The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 1g. 

Materials provide frequent speaking and listening opportunities for students, with some opportunities for teacher modeling of academic vocabulary and syntax; however, materials lack evidence of speaking and listening protocols. The activities engage students in the entire year’s scope of instructional materials such as Speaking and Listening within the extended learning activities of Collaborative Learning, Critical Literacy, Lifelong Learning and Media Literacy. Throughout the year, students engage in a wide variety of speaking and listening tasks, such as Critical Thinking Discussions during reading and Extend Understanding options after reading. Extend Understanding tasks are optional and include Collaborative Learning, Critical Literacy, Lifelong Learning, and Media Literacy opportunities in which students may engage in small group discussions, paired discussions, and debates that are assessed using provided rubrics. At the end of each unit, students may participate in a Speaking and Listening Workshop. Although these workshops include directions for each step of the speaking and listening task, as well as a rubric to assess Content, Delivery and Presentation, and listening skills, the workshops do not include protocols to support students’ developing speaking and listening skills.

Materials provide frequent opportunities for speaking and listening; however, speaking and listening opportunities do not include protocols. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Materials do not provide varied protocols to support students’ developing speaking and listening skills across the whole year’s scope of instructional materials.

  • In Unit 3, Looking Back, students give and actively listen to informative presentations during the End-of-Unit Speaking & Listening Workshop. The Workshop includes directions to guide students through each step of the project: Planning a Narrative, Evaluating a Narrative Presentation, and Delivering a Narrative Presentation. Although materials include directions for students to complete this Workshop, there is no evidence of protocols for students to conduct the speaking and listening task and develop their speaking and listening skills.

  • In Unit 4, Expanding Horizons, students read a paired selection comprised of “How to Use a Compass,” a how-to article by Kjetil Kjernsmo, and an Informational Text Connection piece, “Orienteering: The Thinking Sport,” an article by David LaRochelle. During the Collaborative Learning option in the Extend Understanding section, students work in small groups in order to learn about “orienteering meets near you.” First, students brainstorm a list of questions to ask, and then work together to find an orienteering expert to interview. Finally, students use their questions to interview an expert and share their findings with the class. There is no evidence of a specific protocol used to support students’ developing speaking and listening skills.

  • In Unit 6, Reaching Out, students read “Paul Revere’s Ride,” a narrative poem by Henry Wadsworth Lonfellow, paired with the Informational Text Connection piece, an excerpt from the biography, Paul Revere and the World He Lived In, by Esther Forbes. During the Critical Literacy Extend Understanding option, students present a dramatic reading to the class. Students work with a partner to practice reading the poem out loud. Then, students give each other feedback regarding “delivery, pacing, and inflection.” Finally, students present their dramatic reading to the class. There is no evidence of a specific protocol used to support students’ developing speaking and listening skills.

• Teacher guidance includes modeling of academic vocabulary and syntax during speaking and listening opportunities.

  • In Unit 2, Differing Perspectives, students read “Sweet Potato Pie” by Eugenia Collier. While reading, the teacher reminds students that “setting can also be revealed by how characters talk and behave. Ask them how the author uses cultural details to develop the setting.” Teachers then model a response by “indicating some cultural details such as the contrast in the way Charley and Buddy speak and the traditional Southern dinner that Bea serves.”

  • In Unit 5, Living with Words, students read the lyric poem, “Legacies” by Nikki Giovanni. During reading, the teacher points out “the direct quotations by both the grandmother and the girl,” illustrating how the “girl’s words yes and ma’am create a tone of friendly respect, and that the grandmother speaks her words ‘proudly.’”  The teacher then models syntax for students: “Model aloud how she might have spoken, pointing out how the diction (‘chu’) creates an informal tone.  Repeat with the girl’s ‘i don’t want…’ line, including her gesture (‘with her lips poked out’), and the grandmother’s final line.” Afterwards, the teacher facilitates a discussion on “how word choice and gestures help to create tone and develop meaning.” 

  • In Unit 7, Meeting Dangers, students read The Dying Detective, a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, dramatized by Michael and Mollie Hardwick. While reading, the teacher notes that the “stage directions describe the actions of each character,” pointing out “that each time a character is mentioned, his or her name is printed in capital letters.” The teacher asks students “why it is important that Watson come to the audience’s side of the bed, and models a possible response: “This way, the audience can see him better. If he sat on the other side of the bed, most of his body would be concealed from the audience.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 1h. 

