8th Grade - Gateway 3

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectation that materials are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing.

The materials contain five Guidebooks or units of study, including “Flowers for Algernon,” "Sugar," “Tell-Tale Heart,” “Conservation,” and “Call of the Wild.” These units are designed around a collection of texts that support a common idea. Each unit is divided into sections that contain lessons. Lessons follow a predictable backward design model and have a suggested pacing of 50 minutes per lesson and also includes a plan for 90 minute block classes. There is a Roadmap document provided for teachers to complete and share with students that helps teachers and students understand the purposeful layout of the lessons. Each lesson launches with a “Let’s Review!” section, so students can reflect on what they learned leading up to that lesson, and a “Let’s Prepare!” section so they know the learning outcomes of the lesson, what materials they will need for the lesson, and how they will demonstrate their understanding at the end of the lesson. After teachers launch the lesson, they guide students through a series of tasks that build their understanding of the targeted skills. These tasks are focused on reading (“Let’s Read!”), vocabulary and language (“Let’s Work with Words!”), speaking and listening (“Let’s Discuss!”), and writing (“Let’s Practice!). Each lesson concludes with a “Let’s Express Our Understanding!” section which is a formative assessment of what the students learned during the lesson. Finally, the “Let’s Close!” section at the end of the lesson reminds the students what they accomplished during the lesson.

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  In the "Flowers of Algernon" Unit, Lesson 25, the teacher launches the lesson by reminding students that they recently finished reading "Flowers for Algernon.” The teacher then shares the activities for the lesson: "Determine a theme of 'Flowers for Algernon' and analyze how the theme is developed through the characters, structure, and plot. The teacher also points out what materials the students will need for the lesson. The students then perform a series of tasks which include reading, speaking, listening and writing skills.
• In the “Conservation” Unit, Lesson 1, the teacher launches the lesson by giving an overview of the unit: “We will read literary and informational texts about the beauty of the natural world and the duty of mankind to leave resources for future generations. We will evaluate how the various authors use language, devices, and connections between ideas to motivate others to take up the conservation cause.” The teacher then shares the unit assessments the students will complete. Next, the teacher lists the activities for the lesson: "Read and summarize the short story 'Autumntime' by A. Lentini, and participate in a class discussion to determine the story’s theme. The teacher also points out what materials the students will need for the lesson. The students then perform a series of tasks which include reading, listening, speaking, and writing.
• In the "Sugar" Unit, the teacher is given suggested pacing for each part of a lesson. For example, in Lesson 1 the suggested pacing for the “Let’s Prepare!” section is two minutes. Later the students participate in a jigsaw activity that has twenty minutes as the suggested time. The end of the lesson has a three minute suggested time for students to summarize the reading from the lesson. 
• In the “Tell Tale Heart” Unit, Lessons 27-28,  students participate in two lessons in order to prepare for literature circles:
• Lesson 27: Students analyze different aspects of their independent reading novel in preparation for a literature circles discussion.
• Lesson 28: Students participate in a collaborative discussion of their independent reading novel. They also gather evidence from their independent reading novels for a Socratic seminar about how the unit texts comment on the unit focus questions.
• In the Call of the Wild Unit, there are 43 lessons and five quizzes designed in a sequential order.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectation that the teacher and student can reasonably complete the content within a regular school year, and the pacing allows for maximum student understanding.  

All information regarding pacing and content can be found within the “What’s in the Curriculum?” Guidebook and “How do I prepare to teach guidebooks?” Guidebook. Also, instructors are presented further pacing overviews through the “Assessment Overview” in every unit. This allows instructors to see the backwards design implemented in every unit. Each lesson equates to roughly fifty minutes, and a full academic year contains four units; however, there are five units included, depending on individual instructor pacing. The units are as follows:  Flowers for Algernon, Sugar, Tell Tale Heart, Conservation, Call of the Wild.

