7th Grade - Gateway 1

This instructional materials for Grade 7 partially 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 majority of texts are at a high level according to quantitative measures, but qualitatively the texts fall into different areas.

Many of the literature texts do not have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade. Of the thirteen texts that have a quantitative analysis, nine are outside the quantitative span for this grade level. Two of the texts are above the grade span and seven are below. Only four falls within the appropriate level.

Many of the informational texts do not have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade. Of the twenty-four texts, 14 are outside: eleven of the texts are above the grade span and three are below. Only ten falls within the grade span.

Some examples representative of the program include the following:

• “The People Could Fly” from Collection 2 is rated as a 430 Lexile and is far below the readability for this grade level. The qualitative analysis evaluates the text as moderately high only in language conventionality and clarity due to the use of fragments in dialogue. The structure is indicated as the lowest in complexity with Levels of Meaning and Knowledge Demands as rated at two of the four point scale. The task requires students to explain how one of the identified elements of a folktale is shown in this piece through paragraph writing, a completion of a graphic organizer to summarize the story and a performance task in which students dramatically read in a small group. These tasks do not require a high level of thought for a text of low readability and complexity.

• “Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century” an informational anchor text from Collection 5 has a 1640 Lexile. Graphics in this text are complex, sophisticated, and may be unhelpful for the students. The qualitative analysis of this text indicates it to be of the highest complexity in structure and knowledge demands. The task for this text requires students to research a topic related to consumerism and write an informative essay. This text, topic, and task are inappropriate for students at Grade 7 due to the level of complexity.

• “Train Time” a short story in Collection 6 is also below the quantitative grade band at 670. Its qualitative analysis rank Structure scoring at three out of four points due to flashbacks and flash forwards. The other three elements, Levels of Meaning, Language and Knowledge Demands ranked two out of four. The performance task for this reading is to write two to three paragraphs describing the character in the story. Included late in the collection, the text and task lack rigor for the end of the year expectations.

The instructional materials for Grade 7 partially meet the expectations for indicator 1d. The materials partially support students’ increasing literacy skills over the course of the school year. This collection lacks clarity regarding the progression of rigor in Grade 7 instructional materials. Generally, texts are scaffolded by pairing difficult texts with similar themes, or a higher text with a lower text that share topics or a theme. However, several times during this grade level, lower texts are partnered with lower texts or more difficult texts are paired with complicated performance tasks which could leave the students frustrated and may render the texts inaccessible for struggling students. Below are the quantitative measures for texts within this collection:

Collection 1: 900 - 1250

• Anchor Text, “Rogue Wave” Lexile: 980
• Anchor Text, “The Flight of Icarus” Lexile: 1110

Collection 2: 430 - 1340

• Anchor Text, “The People Could Fly” Lexile: 430
• Anchor Text, Sorry Wrong Number, Drama

Collection 3: 830 - 1070

• Anchor Text, Mississippi Solo Lexile: 830
• Anchor Text, “Ode to Enchanted Light” and “Sleeping in the Forest,” poetry

Collection 4: 1130 - 1380

• Anchor Text, “Remarks at the Dedication of the Aerospace Medical Health Center” Lexile: 1380

Collection 5: 860 - 1640

• Anchor Text, Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century Lexile: 1640

Collection 6: 670 - 1190

• Anchor Text, Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy Lexile: 900 and The Story of the Triangle Factory Fire Lexile: 1110
• Anchor Text, “Craig Kielburger Reflects on Working Toward Peace” Lexile: 1080

The quantitative measures in the aforementioned examples indicate random spikes in complexity in Collections 2, 4, and 5, and then a decline in Collection 6.

Collection 1 begins with the anchor text “Rogue Wave,” a short story with a Lexile level of 980 which would be appropriate for the beginning of the year. The second anchor, a Greek myth “The Flight of Icarus” jumps to a Lexile level of 1140 which would place it at the high end of the grade span.

