7th Grade - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for texts being organized around a topic/topics to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently.

Each module has texts that connect by a central topic or theme.

• In Module 1, students explore the experiences of people of Southern Sudan during and after the Second Sudanese Civil War.
• In Module 2A, students explore the issue of working conditions, historical and modern-day.
• In Module 2B, students explore the concept of personal identity formation and transformation in both historical and modern-day societies.
• In Module 3, students read the autobiography of Frederick Douglass, with specific attention to understanding how he uses language and how he tells his story in order to serve his purpose of working to abolish slavery.
• In Module 4A, students explore adolescent brain development and the effects of entertainment screen time on the brain.
• In Module 4B, students explore water sustainability and fresh water management.

The sequence of texts and sufficient lesson scaffolds ensure students are able to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently.

• Modules include text with quantitative measures at multiple levels within the grade band.
• In all modules students are provided with graphic organizers and recording forms to engage students actively and provide scaffolding for students in need. Students read text independently, in small groups, and as whole group read-alouds to scaffold reading instruction. Students are asked to actively monitor their reading comprehension.
• In Module 1, Unit 1, lesson 5, students are asked to reread chapters read in class that day for homework and add quotes to the graphic organizer, as well as read independently Chapters 14-15 to complete Reader's Notes to express understanding.
• In Module 4A, Unit 1, lesson 1 teachers are directed to read aloud slowly, fluently, and without interruption or explanation while students look at the text and actively read to promote fluency and comprehension.
• In Module 3, Unit 2, lesson 1, students participate in an independent reading check in. Students talk about the text with a peer while the teacher confers with students about their reading. Students discuss reading goals and create new ones.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for materials containing sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts. Throughout the materials, students independently and as a whole group complete questions and tasks that require analysis of individual texts.

• In Module 2A, Unit 3, lesson 3, students read text and paraphrase the section into a single sentence using key details from the text.
• In Module 2B, Unit 1, lesson 3 students complete Reader's Notes that ask them to write a sentence to capture the central idea of the text, to make inferences based on the text, and to analyze key details of events in the text.
• In Module 2B, Unit 2, lesson 4, students describe how setting, characters, and plot of the text Pygmalion interact.
• In Module 2B, Unit 2, lesson 14 students complete a graphic organizer analyzing the structure of a model essay to prepare to write their own essay.
• In Module 2A, Unit 1, lesson 2, students are asked text-dependent questions that asks students to analyze the language, details, craft and structure of the text. For example, "Lyddie describes her mother as ‘queer in the head’ What does queer mean? How do the context clues help you figure it out? What work might we use today to describe Lyddie's mother?"
• In Module 3, Unit 1, lesson 12, students complete a three-step process of rereading a poem to find out how the sound, words, and shape of a poem work together to create meaning.
• In Module 3, Unit 1, lesson 13, students answer the question "What poetic tools does Douglass use to reinforce this idea?" after reading the text three times.
• In Module 3, Unit 2, lesson 2, students analyze an excerpt from the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. On the third read students are asked "After Douglass figures out what abolition means, he says, 'The light broke in upon me by degrees.' What does this mean and what type of figurative language is this? How does it show the importance of this moment in Douglass's life?"
• In Module 3, Unit 2, lesson 7, students answer why Douglass uses the word cunning to describe Covey, rather than intelligence or effectiveness and tell how that connects to his purpose in telling the story.
• In Module 4B, students examine water and its relationship to the world and read anchor text, The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water by Charles Fishman and a National Geographic article, "Why Care about Water?” Activities in this module prompt students to engage in multiple close readings and include encouraging a deeper understanding of informational text structures and organization. Video review is included as students collect evidence and analyze information using this form of media.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for materials containing a coherently sequenced set of text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts. Each unit and module contains text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to integrate knowledge and ideas both in individual texts and across multiple texts.

