High School - Gateway 2

The text quality and volume of reading in Lenses on Literature materials meet expectations for indicator 2a. The program includes a wide variety of literary and informational texts across genres, such as poetry, short stories, essays, memoirs, speeches, articles, dramas, and multimedia sources; however, the materials do not reflect the required 70/30 balance of informational to literary texts as per the grade-level standards. Across all high school grades, informational texts make up only about 39–54% of the total, falling short of expectations. The program features only short-form works, comprising a mix of full texts and excerpts, all carefully selected for their literary quality, thematic relevance, and potential for analysis. However, the complete absence of long-form works—such as full novels or book-length nonfiction texts—limits students’ sustained reading experiences and opportunities to build stamina, comprehension, and deep analytical skills essential for college and career readiness. Texts are content-rich, well-crafted, and developmentally appropriate, featuring varied voices and engaging topics such as identity, freedom, heroism, and morality. The program supports independent reading through structured resources, including an Independent Reading Guide, Independent Reading Log, and Individualized Teacher/Student Conferences materials, which help teachers monitor progress and foster student reflection. These tools encourage autonomy, goal setting, and comprehension through flexible scheduling, reading conferences, and connections between independent reading and unit themes. 

• Materials include core/anchor texts that are well-crafted, content-rich, and engaging for students at their grade level. 

  • The Lenses on Literature curriculum for Grades 9-12 includes well-crafted, content-rich texts that provide a mix of literary and informational works across various subgenres. Literary texts include short stories, poetry, dramas, and excerpts from graphic novels, while informational texts encompass articles, legal documents, memoirs, essays, book excerpts, and speeches, with a focus on the arts, history, science, and social studies. The program features works by widely respected authors and presents age-appropriate themes that engage students at each grade level. Texts are selected for their connections to each unit’s Driving Task Prompt, cultural representation, connection to unit themes, strong themes, connection to the unit’s genre focus, and noteworthy elements of author’s craft, such as rich sensory language, symbolism, plot structure, use of irony, use of satire, layered multi-dimensional characters, and organizational structure. These factors make texts worthy of student study, enhancing students’ comprehension and analytical skills.

    • Grade 9 materials include texts on heroism, society, perception, persuasion, villainhood, perspective, and morality, which will engage 12th-grade students. 

    • Grade 10 materials include texts on identity, love, existential questions, beauty, war, humanity, and origin stories, which will engage 10th-grade students. 

    • Grade 11 materials include texts on protest, freedom, environmental impact, voice, assimilation, and being American, which will engage 11th-grade students. 

    • Grade 12 materials include texts on beauty, pain, humor, storytelling, advocacy, tragedy, art, and the relationship between science fiction and reality, which will engage 12th-grade students. 

    • Throughout the materials, texts are content-rich, well-crafted, and worthy of student analysis. 

      • In Grade 12, Unit 5, students read The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, which includes complex language with archaic or unfamiliar syntax, shifts in point of view, and figurative language to express multiple complex themes. 

Note: As part of this review, the publisher submitted documentation detailing text characteristics, including genre and subgenre classifications and counts of full texts, excerpts, long-form texts, and short-form texts. The information below is presented as contextual evidence only and is not factored into the overall score or rating.

• Materials do not reflect the balance of informational and literary texts required by the grade-level standards (70/30 in 9-12), including various subgenres. Materials include a range of full texts and excerpts, depending on their stated purpose. The materials do not include both long and short form texts. (The information below is presented as contextual evidence only and is not factored into the overall score or rating.)

  • In Grade 9, materials reflect a balance of 52/48, informational to literary texts, which does not reflect the 70/30 balance required by the grade-level standards. 

    • Materials include 46 core texts, 24 of which are informational texts and 22 of which are literary texts. Five additional videos, a painting, and two sets of images serve as additional “texts.” 

    • Texts include the following subgenres: article, graphic novel excerpt, short story, poetry, speech, essay, book excerpt, painting, images, and video. 

    • In Grade 9, materials include 40 full texts and six excerpts. 

    • In Grade 9, materials include 46 short-form texts and zero long-form texts.

  • In Grade 10, materials reflect a balance of 43/57, informational to literary texts, which does not reflect the 70/30 balance required by the grade-level standards. 

    • Materials include 65 core texts, 28 of which are informational texts and 37 of which are literary texts. A video serves as an additional “text.” 

    • Texts include the following subgenres: memoir, article, short story, poetry, essay, book excerpt, speech, and video. 

    • In Grade 10, materials include 53 full texts and eight excerpts. 

    • In Grade 10, materials include 65 short-form texts and zero long-form texts.

  • In Grade 11, materials reflect a balance of 54/43, informational to literary texts, which does not reflect the 70/30 balance required by the grade-level standards. 

    • Materials include 61 core texts, 33 of which are informational texts and 28 of which are literary texts. A set of images and four videos are used as additional core “texts.” 

    • Texts include the following subgenres: speech, essay, article, poetry, short story, memoir, legal document, drama, video, and images.

    • In Grade 11, materials include 51 full texts and 10 excerpts. 

    • In Grade 11, materials include 61 short-form texts and zero long-form texts.

  • In Grade 12, materials reflect a balance of 39/61, informational to literary texts, which does not reflect the 70/30 balance required by the grade-level standards. 

    • Materials include 49 core texts, 19 of which are informational texts and 30 of which are literary texts. A video and four audio clips serve as additional core “texts.” 

    • Texts include the following subgenres: poetry, essay, article, drama, speech, short story, novel excerpt, and video. 

    • In Grade 12, materials include 36 full texts and 13 excerpts. 

    • In Grade 12, materials include 49 short-form texts and zero long-form texts.

  • The publisher provides a clear rationale for why each excerpted text was selected for each unit; however, there is no clear explanation for why each text was excerpted instead of taught in its entirety.

  • Note: As part of this review, the publisher submitted documentation outlining text characteristics, including genre and subgenre designations and counts of full texts, excerpts, long-form texts, and short-form texts.

• Materials include sufficient teacher guidance (including monitoring and feedback) and student accountability structures for independent reading (e.g., independent reading procedures, proposed schedule, tracking system for independent reading). (The information below is presented as contextual evidence only and is not factored into the overall score or rating.)

  • The Carnegie Learning portal includes an Independent Reading Guide in the Supplemental Resources section, under the Independent Reading heading. The guide outlines how independent reading supports student autonomy, reinforces reading and thinking skills, and fosters lifelong reading habits. The guide offers flexible scheduling models (45- and 90-minute blocks) that demonstrate how teachers can integrate daily independent reading into the literacy block alongside unit lessons. It recommends using the Adapt & Extend resource—particularly the READ MORE section—to connect independent reading to unit themes through suggested texts and novel studies. Students are encouraged to track their progress using an Independent Reading Log and to record reflections by applying the Pause-Notice-Question-React Anchor Strategy. Teachers can hold individual reading conferences during this time, using the Teacher Log to monitor progress, provide feedback, and support fluency and comprehension. The document also includes suggestions for accessing diverse, high-interest texts in multiple formats, such as print, digital, and audiobooks, to ensure all students have meaningful and engaging reading experiences. 

    • A blank Independent Reading Log is provided in this section of the portal. The log is a student tool designed to help learners set reading goals, monitor their progress, and reflect on their reading experiences. Students record their weekly reading goals, track the book titles, authors, and page numbers they read, and document their observations, questions, and reactions to texts. This log encourages students to engage actively with their independent reading, develop metacognitive awareness, and take ownership of their growth as readers. It supports goal-setting, accountability, and reflection throughout the independent reading process.

    • An Individualized Teacher/Student Conferences document is also provided in this section of the portal. This document provides teachers with tools and prompts to conduct one-on-one reading conferences with students throughout each unit. It includes a Teacher Log for tracking conference details, such as student name, book title, date, and observations, which supports consistent documentation of student progress. The guide organizes suggested prompts according to the six sections of the program’s “journey tracker,” aligning conferences with unit goals. During the Unit Launch, teachers use the Pause–Notice–Question–React framework to help students reflect on initial impressions and questions about a text. In Reading for Comprehension and Building Knowledge, prompts guide students to identify central ideas, make inferences, use context clues, and connect ideas across texts. In Genre Study, students analyze language, structure, and author choices, comparing features across texts to understand genre conventions.

The text complexity analysis in the Lenses on Literature materials meets expectations for indicator 2b. The materials include comprehensive text complexity analyses and rationales for all core and anchor texts, as well as Text Info Sheets located in the Teacher Resources section of the Carnegie Learning portal. These sheets provide bibliographic information, quantitative and qualitative measures, text summaries, instructional rationales, and content considerations. Quantitative data include Lexile levels and word counts, while qualitative analyses address levels of meaning or purpose, text structure, language clarity, and knowledge demands. The difficulty and ease factors of each text are outlined to help teachers anticipate potential challenges for students. The analyses confirm that texts are appropriately complex for their respective grade levels, considering both the text itself and the associated tasks. Additionally, Context Companion documents for each unit offer teachers relevant literary, historical, and cultural background to support student comprehension. Across grades 9–12, the materials include texts that are appropriately complex for their respective grade levels, with most falling within or near the recommended Lexile bands and classified as moderately complex. Very few texts are labeled very complex, and none are exceedingly complex. Overall, the materials provide clear, research-based rationales for text selection and placement, ensuring that each text’s complexity and purpose align with instructional goals.

• Accurate text complexity analysis and a rationale for educational purpose and placement in the grade level accompany core/Anchor texts and a series of texts connected to them.

  • The materials include Text Info Sheets in the Teacher Resources section of the Carnegie Learning portal, specifically in the Text and Media Selection section, for all core and anchor texts in the program. This guidance includes bibliographic details, text type, genre, quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, a text summary, an instructional rationale, and content information on considerations relevant to the text. The quantitative measures include Lexile and word count. The qualitative measures include a summary of the levels of meaning/purpose, text structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands. The document also explains the difficulty and ease factors that students may encounter when accessing each text, based on its qualitative complexity. 

• According to quantitative and qualitative analysis and their relationship to the associated student task, core/anchor texts have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade.

  • Anchor texts have the appropriate level of complexity based on their text complexity analysis and the associated reader and task. For each core/anchor text in the program, Text Info Sheets present the quantitative complexity and summarize the qualitative complexity of each text, as well as the unique difficulty factors and ease factors for each core and anchor text. The document also explains the difficulty and ease factors that students may encounter when accessing each text, based on its qualitative complexity. For each unit, the materials include a Context Companion, which can be found on the Carnegie Learning portal under Unit Overview, Teacher Planning Tools for each unit. These documents include “literary, philosophical, historical, cultural, or other information related to the unit topics. This guide provides additional background not found in the lesson plans or Text Information Selection Sheets.” Teachers are to use this resource to prepare to support students with the unit’s reading. Throughout the program, tasks are appropriate for each grade level. 

  • Note: For this review and norming to other reviews, the publisher submitted qualitative information on levels of meaning/purpose, text structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands for each text. 

    • Grade 9

      • Quantitatively: Texts range from 650L-1430L 

        • 19 texts are below the Lexile range for the grade band

        • 17 texts are in the Lexile range for the grade band

        • 4 texts are above the Lexile range for the grade band

        • 6 texts are Non-Prose (NP) or do not have a Lexile, given their format

      • Qualitatively: Four texts are slightly complex, 39 texts are moderately complex, three texts are very complex, and zero texts are exceedingly complex. 

    • Grade 10

      • Quantitatively: Texts range from 560L-1510L 

        • 14 texts are below the Lexile range for the grade band

        • 27 texts are in the Lexile range for the grade band

        • Five texts are above the Lexile range for the grade band

        • 19 texts are Non-Prose (NP) or do not have a Lexile, given their format

      • Qualitatively: Three texts are slightly complex, 61 texts are moderately complex, one text is very complex, and zero texts are exceedingly complex. 

    • Grade 11

      • Quantitatively: Texts range from 720 -1590L

        • 21 texts are below the Lexile range for the grade band

        • 12  texts are in the Lexile range for the grade band

        • Seven texts are above the Lexile range for the grade band

        • 21 texts are Non-Prose (NP) or do not have a Lexile, given their format

      • Qualitatively: Nine texts are slightly complex, 48 texts are moderately complex, four texts are very complex, and zero texts are exceedingly complex. 

    • Grade 12

      • Quantitatively: Texts range from 600L-1530L 

        • 15 texts are below the Lexile range for the grade band

        • 13 texts are in the Lexile range for the grade band

        • Three texts are above the Lexile range for the grade band

        • 18 texts are Non-Prose (NP) or do not have a Lexile, given their format

      • Qualitatively: Four texts are slightly complex, 40 texts are moderately complex, five texts are very complex, and zero texts are exceedingly complex. 

The scaffolding in Lenses on Literature materials meets expectations for indicator 2c. The materials provide scaffolds that align with the qualitative complexity of texts, supporting students before, during, and after reading. Teachers can assign one of four levels of support—Core (baseline), Light, Moderate, or Intensive Multilingual—which offer increasing layers of assistance, such as vocabulary aids, sentence starters, annotation cues, and simplified instructions. These scaffolds are automatically embedded within digital assignments once support levels are set at the start of each unit. Before reading, supports include front-loading activities such as text summaries and vocabulary previews. During reading, students have access to tools like audio options, glossed terms, and guided annotation questions. After reading, they engage with structured graphic organizers, sentence frames, and comprehension activities to consolidate their understanding. Teacher guidance for implementing these supports is provided in the How to Support Varied Learning Needs with Lenses on Literature document, which outlines how to use both internal data (e.g., formative and summative assessments) and external data (e.g., IEPs, state or district assessments) to determine appropriate support levels. Additional guidance is provided in each the Teacher Edition on each Lesson at a Glance page. The system ensures that scaffolds align with students’ current performance and linguistic needs, providing access to complex texts without diminishing cognitive rigor.