• In “What’s in the Curriculum?” Guidebook, "Suggested Pacing" provides the following information regarding “how long a slide might take; however, this is a suggestion, not a mandate. The pacing for each lesson totals no more than 50 minutes, but teachers will likely find they need to spend more time on some lessons depending on the needs of their students. Thus, teachers can adjust the lesson timing as needed given their school schedule and students’ needs. When adjusting the pacing, consider the ratio of time. Pacing is a meaningful signal about where the focus of a lesson is--the biggest chunk of time often signals the most important part of the lesson and where teachers should think first about what scaffolding needs to be in place to ensure productive struggle. A full academic year includes four Guidebook units.”
• In the “How do I prepare to teach Guidebooks?” Guidebook, the following design is indicated: “The units use a backwards design model, which means the lessons and sections build students’ knowledge and skill in preparation for the unit assessments. The unit assessments are aligned to end-of-year expectations and grade-level standards.” The Guidebook gives the following two examples: 1). “In a section, students might read the same text multiple times across several lessons or students might read several texts to extract evidence and ideas to complete a task, such as writing an essay, delivering a formal presentation, or engaging in a Socratic seminar.” 2). “In a lesson, students engage with one or more unit texts to build the knowledge and skills they will need for the unit assessments.”
• In the "Flowers for Algernon" Unit, “Assessment Overview,” students complete the following major tasks: Daily Formative Assessments, Section Quizzes, Culminating Writing task, Extension task, Cold Read task.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectation that the student resources include ample review and practice resources, clear directions, and explanation, and correct labeling of reference aids (e.g., visuals, maps, etc.).  

Each lesson ends with “Let’s Express Our Understanding!” which is a formative assessment that allows students and teachers to monitor learning progressions. Digital quizzes at the end of sections provide progress check-ins and practice for standardized testing. Unit assessments gauge the students’ ability to apply what they are learning over the course of the unit by reading, understanding, and expressing their knowledge of a complex grade-level text. In the lesson plan structure, activities are scaffolded and structured so students have ample opportunities to practice skills. There are clear step-by-step directions and explanations for both teachers and students for every phase of the teaching and learning process. Supplemental materials are provided for each lesson and are well-labeled and organized. Each lesson also references the standards addressed and the goal.  

In all Units, clear directions and explanations are included in each lesson design.  Each lesson starts with “Let’s Review!” and “Let’s Prepare!” and ends with an assessment of student learning through “Let’s Express Our Understanding!” and “Let’s Close!” Each lesson includes at least one or more tasks focused on reading (“Let’s Read!”), vocabulary and language (“Let’s Work With Words!”), speaking and listening (“Let’s Discuss!”), or writing (“Let’s Practice!”).  In the “Let’s Close”, the students are provided a summary of the lesson they just completed.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectation that materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items.

In every unit, instructors are presented with a scope and sequence that indicates all CCSS standards for ELA: reading literature (RL), reading informational (RI), writing (W), speaking & listening (SL), and language (L). When viewing individual lessons, standards appear under the title of the lesson. When accessing lessons, the standards still appear in list format at the top of the lesson above the slides; however, when instructors hover over the standard, a detailed description from CCSS is provided.

• In each unit, a Scope and Sequence document is included which identifies which Common Core Standards are addressed in each section of the unit. For example, in the "Call of the Wild" Unit,  the literature standards covered in Section 1 are RL 8.1, RL 8.2, RL 8.3, RL 8.4,RL 8.10. There are no informational standards covered as the students are reading only literature.  
• For each Cold Read task, the answer key provides the CCSS for each questions. For example, in the “Conservation”  Unit, the first question of the Cold Read task measures mastery of CCSS: RI.8.1, RI.8.4, RI.8.10.  
• In each lesson, the standards addressed in that particular lesson are listed on each page of the Lesson Plan.  For example, in the “Tell-Tale Heart” Unit, Lesson 14 covers these standards RL.8.1, RL.8.10, RL.8.3, SL.8.1a, SL.8.1b, SL.8.1c, SL.8.1d, SL.8.3, SL.8.4, W.8.9b   A task within this lesson incorporates standard RL 8.1: “With your partner, read paragraphs 15-29. Then write and complete these sentence stems: We never feel worried for the kid because . . . We never feel worried for the kid, but . . .We never feel worried for the kid, so..."  A task that incorporates the standard SL 8.1a is as follows: “Direct students, in their reading log, to complete the sentence stems in writing: The word ‘imp’ means…. The word ‘dote’ means….  After 2-3 minutes, ask several students to share how they determined the meaning of the words, using one of the following stems.  Another way to say ‘imp’ or ‘dote’ is…. I made meaning of the word by looking at other words/phrases in the sentence, such as…. I looked at….  noticed that….”
• In the "Sugar" Unit,  there are Section quizzes with the standards listed for each question in the Teacher’s Notes. For example, the Section 1 quiz, Question 1 measures Standards RL.8.2, “What is the theme of the poem?’

