7th Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for central texts being of publishable quality and worthy of careful reading and considering a range of student interests.

Central texts consider a range of student interests including but not limited to survival, working conditions, personal identity transformation, slavery, brain development, and water sustainability. Many of the central texts have won awards, are written by award-winning authors, or are considered classics, and all are worthy of careful reading.

Examples of central texts that are worthy of careful reading include the following:

• Module 1 - A Long Walk to Water, Linda Sue Park
• Module 2A - Lyddie, Katherine Patterson
• Module 2A - "Commonwealth Club Address," Cesar Chavez
• Module 2B - Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw
• Module 3 - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,an American Slave, Frederick Douglass
• Module 4A -“Growing Up Digital” Scholastic New York Times Upfront Jan 31,2011, Matt Richtel
• Module 4A - "Teens and Decision Making: What Brain Science Reveals," Scholastic Inc., the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Module 4B - The Big Thirst, Charles Fishman
• Module 4B - "Water Is Life," Barbara Kingsolver

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for materials reflecting the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards.

Central texts include a mix of informational texts and literature. Supplemental texts within the modules are also a mixture of literature and informational texts. A wide distribution of genres and text types as required by standards are evident, including but not limited to speeches, plays, historical fiction, non-fiction, articles, poetry, and periodicals.

The following are examples of literature found within the instructional materials:

• Module 1 - A Long Walk to Water, Linda Sue Park
• Module 2A - Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, Kathleen Krull
• Module 2B - Nadia’s Hands, Karen English
• Module 3 - “Harriet Tubman,” Eloise Greenfield

The following are examples of informational text found within the instructional materials:

• Module 1 - “Loss of Culturally Vital Cattle Leaves Dinka Tribe Adrift in Refugee Camps,” Stephen Buckley
• Module 2A - “Ethical Style: How Is My T-Shirt Made?” Tabea Kay
• Module 3 - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Frederick Douglass
• Module 4B - The Big Thirst, Charles Fishman

All anchor and supplementary texts in Module 4A and 4B are informational texts.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for texts having the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and relationship to their associated student task.

Most texts have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade. For example, in Module 3, students read Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass, which has a Lexile measure of 1080 as stated by the publisher. The quantitative measure is within the range indicated by the standards for the grade band 6-8. In addition, this text qualitatively shows evidence that supports placement at this grade level. Some examples of this include but are not limited to Douglass’s rhetoric, varied structures, layers of meaning, and rich vocabulary. Students read excerpts of this lengthy text and study point of view, use of language to impact meaning, and text structure, and they build their proficiency in collecting textual evidence to support analysis of Douglass’s position. Students use this nonfiction text to engage in many tasks that encourage literacy development in reading, writing, speaking, and listening which include using their study of the text to assist in creating a picture book for younger children that captures an event in Douglass’s life.

Texts that are quantitatively above grade band have scaffolds in place to ensure student access. For example, in Module 2B, students read Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw which has a Lexile measure of 1340 as stated by the publisher. The quantitative measure is above the range indicated by the standards for the grade band 6-8. The text has layers of meaning and purpose, varied sentence length and structures, and rich language and vocabulary. With support and scaffolding from the teacher, students closely read and examine the theme of personal identity formation and transformation as they engage in activities, projects, and readings that require them to analyze text structure, conduct character studies, and review author’s craft. The study and reading of Pygmalion culminates with the development of an essay that presents a claim with supportive details and quotes from the play.

Texts that are quantitatively below grade band are accompanied by tasks that increase the level of rigor requiring students to use higher order thinking skills or complete a task more independently. For example, in Module 1, students read A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park which has a Lexile measure of 720 as stated by the publisher. The quantitative measure is well below the range indicated by the standards for the grade band 6-8. However, this text qualitatively shows evidence that supports grade-level appropriateness for Grade 7 students. Some examples of this include but are not limited to varied sentence length and structures, layers of meaning, rich language, and unfamiliar vocabulary. Students read closely and study the main characters to analyze contrasting points of view, draw inferences, determine the meaning of words and phrases in text, and build their proficiency in collecting textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says. Students use analysis of the two main characters of the novel to author a two-voice poem.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations that materials support students’ increasing literacy skills over the course of the school year. Series of texts are at a variety of complexity levels appropriate for the grade band.

There is a gradual release of responsibility as each unit and module moves forward throughout the year in order to grow literacy skills.