Speaking and listening opportunities include teacher guidance for facilitating activities; however, materials do not include teacher guidance for monitoring student discussions. Occasionally, speaking and listening guidance includes possible questions the teacher may model for students; however, materials do not include instructional support, such as prompts or sentence starters, to serve as entry points for students who may have difficulty starting or engaging in conversations.

Materials include ample speaking and listening opportunities. Teaching Notes often require students to generate questions to ask the author. Students also engage in discussions as they perform close reads of texts and respond to Analyze Literature prompts. Where appropriate, texts also include Speaking & Listening Skills activities for students to complete during close reads; however, the Close Read section may not occur during core instruction, as it is listed as one of many options from which the teacher may choose to enact. At the launch of each lesson, materials frame the Mirrors & Windows question that students will discuss at the end of each text. Each text also includes opportunities for students to make text-to-self connections as they reflect on and discuss Make Connections questions. Paired selections include a Text to Text Connection prompt for students to discuss. At times, the Extend Understanding section includes speaking and listening task options; however, because implementing these activities is left to teacher choice, these activities may not occur during core instruction. While materials also include a Speaking & Listening Workshop at the end of each unit, these workshops are not part of core instruction.

Materials support students’ listening and speaking about what they are reading and researching (including presentation opportunities); however, materials lack relevant follow-up questions and support. Because there is no core instructional path, students may not have access to all of the opportunities provided in the materials. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Speaking and listening instruction includes some facilitation, monitoring, and instructional support for teachers.

  • In Unit 1, Finding Ourselves, during a reading of “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” by Ray Bradbury, students participate in a Speaking & Listening Skills activity focused on interpersonal communication.  

  • In Unit 2, Differing Perspectives, students read the short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe. During an Extend Understanding activity, students work collaboratively to hold a mock trial for the narrator. Students choose peers to take on various court roles and to present evidence for and against the narrator. Assigned jury members “vote at the end of the trial to find the narrator innocent or guilty.” Materials do not include teacher guidance on monitoring student discussions or instructional support for students who may be having difficulty starting or engaging in conversations. Additionally, the Extend Understanding section of the materials includes options from which the teacher selects; as a result, all students may not engage in this activity.  

  • In Unit 5, Living with Words, students read “Pretty Words,” a lyric poem by Elinor Wylie. In the Speaking and Listening Skills section, students work on recitation skills, as the teacher instructs students on what type of skills are used when presenting a poem. The teacher then models reading poems while encouraging students to use effective listening skills such as, “The speaker should read slowly and clearly, using appropriate tones of voice to express not only the words but the underlying tone and mode.” Then, teachers call on volunteers to read other poems or song lyrics aloud. Materials do not include teacher guidance on monitoring student discussions or instructional support for students who may be having difficulty starting or engaging in conversations. Additionally, this Speaking & Listening Skills activity may not occur during core instruction, as it is a supplemental activity embedded within the Close Read portion of the materials.

• Students have multiple opportunities over the school year to demonstrate what they are reading through varied speaking and listening opportunities.

  • In Unit 3, Looking Back, students read a biography, Ishi in Two Worlds, written by Theodora Kroeber. Students complete the following Speaking & LIstening Skills activity: In groups of four or five, students prepare for a panel discussion, considering if “a person like Ishi should be protected and studied like he was at the museum or encouraged to live his life freely, no matter the cost.” Groups take turns sharing out in their respective speaking and listening roles while using correct grammar and sentence structures to portray their views. This Speaking & Listening Skills activity may not occur during core instruction, as it is a supplemental activity embedded within the Close Read portion of the materials.

  • In Unit 4, Expanding Horizons, students read the article, “On the Relativity of Time,” by Wolfgang F. Pauli. During an Extend Understanding activity, students work collaboratively to plan and prepare a dramatic reading of the informational article. Students should use “nonverbal cues, synonyms, and circumlocution to convey ideas when they do not know the exact words to use.”  Students also provide feedback on each performance. The Extend Understanding section of the materials includes options from which the teacher selects; as a result, all students may not engage in this activity.

  • In Unit 6, Reaching Out, students read “Bats,” a narrative poem by Randall Jarrell and “The Bat,” a lyric poem by Theodore Roethke. Students use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the two poems during the Text to Text Connection. Students “explain how the two speakers’ attitudes toward bats differ” and discuss which attitude is more like their own.   

