The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that texts are organized around topics and/or themes to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently.

All units presented within the materials provide students and teachers with a unit goal, which is located within the “Unit at-a-glance” box. All texts are centered around each unit goal, as students must complete Extension tasks, Culminating tasks, Cold Reads, and various other formative assessments that center around the concept of each unit goal. The topics include, but are not limited to Jamestown, dystopias, and The Civil War.

• In the "Christmas Carol" Unit, the unit goal is, “Students read literary and informational texts about the meaning and redemption found through selflessness and valuing people over material possessions. Students understand how writers use stories to teach us these lessons and how characters’ choices affect the plot and build the theme of a story. Students express their understanding by exploring how literature resonates with readers and has 'staying power,' becoming a part of our language, culture, and moral code.” Throughout the unit, students read fiction and nonfiction texts that relate to this goal, such as articles about how experiences rather than material goods make readers feel better, stories like “The Gift of the Magi,”  and Tuesdays with Morrie. The Culminating Writing task and Extension tasks refer back to the anchor text of the unit, A Christmas Carol.
• In "The Giver" Unit, the unit goal is, “Students read dystopian literature and related informational texts to understand how individual perspectives are shaped by knowledge and memory and to determine whether perfection is worth the sacrifice. Students express their understanding by analyzing how a theme is developed through characters and their contrasting points of view and also comparing and contrasting the themes of similar texts.” Throughout the unit, students read fiction and nonfiction texts that relate to this goal, such as dystopian texts like The Hunger Games, Maze Runner, and Divergent, and stories and poems like “Harrison Bergeron” and “The Human Abstract.” The Culminating Writing task and Extension tasks refer back to the anchor text of the unit, The Giver.
• In the “Memoir” Unit, the unit goal is, “Students read various memoirs and texts about a writer’s craft to understand the importance of memoirs and 'coming of age' literature. Students express their understanding by exploring their own voice and style as a writer, observing the firsthand connection between reading and writing, as they write their own memoir.” Throughout the unit, students read fiction and nonfiction texts that relate to this goal, such as memoirs by Walter Dean Myers, Gary Paulsen, and Zlata Filipovic, and stories and poems such as “Thank You Ma’am” and “Oranges.” The Culminating Writing task and Extension tasks refer back to the anchor text of the unit, "How to Write a Memoir."
• In "Behind the Scenes" Unit, the unit goal is, “Students read literary and informational texts about the Civil War, a tumultuous period in our country’s history. Students understand that by examining different perspectives through various accounts, real and fictional, they can gain a deeper understanding of the time period and express their understanding through identifying and then comparing and contrasting different accounts of people, events, and ideas of the time.” Throughout the unit, students read fiction and nonfiction texts that relate to this goal, such as stories of escape from slavery, information about the Underground Railroad, and biographies of Mary Todd Lincoln. The Culminating Writing task and Extension tasks refer back to the anchor text of the unit, Behind the Scenes.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation 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.

Throughout the materials, students independently and as a whole group complete questions and tasks that require analysis of individual texts. Students complete multiple reads of text with scaffolds such as read aloud, partner reading, and independent reading. The instructions have students answer questions and/or complete tasks that move from a literal understanding of the text to deep analysis within the texts or multiple texts. This scaffolded progression can be seen across the units, the sections, the lessons, and the assessments.

In "The Giver" Unit, Lessons 35-38, the Culminating Writing task directions are sequenced to provide students with carefully sequenced questions in order to thoroughly analyze the text. For example, 

"How do Jonas’ experiences develop a theme over the course of The Giver? To answer this question:

• Identify key events in The Giver and Jonas’ reaction to or opinion of them.
• Describe the impact of the setting and interactions with characters on Jonas (e.g., How do other characters have an impact on Jonas and what impact does he have on other characters?).
• Compare and contrast the way Jonas views the setting, characters, and events with the way other characters in the novel view the setting, characters, and events.
• Examine how these elements change over the course of the novel (e.g., How does Jonas interact differently with other characters or react differently to events over the course of the novel? What causes Jonas’ interactions or reactions to change?)
• Determine the theme of The Giver based on these elements. First, identify a topic that is central to key ideas in the novel (for example, perfection or Sameness). Then, identify what the author conveys about that topic through the text.
• Locate evidence that supports the development of a theme of The Giver.
• Write a literary analysis that develops a claim logically and demonstrates an understanding of the text. Be sure to use proper grammar, conventions, spelling, and grade­-appropriate words and phrases. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support the analysis, including direct quotations and parenthetical citations."

