9th Grade - Gateway 1

The HMH Collections reviewed for Grade 9 meets the criteria for anchor texts being of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading and consider a range of student interests. The materials contain anchor texts written by established and credible published authors or well-known sources. Many of these texts are well-known and would appeal to a range of student interests. Texts are varied and include short stories, poems, memoirs, myths, dramas, speeches, arguments, science writings, historical writings, and media texts.

Anchor texts in the majority of the collections and across the yearlong curriculum are of publishable quality. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Collection 1 there is the short story, “Once Upon a Time,” by Nadine Gordimer, a Nobel Prize winner for literature in 1991. Her works are famous for their opposition to apartheid in South Africa and were banned in her home country prior to the abolition of apartheid in 1994. She specifically comments on the themes of exile and internal strife caused by apartheid within South Africa.
• In Collection 3 there is the short story, “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Town,” by Jhumpa Lahiri, and a science writing piece, “Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Connect,” by Frans de Waal.
  • “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Town” is from a short story collection, The Interpreter of Maladies, that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000.
  • Frans de Waal is the director of The Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Lawrenceville, Georgia, and author of numerous books.

Anchor texts are well-crafted, content-rich, and include a range of student interests, engaging students at the grade level for which they are placed. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Collection 2 contains a wide variety of text types to engage students. There is a speech, an historical writing, a video, a diary entry, a memoir, a graphic novel, and a short story. The content-rich texts focus on the struggle for freedom in different countries - United States, Egypt, Iran, and Argentina - and during different time periods to include a range of students’ interests.
  • “I Have a Dream” Speech by Martin Luther King Jr.
  • from "Nobody Turn Me Around: A People’s History of the 1963 March on Washington” History Writing by Charles Euchner
  • “AMERICA The Story of Us: March on Washington” Video
  • from "Cairo: My City, Our Revolution” Diary by Ahdaf Soueif
  • from Reading Lolita in Tehran Memoir by Azar Nafisi
  • from Persepolis 2 Graphic Novel by Marjane Satrapi
  • “The Censors” Short Story by Luisa Valenzuela

Anchor texts do not require revision or supplements in order to ensure quality. The majority of the texts throughout the Collections in the 9th grade textbook are written by authors of known quality in their respective fields. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Anna Quindlen’s “A Quilt of a Country” is found in Collection 1. She was the third woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1992.
• Yasunari Kawabata’s “The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket” is included in Collection 3. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968.
• Wislawa Szymborska’s poem, “The End and the Beginning,” is in Collection 5. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1996.

The texts in HMH Collections Grade 9 are of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading. They are high-quality texts that will appeal to a wide variety of students and will introduce students to a variety of writing types that they will come in contact with as adult readers. Finally, the texts throughout the collection represent a multitude of cultures and ideas to provide a basis for evaluative thinking on the part of the students.

The HMH Collections reviewed for Grade 9 meets 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.

Examples of texts with appropriate text complexity include, but are not limited to:

