6th Grade - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that texts are organized around a topic/topics (or, for grades 6-8, topics and/or themes) to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently.

Grade 6 materials include texts connected by a topic and essential question for each unit that are appropriate for the grade level. The essential question is introduced at the beginning of the lesson, referred to after each lesson, and appears at the end in each unit task.  Students are given the opportunity to build their reading comprehension skills by completing the following tasks within the unit: Check Your Understanding, Analyze the Text, Research Tasks, Create and Discuss, Respond to the Essential Question, Critical Vocabulary, and Language Conventions. The sequence of texts across the grade level is conducive toward scaffolding students to meet the requirements of Standard 10: Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently. The materials include many opportunities for both close reading and independent reading with student choices available with each unit. The topics include the following: Finding Courage, Through an Animal’s Eyes, Surviving the Unthinkable, Discovering Your Voice, Never Give Up, and Hidden Truths.

• In Unit 3, Surviving the Unthinkable, students reflect on the characteristics that help people survive. The essential question is, “What does it take to be a survivor?” Students explore what qualities are needed to survive a disaster. Throughout the unit, students read fiction and nonfiction texts that relate to this goal, such as excerpts from two novels where the main characters must find the fortitude to survive in the immediate aftereffects of disaster, a memoir which illuminates the characteristics needed to survive the crash on the Titanic, and a poem demonstrating what it took to survive Hurricane Katrina. The Unit 3 task is to write a nonfiction narrative about what it took for them or someone they know to survive a disaster. Both refer back to the essential question and students use the notes in their response log to complete these tasks.
• In Unit 5, Never Give Up, students explore people who resist the urge to give up. The essential question is, “What keeps people from giving up?” Students explore what keeps people going when they face major problems that seem impossible. Throughout the unit, students read fiction and nonfiction texts that relate to this goal, such as a memoir about refusing to give up when faced with injustice, a short story about sacrifice, a poem urging people to keep moving forward despite people who try to keep you down, and a biography about inventors who refused to give up. The Unit 5 tasks are a biographical report and a podcast about the resilience of the human spirit. Both refer back to the essential question and students use the notes in their response log to complete these tasks.
• In Unit 6, Hidden Truths,” students read six texts organized around the topic, “Hidden Truths,” and an essential question, “What hidden truths about people and the world are revealed in stories?”  All the texts have something to do the impact of storytelling on cultural and bonding experiences in humans. The Response Log at the end of each text is used to gather relevant details that connect to the essential question. The first text they read is an introduction to a book titled Storytelling, which gives students detailed information about storytelling and its importance.  At the end of the unit, students read two folktales to understand how “..traditional stories are passed down from generation to generation to reveal an important truth all generations need to learn or be reminded about.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that materials contain sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts.

In Grade 6 materials, students are expected to cite textual evidence to support analysis, determine theme, and analyze point of view. For most texts, students are asked to analyze language or author’s word choice. Most texts include opportunities for students to analyze key ideas and details, structure, and craft. The materials provide instructional supports to ensure students can analyze the text according to the grade level standards, and students apply skills after the reading that correspond to skills they practice during the reading. Examples of student answers and mentor texts are available. This scaffolded progression occurs across units, sections, lessons, and assessments. The questions and tasks help students to build comprehension and knowledge of topics and themes. 

• In Unit 1, Finding Courage, students cite textual evidence to support analysis of a text during the reading of an excerpt from The Breadwinner: “How does Parvana come to the realization that Mrs. Weera is right?” Students practice the skill again in Unit 1 with a short story “The Ravine” before they apply the skill during a comparison of two texts later in the unit. 
• In Unit 2, Through An Animal’s Ideas, students analyze the language conventions when reading the short story “Zoo”: “Writer’s use consistent verb tenses so that readers know when the action takes place. Mark the verbs and verb phrases used in paragraph 5. What generalization can you make about the use of verb tenses in this paragraph? Students then Practice and Apply following the reading by writing their “own sentences using past and present verb tenses consistently to describe when action takes place.” 
• In Unit 5, Never Give Up, students Notice & Note how the information presented in the afterword challenges, changes, or confirms what they know about the Wright brothers before reading the selection. (386)

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that materials contain 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.

The instructional materials for Grade 6 include questions and tasks to support students’ analysis of knowledge and ideas. During the Analyze & Apply section, students read a variety of selections for analysis, annotation, and application of the Notice & Note protocol. Sequences of text-dependent questions support students in their analysis of the texts. The materials provide guidance to teachers in supporting students’ skills in the Teacher's Edition. Sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze across multiple texts as well as within single texts. For example, each unit includes a Collaborate & Compare section which provides a comparative analysis of two selections linked by topic but different in genre, craft, or focus. 