• Scaffolds align with the qualitative complexity of the program’s texts to support students in making meaning of each text. Materials include scaffolds for before, during, and after engaging with a complex text.

  • The Lenses on Literature Carnegie Learning portal provides scaffolds for texts and tasks based on student needs. Supports are intended for use by both MLL and non-MLL students. Teachers can set student scaffolds at four different levels of support at the beginning of each unit:

    • Core/Multilingual: “Provides universal supports such as accessibility tools and vocabulary aids in English and multiple languages.” This is the baseline default support set for all students. 

    • Light/Multilingual: “Adds occasional prompts to enhance comprehension and task completion.” 

    • Moderate/Multilingual: “Provides multiple, layered supports to increase access to content.” 

    • Intensive/Multilingual: “Offers modifications to the content to streamline student thinking and prioritize focus skills.” 

    Supports within these levels include:

    • Before Reading: Frontloading: text summaries and text summaries in students ' home language 

    • During Reading: Accessibility Measures: audio support for all texts

    • During Reading: Text Support: embedded annotation cues and leveled versions of informational texts (in the Building Knowledge Section of units), where possible

    • During Reading: Vocabulary Support: additional glossed terms, synonyms, translated definitions, and cognates in the home language 

    • After Reading: Graphic Organizer Support and Constructed Response Support: editable sentence frames and partial response included

    • After Reading: Activity instruction support: rephrased/simplified instructions, additional substeps, comprehension support activities 

      • In Grade 11, Unit 2, Section 2: Comprehension, students read “How it Feels to be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston. This text serves as the anchor text of the unit, which students read several times throughout the unit’s “journey tracker.” This text’s quantitative complexity places it below the grade band’s Lexile range, and it is qualitatively moderately complex. The Text Info sheet available to teachers on the portal states that the difficulty factors for students reading this text may be: “There are a number of compound and complex sentences, along with a few instances of archaic and high-level vocabulary. The latter are either discernible through context clues or defined in the Selection Vocabulary that follows the article.”

        • Before reading: Students complete a vocabulary activity in which they review and sort key vocabulary to determine the meaning of words in the text. Students sort the following vocabulary words: aristocratic, abrupt, circumlocutions, daring, disembarked, ebb, exultingly, heathen, narcotic, primitive, proscenium, raiment, rambunctious, saunter, sea change, skirmish, spectators, tragically, and venturesome. Students complete the graphic organizer, and the materials provide scaffolds tailored to each student’s set level of support on the portal. For example, at the Moderate-Multilingual level, students receive a list of examples of labels so they may consider how to label the words they’ve grouped. Before reading, teachers also review the concept of “figure of speech” with students to prepare them for the task they will complete during reading. 

        • During reading: Students annotate the text, “marking and responding to details that help [them] answer these questions: “What is the central idea of the text? What figures of speech does the author use? What interactions and experiences does the author describe? How do these interactions and experiences make the author feel?” They may also listen to the text read aloud. 

          • At the Core-Multilingual Level: 21 words and phrases are included as glossed terms, including some of the words that students grouped and labeled in the previous vocabulary activity. These words support all students who have a difficulty factor identified in the Text Info Sheet, high-level vocabulary. 

          • At the Light-Multilingual Level: Additional words and phrases are included as glossed terms, and there are stopping points after every three to five paragraphs with questions to guide student annotations—these questions narrow students’ focus to help them make meaning of the text. Students may also listen to these questions read aloud. 

          • At the Moderate-Multilingual Level: Additional words and phrases are included as glossed terms, and there are stopping points after every one to four paragraphs with questions to guide student annotations—these questions narrow students’ focus to help them make meaning of the text. Students may also listen to these questions read aloud. 

          • At the Intensive-Multilingual Level: Additional words and phrases are included as glossed terms, and there are stopping points after every one to four paragraphs with questions to guide student annotations—these questions narrow students’ focus to help them make meaning of the text. Students may also listen to these questions read aloud. 

        • After reading: Students complete several activities, including determining the central idea of the text. First, they review the concept of central idea. Then, students complete a graphic organizer in which they apply the “escalating summary” strategy to draft a summary of the text. This strategy prompts students to summarize different sections of the text with quantitative word constraints. The graphic organizer includes additional scaffolds tailored to each student’s set level of support on the portal. For example, at the Moderate-Multilingual level, students receive sentence starters for each part of the escalating summary to help them begin formulating their ideas and structuring their responses.

• Materials include teacher guidance on how to enact each scaffold based on student needs.

  • In the Teacher Edition, each Lesson Plan includes a Planning for Varied Learning Needs section on the Lesson at a Glance page. This section provides general guidance for modifying the lesson for Multilingual Learners, Learners Needing Targeted Support, and occasionally Learners Needing Extension. 

    • In Grade 10, Unit 6, Section 3: Background Knowledge, students read “Origin Myths” by Robert Carneiro. The Lesson at a Glance page provides the following information for modifying the lesson to meet the needs of Multilingual Learners, Learners Needing Extension, and Learners Needing Targeted Support:

      • “Learners Needing Targeted Support 

        • If you anticipate that students will need support with the text, pause the recording or your reading aloud at key points in the narrative and guide students to summarize what they just heard with you.

      • Learners Needing Extension

        • If students are exceeding expectations, pair them before reading and then have them conduct a silent written conversation as they read, passing notes back and forth. Encourage students to make and respond to predictions, ask and answer questions, and ask each other for clarification if they are confused.

      • Multilingual Learners

        • If students’ limited English vocabularies may affect their ability to carry out the activities, introduce key terms like myth and central idea before starting the lesson.

        • MLL Language Goal: Model the process for choosing a word to define by providing students with a think aloud using an exemplar word from ‘Origin Myths’:

          • The word Chaos stands out to me in paragraph 1 of ‘Origin Myths.’ I notice that it is capitalized like a proper noun, but I know this word is a common noun too. I’m going to explore its meaning in my Vocabulary Map and see how this word sets the tone for the text.”

  • The How to Support Varied Learning Needs with Lenses on Literature found in the Teacher Resources, Using the Lenses Program section of the platform, explains how teachers implement the support levels available on the platform for students. Levels must be set to student profiles before a unit starts. If a student progresses, the teacher can change the level of support before they start assignments on the next unit. Teachers cannot change the level of support during a unit. The document also explains the levels of support available and provides teacher guidance on how to use student data to determine each student’s current level. Teachers should use data to determine program supports by interpreting both internal and external data sources.

    • Internal Data:

      • Teachers use formative and summative assessments—such as SCALE rubric tasks, Skills Checks, Comprehension Checks, and End-of-Unit Writing Products—to monitor progress toward grade-level expectations. A provided chart helps teachers match assessment results to levels of support and instructional strategies:

        • Emerging: Intensive/MLL support focused on foundational skills and structured scaffolds.

        • Approaches Expectations: Moderate/MLL support with targeted scaffolds (e.g., annotation cues, graphic organizers).

        • Meets Expectations: Core/MLL support to sustain performance through ongoing feedback.

        • Exceeds Expectations: Core/MLL support with enrichment and leadership opportunities.

    • External Data:

      • Teachers also use IEPs, state assessments, and district data to set supports aligned to learner profiles. The guidance matches learner needs to support levels:

        • Learners Needing Targeted Support → Intensive/MLL

        • Learners Needing Extension → Core/MLL

        • Entering or Emerging Multilingual Learners → Intensive/MLL

        • Developing Multilingual Learners → Moderate/MLL

        • Expanding Multilingual Learners → Light/MLL

    It should be noted that the portal provides scaffolding for independent work in each unit, once teachers have set each student’s support level. Teachers do not need to enact scaffolds for individual lessons of texts. 

The text set organization in Lenses on Literature materials meets expectations for indicator 2d. Each unit in Lenses on Literature is organized around a clear, grade-appropriate topic or theme, supported by essential questions and a Driving Task Prompt that guide instruction and assessment. Text sets within each unit are intentionally curated to build knowledge and deepen understanding of the unit’s theme through literary analysis, contextual inquiry, and writing tasks. Units follow one of two structures—Analytical Units, which emphasize interpretation and explanatory or argumentative writing, and Creative Units, which focus on studying mentor texts and author craft to produce narrative or argumentative pieces. Texts are organized into four purposeful categories: Launch Texts to spark curiosity, Anchor Texts to drive central learning, Knowledge Building Texts to expand context, and Genre Study Texts to explore structure and craft. Text sets are organized in a logical way that builds student knowledge. Throughout each unit’s “journey tracker,” students engage in interconnected tasks that move from comprehension to analysis, synthesis, and writing, enabling them to explore complex themes across multiple genres and formats. This cohesive organization ensures that reading, discussion, and writing activities reinforce one another, allowing students to develop conceptual understanding and apply literacy skills in meaningful and authentic ways.

• Text sets are organized around a grade-appropriate, tightly-connected topic or theme. 

  • Each Lenses on Literature unit is organized by a grade-appropriate topic or theme. Throughout each unit, students engage in practices such as literary analysis, rhetorical and discourse analysis, historical and contextual inquiry, comparative and genre-based studies, and mentor text study. The materials include two unit structures—Analytical Units and Creative Units—that offer different pathways to literary thinking. Analytical Units focus on interpreting and analyzing multiple texts, culminating in informational, explanatory, or argumentative writing. Creative Units focus on mentor texts and author craft, culminating in narrative or argumentative writing. Each Lenses on Literature unit is structured to provide students with opportunities to engage with key disciplinary practices of literary study—formulating questions, building arguments, analyzing author craft, and expressing ideas. These practices vary by unit, with some emphasizing interpretation and others focusing on argument, narrative, or multimodal expression. In every case, students are encouraged to think critically, use evidence to support their reasoning, and develop academic skills that transfer beyond the classroom. Throughout the program, students’ disciplinary thinking is guided by each unit’s Driving Task Prompt. Lastly, each unit is also driven by essential question(s) that narrow the unit’s thematic or topical focus. 

    • Grade 9: 

      • Unit 1 Focus: Anatomy of a Hero

        • Essential Question(s): What makes a hero? Is being a hero an action or an identity? 

        • Driving Task Prompt: After reading “The Future of Work: Compulsory” by Martha Wells and studying the hero’s journey narrative structure, write a short story in which you develop a complex hero through their actions, motivations, and interactions with others. Use a clear sequence of events to show how your hero responds to challenges and changes over time.

      • Unit 2 Focus: Visions of the Future

        • Essential Question(s): What sacrifices are we willing to make to improve society? What is the relationship between utopia and dystopia?

        • Driving Task Prompt: After researching the dystopian genre and historical context of “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, write a literary analysis in which you analyze how Vonnegut’s structural choices (such as the use of parallel plots and contrasting character experiences) develop social commentary on how societies pursue equality or improvement. Support your analysis with evidence from the text.

      • Unit 3 Focus: Peers: The Rhetoric of Justice

        • Essential Question: What is the role of perspective in persuasion? What are the best ways to pursue justice?

        • Driving Task Prompt: After evaluating argumentative texts on the Civil Rights Movement, read “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and write a rhetorical analysis in which you analyze how Dr. King uses rhetoric to justify civil disobedience. Support your analysis with evidence from the text.

      • Unit 4 Focus: Definition Paper

        • Essential Question(s): What makes a villain? Who decides who the villain is?

        • Driving Task Prompt: After reading “Lather and Nothing Else” by Hernando Téllez and researching the concept of “villain” in literature, write a definition paper in which you define “villain” by drawing from implicit and explicit definitions in the unit texts. Support your response with evidence from at least two texts. Share your work through a multimodal presentation.

      • Unit 5 Focus: Mirrors, Windows, and Wallpaper

        • Essential Question(s): What shapes our perspectives? How do lenses help us see different perspectives?

        • Driving Task Prompt: After reading “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and applying historical, biographical, and psychoanalytic lenses to informational and literary texts, write a literary analysis in which you select and apply one lens to analyze how Gilman uses specific word choices to develop a theme in the story. Support your discussion with evidence from the text.

      • Unit 6 Focus: Opposing Opinions

        • Essential Question(s): How do we determine what is right and wrong? How can we treat opposing perspectives fairly?

        • Driving Task Prompt: After studying the ethical dialogue in “Crito” by Plato, other related texts, and ethical decision-making frameworks, choose a contemporary ethical issue and write a scripted dialogue in which two characters each represent a contrasting position on the issue. Support each side of the conversation with relevant evidence and reasoning drawn from your research and ethical framework lens.

    • Grade 10: 

      • Unit 1 Focus: Global Perspectives on Food

        • Essential Question(s): How does food shape identity, place, or community? What does food represent in the world? 

        • Driving Task Prompt: After reading “Why We Cook When the World Doesn’t Make Sense” by Reem Kassis, write a rhetorical analysis in which you analyze how Kassis uses descriptions of food as a rhetorical technique to advance her perspective. Support your analysis with evidence from the text.

      • Unit 2 Focus: Global Perspectives on Love

        • Essential Question(s): Is the definition of love universal? What accounts for the differences in how people experience love?

        • Driving Task Prompt: After reading “One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII” by Pablo Neruda and a wide range of love poems, write a literary analysis about one poem in which you analyze how the author uses specific details, such as word choice and figurative language, to develop a theme about love.

      • Unit 3 Focus: Global Perspectives on the Good Life

        • Essential Question(s): What makes for a good or meaningful life? Who decides what is a “good” life?

        • Driving Task Prompt: After reading “The Three Questions” by Leo Tolstoy and researching multiple texts on the concept of a meaningful life, write an argumentative essay in which you argue what you think qualifies as a “good” life. Support your position with evidence from the texts. Include counterclaims and rebuttals in your response.

