10th Grade - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 partially meet the criteria that texts are organized around a topic/topics to build students’ knowledge and their ability to read and comprehend complex texts proficiently.

These units are based around literacy skills, not a topic or theme. Units 1-9 are each centered around building skills and knowledge around a particular literary element or topic. In Units 10 and 11 present major texts under the title “World Classics” allowing application of skills and knowledge developed in earlier chapters. In Unit 12 guides students through a research project, also promoting application of skills and knowledge developed in earlier chapters. Examples include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, The World of a Story: This unit focuses on plot, setting, and mood. Students read Everyday Use by Alice Walker (48), To Build a Fire by Jack London (78), Apollo 13, by Ron Howard (136) and the poem “Exile” by Julie Alverez (140).
• In Unit 5, This unit focuses on author’s purpose. Students read The Plot Against People by Russell Baker (532), And of Clay We Are Created by Isabel Allende (584) and the poem “Peruvian Child,” by Pat Mora (602).
• In Unit 10, This unit focuses on Greek tragedy and medieval romance. Students read the Antigone by Sophocles (1066), Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory (1110), Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (1144) and Man of La Mancha by Dale Wasserman

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 partially meet the criteria that materials contain sets of coherently sequenced higher order thinking questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language (words/phrases), key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts in order to make meaning and build understanding of texts and topics.

The materials offer students opportunities to use evidence pulled directly from the text as well as make inferences while reading in order to help make meaning of the texts provided. Most discussion questions and tasks include analysis of language, key ideas, details and craft and structure. In the margins of the student text there are questions to call out specific details to note in the text. The sequenced questions allow for making meaning and building understanding of texts. Within the Tiered Discussion Prompts, there are questions labeled evaluate or analyze. The materials do include a range of text dependent questions and tasks throughout each unit. Questions and tasks cover a wide continuum of standards and strategies. Examples include:

Examples of questions and tasks in Unit 3 after reading an excerpt from , “A Separate Peace include:

• Excerpt from “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles At what point does the story switch from the present to the past? Cite the clues that signaled this flashback.”
• “From what point of view is this story told? Explain how you can tell. How does the point of view contribute to the tone of the story?”
• “Reread lines 3-21. What do you learn about the narrator from his own thoughts about the tree and his past?
  “Review the boxed text. What do the descriptions of the tree--in the present and in the flashback--help to emphasize?”
• The Best Practices Toolkit provides a transparency to provide a structure for students to analyze the author’s craft in each text.

Examples of questions and tasks in Unit 5 after reading the text, “The Interlopers” include:

• “What aspects of setting are emphasized?
• “How does the setting affect the characters?
• “How does the setting relate to the story’s main conflict?
• Think about the story’s setting and the way it affects Ulrich and Georg. What theme related to setting do you think Saki communicates in the story. Cite evidence to support your claim”.

Examples of questions and tasks in Unit 7 after reading the text, “Sam, Dunk, and Hook” include:

• “The speaker describes the players as ‘Beautiful and Dangerous’ in line 40. Find Two examples of figurative language that suggest either of these qualities. Explain your choices.”
• “Contrast the two poems, citing three differences. Think about each poet’s treatment of the subject, as well as his use of poetic techniques.”

Examples of questions and tasks in Unit 11 after reading the text, Julius Caesar include:

• “Point out the keywords that are emphasized by the rhythm in lines 3-7. Why might Shakespeare have chosen to stress them?”
• “Consider the use of parallelism in the boxed lines. What words of phrases are parallel?”
• “Notice the rhetorical questions that Marullus asks in line 37 and in lines 48-51. Through this rhetorical device, what +is he trying to emphasize?”
• Notice that Shakespeare chose prose instead of blank verse to Casca’s speeches. Which of Casca’s character traits may have inspired this choice?”
• Reread lines 61-69 and 77-85. What feelings does Brutus reveal in these two soliloquies?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 partially meet the criteria that materials contain a coherently sequenced set of text-dependent and text-specific questions and tasks that require students to build knowledge and integrate ideas across both individual and multiple texts.