Collection 2 contains the lowest quantitative analyzed text, “The People Could Fly,” a folktale with a Lexile level of 430. After reading this text, students perform a dramatic reading in a small group. The task and text seem inappropriate for this grade level or would have been better placed as the first collection of the year.

Collection 3 contains the memoir Mississippi Solo that has a quantitative level of 830. That places this below the grade span. Additionally, the qualitative analysis provided in the teacher’s edition only ranks it as a two out of four in “Language and Structure.” Both levels of meaning/purpose and knowledge demands are given the lowest score for qualitative complexity. The task requires the students to write a two to four paragraph essay listing examples of how the author uses similes and personification. The text and task seem inappropriate for a collection placed at the middle of the year.

Collection 5 consists of an informational anchor text, “Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century,” two informational essays, an additional informational text, two short stories, and two poems. The first text, “Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century” jumps in Lexile level to a ranking of 1640 well above the grade span level. Usually, graphics have a scaffolding effect, but the graphics in this text are complex and sophisticated.

The materials for Grade 7 partially meet the criteria for anchor text(s), including support materials, provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to achieve grade level reading. Over the year, students are provided with a wide variety of texts. The Instructional Overview found at the beginning of each collection clearly identifies the diversity of texts students will be reading within each collection. Below is an example showing the range and volume that can be found from three different collections at this grade level:

• Collection 1 - short stories, poetry, news articles, editorials, essay, myths, informational text
• Collection 3 - memoir, soliloquy, expository essay, informational texts, short stories, poetry
• Collection 6 - history writing, excerpt from historical novel, personal essay, documentary, poetry, short stories, speech, online article.

While this grade level does offer a diversity of texts, no full length works are included. For example, Mississippi Solo and Polar Dream in Collection 3 are both excerpts from full memoirs, and the historical writings found in Collection 6 are both excerpts from full-piece texts.

While students read a variety of texts, it is unclear how students are supported towards independence. Instructions within the Teacher’s Edition do not explain how the entirety of a text is to be read: silently, by the teacher, or aloud as a whole class. Therefore, this decision is left up to the teacher with little guidance from the program. Students may never read the texts within the collections independently.

Over the span of a year for 7th grade, the student has only three explicitly stated opportunities for oral reading, and explicit instruction for silent/independent reading is minimal. Rather, there are general opportunities for silent reading that the teacher and student may infer. Following are some examples of the oral reading opportunities:

• Collection 1: After reading “Icarus’s Flight,” the “When Students Struggle” section of the Teacher’s Edition states: “Explain to students that reading a poem aloud often helps reveal the rhythm. Have students work in small groups to take turns reading the poem aloud to each other” (HMH 7th Grade, Collection 1, 40).
• Collection 2: After reading “The People Could Fly,” there is a dramatic reading performance task: “With a small group, do a dramatic reading of ‘The People Could Fly,’ using the text of the folktale as a script” (HMH 7th Grade, Collection 2, 69).
• Collection 3: After reading “from The Tempest,” there is a dramatic reading performance task: “Divide the lines of this soliloquy among the members of a small group so that each participant has several lines that express one idea or related ideas. Then, as a group deliver your version of the soliloquy to the class” (HMH 7th Grade, Collection 3, 148). No additional instruction is provided.
• Collections 4, 5, and 6: provide no instructed opportunities for students to practice reading aloud.

Each collection contains a feature titled Independent Reading that precedes the Performance Tasks at the end of each collection. This feature suggests digital resources students can use to find out more about the theme or topic of the collection. However, little support is provided and student choice is very limited. Following are some examples of suggestions from this feature:

• Collection 1 suggests students read “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” or “Icarus and Daedalus.” The program prompts the teacher to ask the students about the respective themes of these two readings and look for similarities and differences of the development of theme. No guidance or monitoring support is offered and students do not independently choose their own reason for reading these selections.
• The feature Novelwise suggests that students can use this source to read longer pieces of work and provides tips on finding a book, ideas for before reading, while reading, and after reading. No system for monitoring students’ progress is provided.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 partially meet the criteria of providing sets of high-quality sequences of text-dependent questions and tasks 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 diverse means of delivery. These performance tasks are centered on the topic that students have been reading about in each collection and require students to use knowledge or information they gained through interacting with these texts. To complete a performance task, students draw on their reading and analysis of the Collection's selections as well as additional research. However, the skills identified in the "analyzing the text" section after each piece do not necessarily lead to the culminating performance task of a writing project.