      • Unit 4 Focus: Global Perspectives on Beauty 

        • Essential Question(s): What makes something beautiful? How do we develop our perceptions of beauty? 

        • Driving Task Prompt: What makes something beautiful? After studying how the concept of beauty is portrayed in public spaces, art, and personal stories, research your own question about beauty. Then, write a multimodal research presentation in which you answer your research question and explain how your understanding of beauty was shaped by ideas and arguments from different sources. Support your explanation with evidence from unit texts and your independent research.

      • Unit 5 Focus: Global Perspectives on Warfare

        • Essential Question(s): How does war dehumanize people? How do people reclaim their humanity in the face of war?

        • Driving Task Prompt: After reading “The Dog of Titwal” by Saadat Hasan Manto and multiple texts on living during wartime, write a synthesis essay in which you analyze how characters develop and interact to demonstrate the impacts of war on the human experience.

      • Unit 6 Focus: Global Perspectives on Origin Stories

        • Essential Question(s): What is the importance of origin stories? What do origin stories tell us about time, location, culture, and ourselves?

        • Driving Task Prompt: After reading “Rangi and Papa: The Separation of Heaven and Earth” by Maui Pomare and James Cowan and researching structure, order of events, and use of time in origin stories, write an origin story in which you provide a mythical explanation for something in the real world. Include a variety of structural and narrative techniques in your story.

    • Grade 11: 

      • Unit 1 Focus: War and Protest

        • Essential Question(s): What is the purpose of protest? What motivates people to fight? 

        • Driving Task Prompt: After reading Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death” speech, write a rhetorical analysis in which you analyze how Henry’s rhetorical appeals advance his argument within the historical context of pre-Revolutionary America. Support your position with evidence from the text.

      • Unit 2 Focus: Freedom and Oppression

        • Essential Question(s): What is the cost of freedom? How do we obtain freedom in the face of oppression?

        • Driving Task Prompt: After reading “How it Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston, write a literary analysis in which you analyze how Hurston uses her interactions with others and experiences in different settings to develop her ideas on freedom and oppression within the context of the Harlem Renaissance. Support your analysis with evidence from the text.

      • Unit 3 Focus: The Natural and the Urban World

        • Essential Question(s): How do our environments shape up? Where is the line between progress and destruction?

        • Driving Task Prompt: After studying “Of Man and the Stream of Time” by Rachel Carson and a selection of texts by American Transcendentalists and contemporary writers, write an argumentative essay in which you analyze how at least two authors develop their arguments about humanity’s relationship with the natural and urban worlds. Support your analysis with evidence from the texts. Include information from at least one literary text in your response.

      • Unit 4 Focus: Voices of the Past and Present

        • Essential Question(s): How do writers use language and story to reconcile the past, present, and future? What is the relationship between a writer’s identity, persona, and voice?

        • Driving Task Prompt: After researching Cheyenne and Arapaho author Tommy Orange and an Indigenous author of your choice, create a multimodal author study in which you explain how your researched author’s point of view and purpose are shaped by their personal history, tribal affiliation, and the key themes and topics they explore in their work. Support your explanation with evidence from your research. Incorporate elements such as images, quotes, video/audio clips, and/or design features in your presentation.

      • Unit 5 Focus: Assimilation and Individuality 

        • Essential Question(s): How much should you assimilate? How do you create an individual identity?

        • Driving Task Prompt: After reading “Lingua Franca” by Carole McDonnell and personal narratives on belonging in America, write a comparative literary analysis in which you analyze how two authors use narrative elements and techniques to develop compelling accounts of the tension between assimilation and individuality. Support your analysis with evidence from both texts.

      • Unit 6 Focus: American Myth and Reality 

        • Essential Question(s): What myths do we tell ourselves? What is the myth of being American? What is the reality?

        • Driving Task Prompt: After researching a range of seminal informational and literary texts that examine the myths and realities of the “American Dream,” craft an original literary work in which you use a controlling literary device to explore a complex aspect of the American experience. Include a writer’s memo in which you explain how your literary choices convey your central theme. Include evidence from multiple texts in your writer’s memo.

      • Grade 12: 

        • Unit 1 Focus: Beauty and Pain

          • Essential Question(s): How does poetry simplify and communicate the world? What is the relationship between beauty and pain?

          • Driving Task Prompt: After reading “Sonnet 18: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” by William Shakespeare and multiple lyric poems, choose one poem and write a literary analysis in which you analyze how the author uses or manipulates poetic structure to develop two or more themes. Support your analysis with evidence from the text.

        • Unit 2 Focus: Ridicule and Critique

          • Essential Question(s): When is it valuable to use humor as a means to critique? When is it dangerous? What kind of power does humor have?

          • Driving Task Prompt: After researching “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift and other satirical texts, select one text and write a rhetorical analysis in which you analyze how the author uses satirical techniques to develop a critique of individuals, ideas, or events. Support your response with evidence from the texts.

        • Unit 3 Focus: Adventure and Heroism

          • Essential Question(s): What makes a story survive? How has storytelling evolved? How has it remained the same?

          • Driving Task Prompt: After researching and comparing ancient Western epics, rewrite an epic scene from Beowulf in which you use rich literary language to convey your interpretation of the event, setting, and/or character(s).

        • Unit 4 Focus: Advocacy and Argument

          • Essential Question(s): What does it mean to be an advocate? What does it take for words to become action?

          • Driving Task Prompt: After analyzing the use of rhetoric in “Address to Parliament” by Idris Elba, “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell, and other texts, write a rhetorical essay in which you advocate for or against an issue, action, or idea presented in one or more of the texts. Use rhetorical techniques modeled in the texts you study to build your argument. Support your position with evidence from the texts and include multimodal components to strengthen your argument.

        • Unit 5 Focus: Human Conflict: Drama

          • Essential Question(s): What is the importance of tragedy as a genre? What human experiences stand the test of time?

          • Driving Task Prompt: After analyzing The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, audio interpretations of the play, and informational texts about Shakespeare’s historical context and modern relevance, write an expository essay in which you answer your own research question on a topic related to Shakespeare’s creative choices, his historical context, or modern adaptations and interpretations of his work. Support your discussion with evidence from Macbeth and your research sources.

        • Unit 6 Focus: Speculation: Dystopia and Science Fiction

          • Essential Question(s): What is the relationship between science fiction and reality? Who determines the meaning of art?

          • Driving Task Prompt: After studying “The Machine Stops” by E.M. Forster and a selection of dystopian and science fiction texts and articles, write an argumentative essay in which you evaluate the extent to which a reader’s interpretation of a science fiction or dystopian story should be influenced by the author’s original intent. Support your evaluation by analyzing how character development, structure, and/or word choice shape theme or meaning in multiple unit texts. Incorporate insights from critical articles or historical context to strengthen your position.

• Text set organization provides opportunities for students to address facets of the same topic or theme over an extended period (e.g., a unit, module), enabling the development of deeper knowledge. Text sets cohesively build knowledge across various topics in social studies (including history), science, the arts, and literature, exposing students to academic vocabulary, content knowledge, and complex syntax.

  • Texts in the Lenses on Literature program were intentionally selected to engage students with varied, contemporary voices and to support their development as analytical and reflective readers and writers. Each unit’s text set is chosen to align with the Driving Task Prompt and to promote skills such as analysis, evaluation, and synthesis. Texts are organized into four categories: Launch Texts (to spark curiosity), Anchor Texts (central to the unit’s purpose and culminating task), Knowledge Building Texts (to deepen context and understanding), and Genre Study Texts (to explore structure and craft). This text organization is logical, allowing students to read for different purposes and build knowledge throughout the unit. 

    • In Grade 11, Unit 1, students study the unit War and Protest with the essential questions, “What is the purpose of protest? What motivates people to fight?” Throughout this unit, student learning supports them in completing a response to the Driving Task Prompt: “After reading Patrick Henry’s 'Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death' speech, write a rhetorical analysis in which you analyze how Henry’s rhetorical appeals advance his argument within the historical context of pre-Revolutionary America. Support your position with evidence from the text.” Throughout each section of the unit’s “journey tracker,” students learn more about the unit’s theme, which deepens their understanding. 

      • In Section 1: Unit Launch, students are introduced to the key themes and ideas they will explore throughout the unit. In this section, students read “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” for the first time to gain an overall understanding of the text and reflect on their initial reactions. At the end of the section, they analyze the unit’s Driving Task Prompt, which will guide their focus and learning through the following sections.

      • In Section 2: Comprehension, students strengthen their understanding of the literary Anchor Text, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” by Patrick Henry. They group and label the vocabulary words: sentiments, proportion, magnitude, offence, revere, indulge, siren, arduous, liberty, disposed, temporal, salvation, anguish, solace, insidious, reconciliation, deceive, implements, subjugation, martial, array, rivet, entreaty, supplication, beseech, avert, remonstrated, prostrated, implored, interposition, tyrannical, ministry, Parliament, remonstrances, spurned, inviolate, inestimable, formidable, irresolution, supinely, extenuate, and resounding; they also learn about morphology and how a word’s individual parts can help them determine its meaning in context. Henry’s speech is studied as a significant historical text that inspired colonial resistance and contributed to the ignition of the American Revolution. In this section, students also analyze word choice and use context clues to determine meaning. They explore sentence structure by breaking complex sentences into simpler parts to clarify understanding. By examining Henry’s language and syntax, students strengthen their comprehension of the text’s message and tone. 

      • In Section 3: Building Knowledge, students develop an understanding of differing viewpoints on the American Revolution to deepen comprehension of the unit’s Anchor Text. Students read informational texts about the Revolution, exploring the contrasting arguments of Patriots who supported the war and Loyalists who opposed it. They practice identifying and analyzing central ideas, comparing arguments, and examining how ideas connect within and across texts. By the end of the section, students revisit “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” with an enhanced perspective informed by their new knowledge.

      • In Section 4: Genre Study, students learn about the characteristics of speeches. Students read multiple speeches to identify and define important rhetorical elements. They examine how these elements interact and how authors use them to convey central ideas. Additionally, students analyze how language, rhetoric, and style reveal each author’s unique perspective. By the end of the section, students draft a mini-rhetorical analysis to the prompt “Write a mini-rhetorical analysis arguing how the speaker of either 'Address to the Nation on the War in Vietnam' or 'Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam' creates a position on war and protest.” This writing practice helps prepare students for their response to the Driving Task Prompt later in the unit. 

      • In Section 5, Synthesis, students bring together the ideas they have developed across their readings. They apply what they’ve learned to a final analysis of “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death,” using their notes as they prepare to draft a rhetorical analysis. In this section, students also participate in a critical discussion about how rhetoric supports a text’s central idea, allowing them to refine their interpretations and gain insights from their peers’ perspectives.

      • In Section 6: Writing Process, students go through the stages of composing a rhetorical analysis. They begin by reviewing the rubric and a sample analysis to plan and structure their work. Students then write an introduction with a thesis statement, followed by body paragraphs and a conclusion. To conclude the section, they share their analyses and provide peer feedback before revising their final drafts. As the last step of the unit, students complete a Read the World Reflection where they reflect on the unit’s essential questions.

The instructional pathway outlined in Lenses on Literature materials meets expectations for indicator 2f. The materials clearly define and explain the program’s core instructional pathway through a consistent six-part unit structure—Unit Launch, Reading for Comprehension, Building Knowledge, Genre Study, Synthesis, and Writing Process—detailed in the Teacher Edition and supported by unit-level documents such as the Unit Overview, Unit at a Glance, Sequence of Instruction, and Lesson Overviews. These resources outline the progression of learning, focus skills, texts, and lesson expectations, aligning with research-based literacy practices. Teachers also receive planning protocols to prepare for units and analyze student work. Supplemental resources (Adapt & Extend activities, Grammar & Language Toolkits, Independent Reading, and Novel Studies) are accompanied by explicit instructions describing when, why, and how to use them. However, many require additional instructional time and may necessitate reducing core lessons. The program provides pacing guidance indicating 165–179 instructional days per grade level. but leaves little room for interruption. Although the full six-unit sequence leaves limited flexibility for interruptions, the program clearly identifies a four-unit core instructional pathway that guarantees standards coverage, allowing districts to select four-, five-, or six-unit implementation models based on local scheduling needs. The Lenses Three-Phase Work Plan offers broad planning questions (e.g., how many units to teach, when they will be completed, and whether to implement Novel Studies), while the Guidance for Planning a Coherent Year of ELA Instruction with Lenses on Literature document includes more in depth guidance on how districts and schools should make implementation decisions. Overall, the materials present a clear, coherent, and research-aligned pathway toward grade-level proficiency within a school year.

• Materials clearly outline the essential elements for the core instructional pathway. Materials clearly explain how to use and implement the core instructional pathway, which does not deviate from currently accepted research. 

  • The front matter of the Teacher Edition details the program's unit “journey tracker.” Each unit follows the same six section structure: Unit Launch, Reading for Comprehension), Building Knowledge, Genre Study, Synthesis, and Writing Process. The front matter of the Teacher Edition includes an explanation of each section. 

    • Unit Launch: Students are introduced to the unit’s purpose, the Driving Task Prompt, and the Anchor Text(s). They break down the skills needed for the final task, preview the unit topic, and begin building context. Students also complete an initial “cold read” of the Anchor Text(s) to form first impressions and personal responses.

    • Comprehension: Students revisit the Anchor Text(s) for a deeper, more literal understanding. Through structured reading, discussion, and short writing tasks, students strengthen their comprehension and practice vocabulary strategies that can be applied across different texts and contexts.

    • Building Knowledge: Students read a collection of texts that provide essential background information—such as historical, cultural, and conceptual context—to help them better understand the Anchor Text(s) and unit theme. Teachers explicitly teach the unit’s Focus Skills and standards, using these texts to help students develop transferable reading and analysis strategies.