There is no clear explanation of how integration of skills builds from unit to unit, with limited guidance available for teachers. While questions may support a general understanding of the texts themselves, they do not support building students’ knowledge about the content or topics/themes introduced by the texts. There are some opportunities for students to build knowledge between multiple texts.

For example the Unit 2 focus is Character Development. Students read “Shoofly Pie” by Naomi Shihab Nye and answer questions such as:

• “Reread lines 1-18. Base on your experiences, do you find Mattie’s reaction to her accident believable? Why or why not?”

• Based on the story so far, would you want to work at the Good for You Restaurant?
• Why do you think Mattie considers working at the Good for You Restaurant?
• What is the Good for You Restaurant like?”
• “Review the chart you created as you read. How did the connections you made help you understand the effect of grief on one or more of the characters? Discuss specific examples in the story.”
• “Reread lines 465-482. Has Mattie gotten over her grief by the end of the story?”

While the questions support students comparing texts and support a general understanding of the texts themselves, they do not support building students’ knowledge about the content or topics/themes introduced by the texts. The focus of students’ work may need support from the teacher to focus on characterization and point of view which is the stated focus of the unit.

The Unit 4 focus is Theme. Students read the texts, ““Letter to a Young Refugee from Another: by Andrew Lam and “Song of P’eng-ya” by Tu Fu and answer questions such as:

• “Ask students what message the photographer is trying to convey.” (491)
• “What do you think is the most natural reaction toward someone who causes pain and suffering? How would you react?”
• “According to Lam, what is the inevitable result of seeking revenge.”
• “How would you sum up Andrew Lam’s conclusions about hate and revenge? How do you think Lam came to his conclusions?”

• “Based on lines 27-42, what comforts the speaker, that he and his family are refugees?”

The Task Across Texts states, “Now that you have read both selections about refugee life, you are ready to identify each author’s message. The following Point of Comparison chart will help you get started.” The questions and task do not support building students’ knowledge about the content or topics/themes introduced by the texts.

The level of questions does not increase significantly over the course of the year, and tasks are scaffolded and passages labeled consistently across the year. Students are frequently directed where to look for evidence when analyzing a text.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 partially meet the criteria 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).

The questions and tasks partially support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic through integrated skills. The representation of these skills is not diverse. These tasks focus mostly on general analysis, general responses, opinion responses of characters, themes, or setting as well as relying heavily on the strategy of compare/contrast.

The materials provide culminating tasks at the end of sets as well as at the end of units. The end of text or text set culminating tasks are always writing tasks in the form of the “Short Constructed Response” and the “Extended Constructed Response,” which do not always focus on the unit’s topics. The end of unit tasks, however, are standards-driven, with a “Writing Workshop” essay assignment and often a speaking task that is related to the Writing Workshop writing piece. Overall, the culminating activities and tasks illustrate cohesiveness within the materials, yet they fall short of providing diverse opportunities for students to engage with texts at a higher/deeper level of analysis/interpretation, thus only partially meeting the criteria for this indicator.

The following examples represent culminating tasks that show mastery of skills, but not necessarily demonstration of knowledge of a topic:

• Unit 1: The World of a Story: Plot, Setting, and Mood
  • “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
  • “Review the notes you took as you read. What positive and negative traits does each character have?”
  • “Use the chart shown to explore the various ways that Dee is in conflict with her family. Which conflicts are resolved and which are not.”
  • Task: Imagine that Dee visits the family again ten years after the events in ‘Everyday Use.” Write one page showing what she, Mama, and Maggie are now like and how they interact. What conflicts between them are still unresolved?
  • End of Unit 1 Task:Literary Analysis
  • Writing Task: “Write a literary analysis of a short story you have read. Your analysis should use quotations and details from the story to develop your topic and help your audience find new meaning or significance in the work.” Students are provided “idea starters” as well as “the essentials”: common purposes, audiences, and formats.”
  • Performance Task: Adapt your literary analysis into an oral presentation that is appropriate for your audience. Practice delivering your presentation concisely so it is easy to follow.

