11th Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for anchor texts being of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading and consider a range of student interests.

The texts are high quality and worthy of students’ attention due to literary richness, rhetorical technique, and/or topical relevance. A large number or texts come from authors that are well-known, award-winning or iconic. A number of undisputed classic texts are present, including works for male, female, and multicultural authors. There is sufficient effort to include texts on topics of current interest or select older texts that have a potential to resonate with contemporary students.

Examples include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller is rich in theme, character, and plot that invites careful reading and analysis. An article on McCarthyism follows the play, inviting further analysis and study of the play’s symbolic commentary on political events of the 1950s.

• In Unit 2, The Excerpt from “Walden,” by Henry David Thoreau is a multilayered text that requires careful reading to decipher multiple symbolic meanings and is written by an iconic author.
• In Unit 3, “The Gettysburg Address” by Abraham Lincoln is a historical work that shines light on a tumultuous time period. This speech is worthy of students time and attention.
• In Unit 5, “Thoughts on the African-American Novel” by Toni Morrison presents a complex argument situating literary production and reception in a range of historical and cultural contexts, a purpose that will require careful reading and rereading for Grade 11 students and is written by an award winning author.
• In Unit 5, “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner presents complex language and themes inviting careful reading, a macabre theme that will interest many students, and is written by an iconic author.
• In Unit 6, Excerpt from “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr.” is a text rich in ideas and language warranting careful reading and analysis, Invites interest of students concerned about civil rights and social cause, and is written by a well-known speaker.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for texts having the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and relationship to their associated student task.

The materials include a variety of texts that are appropriate for 11th grade students and range in complexity. Texts that are moderate in complexity are accompanied by tasks that increase the level of rigor by demanding higher order thinking skills and analyses. Texts that are exceedingly complex are accompanied by a variety of scaffolds such as graphic organizers and discussion questions. Texts range in quantitative measure from Lexile 710 to Lexile 1620, as well as challenging poetry from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Texts that fall below the Grade 11 quantitative band include qualitative features or reader and task considerations that make them appropriate for Grade 11 students. For example:

• In Unit 1, students read “Coyote and the Buffalo” retold by Mourning Dove which measures at Lexile 710. The text includes words from the Salish language with definitions included in the footnotes of the text. Students analyze the text and interpet the moral of the story. Students are also asked to draw conclusions about the Okanogan society based on the folk literature.
• In Unit 4, students read the short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman which measure at Lexile 930. Qualitative features make this text appropriate for Grade 11 students. Qualitatively, the text is complex based on its extensive use of symbolism, formal language, complex sentence structures, theme, and its social context.

Texts that rise above or meet the Grade 11 quantitative band include qualitative features or reader and task considerations that make them appropriate for Grade 11 students. For example:

• In Unit 5, students read T.S. Eliot’s poem, “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” which is a challenging poem. The poem meets grade level complexities due to allusions, and themes of alienation and repression, which might pose challenges to students. Its modernist form and experimental style can also be challenging for students to grasp. The materials offer students “Language Coach” and Stream of Consciousness supports in the margin notes.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria that most questions, tasks, and assignments are text dependent/specific, requiring students to engage with the text directly (drawing on textual evidence to support both what is explicit as well as valid inferences from the text; this may include work with mentor texts as well).

The materials include a range of text dependent questions and tasks throughout each unit. Questions and tasks cover a wide continuum of standards and strategies. Each unit offers many opportunities for students to engage in evidence-based discussions and activities. Most of the questions and tasks are text-dependent and ask students to engage with the text directly. Students are given opportunities to use evidence pulled directly from the text as well as make inferences.

Before each text, students are directed to take notes in the Reader/Writer Notebook as they read. Most questions in the margins of the text require students to note and interpret grammatical, literary, and rhetorical features. Each excerpt has close read questions which are on the page next to the text itself for students and teachers to reference directly. Key passages are outlined in a red box with text-dependent questions for the teacher. At the end of each selection or compared groups of selections there is a section of three to five questions sub-headed Text Analysis Questions. These questions guide students directly back to the text. Questions and tasks cover comprehension, summarizing, clarifying, drawing conclusions, making inferences evaluating, synthesizing ideas, and analyzing and identifying literary devices.

Students engage with and draw evidence from the texts through Tiered Discussion Prompts, After Reading Questions, Analyzing Visuals and Reading-Writing Connection questions and tasks. Examples of these include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, students study Early American Writing, students are asked to:

• • Summarize: What was life like in the Americas prior to the arrival if the Europeans?
  • Analyze: How do the William Wood and William Bradford quotations illustrate the clash of cultures that occurred when Europeans and Native Americans first met?
  • Evaluate: Were Wood and Bradford fair in their assessment of the landscape and population of North America?