    • Genre Study: Students receive direct instruction and guided practice related to the unit’s Focus Reading Skills and genre standards. By analyzing Genre Study Texts in whole-group, small-group, and individual settings, students learn about the genre’s purpose, structures, and features. This prepares them to apply genre knowledge when analyzing Anchor Text(s) or producing their own work in the same genre.

    • Synthesis: Students integrate their learning from earlier sections. During a final read of the Anchor Text(s), they pull together their knowledge, deepen their understanding, and sharpen the skills needed to answer the Driving Task Prompt. They participate in structured discussions—such as seminars—to explore ideas, refine interpretations, and prepare for the writing task ahead.

    • Writing Process: Students move through each stage of writing, including planning, drafting, revising, and sharing their final product. Before writing, they study model texts to understand the expectations of the writing task. Teachers support them through each step as they craft a polished final response to the Driving Task Prompt.

  • The Teacher Edition provides several unit-level documents that illustrate the learning of each unit. 

    • A Unit Overview for every unit outlines the unit’s theme, genre focus, writing product, essential question(s), and Driving Task prompt. It also lists all unit texts, indicating which ones serve as Anchor Texts and which appear in the Knowledge Building or Genre Study sections.

    • A Unit at a Glance outlines information found on the Unit Overview page. Additionally, this document provides the unit’s focus skills and unit description summary. 

    • A Sequence of Instruction document lists out every activity in each unit by lesson. 

    • A Lessons Overview document which includes the prompt, artifact of learning, text(s), and activity focus skills used in each activity in each lesson. 

  • Each Lesson at a Glance page includes the lesson focus skills, a list of lesson activities, a materials and classroom preparation section, and content considerations.

  • Overall, most of the Lenses on Literature program components align with current research, and the program follows an integrated instructional approach across all literacy components.

  • On the Carnegie Learning portal, teachers can find Teacher Planning Protocols, located under Implementation Resources. Materials include several step-by-step general protocols that guide teachers in preparing to teach and provide guidance on which resources and materials to reference. These protocols include: a Unit Internalization Protocol, an Analyzing Unit Texts Protocol, and a Preparing to Teach Protocol. Other protocols available to teachers for after teaching include: a Learning from Student Work Protocol: Formative, a Learning from Student Work Protocol: Summative, and an End-of-Unit Teacher Reflection Protocol. 

• When present, supplemental materials are designed to work coherently with the core instructional pathway. Materials provide detailed explanations of when and how to use supplemental materials so that all students can access grade-level materials.

  • Supplemental Resources can be found on the platform located under the section titled Supplemental Resources. The materials include several different types of supplemental resources, including:

    • Adapt & Extend activities 

    • Grammar & Language Toolkits

    • Independent Reading 

    • Novel Studies 

  • Each Supplemental Resources section includes guidance for its use. 

    • Adapt & Extend activities (available for each unit): The Adapt & Extend Handbook includes guidance on why, how, and when to use these resources. This guidance recommends using Adapt & Extend when educators want to deepen engagement, respond to formative assessment, honor student strengths, or extend learning beyond the core curriculum. These activities can be used at various points across a unit—before, during, after, or in parallel with core lessons. The handbook outlines when particular ideas are most effective. The activities are also appropriate during moments of interrupted schedules or when students benefit from additional autonomy or creative expression. Overall, Adapt & Extend is designed to enhance—not replace—core instruction, providing teachers with flexible tools to meet diverse learner needs, extend unit themes, and reinforce standards-aligned skills.

    • Grammar & Language Toolkits (available for each grade level): The Grammar and Language Toolkits Overview provides guidance on how and when to use the grade-level toolkit. Teachers can use these 60 lessons at several points during a unit: after students complete embedded grammar activities, as a follow-up to mid-unit writing tasks to reinforce conventions, during the writing process (especially for revising after a first draft), in response to formative data or student questions about grammar and language use, and in small-group or targeted settings to address specific needs. The toolkits enable teachers to adjust instruction in real-time based on students' understanding. Each lesson includes multiple exercises and an answer key. It should be noted that non-integrated grammar and language practice is not aligned with research-based practices. 

    • Independent Reading: The Independent Reading Guide states that the program “offers teachers' flexibility to incorporate daily independent reading into their schedules. Each lesson is comprised of individual activities that teachers may schedule across class periods in order to accommodate daily routines and school calendars. This adaptability also creates space for intentional independent reading time.” The guidance provides sample schedules based on a 45-minute and 90-minute block. These schedules require teachers to adjust activities in lessons for the following days, which, given the number of instructional days in the curriculum, could potentially result in reducing the number of lessons and units. 

    • Novel Studies: The Novel Studies Handbook states that “Each Novel Study is designed to last two to three weeks as a supplement to enrich [the] core curriculum. As shown in the sample calendar [provided], each Novel Study requires only a few days of devoted class time for active discussion and writing. This allows [teachers] to incorporate a Novel Study flexibly to connect to themes and topics in your core curriculum.” The schedule teachers and schools use, should they choose to incorporate Novel Studies, would depend on the amount of allotted instructional time for ELA. If schools only have 40 to 50 minutes of ELA instructional time, they would need to adjust the core curriculum to reduce the number of lessons and units. 

  • While materials include guidance for all supplemental resources, most of these resources require additional time to be added to the daily or annual schedule to complete the core curriculum in its entirety. Districts, schools, and teachers would have to make decisions about what to remove from the core curriculum to make space for supplemental resources. The Guidance for Planning a Coherent Year of ELA Instruction with Lenses on Literature document which schools and districts who purchase the program can access, includes some guidance on making these decisions. 

• Materials provide implementation schedules, including lesson-specific guidance, that are well paced, and can be completed in the school year, allowing students to dive deeply into content. 

  • The Teacher Edition includes a Sequence of Instruction for each unit, listing every activity in each unit by lesson. This document states that each lesson is designed for a 40- to 55-minute class period. The Lessons Overview document for each unit also provides this timing guidance. Additionally, each lesson’s Lesson at a Glance page provides timing guidance for each activity. In the lesson plan, timing guidance for each activity is found at the top right-hand corner. Timing guidance for each step in the activity is not provided. 

    • Grade 9 materials include instruction for 165 instructional days

    • Grade 10 materials include instruction for 178 instructional days

    • Grade 11 materials include instruction for 179 instructional days

    • Grade 12 materials include instruction for 179 instructional days

Although the total number of instructional days does not exceed those in a typical school year, it leaves little flexibility for common interruptions. However, the implementation guidance clarifies that only four of the program’s six units constitute the core instructional pathway. This structure allows schools and districts to make strategic implementation decisions so the program can be reasonably completed within a single school year.

• In the Teacher Resources section of the platform, located under Implementation Resources, teachers, school leaders, and district administrators can find the Lenses Three-Phase Work Plan. This document includes a planning structure to “Set the Conditions for Implementation Success.” In Step 2, the guidance states to decide on the following based on the implementation focus identified in Step 1: 

  • “Unit Strategy

    • How many Lenses units will teachers implement this year?

    • By what date will each unit be complete? A unit is complete when students turn in their final writing products.

    • Who will determine which units will be implemented?

  • Novel Study Strategy

    • Will the teachers use Lenses Novel Studies?

    • How many Novel Studies will be implemented?

    • When will Novel Studies be implemented?

    • Who will determine which Novel Studies will be implemented?”

• Those who purchase the Lenses on Literature program also have access to the Guidance for Planning a Coherent Year of ELA Instruction with Lenses on Literature document. This document includes information explaining how schools and districts can plan a coherent, standards-aligned year of instruction using the program. It outlines the program’s core instructional pathway, explains implementation options (4-, 5-, and 6-unit models), and provides guidance for pacing, unit order, and supplemental resources.

  • At the core of the program is a four-unit core instructional pathway for each grade level. These approximately six-week units integrate reading, writing, speaking and listening, language, research, and assessment into complete instructional arcs. When implemented as designed, the document claims that the four-unit model includes full coverage of grade-level standards. The program also includes two additional units per grade that expand genre exposure and disciplinary practice. These added units broaden students’ experiences without altering the standards progression ensured by the four-unit core. The core units required for each grade level are identified in this document. In addition to the four unit model, the document identifies two additional models to accommodate different school contexts. 

    • The four-unit model represents the core program and is best suited for typical or interrupted school years, as it ensures standards coverage while allowing space for supplemental experiences. 

    • The five-unit model builds on the core by adding one additional instructional arc, increasing opportunities for distributed practice across genres and writing types while maintaining flexibility in the calendar. 

    • The six-unit model offers maximum disciplinary breadth and is intended for schools with stable schedules and protected instructional time. While it provides the widest range of genres and repeated application of priority standards, it requires a highly predictable school year to maintain pacing without disruption.

  • In addition to determining the number of units, schools must decide the order in which units are taught. Units are intentionally sequenced to reflect increasing cognitive demand across the year. Units 1–3 generally focus on building and reinforcing core disciplinary skills, while Units 4–6 require more independent, sustained, and complex application of those skills. Schools may reorder units within these two bands to align with local writing priorities or interdisciplinary connections, but the overall cognitive progression should remain intact. The document also provides a grade-level chart showing anchor text genres and writing products across units, supporting thoughtful year-long planning while preserving coherence.

  • The document also provides sample pacing guides and district examples that illustrate how schools can schedule units across a year while accommodating testing windows, extended text studies, benchmark assessments, and other local constraints.

The questions, tasks, and assignments in Lenses on Literature materials meet expectations for indicator 2g. The materials provide consistent opportunities for students to make meaning of texts through structured, text-based questions and tasks that require varied responses such as speaking, writing, annotating, and discussion. Each unit includes activities like Read to Comprehend, Annotate Key Details, Read to Contextualize, Read to Analyze, and Synthesis, which guide students in closely reading and re-reading anchor texts. Students first engage with texts to build comprehension and later revisit them in synthesis activities that deepen analysis by focusing on literary and structural elements. This repeated interaction with texts, supported by guiding questions, ensures that students develop comprehension and critical analysis skills through multiple engagement formats.

• Materials provide opportunities to support students in making meaning of the texts being studied through text-based questions and tasks that require students to answer in varying formats (e.g., speaking, writing, etc.). 

  • Throughout the Lenses on Literature program, students engage in several activities before and after reading to make meaning of the texts under study. These activities include: Read to Comprehend, Annotate Key Details, Read to Contextualize, and Read to Analyze. 

    • In Grade 9, Unit 5, Section 2: Comprehension, students read “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. As they read, students answer the following guiding questions to help them make sense of the text: 

      • “What emotions do you feel from the narration? 

      • Which traits and past experiences shape the narrator’s perspective?

      • What key events cause changes to her perspective?”

    • In Grade 12, Unit 3, Section 3: Building Knowledge, students read “What are the Characteristics of Epic in Literature?” by Douglas Matus. During reading, students annotate, highlighting sections of the text in yellow and using the comment feature to write notes about “key characteristics of the epic genre.” 

  • Students complete various tasks throughout each unit that require answering questions about the texts under study in multiple formats. These tasks focus on different parts of literacy components, such as vocabulary, reading, writing, speaking, and listening (including seminars).

• Materials include text-based questions and tasks that require students to closely read and/or re-read complex parts of texts to deepen their analysis and understanding. 

  • Throughout the Lenses on Literature program, students have opportunities to read and re-read the texts under study closely to deepen their understanding. Each unit is structured so that students read the anchor text several times. First, students read the anchor text(s) in the Reading for Comprehension section of the unit. During this initial read, students read for comprehension, often further analyzing parts of the text. Later in the unit, students re-read the anchor text or parts of the anchor text(s) in the Synthesis section of the unit. In this part of the unit, students apply what they have learned about the genre in the Genre Study section and the unit topic or theme in the Building Knowledge section to further deepen their analysis and understanding. 

    • In Grade 10, Unit 2, Section 5: Synthesis, students re-read “One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII” by Pablo Neruda, “Before You Come” by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, “Love After Love” by Derek Walcott, and “Quarantine” by Eavan Boland. First, students “annotate for words and phrases that develop [each poem’s] themes.” Students are also presented with the following guiding questions during this close reading.

      • “What questions about love does the poem raise, explicitly or implicitly?

      • How do literary devices in the poem help to answer those questions?

      • Which specific words or phrases help to develop the poem’s theme?”

The analysis opportunities in Lenses on Literature materials meet expectations for indicator 2h. The program provides structured opportunities for students to analyze key ideas and details, craft and structure, and the integration of knowledge and ideas within and across texts. Activities such as Read to Comprehend and Read to Contextualize support students in identifying central ideas and details while drawing connections across texts and to their own experiences. In the Genre Study section, students examine craft and structure, including character development, perspective, figurative language, and word choice. In the Building Knowledge section, students have opportunities to make interdisciplinary connections. In the Synthesis and Writing Process sections, students integrate knowledge and ideas across multiple texts by comparing themes, perspectives, and genres and engaging in extended discussions and written analyses. This progression ensures students develop increasingly sophisticated analytical skills aligned to grade-level standards.

• Materials provide opportunities for students to analyze key ideas and details (according to grade-level standards) within individual texts and across multiple texts to support students in making meaning.

  • In each unit, students have opportunities to analyze key ideas and details within and across texts through Read to Comprehend and Read to Contextualize activities. These activities occur in Section 2: Comprehension and Section 3: Building Knowledge of each unit’s “journey tracker.”

    • In Grade 10, Unit 4, Section 2: Comprehension, students read “What Makes a City Beautiful?” by Tea Lobo. As they read, they complete a Read to Comprehend activity, using the highlighting tool and notes feature to “mark and respond to the central idea of the text and claims made by the author about beauty and aesthetics.” As they read, students also consider the following questions:

      • “Why were geometric-based urban landscapes valued in the past?

