7th Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that anchor texts are of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading.

Materials include a mix of informational and literary texts, consider a range of student interests, and are relevant for a variety of purposes. Authors of the anchor texts are accomplished writers in their various fields. The selections are content-rich and range in topic,  based on each Unit Goal related to topics ranging from anthropology to slavery. Texts directly support students as they seek to address each unit goal through various formative and summative activities.   

Anchor texts and text sets include a mix of genres, including novels, verse novels, informational texts, speeches, biographies, and excerpts from larger works:

• In the "Written in Bone" Unit,  students read the nonfiction text Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland by Sally M. Walker. Walker has composed works of literature for over 20 years. Students experience anthropologists walking through the process of investigating human remains via colonial-era sites to unearth the causes of death, uncover the historical stories of each remain, and determine characteristics of skeletal remains, such as gender. The presence of this text supports the Unit Goal.
• In the "Christmas Carol" Unit, students read the fiction text, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, which is an iconic story known throughout the world. This canonical text supports students understanding of the Unit Goal, where students evaluate “selflessness and valuing people over material possessions.” The author is also a world-renowned writer, and one that students will continue to experience through all grades in middle school and high school.
• In "The Giver" Unit,  students read the fiction novel, The Giver, by Lois Lowry. The novel is composed an American writer who has composed over forty children's books. Lowry has two Newbery Medals, one for The Giver in 1994. The novel follows Jonas, a twelve-year-old boy in a dystopian world. Many Grade 7 students will be able to empathize with the character given his situation and age.
• In the “Memoir” Unit, students read the nonfiction essay, "How to Write a Memoir," by William Zinsser. This text is full of helpful guidelines for creating a memoir, with suggestions on selection of research, what a student’s focus should be, and how to best utilize rhetorical strategies like voice and tone. Zinsser is recognized as a writer, editor, and teacher. He has written for the New York Herald Tribune and has regularly written for other leading magazines.
• In the "Behind the Scenes" Unit, students read the biography, Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House by Elizabeth Keckley. The author was born a slave and purchased her freedom; she became head of the Domestic Science Department at Wilberforce University in Ohio. The biography was first attacked considering its content, and details slave life becoming a privileged witness to the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. The text essentially combines a memoir, perhaps political, with slave narrative.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that materials reflect the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards at each grade level.

Core texts include a mix and variety of of informational and literary texts integrated throughout every unit. Text include historical fiction, poetry, informational texts, journal articles, speeches, photos, and letters. Including all five units, the distribution of texts is roughly 57% literary and 43% informational.

The following are examples of literature:

• In the "Written in Bone" Unit, Lesson 5, a poem, “Ode to the Virginian Voyage” by Michael Drayton.
• In the “Christmas Carol” Unit, Lesson 1, a short story, “Treasure of Lemon Brown” by Walter Dean Myers.
• In "The Giver" Unit, Lesson 22, a song, “Imagine” by John Lennon.
• In “Memoir” Unit, Lesson 19, a short story, “Thank You, Ma’am” by Langston Hughes.
• In "Behind the Scenes" Unit, Lesson 28, a poem, “O Captain, My Captain” by Walt Whitman.

The following are examples of informational text:

• In the "Written in Bone" Unit, Lesson 41, a video, "30,000 Skeletons" by Smithsonian Education.
• In the “Christmas Carol” Unit, Lesson 11, an informational article, “The History of Christmas” by British Broadcasting Channel (BBC).
• In "The Giver" Unit, Lesson 45, a speech, Newbery Acceptance Speech, June 1994 by Lois Lowry.
• In “Memoir” Unit, Lesson 34, a website FAQ, "Advice for Writers" by Rick Riordan.
• In "Behind the Scenes" Unit, Lesson 32, an informational article, “A Fitting Friendship Between Dressmaker and Mary Todd Lincoln” by Jeanne Kolker.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria that texts have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative and qualitative analysis.

All anchor texts presented have a range of Lexile levels and the publisher provides a “Text Complexity and Vocabulary Analysis” for all anchor texts that ranks each text according to the following categories: Meaning/Central Idea/Purpose, Text Structure/Organization, Language Features, and Prior Knowledge Demands. The categories aforementioned are rated with the following scale for the Grade 7 textbook: Slightly Complex, Moderately Complex, Very Complex, and Exceedingly Complex. The Potential Reader/Task Challenges section, within the “Text Complexity and Vocabulary Analysis” provides information regarding challenges students may face with the anchor texts presented, considering the amount of time spent with anchor texts. Lastly, within the “How do the materials support all learners?” Guidebook under the “Reading” section, states the following: “Texts for each unit are purposefully selected to support knowledge building. Each unit includes text analyses, which identify the knowledge building connections among the units and texts.”

