7th Grade - Gateway 2

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.