• In Module 1, Unit 3, lesson 5, students support their ideas using strong evidence from two texts, "Water for South Sudan" and A Long Walk to Remember. Students use this evidence to write a two-voice poem.
• In Module 2A, Unit 1, lesson 10, students analyze Lyddie's decision by answering text-dependent questions and then synthesize the information to make a list of reasons Lyddie should and should not sign the petition.
• In Module 2B, Unit 3, lesson 8, students prepare for the Unit 3 assessment by annotating three separate sources in their Researcher's Notebooks.
• In Module 3, Unit 1, lessons 13-16, students analyze and integrate knowledge and ideas about the institution of slavery from various sources.
• In Module 4A, Unit 1, lesson 4, students add to Model Brain Development Anchor Chart that is used across multiple lessons and texts. Students integrate new information from a multimedia video and record new information.
• In Module 4B, Unit 1, lesson 9, on the End-of-Unit assessment, students analyze and integrate knowledge and ideas about water and agriculture and trace an argument across a video and an article.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic through integrated skills (e.g., combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).

• In Module 1, Unit 1, students engage in multiple activities throughout the module that prompt them to collect and site evidence to support claims, confirm perspectives, support analysis, and culminate with an assessment that requires them to gather textual evidence to identify perspectives.
• In Module 2A, students are introduced to the research process. Students generate research questions, gather information from multiple sources, and paraphrase. As a culminating task, students write an informative brochure that is a teenage consumer's guide to buying clothes. Teachers monitor completion of the task by having students identify where on the Research Roadmap anchor chart they think they are at the moment.
• In Module 2B, students read several articles about gender roles and advertising and collect notes. Students will synthesize the information gathered into paragraphs, write an advertisement analysis, and create a "counter ad" that will recreate the advertisement without including stereotypes.
• In Module 4A, Unit 2, students examine arguments, claims, and evidence that support claims to be able successfully participate in discussions around making their own claims and formally presenting them.
• In Module 4B, students research and extend the writing process to publish a research-based position paper. Students analyze a model position paper and plan their own. Students work with partners and teams to share ideas and get feedback. Teachers can monitor student progress during the Mid-Unit Assessment when the first draft of the paper is due. Students then revise their position papers and create a visual representation that they will present to their classmates.

The instructional materials meet expectations for Grade 7 including a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts. Opportunities to build vocabulary are found throughout the instructional materials.

Vocabulary instruction calls for students to think about the meaning of words. Definitions are provided in student-friendly language, and word meanings are taught with examples related to the text as well as examples from other contexts students would be more familiar with.

• Throughout the modules and units, students discuss and clarify language of learning targets to build academic vocabulary.
• In Module 2, Unit 1, lesson 13, students are reminded that they have previously discussed the words relevant evidence, coherent, and appropriate in Module 1, Unit 2, as they wrote their essays on A Long Walk to Water. Students had included these words in their Writer's Glossaries in Module 1.
• In Module 1, Unit 1, lesson 4, students are asked to look at the word "refuge" and look for a prefix. Students then review what "re-" means and are given examples of words that use "re-." Students are then directed to look at the root word, fug. They are told that fug means to run away and then asked to look at both the prefix and the root word. Students are asked "Given this prefix and this root, what do you think this word means? What is a refugee camp? Why might they be set up?" The students are asked to extend the learning of the word family by answering what other words have the same root (fugitive, refuge).
• In Module 1, Unit 3, lesson 3, students define the word cite and think of other words with a partner that have the words cite in them. Students are shown that these words have the cit root in them and are given the definition of the root.
• In Module 2A, Unit 1, lesson 13, students are invited to turn to a partner and share about a time that they were in an argument. Students discuss what causes an argument and students use this definition to build to what an argument means in writing.
• In Module 2A, Unit 1, students keep a Reader's Dictionary to note word definitions that will be used throughout the unit. Students use the Reader's Dictionary while writing and when completing an argument essay.
• In Module 2B, Unit 1, lesson 1, students define the term self-worth and write about it being different from being "stuck up" or "conceited." Students write about what it would look like for a person to have a sense of self-worth and how that can play a role in someone's identity.
• In Module 3, Unit 1, lesson 7, students determine the meaning of words in context, determine the meaning of words using roots, and answer questions about what sentences mean. The teacher models think aloud of finding context clues for words such as deprived in the text, giving specific evidence from the text that provided context clues to the words meaning.
• In Module 3, Unit 1, lesson 8, students complete an entry task that asks them to use sentences from a text to define roots, prefixes, and suffixes and also to define the word in the text.
• In Module 3, Unit 2, lesson 5, students are provided with a text excerpt and questions for "The Fight with Covey." The excerpt includes student-friendly definitions of words, as well as some words that students will need to define themselves based on context clues.
• In Module 4A, Unit 1, lesson 19, a resource of definitions in the article “Growing Up Digital" is provided for teacher and student reference.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation for materials supporting students’ increasing writing skills over the course of the school year, building students’ writing ability to demonstrate proficiency at grade level at the end of the school year. Students are supported through the writing process with mentor text. Feedback is provided by peers, the teacher, and self-evaluations to ensure that students' writing skills are increasing throughout the year.