  • In Unit 8, Recalling Heroes, students read “Blackbeard's Last Fight,” a legend written by Richard Walser. In the Launch the Lesson section, guidance instructs the teacher to write the word CRIMINAL on the board. Students “discuss what they think a criminal is and if pirates fall in this category.”

• Speaking and listening work requires students to utilize, apply, and incorporate evidence from texts and/or sources.

  • In Unit 1, Finding Ourselves, students “deliver an oral summary of a short story” during the Speaking & Listening Workshop at the end of the unit. Students select a story they feel strongly about and use the story along with note cards to outline the main ideas of the text. Students then determine their audience and use that determination to decide whether they need to include background information in their oral summary. Speaking & Listening Workshops do not appear to be a part of core instruction but may be used to extend students’ speaking and listening skills.

  • In Unit 4, Expanding Horizons, students read “Counting Coup on a Wounded Buffalo,” a memoir by Chief Plenty-Coups. In the Critical Literacy activity of the Extend Understanding section, students hold a panel discussion about the relationships between Plains Indians and the buffalo. Students discuss the following question: “What were the most important elements of this relationship?” The teacher reminds students, “As you state your opinions, support your claims with evidence from the selection.” The Extend Understanding section of the materials includes options from which the teacher selects; as a result, all students may not engage in this activity.

  • In Unit 5, Living with Words, students read a paired selection containing the lyric poems, “Dreams” and “A Dream Deferred,” both by Langston Hughes. During the Text to Text Connection, students examine the similarities and differences they notice when comparing the two texts, using evidence from both poems to support their answers.

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 1i.

Materials include on-demand writing tasks during differentiated reading lessons, extension lessons, and writing skills. On-demand writing opportunities also occur in the Extend Understanding section at the end of each text or paired selection. The Extend Understanding section includes two writing options: a creative option and/or an informative, descriptive, or argumentative option. Although the Program Planning Guide includes lesson plans for each text, materials state that the teacher must “[identify] the resources that are best suited to your particular situation.” The Lesson Plan directs teachers to “[c]hoose from the following materials” or “[c]hoose from the following resources.” As a result, there is no explicit core instructional path. Materials embed additional writing practice in the margins of the Teach the Model section of texts within each unit and there is also a wealth of ancillary materials, such as Writing and Grammar and Language Arts Handbook  to support core writing instruction. Materials utilize digital resources, such as an eBook and eReaders, where appropriate. 

Materials include a mix of on-demand and process writing that covers a year’s worth of instruction; however, since there is no explicit core path, students may not have access to every opportunity provided in the materials. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Materials include on-demand writing opportunities that cover a year’s worth of instruction.

  • In Unit 2, Differing Perspectives, students read “The Story of Iqbal Masih” by David L. Parker. During a Writing Skills activity, students focus on persuasive appeals. Students compose a petition based on a chosen issue or topic that can be argued or debated then exchange their petitions with a peer to check for clarity. This Writing Skills task occurs during the Close Read portion of the lesson plan and may not occur during core instruction.

  • In Unit 5, Living with Words, students read “Night Clouds” by Amy Lowell, and write a journal entry in response to the following Mirrors & Windows prompt: “When have you compared two completely different things? What can such comparisons add to a person’s experience?” 

  • In Unit 8, Recalling Heroes, after reading “Legend of the Feathered Serpent,” an Aztec legend by Antonio Hernández Madrigal, students may write a lyric poem to honor the god, Xochipilli. This writing opportunity is one of two writing options in the Extend Understanding section and may not occur during core instruction.     

• Materials include process writing opportunities that cover a year’s worth of instruction. Opportunities for students to revise and edit are provided.

  • In Unit 1, Finding Ourselves, students complete a Writing Workshop during which they respond to a short story. Students move through each of the five steps of the writing process, with steps three and four being Revise and Edit. Materials include individual directions for revising as well as a peer editing checklist for revising. The Teacher’s Edition also directs teachers to a Proofreader’s Symbols guide in the Language Arts Handbook. 

  • In Unit 3, Looking Back, students “examine a cause-and-effect relationship in one of the selections from the unit” during the Writing Workshop at the end of the unit. Students choose their topic, gather details, distinguish between simple and complex cause and effects, and create their thesis statement during the Prewrite stage of the writing process. During the Draft stage, students select an organizational pattern for their essay, create an outline for each section of their essay, and use specific details to elaborate on and explain the cause and effects they are trying to prove. Students use a Revising Checklist, as well as a peer review, to evaluate their work during the Revise step. As students edit their work, the focus on transitions and their use of commonly confused words. During proofreading, students check for quality control as they correct grammar and punctuation errors. Students then publish and present their final draft. 

