6th Grade - Gateway 3

The instructional materials reviewed for Eureka Grade 6 partially meet the expectation for supporting teachers in planning and providing effective learning experiences by providing quality questions to help guide students’ mathematical development.

Each lesson contains an opening narrative for the teacher. Included in this narrative is a section labeled Student Outcomes, and often included is a section labeled Lesson Notes. The Student Outcomes section lists the objectives of the lesson, and the Lesson Notes section gives teachers a mathematical summary of the concept being presented, examples of the concept, as well as suggestions to help students make connections between concepts. The Classwork section provides questions for discussion and guiding questions designed to increase classroom discourse and ensure understanding of the concepts. For example:

• In Module 3, Lesson 11, a Closing question states, “How can we use absolute value to determine magnitude? For instance, how far below zero is -8 degrees?”

However, the materials do not include instructions or guidance for how to adjust a lesson or the questions that a teacher asks to guide instruction based on the needs of students.

There is not sufficient guidance on how to group students or structure questions that can support all students in accessing the material.

The instructional materials reviewed for Eureka Grade 6 partially meet the expectations for containing a teacher edition with ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student edition and in the ancillary materials. Where applicable, materials also include teacher guidance on the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning.

Some lessons include a Lesson Notes section which provides useful suggestions on how to present content and/or explanations as to why a particular model is used. Most lessons have pictures or other graphics with annotations, demonstrating the concepts for the teacher.

Often, the scaffolding provided is to "remind students." There are limited suggestions for how to modify lessons, questions and/or problem sets for students who already understand or struggle with the content of the given lesson.

Beyond an occasional link to a video, there are no suggestions for teachers on the use of technology, including a calculator, and therefore no guidance on how to use such technology.

Answer keys are included for all of the Problem Sets, Exit Tickets, Homework, and Tests, including written annotations to show how student work should look.

The instructional materials reviewed for Eureka Grade 6 partially meet the expectation for providing strategies for teachers to identify and address common student errors and misconceptions.

The teacher edition often identifies common student errors and/or misconceptions within the lesson, although strategies to address the errors and/or misconceptions are not provided.

Teachers can address errors and misconceptions by facilitating mathematical conversations between students. Teachers are provided with a list of possible discussion questions for most lessons.

The instructional materials reviewed for Eureka Grade 6 partially meet the expectation for assessments clearly denoting which standards are being emphasized.

The summative assessments which include the Mid-Module and End-of-Module Assessment meet the expectations by clearly denoting the standards being emphasized; however, the formative assessments such as Exit Tickets do not.

The Mid-Module and End-of-Module Assessments align each item to specific standard(s). Each of these assessments include a Progression Toward Mastery rubric that lists specific standards being assessed and describes how mastery is determined.

The instructional materials reviewed for Eureka Grade 6 partially meet the expectation for providing strategies to help teachers sequence or scaffold lessons so that the content is accessible to all learners.

The modules and topics within each module are sequenced according to the CCSSM "Progressions of Learning." A description of the module sequence and layout is provided.

In the module and topic overviews, the structure of how the lessons build and develop a concept is discussed in narrative form. Lessons are sequenced to build from conceptual understanding, using representations ranging from concrete and pictorial to the more abstract.

There is little guidance to support teachers if a lesson does not work as written or if students need additional support to master the content.

The instructional materials reviewed for Eureka Grade 6 partially meet the expectation for providing teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of a range of learners.

The lesson structure: Opening Exercise, Examples, Challenges, Discussion, and Closing all include guidance for the teacher on the mathematics of the lesson, possible misconceptions, and specific strategies to address the needs of a range of learners.

There are limited marginal notes that provide strategies in the teacher materials. The suggested strategies are vague such as "use questioning strategies" or "remind students of a definition" and do not offer strategies that will impact the outcome of a lesson/problem.

The differentiation list online mirrors the strategies in the teacher materials; however, it does not offer additional clarification or suggestions.

The instructional materials reviewed for Eureka Grade 6 partially meet the expectation that materials embed tasks with multiple entry­ points that can be solved using a variety of solution strategies or representations.

Although most of the tasks allow students to utilize multiple entry points and to solve problems using a variety of strategies, paths and/or models, the materials sometimes undermine this concept by using tasks that explicitly state how to solve the problem or which representation to use.

At times, teachers are prompted to lead students through a particular task rather than provide students with an opportunity to create a solution path on their own. Students are not always encouraged to produce a variety of solution strategies.

The instructional materials reviewed for Eureka Grade 6 partially meet the expectation that the materials include support, accommodations, and modifications for English Language Learners and other special populations that will support their regular and active participation in learning mathematics.

There are limited marginal notes that provide strategies in the teacher edition. The suggested strategies are vague, such as "use questioning strategies" or "remind students of a definition," and do not offer strategies that will impact the outcome of a lesson/problem.

The differentiation list online mirrors the strategies in the teacher edition; however, it does not offer additional clarifications or suggestions for English Language Learners and other special populations.

The instructional materials reviewed for Eureka Grade 6 partially meet the expectation that the materials provide opportunities for advanced students to investigate mathematics content at greater depth.

There are limited marginal notes in the teachers edition that provide strategies for advanced students. The Notes on Multiple Means of Engagement give teachers suggestions about meeting the needs of advanced students.

“Challenge” problems are occasionally included; however, it is difficult to determine if those problems were optional for the entire class, to be scaffolded for the class, or explicitly for students who needed advanced mathematics.

The curriculum specifies that not all pieces within a section of a lesson must be used, so advanced students could be asked to tackle problems or sections a teacher does not use for all students. Overall, the materials provide minimal opportunities for advanced students to go beyond the mathematics provided in the classroom lessons.