include but are not limited to:

In Genre Argumentative Writing of Being a Writer, students hear texts about the teen driving age. After listening to “Do Not Raise the Driving Age to 18” and “The Minimum Driving Age Should be Raised,” students compare and contrast argumentative structure.

Other text sets in Grade 6 Making Meaning are not organized by topic; rather, they are organized around the literacy skills practiced. Examples include:

• In Unit 1, Week 1 of Making Meaning, students hear two fables: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears and Feathers and Fools. Students compare and contrast the texts and discuss lessons learned from fables.
• In Unit 8 of Making Meaning, students hear two texts about Nelson Mandela. The first text is Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson, and it introduces students to the former South African president. The second text is “Excerpt from Long Walk to Freedom,” which is an excerpt from Nelson Mandela’s autobiography.
• In Unit 5 of Making Meaning, students learn how to make inferences in fiction, poetry, and drama. The texts provided are not about the same topics. For example in Week 1, students hear Encounter, which is about Christopher Columbus’ landing in San Salvador. In Week 2, students hear three poems: “As I Grew Older,” which is about keeping the dream alive during racial discrimination; “Mother to Son,” which is about the importance of perseverance; and “A Tea,” which is about an invitation a girl receives to attend a mother-daughter dance.
• In the Genre unit of Fiction Writing in Being a Writer, students hear a variety of fiction texts that are used as mentor texts; however, they are not centered around a topic. For example, in Week 1, Day 1, students hear The Secret Shortcut, which is about two boys being late for school and their adventure to get to school. In Day 2, students hear “They’re Made Out of Meat,” which is a science fiction text. In Day 4, students hear “The Sneeze,” which is about space aliens.

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 partially 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.

In Making Meaning students are asked questions about the read-alouds that inconsistently require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts. To fully meet the expectations of this indicator, the teacher will have to supplement to assure students have practice in these areas. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 3, Week 1, Making Meaning, students compare two kinds of whales. The teacher reads aloud a passage. Additionally, the teacher asks, “What information did you learn about sperm whales in this passage? What information did you learn about right whales in this passage? Then the teacher is directed to facilitate a discussion about the following: How are sperm whales and right whales alike and different? The students are focused on the key ideas and on identifying details, but for a deeper understanding fo the structures of the texts the teacher will have to supplement. 
• In Unit 5, Week 2, students compare and contrast two poems and discuss common themes in “Harlem” and “Mother to Son.” Students answer the following questions: "What difficulties do the characters in the novel and the speaker in the poem have to overcome?" "How do both Mutti in the novel and the mother in the poem encourage perseverance?" "What do the novel and the poem teach us about perseverance that we might be able to apply to our own lives?" These questions are representative of how the program supports students working across texts to identify themes and commonalities, but does not fully support a deep understanding of craft and structure while building knowledge. 
• In Unit 7, Week 1, the teacher shows the “Ways Articles Inform” chart and asks the students, “What do you remember about how the author used quotations in the article?” The teacher then introduces and skims “Genetically Modified Food”. She asks the class, “After reading the title, headings, and subheadings, what kind of information do you think might be included in this article?” The student engagement here is not fully supportive of growing an understanding of the text structure. 

In Being a Writer, students are asked questions about the read-alouds that require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts. While focusing on the text, the questions are inconsistent, sometimes surface-level rather than delving into the depth required by this indicator.  Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 5, students hear Probuditi! and answer the following two questions: “What does Calvin find out at the end of this story? What did the contraption that Calvin and Rodney made do?” These questions do focus on key detail, but is centered on recall only. 
• In Genre Personal Narrative, Week 1, Day 2, students hear “Rattlesnake Mesa” and answer the following questions: “Why do you think EdNah might have chosen to tell this story? What does EdNah learn or how does she change as a result of what happens with Biggi?” The first question is not entirely text dependent, and the second question requires some inference. 
• In Genre Functional Writing, Week 1, Day 3, students hear “A Paper Clip Trick” and answer the question: “Which words or phrases in these directions help make the steps clear and easy to understand? What makes you think that?” These questions are partially supportive of the indicator.
• In Genre Poetry, Week 1, Day 2, students hear “Ode to Pablo’s Tennis Shoes,” and students answer questions about details and words: “What sensory details in the poem help you imagine Pablo’s tennis shoes? What words does the poet use to write about the shoes as if they were alive?” These questions show more focus on unpacking author's craft. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Center for Collaborative Classroom Grade 6 partially meet the criteria that materials contain a coherently sequenced set of text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts.