• In Module 1, Unit 3, lesson 2 students use Two-Voice Poem: Graphic Organizers that have received feedback from the teacher. Teachers are directed to state, “Writers often play with several ideas before they generate their writing plans, and that they often talk over their ideas.” Students will then participate in a back-to-back and face-to-face discussion in preparation to write.
• In Module 1, Unit 3, lesson 4, students participate in a peer critique protocol to review their two-voice poems.
• In Module 2A, Unit 2, lesson 3, students focus on identifying the rhetoric words and terms in Chavez’s speech and add to an anchor chart of words that can be used when writing.
• In Module 2B, Unit 3, lesson 13 students revisit past writings and reflect on their growth. The teaching notes state, “Congratulate students on their work and their accomplishments in reading and writing over the course of the module. Tell them to take a few minutes now to consider what they will take away from this module about writing. Distribute student essays and rubrics on Pygmalion (from Unit 2), as well as students’ Writing Improvement Trackers (from Unit 1). Ask students to use the Writing Improvement Tracker to reflect on their writing skills as they did before writing their essays on Pygmalion.”
• In Module 3, Unit 2, lesson 12, students write a reflection on Frederick Douglass’s narrative after discussing with a partner reflection questions.
• In Module 3, Unit 2, lesson 15, students review a writing rubric to ensure that they understand the criteria and review a model essay “Telling the Truth about Slavery” in preparation to write their own essay.
• In Module 4, Unit 3, lesson 8, students revise vocabulary and conventions of their argument writings based on feedback from peers. It is also noted that students should revisit the writing from A Long Walk to Remember from Unit 1 to help them in the self-reflection in the next lesson.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for materials include a progression of focused research projects to encourage students to develop knowledge in a given area by confronting and analyzing different aspects of a topic using multiple texts and source materials.

• In Module, Unit 1, students build background knowledge about physical environment and reading maps to prepare to read about Southern Sudan.
• In Module 2A, Unit 3, lesson 4 students use their Researcher’s Roadmap to help identify credible sources in research. Students also clarify how to read a source while researching about human conditions in the workplace.
• In Module 2A, Unit 3, lesson 8, students are asked to identify which sources they used from a “works cited” list that is provided in the Brochure Planning Guide. It is noted that students will develop the skills they need to create their own citations in Module 4.
• In Module 2B, Unit 3, lesson 4, students are introduced to the research process and the process of creating quality questions while working on an Ad Analysis Task.
• In Module 3, Unit 1, lesson 2, students use a Historical Context Anchor Chart to gather evidence and hold their thinking about the historical context of the Narrative. Students will study slavery, the debate over slavery, and the life of Frederick Douglass.
• In Module 3, Unit 2, lesson 1 students build background information about Victorian England and the setting and time period of the play Pygmalion using a gallery walk of images and texts.
• In Module 4, Unit 2, lesson 4, students review the skill of paraphrasing which is taught in Module 2. Students also use their Researcher’s Notebook to evaluate sources.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for materials providing a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

The majority of lessons require some independent readings of text followed by text specific questions and tasks that reflect student accountability. Additionally, most homework assignments include independent readings and tasks that require students to produce evidence of reading.

• In Module 2A, the overview outlines how independent reading is structured with accountability in place after students finish reading. The overview stresses the importance of increasing the volume of reading and launching an independent reading plan for students. Students have reading time in and outside of class with opportunities to share outside reading with the class. Units 2 and 3 include time to work on an independent reading routine that is in a calendar embedded into the daily lessons
• In Module 2B, Unit 3, lesson 7, students participate in an Independent Reading check-in: they are supported with checking to see if they met previous independent reading goals as well as creating new goals.
• In Module 3, Unit 2, lesson 1, students participate in an independent reading check-in. Students talk about the text with a peer while teacher confers with students about their reading. Students discuss reading goals and create new ones.
• In Module 4A, Unit 3, lesson 6, students analyze and evaluate Independent Reading texts to create cheat sheets for future students.