• In Unit 1, Finding Courage, students read “Fears and Phobias” by www.kidshealth.org. After reading, students answer Analyze the Text questions which require them to practice and apply a variety of skills such as: Cause/Effect: "Examine paragraphs 5-7 and identify examples of cause-and-effect relationships." Draw Conclusions: "Review paragraphs 26-32. What factors help people overcome phobias? Explain whether the author believes it is worthwhile to try to overcome phobias and why." Interpret: "What additional information does the boxed feature provide? How does it add to your understanding of the article?"
• In Unit 4, Discovering Your Voice, in the Collaborate and Compare section, students compare and contrast “A Voice” by Pat Mora and “Words Like Freedom” by Langston Hughes. They use the two poems to compare speakers, topic, and tone of the poem. “Why might a poet choose to convey multiple tones within the same poem? Explain.” Then students compare with a small group by discussing, identifying, and recording similarities in the texts. In the Teacher's Edition, teachers are provided with additional guidance for this discussion. “Reinforce with students that in this activity they will be making inferences and citing evidence, then making connections  between their poems and their lives.”
• In Unit 6, Hidden Truths, students read the poems titled “Archetype” by Margarita Engle and “Fairy-tale Logic” by A.E. Stallings. Students create a comparison chart for the poems. They make inferences about theme and support those with text evidence. Then students use this chart to write theme statements for each poem, compare the themes,, and share their personal opinions about these themes based on their personal experiences. Students discuss their notes, listen to the ideas of others, and share their ideas. In this final unit of the year, integrating knowledge and ideas is embedded in students’ work.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic (or, for grades 6-8, a theme) through integrated skills (e.g. combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).

The Grade 6 materials include culminating tasks that are multifaceted, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of different grade level standards, including writing and presentation of knowledge and ideas. The materials meet the criteria that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks. Each text has clearly defined sets of Notice & Note, Check Your Understanding, and Analyze the Text questions that increase in rigor and depth and clearly support students in developing an ability to complete a culminating task. Culminating tasks vary for each text and are activities comprised of multiple types of reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.

• In Unit 1, Finding Courage, students complete the culminating task  “Write an Informational Essay” which provides an opportunity to demonstrate proficiency to write informatively and strengthen writing as needed through planning, drafting, revising, and editing. In addition, students use technology to produce and publish writing before demonstrating skills which align with the Grade 6 speaking and listening standards with their presentations. 
• In Unit 2, Through an Animal’s Eyes, students study various texts that enable them to delve into answering the Essential Question: “What can you learn by seeing the world through an animal’s eyes?”  After reading the mentor texts “Wild Animals Aren’t Pets” by USA Today and “Let People Own Exotic Animals” by Zuzana Kukol, students answer Analyze the Text questions about claim and argument, delineate the pros and cons of the arguments presented in each text, and then research the pros and cons of owning another type of exotic animal as a pet. After completing these tasks, students complete a culminating task where they write an argumentative piece about whether or not they should own the exotic animal they researched, and then must present their information in a public service announcement to their peers. 
• In Unit 4, Discovering Your Voice, students read an excerpt from Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. Students independently research in order to answer questions about the author and then utilize their answers to inform further questions they might have for the author after reading her works. Students discuss their ideas with a partner and then write a formal letter to the author describing a “meaningful connection you found between your life and an aspect or event in her memoir.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that materials support 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.

Writing is used across lessons and assessments as a learning tool and as a way for students to express their understanding. Lesson plans are scaffolded so that students develop their understanding of texts thoroughly before having to write thoughtfully about them. Within lessons, students complete smaller writing tasks such as taking notes, filling in charts and graphic organizers, and writing quick responses to essential questions, in addition to holding classroom discussions before they complete more demanding writing tasks for more complex selections at the end of each unit. Students learn the components of good writing through Text X-Ray and Language X-Ray tasks that focus on supports and writing structures. Each unit concludes in a process writing task that synthesizes the students’ understanding of the texts they read. In the Online Ed Resources, there are additional Writing Studio opportunities where students write informational texts, arguments, and narratives. Within the unit, students have multiple opportunities for on demand writing and a complete one process piece. There is always a mentor text provided to use as a model and there is explicit author’s craft and genre characteristics the teacher has students examine. Writing instruction supports students’ growth in writing skills over the course of the school year, and rubrics and the Language X-Ray give teachers supports and scaffolds to guide students’ writing development. 

