5th Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 5 partially meet the expectations of indicator 1a. Although many texts are excerpts, a good deal of the literary texts are published texts which provide opportunities for students to engage in especially careful reading, are on topics of interest to Grade 5 students, and include rich, captivating language. Most of the informational texts were written for the series and are not works published outside the program, and many of these are brief and lack content-area vocabulary and well-crafted language.

The anchor texts for Grade 5 include texts created by award-winning authors and illustrators, including Louis Sachar, Fred Gibson, Andrew Clements, and Louise Erdrich, and cover topics of interest to Grade 5 students in a variety of genres, including poetry, realistic fiction, biographies, and historical fiction. Some examples of quality texts include but are not limited to:

• Unit 1, Lesson 3, Off and Running by Gary Soto - This excerpt is relatable for students since the setting is a school. The text contains figurative language such as “The bubble great as large as a fist” and “popped like a fist in a baseball glove.”
• Unit 2, Lesson 9, Storm Warriors by Elisa Carbone - This excerpt is well-crafted with suspenseful events. It contains descriptive verbs such as “stumbled,” “faced,” “demolished,” “swirled,” and “crouched.”
• Unit 3, Lesson 12, Can’t You Make Them Behave, King George? by Jean Fritz - This narrative nonfiction excerpt is funny and well-crafted. In this text, King George is a relatable character for students since the tone is conversational.
• Unit 4, Lesson 20,The Black Stallion by Walter Earley - The excerpt is from the classic story. It is well-crafted with spectacular descriptions of the characters and setting.
• Unit 5, Lesson 23,Vaqueros: America’s First Cowboys by George Ancona - This excerpt contains simple headings and pronunciation guides for proper nouns. The illustrations are intricate and complemented with captions.

While there are a variety of topics and a range of student interests addressed throughout the year, many texts that have been created for the series lack engaging text for Grade 5 students. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Unit 2, Lesson 8, National Parks of the West (no author cited) is a short text about only two National Parks in the western part of the United States. There are large photos and text features on the first two pages, with little text for students to actually read about Big Bend National Park.
• Unit 3, lesson 14, Modern Minute Man by Marcus Duren is a brief text based on an interview with a Minute Man actor. The interview is five questions with short response accompanied by pictures. The pictures are not identified as a "separate" multimedia text.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 5 partially meet the expectation of supporting students’ increasing literacy skills over the course of the school year. While the anchor texts and paired selections typically fall within the grade band, the scaffolding of each text for reader and task is similar and comparable for each text regardless of the complexity and demands of each text. This may not ensure students are supported to access and comprehend complex grade-level texts independently at the end of the school year.

As the year progresses, students read texts at a variety of complexity levels. For each text, the routine for reading and analyzing the text is similar and does not change based on text complexity. Examples of the similar and comparable scaffolding for each text regardless of complexity include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 1, Grade 5 students read A Package for Mrs. Jewls, which has a Lexile of 480 (below grade level) and contains slightly to moderately complex qualitative features. In Unit 2, Lesson 6, students read one of the most complex texts in the materials, Everglades Forever, which as a Lexile of 1090 (above the grade band) with moderately to very complex qualitative features. Yet, the materials contain reader and task considerations that are similar to each other and the same amount of time is allotted to each text (3 days). For A Package for Mrs. Jewls, the teacher is directed to motivate students by asking students who enjoy reading humorous fiction to share what they hope to learn from reading the selection. To foster independence, the teacher is directed to have small groups of motivated readers to read the text together. The reader and task considerations is similar for the more complex text. For Everglades Forever: Restoring America’s Great Wetland, the teacher is directed to motivate students by asking students who enjoy reading about conservation to share what they hope to learn from the selection. To foster independence, the teacher is directed to have small groups of motivated readers to read the text together. On day 1 of reading both texts, students think through the text and the teacher asks comprehension questions during the reading. On day 2, students are guided through analyzing the text for specific components. On day 3, students read the text independently and complete two pages in the Reader’s Notebook.

