3rd Grade - Gateway 3

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the expectations that materials are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing.

The materials are designed to immerse students in all areas of the standards and provide explicit lesson structure with embedded teacher direction as well as recommendations for supporting all learners. The teacher guide clearly instructs the teacher throughout each lesson on its implementation before, during, and after the readings and activities. There is clearly defined tiered vocabulary for each section as well as recommendations for scaffolded support throughout.

Every lesson is effectively broken down into time frames for coverage of material. At the beginning of each lesson there is “Lesson at a Glance” that maps out the skill being covered, grouping suggestions for students, the time each skill section should take, and the materials that will be needed. For example, in Unit 3 Lesson 5 the Lesson at a Glance shows that the Speaking and Listening section will take 40 minutes and is further broken down into specific activities that include previewing vocabulary for 5 minutes, introducing the read aloud for 10 minutes, presenting the read aloud for 15 minutes, discussing the read aloud for 5 minutes, and word-work for 5 minutes.

The Contents page of each unit states the topic of each lesson, the skills to be addressed in that lesson (reading, writing, speaking/listening, language, etc.), and the time allotted for each.

Materials include a curriculum map located in the program guide that tracks the “Knowledge Domains” that students will be working in through each grade. In each unit, students are immersed in a domain topic that centers on science, social studies, or literature. Included as a unit is also a “Core Quest” designed to immerse students in an expository topic.

• The program guide states, “The sequence is designed to build upon earlier content so that students become generally knowledgeable in the early grades, and are able to rely on a robust web of prior knowledge when encountering new complex texts and material later in elementary.
• The program guide states, “Core Quests are immersive, narrative driven units that form close reading adventures. There is one Quest each in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade.” The Quest for Grade three is on Vikings; “Using historical data on Viking travel, students take the roles of Vikings who have set sail with Leif Erikson to create the first Norse settlement in North America.”

Out of the 11 Domains (units) in grade three, 5 are based in science, 5 social studies, and one literature (The Wind in the Willows). While the materials appear to be heavily expository based, the social studies domains include historical fiction, and the science domains may be presented by narrative fictional character.

• The introduction to Grade 3, Unit 10 states, “The Reader for Unit 10, Living in Colonial America, is a collection of stories and informational texts about different colonies in early America. The story selections are historical fiction and each is told from a child’s point of view.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet expectations that the student resources include ample review and practice resources, clear directions, and explanation, and correct labeling of reference aids (e.g., visuals, maps, etc.).

Materials include but are not limited to photos, captions, glossaries, charts, diagrams, illustrations, sentence strips, graphic organizers, rubrics, digital images, labeled supports, activity pages, timing reminders, tiered vocabulary charts, notes to teachers, image cards, writing prompts and journals.

• In Unit 2, Lesson 1, the teacher guide states, “On sticky notes, write the following text features: table of contents, heading, bold print, photo/captions, map, diagram, glossary, and chart. Make sure you have one sticky note for each student and a variety of text features.”
  • “Review each text feature and definition in the table below:”
  • “Point out the caption on page 7. • Ask students to read pages 6–7 to find out what is different about the water in the two images of habitats.
• IN Unit 11, Lesson 9, the teacher guide states, “Prepare copies of Presentation Preparation Checklist for student groups” Hand out the Checklist for Preparing Presentation to students. • Tell students they can use visual aids during their presentations. • Tell students to create and submit a Presentation Outline in notebooks.”

Teacher and student resources include clear directions. Activities that are completed with teacher guidance have directions included throughout the lessons. Suggestions for grouping, additional supports, challenge ideas and direct instruction are clearly defined, explained and embedded throughout. Each lesson provides the ‘primary focus’ and advance preparation’ of the lesson, the ‘formative assessment(s)’ ‘lesson at a glance’, and ‘recommendations for universal access’ and a ‘check for understanding’ section. Activity pages correspond correctly to the teacher guide and make finding information seamless and efficient.