While supplemental texts do not provide a “Text Complexity and Vocabulary Analysis,” supplemental texts are chosen based on the Unit Goal presented for every unit. Some of these texts are not accompanied with Lexiles, provided via the publisher or via the Lexile Framework, but they are still considered at or above grade level, considering the concepts, text type, language, and grammar used throughout.

Most anchor texts used throughout all units are within grade appropriate Lexile bands:

• Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland (nonfiction) by Sally M. Walker. Based on the text complexity analysis provided, the Lexile of this anchor text is 1140L, and is rated based on the following categories and ratings: Meaning/Central Idea/Purpose, rated moderately complex; Text Structure/Organization, rated moderately complex; Language Features, rated moderately complex; and Prior Knowledge Demands rated moderately complex. The Potential Reader/Task Challenges reference that the story emerges from the archaeological forensics. ELL students and students reading below grade level may need additional scaffolding to understand the story the author infers from weaving pieces together.
• Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House (biography) by Elizabeth Keckley. Based on the text complexity analysis provided, the Lexile of this anchor text is 1100L- 1200L, and is rated based on the following categories and ratings: Meaning/Central Idea/Purpose rated moderately complex; Text Structure/Organization rated at slightly complex; Language Features, rated at exceedingly complex; and Prior Knowledge Demands which is rated moderately complex. The Potential Reader/Task Challenges reference indicates that “Reluctant readers may struggle to find a purpose for reading this historical text, and lack impetus to read some of the more mundane events. For this reason, students may benefit from a basic understanding of the people and the time period before beginning the reading so they make connections between the people they encounter in the reading and important historical events, and more fully appreciate the value of the text as a primary source of interesting historical information.” The Potential Reader/Task Challenges also reference that “Students will need to interpret figurative language in the form of metaphors in order to fully understand the text,” and that they “may struggle with archaic language in the form of vocabulary and expressions, which may impede their understanding.”
• A Christmas Carol (fiction) by Charles Dickens. Based on the text complexity analysis provided, the Lexile of this anchor text is 560L, and is rated based on the following categories and ratings: Meaning/Central Idea/Purpose rated moderately complex; Text Structure/Organization rated slightly complex; Language Features rated very complex; and Prior Knowledge Demands rated moderately complex. The Potential Reader/Task Challenges reference that students might struggle “foremost with the complexity of the sentences and archaic references and language,” and students “will need some historical and geographical context to understand some of the jobs and social relationships of the characters, as well as to understand some of the spelling and use of words that are specifically English in nature.”
• The Giver (fiction), Lois Lowry. Based on the text complexity analysis provided, the Lexile of this anchor text is 760L, and is rated based on the following categories and ratings: Meaning/Central Idea/Purpose rated moderately complex; Text Structure/Organization rated slightly complex; Language Features rated slightly complex; and Prior Knowledge Demands rated slightly complex. The Potential Reader/Task Challenges reference that the “culminating writing task asks students to identify how the main character’s experiences develop a theme, which will require that they acknowledge how the main character reacts to events and other characters over the course of the entire novel. Some students may find the sheer scope of that task a daunting one.”
• How to Write a Memoir (nonfiction/essay), William Zinsser. Based on the text complexity analysis provided, the Lexile of this anchor text is 760L, and is rated on the following categories and ratings: Meaning/Central Idea/Purpose rated moderately complex; Text Structure/Organization rated very complex; Language Features rated very complex; and Prior Knowledge Demands rated moderately complex. The Potential Reader/Task Challenges reference that students “may be unfamiliar with nonfiction essays in which writers write about their craft. This type of ‘how-to’ text may require some framing prior to reading,” students “need to understand the use of dashes,” and students may not understand the author’s “personal experiences as an adult writer; he provides anecdotes which [they] likely won’t relate to.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that materials support students’ literacy skills (understanding and comprehension) over the course of the school year through increasingly complex text to develop independence of grade level skills (Series of texts should be at a variety of complexity levels).