• In Collection 1 “A Quilt of a Country” Argument by Anna Quindlen
  • Quantitative - 1260 Lexile
  • Qualitative - The “Levels of Meaning/Purpose” in this story is rated at the mid-low level. Although it is implied that there is more than one purpose, it is easily identified from the context. The “Structure” of the story is in the mid-high range because the organization of the main ideas and details is complex but mostly explicit. “Language Conventionality and Clarity” is in the mid-low level due to some unfamiliar or domain-specific words. “Knowledge Demands” is mid-high because students will need knowledge of specific events of discrimination in America’s history.
  • Reader and Task - Suggestions are provided in order to assist students in accessing the text in the “Zoom In On” feature: “Ask small groups to discuss the forces that bring people together and those that tear them apart. Remind students that this selection is an argument. As they read, suggest students take notes when they disagree with the author” (HMH, 9th Grade, Collection 1, “A Quilt of a Country” 3C). The tasks include analyze and evaluate an author’s claim and delineate and evaluate an argument.
• In Collection 3, “Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Connect” Science Writing by Frans de Waal
  • Quantitative - 1160 Lexile
  • Qualitative - The “Levels of Meaning/Purpose” in this story is rated at the mid-low level. There is a single level of complex meaning. The “Structure” of the story is in the mid-low range because the organization of the main ideas and details is complex but clearly stated and mostly sequential. “Language Conventionality and Clarity” is in the mid-high level because there is an increased number of unfamiliar and domain-specific words. “Knowledge Demands” is mid-low because students will read about slightly complex science concepts.
  • Reader and Task - Suggestions are provided in order to assist students in accessing the text in the “Zoom In On” feature. The teacher encourages students to write down unfamiliar words or domain-specific words they find. Some examples are given: laughter contagion, yawn contagion and herd instinct. This section also singles out the lines 84-102 in the text that may be confusing to students. The teacher can separate the students into small groups to read the lines and discuss specific questions; for example, “How does the ‘ghost box’ work?” The tasks include determine technical meanings and analyze and evaluate author’s claims.
• In Collection 5, “The Leap,” Short Story by Louise Erdrich
  • Quantitative - 1260 Lexile
  • Qualitative - The “Levels of Meaning/Purpose” in this story is rated at the mid-low level because there are multiple themes. The “Structure” of the story is in the mid-high range because there are chronology shifts with the use of flashback and flashforward. “Language Conventionality and Clarity” is in the mid-high level because of figurative language. “Knowledge Demands” is mid-low because it has a moderately complex theme.
  • Reader and Task - Suggestions are provided in order to assist students in accessing the text in the “Zoom In On” feature. For a pre-reading activity, the teacher has the students discuss circus performances and describe the following words: Arabian horses, contortionists, and trapeze acts. This section also singles out the lines 74-100 because students may have trouble visualizing what is described. The teacher can have one student read the selection out loud and two other students pantomime what is being described. The tasks during reading include support inferences about theme and analyzing the author’s choices of flashback and tension.

The HMH Collections materials for Grade 9 meets the expectations for materials supporting students’ increasing literacy skills over the course of the school year. Anchor texts and paired selections typically fall within the grade band; if a text is above or below the grade band, the qualitative measurements or reader tasks support students’ growth in literacy skills. The scaffolding of the texts and the tasks required of students generally ensure students are supported to access and comprehend grade-level texts independently at the end of the year.

The following Lexile ranges are found in the six collections:

Collection 1: 1170-1390
Collection 2: 990-1200
Collection 3: 1060-1170
Collection 4: 940-1020
Collection 5: 440-1260
Collection 6: 1030-1170

Examples of the complexity levels falling inside the grade band with sufficient scaffolding and appropriate tasks that support students in accessing grade-level texts independently at the end of the year include, but are not limited to:

• In Collection 3, which is toward the middle of the school year, students read a short story by Jhumpa Lahiri, “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine,” with a Lexile of 1170, which is in the middle of the grade band. The qualitative measures rate this as mid-high for levels of meaning and knowledge, and mid-low for structure and language. The reader task aids students in understanding the text by focusing on analyzing characters and theme and supporting inferences about theme.
• In Collection 4, students read Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, which does not have a Lexile rating. The qualitative measures put this at a mid-high for levels of meaning, structure and language, and at high for knowledge demands. This is found in the latter half of the year and has reader tasks that support students understanding. Students analyze author’s choices with parallel plots and analyze character motivations.
• In Collection 5, students read the short story, “The Leap,” by Louise Erdrich with a Lexile of 1260. This is toward the end of collection 5 and on the higher end of the grade band. The qualitative measures place this at a mid-low for levels of meaning and knowledge demands, and a mid-high for structure and language. The reader task is appropriate in that it asks students to analyze the author’s choices of flashback and tension and support inferences about theme.

Examples of the complexity levels falling outside the grade band with sufficient scaffolding and appropriate tasks that support students in accessing grade-level texts independently at the end of the year include, but are not limited to:

• In Collection 1, the second text in the collection is a short story, “Once Upon a Time,” by Nadine Gordimer with a Lexile of 1390, which is above the grade band. The qualitative measures say this is mid-low for levels of meaning, mid-high for structure and high for language and knowledge demands. The reader task is appropriate for this high-level text in that students are supporting their inferences about theme and analyzing the author’s choices with structure and language.
• Also in Collection 1, there is an essay by Kimberly M. Blaeser, “Rituals of Memory,” with a Lexile of 1380, which is above the grade band. The qualitative measures put this at mid-low for levels of meaning, mid-high for structure and knowledge demands, and high for language. The reader task for this text is appropriate because it helps students work through the high level language and mid-high structure by focusing on analyzing language and determining central idea.
• Collection 5 contains an excerpt from the memoir, Night, by Elie Wiesel with a Lexile of 440, which is below the grade band. The qualitative measures put this at a mid-high for levels of meaning and knowledge demands, and mid-low for structure and language. Although this is not a complex text, the reader task is more advanced. Students are analyzing the author’s purpose, rhetoric, and the impact of word choice on tone.