• In Unit 5, Lesson 4 states, “Write the following sentences on the board and cover them or write them on sentence strips to be displayed during the grammar lesson or prepare digital Projection DP.U5.L4.1.”

• In Unit 1, Lesson 14, “Tell students they are going to use an Editing Checklist to help them to know if any further corrections are needed.”

• Another example from Unit 1 is lesson 13 where it states, “Ask students to turn to the Table of Contents, locate the chapter, and then turn to the first page of the chapter.”

• An example of ‘Check for Understanding’ in Unit 2, Lesson 7 states, “As groups are presenting their Graffiti Walls, ensure that students have the key information listed about tree frogs. If not, review Frog Scavenger Hunt Cards for key information on tree frogs.”

Reference aids including vocabulary charts, lessons at a glance, visual resources such as images, illustrations and digitally presented graphics, correlating activity pages, and rubrics are clearly and correctly labeled throughout the teacher guide, activity book, and image cards. For example;

• Activity Page instructions (Unit 1, take home 8.4) states, “Circle true or false and write the page number where you found the answer.”
• In Unit 5, Lesson 8 states, “Have students take out their Student Readers, Lab Notes from the unit, and Activity Page 8.1”
• A formative assessment in Unit 2, Lesson 8, states, “Activity Page 8.2 Field Journal Write about being a herpetologist. [W.3.8]”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the expectations for materials including publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items.

Alignment to the CCSS is documented in multiple places throughout the curriculum. The alignment chart for the CCSS standards are documented in the 3-5 Program Guide, and in the contents pages of each unit. At the beginning of every lesson under ‘Primary Focus of the lesson” the standards being addressed are clearly stated as well as within the formative assessments for what is being measured. The same is true for the Unit Assessments in which the standards being measured are also found under the “primary focus” and formative assessments given through the activity pages. Within the sidebars of the teacher guide there are standards listed within the scaffolding of the lesson for “emerging/expanding/extending” the learning.

• For example, the introduction in Unit 1 states, “Formative assessments are provided to help keep track of students’ progress toward objectives and standards. These can be found in the Student Activity Book, and are referenced in every lesson.”
• In the Unit Assessment of Lesson 14 (Unit 3) for writing it states, “Students will write a short reflection passage. [W.3.8; ELD.PI.3.9] and in the area of Language, “Students will be able to identify and spell regular and plural nouns where the ‘f’ changes to ‘v’ and –es is added. [L.3.1b; ELD.PIII.3]”
• The formative assessment for Unit 11, Lesson 6 comes in the form of an “Anticipation Guide” activity page. “Human Changes to the Environment. Make predictions and find information in the text. [Rl.3.1, ELD PI.3.6]”
• In Unit 5, lesson 7, an example of standards being addressed in the sidebar for scaffolding states, “Reading/Viewing Closely [ELD.PI.3.6] Emerging—Read the chapter aloud to students, pausing at key points and asking students if they can find key words to record. Expanding—Have students read and record notes with a partner. Bridging—Have students read independently and share notes with a partner

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for materials containing a teacher’s edition with ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student edition and in the ancillary materials. Materials include teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning. Materials provide support instructional planning in multiple ways. The Teacher Guide gives clear annotations and suggestions on how to present content. At the beginning a unit, teachers are encouraged to read the introduction, alignment chart, assessments, and to review the pausing points for the lessons. At the beginning of each lesson, teachers are encouraged to use the Lesson at a Glance to review the primary focus and formative assessments. There is also an Advance Preparation section included in the Universal Access section that helps to support teachers. Throughout the lessons, sidebars are included to support teachers in how to present materials to both support and challenge student learning. There are also Additional Support activates at the end of lessons that provide assessment and remediation in skills lessons. Teachers are directed to consider whether additional activities in the Assessment and Remediation Guide or Decoding and Encoding Supplement should be utilized for students who may need additional support. Teachers are also instructed to review Language Studio content for English Language Learner students.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for materials containing a teacher’s edition that explains the role of the specific ELA/literacy standards in the context of the overall curriculum. The Program Guide for grades 3-5 contains explicit instruction on the role of the standards in the overall curriculum. It details the qualitative and quantitative text complexity of each unit, language demands from literal to complex language including tiered vocabulary, the structure of text and breakdown of literature, informational and nonfiction text, as well as close reading and use of text dependent questions including literal, inferential and evaluative questions.