The materials consist of five units of study, and all units have a distinct beginning, middle, and end. Supports are removed throughout the unit so that students are gradually responding to and completing increasingly complex materials and text to develop complete independence through Cold Read tasks and through independent reading assignments, such as the build up to literature circles. All anchor texts and supplemental texts are considered “increasingly complex,” even if provided with a Lexile level below grade band or with no Lexile present; all texts engage students with complex ideas and situations. Though the quantitative measure of the texts over the course of the year may not appear to grow, the qualitative features of the texts grow increasingly complex and the gradual release of responsibility employed through the phases of each unit place a greater cognitive load on students, requiring them to engage with texts in increasingly more sophisticated ways. For example:

• Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland
• Lexile: 1140L
• Meaning/Central Idea/Purpose: moderately complex
• Text Structure/Organization: moderately complex
• Language Features: moderately complex
• Prior Knowledge Demands: moderately complex
• Potential Reader/Task Challenges: the analysis that occurs during archaeological forensics and the story is inferred from this work may be challenging for some students to understand, particularly English language learners and students reading below grade level

In this unit, students engage in close reading to determine the meaning of unknown vocabulary, identify conclusions reached as a result of the archaeologists’ work, and to seek out evidence to support claims made by the archaeologists about their findings. In Lesson 29, students complete the explanatory writing culminating task: “The idea that forensic anthropologists explore bones to tell the stories of the past is developed throughout Written in Bone. What is another central idea of the text? How are both ideas developed over the course of the text?” To assist students in this task, students are given an evidence chart with the following prompts that they must give response to: “Central Idea: How does the author develop this central idea? Text evidence? How does this evidence support how the author develops the central idea?” There are two sections within this evidence chart, so students are to identify two central ideas and respond to all questions within the evidence chart based on both central ideas created.

• The Giver
• Lexile: 760L
• Meaning/Central Idea/Purpose: moderately complex
• Text Structure/Organization: slightly complex
• Language Features: slightly complex
• Prior Knowledge Demands: slightly complex
• Potential Reader/Task Challenges: the culminating task requires students to identify how the main character’s experiences develop a theme over the course

In The Giver Lessons 1 and 2, students are introduced to the unit goal of “reading 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.” They begin reading the novel, determine word meanings in context and their connotations, and analyze the text’s setting as a point of entry into the text. In Lesson 14, students preview and select an independent reading novel to accompany their study of The Giver. They revisit and discuss the essential questions of the unit: “What makes an ideal society? How much should the government be able to control/ limit your individual rights for the benefit of society? In what ways are we influenced by our society? How can one person impact his/her society?” in preparation for reading and analyzing the new text and eventually comparing and contrasting it with The Giver. In Lesson 39, students begin preparations for the extension task which requires the students to “compare and contrast the theme of your [independent reading] novel with the theme of The Giver...and 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.”

• Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House
• Lexile: 1100L- 1200L
• Meaning/Central Idea/Purpose: moderately complex
• Text Structure/Organization: slightly complex
• Language Features: exceedingly complex
• Prior Knowledge Demands: moderately complex
• Potential Reader/Task Challenges: historical text might not be initially engaging for reluctant readers, complex figurative language (e.g., metaphors), some archaic language

Students are introduced to the author and the topic of slavery in this unit. They explore unfamiliar vocabulary terms in the text, examine the text for meaning and tone how it shifts over the course of the texts, and determine how words and phrases impact understanding of the sequence of events. Students are to include text evidence to support their answer. For the culminating task, students research various accounts of the American Civil War time period by researching various topics.  These topics include a specific person, an idea, or an event. The students are to use both primary and secondary sources in their research, that includes the anchor and related texts. From that research, they are to prepare a presentation plan that compares and contrasts the various portrayals of their chosen topic and explain how the different perspectives build an understanding of the person, event, or idea.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that anchor and supporting texts provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to achieve grade level reading proficiency.

The materials contain five units, and the unit design language informs the consumer that a full academic year consists of four Guidebook units, thus giving teachers some options for instruction by including an additional unit. Each unit has a title that represents an anchor text or topic, and the selections within each unit are related to the main text or topic and the unit goal, which is thematic in nature. Over the course of a week, students encounter multiple high-quality texts across a variety of genres. Students read, discuss, and write about these texts as a whole class, in small groups, and independently. The lessons also often include re-reading activities to further promote understanding. The readings and the activities that accompany them vary in purpose and length. Additionally, the “Supplemental Resources” section at each grade level includes a collection of five-day close reading exercises focused on one text.