Throughout the school year, students are given access to texts at a variety of complexity levels. The materials support students’ increasing literacy skills by choosing texts that balance quantitative and qualitative levels with the reader task.

The HMH Collections reviewed for Grade 9 meets 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.

The Teacher’s Edition contains “Plan” pages before each text which includes both the text complexity analysis and rationale for educational purpose and placement in the grade level.

• “Why This Text?” is provided for each anchor text. This gives the rationale for educational purpose and placement as well as key learning objectives. For example, in Collection 4 for Romeo and Juliet, the “Why This Text?” states: “Variations on the story of Romeo and Juliet abound, epitomizing as it does the passionate intensity of young love. In this lesson, students are introduced to the beauty of the language, the timelessness of the characters and theme, and the complexities of the plot in Shakespeare’s enduring classic” (177A).
• The Text Complexity Rubric explains the text complexity attributes of each whole class text, the Lexile, and the places within the lesson that will help the teacher determine if the text is appropriate in terms of reader and task. An example of how this is prepared for teachers is found in Collection 6 on page 433A-433C in “The Real Reasons We Explore Space” an argument by Michael Griffin. Text Complexity Rubric gives the quantitative, qualitative, and reader and task measures.
  • Quantitative - 1170 Lexile
  • Qualitative - includes a low, mid-low, mid-high and high scale for each of the following measurements. Under the heading are two columns: on the right states the objective and on the left is a “Zoom In On” feature which gives teachers an activity to complete the objective:
    • Levels of Meaning/Purpose - scored “low” on the scale
      • Objective - “To teach analyzing analogies to understand ideas and meaning in a text, see Determine Meaning and Analyze Ideas.”
      • Zoom In On - teachers define analogy for the students and then have students “reread the author’s conclusion and analyze the ideas it contains”.
    • Structure - scored “low” on the scale
      • Objective - to delineate and evaluate an argument. Teachers are referred to multiple pages to facilitate students’ understanding of this goal.
      • Zoom In On - Review the elements of an argument: evidence, logic, and emotional appeals. Then put students in groups and use questions provided to discuss the use of logic and emotion in the text.
    • Language Conventionality and Clarity - scored “mid-high” on the scale
      • Objective - teach unfamiliar vocabulary in context, analyze rhetorical language, support students in understanding synonyms and antonyms, and guide students in understanding transition words and phrases.
      • Zoom In On - The teacher goes over the critical reading vocabulary word, contemplate, before reading the text. The teacher reads aloud the paragraph that contains the word and models how to figure out the meaning using context clues (like antonyms and synonyms). Then, students get into small groups to do the same for the words vital, harmful, and followership.
    • Knowledge Demands - scored “mid-high” on the scale
      • Objective - “Support English Learners in understanding the author’s background.”
      • Zoom In On - The teacher is given additional information about the author. For example, “The author has a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering. Aerospace engineers design and manage the building of spacecraft, aircraft, missiles, and defense systems.”
  • Suggested Reader and Task Considerations:
    • On the right are things the teacher should consider before reading: “Will students have any difficulty with the vocabulary used in the essay? Will students be interested in the way ideas are presented within the essay?”
    • Zoom In On is on the left - This labels the goal, “Supporting Comprehension,” and then shares an activity students can complete to reach the goal. “Have students highlight or note any unfamiliar words and phrases as they read. Pair English learners with more experienced English speakers to define highlighted words and phrases. Have them use reference works to confirm meanings.

The HMH Collections reviewed for Grade 9 meets the criteria 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; this may include work with mentor texts as well).