Throughout Grade 7, the students will complete the following performance tasks:

• Write a fictional narrative
• Write and present arguments
• Present a summary
• Write a personal narrative
• Write a poetry analysis
• Create a multimedia presentation
• Write an informative essay
• Participate in a panel 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 a fictional narrative in which characters take bold action in challenging circumstances. Text-dependent questions in this unit contribute to the students’ ability to write a narrative; they read narratives and were guided by questions to consider story elements. Students also examined stories in which characters took risks with different results. Below is an example of a supporting question:
  • Rogue Wave: Have students reread lines 200-211 and identify details that create obstacles for Scoot (p. 9).

Collection 3

• Performance Task A asks students to write a personal narrative about their own interactions with nature. Text-dependent questions that accompany the memoir Mississippi Solo ask students questions to assist in identifying particular episodes as memorable to the author. Additional questions analyze the tone, style, and word choices utilized in the text. The task at the end of the reading asks students to write an analysis that evaluates how the author’s use of figurative language contributes to his feelings about his interaction with nature. “Polar Dream,” the close reading selection from this collection is a memoir. The “Why this Text” feature explains the techniques used to help the reader understand the emotions of the writer.

The instructional materials for Grade 7 partially meet the criterion that materials provide frequent opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax.The materials provide opportunities for evidence-based discussions with partners and small groups. After each reading within the collection, the student version and Teacher’s Edition include two collaborative discussion prompts. Both require textual evidence to support an opinion; however, minimal teacher support is provided for instruction. Teachers are guided regarding how to strategically group students nor how to identify struggling students. Each collaborative discussion opportunity concludes with students sharing their conversation with the whole class. No answer key or preferred responses are included. The Close Reader and Analyzing the Text questions include frequent opportunities for evidence-based discussion through the use of text-dependent questions. While possible student responses are provided with these prompts, there are no supports as to how teachers use these questions to facilitate student discussions. Therefore, teachers might not utilize these as conversation prompts. They may have students respond individually or within writing. Additionally, there are no teachers guidelines on how to monitor these questions to ensure students’ understanding.

Discussion opportunities are also structured around academic vocabulary. Academic vocabulary is identified at the beginning of each collection in the “Plan” section. The “Plan” feature identifies opportunities for students to use the targeted vocabulary in Collaborative Discussion activities following each reading selection and Analyzing the Text Questions within the selections. The Think-Pair-Share strategy is regularly involved in the Analyzing the Text Questions. While these provide opportunities to practice the language, implementation of the strategy is not explicitly supported with guidance for misunderstandings nor with accountability.

The Student Resources section at the end of each collection contains a “Participating in a Collaborative Discussion” (pp. R12-13). These two pages provide a general description of how students might participate in a collaborative conversation and an annotated script of a grade level example. The information regarding participation is the same for every grade level; however, scripts of conversations use grade-level texts citations. The outline for participating in a discussion include the following:

• Prepare for Discussion
  • Reminds students to annotate or create notes using evidence
  • No specific guidance or support for annotations or note taking is provided
• Set Ground Rules
  • Uses four guiding questions to help a group set ground rules; however, no teacher monitoring or support is offered
• Move the Discussion Forward
  • Provides a script of a conversation during which this skill occurs
    • Shows how the group draws out a quiet member, relates discussion to larger areas, challenges a group member’s discussion, elaborates on ideas, paraphrases and challenges for more evidence
  • No academic language or syntax supports are provided
• Respond to Ideas
  • Provides a script of a conversation during which this skill occurs
    • Shows how the group summarizes points of agreement, how a group member maintains his/her position, qualify views based on heard discussion, supports positions by making connections
  • No academic language or syntax supports are provided

While the Grade 7 materials provide opportunities for evidence-based discussions and use of academic vocabulary, the materials lack instructional support for implementation protocols, assessment protocols, and ways to identify students struggling with speaking and listening skills.

