8th Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectations for anchor texts being of publishable quality and worthy of careful reading. The collections include well-known, published, and diverse authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Frederick Douglass, Walt Whitman, Elie Wiesel, Ray Bradbury, Stephen Crane, Louisa May Alcott, Gary Soto, Sherman Alexie, and Anne Frank. Included non-fiction texts are also from well-known sources such as the New York Times.

The anchor texts and supplementary texts consider a range of topics that would be relevant and of interest to Grade 8 students. Text collections in this program explore the immigrant experiences of young adults from the Middle East and Haiti, as well as the experiences of Hmong immigrants. Another collection explores the “thrill of horror” and asks students to compare a classic horror short story to a film version; they also read an adaptation of Frankenstein in the form of a poem. The topic of adulthood is examined through a collection of texts directly connected to this age group: the driving age, appropriate use of cell phones and their influence on teen driving, and the influence of media. All of these topics would be of interest to Grade 8 students. Anchor texts at this grade level are well-crafted, content-rich, and engaging.

The collections include many writing types including the following: short stories, poems, myths, graphic stories, speeches, informational texts, memoirs, media such as newscasts, and online sources. Anchor texts are included for each collection, and close reading pieces are identified.

Some representative examples of texts that demonstrate high quality include:

• Collection 1: “Culture and Belonging”
  • Short Story: “My Favorite Chaperone,” by Jean Davies Okimoto
  • Memoir: “from The Latehomecomer,” by Kao Kalia Yang – from Minnesota Public Radio website – “In 2009 The Latehomecomer won two Minnesota Book Awards—for memoir/creative nonfiction, and the Reader's Choice Award. It was the first book to ever win two awards.

• Collection 2: “The Thrill of Horror”
  • Edgar Allan Poe's short story: "The Tell-Tale Heart"
  • Informational text: "What Is the Horror Genre?" - a literary criticism that helps students move beyond simply liking or disliking a story. This text guides students to analyze elements of a text that are often evident in quality literature.

• Collection 3: “The Move Toward Freedom”
  • Autobiography: “from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,” by Frederick Douglass – a well known historical piece studied in many schools across the country.
  • Historical Fiction: “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh,” by Ray Bradbury, whose work has been included in four Best American Short Story collections.

• Collection 4: “Approaching Adulthood”
  • The short story, "Marigolds," by Eugenia Collier
  • "When Do Kids Become Adults?" provides background knowledge that gets students to think deeply and to form or solidify their beliefs about their lives, both currently and in their not-too-distant future.

• Collection 5: “Anne Frank’s Legacy”
  • Drama: The Diary of Anne Frank, by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett (Pulitzer Prize-winning play)

• Collection 6: “The Value of Work”
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain offers an ironic and humorous adolescent perspective on the topic of work.
  • “One Last Time,” a memoir by well-known author Gary Soto, explores the value and hardship Soto experienced while becoming a published writer.
  • Students also read two argumentative articles about teen employment in “Teens Need Jobs, Not Just Cash” and “Teens at Work.”

The instructional materials reviewed meet the criteria for reflecting the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards for Grade 8. The materials include an appropriate distribution of literary and informational texts that are aligned to the suggested balance in the CCSS for Grade 8. There are 29 literary and 25 informational texts distributed throughout the six collections. The whole of the program does support students' access to many strong informational pieces of text including media text such as a public service announcement, an advertisement, and a film.

The following are examples of the variety of texts found in three collections within these instructional materials:

Collection 2, “The Thrill of Horror,” contains eight texts: two literary texts, three informational texts in the Collections Student Edition; one informational and two literary texts are located in the Close Reader.

• Literary Texts:
  • "The Tell-Tale Heart," short story by Edgar Allan Poe
  • “Outsiders,” short story by H.P. Lovecraft
  • “The Monkey’s Paw,” short story by W.W. Jacobs
  • “Frankenstein,” a poem by Edward Field

• Informational Texts:
  • “Scary Tales,” essay by Jackie Torrence
  • “The Monkey’s Paw,” film by Ricky Lewis Jr.
  • "What Is the Horror Genre?" literary criticism informational text by Sharon A. Russell
  • “Man-made Monsters,” essay by Daniel Cohen

Collection 3, “The Move Toward Freedom,” contains eight texts: three informational texts and two literary texts are located in The Collections Student Edition; two informational texts and one literary text are located in the Close Reader.