The majority of the questions within the textbook require students to go back to the text to support their interpretations and build their knowledge from the literal to the inferential. The materials also provide support for planning and implementing by including teacher instructions for when to ask the question, how to introduce it, and possible student answers. Within each Collection, each text contains questions to be asked during the reading and questions that will be completed after the reading. During the reading, each question has a bold heading that states the purpose, the question, and an example student answer. Examples of questions a teacher asks while reading include, but are not limited to:

• “Point out that lines 46-48 provide a transition from the narrator’s autobiographical story to a fictional one about a family. The narrator uses these lines to help her readers understand how she came to imagine the story of the family. Ask students how the shift in structure from an autobiographical tale to a ‘bedtime story’ affects the reader” (12).
• “Ask students to reread deWaal’s statement in lines- : ‘The new level requires that one pay better attention to what others do and absorb how they do it.’ What implications do this statement and the subsequent examples suggest?” ( 127).
• “Ask students to reread lines 114-123 and identify the inference that Gonzales makes abour Byron Kerns. Discuss what details support that inference” ( 328).
• “Make sure students understand that Odysseus fought for ten years in the Trojan War; he has spent ten more years trying to get home. “Ask students what details in lines 17-25 reveal about Odysseus’ feelings” (372).

In addition to the questions during the reading, there is a section after the text labeled, “Analyzing the Text.” This section contains the same general instructions in all Collections that say, “Cite Text Evidence: Support your responses with evidence from the selection.” There are three to six questions in this segment. Each question is preceded by a skill in bold followed by the question; possible students answers are found on the left-hand side of the teacher’s edition. Examples of questions at the end of the text from the “Analyzing the Text” Section include, but are not limited to:

• “Evaluate: In lines 58, 136, and 194, the phrase ‘wise old witch’ is used to describe the husband’s mother. Explain how the wise old witch can be interpreted to symbolize the government of South Africa” ( 18).
• “Compare: Reread lines 107-152 in the poem. How does the scene compare to Act V, Scene 3, lines 74-120, of Romeo and Juliet?” (288).
• “Interpret: How does the order in which Odysseus reveals himself to his friends and loved ones build suspense? Explain” (418).

The HMH Collections also comes with a consumable workbook called The Close Reader. This contains directions before the reading and a short response question at the end. Each question during the reading has the heading “REREAD”; it is preceded by instructions labeled with the “READ” heading. The “READ” label gives the students instructions for what to look for while reading. The “REREAD” section asks students to answer a short answer question based on what they focused on during “READ.” Examples of questions from the Close Reader DURING Reading include, but are not limited to:

• In Collection 2, students read a speech by Robert F. Kennedy, “A Eulogy for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” (HMH, 9th Grade, Collection 2 Close Reader, “A Eulogy for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” (72b-72e).
  • READ asks students to read lines 1-13 and begin to collect and cite text evidence by doing the following:
    • “Underline examples of repetition and parallelism” (72d).
    • “In the margin, note what questions Kennedy poses” (72d).
  • In the REREAD section, students are asked:
    • “Reread lines 6-13. How does Kennedy use parallelism to emphasize the potential for American society to become more divided?” (72d).
• In Collection 3, students read a short story, “And of Clay We are Created” by Isabel Allende (HMH, 9th Grade, Collection 3 Close Reader, “And of Clay Are We Created” 122B-122K).
  • READ asks students to read lines 1-30 and begin to cite and collect text evidence by doing the following:
    • “Circle the image that opens the story” (122c).
    • “In the margin, explain what the author foreshadows will happen to Carle (lines 1-11)” (122c).
    • “Underline the text describing the consequences of the eruption” (122c).
  • In the REREAD section, students are asked:
    • “Reread lines 1-11. How does the narrator describe Carle? Make an inference about his character based on this and the description of the devastation in lines 20-30. Cite text evidence in your response” (122d).

There are short answer questions at the end of the reading have the heading, “SHORT RESPONSE” and the instructions “Cite Text Evidence.” Examples of questions from the Close Reader AFTER Reading include, but are not limited to:

• SHORT RESPONSE: “Think about Marlene’s relationship with her father and what it reveals about the story’s theme. Review your reading notes. Be sure to cite text evidence to explain your response” (20h).
• SHORT RESPONSE: “How does Kennedy’s use of rhetoric advance his argument? How does his use of parallelism help speak to a racially divided audience? Cite evidence from the text in your response” (72e).
• SHORT RESPONSE: “What is the theme of this story? Review your reading notes and cite text evidence to support your answer” (35-42).