• In Module 1, students study the experiences of people of Southern Sudan during and after the Second Sudanese Civil War. They use textual evidence to support ideas in their writing, both in shorter responses and in an extended essay. They read A Long Walk to Water, analyzing the points of view of the central characters. Students focus on one key theme: how individuals survive in challenging environments. The novel is paired with complex informational texts on Sudan. Students then combine research about Sudan with quotes from the novel and craft a research-based two-voice poem.
• In Module 2B, students explore the issue of working conditions of the past and present. They analyze how people, settings, and events interact in literary and informational texts. Students first focus on Lyddie and write an argument essay about her choices around joining a protest over working conditions. Then they read a speech by César Chávez as they consider the role that workers, the government, and consumers play in improving working conditions. Finally, a short research project explores how businesses can affect working conditions. As a final performance task, students create a guide of working conditions in the garment industry.
• In Module 3 students read the autobiography of Frederick Douglass to focus on how he uses language in powerful ways and how he tells his story in order to serve his purpose of working to abolish slavery. Students begin by building background knowledge about Douglass and his historical context. They then read closely key excerpts from his narrative to study his craft and messages. Finally, they select one episode from the book and rewrite it as a children’s story, using Frederick Douglass: The Last Day of Slavery as a mentor text.
• In Module 4A, students explore adolescent brain development and the effects of entertainment screen time on the brain. Students read informational texts to build background knowledge about adolescent brain development. Then they begin to focus on the issue of screen time and how it may affect teenagers. Students evaluate the soundness of reasoning and the sufficiency and relevancy of evidence in argument texts and media. They review first the potential benefits and then the potential risks of screen time by conducting a lengthy research project. Students finish the module by writing a position paper and then creating a visual representation of their paper.

Students revisit and build on knowledge and skills introduced in earlier modules as they progress through the year. Students gradually move toward being able to complete tasks independently after extensive modeling and group activities.

• In Module 3, Unit 3, lesson 6, students evaluate work using feedback techniques learned in Module 1 and practiced in Module 2A. Students review the norms of peer evaluation and the importance of giving specific, constructive, and respectful feedback, and students are able to complete the evaluations more independently during this Module.
• In Module 4A, Unit 2, lesson 2, students draw learning from either Module 2A or Module 2B about what makes evidence relevant. Modules 2A and 2B provide instruction on argument writing. The lesson in Module 4A reviews the skill and develops further understanding by adding in the concepts of sufficient evidence and sound reasoning to support the claim. Students trace an argument and identify and evaluate claims and evidence in different informational texts.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for materials being accompanied by a text complexity analysis and rationale for educational purpose and placement in the grade level. The Curriculum Map includes the quantitative Lexile measure of central texts for each module.

Rationales for the educational purpose and placement in grade level are provided at the beginning of each unit in the Unit Overview, and includes qualitative information. Some examples include the following:

• Module 2A, Unit 1, Unit Overview - “This unit focuses on the historical era of industrializing America, and builds students’ background knowledge about what working conditions are and how they affect workers. The unit begins with a lesson that engages students in the guiding questions about working conditions that connect all three units in the module. Students then read the novel Lyddie, about a girl who goes to work in the Lowell mills, with an emphasis on CCSS-ELA RL.7.3, which is about how plot, character, and setting interact in literature.”
• Module 3, Unit 3, Unit Overview- “In this unit, students write a picture book based on an event from the life of Frederick Douglass. First, students return to Frederick Douglass: The Last Day of Slavery, which they encountered in Unit 2. This children’s book serves as the model text, and the students read it and another children’s book closely to examine how the author used the tools of a narrative writer to craft a powerful story.”

TThe instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for texts providing opportunities for student to engage in a range and volume of reading to achieve grade level reading.

Each unit includes lessons with supplementary texts of varying lengths and genres. These texts are read independently, in groups, aloud, and silently, offering multiple opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading.

• In Module 1, Unit 1, lesson 6, students read the section, “Time Trip: Sudan’s Civil War” from the full article, “Life and Death in Darfur: Sudan’s Refugee Crisis Continues” to increase knowledge of the Sudanese people and practice gathering textual evidence.
• In Module 3, Unit 1, lesson 12, students read the poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and examine the structure and identify the meaning.

Instructional materials clearly identify opportunities for students to build fluency to become independent readers at the grade level.