• Literary Texts:
  
  • “My Friend Douglass,” historical writing by Russell Freedman
  • “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh,” historical fiction by Ray Bradbury
  • “A Mystery of Heroism,” short story by Stephen Crane
  • O Captain! My Captain!” poem by Walt Whitman

• Informational Texts:
  • “Bloody Times: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the Manhunt for Jefferson Davis,” history writing by James L. Swanson
  • “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” an autobiography by Frederick Douglass
  • “Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad,” biography by Ann Petry
  • “Civil War Journal,” journal entries by Louisa May Alcott

Collection 4, “Approaching Adulthood,” contains twelve texts: five informational texts and three literary texts are located in The Collections Student Edition; one informational text and three literary texts are located in the Close Reader.

• Literary Text:
  • "Marigolds," short story by Eugenia Collie
  • “The Whistle," short story by Anne Estevis
  • “Hanging Fire,” poem by Audre Lorde
  • “Teenagers,” poem by Pat Mora
  • “Identity,” poem by Julio Noboa Polanco
  • “Hard on the Gas,” poem by Janet S. Wong

• Informational Text:
  • "When Do Kids Become Adults?" informational text from the New York Times
  • "Much Too Young to Work So Hard," historical informational text by Naoki Tanaka
  • "Is 16 Too Young to Drive a Car?” article by Naoki Tanaka
  • “Fatal Car Crash Drop for 16 year-olds, Rise in Older Teens,” article by Allison Aubrey
  • “Your Phone Can Wait,” public service announcement
  • “Driving Distracted,” poster

The instructional materials for Grade 8 meet the expectations of texts having the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and relationship to their associated student task. The collections at the beginning of the year contain more texts below the indicated quantitative band, but by the middle of the year, there are less texts below the band and more in the specified range. While there are some texts that are unquantifiable or fall outside of the grade band, often they are balanced by more rigorous tasks or sophisticated focuses.

The materials for Grade 8 include texts that have quantitative ranges from the 700's and span through the school year to the 900’s-1000's to texts with a high quantitative measure in the 1200’s-1400's. The texts have appropriately rigorous qualitative features throughout the materials. The information below shows the quantitative measure for different collections.

• Collection 1: 700 - 1220
• Collection 2: 730 - 1030
• Collection 3: 980 - 1010
• Collection 4: 1070 - 1440
• Collection 5: 1020 - 1410
• Collection 6: 1040 - 1310

Some examples of the texts in the program that represent how the materials meet the expectations of this indicator include the following:

• “My Favorite Chaperone” is below the quantitative level of the span at 790L; the task, write a summary, is fairly simple, but this seems acceptable due to it being the first text and task for the new school year. Two of the three close reading selections in this collection are in the band at 1010L.

• The “Tell-Tale Heart” in Collection 2 is placed at a Lexile of 850 which is outside of band; however, this text’s qualitative analysis ranks Knowledge Demands as the highest in text complexity due to a “distinctively unfamiliar experience.” Language Conventionality and Structure also rank at second highest in complexity. These complex qualitative features would make it reasonable to find it in this collection. The second anchor text, a literary criticism, is within the grade span at 1030. Both of the close reader texts in this collection are at difficult Lexile levels outside the band in the 1200’s.

• “Civil War Journal" in Collection 3 is above the grade span. The qualitative analysis indicates complexity in both language and knowledge demands. This could be challenging for 8th grade readers; however, it is placed toward the end of the collection. Students have been reading seven other texts, within the grade band, on the topic of the Civil War, so they should have quite a bit of background knowledge that will support them during their reading of this text.