The instructional materials include questions, tasks and assignments that are text-dependent/specific and consistently support students’ literacy growth over the course of the school year. The teacher materials provide complete support for planning and implementation of text-dependent questions, tasks and assignments by including information to share before the question and possible student answers.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 9 meet the criteria for having sets of high-quality sequences of text-dependent/specific questions and tasks that build to a culminating task that integrates skills (may be writing, speaking, or a combination).

The materials contain varied culminating tasks of quality across a year’s worth of material, for students to demonstrate what they know and are able to do in speaking and/or writing. Over the course of the year, students present a speech, create a group multimedia presentation, participate in a panel discussion, and write three analytical essays, two arguments, and a fictional narrative throughout the six collections. There are text-dependent questions and tasks throughout the unit that connect to the culminating tasks.

The culminating tasks are found at the end of each collection. These tasks are rich and require students to demonstrate what they know through speaking and/or writing. Below is a representative list of the performance tasks found in the 9th grade edition:

Collection 1 - Present a Speech; Write an Analytical Essay
Collection 2 - Write an Argument
Collection 3 - Write a Fictional Narrative; Create a Group Multimedia Presentation
Collection 4 - Write an Analytical Essay
Collection 5 - Write an Argument; Participate in a Panel Discussion
Collection 6 - Research and Write an Analytical Essay

An example of a performance task that uses the unit’s text-dependent and text-specific questions to build to a culminating task which integrates skills to demonstrate understanding is in Collection 4: Sweet Sorrow.

• The performance task states, “This collection explores the many facets of love -- joy, pain, passion, and conflict, to name just a few. Look back at the anchor text, Romeo and Juliet, and at the other texts in the collection. Consider the attributes or characteristics of love that are represented in each text. Synthesize your ideas by writing an analytical essay” (301).

Questions with possible student answers throughout the text selections are written to help students gather information that will help them write their essay.

• For example, one of the support questions from the teacher's edition in “from Love’s Vocabulary” by Diane Ackerman on page 163 states, “cite text evidence...identify the central idea Ackerman presents at the very beginning of the essay. (‘Love is the great intangible’ [line 1]). How does she support this idea? (She calls love a ‘dream state’ and in lines 7-8 uses contradictory adjectives to describe love’s moods, showing it is not easily defined: ‘Frantic and serene, vigilant and calm, wrung-out and fortified, explosive and sedate.’)” ( 163). This clearly is setting up students to think about and define love.
• At the end of this selection in the collection, the Analyzing the Text questions center around what Ackerman is saying about love and lead the students through the process of analyzing Ackerman’s analysis of love. For example, question 1 asks, “Ackerman begins by stating that ‘Love is the great intangible.’ What does she mean by the statement?” ( 170).
• In the poem, “Pyramus and Thisbe,” on page 287, the textbook directs teachers to “Ask students to reread lines 129-137. What overarching theme relates to Thisbe’s exclamation, ‘your love has killed you’? (The line emphasizes the power of love, which is one of the poem’s themes)."

Another example of a Collection’s Performance Task utilizing text questions to build to the culminating Performance Task is in Collection 6: Heroes and Quests.

• The performance task states, “Review the journeys taken in three texts in this collection, including the Odyssey. What compels characters or real people to set off on a journey -- physical, mental, or spiritual -- and what do they learn Synthesize your ideas in an analytical essay. Use evidence from the texts and from additional sources to support your conclusions.”

Questions and possible student answers throughout the text selections are written to support students in developing ideas about setting off on a journey and collecting evidence to support those ideas for the essay.

• In the anchor text from the Odyssey one of the questions on page 376 says, “Ask students what they learn from the dialogue between Odysseus and his crew.” (The crew members are uneasy and want to leave, taking what they need for their continued voyage. Odysseus refuses, driven by a desire to learn more about the Cyclops and what he might give them.) This question will help students to consider the different types of journeys and how they affect characters.
• In the text, “The Cruelest Journey” on page 422, the text gives some background for teachers to share with students and the teacher instructions state to “have students identify the text that shows how Salak feels at the beginning of her journey. How does she react to being called ‘crazy’?” This question helps students to consider the purpose of a journey and how someone feels setting out on that journey.

Consistently, across texts there are questions suggested in the teacher’s edition that will support students in building understanding and evidence towards the final performance task.

The HMH Collections reviewed for Grade 9 meets 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. The materials provide a mix of both on-demand and process writing, and shorter and longer tasks and projects.