The instructional materials for Grade 7 partially meet the criteria for materials supporting students’ listening and speaking about what they are reading and researching (including presentation opportunities) with relevant follow-up questions and supports. The instructional materials provide opportunities for students in this grade to practice speaking and listening relating to the topics and texts they are reading and researching within the collections. However, there is a lack of teacher guidance to effectively support the implementation of these skills into the assignments.

Some speaking and listening components within assignments provided in the student and teacher edition include the following representative examples. In some cases, instruction on classroom implementation is either minimal or absent, and in others, there is a minimal connection to the texts being studied. The following examples are representative of speaking and listening assignments that demonstrate minimal or no instructional supports.

• The text-based performance task following “Why Exploring the Ocean is Mankind’s Next Giant Leap,” asks students to participate in an informal debate that considers the merits of further exploration of the deep-sea region. Students are to divide their group into two teams to informally debate that issue. Directions for this activity ask students from each side to take turns presenting and supporting valid claims and addressing opposing ideas. The instructions also ask the group to decide the rules they want to follow such as having a moderator and possible time limits for speakers. Teacher instructions guide students to reliable sources about the Mariana Trench. This activity supplies no guidance for grouping students, the structure of the debate, academic language supports, or ways to determine the validity of research resources.

• In Collection 1, Performance Task B requires students to present an argument. Students consider texts presented in this collection and take a stance about the value or risk of taking bold actions. In their presentation, the students are encouraged to state their claim, include evidence from texts, use good eye contact, volume, and pronunciation, include visuals, and restate the claim. No support is provided how to use a visual effectively. Multimedia slides are suggested, but no models are offered.

• In Collection 2, Performance Task B asks students to give a summary presentation from Sorry, Wrong Number. This presentation requires students to interest the listener by using effective verbal and nonverbal techniques. A chart is offered on verbal and nonverbal techniques, but no instruction on where and how to use these are included. Guidance for the teacher to monitor student progress on presentation skills is absent. As a culminating task, this activity focuses on the summary of one text from the collection instead of requiring a student to synthesize learning attained throughout the collection.
• In Collection 3, the Performance Task following “Big Rocks Balancing Act” asks students to present a summary after they research a concept or term from this reading using two sources. Students are reminded to find credible sources; however, no criteria are offered to help them discern the credibility of a source. While brief guidelines are offered for creating the summary, minimal guidance is provided in the Teacher’s Edition regarding how students are to present the summary. The instructions state, “Do not simply read the summary aloud; practice delivering your summary in a room by yourself…." No rubric is provided for the teacher to assess or students to self-assess (p. 166).

The instructional materials for Grade 7 partially meet the expectations for indicator 1k. Materials do include a mix of short and longer writing tasks and projects within the Student Edition. After many of the reading selections in a collection, students are presented with writing tasks. At the end of each collection are culminating performance tasks and many of these require writing. Below are examples of the types of writings students will encounter:

After reading texts within collections the following types of writing are assigned; however, there is little guidance and no rubrics are provided:

• Informational report
• Narratives
• Create a comic
• Character analyses
• Literary analyses
• Arguments
• Poems
• Research report
• Informational essay

Performance Tasks at the end of each Collection require the writing types below; these tasks contain two to three pages of guidance and rubrics are provided:

• Fictional and personal narrative
• Argument
• Summary
• Poetry analysis
• Informational essay

Despite having a wide mix of short and longer writing tasks and projects, the Collections do not include any on-demand writing tasks.