An explanation of the Quantitative Text Complexity is explained on page 56 of the Program Guide, “By 3rd grade students are increasingly reading grade level complex text independently. They also continue to be exposed to above-grade Read-Alouds. In 4th and 5th grade, students are exclusively reading grade-level complex text that increases in challenge from the beginning to the end of the grade.”

An explanation of the Qualitative Text Complexity is explained on page 56 of the Program Guide, “Qualitative Text Complexity requires a range of judgments, some of which are by necessity subjective (Which is more complex, Anna Karenina or War and Peace? Descartes or Aristotle?). In 3rd–5th grade students are exposed to texts that are increasingly open to multiple interpretations and have many layers of meaning.”

The Program Guide details the language conventions in each grade on page 56; “In third grade, students are still exposed to texts that are mostly literal, and clear in their language. The form of writing is generally contemporary. In 3rd grade, students show a marked increase in academic and domain-specific vocabulary from K–2, but students are helped in absorbing that language through the continued use of Read-Alouds.”

The Program Guide page 60 details the types of text dependent questions that are addressed in every lesson.

• “Literal questions assess students’ recall of key details from the text. These are text- dependent questions that require students to paraphrase and/or refer back to the portion of the text where the specific answer is provided. Literal questions generally address Reading Standards for Literature n1 RL.4.1) and/or Reading Standards for Informational Text 1 (RI.X.1).”

• Inferential questions ask students to infer information from the text and to think critically. These are also text dependent, but require students to summarize and/or refer back to the portions of the text that lead to and support the inference they are making. These questions generally address Reading Standards for Literature 2–5 (RL.X.2– RL.X.5) and/or Reading Standards for Informational Text 2–5 (RI.X.2–RI.X.5).”

• Evaluative questions ask students to build on what they have learned from the text using analytical and application skills, often to form an opinion or make a judgment. These questions are also text-dependent, but require students to paraphrase and/or refer back to the portion(s) of the text that substantiate the argument they are making or the opinion they are offering. Evaluative questions might ask students to: Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, addressing Reading Standards for Literature 6 (RL.X.6)”

In Grade 3, the breakdown of genre within the 11 domains are as follows; 5 are based in science, 5 social studies, and one literature (The Wind in the Willows). While the materials appear to be heavily expository based, it can be noted that the social studies domains include historical fiction and the science domains may be presented by narrative fictional character.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for materials containing explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research based strategies. A Research Guide:The CKLA CA Curriculum: Links to Research on Teaching and Learning serves as a companion to the Program Guide. The guide discusses the research in English Language Arts instruction including but not limited to print and phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, reading fluency, prosody, vocabulary and background knowledge.

The Program Guide also includes footnotes to research as they are explaining their educational approaches. Also, during the English Language Learner section of the Program guide, teachers are provided with a Research Base: Why this Matters Explanation for instructional approaches.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for materials regularly and systematically offering assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress. Assessments include Daily Checks for Understanding, Daily Formative Assessments, Content and Mid Unit Assessments, and Unit Placement and Assessments Benchmark Tests.

Checks for understanding are designed to allow teachers to amend instruction within the context of the lesson. Formative assessments range from in-the-moment adaption to opportunities for individual, small group, and whole class reteach and review. Checks for Understanding and Formative Assessments also provide information to decide whether additional supports and practice (found at the end of the lesson and in the additional guides) are appropriate. Mid-unit, end-of-unit, and benchmark assessments should be used to direct remediation, Pausing Point days, and to differentiate instruction.