• In Unit 3, students read selected poetry by Emily Dickinson and answer, “What essential truths about death and dying does Dickinson convey in the following poems? Cite specific details.”
• In Unit 4, students are asked to write down unfamiliar words from the frontier dialect of Mark Twain’s “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” Questions beside the texts ask students to note features of the tall tale genre in the text.
• In Unit 5, questions accompanying Zora Neale Hurston’s, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” ask students to state the main ideas of designated passages, reread passages and analyze rhetorical technique, and observe how grammar and style serve to highlight particular details.
• In Unit 5, students read the text, “My City” and analyze the visuals by describing, “What details in this photo correspond to the poet’s vision of the city?”
• In Unit 6, after reading “Stride Toward Freedom” students:

• • Clarify: In King’s view, what three qualities must a movement have in order to achieve the goal of integration?
  • Synthesize Sources: Review the chart you created as you read both texts. What are the main differences between the two leaders? What beliefs, if any, do they have in common? Be specific with your answers.
  • Analyze Genres: Think about the two works you just read. How do these two genres allow people to express their opinions in similar and different ways?
  • Biographical Context: Reread the autobiographies of of King and Malcolm X. What aspects of their personal histories may have influenced their different approaches to fighting racial injustice?

The materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for having sets of high-quality sequences of text-dependent/specific questions and tasks that build to a culminating task that integrates skills (may be writing, speaking, or a combination).

The materials provide opportunities for rich and rigorous evidence-based discussions and writing about texts and integrates strategies to help students build literacy skills. The materials contain sets of high-quality sequences of text-dependent/specific questions and activities which build to a variety of tasks, including, but not limited to: short, on-demand written responses, longer (processed) essays, storyboards, re-writing in the author’s style, and movie scripts. These tasks and activities often ask students to compare/contrast works that have been presented as sets or series or synthesize the meaning, themes, or central ideas of the text sets.

Additionally, tasks often connect to a non-traditional text form such as a news report or movie scene.

At the end of majority of the texts or text sets, a culminating activity is provided. Each of the culminating activities within the unit lead to a larger culminating task for the unit. At the end of each unit there is a Writing Workshop, including a Timed Writing Practice, along with a Multiple Choice Assessment Practice. Also at the end of each collection of texts within an Era, there is a Wrap-Up Writing where students are asked to evaluate or analyze the texts from the time period.While these culminating activities seem to build off of each other, the standards associated with the writing and speaking activities are not well-supported throughout the entire unit; either through other writing tasks nor the reading questions aligned with core passages.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, after reading about the Native American Experiences, students complete a Wrap Up Activity that asks students to look back through the selections in the section and describe an early Native American value that many people still hold today. During the writing workshop students write a persuasive essay. The Teacher Edition states, “You have seen how some of our country’s founding fathers crafted arguments to support their claims, or positions, and to persuade readers to think a certain way. In this workshop, you will have the opportunity to assert a claim by writing a persuasive essay.” Writing Task: Write a persuasive essay that argues a strong claim on an issue. Support your claim with reasons and evidence that will convince your audience to think or act in a certain way toward an issue that interests you.Students are provided “idea starters” as well as “the essentials”: common purposes, audiences, and formats.
• In Unit 3, the Writing Workshop states, “In this unit, you discovered the events, figures, and literature of the Civil War. The World Wide Web is home to discussions about the era and about the significant issues of today. Now, you will write about one legacy of your era in an online feature article-- an informative piece of writing on a topic or trend.” Writing task: Inform your audience by writing an online feature article that answers this research question: What is one topic, trend, or person, or phenomenon that has defined your time? Choose a topic that people will still read and talk about 100 years from now. Students are provided “idea starters” as well as “the essentials”: common purposes, audiences, and formats. During the unit students study about the Civil war and practice informational writing.
• In Unit 4, students are asked to create a chart before reading Jack London’s “The Law of Life,” in which they are directed to record clues that help to reveal theme. The headings in the chart (“conflict,” “character,” “setting,” and so on) correspond to questions presented before the story (“What is the resolution of the primary conflict?” “What traits to the main characters display?” “What about the physical or cultural setting significant?”) A completed chart would supply evidence and thinking for some culminating questions: “Look back at the details about narrative elements you recorded in your chart as you read. Taken together, what do these details suggest about the fate of Koskoosh and all humans?” And “What comment on the human condition does Londom make through Koskoosh’s last thoughts?” Text-specific questions in the margin of the text also prompt thematic analysis that applies to the tasks in the culminating questions: “Reread lines 57-58. In one or two sentences, summarize the theme expressed here about the relationship between nature and the individual.” A culminating task at the end of the section “The Rise of Naturalism” similarly calls on students to draw examples and ideas from marginal questions in preceding texts. The activity presents five quotes that encapsulate the “central assumption of naturalism,” and then directs students to “Choose the quotation on this page that you think best represents a key theme of ‘The Open Boat’ or ‘The Law of Life. Write an essay defending your choice, using details from the story as support.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for materials including a mix of on-demand and process writing (e.g. multiple drafts, revisions over time) and short, focused projects, incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

The 11th grade textbook offers opportunities for students to write in both process and on-demand formats and incorporates technology when appropriate. Throughout the units, short-constructed, on-demand writings are found. In addition, the end of units provide a processed writing task in a Writing Workshop strategy. The Writing Workshop strategy provides guidance in the steps of the writing process. The process writing assignments include segments on: planning, drafting, revising and editing, publishing with several opportunities for publishing. Digital publishing is often encouraged.