In the "Christmas Carol" Unit, Lesson 34, students complete a Cold Read task. Students have 40 minutes to complete six questions about “The Eighth Tuesday We Talk About Money” from Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albann. Questions include:

• What meaning is implied by the word smokescreen?
• How does Albom’s use of the word 'smokescreen' impact the tone of the passage?
• Which sentence best states the central idea of “ The Eighth Tuesday We Talk About Money”?

In the "Behind the Scenes" Unit, Lesson 8, students discover how imagery impacts meaning in Chapter 3 of Behind the Scenes. Students reread the first part of Chapter 3 and underline examples of imagery involving lightness and darkness. They then choose one example and answer this question: “What purpose does the author have for including the imagery? In other words, what point does the imagery help her to make?”

In the “Memoir” Unit, Lesson 21, students are instructed to reread “Thank You Ma’am” and complete the perspectives chart. The directions for the perspectives chart are as follows: “As you reread ‘Thank You, Ma’am’ by Langston Hughes, chart the events of the story from Mrs. Jones’ perspective in left hand column and the events from Roger’s perspective in the right hand column.” Students then complete the final question “How does knowing both perspectives contribute to the meaning of ‘Thank You, Ma’am’?” Students then must respond to the following question and discuss: “Is ‘Thank You, Ma’am’ a strong or a weak example of Zinsser’s advice about perspective?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation 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.

Students have frequent opportunities to think about, discuss, and write about multiple texts within the daily lesson structure and as part of culminating activities and assessments. Students are often asked to reflect on texts as they relate to one another and revisit their understanding of texts after they have experienced new selections. Cold Read tasks, Culminating Writing tasks, and Extension tasks often include writing prompts that ask students to synthesize understanding across texts. For example:

• In the "Behind the Scenes" Unit, Lesson 10, students compare and contrast two different accounts of emancipation. Students read an excerpt of chapter 11 from A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave and previously read excerpts from Behind the Scenes and answer questions to learn about differing emancipation stories. They answer the question: “How do Keckley and Douglas each feel about working for their 'masters'? Find text evidence to support your statements. Be prepared to share your findings with the class.”
• In the “Christmas Carol” Unit, Lessons 34 and 35, students complete a Cold Read task where the students respond to questions and demonstrate their knowledge through completion of the task. Questions include: “What meaning is implied by the word smokescreen? How does Albom’s use of the word smokescreen impact the tone of the passage? Which sentence best states the central idea of 'The Eighth Tuesday We Talk About Money?' Task: Write a multi-paragraph essay that explains how Albom distinguishes Morrie’s point of view from his own as well as from others mentioned in the selection, such as Ted Turner, who claim that 'more is good.' Use effective transitions and cite evidence from the selection to support your response.”
• In the "Written in Bone" unit, Lesson 10, students read Chapter 4 of Written in Bone with a partner and identify claims and evidence in the text. The teacher then does a read-aloud of “August-September 1607” from "Jamestown: 1607, The First Months: Observations Gathered Out of a Discourse on the Plantation of the Southern Colony in Virginia by the English, 1606, Gentleman” and the students identify claims and evidence in the text. In Lesson 11, students analyze both texts using the SOAPSTone protocol, discuss and then write about how the two texts are similar and different.
• In "The Giver" Unit, students are presented with the following Extension task: “Select a dystopian novel from a list of possible titles to read in addition to The Giver. Some possible texts are listed below. The texts are listed in order of complexity from least to greatest. Possible texts: Maze Runner, James Dashner; Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins; Unwind, Neal Shusterman​; Divergent, Veronica Roth; Uglies, Scott Westerfeld; and, Feed, M. T. Anderson. Once you have selected your independent reading text, set a schedule and goals for reading and keep track of reading in a reading log or journal. At the end of the unit, you will write an essay that analyzes a theme of your chosen novel. Then, compare and contrast the theme of your novel with the theme of The Giver. Explain how the theme is developed in each text. Use evidence from the texts to support claims. Then, you will work with a small group of your peers to create a multimedia presentation to compare and contrast the theme of your novel with the theme of The Giver. Your multimedia presentation should present the common theme across both texts, and then logically explains how it is developed similarly and differently in each text.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic (or, for grades 6-8, a theme) through integrated skills (e.g. combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).