  • In Unit 8, Recalling Heroes, students complete an informative writing workshop to compose a research report.  Students follow the five-step writing process which includes prewriting, drafting, revising,  editing and proofreading their short stories, and publishing and presenting their work. 

• Materials include digital resources where appropriate. 

  • In Unit 3, Looking Back, students have the option to use an eBook as they read through the texts. Within the eBook is an option to complete on-demand writing responses within the texts in their eWorkbooks.

  • In Unit 8, Recalling Heroes, students read “Gatored Community” by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson in the multiplatform Student ebook. In this eReader selection, students have the opportunity to use digital resources when accessing the Passport Tools in the audio and media libraries. Students use a digital interactive graphic organizer to analyze text organization during reading.    

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 1j. 

Materials provide some opportunities for students to learn, practice, and apply different writing modes during, on-demand, and longer process writing tasks across the school year. End-of-Unit Writing Workshops are the sole source of explicit argumentative, informative, and narrative writing instruction and process writing tasks. Materials include writing practice opportunities during the embedded Writing Skills lessons found within each unit; however, these lessons are a part of the Close Read lesson, one of the activities from which teachers may select. As a result, these lessons may not occur during core instruction. Materials include some on-demand writing opportunities during select after-reading Analyze Literature and Extend Understanding tasks; however, there are four Extend Understanding tasks from which the teacher may choose. As a result, writing tasks may not occur during core instruction. Although Test Practice Workshops also serve as on-demand writing opportunities, these Workshops are not a part of core instruction. 

Materials provide some opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:  

• Materials provide some opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply different genres/modes/types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards. 

  • Materials include the following Writing Workshops— four informative, one argumentative, one descriptive, two narrative—resulting in an uneven distribution of explicit instruction on the writing modes required by the standards.

    • In Unit 1, Finding Ourselves, students learn how to respond to a short story during the end-of-unit informative Writing Workshop. The teacher guides students with narrowing their topic, gathering details, and deciding their thesis during the Prewrite stage. As students draft their stories, they select an organizational pattern and focus on their tone and audience as they work on drafting their response. As students revise their work, they use a Revising Checklist to evaluate their work, including whether the introduction captures the reader’s attention and whether the main ideas are “supported with specific details and examples.” Students focus on varying their sentences and proofreading commonly confused words before submitting a clean copy of their final draft. Materials provide three more opportunities for students to learn, practice, and apply informative writing—when crafting a cause-and-effect essay during the Unit 3 Writing Workshop, when writing a compare-and-contrast essay during the Unit 5 Writing Workshop, and when writing a research report during the Unit 8 Writing Workshop. 

    • In Unit 2, Differing Perspectives, students learn how to write a short story during the End-of-Unit Narrative Writing Workshop. Explicit instruction supports students with ensuring their work contains “complex and believable characters, a detailed setting, a logically organized plot that includes a conflict, rising action, climax, and resolution, a consistent point of view and writing style, [and] colorful language and precise word choice.” Materials provide one more opportunity for students to learn, practice, and apply narrative writing—when composing a narrative essay during the Unit 6 Writing Workshop. 

    • In Unit 7, Meeting Dangers, students learn how to write an argumentative essay during the End-of-Unit Argumentative Writing Workshop. During the Prewrite stage, students choose their topic, identify their position in their thesis statement, and learn about the two kinds of evidence, logical appeals and emotional appeals, used in argumentative essays. As students draft their essays, students learn about organizational patterns and addressing counterarguments. During the Revise stage, students use a Revising Checklist to evaluate their introduction, thesis, and organizational pattern. Students also ensure their points are supported with evidence. As students edit and proofread their essays, they focus on their use of rhetorical devices and conjunctions. After conducting a quality control proofread, students submit their final draft to the teacher. Although core materials do not provide further opportunities for students to learn and apply argumentative writing, students do have opportunities to practice argumentative writing during optional activities, such as on-demand Extend Understanding writing tasks and End-of-Unit Test Practice Workshops. 

• Different genres/modes/types of writing are distributed throughout the school year; however, there is no core instructional path. Writing opportunities may not occur during core instruction. 

  • Students have opportunities to engage in argumentative writing. 