The Grade 8 instructional materials fully meet the expectations for materials supporting students’ increasing literacy skills over the course of the school year. As the year progresses, students are exposed to texts of more challenging readability levels. Consistent supports such as text-dependent questions and emphases on vocabulary development are continued to support students' ability to access the increasing complexity of the texts. Series of texts, including anchor texts within the collections, include a variety of complexity levels appropriate for the grade band.

The following anchor texts represent the quantitative complexity of the collections:

Collection 1: 700 - 1220

• Anchor Text Short Story, “My Favorite Chaperone” Lexile: 790
• Anchor Text Memoir, “The Latehomecomer” Lexile: 940

Collection 2: 730- 1270

• Anchor Text Short Story, "The Tell-Tale Heart" Lexile: 850
• Anchor Text Literary Criticism, “What is the Horror Genre?” Lexile: 1030

Collection 3: 990 - 1480

• Anchor Text Autobiography, “From Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” Lexile: 970
• Anchor Text Historical fiction, "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” Lexile: 990

Collection 4: 800- 1440

• Anchor Text Short Story, "Marigolds" Lexile: 1140 high end
• Anchor Text Informational text, "When Do Kids Become Adults?" Lexile: 1440

Collection 5: 1020- 1410

• Anchor Text Play, "The Diary of Anne Frank" (no Lexile level as this is a dramatization)

Collection 6: 790 - 1310

• Anchor Text Novel excerpt, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” Lexile: 1040
• Anchor Text Poems, “Chicago,” “Find Work,” “My Mother Enters the Work Force”

Collections 1 and 2 show one anchor text in each collection below the quantitative levels for the grade span; yet, the qualitative analysis and the required tasks shows that complexity of these lower level texts is still rigorous. “The Latecomer,” which has a readability level at the beginning of the grade span, requires students to write a research report about the Hmong people after reading the narrative. This task is connected to the topic of the text and requires some complex skills. This would make a slightly less complex text appropriate. In Collection 2, “The Tell-Tale Heart” is also below the quantitative measure, but the performance tasks asks students to write a narrative about the psychiatric state of this narrator. Students analyze the unreliable narrator from this story and complete a relatively challenging task. Another text in this collection, “What is the Horror Genre?” is at the appropriate quantitative complexity and is a literary criticism. This genre of writing may be unfamiliar to students and will add to the complexity. This text shows growing complexity.

Collection 3 shows the rise from the prior two collections in quantitative complexity with five of the seven texts at the required level of quantitative complexity. No texts are below the grade level and two texts are above. The anchor text is an autobiography of Frederick Douglass’s life, and students analyze the author’s craft in this text. Included in this collection are two biographies focusing on the lives of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. Students analyze the author’s craft and structure in these texts. These three texts demonstrate growing complexity.

Collection 4 includes four texts at the high end of the grade span quantitative complexity which would be appropriate for placement in a collection for this grade level. In addition, tasks in this collection have students reading arguments, debating topics in these arguments, and writing an argument. Complexity in both texts and tasks is evident.

Collections 5 and 6 contain anchor texts with an unquantifiable Lexile level or a Lexile level on the low end of the grade band. The Diary of Anne Frank ranks as more complex in both knowledge demands and levels of meaning/purpose adding to its complexity. Paired with this text is a literary criticism of Frank’s diary which is above the quantitative level. After reading The Diary of Anne Frank, the students will be better prepared to read a more difficult text. Tom Sawyer is also on the low end of the grade span, but it is paired with argument readings above the grade span on the topic of work.

The instructional materials for Grade 8 meet the criterion for anchor texts and texts connected to them being accompanied by a text complexity analysis and rationale for purpose and placement in the grade level. The beginning of each text selection in the Teacher’s manual includes the following features:

• Why This Text?
• Text Complexity Rubric

The Why This Text? feature includes a brief rationale for the placement of the piece as well as a Key Learning Objective. For example, in Collection 2, “What is the Horror Genre?” explains that this text provides a model of a literary criticism that analyzes literature and includes a breakdown of the analysis. The criticism also encourages students to think beyond whether or not they liked the text.

