3rd Grade - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 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.

The instructional materials require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts in order to make meaning and build understanding of texts and topics. Throughout the units, students independently and in collaborative pairs or groups, complete questions and tasks that require analysis of individual texts. The module lessons include close reading portions with questions that are sequenced and scaffolded and the module lessons include tasks that require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of complex texts such as tasks requiring students to determine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary in a text and writing tasks requiring students to write informative paragraphs analyzing the message or lesson in a story. Examples of learning targets with sets of questions found in the instructional materials include the following:

• In Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 4 the close read of the text, “Stopping by Wood on a Snowy Evening,” asks text-dependent questions that require students to refer back to the poem to identify patterns in structure and how the poet uses them to help the reader imagine the content. The students are asked, “What new information do we know? What is the poet helping us to imagine here? Which senses is he activating? Use evidence from the poem.” Students must refer back to the text to identify that the poet is activating the sense of sight by describing “being between the woods and a frozen lake, and the darkness.”
• In Module 1, Unit 3, Lesson 2, students are asked questions after reading a section of More Than Anything Else, pp. 20-21. “So what is an effective learner? What did Booker do in More Than Anything Else to be an effective learner? What did you do today to become effective learners?”
• In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 3, students read “Why the Frog Has a Long Tongue”. The teacher will display this narrative text again and ask the students, “How did the author establish the situation in this narrative? What is happening, where, and when?” Drawing from the ideas from this narrative text, students will begin the process of writing their own narrative text answering the question, “Why Do Polliwogs Wiggle?”
• In Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 4, students revisit the “why” questions in Unit 1 and reframe the questions as their purpose for research. Students will use the text features in Everything You Need to Know About Frogs and Other Slippery Creatures to help build an understanding of how text features can help a reader find information efficiently. “As students share, formally name the text features that they are noticing, pointing them out under bullet two on the Informational Texts handout." The teacher asks, "Can you figure out why the authors used these specific text features? I’ll give you time to think and discuss with a partner."
• In Module 3, Unit 3, Lesson 5, students are using dialogue and description to show rather than tell the feelings of characters in Peter Pan. Students are learning how showing a character's feelings rather than just telling them can significantly impact the reader’s understanding of the character with questions such as “What does dialogue mean? What is dialogue? Why do we want to show rather than tell the feelings of the characters? Why not just say, ‘Peter was angry’ or ‘Wendy was sad’? How do the characters in this scene feel? How do you know? How does Peter feel? How does Solomon feel?”
• In Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 8, students write the introductory paragraph for their essays by first analyzing the introductions of the model essays and comparing it to the introductions for the book reviews written in Module 3. “Think back to the book reviews you wrote in Module 3. How will the introduction of our opinion essays be similar to the introduction of the book reviews? How will it be different? Can you figure out why the introduction of the opinion essay will be different from the book review, even though they are both opinion pieces?"
• In Module 4, Unit 3, Lesson 2, students are analyzing an effective model PSA in order to develop criteria and create their own. “What is this PSA about? What is the purpose of this PSA? Who do you think this PSA is aimed at? Who is the target audience? What makes you think that? Why don’t you think we want to tell the audience absolutely everything we know? What is the structure?”

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 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 guiding questions and big ideas in the module overview and the individual unit lessons contain coherently sequenced sets of text-dependent questions that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across and within texts. Questions are asked of both single and multiple texts to integrate and build knowledge in order for students to reach the module’s learning goals. Lessons include sequenced sets of text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge.

The Module 1 guiding questions are coherently sequenced to require analyses of the integration of knowledge and ideas, including the following question: Why are education, books, and reading important? How can I overcome learning challenges?

• In Unit 1 students read three literary texts, Waiting for the Biblioburro, Rain School, and Nasreen’s Secret School and analyze the texts for theme. “What message, lesson, or moral relevant to the real world and outside of the story do you think the author wants you to learn from this story? What details make you think that?” Students examine the challenges that occur in the text and how the challenges are overcome.
• In Unit 2, Lesson 2, the learning target is determining main idea, referring explicitly to the text to ask and answer questions, and determining meaning of unknown words. Students are asked, “What challenge did you read about on pages 18–19 of My Librarian Is a Camel, and how did the people in this part of the world overcome that challenge?” In this lesson, students are also asked to close read pages 18-19 of the text My Librarian is a Camel. This close read guides students through analyzing the main idea of this excerpt and using information from the photographs to demonstrate understanding of the text. Students are guided to the close read through questions, such as “What is one detail you learned about Kenya, one fact about the physical environment in Kenya, and one question you still have?”
• In Unit 3, students read a text titled, More than Anything Else, learning about Booker T. Washington. Students analyze the text for theme and how someone overcomes challenges. Students are asked, “What challenge did Booker face? How was the challenge overcome? What did Booker do in More Than Anything Else to be an effective learner?”