• In Unit 6, Lesson 29, students read an anchor text, The Case of the Missing Deer, with a Lexile of 610, and the text contains slightly to moderately complex qualitative features. While this less complex anchor text is the second to last anchor text, the text is allotted the same amount of time as more complex texts such as Lewis and Clark in Unit 5, Lesson 25, which has a Lexile of 1020 and very complex to exceedingly complex qualitative features. For The Case of the Missing Deer, three days are allotted for reading the story with day 1 for thinking through the text, day 2 for analyzing the story, and day 3 for independent reading. For Lewis and Clark, three days are allotted for reading the story with day 1 for thinking through the text, day 2 for analyzing the story, and day 3 for independent reading.

For the Grade 4 anchor and paired selections, the scaffolding across texts remains constant and the same level of support is recommended across the units. This may not support students' abilities to access increasingly rigorous text over the course of the school year.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 5 partially meet the expectations for text dependent questions, tasks, and assignments requiring students to engage directly with the text and to draw on textual evidence to support what is explicit as well as valid inferences. Though there are text dependent questions to accompany each anchor and supporting text, students are seldom asked to draw their own conclusions or inferences. Inferences are often given with students having to find evidence to support the already stated inference. The text dependent questions provided are not adequate to support students mastering of this skill.

Students are asked text-dependent questions throughout the daily lessons. These questions are included in the Teacher Read Aloud, Read the Anchor Text, Guided Retelling, Dig Deeper second read of the anchor text, Your Turn discussion, Independent Reading Reader’s Guide, Connect to the Topic, Compare Texts, and Small Group Instruction. Answering text-dependent questions is modeled throughout instruction.

Examples of text-dependent questions found throughout the units include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 5, students are asked, “What can the third-person narrator of this story tell readers about Elisa? How does this point of view affect how events in the story are described? The narrator can tell about Elisa’s thoughts and feelings. Events are described in a way that shows how they affect Elisa because the narrator tells what she thinks and feels about the events.”
• In Unit 2, Lesson 8, students are asked, “Both this website and Everglades Forever discuss the topic of conservation. What ideas are conveyed by both selections? National parks contain unique habitats where certain species of plants and animals can live. People must take action to conserve natural environments. National parks offer many opportunities for people to enjoy the natural world.”
• In Unit 4, Lesson 16, students are asked, "Summarize the main idea of the first paragraph. Manga is a cartoon genre with its own unique style."
• In Unit 5, Lesson 21, students are asked, "What have you learned about Francis by the end of page 636? He is a survivor, he takes care of others, he is realistic."
• In Unit 6, Lesson 28, students are asked,"What does the map tell you about the number of fossils found in Canada versus the number found in the United States? Canada has fewer mammoth fossil sites than the United States does."

Examples of text-dependent questions found that illustrate how inferences are often given with students having to find evidence to support the already stated inference include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 3, lesson 15 students are asked, “What phrases suggest that Joseph and his grandfather are in a hurry to get to town? Quote accurately from the text in your answer. The phrases ‘dropped the plow,’ ‘dashed into town,’ and ‘as fast as he could’ indicate that they are in a rush.”
• In Unit 5, lesson 21 students are asked, “What clues does the author give to show that the children are exhausted? Quote from the text. Lottle whispers, ‘Ten more feet and I would have died’; Billy doesn’t wake up when Francis drops him ‘like a stone.’”

Examples of text-dependent tasks and assignments found throughout the units:

• In Unit 2, Lesson 10, the Reader’s Notebook directs students to reread the last paragraph of Cougars on page 296 and write details from the text to support the main idea.
• In Unit 4, Lesson 19, the Reader’s Notebook directs students to read Darnell Rock Reporting and record details from the text to write a persuasive email.
• In Unit 6, Lesson 29, students record details on a T-Map in order to draw conclusions and make generalizations based on text evidence.

There are also “Text to Self” and “Text to World” questions that are not always text-dependent but relate to the theme or topic of the text being read. In Unit 2, Lesson 9, students are asked to design a medal for a modern-day hero whom they admire after reading “Storm Warriors” and Pea Island’s Forgotten Heroes.” Students are also asked to research hurricanes or other natural disasters they would like to learn more about.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 5 partially meet the criteria for providing frequent opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax. Opportunities and protocols for discussion are provided but are often not evidence-based and do not encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax. There is not a year-long approach available to developing skills over the course of they year. There is minimal teacher direction given to support teachers in conducting evidence-based discussions that model the use of academic vocabulary and syntax.