Representative examples of the writing tasks and projects are below, including both shorter and longer works as well as on-demand and process writing that are aligned to the standards:

• In Collection 1, “A Quit of a Country” ends with the performance task “Using what you have learned about how to develop an argument, write and support a claim about a positive aspect of your school or community” ( 8).
  • Students are to follow multiple steps
  • Students are told to revise for unrelated or illogical evidence
  • Students are told to edit for conventions
  • Students are told to use the myWriteSmart program
• In Collection 3, Performance Task A has students write a fictional narrative. In this writing, students are to create a narrative that shows how we connect to others. This task is clearly an example of a longer process writing as students analyze texts they read in this collection for narrative techniques, have a group discussion of narrative technique analysis, brainstorm narrative ideas with a graphic organizer, organize the structure of the narrative, draft, review with partners, revise and create a finished copy of their writing. In this task, students must do the following:
  • Introduce a setting, narrator, and a main character
  • Include an engaging plot with central conflict
  • Provide a clear sequence of events
  • Use a variety of narrative techniques
  • Include sensory language and descriptive details
  • End with logical and satisfying resolution to the conflict
• Each Collection also contains smaller writing tasks like letters and journal entries. Examples include, but are not limited to:
  • In Collection 2, after reading “from Nobody Turn Me Around: A People’s History of the 1963 March on Washington” and watching “America The Story of Us: March on Washington,” students write a one-page first-person account imagining that they were in the audience for King’s speech ( 72).
  • In Collection 5 after reading the poem, “The End and the Beginning,” students choose two examples of imagery and write a brief explanation of the “figurative meaning of each image” ( 354).
• The Performance Assessment booklet contains four units of on-demand writing - argumentative, informative, literary analysis and mixed practice. Within each unit, students complete the following:
  • Analyze the Model - students read two texts and analyze a student model essay.
  • Practice the Task - students read two to four texts, complete prewriting activities and write the essay.
  • Perform the Task - students read two to four texts, complete prewriting activities and write the essay.

The HMH Collections reviewed for Grade 9 meets 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 argument, informative, and narrative texts. Writing opportunities occur within collections in which students write shorter process pieces following each text, and a larger process piece in the Performance Tasks at the end of each collection. The Performance Assessment Practice booklet provides students with multiple opportunities to both observe students samples and write their own examples of two modes of writing: argumentative and informative. There is ample opportunity for practice over the course of the year and all the writing is clearly connected to text(s), even within the Performance Assessment Practice booklet.

Examples of different writing opportunities in the materials include, but are not limited to:

• Arguments
• Analytical Essays
• Analyses
• Letters
• Journals
• Narratives
• Comparison Essays
• Reflections
• Editorials
• Research Essays

While the program does provide opportunities for the students to write to the requirements of the standards, the only support for teachers or students to monitor their progress is if teachers use the myWriteSource digital resource. Within the textbook, neither teachers nor students are provided with rubrics, checklists, exemplars, or model texts for the smaller performance tasks at the end of each text. The 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, the only way to truly monitor progress in writing skills is using the myWriteSource resource. With writing assignments in this database, students can ask questions with the “Raise Hand’ feature at any time. They can also request that their teacher look over their work before the final submission. Teachers can send items back with comments to be revised if they did not meet the expectations.

The HMH Collections does give students ample opportunity to practice writing in multiple genres. The support materials in the textbook are lacking, but if the digital myWriteSource is used, teachers can support and monitor students through the writing process.

The HMH Collections reviewed for Grade 9 meets the criteria for materials including frequent opportunities for research-based and evidence-based writing to support analysis, argument, synthesis and/or evaluation of information, supports, claims.