The materials contain lessons and tasks that build to culminating activities. Each unit has an established goal that is described for the teacher in the introduction to the unit and to the students in the first lesson of the unit. The students are also informed in the opening of the first lesson how they will eventually demonstrate that they met the goals of the unit, which is their successful completion of the the culminating tasks. Each unit contains three culminating tasks: a Culminating Writing task, an Extension task which is either narrative or research in nature, and a Cold Read task. For each of the culminating tasks, the materials provide student directions, rubrics, and exemplars.

• In the "Christmas Carol" Unit, the unit goal is, “Students read literary and informational texts about the meaning and redemption found through selflessness and valuing people over material possessions. Students understand how writers use stories to teach us these lessons and how characters’ choices affect the plot and build the theme of a story. Students express their understanding by exploring how literature resonates with readers and has 'staying power,' becoming a part of our language, culture, and moral code.” In the Culminating Writing task: “What does Dickens want us to understand about the 'business' of being human? Write a literary analysis to support your claims in answer to the question and demonstrate an understanding of the text.” Students read, write, and discuss multiple texts to be able to respond to the culminating task. In Lessons 8-10, students continue their exploration of characterization and analyze the change in Scrooge. “Ask: What does Scrooge see in this scene? What do his actions and reflections suggest about his perspective?” This supports students to be able to understand the shift in Scrooge's character, and also to be able to build on the knowledge of the “meaning and redemption found through selflessness and valuing people over material possessions.”
• In the "The Giver" Unit, the unit goal is, “Students understand how individual perspectives are shaped by knowledge and memory and to determine whether perfection is worth the sacrifice.” The Culminating Writing task is, “How do Jonas’ experiences develop a theme over the course of The Giver? Write a literary analysis that develops a claim logically and demonstrates an understanding of the text.” Students read, write, and discuss to be able to complete the culminating task. In Lesson 23, after students have identified the theme in “Imagine” by John Lennon, students participate in a discussion on “Imagine” and The Giver , in which both "depict a world in which equality and peace is valued more than choice and loyalty. Which values are more important for a community?” This discussion supports the completion of the culminating task and building students’ knowledge around knowledge and memory.
• In the “Memoir” Unit, the unit goal is, “Students read various memoirs and texts about a writer’s craft to understand the importance of memoirs and 'coming of age' literature. Students express their understanding by exploring their own voice and style as a writer, observing the firsthand connection between reading and writing, as they write their own memoir.” For the Cold Read task at the end of the “Memoir” Unit, students read a new selection, “Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto. They answer a series of multiple choice questions, followed by a writing section where they respond to the prompt, “Throughout the story 'Seventh Grade' by Gary Soto, Victor learns many things about himself as a result of the interactions he has with other characters. Write a multi-paragraph essay that examines the ways in which both Teresa and Mr. Bueller help Victor become more confident in himself and excited about his seventh grade year.”
• In the "Behind the Scenes" Unit, the unit goal is, “Students read literary and informational texts about the Civil War. Students examine different perspectives through various accounts, real and fictional, that helps them gain an understanding of the time period. They identify and compare and contrast different accounts of people, events, and ideas of the time.” In the Extension task, students investigate various accounts of the American Civil War time period by using primary and secondary sources to research a specific person, an event, or an idea to create a 5-8 minute multimedia presentation. In the presentation, students compare and contrast the various portrayals of the chosen topic and explain how the different perspectives build a more complete understanding of the person, event, or idea.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts.