      • Why would urban landscape planning based on geometry not be valued if people experience a city kinesthetically?

      • Currently, by what attributes is architecture evaluated? Why?”

    • In Grade 11, Unit 2, Section 3: Building Knowledge, students read “How it Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston. As they read, they complete a Read to Contextualize activity, where they draw connections between this unit’s anchor text (“How it Feels to Be Colored Me”) and other “informational texts and poems of the Harlem Renaissance” that they read in the Build Knowledge section of the unit (Section 3).

• Materials provide opportunities for students to analyze craft and structure (according to grade-level standards) within individual texts and across multiple texts to support students in making meaning.

  • In each unit, students have opportunities to analyze craft and structure within and across texts through Read to Analyze activities and other activities in Section 4: Genre Study of each unit’s “journey tracker.” 

    • In Grade 12, Unit 5, Section 4: Genre Study, students read “Why All the Modern-day Hate Toward the Merchant of Venice?” by Cory Franklin and read and listen to the podcast “All that Glisters Is Not Gold” by Code Switch. As students read, they use the highlighting tool and notes feature to “mark and respond to the way the author structures the text and how the author presents ideas.” Then, students “analyze and evaluate how effectively the text’s structure contributes to the central idea.” In a later lesson, students complete similar activities with the podcast “All that Glisters Is Not Gold,” analyzing both the podcast’s structure and then evaluating “how effectively the mode of the podcast shapes ideas.” 

• Materials provide opportunities for students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas (according to grade-level standards) within individual texts and across multiple texts to support students in deepening their understanding on a topic.

  • In each unit, students have opportunities to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas within and across texts through activities in Section 5: Synthesis and Section 6: Writing Process of each unit’s “journey tracker.” Students also have the opportunity to make interdisciplinary connections, drawing on knowledge from history, science, or other areas, as outlined in Section 3: Building Knowledge, for each unit’s “journey tracker.”

    • In Grade 9, Unit 1, Section 5: Synthesis, students prepare for a Seminar about “heroism in the unit texts.” As they prepare, students answer the following questions, focusing their responses on the unit’s texts: 

      • “How do the events/sequences of events and character interactions convey and develop the hero figures in each text?

      • How do the characteristics of the hero advance the plot?”

The discussion protocols and teacher guidance in Lenses on Literature materials meet expectations for indicator 2i. The program incorporates structured discussion protocols to support student participation across partner, small group, and whole-class formats, using Anchor Strategies such as Chalk Talk, Debate, Fishbowl, Seminar, and Pair Up–Square Up, all of which are outlined step-by-step in the Anchor Strategy Library. Lessons clearly identify the discussion format and include preparation tools (e.g., note-catchers), discussion norms, reflection components, scoring guides, and Responsive Teacher Moves to guide facilitation and feedback. Seminar discussions, in particular, emphasize respectful, evidence-based dialogue, goal setting, and post-discussion reflection, with prompts that encourage students to build on ideas, use textual evidence, and ask clarifying questions. Teachers are provided with facilitation steps, monitoring guidance, scoring criteria, and access to Sample Student Responses and sentence frames to scaffold discourse. For smaller discussions throughout units, the Teacher Edition includes guidance on chunking the thinking process that happens before discourse, so that students are better prepared for fruitful discussions. However, guidance for monitoring the depth and quality of academic content during discussions is sometimes general, and Responsive Teacher Moves sometimes focus more on participation and compliance than on advancing disciplinary thinking. 

• Materials include structured protocols that support students in participating in various types of discussions. 

  • The Lenses on Literature program includes protocols that support students in engaging in various types of discussions throughout the course. These discussions prompt students to draw on textual evidence, prior knowledge, and personal ideas to extend and deepen their thinking. The program incorporates the following discussion formats:

    • Partner (including Turn-and-Talk)

    • Small Group

    • Whole Class

    These formats are used across various types of “Anchor Strategies” including: 

    • Chalk Talk

    • Debate

    • Discussion Moves

    • Fishbowl

    • Pair Up-Square Up

    • Seminar

    The documents for these “Discussion Anchor Strategies” can be found on the Carnegie Learning Platform in the Supplemental Resources section under the Anchor Strategy Library. Each document includes the steps for each strategy. 

  • The Teacher Edition includes a Lesson at a Glance for every lesson, which provides high-level guidance on the type of discussion students will engage in within the lesson: Partner, Small Group, or Whole Class. 

  • An example of the type of discussion opportunities in the program is: 

    • In Grade 10, Unit 1, Section 1: Unit Launch, students participate in a partner discussion where they “compare and discuss their annotations of ‘Food is a Story’ by Gaby Melian.” Before the discussion, the teacher reviews the purpose of the discussion, assigns students to pairs, and provides students with focus questions for their partner discussions. During the discussion, the teacher moves around the room and monitors. 

• Speaking and listening instruction includes facilitation, monitoring, and feedback guidance for teachers.

  • The How to Foster Student Connections Across Contexts and Communities with Lenses on Literature document, located in the Teacher Resources section of the platform, provides high-level information on facilitating “Respectful, Evidence-Based Discussion.” The document states: “Lenses provides multiple structured discussion protocols to help students examine differing ideas without reducing them to stereotypes. The Seminar in the Synthesis section of each unit models sustained, respectful dialogue about complex ideas, with students setting and reflecting on personal discourse goals. These discussion protocols emphasize:

    • Listening for and building on evidence

    • Exploring how context shapes interpretation 

    • Asking clarifying and probing questions

    This ensures that differences in perspectives are understood in relation to context and evidence, not reduced to ‘agree/disagree’ positions.”

  • The Teacher Edition includes Teaching Steps and Responsive Teacher Moves for each lesson, illustrating the steps teachers should take to facilitate each activity and respond to student needs, including discussions. While these notes on facilitating and monitoring discussions are present, the materials do not always include specific student sample responses that teachers should listen for during each discussion. Additionally, while the Responsive Teacher Move notes are present for discussions, they sometimes focus on monitoring for compliance, rather than supporting teachers in facilitating the specific academic content of the discussion. For some activities, the program provides Sample Student Responses. These responses can be found on the Carnegie Learning platform under Teacher Resources > Sample Student Responses. Teachers can reference these documents to orient themselves to the types of answers students might share in discussions. For Seminar discussions, this document includes guidance on how teachers should prepare students before the discussion, facilitate the discussion, and provide feedback after the discussion. When paired with the lesson plans, this guidance helps teachers manage both the structure and the content of the discussion. 

    • In Grade 11, Unit 5, Section 5: Synthesis, students engage in a Seminar where they discuss questions about how narrative elements can be used to convey one or more themes. After the discussion, students reflect on their participation and the ideas that were shared. Before the discussion, teachers explain the purpose of the seminar and review the seminar norms, which include:

      • “Listening respectfully, even when disagreeing, 

      • Not interrupting

      • Critiquing ideas, rather than peers

      • Allowing others time to speak

      • Being mindful of body language and eye contact

      • Staying on topic.”

      The Teacher Edition includes the steps to the discussion activity and three Responsive Teacher Moves notes. For during the discussion, the note states, 

      • “If students are not following directions, review and model the expectations and discussion norms. If needed, pose the following questions to move the discussion forward:

        • Have you ever changed something about yourself to fit in? How did you feel? 

        • What part(s) of your identity are you proudest of? Why? 

      For the self-reflection step, the note states, 

      • “Pose the following question(s) to help students who need support to write their reflection:

        • If you met your goal, is there something else you can do during the next discussion to improve?

        • Do you feel like your participation in this discussion was adequate? Did you allow other students to speak equally?

        • Is there a discussion norm that is difficult for you to follow? How can you improve on demonstrating it?”

      For the reflection on ideas step, the note states, 

      • “Use the following questions to help students who need support to reflect on the ideas in the seminar:

        • What perspectives from the discussion surprise you? 

        • Have any of your initial ideas changed because of the discussion? If so, how?

        • What was challenging about the discussion and how could a similar challenge be addressed in the future?”

        The Teacher Edition provides a scoring guide that teachers can use to give each student feedback on their participation in the seminar. Responsive Teacher Moves are available for teachers to use based on the potential needs of students. This guide includes questions like, “Did the student: 

        • Accurately demonstrate understanding of others’ ideas?

        • Reasonably adjust ideas in response to others?

        • Logically build on the ideas of others?”

      The Sample Student Responses document includes sample student responses and textual evidence for all the questions in the activity. Additionally, the document includes sample student discussion goals, sentence starters, and additional teacher facilitation guidance. For during the seminar, the guidance reminds teachers to “use prompts sparingly but when needed, including: 

      • Where do you see that in the text? 

      • Does anyone want to challenge or build on that?

      • How do you know?

      • Why is this important?”

      These prompts remind teachers to ensure students are using evidence in their discussions, responding to the content of each other’s ideas, and providing a full analysis of their ideas. 

    • In Grade 10, Unit 2, Section 4: Genre Study, students participate in a small group and larger group discussions on the mood and tone conveyed through the word choice in the Love Poetry collection. In small groups, students chunk the analysis into steps. In one step, they analyze for tone. The Teacher Edition includes a Responsive Teacher Move note for identifying tone which states,

      • “If students need support to identify a word or phrase that represents the poem’s tone, prompt them with the following sentence frames:

        • The word ______ suggests / reveals ________ about the speaker.

        • The speaker’s attitude about _______ is revealed through the word _________.

        • Through the word ________, we know that the speaker feels ________ about _______.”

        In another step, students analyze for mood. The Teacher Edition includes a Responsive Teacher Move note for identifying mood, which states,

        • “If students need support to identify a word that represents the poem’s mood, prompt them with the following sentence frames for the discussion:

          • The word _________ makes me feel __________.

          • The word _________ represents the overall atmosphere of the poem.”

        After discussing and working in smaller groups, students discuss their ideas in larger groups. The Teacher Edition provides a scoring guide that teachers can use to give each student feedback on their participation in the discussion. Responsive Teacher Moves are available for teachers to use based on the potential needs of students. This guide includes two questions: “Did the student: 

        • Provide a clear and reasonable explanation of how the meaning of the word or phrase is affected by the context, connotation, or figurative use?

        • Provide a reasonable explanation of the impact of the specific word choices on meaning and tone?

        • Pose relevant questions?

        • Reasonably probe and challenge ideas?”

The evidence-based discussion opportunities in the Lenses on Literature materials meet expectations for indicator 2j. The program provides frequent opportunities for students to engage in collaborative, text-based discussions in partner, small group, and whole-class formats, particularly throughout Sections 2–5 of each unit. Students regularly discuss texts using structured prompts that require them to reference specific details, make inferences, and respond to peers’ ideas using textual evidence. Each unit culminates in a Section 5 Seminar in which students synthesize ideas across multiple texts, drawing on textual examples and prior learning to support their responses. Students prepare in advance by setting goals and planning evidence-based responses, actively engage by listening, taking notes, and elaborating on classmates’ ideas, and reflect afterward on both their thinking and participation. These structured conversations consistently require students to incorporate evidence from texts while considering multiple perspectives and engaging in intellectual discourse.

• Materials provide opportunities for students to engage in collaborative conversations about the text being read, which require them to utilize, apply, and incorporate evidence from texts and/or sources.

  • Throughout the Lenses on Literature units, students have many opportunities to engage in collaborative conversations about the texts being read. In each unit, students engage in partner, small group, and whole group discussions, primarily throughout sections 2 through 5 of each unit’s “journey tracker.” Every Section 5 of each unit on the “journey tracker” culminates in a Seminar activity where students discuss all the big concepts of the unit, while referring back to the unit’s texts. 

    • In Grade 11, Unit 3, Section 3: Building Knowledge, students read Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance.” Then, they identify and discuss central ideas from the text in partners as they answer the question, “What two main ideas does the text focus on?” After discussing with partners, students discuss in small groups. Later in the discussion, students consider, “How do these central ideas interact and build on each other?” 

• Materials provide opportunities for students to consider others’ perspectives and engage in intellectual discourse about texts and topics they are reading.

  • In each unit, students engage in a Seminar where they discuss all the texts they have read throughout the unit. Before each Seminar, students engage in a Prepare for Seminar activity where they set individual goals and plan their initial responses. In their initial planning students are to “use ideas and examples from the unit texts and your own life to respond.” During the Seminar, students share their ideas with their classmates, take notes, respond to each other’s responses, and ask each other questions. After the Seminar, students reflect on their individual goals and the ideas that surfaced in the class discussion.

    • In Grade 10, Unit 6, Section 5: Synthesis, students engage in a Seminar where they discuss the following questions:

      • “What is the importance of origin stories?

      • What do origin stories tell us about time, location, culture, and ourselves?

      • What techniques do authors use to create a mythical explanation for something important in the real world?

      • What connections can you find between the origin stories you read in this unit?

      • In what ways can origin stories be relevant to people’s everyday lives today?”

      As they discuss, students take notes on their peers’ thoughts and are expected to respond and elaborate on others’ ideas. 

The instruction on independent word-learning strategies and key vocabulary words in Lenses on Literature materials meets expectations for indicator 2k. The program incorporates structured and explicit vocabulary instruction throughout all units, with a focus on essential words for comprehension and content-specific terms. Vocabulary instruction is primarily concentrated in Sections 2: Comprehension and 3: Building Knowledge, where many activities occur before, during, and/or after reading, with opportunities to revisit words in later sections. Section 4: Genre Study emphasizes content-specific and academic vocabulary. Lesson plans in the Teacher Edition provide teaching steps, scripting, and Responsive Teaching Moves to support instruction, including independent word learning strategies. Students also encounter multiple exposures to vocabulary within and across texts, supported by glossed terms on the digital platform. While teachers explicitly introduce content-specific vocabulary, students develop independence by identifying additional words through word-learning strategies embedded in activities. 