• In Module 1, Unit 2, lesson 1, the homework assignment requires independent reading and note taking.
• In Module 1, Unit 3, lesson 6, students recite a two-voice poems aloud.
• In Module 2A, Unit 2, lesson 2, students close read Chavez’s “Commonwealth Club Address” with a partner and discuss using guided questions.
• In Module 2A, Unit 3, independent reading is addressed in the Preparation and Materials section at the beginning of the unit. This unit includes a section called “Independent Reading” which marks time for building independent reading and suggests that there be increased time to build independent reading routines.
• In the preface for the curriculum, the following explanation of homework is provided, “Due to the rigors demanded by the CCSS in Expeditionary Learning’s Grades 3–8 ELA curriculum, students are required to practice the skills they learn in the classroom independently at home every day, for approximately 30–45 minutes. This usually involves a reading activity (e.g., reading or rereading a certain number of paragraphs or pages in a text) with a response task (e.g., highlighting or recording evidence to answer a question). Students also are expected to read independently every evening according to independent reading routines.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations that most questions, tasks, and assignments are text-dependent and require students to engage with the text directly and to draw on textual evidence to support both what is explicit as well as valid inferences from the text.

Most questions, tasks, and assignments are structured and designed to encourage understanding of key ideas of texts and determine most important learning from the readings. Instructional materials include questions, tasks, and assignments that are text-dependent over the course of a school year. Teacher materials provide support for planning and implementation by providing exemplar answers.

• In Module 1, students use a close reading anchor chart to capture textual evidence.
• In Module 1, Unit 2, students record and analyze the significance of book quotes and decide if and how to use them in their own writing.
• In Module 1, Unit 2, lesson 7 students compare and contrast the accounts of survival in “Time Trip: Sudan’s Civil War,” and A Long Walk to Water.
• In Module 2A, Unit 1, students color code the Chavez speech text to identify elements of an effective conclusion.
• In Module 2A, Unit 1, students cite evidence to explain plot, characters, setting, and the interactions between the three elements.
• In Module 2A, Unit 3, lesson 4 students read quotes from text and choose the best way to paraphrase the information. Students provide rationales for paraphrasing choices. Students also learn and practice distinguishing between paraphrasing and plagiarizing.
• In Module 2B, Unit 1, lesson 2, students read the article, “Team Players,” and answer text-dependent questions. Exemplar answers for questions are provided in the teacher materials.
• In Module 4A, Unit 1, students note main idea and details from informational text about brain development.
• In Module 4A, Unit 2, lesson 3, students read an argument text, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” and complete a note-taking document to collect evidence and evaluate both sides of an argument.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations that materials contain sets of high-quality sequences of text-dependent questions and activities that build to a culminating task that integrates skills.

Materials contain sets of high-quality sequences of text-dependent questions and activities that build to a culminating task. Each module has a Final Performance Task. This is a culminating project that takes place during Unit 3 of every module. Performance tasks are designed to help students synthesize and apply their learning from the module in an engaging and authentic way. Performance tasks are developed using the writing process, are scaffolded, and almost always include peer critique and revision. Performance tasks are not “on-demand” assessments. Students who demonstrate success with sequences of questions can complete the culminating tasks. Culminating tasks are rich and provide opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know and are able to do using speaking and writing.

• In Module 3, students read and answer text-dependent questions about Frederick Douglass. They conclude the unit by writing a narrative based on an event from Frederick Douglass’s life.
• In Module 2A, students engage in text-specific activities including identifying authors’ claims and examining current and historical working conditions in America. They conclude the unit by creating a worker’s guide around conditions in the garment industry.
• In Module 4B, students engage in various readings and text-dependent activities around water sustainability and management and conclude the unit with a position paper about the topic.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for evidence-based discussion that encourages the modeling of academic vocabulary and syntax.

Vocabulary addressed in each lesson is noted in teacher planning documents.

There are many opportunities and protocols throughout modules and within lessons that support academic vocabulary and syntax. Teacher materials support implementation of these standards to grow students’ skills.