The Resource Library for each unit includes a “Vocabulary Guide” that includes the following: words and phrases to teach, words and phrases to define, and two whole-class instructional strategies for teaching vocabulary: semantic mapping and word displays. Each unit contains a text complexity and vocabulary analysis document. The vocabulary analysis portion provides a list of vocabulary words and where they appear in the anchor text. The words are categorized by whether they can or can not be determined in context and whether they demand less or more teaching time. “Section Supports” within the unit structure outline a protocol for explicitly teaching vocabulary and provide specific “Vocabulary Tasks” and “Mentor Sentence Language Tasks.” Within the lesson plan structure, the “Let’s Work With Words” section focuses on the development of vocabulary and language through explicit instruction and formative practice.

• In the “Vocabulary Guide,” teachers examine their vocabulary instruction across the year and throughout all lessons and units. Suggestions are given to teachers to speed up vocabulary growth for all students including, “reading aloud texts that are written at a level above the students’ independent reading levels, or prompting students to read a series of texts on the same topic.”
• In the "Christmas Carol" Unit, “Section Supports” provide additional support for teachers including “Protocols for Explicitly Teaching Vocabulary.” In this section, teachers are given steps to explicitly teach the word “melancholy.” The steps included: teacher presentation, definition, explanation, connections, and application.
• In "The Giver" Unit, Lesson 1, students complete a “Let’s Work With Words” section within the lesson. Students read a passage from The Giver, and they focus on the word “apprehensive.” Students then discuss the following with a partner: “What emotion words does Jonas consider in this excerpt? Why is Jonas apprehensive? Define apprehensive. In what ways is the meaning of apprehensive similar to/ different from frightened?”
• In the “Memoir” Unit, Lesson 9, students complete the “Let’s Express Our Understanding” section; students must complete a semantic map of an unknown word of their choice. Teachers are instructed: “Ask the pairs to select two unknown words from their independent reading memoir and complete a semantic map handout for each word.” In the “Let’s Close” section, students reviewed their learning regarding academic vocabulary within the anchor text: “You also used various strategies to define unknown words.”
• In the "Behind the Scenes" Unit, Lesson 27, students complete a “Let’s Work With Words” section within the lesson. Students are instructed to “choose 4 circled words from your text and add them to your vocabulary log.” Teachers are supported via the following Teaching note: “If students are having trouble choosing words, let them choose from among some Tier 2 words in this chapter: discernible, spectral, fleeting, mortality, presentiment, assassin, demean, plunders, haughty, scorn, constituted, tranquility, throng, penitent, subdued, affliction, solemn, palpitating, grandeur, paroxysm, tempestuous, imperious, haggard, condole, prostrated, appeal, effectual, dispense, interred, commenced, vehemently.” Instructors must also “remind students to store their vocabulary log handouts in the ‘Vocabulary Log’ section of their reading logs.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that materials support students’ increasing writing skills over the course of the school year, building students’ writing ability to demonstrate proficiency at grade level at the end of the school year.

Writing is used across lesson plans and assessments as a learning tool and as a way for students to express their understanding. Lesson plans are scaffolded so that students develop their understanding of texts thoroughly before having to write thoughtfully about them. Within lessons, students complete smaller writing tasks such as taking notes, filling in graphic organizers, and writing quick responses to guiding questions before they complete more demanding writing tasks for more complex selections at the end of the unit. Classroom discussion is used as a regular tool to prepare students for writing assignments, and more in-depth writing assignments are broken down into smaller, more manageable tasks to prepare students for writing the rough draft. Students learn the components of good writing on a smaller scale through language tasks that focus on sentence-level meaning and writing structures. Each unit concludes in a multi-draft Culminating Writing task that synthesizes the students’ understanding of the texts they read in a formalized fashion. Additionally, Extension tasks are either narrative or research writing based.

For example:

• In the "Written in Bone" Unit, Lesson 29, students complete an explanatory writing task: “Today we are going to express the understanding we’ve built across the unit by engaging in the writing process.” In Lesson 15, students support claims using the text, Blood on the River, and create counter claims. In Lesson 26, students learn and practice how to write a logical argument. In Lesson 30, students have a lesson on writing conclusions. In Lesson 31, students participate in a lesson on revising to include coordinate adjectives and then revise and edit their essay.
• In the "Christmas Carol" Unit, Lessons 36-42, students participate in an Extension task to research and answer the guiding question: “How has Charles Dickens influenced modern society?” The seven lesson section includes instructions and practice for students as they complete their essay. The lessons are:
• Lesson 36: Introduce the research task, summarize an article and develop research questions.
• Lesson 37: Refine your research questions, identify search terms, and assess the credibility of sources.
• Lesson 38: Gather evidence, paraphrase and quote from sources.
• Lesson 39: Engage in peer review.
• Lesson 40: Outline your essay.
• Lesson 41: Draft your research report.
• Lesson 42: Peer feedback and revisions
• In "The Giver" Unit, Lesson 34, students participate in a timed writing activity. Students answer the prompt: “What are the similarities and differences in the point of view of Harrison and Jonas, and the way each character responds to his society and interacts with other characters? Cite textual evidence to support your response.” The teacher introduces the Painted Essay strategy for students to use as a way to structure their essay. Share the painted essay structure as one way to help them plan and organize for their essay by talking through each of the colors of the essay.
• In the “Memoir” Unit, Lessons 30-33, students write an essay using the writing process: “Throughout this unit, we have built our understanding of the quality criteria for memoir writing. We’ve considered writing advice from an expert and evaluated 'coming-of-age' literature according to his criteria. Today we are going to express that understanding by engaging in the writing process.” Students begin the essay in Lesson 30 and complete a first draft in Lesson 31. After revising in Lesson 32, they complete their final draft in Lesson 33. Students are guided through a revision process in Lesson 32 using highlighters to color code certain elements in the draft such as the thesis statement, and how the thesis is developed in their essay.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation 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.

Students engage in lessons and activities where they gather information from sources for the purposes of research and to supplemental understanding of texts. They draw evidence from literary and informational selections to discuss the texts and support claims they make about the texts. Students also complete larger research projects at the end of units that require them to obtain information from multiple credible sources and synthesize that information to convey their understanding of a topic or task. For example:

• In the "Behind the Scenes" Unit, Lesson 37, students participate in a lesson on how to create a bibliography of their sources. Teachers are instructed in the Teaching Notes to “Give students instructions for creating a bibliography page like the one displayed on the screen that lists all of their sources. Google Docs is a good application to use for this purpose.” A model bibliography is presented to the students.
• In the "Behind the Scenes" Unit, Lessons 40-43, students “investigate accounts of the American Civil War time period by researching a specific person, event, or idea.” Students use their research of both primary and secondary sources to prepare a presentation plan that compares and contrasts the various portrayals of their chosen topic. Students then present their ideas in a brief multimedia presentation.
• In the "The Giver" Unit, Lessons 39-44, students work with a small group to compare and contrast a theme in their independent reading books with a theme in the anchor text, The Giver. They must use evidence from both texts to explain how the themes are developed.
• In the "Behind the Scenes" Unit, Lessons 40-43, for the Extension task, students investigate various accounts of the American Civil War time period by researching a specific person, event, or idea. After they complete their research, they create a presentation plan that compares and contrasts different perspectives of their given topic.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation 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.

Students have frequent opportunities to engage in independent reading through scaffolded lessons and self-selected materials. Students read portions of the anchor text independently after they have experienced the teacher reading the text to them and after reading the text in pairs. Students also reread selections independently after having listened to them or read them in pairs. Students are held accountable through the use of reading logs, discussion, formative, and summative assessments. For Cold Read tasks, students are required to read selections independently and complete multiple choice questions and writing tasks to show their understanding. Each unit comes with a “Family Resource” document with a suggested book list for helping to deepen students’ knowledge of the topic being studied. It also provides suggestions for how parents can plan and encourage independent reading activities at home. For the independent reading project, the teacher materials include a letter to parents that outlines and encourages student accountability.

• In the "Written in Bone" Unit, Lesson 27, students read Chapter 9 of Written in Bone by Sally M. Walker independently. Students are given 15 minutes to independently read and then annotate the text and respond to a question about forensic artists.
• In the “Christmas Carol” Unit, Lessons 34 and 35, students complete a Cold Read task where they independently read “The Eighth Tuesday We Talk About Money” from Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom and express their understanding of the text by answering multiple choice questions and completing an essay.
• In the “Memoir” Unit, Lesson 8, students select and begin reading an independent reading memoir that they will independently read over the course of the rest of the unit. This novel is tied to the Culminating Writing task that they will complete at the end of the unit.
• In "The Giver" Unit, Lesson 28, students read and discuss Chapter 22 of The Giver, analyze word meanings and their connotations, and analyze how the change in setting impacts Jonas’ character. On Card 12, students read Chapter 23 and complete their reading log for that chapter independently for homework.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that materials are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing.