The Module 2 guiding questions are coherently sequenced to require analyses of the integration of knowledge and ideas, including the following question: How does an author engage the reader in a narrative? How do experts build knowledge and share expertise about a topic? How do frogs survive?

• In Unit 1, the focus for students is on narrative writing, specifically a Pourquoi Tale. As students read Pourquoi tales about frogs, they are asking "why" questions. They then write their own Pourquoi tale that answers the "why" questions about frogs. In Lesson 2, students analyze the plot structure of Why the Frog Has a Long Tongue to begin building expertise about narrative texts and understand a Pourquoi tale, “What makes Why the Frog Has a Long Tongue a Pourquoi tale?” In Lesson 3, students begin to analyze how an author would write a Pourquoi tale, “How did the author establish the situation in this narrative? What is happening, where, and when?” In Lesson 9, students are analyzing Why the Poison Dart Frog Is So Colorful for dialogue and description. “So what is the central problem here? How did the character respond to the problem? Where is the problem introduced in the story? How does this description of the grass show readers rather than telling them?”
• In Module 2, Unit 3, Lessons 4-8, students are writing an informative text about frogs after having read an informative text about frogs. In Lesson 2, students chose a frog from the text, Freaky Frog, to write about. Students then used a note-catcher to research facts and information about the frog they have chosen. Lesson 6 is the mid-assessment, with the first part asking students to write short constructed responses to what they have read and the second part asking students to write a second paragraph about the unique abilities of the frog for their frog essay.

The Module 3 guiding questions are coherently sequenced to require analyses of the integration of knowledge and ideas, including the following question: How do writers capture a reader’s imagination? What can we learn from reading literary classics?

• In Unit 1, Lessons 2-5, students begin to read Peter Pan. Lesson 2 expects students to read an informational text about the author and the historical context of the story to help them understand many of the issues they may encounter. After reading each chapter of Peter Pan, students make connections between what they have read in Peter Pan and the informational text, "Peter Pan: The Author and Historical Context." This reading routine will continue in later lessons. Lesson 3, students continue to read the text and consider how each chapter builds on the previous and connects to the historical context. During Lesson 4, students record how each chapter builds on the story so far on the Analyzing Peter Pan anchor chart and to again make connections to the historical context. Chapter 5 expects students to answer selected response questions in Chapter 4 of Peter Pan and write short constructed responses to answer questions about the text for the mid-unit assessment.

The Module 4 guiding questions are coherently sequenced to require analyses of the integration of knowledge and ideas, including: Why are the world’s freshwater sources threatened? How do people persuade others to take action to contribute to a better world?

• In Unit 1, where students read informational texts One Well: The Story of Water on Earth, Access to Freshwater and Population Growth about the importance of water and human interaction with water. While reading, students work on determining the main idea and supporting details: “What is freshwater? What did you learn about water from the book?”
• In Unit 2, students continue to read new text to determine the gist, thinking about the author’s point of view related to challenges people face with water, and comparing it to their own point of view: “What are the authors trying to tell the reader about water? What is the purpose of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind? What are William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer trying to answer, explain, or describe?” Students ultimately write an opinion piece about water pollution and then create a PSA that explains the problems that occur with water pollution and solutions for solving.

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts.

Vocabulary is taught both implicitly and explicitly, using words in the core and supplementary texts. As texts are read multiple times, students gain new vocabulary. Materials focus on elements of vocabulary, such as abstract or multiple meanings, connotation, relationships among words, and morphology. Definitions are provided in student-friendly language, and word meanings are taught with examples related to the text as well as examples from other contexts students would be more familiar with. Throughout the modules and units, students discuss and clarify language of learning targets to build academic vocabulary.

Throughout the Modules, there is intentional vocabulary building from content-based text, attention to figuring out words from context, decoding, and an emphasis on academic (Tier 2) vocabulary. The Academic Word Wall (words you might find in informational texts on many different topics) is a permanent Word Wall that will be added to throughout the year. The Domain-Specific Word Wall will change from module to module, as the topic changes. Teachers will record words and definitions clearly in student-friendly language. Teachers may also record translations in home languages in a different color next to the target word or invite students to write the translations.