• In the "Written in Bone" Unit, in Lessons 18-22, students read a story from Blood on a River by Elisa Carbone and a poem, “Indian” by Stephen Vincent Benet, to understand how an author develops contrasting points of view in a literary text, analyze how the structure of another poem, “Pocahontas” by William Makepeace Thackeray, impacts its meaning, and participate in a class debate to express opinions supported by text evidence.
• For "The Giver" Unit, students complete a whole-text study of the novel, The Giver, over the course of eight to nine weeks. During the unit, students read a variety of text types and lengths as they work “to understand how individual perspectives are shaped by knowledge and memory to determine whether perfection is worth the sacrifice.” Along with The Giver, students read excerpts from other literary texts: “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and “The Human Abstract” by William Blake. Students participate in independent choice reading groups of additional literary texts: Maze Runner by James Dashner, Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Unwind by Neal Shusterman, Divergent by Veronica Roth, Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, and Feed by M.T. Anderson. Students also study two informational texts: the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States and Lois Lowry’s Newbery Award acceptance speech.
• In the "Behind the Scenes" Unit, students read excerpts from the Behind the Scenes, Or Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House in order to understand 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.” Students read the prologue in Lesson 4 and continue reading excerpts through Lesson 34. Students read informational texts throughout the unit such as “Notable Visitors: Frederick Douglass” from The Lehrman Institute and “A Fitting Friendship Between Dressmaker and Mary Todd Lincoln” by Jeanne Kolker. Students keep and maintain a reading log throughout the unit.
• In the “Memoir” Unit, students read an informational text as the anchor text for the unit. “How to Write a Memoir” by William Zinsser serves as the anchor text, and is an “advice piece written by the famous memoir writer Zinsser. “ Students read the text in this unit in order to explore and understand “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. “ Students read this informational text over the first four lessons of the unit. Then as students read multiple memoirs in different genres, they go back to this piece to analyze the memoirs. Some of the additional memoirs the students read are “Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto and “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros. Students also read an independent novel of their choice that falls into the memoir genre. These selections are A Summer Life by Gary Soto, Bad Boy: A Memoir by Walter Dean Myers, The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez, Guts by Gary Paulsen, Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton and Rick Bundschuh, Zlata's Diary by Zlata Filipovic, and Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that most questions, tasks, and assignments are text dependent/specific, requiring students to engage with the text directly (drawing on textual evidence to support both what is explicit as well as valid inferences from the text).

The materials are divided into five units of study, each with a variety of texts and activities that require students to engage directly with the texts. Activities include different ways for students to interact directly with the texts: “Let’s Read,” “Let’s Write,” “Let’s Discuss,” and “Let’s Work with Words.” Lessons conclude with a text-dependent formative activity called “Let’s Express Our Understanding.” Students are also required to complete text-dependent tasks in Section Quizzes, Culminating Writing tasks, and Cold Read tasks.

Examples of these types of questions, tasks, and assignment include, but are not limited to:

• In "The Giver" Unit, Lesson 10, in the “Let’s Express Our Understanding” (Card 10), students use split-page notes to answer text-dependent questions while reading The Giver. Students answer the questions, “What does The Giver mean when he says, ‘We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.’?Consider all that we have read thus far: What has the community sacrificed for Sameness? Why? Cite textual evidence.” In Lesson 5, in the “Let’s Work with Words” task (Card 7), students answer the questions, “What caused Jonas to feel humiliation? How do Jonas’ feelings help you determine the meaning of the word 'remorse'?”
• In the "Written in Bone" Unit, Lesson 15, in the “Let’s Discuss” task (Card 5), the students are asked the questions, “Which has greater influence on Samuel in Blood on the River-the setting or the other characters? What are three reasons to support your claim?" The class is divided into two groups one group labeled “character” and the other group labeled “claim.” Each group has to find three reasons from the text to support their claim. Then the two groups are broken into three smaller groups based on the reason that supports the claim and are challenged to find text evidence to support that claim and share it with their group.
• In the “Behind the Scenes” Unit, Lesson 17, in the “Let’s Discuss” task (Card 7), students view the video “Mary Todd Lincoln—Influence Peddler” from the Biography Channel website. Then on the “Let’s Write” task (Card 8), they complete a film analysis on a handout. The handout asks the students to answer the questions and provide evidence from the film for each question, such as: "What main ideas does the film address? What specific details does the filmmaker include to help develop those main ideas? What is the filmmaker’s attitude toward Mrs. Lincoln? (What is the film’s tone?) What is the filmmaker’s purpose for producing the film?"
• In the "Christmas Carol" Unit, Lesson 34 includes a Cold Read task. All the questions require students to draw explicitly from the text, such as: “Which sentence best states the central idea of 'The Eighth Tuesday We Talk About Money'? Which detail from the text best supports your answer to Part A? 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.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that sets of high-quality sequences of text-dependent/specific questions and tasks build to a culminating task that integrates skills including writing, speaking, or a combination.

Each unit is organized around a topic or text and includes a goal for the students for what they will learn and how they will demonstrate their understanding. The Culminating Writing task for each unit connects to the unit goal and incorporates the skills that the students have learned throughout the unit as defined in the unit goal. The lessons include sequences of text-dependent questions that guide their understanding of the selections in the unit and build to the Culminating Writing task. Lessons leading up to the culminating tasks, require the demonstration of various skills, including reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

In the "Behind the Scenes" Unit, students complete a writing culminating task to explain, “What is Keckley’s position on slavery? What is her position on Mrs. Lincoln? How does she develop and support her position on each topic?”