• In Module 1, Unit 2, lesson 15, students are asked to focus on the learning targets. Since there are two words that students may not know, ensure and accurate, the teaching notes suggest that the teacher call attention to those words and define them if needed before asking students for a Fist to Five response of the learning target.
• In Module 4B, Unit 3, lesson 4, students are arranged in groups of two to complete a peer feedback form. The teacher models how the peer feedback process will work. The teaching notes suggest that the teacher point out that in the model, the participants made heavy use of the vocabulary on the Domain-Specific Vocabulary anchor chart and encourage students to do the same in their own conversations.
• In Module 2A, Unit 2, lesson 1, the teaching notes state, “Direct students’ attention to the learning targets for the day, and tell them that first they will learn about agents of change. Ask a student to define agent (someone who works for someone else). Discuss examples of agents, such as Hollywood agents, FBI agents, and real estate agents. Introduce the phrase agent of change—someone or something that works to change a situation. One major agent of change in the textile industry has been technology, as students saw in the photos. But they are going to be thinking about the people or groups of people that are agents of change.”
• In Module 3, Unit 1, lesson 9, students are asked to do two things: silently read the first paragraph, circling words they do not know (that are not already underlined); and see if they can determine the gist of the first paragraph. After giving students time to read, teachers are directed to call on students and congratulate them on noticing these words and remind them that strong readers don’t know every word; rather, they notice the words that are unfamiliar to them and try to make sense of them.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for materials supporting students’ listening and speaking about what they are reading and researching with relevant follow-up questions and evidence.

Speaking and listening work requires students to gather evidence from texts and sources. Opportunities to talk and ask questions of peers and teachers about research, strategies and ideas are present throughout the year. The curriculum includes a host of protocols and graphic organizers to promote and scaffold academic discussions.

• In Module 1, Unit 2, lesson 1, students participate in Discussion Appointments to discuss texts with multiple classmates.
• In Module 1, Unit 3, lesson 4, students participate in a peer critique based on the peer's two-voice poem. Students are provided an opportunity to review and discuss the Criteria for Success indicated on the student Expectations and Directions information.
• In Module 3, Unit 3, lesson 4, students participate in Writers’ Roundtable providing peer observation and feedback of writing using a checklist to promote discussion.
• In Module 4A, Unit 3, lesson 2, students identify an author’s claim and discuss with their partners supporting reasons using evidence from the text.
• In Module 4B, Unit 3, students publish and share a visual representation of their position paper.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations that materials include a mix of on-demand and process writing and short, focused projects. Students write both "on demand" and "over extended periods" throughout every module.

Materials include short and longer writing tasks and projects. Writing tasks and projects are aligned to the grade-level standards being reviewed.

• In Module 1, students write a selected response and short constructed response using strong evidence.
• In Module 2A, students write a research synthesis extended response.
• In Module 2A, Unit 1, students write on demand to analyze photos connected to a text with an entrance ticket.
• In Module 2B, students read texts and complete series of writing activities geared toward completing their Pygmalion Essay.
• In Module 3A, students write a scaffolded narrative storyboard for the children’s book.
• In Module 4A, Unit 2, lesson 4, students document internet resources using a Research Notebook.
• In Module 4B, students read texts and complete tasks in order to prepare for writing a position paper.
• In Module 4B, students draft a position paper and reflect on the writing process in writing.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for materials providing opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards.

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

• In Module 1, students write a literary analysis: Writing about the theme of survival in the form of a research-based two-voice poem.
• In Module 2A, Unit 1, lesson 1, students write on demand to analyze photos connected to a text with an entrance ticket.
• In Module 2A, students write an argument paper: Should Lyddie sign the petition?
• In Module 2B, students read texts and complete series of writing activities geared toward completing Pygmalion essay.
• In Module 4A, Unit 2, lesson 4 students document internet resources using a Research Notebook.
• In Module 3, students write a children's narrative retelling an episode from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: an American Slave.
• In Module 4A, students write a position paper: Should the American Academy of Pediatrics raise its recommended daily entertainment screen time from two hours to four hours?

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations that materials include frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information.

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

• In Module 1, Unit 1, students collect information about characters, adding to their notes as they learn new information during reading. Students use the evidence to compare and contrast characters’ viewpoints.
• In Module 1, Unit 3, lesson 5 students examine and identify various sources regarding the effects of clean water on villages in Sudan and collect evidence to support their information.
• In Module 4A, Unit 2, lesson 4, students record textual evidence to support claims.
• In Module 4B, students read texts and complete tasks in order to prepare for writing a position paper.
• In Module 4B, Unit 1, lesson 4, students view a video, identify the main idea, and write down the details that support the main idea.