• Unit 3: A Writer’s Choice- Narrative Devices
  • “By the Waters of Babylon” by Stephen Vincent Bene’t
  • What is the tone of this story? How does the use of John as a narrator affect the tone?
  • What is the theme, or message of this story? Cite evidence to support your conclusions.
  • John is an example of a naive narrator-- a narrator with limited knowledge, who does not fully understand what he experiences. Why did Benet choose this kind of narrator for “by the Waters of Babylon”?
  • Short Constructed Response Prompt: : Do you agree with John thet too much knowledge can harm people and that “truth should come little by little”? Write a one-to-two paragraph response, drawing on the story and real life events.
  • Writing Prompt: Is technology more harmful or helpful to us? Consider both the advantages and disadvantages of living in a highly mechanized society. Use your objective summaries of both the short story and the newspaper article to help you form an opinion.
  • End of Unit 3: Literary Nonfiction Analysis: “The nonfiction texts in this unit are personal essays, reflecting each author’s thoughts or feelings about an experience. To analyze an essay, or determine its deeper meaning, you examine how the author uses stylistic elements to help you connect with an experience. In this workshop, you will learn how to write and analysis of literary nonfiction that examines the effects of an author’s choices.”
  • Writing Task: Write a literary analysis of an essay. In your response, analyze the author’s use of stylistic elements and their effects, using quotations and other evidence from the essay to support your ideas and convey your understanding of the essay’s meaning to your audience.” Students are provided “idea starters” as well as “the essentials”: common purposes, audiences, and formats.
  • Speaking and Listening Workshop - Presenting a Literary Analysis “When you write a TV program that profiles someone, the technique used to tell the story-- interviews, video clips, narration, and soundtrack-- can help you connect with the person’s experiences. When you tell a friend about it, you explain how the storytelling elements helped make the person’s life meaningful to you. Your personal response to the program is similar in many ways to an oral presentation of your analysis of an essay.
  • Task: Adapt your literary analysis into an oral presentation. Practice your presentation, then deliver it to an appropriate audience who has read the story. (400)

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 partially meets the criteria that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts. Materials attempt a year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts. Each text is provided with the following vocabulary components located in the Teacher’s Edition:

• Vocabulary Skill: “Vocabulary in Context” and “Vocabulary to Preteach” based on the text.
• Own the Word: As students read, opportunities are provided for the teacher to stop to teach vocabulary words in context.
• Differentiated Vocabulary Support: Vocabulary support is sporadic throughout each unit.

• For English Language Learners: Language Coach: These are tips found in the teacher’s edition that assist in teaching specific vocabulary strategies for words such as roots, affixes, etymology, multiple meanings, word origins, etc… These are designed to use with English Language Learners but can be helpful to all students.
• For Struggling Readers - Additional words from the text are identified as ones that students may need more support.
• For Advanced Learners - Challenge vocabulary suggestions.

• After Reading Vocabulary Assessment: This is found at the end of each text and includes true/false, multiple choice, short answer, and/or fill in the blank questions for students based on the words taught throughout the story.

Reviewers noted that the vocabulary strategies and tasks are often repeated and lack variety in how students engage with vocabulary. Materials lack consistent protocols for presentation as well as opportunities for students to review and reuse previously learned vocabulary. These factors may limit students’ abilities to build words across texts.

Examples include but are not limited to:

Unit 1 Text: “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

• Vocabulary Skill:
• Vocabulary in Context: “Diagnose Word Knowledge: Have all students complete
• Vocabulary in Context. Check their words and phrases against the following: (words
• definitions provided). Preteach Vocabulary: Use the following copy master to help
• Students use context clues to determine the meaning of each boldfaced word.

1. Read item 1 aloud, emphasizing vigilance.

2. Point out “so they seldom broke laws” and “the government was watching” . Elicit possible meanings for vigilance, such as “Watchfulness” or “alterness”.

3. Repeat the procedure for items 2-6.” (37)

• Academic Vocabulary in Speaking: affect, communicate, definite, establish, identify

Identify the social tendencies Vonnegut is warning against in “Harrison Bergeron.” Analyze the flaws of the society he depicts and discuss with a partner what Vonnegut seems to be recommending. Use at least one Academic Vocabulary word (listed above) in your discussion.