    • In Unit 2, Differing Perspectives, after reading “The Tell-Tale Heart,” a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, materials ask students to “[w]rite a brief statement of opinion in which you agree or disagree with [the poet Walt] Whitman’s evaluation of Poe.” Students must provide support for their opinion. This Extend Understanding task is one of four options from which the teacher may choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

    • In Unit 4, Expanding Horizons, students read “Obi-Wan Kenobi: Jedi Knight,” an entry from Star Wars Episode 1: The Visual Dictionary by Dr. David West Reynolds. Students also read a supporting informational article by Dr. Reynolds, “Industrial Light & Magic, Part 1: History.” Afterwards, students respond to the following Text to Text Connection prompt: “In the article, Dr. Reynolds says that the goal of ‘Industrial Light & Magic’ is ‘...to make the impossible, quite simply, come true.’ Given what you learned in the visual dictionary entry, would you say that goal was accomplished? How do special effects add to the moviegoer’s experience? Support your response with textual evidence.” 

    • In Unit 7, Meeting Dangers, students read an excerpt from A Woman Called Truth by Sandy Asher and write an argumentative essay during the Test Practice Workshop. The assignment directions are as follows: “Write an argumentative essay in which you state and support a thesis about whether the laws of the nation apply equally to everyone. Include persuasive techniques and rhetorical devices, as well as counterarguments.” This timed writing task is optional and may not occur during core instruction.  

  • Students have opportunities to engage in informative/explanatory writing. 

    • In Unit 1, Finding Ourselves, after reading “Last Night,” a short story by Fae Myenne Ng, students “[w]rite a newspaper article telling the story of what happened,” answering who, what, when, where, and how or why questions in the process. This Extend Understanding task is one of four options from which the teacher may choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

    • In Unit 3, Looking Back, students read a paired selection containing an excerpt from Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad, a biography by Ann Petry, and an excerpt from “Our Struggle Is Against All Forms of Racism,” a speech by Nelson Mandela. Afterwards, students “[w]rite a brief essay in which you analyze Nelson Mandela’s choice of words, phrases, and literary devices” and “explain how these choices help him appeal to his audience,” using examples from Mandela’s speech to support their ideas. This Extend Understanding task is one of four options from which the teacher may choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

    • In Unit 4, Expanding Horizons, after reading “Indian Cattle,” an informational text by Eugene Rachlis, students use the text as well as the library as sources to “write an informative paragraph explaining the relationship between the Plains Indians and the buffalo.” This Extend Understanding task is one of four options from which the teacher may choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

  • Students have opportunities to engage in narrative writing. 

    • In Unit 1, Finding Ourselves, students read “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh,” a short story by Ray Bradbury. Afterwards, students write a narrative paragraph in which they “[e]xtend the events described in” the text. This Extend Understanding task is one of four options from which the teacher may choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

    • In Unit 3, Looking Back, after reading an excerpt from “Epiphany: The Third Gift,” a memoir by Lucha Corpi, students use precise and vivid language to “[w]rite a brief narrative from the perspective of either Lucha’s mother or father about the doll hanging incident.” This Extend Understanding task is one of four options from which the teacher may choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

    • In Unit 6, Reaching Out, students write a narrative essay based on May Swenson’s lyric poem, “Southbound on the Freeway,” during the Test Practice Workshop. Students reflect on a time when they “felt like an alien in unfamiliar surroundings” or “misunderstood [their] surroundings or the actions of strangers” before responding to the following prompt: “Relate a story from your own life that describes what it is like to be in unfamiliar surroundings or a situation you’ve never before experienced.” This timed writing task is optional and may not occur during core instruction. 

• Where appropriate, writing opportunities are connected to texts and/or text sets (either as prompts, models, anchors, or supports).

  • In Unit 5, Living with Words, students read ”Ceremony ” by Leslie Mamon Silko. Students review the poem for the use of metaphor. Students review what a metaphor is and then use a chart to analyze the use of metaphor throughout the poem. 

  • In Unit 6, Reaching Out, students read “Bats” by Randall Jarrell. After reading, students write a literary response where they “analyze the tone of ‘Bats.’” Students identify the tone, support their view with details, and answer reflective questions. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 1k. 