In the Curriculum Tools there is a section on Focus on Building Academic Vocabulary Protocols. These protocols include the following:

• Contextual Redefinition - students find unambiguous information in a text selection and synthesize it with the author’s intent. Students pay attention to other “keys” to word meaning such as grammar.
• Frayer Model - a four part graphic approach to analyzing and understanding vocabulary.
• Word Sort - builds upon students’ background knowledge and experiences and works to organize and synthesize that knowledge.
• Vocabulary Square - helps students to deepen their understanding of key words.
• List/Group/Label - includes critical thinking for identifying relationships between words.
• Semantic Webbing
• SVES (Stephens Vocabulary Elaboration Strategy) - a vocabulary notebook that allows students to write down any new vocabulary word.

The ALL Block gives students opportunities to practice with morphology of words as it relates to word meaning and syllabication patterns and more complex spelling patterns in a variety of activities, including vocabulary games, vocabulary squares, and Frayer Models. Besides this explicit vocabulary instruction, students get a great deal of implicit instruction in general academic and domain specific vocabulary through exposure to many complex (and less complex) informational texts, and some literary texts as well. In the ALL Block students have additional time to practice module-related word analysis through word study games and activities.

Language Dives are included throughout the modules and units. The purpose of the Language Dive is to provide students with strategies to analyze, understand, and use the language. During a Language Dive, teachers and students slow down the reading of a text to deeply analyze the meaning, purpose, and structure of a specific part of the text. The Language Dive supports ELL students' language acquisition and helps them deconstruct complex text. Language Dives follow the routine of Deconstruct-Reconstruct-Practice. In the Deconstruct phase, the teacher guides students to deconstruct a sentence for meaning and purpose. Students are guided into chunking the sentence to analyze the importance and purpose of the words used in the sentence. In the Reconstruct phase, students put the sentence back together and discuss possible variations of the sentence that could be formed and then analyze how the meaning and purpose changes with the varied sentences. In the Practice phase, students practice using different language structures (Curriculum Resources-Language Dives)

In the teacher notes for each lesson within a unit/module, there is a section titled “Vocabulary” and a Key: (L): Lesson-Specific Vocabulary, (T): Text-Specific Vocabulary (W): Vocabulary Used in Writing is used to breakdown the vocabulary students come in contact with in order to help the teacher instruct the vocabulary and to help students keep track of the type of vocabulary in their vocabulary logs.

Specific examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 5, students receive a vocabulary log to collect new academic and domain-specific (topical) vocabulary. Vocabulary logs can be a notebook in which students glue forms in the front and back, or students can create vocabulary logs by two-sided copying vocabulary forms and putting them in a folder with academic vocabulary forms on the front and topical vocabulary forms on the back. Students continue to use these logs throughout the year.
• All Modules (1-4) include Language Dives. All third graders participate in their first full Language Dive in Module 1, Unit 3. To gradually immerse ELLs in the Language Dive routine, ELLs are introduced to their first Language Dive in Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 8. They follow up with a connected Language Dive in Lesson 9. These Language Dives are designed to help students continue to notice and apply the English subject-predicate structure introduced in preceding lessons. Most lessons also offer optional Mini Language Dives for ELLs. During Language Dives, students unpack complex syntax, or “academic phrases,” to build literacy and habits of mind. Students then apply their understanding of language structure as they work toward the assessments and performance task.
• In Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 1, the Teacher Guide identifies the key vocabulary for the lesson, including (L): Lesson-Specific Vocabulary, (T): Text-Specific Vocabulary, (W): Vocabulary Used in Writing. In Lesson 1, these include the following: experts, build expertise, survive, informational, text features, polliwogs as some of the lesson-specific terms and table of contents, glossary, index, tadpole as some of the text-specific terms.
• In Module 3, Unit 2, Lesson 1, students build their vocabulary through their vocabulary log, in this lesson focusing on the following Lesson-Specific Vocabulary and Text-Specific Vocabulary: recount (L), and tour, familiar, strain, tremendously, prams, passage, peer (T).
• In Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 2, students build their vocabulary through their vocabulary log, in this lesson focusing on the following Lesson-Specific Vocabulary and Text-Specific Vocabulary: main ideas, supporting details, gist (L) and well (T).

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 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.

Students are supported through the writing process and various activities are placed throughout units to ensure students' writing skills are increasing throughout the year. Students are encouraged to develop writing stamina by writing frequently and for various purposes. Students engage in activities that include reading and discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write, examine, and identify a range of text structures, and they are guided to assess the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing. Students are supported through the writing process with mentor text.

Each unit lesson contains a section titled “Down the Road” that outlines the writing structure of the module units. Feedback is provided through peers, the teacher, and self-evaluations to ensure that students’ writing skills are increasing throughout the year. Within each module, students produce, present, and publish writing pieces as part of a final project. Module units are scaffolded to provide increasing support and build students’ writing abilities culminating with the most advanced writing happening in the final module unit. At the end of each module, students complete a performance task, which is a writing piece.