Writings also have limited opportunities for multiple draft development. The performance tasks include the following routine: Plan, Produce, Revise, and Present. However, the performance task routine does not result in multiple drafts. For example, in Performance Task A of Collection 3, students write a draft of a personal narrative in the “Produce” stage. In the “Revise” stage, writers work with a partner to determine if they have described their experience clearly and have used vivid details; in the “Present” stage, students create a finished copy resulting in two writes but not multiple.

Evidence of support for digital resources is also limited. For example, the performance task at the end of Collection 4 asks students to “Select multimedia resources to create charts, graphs, or pictures that clarify and strengthen your claims.” However, no digital resources are provided.

A consumable Performance Assessment booklet breaks down the writing process for three writing tasks: Argumentative Essay, Informative Essay, and Literary Analysis. There is a full unit of instruction including support for close reading, extraction of information, pacing, and revision. Student understanding is scaffolded through the use of rubrics, graphic organizers, and speaking and listening activities during which students discuss specific components of the writing task at hand. Materials include practice and instruction for pacing and self-revision. At the end of this booklet, there is an on-demand writing assignment. However, the readings in the Performance Assessment booklet are not connected to the readings and topics of the Collections. The readings are stand alone texts and writing assignments. Teachers are not advised in the Teacher’s Edition how or when to use these readings and writing projects. In addition, it is unclear if these consumables would be provided each year; therefore, students would have no exposure to on-demand writing assignments.

The instructional materials for Grade 7 partially meet the criterion that materials include explicit instruction of the grammar and conventions standards for grade level as applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts, with opportunities for application both in and out of context. Materials include some explicit directions targeted at the instruction of grammar and convention standards; however, instruction around these topics is brief. The grade level does not clearly appear to build in complexity as it progresses through the year.

Conventions and grammar are taught after the readings in a feature called Language Conventions. The text is referenced and samples from the text that was read are included. However, the opportunity for practice often times seem brief. These activities do not incorporate grammar and conventions often enough to fully meet the criteria of the indicator. Below are examples that illustrate the brevity of practice:

• “Another Place and Time,” Collection 2, students are asked to identify and correct misspellings in 5 sentences by rewriting the sentences.
• “Earth (A Gift Shop),” Collection 5, students are asked to correct spelling errors which occur in four sentences by rewriting them.
• “The Story of the Triangle Factory Fire,” Collection 6, students are asked to identify when to use capital letters in five different sentences.

Grammar and conventions are not addressed during the reading and at the point of contact. No text dependent questions appear to help students recognize grammatical structures within the context. Within this feature, there are brief opportunities for students to learn and practice grammatical and spelling conventions. Due to the short, random appearance of these activities, it may be unlikely that students will retain any information after the completion of four or five practice sentences. The grammar/spelling activities do appear in context with the literature they follow.

In addition, instruction within language conventions is also abstract. The following is part of the instruction on adverb clauses:

• “An adverb clause is a subordinate clause that completes the same task as an adverb: it modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb. It answers the question When? Where/How? Or To what extent?” No explanation or examples are provided to demonstrate how clauses modify a verb, an adjective, or an adverb. In the Practice and Apply feature, students look at four questions and identify if the clauses modify the verb, adjective, or adverb. No modeling or examples are provided to support student success with this task.

A steady progression of complexity seems unclear. Below are the targeted conventions and grammar within the collections that indicate this:

• Collection 1: sentence structure/complete sentence, commas and coordinate adjectives, subordinating clauses
• Collection 2: adverb clauses, spell correctly
• Collection 3: precise language, sentence structure/compound sentence, prepositional phrases
• Collection 4: capitalization/proper nouns, adjective clauses, verbal phrases
• Collection 5: eliminate redundancy, noun clauses, spelling
• Collection 6: capitalization/general rules, phrases, dangling modifiers, combining sentences with phrases, misplaced modifiers

Homophones are included in Grade 6 materials and appear again in Grade 7, Collection 5. A review of homophones would seem more logical in Collection 1 at the beginning of the year. Collection 6 also includes capitalization of geographical names such as cities, continents, regions, streets, and roads. At this point of the year, this should be a review.