The materials for each grade level contain five “Guidebooks” or units of study. Units include Written in Bone, Christmas Carol, The Giver, Memoir, and Behind the Scenes. 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.

• In "The Giver" Unit, Lesson 4, the teacher launches the lesson by reminding students that they recently “paraphrased the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, compared values between our society and Jonas’, and began to consider unit essential questions.” The teacher then shares the activities for the lesson: begin reading Chapter 2 of The Giver and make inferences about Jonas’ community (the text’s setting) based on character interactions. 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 “Memoir” Unit, Lesson 13, the teacher launches the lesson by reminding students that they recently “began to analyze how our independent reading memoirs follow advice for memoir writers.” The teacher then shares the activities for the lesson: read “Eleven” from Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories by Sandra Cisneros and identify external and internal conflicts. The teacher also points out what materials the students will need for the lesson. The students then perform a series of tasks which involve reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills.  
• In the "Written in Bone" Unit, in all lessons, the teacher is given suggested pacing for each part of a lesson. For example, in Lesson 1 the suggested pacing for the “Let’s Review!” section is two minutes. Later in the lesson the students participate in a journal task and seven minutes is the suggested time. In the “Let’s Discuss!” section, seven minutes is the suggested time for a discussion on forensic anthropology and the title of the book.
• In the "Christmas Carol" Unit, Lessons 26-31, students participate in six lessons so “Students continue engaging in the writing process to answer the prompt for the Culminating Writing task: "What does Dickens want us to understand about the 'business' of being human?”
• In the "Behind the Scenes" Unit,  there are 43 lessons and five quizzes designed in a sequential order.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 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?” and “How do I prepare to teach Guidebooks?” Guidebooks. Also, instructors are presented further pacing overviews through the “Assessment Overview” in every unit. This allows instructors to see the backwards design implemented within every unit. Each lesson equates to roughly 50 minutes, and a full academic year contains four units; however, there are five units included that can be used, depending on individual instructor pacing. The units included are as follows: Written in Bone, Christmas Carol, The Giver, Memoir, Behind the Scenes.

• Within “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.”
• Within the “Memoir” Unit, in the “Assessment Overview,” students are presented with the following major tasks that will be completed throughout the unit: Daily Formative Assessments, Section Quizzes, Culminating Writing task, Extension task, Cold Read task.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 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. Within the lesson plan structure, activities are scaffolded and structured in such a way that students have ample opportunities to practice skills. There are a 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 launches 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!”, students are provided a summary of the lesson they just completed.
• In the “Memoir” Unit, Lesson 10, students prepare for a literature circle discussion. At the end of the lesson, after analyzing different aspects of their independent reading memoirs, and preparing to participate in a literature circle discussion, they express their understanding of the lesson by filling out a handout on their assigned literature circle role.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items.