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectation that materials contain a teacher’s edition with ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student edition and in the ancillary materials.

The materials provide detailed lesson plans for every step of the instructional process. The lessons are designed as slideshows, and as the students view each slide (“card”), the Teacher’s Edition lists detailed directions for explaining the content of the card and the instruction that goes along with it. Along with directions (“Teaching Notes”), the materials list “student look-fors,” “supports for differentiation,” “guiding questions and prompts,” and “additional notes.” The “Teaching Notes” also include links to numerous instructional strategies that can be used in the lesson. In the additional resources section for each unit, teachers have access to “Let’s Set the Context Videos" that can be used “for students who need extra support with the content and texts in advance of the unit.”

• In the “Sugar” unit, Lesson 3, Card 4, the teaching notes list these directions for the teacher: “Locate directions for accessing the text and painting.
• Determine a method for getting students access to the digital texts based on your individual situation. For example, students may go to a computer lab to access the text, or if you have 1-to-1 technology or a laptop cart, have students access the text in the classroom. Another option is to project the text and read it aloud as students follow along.
• Access a blank and completed OPTIC handout.
• Distribute copies of the handout.
• Ask students to locate their analyzing theme handout.
• This lesson uses OPTIC. Access the strategy one-pager to learn more about OPTIC.”
• In the “Conservation” Unit, Lesson 6, Card 8, the “Teaching Notes” list these directions: “Tell students, ‘Let’s take a look at the words you highlighted and let me share what I highlighted with you.' Instruct students to write the two sets of words on the C: Connotations portion of the TP-CASTT organizer. Students should be sure to separate the positive and negative connotations on the handout."
• In the “What’s in the Curriculum?” Guidebook, “Support is central to the design of LearnZillion Guidebooks. Each LearnZillion Guidebooks unit comes with approximately 40 classroom-ready daily lessons. Because the lessons include everything you need to teach, teachers can focus on adjusting the lesson supports so all students meet the lesson and unit assessment goals, instead of spending time creating whole-class lessons to teach. Each lesson follows a common structure, which creates consistency across all grades and lessons. This helps both students and teachers stay on track.”
• In the "Sugar" Unit, there are three additional videos that teacher can watch or assign to support struggling student. These videos are found in the “Section Resource” in the “Let's Set the Context Videos.” “These instructional videos are for students who need extra support with the content and texts in advance of the unit. Assign one or more videos to those selected students to watch on their own on any device.”
• In the “Flowers for Algernon” Unit, Lesson 29, students participate in a Socratic Seminar/Fishbowl Discussion. The detailed steps and resources needed are included in the lesson, and also found in the “Resource Library.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectation that materials contain a teacher’s edition that contains full, adult-level explanations and examples of the more advanced literacy concepts so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject, as necessary.

Instructors are presented with a large body of supporting materials to improve knowledge of the subject including all “Understanding the Curriculum” Guidebook supports. “Teaching Notes” accompany every lesson included within the unit, including prompting, explanations, and tips. Within the “Teaching Notes,” teachers are provided with how-to guides, research, examples for certain reading /discussion strategies. Each lesson includes student exemplar responses, especially for larger, writing projects so that instructors understand the task and the level at which students should perform.