• Materials include structured and explicit practices for introducing key vocabulary words and independent word-learning strategies within the context of the texts (analyzing morphemes, etymology, word maps, and discussion of word relationships/shades of meaning, dictionary skills, context clues). Attention is paid to vocabulary essential to understanding the text and high-utility academic words. Materials provide multiple exposures to key vocabulary within (i.e., before, during, after reading) and across texts.

  • Vocabulary instruction is embedded in each unit throughout the Lenses on Literature program. Teachers can use the Teacher Edition’s Sequence of Instruction page to identify which activities throughout the unit will require vocabulary instruction. The program includes repetitive strategies that students use to learn and practice vocabulary activities, such as the Affix Generator, List-Group-Label, Vocabulary Mapping, Word Intensity Chart, and Word Solving Tool. Vocabulary instruction primarily occurs in Sections 2 and 3 of each unit’s “journey tracker.” In Section 2: Comprehension and Section 3: Building Knowledge, vocabulary activities are present before and after reading each text. For some unit activities, students revisit words they encountered in previous vocabulary exercises. In Section 4: Genre Study, the vocabulary presented through activities focuses more on content-specific and academic terms. Each lesson plan in the Teacher Edition includes Teaching Steps and Responsive Teaching Moves for each vocabulary activity. Although some vocabulary activities target words essential for text comprehension, the program also emphasizes content-specific vocabulary development.

    • In Grade 9, Unit 2, Section 2: Comprehension, students engage in a vocabulary activity before reading “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. In this activity, students review the program’s “list-group-label” vocabulary strategy, sorting vocabulary words by connections among them. Students use a graphic organizer to sort the words unceasing, vigilance, envious, impediment, luminous, hindrance, symmetry, neutralize, transmitter, sashweights, vague, wince, glimmeringly, temples, consternation, cower, bellow, gravely, synchronize, gambol, and riveting gun. The Teacher Edition includes a lesson plan with teaching steps, which include reviewing the vocabulary strategy, listing the words, grouping the words, and labeling the words. For each step, the lesson plan includes guidance for teachers. The group words step guidance states, “Ask students to sort the vocabulary words into groups based on similar words. They should record their groups in the Words columns until all words have been sorted into a group. As students form their word groups, move around the room, and monitor progress.” The lesson plan includes a Responsive Teaching Move, which features guiding questions that teachers can use to support students who require additional assistance. After reading the text, students revisit these words in a separate activity. This time, students work in partners to “discuss each word’s relevance to the plot of the story and the concept of worldbuilding prominent in dystopian literature.” The Teacher Edition includes a lesson plan with teaching steps.

    • In Grade 12, Unit 1, Section 3: Building Knowledge, students read Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to the Onion,” John Keats’s “To Autumn,” and Eavan Boland’s “Ode to Suburbia” and annotate for poetry elements, figurative language, and tone. First, students review the content-specific words: poetic elements, figurative language, and tone. The Teacher Edition includes a lesson plan with teaching steps, where the first step is to review key terms and concepts. For this step, the guide provides a clear definition of each word, allowing teachers to define them for students. After reading and annotating, students complete another activity where they analyze these elements in the poems. The Teacher Edition includes a lesson plan with teaching steps for this activity with Responsive Teacher Move notes. The Responsive Teacher Move note for the identify figurative language step includes definitions of metaphor, simile, and personification, along with examples and analysis for each example. This note also includes guiding questions that teachers can use to support students 

  • On the digital platform, students have access to “glossed terms” within each text they read. These words include tier 2 and tier 3 words. Students may click on these words shown in blue during reading to find the part of speech and definition. 

  • While the materials prompt teachers to introduce content-specific vocabulary explicitly, other words are not taught directly; instead, students identify them independently as they apply word-learning strategies.

  • The materials include lists of Academic Vocabulary used throughout their course. These can be found in the Additional Resources section of each unit overview on the platform. The lists are separated into two: a Grades 9-10 list and a Grades 11-12 list. 

The on-demand and process writing opportunities in Lenses on Literature meet expectations for indicator 2o. The program offers a balanced mix of grade-appropriate on-demand and process-based writing opportunities. Students engage in a variety of short, on-demand tasks, such as free writes, summaries, mini-essays, paragraph responses, and Read the World reflections, which allow them to demonstrate understanding and make meaning of texts in real-time. These activities are integrated throughout the units and often ask students to analyze or respond to specific readings, research questions, or literary concepts. Each unit also culminates in a process-based writing task in Step 6 of the “journey tracker,” where students plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish an extended piece of writing aligned with the unit’s Driving Task Prompt. These longer assignments closely connect to the genre, topic, and purpose of the unit’s Anchor Text(s) and maintain a clear connection to the unit’s reading and thematic focus. The distribution of process writing types (persuasive, explanatory, narrative) largely aligns with the standards, with a slight emphasis on persuasive writing. Overall, the program offers a balanced mix of short, on-demand writing experiences and extended, process-based compositions that reinforce students’ engagement with and understanding of the unit texts, while also developing their reading, analysis, and writing skills.

• Materials include a mix of grade-appropriate on-demand and process writing.

  • The program offers various opportunities for students to engage in on-demand writing activities. These activities include free writes, summaries, mini-essays, paragraph responses, and Read the World reflections.

    • In Grade 9, Unit 1, Section 3: Building Knowledge, students read “5 Surprising Ways That Heroes Improve Our Lives” by Scott T. Allison, PhD. After reading, students write a summary of the text. 

    • In Grade 10, Unit 4, Section 4: Genre Study, students complete research to their own research question. As part of the writing process, students complete a freewrite response to their research question, ensuring they consider the following: 

      • “How can you synthesize the information from your sources to answer your research question?

      • How can you integrate multimedia components to clarify and support information?”

    • In Grade 11, Unit 4, Section 5: Synthesis, students consider a rhetorical situation and develop a research statement to develop the context for an author study. For this statement, they plan and draft a one-paragraph research statement to the prompt, “In paragraph form, draft your research statement in the Research Statement row of your Research Note Catcher. Use the information in your chart to answer:

      • Who is the author and why are they significant?

      • What aspects of the author’s life and works will your research focus on?

      • Which questions would guide your research?

      • How will this research contribute to ideas about Indigenous writers?” 

    • In Grade 12, Unit 1, Section 4, students read “The Convergence of the Twain” by Thomas Hardy. Later, they write a mini-literary analysis where they explain “how the author’s use of poetic structure develops one or more themes in the poem.” 

    • Throughout each unit, students complete Read the World activities. For each of these activities, students write reflections. 

  • Step 6 of the program’s “journey tracker” requires students to engage in process-based writing. Students have opportunities to plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish longer pieces of writing in this part of each unit. 

    • In Grade 10, Unit 1, Section 6: Writing Process, students plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish a rhetorical analysis to the prompt “After reading ‘Why We Cook When the World Doesn’t Make Sense’ by Reem Kassis, write a rhetorical analysis in which you analyze how Kassis uses descriptions of food as a rhetorical technique to advance her perspective. Support your analysis with evidence from the text.”

    • In Grade 11, Unit 5, Section 6: Writing Process,  students plan, draft, revise, edit, and publish a comparative literary analysis to the prompt “After reading ‘Lingua Franca’ by Carole McDonnell and personal narratives on belonging in America, write a comparative literary analysis in which you analyze how two authors use narrative elements and techniques to develop compelling accounts of the tension between assimilation and individuality. Support your analysis with evidence from both texts.”

• Materials reflect the distribution indicated by the standards for process writing (9-12 40/40/20 persuade/explain/convey experience). (The information below is presented as contextual evidence only and is not factored into the overall score or rating.)

  • The process writing distribution in the Lenses on Literature program is as follows:

    • Grade 9: 50/33.3/16.7 persuade/explain/convey experience

    • Grade 10: 50/33.3/16.7persuade/explain/convey experience

    • Grade 11: 50/33.3/16.7 persuade/explain/convey experience

    • Grade 12: 50/33.3/16.7 persuade/explain/convey experience

    • Lenses on Literature materials mostly meet the distribution indicated by the standards across process writing opportunities. 

• Writing opportunities are appropriately aligned to the purpose, genre, and/or topic of the unit’s reading. 

  • Each unit’s extended writing assignment aligns directly with the unit’s purpose, genre, and/or topic of study. These process-based writing tasks are guided by the program’s Driving Task Prompts, which students are introduced to in Section 1 of each unit’s “journey tracker.” Presenting the prompt early allows students to keep the final writing product in focus as they progress through the unit’s learning activities. The genre of the extended writing tasks either directly mirrors the genre of the Anchor Text(s) of each unit or requires students to draft a genre-appropriate analysis of the Anchor Text(s). 

    • In Grade 10, Unit 3, the Anchor Text is a short story. The Driving Task prompt of the unit requires students to write an argumentative essay on this story. The prompt states, “After reading ‘The Three Questions’ by Leo Tolstoy and researching multiple texts on the concept of a meaningful life, write an argumentative essay in which you argue what you think qualifies as a ‘good’ life. Support your position with evidence from the texts. Include counterclaims and rebuttals in your response.

    • In Grade 11, Unit 2, the Anchor Text is an essay. The Driving Task prompt of the unit requires students to write a literary analysis of this essay. The prompt states, “After reading ‘How it Feels to Be Colored Me,’ write a literary analysis in which you analyze how Hurston uses her interactions with others and experiences in different settings to develop her ideas on freedom and oppression within the context of the Harlem Renaissance. Support your analysis with evidence from the text.”

    • In Grade 12, Unit 3, the Anchor Text(s) are various adaptations of an epic poem. The Driving Task prompt of the unit requires students to rewrite an epic scene from the epic poem. The prompt states, “After researching and comparing ancient Western epics, rewrite an epic scene from Beowulf in which you use rich literary language to convey your interpretation of the event, setting, and /or character(s).”

The explicit instruction in varied writing processes in Lenses on Literature meets expectations for indicator 2p. The program includes explicit instruction in the writing process, which is embedded in the content students study throughout each unit. Writing tasks are closely tied to unit readings, and the Teacher Edition provides structured lesson plans that detail instructional steps, facilitation guidance, and Responsive Teacher Moves to support students at different stages of writing. Students practice writing for a range of purposes through scaffolded activities, such as summarizing, analyzing, and composing multi-paragraph essays, culminating in a process-based extended writing task in Section 6 of each unit’s “journey tracker.” Lesson plans provide teachers with guidance on activities such as summarizing and paragraph development, and students analyze mentor texts that illustrate genre expectations before drafting their own work. Teachers are supported with analytic rubrics developed with Stanford’s SCALE, which clarify performance expectations and guide targeted feedback and reflection. Additional resources, such as Formative Assessment scorecards, Using Analytic Rubrics in Lenses on Literature, and Learning from Student Work: End of Unit documents, outline processes for scoring after students complete assignments, providing feedback, and using student work to inform instruction. However, while assessment tools are strong, lesson plans often provide only general guidance—such as “circulate and monitor student progress”—without specifying what teachers should look for or how to deliver effective feedback during instruction.

• Materials include explicit instruction in writing processes (paragraph and multi-paragraph construction for varying purposes), embedded in what students are studying throughout the unit. 

  • Throughout the program, students have opportunities to practice writing for different purposes. Writing assignments are directly integrated with the reading students complete throughout each unit. Teacher guidance for these assignments is provided in the lesson plans located in the Teacher Edition. Each lesson plan provides the steps for each writing activity, guidance on how teachers should facilitate, and Responsive Teacher Moves that teachers can use if students struggle. 

    • In Grade 10, Unit 1, Section 2: Comprehension, students read “Why We Cook When the World Doesn’t Make Sense” by Reem Kassis. The Teacher Guide includes a lesson plan that presents the instructional steps of this activity. In the first step, “Review Comprehension Strategy,” the guidance provided instructs teachers to remind students of the definition of a summary and explain that students will be using the escalating summary strategy to complete this activity. The following definition is provided for teachers to use: “a summary is a short statement of the main points of a text, put into [your] own words, and [they] should not include opinions.” In the next step, “Read and summarize the first section of the text,” the guidance instructs teachers to pair students up, open their graphic organizers, and have them read and summarize the first section with their partner. This step includes a Responsive Teacher Move note, which teachers can use with students who struggle. The note offers suggestions on how teachers can assist students who encounter words or sections of the text that they do not understand. In the third step, “Continue reading and building your escalating summary,” the lesson plan instructs teachers to direct students to keep reading and summarize. This step includes a Responsive Teacher Move note, which teachers can use with students who struggle to complete the task. The note provides sentence frames that teachers can use with students who need support writing their summaries. In the final step, “Draft a summary of the entire text,” the guidance instructs teachers to prompt students to draft a one- to two-sentence summary of the text. This step includes a Responsive Teacher Move note, which teachers can use with students who struggle. The note provides a suggestion that teachers can support students in summarizing central ideas through compound and complex sentences. A sample of what this looks like is provided. 

  • In each unit, students complete an extended writing assignment in section 6 of the program’s “journey tracker.” Across the curriculum, these tasks vary in their genre and purpose. The Teacher Edition includes guidance for facilitating each part of the writing process. Each lesson plan provides the steps for each activity, guidance on how teachers should facilitate, and Responsive Teacher Moves that teachers can use if students struggle. 