There are both evidence-based and non evidence-based discussions and modeling throughout materials. The anchor text and supporting texts provide text-based questions and sample answers for discussion, but do not give protocol or direction for conducting the discussions. Academic vocabulary is introduced at the beginning of each lesson through Vocabulary in Context Cards. Students participate in Talk About Over activities with the cards. These words are highlighted in the lessons texts and are also revisited in the Vocabulary Reader.

Examples of evidence-based discussions and modeling include but are not limited to:

Unit 1, Lesson 5, Compare Texts, Text to Text

• Students are directed to compare texts about language, “‘Elisa’s Diary’ and ‘Words Free as Confetti’ share the topic of language. With a partner, discuss how the views of language are the same or different in each text. Make a list of quotes and examples from the texts to support your thoughts. Then share a summary of your key points with the class.”

Unit 3, Lesson 15, Think Aloud

• The teacher models discussion by stating, “After reading the first paragraph, I know that Joseph thinks of himself as a coward and doesn’t want to enlist. Then he changes his mind. I am not sure why. To find out, I will reread the second paragraph. I see that he wants a silver dollar and also feels pressure from his peers.”

Unit 5, Lesson 21, Your Turn, Classroom Conversation

• Students are directed to, “Continue discussing ‘Tucket’s Travels’ by using text evidence to explain your answers to these questions: Why wasn’t Francis entirely comfortable with the plan to evade the Comancheros? Was Billy truly aware of the danger that they were in? Why or why not? What roles did skill and luck play in the outcome of the story?”

Examples of discussions and modeling that are not evidence-based and do not encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax include but are not limited to:

Unit 1, Lesson 2, Think-Pair-Share

• Students are directed to, “Think about a time when you had to give a performance or speech. Where were you? How did you prepare? How did it go? Share your story with a partner. Then, discuss with your partner how your stories are alike and different.”

Unit 2, lesson 10, Talk About it

• Students are directed to discuss, “What kinds of animal behaviors have you noticed? What do you think they mean? Write your answers. Then share your ideas with your classmates.”

Unit 4, Lesson 17, Classroom Conversation

• Students are directed to discuss, “What inventions do you expect to see in the future?” As a class have students discuss problems that may arise in the future and the solutions that may follow. Record the students’ predictions on a problem-solution chart.

Unit 6, Lesson 30, Compare Texts, Text to World

• Teachers are directed to, “Use these prompts to help deepen student thinking and discussion: Think about how someone you admire has changed your life or the world. How do people find ways to achieve great things?

Interactive Listening and Speaking Lessons are also provided. These lessons are not evidence-based. Sentence starters are provided for English Language Learners.

The materials reviewed for Grade 5 partially meet expectations for supporting students’ listening and speaking about what they are reading and researching (including presentation opportunities) with relevant follow-up questions and evidence.

Protocols and routines for speaking and listening are presented in the Interactive Lessons. These lessons include rules for a good discussion, speaking constructively, listening and responding, giving a presentation, and using media in a presentation. These protocols are not located in the Student Edition.

Students practice listening comprehension during the weekly read aloud. Students are asked follow-up questions during the read aloud. Students read and respond to questions during the reading of the anchor texts and supporting text in whole class discussion and partner talk.

Each lesson includes teacher think alouds and a Speaking and Listening lesson on Day 5. The Speaking and Listening lessons do not always connect to the text or texts being read, do not always support what students are reading and researching, and do not always include relevant follow-up questions. There is limited instruction to support students mastering these presentation skills. For example:

• In Unit 2, Lesson 18, Day 5 students are asked to tell a story. Students are directed to read a story related to the theme of “Old Yeller” and prepare an oral report about the story to share with the class. It is suggested that students browse a library or other online catalogue and speak with peers, teachers, parents, or a librarian to help identify an appropriate story.
• In Unit 5, Lesson 22, Day 5 students prepare to give an informative speech on the Ojibwe people or on another culture or a particular tradition. Students wishing to research the Ojibwe may begin by revisiting the excerpt from "The Birchbark House." For other topics, students are to select cultures or customs that interest them. Students research the topic, prepare the speech and present.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 5 partially meet the expectation of materials including a mix of on-demand and process writing and short, focused projects incorporating digital resources where necessary.

Students write on demand after each anchor text during the Write to Reading. This provides a limited amount of practice with on-demand writing prompts. These prompts are short text-based writing prompts with little direction for the students and/or teacher.