• In the “Understanding the Curriculum” Guidebook, instructors see the following supports: “What’s in the curriculum?” “How are the materials designed for the classroom?” “How do the materials support all learners?” “How do I prepare to teach Guidebooks?” and “How do I customize the curriculum to meet my districts unique needs?” All Guidebooks include teaching strategies and research-based approaches on how to deliver content to students. Instructors are also presented with a “Unit at-a-glance” per every unit, and within this section of the unit, instructors are presented with the following supports: Unit goal, scope and sequence, assessment overview, text access, and text complexity and vocabulary analysis.
• In each individual lesson, “Teaching Notes are formatted in a bullet point list. For example, in the “Conservation” Unit, Lesson 26, the “Teaching Notes” for slide four state, “Conduct a whole-class discussion of student’s first reactions and observations. Ask, ‘What do you notice about the painting?’ Ask, ‘What thoughts/questions first enter your mind as you view the painting?’ Ask, ‘What appears to be the subject or main focus of the painting?’ Ask, ‘Look very closely at all that is going on in the painting. What do you make of the perspective of the painting?’”
• In the "Sugar" Unit, Lesson 11, on Slide 4, in the “Teaching Notes,” teachers are given supplemental information on each instructional strategy presented: Accountable Talk and Reading Log. The strategies are hyperlinked to an explanation, implementation steps, research to support each strategy and other supplemental information such as videos to show the strategy being used in a classroom. This information would be helpful if teachers are not familiar with the strategies being used.
• In each lesson, there are tabs above the presentation: “Lesson plan,” “Additional materials,” and “About this lesson.” In the “Additional materials” tab, instructors are often presented with complete, exemplar student examples so that instructors are able to evaluate student performance as students complete assignments. This is even referenced in the “Teaching Notes” to the right hand side of the presentation within the “Conservation” Unit, Lesson 26: “Throughout the lesson, compare students’ responses and work to the student look-fors to determine the students who need additional support with reading, understanding, or expressing their understanding of complex, grade-level texts. During this lesson or before the next lesson, support those students individually or in a small group using the Additional Supports for Diverse Learners.”
• In the "Flowers for Algernon" Unit, Lesson 5, on the right side each card, “Teaching Notes” are included with directions for teaching the lesson, a suggested pacing guide, supports for diverse students, and students look-fors. There are even scripted questions and statements that the teacher may follow: "Ask: What event led or prompted the author to write this article? Allow students to respond quickly. Then say: I’m going to read the first part of this text aloud. As I read, I want you to think about the debate over the Rorschach and other projective tests. What is the claim of each side of the debate? Read aloud the first section of the text (paragraphs 1-18; from the beginning until 'A History of Controversy') as students follow along."
• In the “Tell Tale Heart” Unit, Lesson 15, on the right side of the card, “Teaching Notes” are included with directions for teaching the lesson, a suggested pacing guide, supports for diverse students, and students look-fors. There are even scripted questions and statements that the teacher may follow: "Say: 'Ain’t it awful, Sam? Do you think anybody will pay out money to get a little imp like that back home?’ ‘Sure,’ said I. ‘A rowdy kid like that is just the kind that parents dote on.’ Then direct students, in their reading log, to complete the sentence stems in writing: The word ‘imp’ means…. and The word ‘dote’ means….”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation that materials contain a teacher’s edition that explains the role of the specific ELA/literacy standards in the context of the overall curriculum.

The materials state that “The goal for the LearnZillion Guidebook units is to ensure that all students read, understand, and express their understanding of complex, grade-level texts…[and] for all instruction to meet the standards in reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language.” The materials provide extensive supports for teachers in the “Understanding LearnZillion Guidebooks” section. These support materials include “What is in the curriculum?” which details the unit and lesson designs; "How are the materials designed for the classroom?” which outlines the instructional framework, including approaches to whole-class instruction, small-group instruction, and independent reading; “How do the materials support all learners?” which offers guiding principles for diverse learners and identifies supports for reading, writing and language, and speaking and listening for all students during whole-class instruction and small group instruction; “How do I prepare to teach Guidebooks?” which provides step-by-step instructions, a roadmap template for instruction, and a resource library; and “How do I customize the curriculum to meet my district’s unique needs?” which explains how to modify the content of the materials to suit one’s needs.

The Scope and Sequence document for each unit lists each of the Common Core State Standards for the appropriate grade span and indicates each section that each of the standards is included. Each lesson includes a list of standards. The standards are listed by code, but the teacher can hover his/her cursor over each code to reveal the wording of the entire standard.