There is ongoing tracking of student progress:

• Student Progress Record. This form may be used against a large range of student activities to track how students are progressing over time and compared with others in the class.
• Mid-and end-of-unit assessments

There are a range of formal assessment opportunities that are are accompanied by directions and support for analysis of performance. They are also accompanied by assessment charts to record student progress. These assessment opportunities include, but not limited to:

• Spelling Assessments
• Grammar and Morphology Assessments
• Reading Comprehension Assessments
• Writing Assessments

There are three benchmark assessments: Beginning of Year, Middle of Year, and End of Year. Students are offered additional support and remediation depending on their performance on benchmark assessments.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for assessments clearly denoting which standards are being emphasized. There are multiple ways that students are assessed throughout each unit including formative assessments, mid-unit assessment, pausing points, and end-unit assessments. Within each form of assessment, it is clear what standards are being addressed.

Examples of formative assessments and the standards that are being emphasized in them are as follows:

• In Unit 2, Lesson 1 where it states that using Activity Page 1.2 (Animal Webcam Observations) student will, “Record animal observations and characteristics. [W.3.8] Activity Page 1.4 Text Feature Project Hunt Identify text features in the Reader. [RI.3.5]”
• In Unit 5, Lesson 7, using Activity Pages 7.4-7.7 (suffixes) students will, “Add –ous and –ly to words to change the meaning of words. [L.3.4b]
• In Unit 8, Lesson 4, using Activity Page 4.2 and the ‘Mound Guide’, students will, “Identify the key details about mounds. [W.3.8]

Unit Assessment in Unit 8 Lesson 13 provides the primary focus of the lesson in the following examples:

• “Students will demonstrate comprehension of stories they read independently. [RL.3.10]”
• “Students will use information learned in the unit to compare and contrast Native American groups. [RI.3.3, RI.3.4, RI.3.9

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for assessments providing sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow up.

Assessment keys are provided, as well as multiple suggestions and protocols for teachers to provide feedback such as:

• Teacher questioning to check for misconceptions.

• Wrap-Up questions and Checks for Understanding to check for comprehension.
• Writing feedback to provide immediate feedback and suggestions during the writing process.
• Student work to monitor students’ mastery of skills.
• Peer-to-peer feedback to provide immediate feedback on student performance.

There are a number of other tools that support teachers in providing specific feedback to students and monitoring and tracking student progress over time.

• Rubrics
• Portfolios
• Editing Checklists

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for including routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress.

Each lesson includes a formative assessment that is highlighted at the start of the lesson. These assessments are used to track student mastery of objectives.

• In Unit 9, Lesson 4, the formative assessments listed are an Expedition Log where students write down information they have learned about Ponce de Leon and an activity page titled, “El Castillo de San Marcos” where students list five facts from the text.

There are also Checks for Understanding throughout the lessons to be used by the teacher to determine if students are ready to move on to the next part of the lesson. The Check for Understanding questions are meant for quick formative assessments that happen during instruction to assess if students have mastered the key content and skills in the lesson.

• In Unit 5, Lesson 1, the Check for Understanding is a “Think-Pair-Share: ‘What does light have to do with wavelengths?’ Teacher should circulate while students share briefly. Answers will vary but should include light can be measured in wavelengths, wavelengths can be different sizes, some wavelengths are visible and some are not, depending on the size. Students can use both the text and the illustrations to explain their answer.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for materials providing teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of range of learners so the content is accessible to all learners and supports them in meeting or exceeding the grade-level standards. Materials provide modeling, formative assessments, language and visual supports, and background knowledge in each lesson to ensure student understanding.

Materials include sidebar notes that include suggestions for emerging, expanding, and bridging students. The sidebars also include access, support ,and challenge notes that provide strategies for meeting the needs of a range of learners. Examples of sidebar strategies include:

• In Unit 5, Lesson 1
  • Emerging- Ask students simple yes/no questions (i.e., “Is light important for plants?”).
  • Expanding- Provide students a speci c sentence frame (i.e., “Light is important because without it would/would not.”)
  • Bridging- Encourage students to use content- speci c words in complete sentences (i.e., “Light is important for plants because plants use the energy from the sun to produce food.”)
  • Support- If students have dif culty writing the response, have them reread pages 2–11 and and key words and phrases.
  • Challenge -Have students write a paragraph summarizing the information on Activity Page 1.2.