• In Unit 2, Lesson 9, students are asked to respond to the prompt: “‘Storm Warriors’ is written from the main character’s -Nathan’s- point of view. How does his point of view affect descriptions in the story? Think about what would be different if one of the surfmen or sailors told the story. Write a paragraph explaining how Nathan’s point of view shapes the story and affects how you see events and other story characters. Use quotes and text to support your ideas. ” There is an additional support box on one page of the teacher’s edition for teachers to use during instruction to help students answer the prompt and an Interactive Lesson link is provided.

Students focus on one mode of writing across each unit. These modes include narratives, informational essays, and opinions. After each lesson there is a writing lesson which includes a model writing. During the last two weeks of a unit, students follow the steps of the writing process through publishing. There is a limited amount of practice with the writing mode when students are working through the lessons. The first lessons students do not write, but rather read about writing and look at model writings. The first time students are writing independently is during the end of unit performance task. This provides limited practice of process writing.

• For example, in Unit 5: Under Western Skys, the mode of writing taught is a response-to-literature. Students read examples of writing an editorial, response to literature, and a persuasive argument. After the last lesson of the unit, they prewrite, draft, revise, edit, and publish a literature response essay. The performance task for the unit is to write a response-to-literature essay.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 5 partially meet the expectations of materials providing frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information. Most tasks are independent of the main selection texts, and they do not build over the course of the year. Performance Task writings can often be answered without the use of the texts or can not be answered with the information provided by the texts. There are some experiences that engage students in practicing argument/opinion, informative/explanatory, and narrative writing; however, the writing tasks do not increase in rigor over the course of the year.

Examples of writing that does not require students to use evidence from the text include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 3, “Write a narrative, including dialogue, in which two characters provoke a reaction in each other.”
• In Unit 6, Lesson 29, “Have students work with a partner to brainstorm and explore possible topics for an informational essay.”

Additional instructional supports are needed for teachers to guide students’ understanding of developing ideas, building components of structured writing, and integrating evidence from texts and other sources. Students are asked to use text evidence, but there is little guidance to the teacher on how to teach students to use text evidence. Most questions are preceded by or followed by the prompt “Cite Text Evidence,” however, students are not instructed on how to find or cite evidence from the text. Students are provided with a writing tip that is sometimes related to the text evidence, and other times related to grammar or other writing aspects.

The materials reviewed for Grade 5 partially meet the expectation that materials, questions, and tasks address grade-level CCSS for foundational skills to build comprehension by providing instruction in phonics, word recognition, vocabulary, morphology, and reading fluency in a research-based and transparent progression.

While students work on skills to help them work on unfamiliar words, there are few materials that build to tasks for students to accurately read unfamiliar multisyllabic words in and out of context. While multisyllable words are in the text that students read, there is a not a clear sequence learning the skills to implementing those skills.

In Unit 1, there are out of context decoding lessons about below grade level syllabication patterns such as the VCV syllable pattern and the VCCV pattern. In Unit 2, there are out-of-context decoding lessons about more below grade level syllabication patterns such as common beginning syllables, compound words, and recognizing schwa + /r/ sounds. Unit 3 contains more syllable lessons about below grade level standards such as the VV syllable pattern with words such as load, death, and dread. In Unit 5, Lesson 24, the students are taught how to decode words with simple prefixes, yet the prefixes were taught in previous grade levels. Opportunities for teaching new strategies for reading multisyllabic words are few.

Prefix lessons begin in Unit 1, Lesson 1 with non-, re-, un-, and dis-, which were taught in the Grade 3. In Unit 2, Lesson 8, students are taught two new prefixes, en- and pro-, and students are retaught re- and pre-, which were taught in Grade 3. In Unit 3, Lesson 15, students are retaught in-, im- (taught in Grade 3 and Grade 4) and il- (taught in Grade 4), and taught ir-. In Unit 5, Lesson 24, students are taught simple prefixes (review from previous grade levels) during a decoding lesson. In Unit 6, Lesson 26, students are taught to divide words and read words that start with the following prefixes: pro-, con-, and com-. The materials contain few lessons for students to learn and know new prefixes.