• In the “Unit Design” section, the materials state: “In a section, students might read the same text multiple times across several lessons or students might read several texts to extract evidence and ideas to complete a task, such as writing an essay, delivering a formal presentation, or engaging in a Socratic seminar. In a lesson, students engage with one or more unit texts to build the knowledge and skills they will need for the unit assessments.”
• The “English Language Arts Framework” states that “Students engage in assigned WriteAlong lessons to address teacher identified skill gaps or misconceptions in their writing. These student managed video lessons allow teachers to differentiate across a class with a diversity of needs all at the same time. Students complete and hand in the associated Student Practice Sheet so teachers can gauge mastery easily with the answer key.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectation that materials contain explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research-based strategies.

In the “Understanding the Curriculum” section, instructors are have  the following Guidebook supports: “What’s in the curriculum?”, “How are the materials designed for the classroom?”, “How do the materials support all learners?”, “How do I prepare to teach Guidebooks?”, and “How do I customize the curriculum to meet my districts unique needs?” All of these resources include explicit explanations of the instructional approaches of the program. The research-based strategies included in the curriculum are listed and cited throughout the program. All units within the program utilize a backwards design approach and teach to CCSS. Explanations include research-based strategies of whole class, small group, and independent reading. Also, supplemental texts and anchor texts are provided with “Text Access” that includes a Reading Guide paired with works cited and a “Text Complexity and Vocabulary Analysis” per anchor text. Within the Teaching Notes of each lesson, research-based instructional strategies are included in which they are hyperlinked for easy access for the teacher with explanations, implementation steps, research, and videos of the strategy being used.

• At the end of “What’s in the curriculum?” section, a list of writing and reading resources are made available to represent how this Guidebook was created to support the strategies listed within the Guidebook. For example, one of the reading resources is as follows: “Beers, K., & Probst, R. (2012). Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading. Heinemann.”
• In the “What’s in the Curriculum” section, “Unit Design” section, the rereading strategy is explained in the following statement: “In a section, students might read the same text multiple times across several lessons or students might read several texts to extract evidence and ideas to complete a task, such as writing an essay, delivering a formal presentation, or engaging in a Socratic seminar.”
• In the “How do the materials support all learners?” section, research supports that all learners must “regularly engage with rich, authentic grade-appropriate complex texts. Instructional supports should not supplant or compromise rigor or content.”
• In the "Sugar" Unit, Lesson 11, Slide 4, Teaching Notes, teachers are given supplemental information on each instructional strategy presented: Accountable Talk and Reading Log. The strategies are hyperlinked to an explanation, implementation steps, research to support each strategy and other supplemental information such as videos to show the strategy being used in a classroom. This information would be helpful if teachers are not familiar with the strategies being used.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectation that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress.

Each of the five units is broken into sections and lessons, and assessments are built in at each level. Each lesson ends in a formative assessment called “Let’s Express Our Understanding!”, and teachers can use the outcomes from these written tasks, handouts, or discussions to inform their instruction moving forward. Digital quizzes at the end of sections assess the knowledge that students have accumulated, and the format of the quizzes provide practice for the students on the structure of standardized tests. At the end of each unit, students complete three assessments: a Culminating Writing task, a Cold Read task, and an Extension task. For the Culminating Writing task, “students synthesize the topics, themes, and ideas of the unit into a written product such as an essay, narrative or article.” The Cold Read task requires that “students read a new text or two related to the unit topic and answer multiple-choice questions as well as respond to a writing prompt.” For the Extension task, “students extend what they have learned in the unit to make connections between their learning and their lives through a narrative or personal essay or between their learning and the world through research about a related topic.”