Previous lessons that support the Culminating Writing task include, but are not limited to:

• Identification and paraphrasing of claims, including the use of a Slavery Claim Chart to complete the following directions: “Choose one sentence containing a claim about slavery from your slavery claim chart, and explain it thoroughly. What does the author mean by the statement? How does she support her claims? Include evidence in the form of direct quotations from the text.”
• Comparison and contrast of different accounts and purposes for writing
• A discussion in which partner students discuss, “How does each description serve the purpose of the writer?”
• Exploration of how “different authors advance different interpretations.”
• Reading and discussion of A Fitting Friendship Between Dressmaker and Mary Todd Lincoln by Jeanne Kolker. This culminating task connects to the unit goal: “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.”

In the "Written in Bone" Unit, the Culminating Writing task requires students to write an essay with logical reasoning and relevant evidence in response to the prompt, “The idea that forensic anthropologists explore bones to tell the stories of the past is developed throughout Written in Bone.” The culminating task relates to the unit goal for students to be able to “express their understanding by corroborating details of the past, deciphering an author’s purpose, and writing their own fictionalized version of a historical account.”

Questions and tasks that lead to this culminating task include:

• What is another central idea of the text? How are both ideas developed over the course of the text?
• Interaction with texts by evaluating evidence in an informational text
• Analysis of the structure and author’s craft moves in an informational text
• Analysis of how structure and word choice impact a work’s meaning
• Analysis of how the structure of a text contributes to the central ideas
• Identifying claims and analyzing text evidence that supports those claims
• Comparing and contrasting author's purpose

In the "Christmas Carol" Unit, the Culminating Writing task requires students to write a literary analysis to support a claim in answer to the prompt, “What does Dickens want us to understand about the 'business' of being human?” The culminating task relates to the unit goal for students to be able to to “express their understanding by exploring how literature resonates with readers and has ‘staying power,’ becoming a part of our language, culture, and moral code.” This culminating task connects to the unit goal: “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.”

Previous lessons, tasks, and questions that support the culminating performance task include, but are not limited to:

• Analysis of a theme and its development
• Examining changing perspectives
• Comparing and contrasting depictions of traditions across texts
• Gathering text evidence to prepare for a scholarly discussion

In the “Memoir” Unit, students are presented with the following culminating task: “Does the memoir you read support and/or contradict Zinsser’s advice for writing a memoir in ‘How to Write a Memoir’? Write an essay that compares and contrasts the memoir you read with Zinsser’s advice.”

Previous lessons that support the culminating performance task include, but are not limited to:

• Read “Oranges” by Gary Soto and analyze how the author uses vivid language to convey a theme
• Read sections of “How to Write a Memoir” and evaluate whether “Oranges” illustrates Zinsser’s advice
• Read and summarize connections in “Short Memoirs: Six Little Words Can Be Revealing” and use of the examples to write a six-word memoir.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that materials providing frequent opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions (small groups, peer-to-peer, whole class) that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax.

In order to support the use of discussion in the classroom, the materials include a Resource Library. Documents outlining protocols for speaking and listening included in the Resource Library include:

• The Teacher Talk Moves document which helps students clearly express their ideas, listen carefully to others’ ideas, provide evidence to support their claims, and establish new ways of thinking.
• The Conversation Stems document offers students with listener prompts and speaker responses.
• The Discussion Reflection document allows students to rate themselves and their peers on the quality of their participation.
• The Conversations Guide provides teachers with a step-by-step guide for preparing for productive classroom conversations.
• The Student Discussion Tracker gives students a format for recording the development of a conversation with a peer.
• The Resource Library also includes instructional strategies and procedures for classroom discussion constructs such Accountable Talk, Gallery Walk, Philosophical Chairs Debate, and Student-Led Discussions such as a Fishbowl and Socratic Seminar.