Vocabulary Strategy: The Greek Root syn

The vocabulary word synchronize contains the Greek word root syn, which means “together” or “similar.” This root is found in a number of English words. To understand the meaning of words with syn, use context clues as well as your knowledge of the root.

Practice: Write the word from the word web that best completes each sentence. Use context clues to help you or, if necessary, consult a dictionary or glossary.

Unit 3

Text: “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury

Unit 3 does not have vocabulary in context words or words that are pretaught).

• Vocabulary: Own the Word:

Silhouette: Ask students when or why they might see someone in a slhouette.

Paranoia: Point out that paranoia is from the Latin prefix para-, meaning “mind,”

and paranos, meaning “madness.” A person suffering from paranoia is

said to be paranoid. Have students explain when or why a person might

feel paranoid.” (328)

• Vocabulary Assessment (335)

Additional resources such as copy masters, can be found in the Resource Manager. Think Central is an online tool that provides additional vocabulary resources for students to practice and review vocabulary. Directives are provided in the Teacher’s Edition.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 partially meet the criteria that materials contain a year long, cohesive plan of writing instruction and tasks which support students in building and communicating substantive understanding of topics and texts.

Writing instruction in the 10th grade curriculum includes activities and tasks that are varied, building on and expanding on the experiences and readings students complete. Skills are pulled out and scaffolded for student development and opportunities to revise/edit help students improve. Due to the varied purposes, lengths, and types of texts students are responding to, students may need extra support or practice should they struggle in a skill area. The materials do not provide increase in student demand of writing instruction over the course of the school year.

For example:

Unit 1: Share What You Know

Throughout the unit there are frequent writing opportunities for students. Students engage in constructed responses to the texts read, and culminates in students writing an analysis of the author’s style. All writing tasks are responses to text. Some examples include:

• Extended Constructed Response: “Use Gonzales’s principles for survival to evaluate the performance of the man in “To Build a Fire.” How does he demonstrate effective survival behaviors? What does he fail to do that survivors tend to do?” (103)
• Analyze Accounts in Print and Film: When making a film based on a real life drama, most directors feel an obligation to be true to the original story. In the nonfiction account. “The Race to Save Apollo 13,” the writer uses specific details to build suspense at critical moments. Does the filmmaker use the same details to create suspense in the film excerpt? Determine which details are emphasized in each account. To prepare, think about how the writer and the filmmaker used the techniques in each medium to incorporate.” (139)
• Cumulative Writing Task: Literary Analysis: “Write a literary analysis of a short story you have read. Your analysis should use quotations and details from the story to develop your topic and help your audience find new meaning or significance in the work.” Students are taken through the entire writing process. The final step is to publish. Suggestions include: “Finally, you will share your literary analysis with an audience. Here are some options:

• Submit your essay to the school literary magazine.
• Publish your essay on a Web site for the fans of the author’s work.
• Adapt your essay into an oral presentation and deliver it to an audience that has read the story.

Proofread your essay for errors. Make sure you have used reciprocal pronouns to note shared feelings or actions among the members of plural subjects. Then, publish your final essay where your intended audience is likely to see it.” (148-157)

Unit 6: Making a Case: Argument and Persuasion

Throughout the unit there are frequent writing opportunities for students. Students engage in quickwrites, constructed responses to the texts read, and culminates in students writing a literary analysis. All writing tasks are responses to text. Some examples include:

• Short Constructed Response: Analysis:: “A character in one of Gordimer’s novels says, “The real definition of loneliness is to live without responsibility.” Write one or two paragraphs in which you discuss how this quotation relates to the main theme of “A Chip of Glass Ruby.” (709)
• Quickwrites: “Write a paragraph about a device or an object that has outlived its usefulness. Explain what caused it to lose value, and discuss why some people might be reluctant to get rid of it.” (646)
• Cumulative Writing Task: Literary Analysis: “Write a persuasive essay on an issue about what you have a strong opinion. In your essay, try to persuade a specific audience to agree with your position and take a stand or action on it. This.” (742) Students are not required to read texts to complete this task, but it may benefit students to do so. Additional supports such as ideas, graphic organizers, adding evidence, etc..are provided as students work through the writing process to complete the task. (742-75