• In “Conservation” Unit, after Lesson 15, students take a Section 3 quiz. The quiz “assesses students’ retention of knowledge based on what was taught and read in Section three of the Guidebook unit Conservation. The quiz is designed to look backwards at the end of a section, so it is up to the teacher to give students access to the text(s) or not when administering the assessment.” Options for teachers are also left “up to the teacher to give students access to the text(s) or not when administering the assessment. Similarly, the teacher can decide whether or not students may use their filled in graphic organizers from this section.”
• In "The Call of the Wild" Unit, Lessons 42-43, students complete a Cold Read task, in which, “Students read 'Susan Butcher: Renowned Musher.' Then students answer a combination of questions.”
• In the “Flowers for Algernon” Unit, Lessons 31, students begin a Culminating Writing task in which they “continue the writing process by creating a first draft to answer the prompt: Has Charlie fundamentally changed from the beginning of 'Flowers for Algernon'? Is his life improved as a result of the surgery?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectation that assessments clearly denote which standards are being emphasized.

The following assessments are included in all units: Daily formative assessments, section quizzes, culminating writing tasks, extension tasks, and cold read tasks. Within every unit, an assessment overview is included detailing and overviewing the purpose for all types of assessments, including writing rubrics with CCSS language dictating the scoring categories. Also, when clicking on the drop down menu for each section of lessons, under each individual lesson lists specifically which standards are learned and utilized. When clicking on each individual lesson, hovering over the standards offers the full CCSS description for instructors. This is standard for all lessons; however, this also occurs for lessons that include assessments--including larger assessments that span over the course of entire sections (e.g. culminating writing task, extension task, etc.).

• In the "Sugar" Unit, Section 5 quiz, every question on the quiz is connected with a particular standard. The Standard(s) are denoted in the teacher notes section on each slide. Card 3 of 8 is Question 1 and the standard that the question addresses is RI.8.4.
• In “Conservation” Unit, Lesson 24, students practice the Cold Read task in which “Students read the article ‘John James Audubon’ by Mary Stoyell Stimpson and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of the text. The standards being addressed are as follows: L.8.3, RI.8.1, RI.8.10, RI.8.2, RI.8.3, RI.8.4, RI.8.5, RI.8.6, RI.8.8.
• In the "Call of the Wild" Unit, Lesson 37 , students begin the Extension task to write an essay in response to the question: “Should Jack London be considered a nature faker?” Students will read, summarize, and identify Burroughs’ argument in “Do Animal Think and Reflect?” Standards that are addressed is as follows: RI.8.1, RI.8.2, RI.8.6, RI.8.8, SL.8.1a, SL.8.1c, SL.8.1d, W.8.10, W.8.4

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectation that materials should include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress.

The materials provide teachers a multitude of guidance and opportunities to monitor student progress. Each unit provides daily formative assessments, as well as section quizzes, a Cold Read task, a Culminating Writing task and an Extension task. When considered as a whole unit, students are assessed in a variety of methods including, multiple choice, short answer, extended response, essay writing, and performance task. Rubrics and student exemplars are often included in the teacher and student materials. The online quizzes upload to a teacher report that can be used to monitor student progress. Daily lessons have “Look-Fors” in the “Teaching Notes” for teachers to monitor daily instruction and provide extra scaffolding if needed.

• Each lesson can be assigned to a student or many students by clicking on the “Quick Assign” button in the Learnzillion Teacher’s Guidebook. Once students have completed an assessment, the teacher can view the results. The results are color coded to indicate proficiency.
• Each unit is designed to provide formative and summative assessments, including daily formative assessments, section quizzes, Cold Read task, Culminating Writing task, and Extension task.
• In the “Flowers for Algernon” Unit, Lesson 25, Teaching Notes, the Student Look-Fors instruct the teacher to “compare students’ responses and work to the student look-fors. Determine the students who need additional support with reading, understanding, or expressing their understanding of complex, grade-level texts. During this lesson or before the next lesson, support those students individually or in a small group using the Additional Supports for Diverse Learners.
• In the "Sugar" Unit, every section ends with a type of assessment. This creates a variety of assessments for the unit’s CCSS. Sections 1, 3, 4, and 5 end with a section quiz. Sections 2, 6,7, and 8 end with a task. Sections 9 ends with a Cold Read task.
• In the “Tell-Tale Heart” Unit, Lesson 4, at the end of the lesson, students answer this question in their reading log: “Write a brief summary of Part One of 'The Allegory of the Cave'.”
• In the "Call of the Wild" Unit, an Extension task and Culminating Writing task are provided. Also an exemplar for the writing task and the 6-8 writing rubric is included.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectation that materials provide teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of range of learners so the content is accessible to all learners and supports them in meeting or exceeding the grade-level standards.