Examples from each Module include, but are not limited to the following:

• The Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1 “Down the Road” section explains that the focus is on writing short, constructed responses to a question. In Unit 2, the focus shifts to writing a full paragraph—including a topic sentence, sentences elaborating on the topic with facts and details, and a conclusion sentence. In Unit 3, students work on writing a complete essay—an introduction paragraph, two proof paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph. These basic structures are introduced to students in this module and built upon throughout the school year.
• In Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 6, during the Opening, students work with partners to skim various parts of the texts, “Why Do Polliwogs Wiggle?” in “Everything You Need to Know about Frogs and Other Slippery Creatures.” The purpose of the read is for students to be able to answer the following questions: “What do you notice about the way the writing in your section is organized or ordered? What do you notice about how the information is grouped?” Students share their thinking with the class and provide evidence from the text to support their thinking. Later, during Work Time C, the teachers model writing a sentence that explains what is unique about the glass frog’s body and point out the use of present verb tense. Next, students write or copy the draft about what is unique about the glass frog’s body. Students then craft and write a focus statement that answers the research question and tells the focus of the writing.
• The Module 3, Unit Overview in the teaching guide explains that students will progress from analyzing and writing about characters in Peter Pan during Unit 1, to comparing two Peter Pan stories citing evidence from both in their writing in Unit 2, culminating in writing a narrative piece in which they revise a scene from Peter Pan in Unit 3.
• Unit 1 starts with students reading the literary text, Peter Pan, and analyzing the the character development of Peter Pan.
• In Unit 2, students read an additional text with the topic of Peter Pan, titled, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. Students compare and contrast the two texts in order to ultimately write a book review recommending or not recommending the texts to peers.
• After analyzing and writing an opinion of the two texts, students then develop a revised scene for Peter Pan in Unit 3.
• In Module 4, students focus on the topic of water. The Unit Overview in the teaching guide explains that students will progress from reading to determine the main idea and supporting details of a text to comparing and contrasting the main ideas and supporting details of two texts on the same topic through short constructed responses.
• In Unit 1, students read informational texts “One Well: The Story of Water on Earth,” “Access to Freshwater,” and “Population Growth” about the importance of water and human interaction with water. While reading, students determine the main idea and supporting details.
• This understanding of human interactions with water builds the background knowledge for Unit 2 where students continue to read new text to determine the gist, think about the author’s point of view related to challenges people face with water, and compare it to their own point of view. Ultimately at the end of Unit 2, students take the learning and write an opinion piece about water pollution.
• In Unit 3, students make their opinion writing come alive by creating a PSA highlighting a problem with human interaction with water and then offer a solution for a way humans could make it better.

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 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.

Modules are divided into three units that build knowledge of a topic using multiple texts. Each module is designed for students to act as researchers and to gather details or ideas from texts throughout the unit to build a body of evidence for the culminating task. Students began each module with more whole class research and then an individual research project. By the end of each module, students write a piece demonstrating their increased knowledge about their selected topic. Students are provided with daily independent reading, research, and discussion during every lesson in the module. Examples include but are not limited to:

In Module 2, students use literacy skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening) to become deeply knowledgeable about a topic. Throughout Module 2, students will generate writing to include a Freaky Frog book.

• In Unit 1 with students reading Pourquoi tales about different kinds of frogs to generate “why” questions. At the end of the unit, they write their own fictional Pourquoi narratives to attempt to answer some of their “why” questions.
• In Unit 2, students research to find out the real answers to their frog questions and write paragraphs to communicate their research.
• In Unit 3, students will form research groups to become experts on various “freaky” frogs—frogs that have unusual adaptations that help them to survive in extreme environments throughout the world. Students will build their literacy and collaborative skills while working on this task in order to create an informative writing piece and and create a “Freaky Frog” trading card that explains the unusual frog adaptations.

Throughout Module 4, students focus on the importance of clean water and they will research about Water Around the World.