The materials in Grade 6 contain coherently sequenced sets of text-dependent questions and tasks. In Making Meaning and Being a Writer, questions posed by the teacher often require students to refer to an individual text. In Making Meaning and Being a Writer, students use a text over the course of several days. Each day, the questions and tasks become more involved and require students to integrate knowledge about the text. Examples include:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, throughout the week, students listen to "Let’s Think About the Power of Advertising" and answer the following questions: “How does this photograph and caption help you better understand the information in the text? What did you learn in the part of the book you just heard? According to the text, what different views do people have about advertising? What did you learn about how advertising works?" Students apply their new learning to the shared print ad or commercial. The teacher facilitates a discussion and asks, “Considering what you know about how advertising works, do you think this is an effective ad? Why or why not?” Afterwards, students independently read expository texts and write a journal entry about that expository text. They identify which text feature helped them locate information or better understand the topic. At the end of the week, students write an opinion about whether advertising is more helpful or harmful.
• In Unit 4, Weeks 1-4, the teacher reads aloud An Elephant in the Garden, and students discuss story elements and make connections between story elements. Each day, the teacher reads aloud a chapter and asks questions about occurrences in the story i.e. "How does Lizzie feel at this point in the story? Why does she feel this way? How is the setting affecting the plot? The characters? How are the characters dealing with the conflicts or problems we discussed earlier? What new conflicts or problems are they facing?"
• In Unit 6, Week 1, the teacher and students discuss Twenty-two Cents: Muhammad Yunus and the Village Bank. Students respond to the following: “Why do you think Muhammad became active in charity as a boy?” By Day 4, students discuss the following questions: “What clues did you underline in the excerpt that help to answer the question ‘Why did Muhammad Yunus start the Grameen Bank?’ How do those clues help to explain why Muhammad started the bank?”
• In Genre Personal Narrative, Week 1, students hear “Rattlesnake Mesa.” During the reading, students are asked: “What kind of place is EdHan describing here? What is EdNah telling us about her childhood? What happens in the last part of this story from EdNah’s childhood?” After the reading, the students answer: “Why do you think EdNah might have chosen to tell this story? What does EdNah learn or how does she change as a result of what happens in Biggi?” This prepares students for the quick-write task to write about events the lead to learning or change. “Think about your own life. What are some events in which you learned or changed that you could write about?”
• In Genre Expository Nonfiction, Week 1, students hear If the World were a Village. During the read aloud, the teacher asks: “What is the author asking us to imagine in this book? Why do you think the author is doing this? What have you found out so far about the world and its people?” These questions help students participate in a discussion that will help students generate nonfiction topics. The first question asked in the discussion is: “What did you find out about the world and its people from the reading?”

The materials do not consistently include a coherently sequenced set of questions requiring students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts. Consistent opportunities are not provided throughout the year-long materials to meet the criteria of this indicator. Examples include:

• In Unit 1, Week 1 of Making Meaning, the teacher reads aloud the texts, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears and Feathers and Fools. Students write about the similarities and differences of the stories. Students “turn and talk” with classmates and recall information from the stories. Though students are asked to pull information from two texts, students are not analyzing ideas. Students recall information and describe how the two texts are alike and different.
• In Unit 8 of Making Meaning, students look for important ideas and supporting details in texts and use important ideas to write summaries. Students hear the texts “Always Moving: Julisa Velarde”, “Abdul, Age 17, Afghan”, and from Long Walk to Freedom. Students then read summaries of the same texts. Finally, students read the text, “Thank You, M’am” and write a summary. Though questions across the unit ask students to find details and discuss important ideas in order to write summaries, students are not asked to anazlye knowledge or ideas across the texts.
• In Genre Expository Nonfiction, students work with a partner to research a topic in which both students are interested. Students read and integrate information in order to write an informational report.
• In Genre Argumentative Writing, students work with a partner to research a topic in which both students are interested. Students then integrate information into a persuasive essay.

The instructional materials reviewed for Center for Collaborative Classroom Grade 6 partially meet the criteria that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic (or, for grades 6-8, a theme) through integrated skills (e.g. combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).

The opportunity to use integrated skills in culminating projects is inconsistent. There are some opportunities in the Writing about Reading activities, journal entries, and writing pieces for students to demonstrate knowledge of a topic or skill. In most lessons or tasks, students’ oral and written responses provide the teacher with information about students’ readiness to move forward in the materials. Some of these tasks provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate comprehension and knowledge of a topic or topics, but are not necessarily culminating tasks. Many fall under the Extension or Technology Extension sections, which may be perceived as optional. According to the publisher, “In both Making Meaning and Being a Writer, Writing about Reading activities provide multiple opportunities to analyze a single text in response to a sequence of questions presented by the teacher, and then write a response to the literature using text evidence to support opinions or conclusions.”

• In Genre Expository Nonfiction of Being a Writer, students hear expository nonfiction texts, immersing themselves in nonfiction texts about topics of interest to them and their partners. Students chose one topic to research together in some depth. Each pair of students write, revise, and publish an informational report about that topic. At the end of the unit, students present their reports by reading them aloud from the author’s chair.
• In Genre Argumentative Writing, Being a Writer, students read and write argumentative essays supporting particular claims with reasons and relevant evidence. With partners, students research their chosen topic. Each student generates a claim about the topic, and write an essay arguing in favor of claim. Students read aloud their final drafts from the author’s chair.
• In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 4 of Making Meaning, students can participate in the optional Writing about Reading task to write about how Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears and Feathers and Fools are alike and different. Students discuss with partners answers to the teacher’s guiding questions. If time is available, students can share with the class.
• In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 3 of Making Meaning, students can participate in the optional Writing about Reading task to write about making connections between two texts. Students discuss answers to the teacher’s guiding questions. If time is available, students can share with the class.
• In Unit 8, Week 5 of Making Meaning, students determine and summarize important ideas. With partners, students write brief summaries. Students also complete a task that entails writing a summary of a text read independently.