The Text Complexity Rubric is a graphic that provides an analysis of the qualitative, quantitative, and reader/task considerations for the complexity of each text. The quantitative provides the Lexile level of each selection while the qualitative analysis identifies all four elements that contribute to qualitative complexity: Levels of Meaning/Purpose, Structure, Language Conventionality and Clarity, and Knowledge Demands. The scale moves across the four points from an element of less complexity to an area of more complexity. Reader/Task Considerations indicate that these are teacher-determined and vary by student and text. It also indicates that the user look at the Text X-Ray feature for suggested reader and task considerations. To the left of the Text Complexity Rubric is a list of the core standards covered including, reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language.

The Text X-Ray feature referenced in the Reader/Task Considerations follows the text analysis. This provides additional support for all texts except texts identified as close readers. The Text X-Ray suggests possible supports a teacher could provide within the four areas of qualitative text complexity as well as Reader/Task considerations. For example, in Collection 1, “My Favorite Chaperone” identifies the Level of Meaning being fairly complex with a score of three out of four on the scale. The Text X-Ray suggests that teachers help students understand who characters in a story might be and explain that analyzing these characters can help a reader identify the theme of the short story. Teachers are instructed to tell the students that Maya is the character in this story. After reading the story, students use provided sentence frames to discuss the story. Examples of these sentence frames are included here:

• Maya changes during the story by _______.
• By the end of the story, Maya learns _______.
• From Maya’s experiences, the author wants me to learn ________.

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 fully meet the criterion for most questions, tasks, and assignments being text-dependent/specific, requiring students to engage with the text directly and to draw on textual evidence to support both what is explicit as well as valid inferences from the text. The Teacher’s Edition includes text-dependent questions in the margin for the teacher to use with the students. Literature selections ask students text-dependent questions about story elements: plot, character, setting, and conflict motivations. In addition, questions require students to make inferences, analyze language, and determine the theme of the selection. Informational texts include text-dependent questions regarding text structure, text features, and support for authors’ claims. Students are also asked to determine facts and opinions, author’s purpose, and author’s tone.

Examples representing the use of text-dependent questions and activities include but are not limited to the following:

• In Collection 5, The Diary of Anne Frank: Reread lines 1863-1872. How does the setting of Scene 5 complete the structure of the play? (page 351)
• In Collection 5, After Auschwitz: Ask students to reread lines 4-6 to identify the repetition. What is the impact of this repetition? (page 380)
• The Performance Task following the reading of "When Do Kids Become Adults?" from Collection 4 asks students to hold a debate regarding the issues presented in the text. They are to take a stance, make a claim, include evidence from the text and their own research, create visuals, and conduct the debate. Finally, students evaluate the evidence and reasoning presented by each side.
• The Performance Task following the reading of the drama "The Diary of Anne Frank" from Collection 5 asks students to analyze three characters from the play using references from the text to think deeply about their comparison of characters. (page 354)

The Close Reader offers multiple text-focused tasks. The Reader asks students to write after the reading selection and then engage in a feature called “Dig Deeper," which supports students in revisiting texts.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria of providing sets of high-quality sequences of text-dependent questions and tasks which build to a culminating task that integrates skills (may be writing, speaking, or a combination). Each collection concludes with culminating tasks called performance tasks. These tasks require students to incorporate reading, writing, and speaking skills to complete the assignment and provide a diverse means of delivery. Each performance task is centered on the topic that students have been reading about in the collection and requires students to use knowledge or information they gained through interacting with those texts.