Each unit includes “Let’s Set the Context” Videos that are designed to support students who need help understanding the content and texts before beginning a unit. Each video is paired with a handout that students use to record their understanding of the video. The “Teaching Notes” for lessons often provide “Supports for Differentiation” that guide teachers in knowing how to respond when students are not “providing answers similar to the Student Look-Fors.” Units also include a page titled “Additional Supports for Diverse Learners” which contains information on how to support learners before reading the text with foundational skills, reading fluency, and knowledge demands and during reading the text with support for language, engaging in academic discussions, expressing understanding in writing, and developing language proficiency.

• In the "Sugar" Unit, Lesson 6, students learn how to analyze word choice and its impact on meaning in an informational text. During the lesson, the teacher reads aloud from the anchor text, Sugar Changed the World, while students follow along and mentally take notes on events they can add to a timeline they are developing. In the “Teaching Notes”, there is a section labeled “Supports for Differentiation (ELL, SPED, etc.)” that reads: “During the read aloud, provide a synonym or student-friendly definition for difficult words. Possible words for this text/section: balk: hesitate, Subcontinent: small part of a continent. To keep students actively involved during the read aloud and to practice their reading fluency, engage students in choral reading or echo reading.”
• In the “Conservation” Unit, in the “More resources for this unit” section, there are three videos that are designed to help students who need additional support understand the context of the anchor text. Each of the videos is paired with a handout that students use to record their understanding at key points in the video. The topics for the “Conservation” unit include “President Theodore Roosevelt,” Persuasion and Rhetorical Appeals,” and “Conservationism and Environmentalism.”
• For those students needing more support outside the grade-level lesson, LearnZillion recommends a small-group structure in addition to the main lesson. “This may be intervention for students below grade level and/or additional time and supports for diverse learners. Groups should be flexible and change size and composition often based on students’ needs.” Suggestions for the small groups included, but are not limited to engage in independent reading on their instructional level or language, engage in targeted reading or writing foundational skills or participate in additional instruction.
• In the “Tell-Tale Heart” Unit, Lesson 20, there is a section when the students move to group work that gives these additional instructions: Supports for Differentiation (ELL, SPEd, etc.): "Project a blank sentence expansion handout. Say: 'When we write, we need to think about what the reader might or might not know about the topic. When the reader might need more information, we should expand our sentences to provide more information for the reader.' Read aloud the first kernel sentence: 'He was not suspicious.' Explain that this is a sentence because it has a subject and a predicate, but it provides little information to the reader. Ask each question under the kernel sentence (i.e., Who was not suspicious? What was not suspicious of? When was he not suspicious? Why was he not suspicious?), and record student responses. Explain to students that when they see dotted lines, they should only write keywords and phrases, not complete sentences. They should use abbreviations and symbols when appropriate. Then, expand the kernel sentence by adding students’ answers to the question words."
• Additional Resources are provided for teachers to work with students that need more support. An audio of many of the text are provided. In every Unit, there is a Text Complexity and Vocabulary Analysis that provide teachers the information on where the complexity lies in the text, and possible vocabulary to instruct. In every unit is a section called “Let’s Set the Context” with videos to provide additional background knowledge for students who need that type of support. There are “Section Supports” within the units that provide foundational support for students. There are also additional writing and grammar instruction available in the “ELA Instructional Videos: WriteAlong and more.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectation that materials regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level, or in a language other than English, with extensive opportunities to work with grade level text and meet or exceed grade-level standards.

The “How do the materials support all learners?” Guidebook provides many big picture approaches to how instructors can support diverse learners in whole class instruction and small group instruction with reading, writing, language, and speaking and listening. Each section provides a “Section Supports” specific to each section within the unit that includes language and fluency supports requiring students to reread texts or read ones that represent the same ideas as the unit goal. “Teaching Notes” include additional assistance and direction for diverse learners and are presented under the section titled “Supports for Differentiation (ELL, SPED, etc).” Also, “Let’s Set the Context" Videos may be viewed by students who need extra support with the content and texts before starting the unit. Teachers may assign one or more videos to those selected students to watch on their own on any device. Students encounter stopping signs across the video when they pause to complete part of a handout. Students need a printed handout for each video.