• In Unit 1, Finding Courage, students end the unit by writing an informational essay, directly aligning with Standard W.6.2, “write informative texts to examine a topic and convey ideas....” Students complete a full writing process beginning with planning, progressing to developing a draft, revising, editing, and, finally, publishing. The Teacher's Edition provides multiple suggestions at each step of the writing process for how teachers should initiate and guide the writing instruction with directions included for English Learner support and what to do when students struggle. 
• In Unit 2, Through an Animal’s Eyes, students complete a number of writing tasks throughout the unit such as, but not limited to, the following: read an excerpt from Pax by Sara Pennypacker and write a story from the point of view of an animal or an object; read an excerpt from “Animal Snoops: The Wondrous World of Wildlife Spies” by Peter Christie and write an informational essay about an animal; read two arguments “Wild Animals Aren’t Pets” by USA Today and “Let People Own Exotic Animals” by Zuzana Kukol; and write an argument in which they “take a position, pro or con, about owning an exotic animal they researched. 
• In Unit 3, Surviving the Unthinkable, after students read an excerpt from Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes, students conduct a short research task to find out about the Ninth Ward’s history before Katrina. In the Teacher's Edition, the teacher is given these instructions, “Encourage students to confirm any information they find by checking multiple sources and assessing the credibility of each. Federal, state and local resources are generally reliable sources of such data.” Also, in the Student Edition, students have a Research Tip about the use of search words to find the information they need. For example, they are given examples of search words. “Image of __________” to find photographs of an event.”
• In Unit 5, Never Give Up, students Collaborate & Compare two texts: an excerpt from Into the Air by Robert Burleigh and an excerpt from The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane by Russell Freedman. A Writing Studio is available online for additional instruction as to how to use textual evidence when completing a writing task. Teachers can assign these lessons to students and monitor students’ understanding. An example question includes a segment What Does Textual Evidence Look Like? Students read an excerpt and answer questions, such as the following: “An internal citation briefly identifies a source. What does this citation include?"

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that 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.

The instructional materials for Grade 6 include research projects across the school year that are appropriate for the grade level. Materials support teachers in employing projects that develop students’ knowledge on a topic via provided resources. Notes are available in the margin of the Teacher's Edition with the label Research to assist educators in supporting students during the process. Materials provide many opportunities for students to apply reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language skills to synthesize and analyze per their grade level readings. There are notes available for teachers to assist students when they Create and Present in relation to the research tasks they complete. Materials provide opportunities for short and long research projects. Following the reading of each selection, the materials provide a short Research opportunity in the Respond section and includes a Research Tip for students. Longer writing tasks are available at the end of each unit. Students have the opportunity to complete a research report and the materials further develop this learning with a speaking and listening opportunity.

• In Unit 1, Finding Courage, students Respond to the reading of an excerpt from The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis. Students complete a short research task by exploring at least two aid organizations, which may include “Doctors Without Borders” and “International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)” and generate a question that will guide the research. A Research Tip is also available: “Many well known authors have their own websites. Visit Deborah Ellis’s website to find out more about her and the humanitarian causes she supports. Students then write a letter to an aid organization and give a multimodal presentation.
• In Unit 4, Discovering Your Voice, students read a variety of texts that discuss different forms of self-expression. Over the course of the unit, students gather research from texts on a response log in order to answer the question “What are the ways you can make yourself heard?” Students independently research artists, authors, humorists, activists, and photographers, all of whom express themselves differently. Students amass this research throughout the unit and utilize it to complete a culminating task, creating a multimodal argument, where students “Write an argument explaining why your favorite type of self-expression is effective.” 
• In Unit 5, Never Give Up, students generate several questions about the historical and cultural setting of the story “The First Day of School” based on the Little Rock Nine. They research and answer one or more of those questions and share why they think the Little Rock Nine were chosen to win Congressional Gold Medals.
• In Unit 6, Hidden Truths, after reading the folktale “The Mouse Bride” retold by Heather Forest, students conduct a short research task in which they Investigate common themes for folktales.  In the Research Tip section, students are told to keep track of their sources by “...copy and paste the URL...title and author…” They look at themes across different cultural ethnicities to see what patterns emerge.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that materials provide a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

Lessons include some independent reading followed by text-specific questions and tasks that reflect student accountability. Procedures are organized for independent reading included in the lessons. Each Unit includes an Independent Reading plan with guidance for teachers and students. There is sufficient teacher guidance to foster independence for readers at all levels. There is a tracking system (which may include a student component) to track independent reading. A timeline is provided for each of the six units; each unit lasts approximately 30 days. The Reader’s Choice in the Independent Reading section includes e-text selections and students check off the texts they select to read on their own. Assessments are available for the independent reading selections and teachers can assess students formatively by listening to partner discussions during the Collaborate and Share task to follow the independent reading.  Student reading materials span a wide volume of texts at grade levels (and at various lexile levels within the grade). Additionally, there are trade books suggested for every unit to foster an independent companion novel as students complete the unit. 

• In Unit 4, Discovering Your Voice, the materials offer a suggested novel connection, The Giver by Lois Lowry. Online resources are available for the teacher and students, including The Giver Study Guide. Scaffolding and supports are in place during the reading, such as a Vocabulary Tracker. Students use a chart to record unfamiliar terms. The guide includes a Book Test with short answer questions and an essay question: “Write an essay that explains how the following Essential Question relates to an important theme in The Giver. Include evidence from the novel to support your answer.”
• In Unit 5, Never Give Up, the full length of the unit spans 30 days, with a suggested two days set apart explicitly for independent reading. A variety of independent texts are offered to students at the end of the unit for further exploration of the essential question: “What keeps people from giving up?” The Teacher's Edition includes explicit English Learner Support, encouraging teachers to offer independent reading assistance such as having students partner read, having students have discussions in pairs every 15 minutes about what they are reading, and keeping a reading log of Notice & Note signposts. Teachers are encouraged to monitor comprehension by having all students pair up and discuss what they read as the teacher circulates the room, listening in on conversations.