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

• In "The Giver" Unit, Lesson 12, students are paired to compare two texts, The Hunger Games and The Giver. They are given the task to use the Conversation Stems protocol to discuss the question, “What similarities do you see between The Reaping in The Hunger Games and The Ceremony of Twelves in The Giver?” Teachers use the Teacher Talk moves and protocol listed in the Teacher Notes.
• In the "Christmas Carol" Unit, Lesson 23, students engage in a Fishbowl Discussion about what we should treasure using the question in Card 2, “What should we value more - experiences or possessions?” and use text evidence, Accountable Talk, and Conversation Stems to support their discussion. Card 5 gives the norms for the class to follow when during the Fishbowl Discussion. The protocol for Student Led Discussions (Fishbowl and Socratic Seminar) are located in the Additional Materials section.
• In the "Behind the Scenes" Unit, Lesson 2, students work in pairs to do a paired/partner reading of the preface of Behind the Scenes using their vocabulary logs and comprehension questions as tools. The protocol for the paired/partner reading is included in the Teacher Notes section of the lesson. Students are then given 30 seconds to discuss the prompt: “What claims does the author make about slavery?” Afterward, they share their thoughts in a whole class discussion format.
• In the "Written in Bone" Unit, Lesson 6, students reread the poem, ‘Ode to the Virginian Voyage’ by Michael Drayton, and analyze the author’s word choice and structure and how these elements contribute to the meaning of the poem. Students are divided into pairs and must respond to the following prompts: “Highlight at least five words/phrases from the text that have connotative or figurative meaning. Note the connotative or figurative meaning of each in the margin.” With the same partners, students must continue analyzing the poem together: “Reread the poem. Mark the rhyme scheme on the poem. Note any patterns in stanza formation.” The protocol for the paired partner discussion is located in the Teacher Notes section. The instructor concludes partnered analysis work with a whole class discussion: “Conduct a whole-class discussion about the rhyme scheme and the author’s choices in stanza formation.” Included in the additional materials is a Student Discussion Tracker which allows the teacher to keep track of the students’ participation and knowledge demonstrated in the discussion.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that materials support students’ listening and speaking about what they are reading and researching (including presentation opportunities) with relevant follow-up questions and supports. Within the individual lesson design, students are often asked to engage in discussions specifically through the “Let’s Discuss” portion of the lesson, but conversation opportunities can also be found throughout the sequence of activities in a lesson. Students use their speaking and listening skills throughout the culminating tasks in each unit, particularly for the extension tasks where students are required to deliver a presentation to the class.

• In the “Memoir” Unit, Lesson 14, in the “Let’s Discuss” task (Card 5), students are asked to participate in a discussion around the short story, “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros. They talk about the text and then make connections to a plot chart. For eight minutes, students discuss the connections they notice between the two columns. As students discuss, the teacher prompts them to use the Conversation Stems learning tool. The teacher concludes the discussion by asking students to draw arrows between entries on the plot chart handout to illustrate the connections.
• In the "Written in Bone" Unit, Lesson 16, students participate in a class debate after preparing claims, reasons, evidence, and opposing claims related to their reading of Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone and their analysis of how the setting and other characters influence the main character, Samuel. The students form two teams, one for setting and one for character, and use their notes to inform their activity in the debate.
• In the "Christmas Carol" Unit, Lesson 29, students participate in a partner feedback activity where they evaluate each other’s rough drafts of a culminating writing task. They begin by underlining and highlighting an important aspect of each other's drafts such as claims, evidence, and explanations. Next, they participate in a discussion following these prompts: “What strengths do you see? What areas of the essay can be strengthened or further developed? What recommendations do you have to do this?”
• In "The Giver" Unit, Lesson 23, students participate in a Philosophical Chair where they discuss the anchor text, The Giver. The room is divided into two sides, one “yes” side and one “no” side. Within the Philosophical Chair, students are presented with various questions that they must respond to by moving from one side to the other. A few examples of the presented questions are as follows: “Is experiencing colors, joy, and love worth also experiencing pain, war, and hate? Why or why not? ‘Imagine’ and The Giver both depict a world in which equality and peace is valued more than choice and loyalty. Which values are more important for a community? Are the costs of reaching perfection (as presented in The Giver) worth living a perfect life? Is that kind of life ‘perfect’?” The teacher concludes the debate by asking students for 1-2 minutes to share the most compelling text evidence that helped them refine their perspective. Students then record their thoughts on chart paper or some other collection method. Students can also jot notes on their individual pieces of notebook paper.
• In the "Behind the Scenes" Unit, Lessons 42-43, students demonstrate their ability to research a topic, synthesize the information, and create and present a multimedia presentation to an audience. Students use their notes to create a multimedia presentation and then present it to the class.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that materials include a mix of on-demand and process writing (e.g. multiple drafts, revisions over time) and short, focused projects, incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

Each unit has a Culminating Writing task that is text-based, an Extension task that is narrative or research writing, and a Cold Read task that includes a multi-paragraph essay on a new text. Both the Culminating Writing task and the Extension task include multiple steps, scaffolding, and supports to take students through the writing process, and the Cold Read task requires on-demand writing. Examples include:

• In the "Christmas Carol" Unit, Lessons 27-30, students complete a Culminating Writing task where they write a multi-draft literary analysis for the question: "What does Dickens want us to understand about the 'business' of being human?” In order to answer the question, students must "Trace the changes in Scrooge’s character over the course of A Christmas Carol. Identify the moments throughout A Christmas Carol that Dickens uses the word 'business' to develop a character, such as Scrooge being described as a man of 'business' and Marley’s ghost saying 'Mankind was my business' in Stave I. For each moment, determine the different meanings of 'business' and the different points of view or perspectives the characters have about what 'business' is most important. Evaluate how the changes in Scrooge over the course of the text teach the reader what Dickens wants us to understand about 'business.' Determine a theme of A Christmas Carol which explains what Dickens wants us to understand about the 'business' of being human. Locate relevant evidence to support how that theme is developed through the changes in Scrooge’s character."
• In "The Giver" Unit, Lessons 39-44, students complete an Extension task where they first write an essay to analyze a theme in a dystopian novel they chose to read after finishing the whole-class read of The Giver. Afterward, the students work in small groups to create a multimedia presentation to compare and contrast the theme of their chosen novels and the theme of The Giver. The students are instructed that the multimedia presentation should present the common theme across the texts and how it is portrayed similarly and differently in the texts as well.
• In the "Written in Bone" Unit, Lesson 42, students complete the second portion of the Cold Read task (Part 2). Students are given forty minutes to complete the following on-demand writing task: "Compare and contrast how forensic anthropology is explained in ‘Puzzles of the Chesapeake, ‘Forensic Anthropology,’ and ‘30,000 Skeletons.’ Write an extended response that explains which medium you think is most effective in explaining the role of a forensic anthropologist. Cite evidence from at least two sources to support your response. Be sure to observe the conventions of Standard English."
• In the “Memoir” Unit, Lessons 30 - 33, students compose a major process writing task. Based on the “Teaching Notes,” students are told by the instructor, “You are going to write an essay comparing your independent reading memoir to Zinsser’s advice. Before we engage in this process, let’s work together to understand the question.” The instructions from the “Culminating Writing Task Directions” state the prompt and directions, “How does the independent reading memoir you read support and/or contradict Zinsser’s advice for writing a memoir in ‘How to Write a Memoir’? Write a multiparagraph essay that compares and contrasts the memoir you read with Zinsser’s advice. Be sure to use proper grammar, conventions, spelling, and grade-appropriate words and phrases. Cite several pieces of textual evidence, including direct quotations with parenthetical citations.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that materials provide opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards.

Students engage in a variety of writing opportunities throughout daily lesson plans, formative, and summative assessments. These writing activities are a blend of on-demand and process writing pieces that help students learn and express their understanding. Each unit includes three culminating tasks that represent a variety of argumentative, informative/explanatory, narrative, and literary analysis text types. For Culminating Writing tasks, “Students synthesize the topics, themes, and ideas of the unit into a written product such as an essay, narrative, or article.” For Cold Read tasks, “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 Extension tasks, “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.” The materials provide exemplars and rubrics for the culminating activities to help guide students through the process. Examples include:

• In the "Written in Bones" Unit, Lesson 29, students begin the Culminating Writing task where they draft an essay to answer the prompt, ”The idea that forensic anthropologists explore bones to tell the stories of the past is developed throughout Written in Bone. What is another central idea of the text? How are both ideas developed over the course of the text?”
• In the “Memoir” Unit, students address different text types of writing. In Lesson 23, students participate in literature circles and have to write argumentative text through introducing claims and acknowledging opposing claims. They do this by discussing their independent reading memoir and recording ideas, evidence which supports or challenges those ideas, and their reflections/ reactions. In Lesson 30, students begin to write for the Culminating Writing task. The students respond to the question: "How does the independent reading memoir you read support and/or contradict Zinsser’s advice for writing a memoir in 'How to Write a Memoir'?" They write a multiparagraph essay that compares and contrasts the memoir they read with Zinsser’s advice. They cite several pieces of textual evidence to explain their answer. In Lessons 34-40, students begin writing a narrative memoir that is based on a real and appropriate personal experience using the techniques that they have learned. They are to engage the reader by establishing a point of view, introducing characters, and organizing a logical sequence. They are also to use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses, relevant details, and sensory language.
• In the "Christmas Carol" Unit, students complete the Extension task in which they research and a written report on the topic: “How has Charles Dickens influenced modern society?” They must include sufficient relevant evidence to support their view.
• In the "Behind the Scenes" Unit, students complete the following Culminating Writing task: “In the Preface to her memoir Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House, Elizabeth Keckley discusses two topics: slavery and Mrs. Lincoln. What is Keckley’s position on slavery? What is her position on Mrs. Lincoln? How does she develop and support her position on each topic throughout her memoir? Write an essay explaining Keckley’s positions on both slavery and Mrs. Lincoln. 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.” Students compose an analysis regarding Keckley’s position on slavery and Mrs. Lincoln.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that materials include frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information appropriate for the grade level.