    • In Grade 9, Unit 2, Section 6: Writing Process, students write a literary analysis to the Driving Task prompt “After researching the dystopian genre and historical context of ‘Harrison Bergeron’ by Kurt Vonnegut, write a literary analysis in which you analyze how Vonnegut’s structural choices (such as the use of parallel plots and contrasting character experiences) develop social commentary on how societies pursue equality or improvement. Support your analysis with evidence from the text.” The Teacher Edition includes eight lesson plans that teachers use to support students in completing this task. In the third lesson in this section, students draft their body paragraphs. The lesson plan for this activity includes five steps. In step 1, “Identify key ideas,” the guidance prompts teachers to explain the purpose of this activity and ensure that students have all the necessary materials to be successful. Then, teachers should prompt students to review their thesis statements and “guide students to highlight the key ideas within their thesis statement that they will need to develop their body paragraphs.” In the second step, “Determine supporting ideas,” the guidance prompts teachers to direct students to draft their supporting ideas in part 1 of their Literary Analysis Planner based on their analysis of their thesis statement and to monitor student progress, “ensuring the supporting ideas will develop the controlling idea in their thesis statement and that they will have enough textual evidence to and analysis to back up each idea.” This step includes a Responsive Teacher Move note, which states, “If students need support to draft supporting ideas, encourage them to look back at the parts of the thesis statement and that they will have enough textual evidence to back up each idea.” In the third step, “Write topic sentences,” the guidance instructs teachers to “remind students that each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence” and to support students in drafting their topic sentences by asking themselves a set of questions. This step includes a Responsive Teacher note which states, “To help students explain their interpretation, direct students to a specific organizational pattern within the sample response.” The relevant section of the sample response is provided in the note. In the next step, “Gather textual evidence,” the guidance instructs teachers to “remind students that they will need to include textual evidence and analysis in each paragraph to develop their supporting ideas” and to support students in gathering evidence by asking themselves a set of questions. In the last step, Plan analysis, teachers should prompt students to draft their analysis for each piece of evidence. The lesson plan includes a set of questions that teachers should present for students to ask themselves, including:

      • “What do I want my reader to understand about this evidence?

      • How does this evidence develop my supporting idea and connect to the controlling idea?

      • What does this evidence show?” 

• Materials provide teachers with mentor texts and/or student exemplars to support students in examining how the genre works. 

  • The program includes an “Analyze the [Work Product]” activity at the start of Section 6 in each unit. In this activity, the teacher guides students through analyzing a sample piece of writing that is in the same genre as the extended piece of writing they will produce. Each sample writing piece is based on a text students encountered earlier in the unit, but it differs from the text they use for their own final writing task. This analysis supports students in understanding how the genre functions and how the work product’s components fit together. As part of this analysis, students consider the purpose and audience of the work product.

    • In Grade 12, Unit 2,  Section 6: Writing Process, students draft a rhetorical analysis to the Driving Task prompt “After researching ‘A Modest Proposal’ by Jonathan Swift and other satirical texts, select one text and write a rhetorical analysis in which you analyze how the author uses satirical techniques to develop a critique of individuals, ideas, or events. Support your response with evidence from the texts.” Before writing, students analyze a literary analysis, considering its purpose, audience, and features, in the Analyze the Rubric and A Rhetorical Analysis activity. The lesson plan for this activity includes four steps. In step 1, “Clarify the rubric,” teachers explain the purpose of the activity and prompt students to review the descriptors for each scoring element on the rubric and “discuss what they need to do in their rhetorical analysis to meet or exceed expectations” in partners. The lesson plan reminds teachers to “move around the room and monitor the discussion.” In the second step, “Evaluate a sample response,” teachers remind students of the prompt and introduce them to the sample rhetorical analysis. Then, teachers direct students to read the sample response independently, score each element on the rubric, and write a brief rationale for each score.” This step includes a Responsive Teacher Move note, which states, “If students need support to come up with a score for each scoring element, have them work with their partner to talk through how they should score each scoring element.” In the next step, “Come to a consensus,” teachers prompt students to work in pairs and agree on scores, and then compare their scores with those of another pair. The lesson plan includes a list of questions that teachers can use to facilitate the discussions. In the final step, “Make suggestions,” the teacher prompts students to “think about the elements they scored as below exceeding expectations” and “annotate the sample response with specific suggestions for how to improve any scoring element that received less than a four.” The lesson plan reminds teachers to “circulate to monitor progress.” This step includes a Responsive Teacher Move note which states, “If students need support to come up with specific suggestions, provide some examples, such as Acknowledge the complexity of the issue here.” While the lesson plan provides general guidance for teachers on chunking the task for students, it does not offer examples of what teachers should look for or listen for in student work and discourse. 

• Materials provide guidance and instruction to teachers on how to provide timely and constructive feedback on student writing.

  • As students complete the final work product in each unit, lesson plans include guidance for teachers to facilitate each step of the writing process.

  • Many of the activities in Section 6 of each unit’s journey tracker include formative assessment guidance for the teacher. This guidance includes a Scoring Guide, which teachers use as a quick tool to assess how well students are meeting the activity's focus skills and standards. The guide supports teachers in interpreting formative data to plan next instructional steps, such as reteaching, scaffolding, or enrichment. Additional digital tools for recording observations and feedback are available on the Carnegie Learning platform. Responsive Teacher Move Notes are provided for each activity that includes formative assessment guidance. 

    • In Grade 11, Unit 5, Section 6: Writing Process, students draft a comparative literary analysis to the Driving Task prompt “After reading ‘Lingua Franca’ by Carole McDonnell and personal narratives on belonging in America, write a comparative literary analysis in which you analyze how two authors use narrative elements and techniques to develop compelling accounts of the tension between assimilation and individuality. Support your analysis with evidence from both texts.” In one activity, students draft their thesis statements. The lesson plan includes guidance on formative assessment. This guidance includes a scoring guide to use to assess student performance and a Responsive Teacher Move note. Guidance states, “Formatively assess each student’s Artifact of Learning using this scoring guide. Did the student: 

      • Provide a reasonable explanation of the impact of the author’s narrative choices?

      • Provide a reasonable explanation of how multiple themes or aspects of a complex theme interact and build on one another within the text?

      • Appropriately introduce claims?

      • Identify or call upon the most relevant meaning of domain-specific words and phrases?”

      • MLL Language Goal: “Did the student introduce interpretation using connecting words?”

      Guidance includes two Responsive Teacher Move Notes. The first states, “If student responses are not aligning with the prompt, have them analyze the prompt with four steps:

      • a. Highlight – Highlight the main task.

      • b. Distinguish – Distinguish subtasks.

      • c. Restate – Restate each subtask in your own words.

      • d. Answer – Answer every part of the prompt.”

  • Each work product that students complete in Section 6 of each unit’s “journey tracker” includes a specific rubric that teachers and students should use to evaluate student work. These rubrics differ based on the genre of each writing assignment and the grade level. 

  • On the Carnegie Platform, teachers can find the Using Analytic Rubrics in Lenses of Literature document in the Teacher Resources section. The document explains how teachers can use analytic rubrics as instructional and assessment tools to evaluate student progress in reading and writing. Developed in collaboration with Stanford’s SCALE, these rubrics break complex literacy skills into clear, standards-based criteria across a four-point developmental scale, from Emerging to Exceeds Expectations. The guide outlines how to interpret and apply rubric rows to both formative and summative tasks, emphasizing their use for giving targeted feedback, promoting student growth, and aligning instruction with standards. Teachers are encouraged to use rubric language in feedback, conduct writing conferences (if time allows) to help students set goals, and engage in collaborative scoring to calibrate expectations and plan next steps. The document highlights that analytic rubrics are not designed for assigning grades but for supporting consistent, evidence-based evaluation and instructional decision-making across classrooms.

  • On the Carnegie Learning platform, teachers can find the"Learning From Student Work: End of Unit document at the end of each unit’s activities and under Teacher Planning Tools in the Teacher Resources section. The document is a teacher-facing guide that outlines a five-step process for analyzing student writing at the end of a unit in the Lenses on Literature program. Teachers begin by reviewing the unit’s Driving Task Prompt and focus skills or standards to clarify what the assignment asks students to think about and demonstrate. Then, they analyze the unit rubric, examining how expectations progress across scoring levels and identifying rubric language that connects to unit standards. Next, teachers score student work using the rubric, discuss scoring decisions with colleagues, and compare results to ensure consistency. In later steps, teachers analyze patterns in student performance and use these insights to determine instructional next steps. The process concludes with a reflection on the effectiveness of instruction, alignment to standards, and plans for improving teaching and assessment in the next unit. 

    • While the steps for this process are clear, the guidance is generalized and not specific to each rubric. For step 3, score student work using the rubric, the guidance states, “Individually score a student work sample. Discuss with your team how you scored the student work, making sure to explicitly connect the student work to the specific criteria outlined in the rubric. If you have time, consider these options:

      • Repeat with additional student work samples and look for patterns.

      • Swap one of your scored student work samples with a colleague. Have them score the paper as well. Then, compare your scores to see your similarities and differences.”

  • Although the formative assessment Scoring Guides and SCALE rubrics offer clear criteria for assessing student writing and providing timely feedback, the lesson plans often include general directions such as “circulate and monitor student progress.” These directions lack specific guidance on what teachers should observe or the types of feedback they should provide while students are working.

The opportunities for students to practice the writing processes using evidence-based strategies in Lenses on Literature meet expectations for indicator 2q. The program offers multiple opportunities for students to engage in all stages of the writing process, including planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing, utilizing a variety of supports and tools. For each final writing product in Section 6 of a unit’s “journey tracker,” students use structured graphic organizers to plan their ideas, such as story planners for narrative writing and analysis planners for literary essays. Students then draft their work in stages, using their organizers to develop thesis statements, body paragraphs, introductions, and conclusions. Revision and editing are emphasized through targeted strategies, such as varying sentence structure and maintaining a consistent tone and register. Students participate in peer feedback and use an editing checklist that covers sentence structure, style, conventions, and formatting to polish their work. The program also integrates technology throughout the writing process: students draft, revise, and submit their work digitally and, in some cases, prepare and present their writing using multimedia tools. These repeated, scaffolded opportunities help students develop independence and fluency across all phases of the writing process.

• Materials include multiple opportunities for students to plan writing (e.g., with graphic organizers).

  • Students have opportunities to plan their writing for each final writing product that they complete in Section 6  of each unit’s “journey tracker.” 

    • In Grade 9, Unit 1, Section 6: Writing Process, students write a short story. As part of the writing process, they plan their writing. First, they prewrite by brainstorming ideas. Next, they plan for the hero in their stories by completing part 1 of the Short Story Planner graphic organizer. As they plan their hero, they consider their name, motivation, obstacles, how they respond to these obstacles, and how the hero will differ from other characters. Next, they plan their plot structure by completing part 2 of the Short Story Planner. As they plan the plot, they consider the plot pyramid, including the exposition, inciting event, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, and denouement. They also map out their hero’s journey, creating a clear sequence of events. Afterward, they plan for their setting. To plan the setting, students complete part 3 of the Short Story Planner. As they plan the setting, they consider the figurative language and sensory details they will use to describe the setting. In subsequent planning steps, students plan the dialogue and story endings in their Short Story Planners. 

• Materials include multiple opportunities for students to draft their writing. 

  • Students have opportunities to draft their writing for each final writing product that they complete in Section 6  of each unit’s “journey tracker.” 

    • In Grade 10, Unit 2, Section 6: Writing Process, students write a literary analysis. After planning, students draft their writing. First, they use their Literary Analysis Planner graphic organizer to draft a thesis statement. Then, they use their organizer to draft their body paragraphs. Last, they use their planner to draft an introduction and conclusion.

• Materials include multiple opportunities for students to revise and edit their writing with grade-appropriate strategies and tools.

  • Students have opportunities to revise and edit their writing for each final writing product that they complete in Section 6  of each unit’s “journey tracker.” For each unit, students have a specific revision focus based on the skills taught during the unit. As part of the revision and editing process, students engage in peer feedback. Before submitting their writing products, students proofread and polish using an editing checklist. The checklist includes the following elements: 

    • Sentence Variety and Structure

    • Word Choice

    • Style and Tone

    • Capitalization, Spelling, and Formatting 

Students are encouraged to use the checklist for one to two specific elements at a time, repeatedly proofreading their writing until they’ve gone through all the elements. This checklist is generic and used in each unit. 

• In Grade 11, Unit 3, Section 6: Writing Process, students write an argumentative essay. After planning and drafting, students revise and edit their writing. First, they revise and edit their essays for voice, ensuring that their sentences include precise language and that their essay appropriately varies sentence patterns for effect. Next, they edit to ensure that it contains a consistent and appropriate register.  Last, they proofread and polish their argumentative essay. 

• Materials include multiple opportunities for students to use technology to produce and publish writing. 

  • Students have opportunities to use technology to produce and publish their writing for each final writing product they complete in Section 6 of each unit’s “journey tracker.” Students use the digital platform to complete the entire writing process, from planning to submission. For some assignments, students use technology to create presentations and present their writing. 

    • In Grade 12, Unit 4, Section 6: Writing Process, students write a rhetorical essay. After planning, drafting, revising, editing, and polishing, students plan a presentation to share their rhetorical essays with their peers. After drafting their presentations, students present to their classmates. 

The formative assessments and teacher guidance on formative assessments in Lenses on Literature meet expectations for indicator 2u. The program includes a variety of formative assessments that help teachers monitor student understanding and adjust instruction accordingly. Each unit integrates quick writes, discussions, and other short tasks designed to gauge progress toward mastery of focus skills and standards. The How to Use Lesson Plans section in the Teacher Edition explains two primary types of formative assessments—those with a Scoring Guide and those with a Rubric—and outlines how teachers can use them to collect data and plan next steps. Scoring guides provide quick checks for understanding and include reflective questions and Responsive Teacher Moves that suggest reteaching, scaffolding, or enrichment strategies. Rubric-based assessments utilize a developmental progression aligned with standards, enabling teachers to identify where students fall on a continuum from Emerging to Exceeding Expectations and make informed instructional adjustments to support growth. Rubrics also include Responsive Teaching Notes offering specific strategies, such as modeling, guided practice, or interactive approaches to reinforce key skills. Teacher Planning Tools include The Learning From Student Work: Formative guide, which outlines a structured, six-step process teachers can use to analyze student work in order to inform responsive instruction. Digital tools on the Carnegie Learning platform provide additional support for data tracking and feedback. Overall, the program offers structured, actionable guidance that enables teachers to interpret formative data and tailor instruction to enhance student progress toward grade-level proficiency.