• In Unit 1, students will build background knowledge on the water around the world by reading different informational texts on water around the world and pulling out the main ideas and details. Mid-Unit Assessment Unit 1, students listen to a text, “One Well,” and determine the main idea and details. They then read the same text and answer text-dependent questions. End of Unit 1 Assessment, students read another text on water and compare and contrast it with pages in “One Well.”
• In Unit 2, students will develop an opinion essay on the importance of water conservation. Throughout the lessons, students read and analyze the point of view of authors from many texts that all have to do with water conservation. In the Mid-Unit Assessment Unit 2, students read a new text on lack of access to water in Australia and answer selected response and short constructed response questions to demonstrate an ability to distinguish an author’s point of view from their own and to determine the literal and non-literal meanings of words and phrases in context. The End of Unit 2 Assessment, students use information gathered from multiple sources to draft an opinion essay explaining why we should get involved in water conservation.
• In Unit 3, students use the research they have gathered throughout Units 1–2 about three water issues—access to water, demands on water, and water pollution—to create a video public service announcement (PSA). “In the first half of the unit, they analyze an authentic model PSA to generate criteria for an effective PSA before choosing one of the water issues as their PSA topic. In pairs, they write a script and create a storyboard outlining their PSA. Students launch their PSAs for a live audience for the performance task in Lesson 13, so they write a letter to invite a potential guest for the mid-unit assessment. Students pay particular attention to using capital letters and commas appropriately in the letter’s mailing address. In the second half of the unit, students plan and create their video PSAs using technology tools for the end of unit assessment. They then prepare presentations to precede their PSAs for the PSA live launch during Lesson 13.

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 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.

In the Modules, students engage in an independent reading protocol with independent research reading books that relate to the topic they are studying. Additionally, most homework assignments include independent reading and tasks that require students to produce evidence of reading. One of the five components of the weekly ALL Block, include Accountable Independent Reading/Volume of Reading. This is designed for students to have free choice and to read content-related texts at their independent reading level. During this time, students complete Student Task Cards and share their books with the group. Students are expected to complete independent reading through nightly homework. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Throughout all the modules, there are 5 components of the ALL Block and Independent Reading is one of the components. Accountable Independent Reading includes research reading books related to the topics of the units and free choice reading. Through research reading, students build background knowledge and vocabulary, both domain-specific and academic. Free choice reading builds knowledge and vocabulary, but primarily builds students’ motivation and love of reading. The ALL Block gives students additional time for both research and free choice reading.
• Each day in the ALL Block, students spend 20 minutes engaged in Accountable Independent Reading. The goal of this time is to provide additional time for independent reading at a range of levels, build more content and domain-specific knowledge, give some free choice reading (every other week), and build on students’ motivation and interests in hopes of creating a love of reading.
• During independent reading time, students read both research texts (related to the topic of learning challenges) and free choice texts (on any topic of their interest), and they practice completing a Student Task Card. They work with partners and in small groups to share new vocabulary and learning from their texts.
• During the Module lessons, students practice Accountable Independent Reading and read 20 minutes of nightly homework where they not only read, but also respond to a prompt in their reading journal. In addition to responding in their reading journals, students are held accountable through peer and teacher discussions of their reading journals.
• Module homework includes both research reading and choice reading. Research reading is where the student is expected to independently research a topic by reading topic-related books of his or her choice for approximately 20 minutes each day and responding to a prompt of choice in the front of the independent reading journal. Choice reading is for students that would also like to independently read and respond to a book of free choice, using the back of the independent reading journal.
• In Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 2, an independent reading program is launched. Students choose independent research reading books and discuss why they chose those particular books in small groups. They continue to read different books throughout the lessons. The daily independent reading homework requires students to read and write in a journal answering different prompts.
• In Module 1, Unit 1, Independent Research Reading is launched. Students receive independent reading journals to record information about the time they spend reading, as well as to respond to prompts about their reading. They are given vocabulary logs for recording new vocabulary. For Module 1, Module 3, and Module 4, students respond to the following reading research prompts: “What is the main idea of the text you read? What are some of the key details, and how do they support the main idea?”
• Throughout the Units in Module 2, students follow the independent reading routines set in Module 1. They select new texts based on the new topic for the Module, read them independently for homework, and engage in frequent research reading shares during the Module lessons for accountability. After every lesson, student homework is to select a prompt to respond to in the front of their independent reading journal.
• In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 2, ALL Block, students follow a Student Task Card to independently read research texts (Module-related) for 10 minutes and log their reading in their independent reading journals.
• In Module 2, Lessons 1–7, homework focuses on research reading and determining the meaning of unfamiliar words using context and reference materials. In Lessons 8–12, homework focuses on finding connections between sentences and paragraphs of text in independent research reading texts. For example, research reading prompts in Module 2, Unit 2 include the following instructions: “From the pages you read in your research reading book, choose two paragraphs next to each other. Respond to this question: What questions do you have about frogs or frog adaptations after reading?” Examples of independent reading prompts throughout all 4 Modules include: “What challenges are faced? How are they overcome? What is the main idea of the text? What are some of the key details and how do they support the main idea? What do the illustrations (photographs, maps) tell you? How do they help you to understand the words? What questions do you now have after reading? What would you like to learn more about? Why?”