Within every unit, instructors are presented with a scope and sequence that indicates all standards listed within the CCSS 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, and 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 Section 1 of the "Written in Bone" Unit, the  informational reading standards covered are  RI 7.1, RI 7.2, RI 7.4, RI 7.5, RI 7.6, RI 7.7, RI 7.8, and RI 7.10. There are no literature standards covered in this section, as the text is only informational.
• For each Cold Read task, the answer key provides the Common Core Standards for each questions. For example, in "The Giver" Unit, the first question of the Cold Read task measures mastery of CCSS: RL.7.1, RL.7.4, RL.7.10.
• In each lesson the standards addressed in that particular lesson are listed on every page of the Lesson Plan. For example, in the "Behind the Scenes" Unit, Lesson 14 covers these standards RI.7.1, RI.7.10, RI.7.2, RI.7.4, SL.7.1, W.7.10, W.7.3. An activity that incorporates standard RL 7.1 is “Write a summary of the section of the text assigned to your group. Include the details you believe will most interest a student in another group who has not read your section.”  Also in this lesson, SL 7.1 is implemented in the activity, “Tell students that their summaries will be read by students in the other groups. If students finish early, suggest they share their summary with another student in their group, compare the contents, and add to their summary events they may have omitted in their first draft.”
• In the “Memoir” Unit, there are section quizzes with the standards listed for each question in the Teacher’s Notes section. For example, in the Section 3 quiz,  the first question measures Standards RL.7.3: “How do Rachel’s thoughts influence the plot of the text?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 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 "Written in Bone" Unit, Lesson 5, Card 3, the “Teaching Notes” list these directions for the teacher: “Read the slide. Briefly explain how this lesson prepares students for another lesson and/or the end-of-unit assessments. Throughout the lesson, 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 “Memoir” Unit, Lesson 13, Card 6, the “Teaching Notes” list these directions and supports for the teacher: “Direct students to reread ‘Eleven’ and complete the plot chart handout by listing the events that happen in the classroom and what happens in the narrator’s mind. Guiding Questions and Prompts: If students need support with the vocabulary of the text, give students access to a visual dictionary for ‘Eleven.’ As needed, before students reread the text, model how to complete the plot chart handout. Explicit directions are given for the teacher to model the plot chart handout in the “Teaching Notes” and the answers to the plot chart are included in the “Additional Materials.”
• In the Guidebook ,“What’s in the Curriculum” section, the program states that “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 “Christmas Carol” Unit, there are three additional videos found in the “Section Resource” in the “Christmas Carol: Let's Set the Context Videos.” Teacher can watch or assign to support struggling student: “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 Giver" Unit, Lesson 7, students are given this task, “With a partner, discuss and answer question numbers 7-8 on your split-page notes handout.“ The teacher is given detailed directions in the “Teaching Notes” to complete this seven minute task including detailed steps for the directions for the student task, support for differentiation and student look-fors as the students complete the task.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 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 LearnZillion “Understanding the Curriculum” Guidebook supports. Teachers are also presented with extensive “Teaching Notes” that accompany every lesson included within the unit; this includes prompting, explanations, and tips. Within the “Teaching Notes,” teachers are provided with how-to guides, research, examples for certain reading /discussion strategies. Within each lesson, instructors are also given student exemplar responses, especially for larger, writing projects so that instructors understand the task presented to students and the level at which students should perform.

• Within the LearnZillion “Understanding the Curriculum,” instructors are presented with 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 Guidebooks present instructors with teaching strategies and research-based approaches on how to deliver content to students. Instructors are also presented with a “Unit at-a-glance” for 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, instructors are presented with “Teaching Notes” on the right hand side; the “Teaching Notes" are formatted in a bullet point list. For example, within "The Giver" Unit, Lesson 15, the Teaching Notes are as follows for slide four: “Assign students independent reading novels for the extension task. (Note: This should have been determined prior to the start of the lesson, and based on student preferences from the book preview during the previous lesson). Share expectations for students’ independent reading and reading journal according to an established classroom routine (e.g., students read every night for 20 minutes, students map out the number of pages they will read each week, etc.). Say: ‘Your purpose in reading your text is to get a feel for the novel that you will be reading.’”
• In the "Written in Bone" Unit, Lesson 10, on Slide 5, in the “Teaching Notes,” teachers are given supplemental information on the instructional strategy, Paired/Partner Reading. The strategy is hyperlinked to an external website which offers an explanation, implementation steps, research to support the strategy, and a video to demonstrate the strategy in a classroom. This information would be helpful if teachers are not familiar with the strategies.
• 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 referenced in the “Teaching Notes” to the right hand side of the presentation in "The Giver" Unit, Lesson 15: “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 "Christmas Carol" Unit, Lesson 11, on the right side of each card, “Teaching Notes” are included: Directions for the teacher to teach 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: You will read 'The History of Christmas' independently. Direct students to read 'The History of Christmas.' Direct students to write a 3-5 sentence summary of the text on their analyze structure handout when they have finished reading."
• In "The Giver" Unit, Lesson 2, on the right side each card, “Teaching Notes” are included. Directions for the teacher to teach 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: Why did this particular event/thing stand out to you? If you had to name the most important thing that happens in these chapters, what would you say and why? What does this reveal about Jonas and/or his community?”