• In the “Flowers for Algernon” Unit, Lesson 16, students must analyze character development and irony in the short story, “Flowers for Algernon.” On a slide provided, students are instructed to “Read April 21-May 18 of Progress Reports 10 and 11 from ‘Flowers for Algernon.’ As you read, continue completing the before/after surgery chart and irony tracker.” Within the “Teaching Notes,” the following support is listed under the section titled “Supports for Differentiation (ELL, SPED, etc)”:
• If students need support with the vocabulary of the text, give students access to a visual dictionary for "Flowers for Algernon."
• If students need support reading the text, pair students with different reading abilities together to engage in paired/partner reading or pull together a small group of students to engage in choral reading or echo reading.
• As needed, read aloud the text. During the read aloud, provide a student-friendly definition or synonym for difficult words. For example, provide a synonym in context while reading aloud the word or phrase. Students are also given a list of words they may encounter and possible definitions. And, instructors are given potential questions to pose to diverse or reluctant learners If students are not completing their handouts.
• Additional supports include: Students are also given a list of words they may encounter and possible definitions. And, instructors are given potential questions to pose to diverse or reluctant learners If students are not completing their handouts.
• In the “Conservation” Unit, Section 3, the instructor is presented with “Section Supports” with the following supports are outlined and detailed for instructors: “Before the Section,” which includes support for foundational skills and support for reading fluency. “During the Section”:
• Support for Language
• Support for Meaning: See the "Additional Materials" section of specific lessons.
• Support for Engaging in Academic Discussions: Use related supports from the Supports Flow Chart.
• Support for Expressing Understanding in Writing: Use related supports from the Supports Flow Chart.
• Support for Developing Language Proficiency: Use related supports from the Supports Flow Chart.
• “Fluency Task,” which lists seven steps, some of the following include: “5. Throughout the week, direct students who need fluency practice to read the passage at least 3 times a day for a week for a fluent reader, who documents the student has read aloud the text; 7. At the end of the week, ask students to read aloud the [Section 1 Fluency Task] for an audience of their peers.”

1. In the "Call of the Wild" Unit, Lesson 11, students practice “analyzing incidents that propel action and build suspense.” On one slide, students are presented with the following directions: “Follow along in your copy of The Call of the Wild while I read aloud paragraphs 7-11 of Chapter 3.” The following support is listed under the section titled “Supports for Differentiation (ELL, SPED, etc)”: “To keep students actively involved during the read aloud and to practice their reading fluency, engage students in choral reading or echo reading.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the expectation that materials provide opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies.

Within both Guidebooks, “How are the materials designed for the classroom?” and “How do the materials support all learners?”, grouping strategies are presented to instructors including small group, whole group, pairs, and individual settings. Within every lesson, instructors are presented with “Teaching Notes” that include specific grouping strategies and reference helpful documentation, such as the conversation stems learning tool.

• In the “Tell-Tale Heart” Unit, Lesson 3, students discuss their independent reading novels. After the teacher introduces the lesson, students read their independent reading novels for 20 minutes and record their progress in their independent reading logs. Then students work in pairs to discuss the reliability of the narrator in each of their novels.
• In the “Conservation” Unit, Lesson 6, students study point of view and meaning in the poem, “Requiem for a Nest.” Students work in pairs to paraphrase the first two lines of the poem. Students continue to work with their partners to complete portions of a TP-CASTT handout on the poem. The group comes back together for a whole-class discussion of the poem, and after the discussion, they return to their pairs to complete the TP-CASTT handout.
• In the "Sugar" Unit, Lesson 26, in the “Teaching Notes,” teachers are directed to divide the class into pairs and instruct them to use the SODA strategy to assess claims: (Is the claim SPECIFIC? Is the claim ORIGINAL? Is the claim DEFENSIBLE? Is the claim ARGUABLE?).