The materials reviewed for Grade 9 meet the criteria for materials including frequent opportunities for research-based and evidence-based writing to support analysis, argument, synthesis and/or evaluation of information, supports, and claims. Throughout the collections there are a number of opportunities for students to write requiring them to either go back into the text to pull evidence or to conduct research to find evidence to support their analysis, claim, or other points within their writing, including referencing text as a basis for narrative writing. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• The Close Reader Selections require students to go back into the text numerous times to respond to questions and each text ends with a short writing response, one to two paragraphs asking students to cite text evidence to support their answer.
  • In Collection 1 in response to Clinton’s speech, students are asked: “Do you think Clinton’s speech was effective in showing support for the American people during this tragedy? How does this use of language and parallelism help advance his purpose? Explain, citing text evidence in your response” (32e).
• Performance tasks at the end of Collections ask students to go back into the text and to specifically use the anchor text and at least two other texts in the collection to answer the prompt provided.
  • In Collection 4 the performance task has students write an analytical essay. “Look back at the anchor text, Romeo and Juliet, and at the other texts in the collection. Consider the attributes or characteristics of love that are represented in each text. Synthesize your ideas by writing an analytical essay” (301).
• Performance Tasks at the end of Collections require students to either go back into the selection itself or to do some outside research for the writing assignment.
  • In Collection 2, the Performance Task asks students to write an argumentative essay where they develop a claim whether or not freedom is universal or must be demanded by the people. “Choose three texts from this collection, including the anchor text, ‘I Have a Dream,’ and identify how each writer addresses the struggle for freedom in his or her society. Then, write an argument in which you cite evidence from all three texts to support your claim” ( 97).
  • Collection 5 Performance Task A asks students to write an argumentative essay in which they write a claim that asserts whether or not it is necessary to be selfish in order to survive. “Based on the evidence from at least three selections, would you say that survival requires selfishness? Synthesize your ideas by writing an argument in support of your position” (355).

The materials reviewed for Grade 9 meet the criteria for materials including frequent opportunities for research-based and evidence-based writing. The writing requires students to mine evidence from the texts to support a claim, and it meets the grade level demands of the Common Core State Standards.

The HMH Collections reviewed for Grade 9 meets the criteria that materials include instruction of the grammar and conventions/language standards for grade level as applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts, with opportunities for application context.

Conventions and grammar are taught in two places: before the readings on the Plan pages under the “Language Conventionality and Clarity” section in the qualitative text complexity rubric and after the readings in a feature called Language Conventions. The Plan pages “Language Conventionality and Clarity” defines the grammatical term and then states a group of lines from the text in which it is found within the reading. The “Language and Style” section after the text again defines the grammatical term and references specific lines from the text that illustrate the term. Within this feature, there is a brief opportunity for students to learn and practice the function of language defined by the grammatical term under the “Practice and Apply” heading. Here they either look back at the performance task they wrote for the text to find examples of the function of language in their own writing, or they need to revise their writing to include the function of language. Occasionally in this section, students have to write a new paragraph in which they use the function of language.

Below are examples of targeted grammar and conventions from each collection:

• Collection 1: noun clauses, prepositional phrases, parallel structure
• Collection 2: repetition and parallelism, noun phrases, rhetorical questions, colons, and semicolons
• Collection 3: adverbial clauses, colons, verb phrases, adjective and adverb phrases
• Collection 4: synonyms, puns, and context clues
• Collection 5: tone, indefinite pronouns, colons, semicolons, and relative clauses
• Collection 6: absolute phrases, sentence length, transitions

Below are representative examples of grammar instruction in the “Language Conventionality and Clarity” and “Language and Style” sections:

• In Collection 4 on the Plan page 141C for “With Friends Like These . . .,” the “Language Conventionality and Clarity” section focuses on prepositional phrases. The teacher explains that “what [students] modify can help [them] understand long sentences.” Then the teacher has students brainstorm a list of prepositions; an example list is given. After, the teacher shows a sentence from the text and works with the students to “highlight the prepositions, underline the prepositional phrases, and circle the modified words.” After doing this together, the teacher has the students work in partners to do the same strategy for three more sentences from the text.
• In Collection 2, after the text “from Reading Lolita in Tehran,” the “Language and Style” section on page 88 focuses on rhetorical questions. The first section defines rhetorical questions, shows an example from the text and explains the effect of the question: “By using a rhetorical question instead of a statement, Nafisi invites the reader to think carefully about the scene described . . .” Other examples from the text are then shared in a chart with the rhetorical question on the left and the meaning on the right. After the examples, students are expected to complete the “Practice and Apply,” which states: “Think of an injustice that you have observed or read about. Write a brief paragraph describing and reflecting on the injustice. Use rhetorical questions, as Nafisi does, to convey meaning and for dramatic effect.”

The HMH Collections for 9th grade includes instruction of grammar and conventions in context throughout all six collections. All conventions and language standards required by the Common Core are covered, and students apply them to the texts and their own writing.