• In the Advance Preparation section at the beginning of each lesson there are Universal Access instructions. For example in Grade 3, Unit 4, Lesson 1,“In this lesson, students will read and listen to “The Legend of Romulus and Remus.” Prepare students to engage with the content by doing/setting up the following: Meet the characters: Use images from the Reader to introduce students to the main characters in this legend.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for regularly providing all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level, or in a language other than English, with extensive opportunities to work with grade level text and meet or exceed grade-level standards. All students engage with grade level text. Side bar supports are provided to ensure that students are supported during lessons. The Universal Access for each lesson provides additional supports for students who read, write, speak or listen below grade level. Lessons also include pausing Points which provide additional instruction on new skills at the end of each unit for small group work, reteaching, and differentiated instruction. Assessment and Remediation Guide/Encoding and Decoding Supplements can be used for additional lessons that support students who need extra practice or remediation on foundational skills and comprehension.

Materials include a Language Studio resource that provides lessons that focus on reading, writing, listening, speaking, vocabulary, and grammar to advance English Language Learner proficiency levels. The activities in Language Studio help teachers guide students in constructing meaning through interaction with the text and with each other. Such instruction supports ELs of all proficiency levels by helping them access grade-level content knowledge, make meaning, and develop academic English and effective expression across the disciplines.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for regularly including extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade level. Materials provide multiple opportunities for challenge, and enrichment, including:

• Challenge sidebars throughout the lesson providing stretching questions and activities.
  • In Unit 5, Lesson 6, students “Make a list of transparent substances and rank them in order of their density, from least dense to most dense.”
• Pausing Point days include additional activities and more complex text for excelling students.
  • In Grade 3, Unit 3, Pausing Point 1 states, “It is highly recommended that you pause here and spend a day reviewing, reinforcing, or extending the material taught thus far. You may have students do any combination of the activities listed below. The activities may be done in any order. You may also choose to do an activity with the whole class or with a small group of students who would benefit from the particular activity.” A specific activity states, “Find a recording of the song “Dry Bones.” Have students listen to the song once or twice, and encourage them to point to the various body parts mentioned in the song. After listening to the song, have students discuss the more technical names for the bones they learned about in the read-alouds; e.g., the “head bone” as the skull or cranium; the “back bone” and “neck bone” as the spine or spinal column; the “thigh bone” as the femur; the “knee bone” as a hinge joint.”
• Independent Reading. There are a large number of “above level” books that are available for students through CKLA Independent Reading. These allow students to expand their knowledge with more challenging material.

There are also daily opportunities to allow students go deeper into the topic. Lessons in the Knowledge Strand offer opportunities for independent and small group research that can be extended by asking for alternative sources or deeper analysis.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for providing opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies. Students are grouped in partners, small groups, and whole class. Teachers are provided with guidance on how to group students such as an page 54 of the Program Guide, “Teachers should use a range of strategies—sometimes employing students of the same comprehension level into the same group, and at other times mixing those with a higher comprehension with those that are struggling. Extension activities within the Pausing Points provide a large range of additional collaborative learning opportunities. These include large group activities such as rehearsing and performing Read-Alouds, plays, and other literary works in front of an audience.”

Examples of how grouping strategies are used in materials include:

• Partner discussion: Partner discussions are used in all units. Students host informal discussions and rules-based formal discussions.
• Think-Pair-Shares: Students discuss a topic, build on the remarks of others, and link their comments to evidence in the text.
• Small group discussion: Multiple opportunities for small group instruction and expression are present.
• Whole class discussion: Whole class discussion takes place daily. These provide ample opportunities for students to model and practice Effective Expression.