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 included in the lesson. 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.

• The materials state in the “Unit Design” section: “Each text collection has a shared idea, such as the American Revolution, and includes a diversity of materials: podcasts, interviews, song lyrics, films, and authentic fiction and non-fiction texts, as well as novels commonly celebrated by teachers and students.”
• The materials state in the “Unit Design” section: “LearnZillion Guidebooks embeds the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Specifically, the curriculum was designed to support learners through (1) multiple means of engagement (the 'why' of learning), (2) multiple means of representation (the 'what' of learning), and (3) multiple means of action and expression (the 'how' of learning).”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 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 presented with 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. Research-based strategies are listed and cited throughout the program. All units 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 the “What’s in the curriculum?” section," instructors are presented with a list of writing and reading resources 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, in the “Unit Design” section, the rereading strategy is presented and 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.”
• The “How do the materials support all learners?” section lists the research that supports that all learners must “regularly engage with rich, authentic grade-appropriate complex texts” and that “Instructional supports should not supplant or compromise rigor or content.”
• In the "Written in Bone" Unit, Lesson 10, on Slide 5, in the Teaching Notes, teachers are given supplemental information on the instructional strategy presented, Paired/Partner Reading. The strategy is hyperlinked to an external website which offers an explanation, implementation steps, research to support the strategy, and a video 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 7 meet the expectation that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress.

Each of the five units is divided into sections and lessons, and assessments are included 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 the “Christmas Carol” Unit, Lesson 10, students take a quiz after having completed sections two and three of instruction. This quiz covers Stave I and Stave II of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Students answer multiple choice questions and sequence events in the text to practice the skills they learned. After Lesson 34, students complete Part I of the Cold Read task. After reading “The Eighth Tuesday We Talk About Money” from Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, students answer multiple choice questions on the reading.
• In "The Giver" Unit, after lesson 27, the students take a Section 6 quiz. The quiz “assesses students’ retention of knowledge based on what was taught and read in this section of the Guidebook unit. 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. Similarly, the teacher can decide whether or not students may use their filled in graphic organizers from this section."

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that assessments clearly denote which standards are being emphasized.

The following assessments are included throughout all units: daily formative assessments, section quizzes, culminating writing tasks, extension tasks, and cold read tasks. Within every unit, an assessment overview is included that details the purpose of 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, a list specifies 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 Giver" Unit, Sections 1 and 2 quiz, every question 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 question addresses standard RL.7.3.
• In “Memoir” Unit, Lesson 30, in the Culminating Writing task, “Students begin the writing process to answer the question: Does the memoir you read support or contradict Zinsser’s advice for writing a memoir in ‘How to Write a Memoir’?” The standards are as follows: RI.7.1, RI.7.10, RI.7.2, RI.7.3, RI.7.4, RI.7.5, RI.7.6, RI.7.9, RL.7.1, RL.7.10, W.7.10, W.7.2a, W.7.2b, W.7.2c, W.7.2d, W.7.2e, W.7.2f, W.7.4, W.7.5
• In the "Written in Bone" Unit, Lesson 29, students begin a Culminating Writing task in which students “write an essay with logical reasoning and relevant evidence. Be sure to use proper grammar, conventions, spelling, and grade-appropriate words and phrases. Cite several pieces of textual evidence, including direct quotations, and parenthetical citations.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that materials should include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress.

The LearnZillion Guidebooks provide teachers with guidance and opportunities to monitor student progress. Each unit provides daily formative assessments, as well as section quizzes, Cold Read tasks, Culminating Writing tasks, and Extension tasks. 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 “student 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.
• In "The Giver" Unit, the “Teacher’s Notes” 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 “Memoir” 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 7 end with a section quiz. Sections 2, 5, 6, and 9 end with a task. Sections 10 end with a Cold Read task.
• In the "Written in Bone" Unit, Lesson 7, students complete the rest of the graphic organizer after seeing a model, and working with a partner: “Say: Now you will complete columns three, four, and five of your handout. Please use the first row of your handout as a model.”
• In the "Behind the Scenes" Unit, an Extension task and Culminating Writing task are provided. Also, an exemplar for the writing and presentation is included, as well as a multimedia rubric.