Throughout Grade 8, the students will complete the following performance tasks:

• Write informative essays
• Write narratives
• Write arguments
• Create a multimedia campaign
• Participate in a collaborative discussion

Below are examples of how questions and tasks prior to the culminating activity are coherent and help prepare the student to complete these tasks:

Collection 1

• Performance Task A asks students to write an informative essay about immigration. The text-dependent questions that accompany the short story “My Favorite Chaperone” contribute to students’ understanding of the immigrant experience. The following questions help students consider how language and cultural differences impact the immigrant experience:
  • Read to identify the difference in customs between Kazakhstan and America that causes a problem. How do you know that Maya and Nurzhan understand this difference better than their mother? (page 14)
  • Have students reread lines 195-210. What conclusions can be drawn from this evidence about immigrants’ attitudes toward language? (page 48)
• Tasks within this collection also support the culminating activity. Within this collection, students research to discover from where recent immigrants have come, write a short research report about the Hmong people, and work in small groups to create a video of personal stories.

Collection 3

• Performance Task A asks students to participate in a collaborative discussion to engage in dialogue regarding the ways people responded to the Civil War or the struggle for freedom. Students read a variety of texts about different people’s reactions during this time. These texts include responses by Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and Walt Whitman. Activities following these selections ask students to consider reactions. After reading "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad," students create a speech that introduces Harriet Tubman into a Hall of Fame. They examine her motivations and personality and consider what characteristics or actions make Tubman a hero. How did she impact the freedom movement? After reading "Bloody Times: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the Manhunt for Jefferson Davis," students compare Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. They use a Venn Diagram to analyze each individual and write a character sketch of each.

The instructional materials for Grade 8 meet the criteria for materials providing opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards. Materials provide multiple opportunities across the school year for students to write in different genres that reflect the distribution required by the standards. The students write arguments, informative texts, and narratives. Writing opportunities occur within collections in which students write shorter process pieces following texts within the collection and in many of the Performance Tasks at the end of each collection. Most of the writing tasks are connected to texts and text sets.

Examples of different writing opportunities in the materials include:

Shorter Process Writing found at the end of texts within Collections:

• Summaries
• Narratives
• Explanations
• Reports
• Literary analyses
• Informative reports
• Arguments

Despite a wide range of writing tasks, only two narrative writing opportunities are offered.

Extended writing projects in performance tasks at the end of the Collections include:

• Informative essays
• Personal narrative
• Arguments
• Literary analyses
• Research

The extended writings of the collections’ performance tasks are weighted more heavily towards argument with only one narrative included.

While the program does provide opportunities for the students to write to the requirements of the standards, there is little support for teachers or students to monitor their progress. Within the shorter writing tasks, neither teachers nor students are provided with rubrics, checklists, exemplars, or model texts. Culminating Performance Tasks offer a little more support by adding a brief excerpt of a mentor text from the collection, a student checklist, and a rubric. However, teachers would need to implement their own system to help students monitor their growth throughout all writing tasks.

The instructional materials for Grade 8 meet the criterion that materials include frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information. Materials provide students with sufficient opportunities to learn, practice, and apply writing using evidence. Students are asked to analyze texts, create claims, and include clear information about their writing topics. Materials provide opportunities to build and reinforce students’ writing abilities over the course of the school year.

Directions included with writing tasks require students to use evidence from texts read within the collection as well as texts researched outside of the collections. Application of these skills are required and evident within shorter writing assignments included in the collections as well as in the Performance Tasks at the end of each collection.

Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Collection 2: Students write a literary analysis essay about one of the fictional horror stories in the collection and must use the criteria for horror explained in the collection's “What is the Horror Genre,” by Sharon A. Russell.
• Collection 3: Students write a literary analysis essay that discusses the symbolism in “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh,” from the collection.
• Collection 4: Students write an argument using evidence from two arguments they read regarding teen driving, “Is 16 Too Young to Drive a Car?” and “Fatal Car Crashes Drop for 16-Year-Olds, Rise for Older Teens."
• Collection 5: After reading “Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, the Afterlife," students write an analysis where they decide if Prose has made a convincing argument or not. Students must analyze the argument, document Prose’s claims and supporting evidence, determine if the evidence is relevant and sufficient, and write their analysis by stating their view and supporting it with evidence derived from that text.

Overall:

• Materials provide frequent opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply writing using evidence.
• Writing opportunities are focused on student analyses and claims developed from reading closely and working with sources.
• Materials provide opportunities that build students’ writing skills over the course of the school year.