Examples of the mix of on-demand and process writing include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, page 280, students write an essay to answer the prompt, “Write a persuasive essay that argues a strong claim on an issue. Support your claim with reasons and evidence that will convince your audience to think or act in a certain way toward an issue that interests you.”
• In Unit 2, page 495, students write on demand with a timed write to answer, “Write a short story in which characters react to an unexpected event in their own neighborhood. In your story, try to entertain peers and adults by presenting a lively description of how the main character and others handle the unexpected event and what happens as a result.”
• In Unit 3, page 620, students write during Writing Workshop to answer the prompt, “Inform your audience by writing an online feature article that answers this research question. What is one topic, trend, person or phenomenon that has defined your time. Choose a topic that people will still read and talk about 100 years from now.”
• In Unit 4, page 843, students write on demand with a timed writing to answer, “Write a comparison and contrast essay about two of your favorite literary texts. Your essay should concentrate on key aspects of the text, such as characters, theme, setting, plot, and conflict. Your essay should give your audience, such as your teacher and classmates, new insights into the literary texts.”
• In Unit 5, page 834, students complete an essay during Writing Workshop to address the task, “Write an analytical essay that examines a literary movement or the broader ideas reflected in an author's various works. Keep your audience in mind as you gather evidence and details to support your controlling idea.”
• In Unit 5 on page 844, students incorporate digital resources to, “Work with classmates to gather and develop content for a class newspaper. Then, use computer software to create your newspaper.”
• In Unit 6, on page 1035, students write on-demand, “Write a paragraph about a memory of your own that you can still recall in crisp detail. What images, feelings, sounds, or smells come to mind Why do you think this moment lingers in your memory?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the the criteria for materials providing opportunities for students to address different text types of writing (year long) that reflect the distribution required by the standards.

The 11th grade curriculum provides opportunities to meet the variety of writing styles mandated by the standards. These styles include: argumentative, explanatory, and narrative writing.

Examples of opportunities for students to address the different types of writing reflected by the standards include, but are not limited to:

• Argumentative: In Unit 6 on p. 1177, an example of argumentative writing can be found.“Think about the adjustments veterans must make when they return from combat. What does society do to help ease their transition back into civilian life? Write a three-to-five paragraph essay on the importance of supporting veterans during this time of transition. Include specific suggestions of ways this might be effectively achieved.”
• Explanatory: In Unit 5 on p.893, an example of explanatory writing is found. “Many factors shape your outlook--your personality, your life experiences, your state of mind. Write one or two sentences describing your outlook. Then, explain the factors you think have most influenced the way you look at the world.”
• Narrative: In Unit 1 on p. 91, an example of narrative writing is found. “Write a personal account. Equiano uses details to provide powerful first-person testimony. Choose an experience or a scene you want to describe. Write a one-page account to communicate the power of the experience. Include vivid details.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for materials including frequent opportunities for research-based and evidence-based writing to support analysis, argument, synthesis and/or evaluation of information, supports, claims.

Throughout the materials, a variety of writing tasks provide opportunities for research-based, evidence-based writing. Writing tasks include formal and informal writing to support analysis of poetry and prose. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 2, an example of an analytical writing prompt is found. This is a short response piece. “Nathaniel Hawthorne is also a master of the gothic genre. Do you think Zweig’s comments about Poe can apply to Hawthorne’s work as well? Write a brief response, citing evidence from ‘The Minister’s Black Veil’ to support your opinion.”
• In Unit 4, students read stories and materials instruct students to "Think about how women's roles have changed of the times of Kate Chopin and Edith Wharton. Using the stories you've just read and your knowledge of American society today, write a comparison of women's roles then and now.”

• In Unit 6, a writing prompt involving the creation of an argument backed by research is found. “The 2000 census report identifies four categories of change in the American population-- geographical center, population size, race and origin, and age. Which category of change do you think will have the greatest effect on America in the 21st century? State your opinion and support it with reasons and evidence from the census report you have just read, the Census Bureau Web site, at least one other internet or print resource, and, if you wish, examples from your own experience.”
• In Unit 7, students are guided through a research workshop and a writing process workshop. In these workshops students will be guided through the writing of a research paper that is to be based on one of the four questions of literature, history and life students have explored throughout the year. Students will have opportunities to use evidence-based writing to support analysis, argument, synthesis and/or evaluation of information, supports, and claims in each of their individual research projects.