Throughout the materials, students participate in a variety of evidence-based writing activities with differing length and organization. Students take notes on the texts they are studying by using organizers such as character evidence charts and character analysis charts. Students use reading logs, reading journals, and field journals to record answers to text-based questions that are part of the daily lesson plans in order to understand reading through writing. Students answer questions about what they read on post-reading questions handouts. They synthesize what they learned through writing as one of the kinds of activities in the “Let’s Express Our Understanding” portion of the lessons. Examples include:

• In the "Behind the Scenes" Unit, Lesson 39, students complete a Cold Read task by writing a short essay based on their understanding of the text: “In paragraphs 1-5, Keckley contrasts two very different reactions of emancipated slaves to liberty. Write a multi-paragraph essay that analyzes how the different ideas held by freedmen and freedwomen about their 'liberty'—their lives after slavery—influence the lives they build. Use evidence from the passage to support your response.”
• In the "Written in Bone" Unit, Lesson 2, students read Chapter 1 of Written in Bone and identify conclusions that the author is making. They organize this information on a chart, discuss it, and evaluate evidence in the text that supports each of the conclusions they found. Using their Reading Logs, they write a response to this question: “Is the text evidence relevant and sufficient to support the conclusions in the text?”
• In "The Giver" Unit, Lesson 4, students begin Chapter 2 of The Giver and use split-page notes to answer questions and write about the text: "What does Jonas’ conversation with his parents reveal about how decisions are made within their community? Write a paragraph to describe how Jonas’ feels about his community and how it operates. Cite text evidence to support your response. Cite at least two pieces of text evidence to support your description of the community."
• In the “Memoir” Unit, Lesson 19, students read “Thank You Ma’am” and analyze contrast and contradictions to understand character development. Students listen to the teacher read the text and discuss their answers to text-based questions. They then reread the text and annotate it taking note of contrasts and contradictions. They mark the contrast or contradiction with a sticky note and ask themselves, “Why would the character act this way?” They write the answer to this question on each of the sticky notes.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that materials include explicit instruction of the grammar and conventions standards for grade level as applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts, with opportunities for application both in and out of context.

In the LearnZillion Guidebooks, specifically “How are the materials designed for the classroom?”, there are many Interactive WriteAlong videos listed that match the Language/Grammar Common Core State Standards devoted to this grade level. Materials also include student practice sheets for students to complete while watching the Interactive Writealong videos. All Extension task and Culminating Writing task directions and rubrics for grammar and conventions are considered but not always explicitly taught. For example, some limited directions state for students to “revise and edit” within these tasks directions without clear instruction in revising and editing addressing specific grammar and conventions. Most grammar and conventions instruction is located in the “Teacher Notes” within the slides in each lesson or in the “WriteAlong” videos.

• In the “Memoir” Unit, Lesson 9, students participate in a lesson to determine word meaning through a semantic map. “Ask the pairs to select two unknown words from their independent reading memoir and complete a semantic map handout for each word.”
• In "Behind the Scenes" Unit, Lesson 8, students identify how imagery impacts meaning. “Examine vocabulary and figurative language and the impact on meaning.” As students read Chapter 3, they are instructed to “underline examples of imagery that illustrate lightness and darkness.” Explicit instructions are included in the Teacher’s Notes.
• In "The Giver" Unit, Lesson 38, students use a Literary Analysis Task Scoring Rubric to edit and revise their essay for “ Language creates cohesion and clarifies relationships among ideas. Specifically, they will focus on cohesion and clarity by using precise language and eliminating redundancy. Explicit instructions are located in the Teacher’s Notes.
• In the Guidebook there is a section for supplemental resources. In this section, there are “Interactive WriteAlong videos for targeted writing and grammar interventions, as well as other short (3-10 minute) videos intended for teacher and student use focused on targeted concepts and skills. Organized by topic.” These topics include, but are not limited to capitalization, tenses, and parts of speech. These videos provide limited instruction on any topics. No practice or other explicit instruction is included.
• In the "Written in Bone" Unit, Lesson 31, as part of the Culminating Writing task, students learn how to revise writing to include coordinate adjectives. They are instructed to find adjectives in three provided sentences; they are given the definition of coordinate adjectives; they are given a two-part test to check for coordinate adjectives (“Is the quality of the noun or pronoun being described by the adjectives the same? Place 'and' between the adjectives. Does the sentence still make sense?”). Finally, they are instructed to: "1-Identify places in the sample essay to add coordinate adjectives. 2-Review your essay and check that you punctuated coordinate adjectives correctly. 3-Identify two places in your essay where you could add coordinate adjectives. 4-Revise your writing.”