• Materials include formative assessments and support for the teacher in determining students’ current skills/level of understanding. Materials include guidance that supports the teacher in making instructional adjustments to increase student progress.

  • Each unit in the Lenses on Literature program includes various formative assessments across multiple types of skills. Formative assessments include quick writes, discussions, and other tasks. The "How to Use Lesson Plans" section in the front matter of each Teacher Edition provides an explanation of how formative assessments function within the program. The section highlights two types of formative assessments—those with a Scoring Guide and those with a Rubric—and how teachers can use them to monitor student progress and inform instruction. In the Teacher Resources section of the Carnegie Learning portal, under Teacher Planning Tools, teachers can find the Learning from Student Work: Formative Assessment document. 

    • The Learning From Student Work: Formative Guide outlines a structured, six-step process that teachers can use to analyze student work and inform responsive instruction. The process begins with examining the activity prompt and focus skills to clarify what students are being asked to think about and do. Teachers then study the activity’s rubric or scoring guide to understand how skills are assessed and how expectations progress across proficiency levels. Next, teachers score one or two samples of student work by identifying evidence that aligns with rubric criteria, and then score a partner’s samples using the same process. Afterward, partners discuss patterns they notice in student thinking, areas of strength, and where students struggled. Finally, teachers identify the next instructional steps by reflecting on whether prerequisite skills were explicitly taught, how evidence of grade-level standards is reflected in student work, and how their findings should inform upcoming instruction and assessment. The guide focuses on using this process to make evidence-based decisions and directs teachers to additional support materials on using analytic rubrics.

    • Formative Assessment with a Scoring Guide: Teachers use the scoring guide as a quick tool to assess how well students are meeting the activity's focus skills and standards. The guide supports teachers in interpreting formative data to plan next instructional steps, such as reteaching, scaffolding, or enrichment. Additional digital tools for recording observations and feedback are available on the Carnegie Learning platform.

      • In Grade 10, Unit 2, Section 3: Building Knowledge, students participate in a group discussion where they establish their own perspective on love. This activity serves as a formative assessment within the program. The Teacher Edition provides teachers with guidance, including questions to consider as they score student work, an MLL language goal question, and three Responsive Teacher Move notes. Guidance for scoring states, “Did the student:

        • Refer to relevant evidence to support ideas?

        • Develop a logical plan for consensus-building?”

        • MLL Language Goal: “Did the student share their beliefs using opinion language?”

        The three Responsive Teacher Notes state,

        • “If students provide evidence that is not relevant to their perspective, ask them to reread their perspective and think of a personal experience that connects with it.

        • If groups cannot come up with a strategy for reaching a group consensus, have them try to work out a consensus without a strategy. If they succeed, have them write down a description of what they did. If they do not succeed, use the Responsive Teaching Move in Step 4.

        • If students need support to meet their language goal, provide them with an opportunity to practice with the Introduction Generator Anchor Strategy.”

  • Formative Assessment with a Rubric: This version utilizes a developmental progression rubric that aligns with grade-level standards, with performance levels ranging from Emerging to Exceeding Expectations. Teachers use the bolded language in each rubric row to determine where a student’s work falls on the continuum and what supports are needed for growth. Level 3 represents the benchmark for end-of-year proficiency, enabling teachers to plan instruction that moves students toward mastery.

    • In Grade 12, Unit 4, Section 4: Genre Study, students evaluate and analyze how Sir Ken Robinson develops his argument in “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” This activity serves as a formative assessment within the program. The Teacher Edition provides teachers with guidance, including a rubric to use to assess each student’s work and an MLL language goal question to consider as they score student work. The rubric includes two focus areas. One is “Analyze the Use of Rhetoric,” and the Other is “Cite Evidence to Support Analysis.” Each focus area includes four different scores on the scale, including Emergent, Approaches Expectations, Meets Expectations, and Exceeds Expectations. Each score for Analyze the Use of Rhetoric States, 

      • “1- Emergent: 

        • Discusses style/content* of the text with minimal connection to the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text

          OR

        • Inaccurately describes the style/content of the text

    • 2- Approaches Expectations:

      • Makes connections between style/content of the text and the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text

    • 3- Meets Expectations:

      • Accurately demonstrates how the style/content contributes to the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text

    • 4- Exceeds Expectations: 

      • Accurately demonstrates how specific instances of style/content work together to develop the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text

      *‘Style/content’ may be interpreted as ‘Style and content,’ ‘Style or content,’ or ‘Style and/or content’ depending on the text and the demands of the task.”

    Each score for Cite Evidence to Support Analysis states,

    • “1- Emergent: 

      • Identifies and cites textual evidence that is loosely related to inferences or analysis

    • 2- Approaches Expectations:

      • Identifies and cites relevant textual evidence to support inferences or analysis

    • 3- Meets Expectations:

      • Identifies and cites strong textual evidence to support inferences or analysis

    • 4- Exceeds Expectations: 

      • Identifies and cites strong textual evidence from across the text to support inferences or analysis.”

      The MLL language goal question teachers should consider as they score student work states, “Did the student evaluate an argument using evaluation language?”

The culminating/summative assessments in Lenses on Literature meet expectations for indicator 2v. Each unit in the Lenses on Literature program concludes with a culminating task in Section 6 of the “journey tracker,” serving as the unit’s summative assessment. These tasks require students to integrate multiple literacy skills—reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language—developed throughout the unit, with unit Seminars helping students synthesize ideas in preparation for writing. Units are backward-designed so the final product reflects the focus standards and skills taught, whether students are analyzing texts in Analysis Units or creating original pieces in Creative Units. Instruction leading up to the task is scaffolded through practice activities, mentor text analysis, and step-by-step guidance through the writing process. Teachers receive support for evaluating student work through genre- and grade-specific SCALE rubrics and the End-of-Unit Learning From Student Work Protocol, which outlines how to analyze student performance, calibrate scoring, and determine next instructional steps for student growth. 

• Culminating tasks/summative assessments are evident in each unit/module and align to the unit’s/module’s topic or theme. Culminating tasks/summative assessments provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the unit/module while integrating multiple literacy skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening).

  • In the Lenses on Literature program, the final writing product that students complete in Section 6 of each unit’s “journey tracker” serves as each unit’s culminating task. Before each unit starts, students preview the prompt for this task, which is considered each unit’s Driving Task Prompt. In Section 5 of each unit, students complete a Seminar activity in which they discuss some of the larger questions of the unit. This activity supports priming students for their written task in Section 6. In this sense, each unit’s Seminar serves as an additional, smaller culminating task throughout the program. Each unit is backward designed so that the Driving Task Prompt encompasses the focus standards that students learn and practice throughout the unit. During the completion of this task, students utilize various skills, including reading, writing, language, speaking, and listening. The finished product enables students to demonstrate the reading and writing skills they’ve acquired throughout the unit and the school year. Two unit types in the program dictate how the final writing product addresses reading and writing standards: Analysis Units and Creative Units. In Analysis Units, students must demonstrate their ability to interpret and analyze texts, apply evidence, and utilize their writing skills. In Creative Units, students focus on applying what they’ve learned to their own original writing products. As such, this final task is designed to allow students to practice and demonstrate their mastery of the focus skills and standards for each unit. 

    • In Grade 11, Unit 5, Section 6; Writing Process, students write a literary analysis to the Driving Task prompt “After reading ‘Lingua Franca’ [Anchor Text] by Carole McDonnell and personal narratives on belonging in America, write a comparative literary analysis in which you analyze how two authors use narrative elements and techniques to develop compelling accounts of the tension between assimilation and individuality. Support your analysis with evidence from both texts.” While completing this task, students utilize their reading and writing skills during the drafting, revising, and editing phases of the process. During the editing phase, students must exchange peer feedback and practice their speaking and listening skills. In the final task, students apply the knowledge and reading skills they have developed throughout the unit, drawing on multiple readings of the Anchor Text and other unit texts to deepen their understanding, while also demonstrating their writing skills.

• Materials provide opportunities to support students in gaining the knowledge and skills needed to complete the culminating tasks/summative assessments.

  • Students gain the knowledge and skills throughout each unit to complete culminating tasks. Additionally, the Seminar students engage in during Section 5 of each unit, prompts them to discuss the unit’s essential questions. This discussion primes student thinking for a successful writing product. 

    • The materials break down the Section 6 assignment into parts for each writing product, providing instruction and guidance on completing each component. Each writing product completed in Section 6 of each unit’s journey tracker is broken down into parts comprised of the writing process: planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Before students plan, they analyze a mentor text and the rubric on which their work will be evaluated.  For each component, materials include some instruction and guidance. To complete these longer assignments, students must utilize the information they have learned throughout the unit’s readings and apply the skills they’ve gained throughout the unit's assignments. 

      • In Grade 9, Unit 3, Section 6: Writing Process, students write a rhetorical analysis to the Driving Task prompt “After evaluating argumentative texts on the Civil Rights Movement, read ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and write a rhetorical analysis in which you analyze how Dr. King uses rhetoric to justify civil disobedience. Support your analysis with evidence from the text.” The task is broken down into parts. After analyzing the rubric and a model rhetorical analysis, students plan their thesis statements and body paragraphs. Next, students draft their body paragraphs. Then, they plan and later draft their introductions and conclusions. Afterward, students edit their drafts for sentence variety. Next, they participate in peer feedback. Then, students proofread their essays. Last, students reflect and submit their assignments. To complete this assignment, students must consider all the learning about justice and the rhetoric of persuasion they read and learned about throughout the unit. 

• Materials include guidance that supports the teacher in determining and evaluating student performance on the culminating tasks/summative assessments in the program. 

  • On the Carnegie Platform, teachers can find the Using Analytic Rubrics in Lenses of Literature document in the Teacher Resources section. The document explains how teachers can use analytic rubrics as instructional and assessment tools to evaluate student progress in reading and writing. Developed in collaboration with Stanford’s SCALE, these rubrics break complex literacy skills into clear, standards-based criteria across a four-point developmental scale, Emerging to Exceeds Expectations. The guide outlines how to interpret and apply rubric rows to both formative and summative tasks, emphasizing their use for giving targeted feedback, promoting student growth, and aligning instruction with standards. Teachers are encouraged to use rubric language in feedback, conduct writing conferences (if time allows) to help students set goals, and engage in collaborative scoring to calibrate expectations and plan next steps. The document highlights that analytic rubrics are not designed for assigning grades but for supporting consistent, evidence-based evaluation and instructional decision-making across classrooms.

  • Each unit’s final writing product includes a grade-level and genre-specific rubric that teachers should use to evaluate student performance. Rubrics for these tasks are designed as SCALE rubrics. These rubrics are analytic, developmental, and instructionally aligned. 

    • Analytical: “Each skill or standard is scored individually, making it easy to see where students are meeting expectations and where they need more support.” Developmental: “Each rubric row shows how a skill or standard progresses over time, giving [teachers] and [their] students a roadmap to progress.”

    • Instructionally Aligned: “[Teachers] will use the rubric rows throughout the unit—from quick writes to final products—so assessment becomes an ongoing part of instruction.” 

      • In Grade 10, Unit 5, Section 6: Writing Process, students write a synthesis essay to the Driving Task prompt “After reading ‘The Dog of Titwal' by Saada Hasan Manto and multiple texts on living during wartime, write a synthesis essay in which you analyze how characters develop and interact to demonstrate the impacts of war on the human experience.” The Carnegie Learning portal provides a rubric that teachers should use to score students' final products. The rubric includes five rubric rows: Analyze How Characters Contribute to Theme, Analyze the Development of Theme, Introduce a Controlling Idea and Maintain Focus, Supply Evidence, and Use Appropriate Language, Style, and Tone. Each rubric row is scored on a scale of 1 to 4, where 1 means emerging, 2 means approaches expectations, 3 means meets expectations, and 4 means exceeds expectations. 

  • At the end of each unit and under Teacher Planning Tools in the Teacher Resources section of the Carnegie Learning portal, teachers can find the End-of-Unit Learning from Student Work Protocol.  The document is a teacher-facing guide that outlines a five-step process for analyzing student writing at the end of a unit in the Lenses on Literature program. Teachers begin by reviewing the unit’s Driving Task Prompt and focus skills or standards to clarify what the assignment asks students to think about and demonstrate. Then, they analyze the unit rubric, examining how expectations progress across scoring levels and identifying rubric language that connects to unit standards. Next, teachers score student work using the rubric, discuss scoring decisions with colleagues, and compare results to ensure consistency. In later steps, teachers analyze patterns in student performance and use these insights to determine instructional next steps. The process concludes with a reflection on the effectiveness of instruction, alignment to standards, and plans for improving teaching and assessment in the next unit. 

    • While the steps for this process are clear, the guidance is generalized and not specific to each rubric. For step 3, score student work using the rubric, the guidance states, “Individually score a student work sample. Discuss with your team how you scored the student work, making sure to explicitly connect the student work to the specific criteria outlined in the rubric. If you have time, consider these options:

      • Repeat with additional student work samples and look for patterns.

      • Swap one of your scored student work samples with a colleague. Have them score the paper as well. Then, compare your scores to see your similarities and differences.”