Suffix lessons begin in Unit 1, Lesson 4 and Lesson 5 with -ion, -tion, -ly, and -ful which were taught in the Grade 3 and Grade 4 materials. Units 2 and 3 do not have explicit lessons for suffixes. In Unit 4, Lesson 18, students are taught to recognize how suffixes change the base word with the following suffixes: -y, -er, and -est. In the following lesson, students are taught -ism and retaught -ist (taught in Grade 4), -able and -ible (taught in Grade 3) as well as other common suffixes learned in Grades 3 and 4. In Unit 5, the spelling instruction is based in the suffix -ion. In Unit 6, students are retaught -less and -ness (taught in Grades 3 and 4). Students are also taught the new suffix, -ment in the vocabulary strategies instruction. Also in Unit 6, Lesson 27, students are taught three new suffixes in the spelling instruction. Students are also retaught three suffixes (-able, -ible, and -ist) from Grades 3 and 4. Opportunities to learn new suffixes is limited since the lessons include teaching suffixes from previous grade levels.

The materials contain explicit instruction on morphology starting in Unit 2, Lesson 9, during Target Vocabulary. Students are taught two new Greek and Latin word parts: scrib and rupt. Students are retaught two Greek and Latin word parts from Grade 4: photo and tele. In Unit 3, Lesson 14, during Target Vocabulary, students are taught two new Greek and Latin word parts: port and ject. Students are retaught two Greek and Latin parts from Grade 4: graph and meter. In Unit 6, Lesson 29, students are retaught spect (taught in Grade 4). Opportunities to learn roots and affixes are limited and include word parts taught in Grade 4.

The materials contain opportunities for students to practice reading aloud grade-level text fluently with accuracy, stress, appropriate pace/rate, expression/intonation, attention to punctuation and appropriate phrasing. Fluency is emphasized daily.

The materials reviewed for Grade 5 partially meet the expectation that materials, questions, and tasks guide students to read with purpose and understanding and help them to make frequent connections between acquisition of foundational skills and making meaning from reading.

The instructional materials contain directions to the teacher to set the purpose for the reading of each anchor text. For example, in Unit 3, Lesson 15, the teacher sets the purpose: “I know that biographies tell about the lives of real people. I didn’t know that young people helped in the effort to gain independence. My purpose for reading is to find out more about what the young people did for our country” (p. T325). Then students are to set their own purpose for reading the text. There is a missed opportunity for students to set their own purpose for reading the anchor text without hearing the teacher model a think-aloud for setting the purpose.

During vocabulary instruction of each lesson, there is a lesson called Vocabulary in Context, which provides students the opportunity to learn 10 vocabulary words in context prior to reading the anchor text.

• On Day 1, anchor text vocabulary is introduced with the use of Context Cards.The cards contain images of the word and a sentence with the word in it. The teacher provides the definition of each vocabulary words. Students are asked to use the Talk It Over activities on those cards.
• On Day 3, the students participate in a classroom collaboration based on questions about the vocabulary. For example, in Unit 2, Lesson 8, these questions may be asked: “What is a natural feature unique to your local regions? What kind of vegetation are animals such as deer and rabbits attracted to?” (p. T191). The materials also contain directions for a Quick Write prompt: “Explain what makes the Everglades a unique place. Use the vocabulary words you have learned in your writing” (p. T191).
• On Day 4, students learn a vocabulary strategy to help students understand some of the weekly vocabulary terms. For example, in Unit 5, Lesson 23, students are taught about prefixes (en-, re-, pre-, pro-) and how adding prefixes or suffixes to the anchor text vocabulary changes the word. Students are guided through Projectable 8.3. In Apply, students look through their Student Book for words with the newly learned prefixes and then students are to figure out the meaning of the words using context clues, word parts, and/or a dictionary. Students also complete a cloze activity with the prefixes.

While students practice word analysis skills with the anchor text vocabulary and the Day 4 Vocabulary Strategy lesson, opportunities to practice other word analysis skills in text are limited specific tasks that do not necessarily connect with the anchor text or paired text. For example, in Unit 2, Lesson 6, students are taught common beginning syllables. This is a one day lesson (Day 3). The teacher teaches and models common beginning syllables and then students practice breaking words into syllables, identifying the first syllable, and saying each word aloud. Most decoding skill practice opportunities are limited to one day of instruction without being connected to applying the skill to a text.