Materials provide practice and application opportunities for evidence-based writing but lack explicit evidence-based writing instruction with the exception of some Writing Workshop tasks. The Making Meaning, Analyze Literature, and After Reading sections provide students with some opportunities to carefully analyze closely read texts. Materials include End-of-Unit Writing Workshops and Test Practice pieces that sometimes require students to support their analyses and defend their claims, but these opportunities do not occur consistently. Throughout daily material, students do not engage in evidence-based writing. Students work on things such as sensory descriptions or continuity in point-of-view, but these exercises do not require students to cite evidence from texts they read nor are they required core instructional activities. Students may complete a timed writing task, during which they read a short selection and then write in response to a prompt that requires them to utilize evidence from the text. While materials provide opportunities such as timed writing tasks and Test Practice Workshops, these are not required activities within the curriculum as noted in the Program Planning Guide: “To help you meet the diverse needs of your students, the Mirrors & Windows program offers a wealth of materials-much more than you can teach in one school year. As a result, one challenge you will face is identifying the resources that are best suited to your particular situation.” The Lesson Plan directs teachers to “[c]hoose from the following materials” or “[c]hoose from the following resources.” As a result, there is no explicit core instructional path.

Materials include frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information; however, since there is no core instructional path, students may not have access to all of the opportunities provided in the materials. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Materials provide limited opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply writing using evidence.

  • In Unit 1, Finding Ourselves, students respond to a short story using paraphrased and quoted textual evidence to support their main ideas during the End-of-Unit Writing Workshop. During the Prewrite stage, students freewrite to gather ideas and then organize their ideas into content that can be used to build a response. During the Draft stage, students decide on an organizational pattern for their writing. Students then create an outline illustrating how they will transition their response from the introduction to the conclusion. Guidance includes the following: “In the supporting sentences of each paragraph, give evidence from the text to support your main idea. Evidence from the story should include examples, direct quotes, and paraphrased material.” While this Workshop includes practice, it does not include explicit instruction on standards-aligned, evidence-based writing.

  • In Unit 2, Differing Perspectives, students read “Men on the Moon,” a short story by Simon Ortiz. In the Writing Skills section of the text, the teacher reviews the criteria for the upcoming Extend Understanding: Informative Writing option. Materials do not include explicit instruction on textual evidence and the lesson plan lists the Close Read portion of the lesson as a resource from which teachers may select during reading. In lieu of explicit instruction, the teacher suggests students “make a chart to keep track of information about the characters, setting, and plot” and “write down examples of each element from the story as well as the page numbers where they found the information.” After directing students to state the theme in the beginning of the first paragraph of their essay, the teacher also reminds students to “use the examples from their list as textual evidence to support the theme.” 

  • In Unit 3, Looking Back, students use paraphrased or quoted textual evidence as they learn how to write a cause-and-effect essay. During the Prewrite phase, students choose their topic and gather details, “identify[ing] the event or outcome [they] want to analyze and at least three causes or effects.” Students determine whether they want to focus on the reasons for or the results of the event and select one of three ways to analyze the cause-and-effect relationship. Guidance instructs students to “look for details to support their descriptions of causes and effects'' during subsequent readings. As students draft their essay, instructions on making connections include the following: “When you discuss your causes and effects, give specific details to support the relationship you are trying to prove between causes and effects. Then explain how the details support your claim about a cause-and-effect relationship.” While this Workshop includes practice, it does not include explicit instruction on standards-aligned, evidence-based writing.

  • In Unit 4, Expanding Horizons, students read “Indian Cattle'' by Eugene Rachlis. During the Informative Writing option in the Extend Understanding section, students “write an informative paragraph explaining the relationship between the Plains Indians and the buffalo.” Although students must “[i]nclude a thesis statement as well as supporting paraphrases, direct quotations, and summaries of their research, the text selection does not contain explicit instruction on writing informative paragraphs.   

  • In Unit 7, Meeting Dangers, during the End-of-Unit Writing Workshop, students learn how to write an argumentative essay to persuade the reader to agree with an idea or to take action. During the Prewrite stage, students learn about logical appeals and emotional appeals, as they gather evidence to support their position. Students collect both kinds of evidence, ensuring that their evidence is “relevant, reliable, credible, unbiased, and contains sound reasoning.” As students work on their drafts, they learn how to “[a]nticipate potential counterarguments, or opposing views, and [how to] respond to them in a way that strengthens [their] argument.” Guidance directs students to “[u]se facts and details to show why [their] position should be viewed as the correct one,” while also keeping their audience and tone in mind. Students should also “[a]ddress the counterargument in [their] topic sentence and show its weaknesses through facts, details, and examples.” While this Workshop includes practice, it does not include explicit instruction on standards-aligned, evidence-based writing.

• Writing opportunities are focused around students’ analyses and claims developed from reading closely and working with texts and sources to provide supporting evidence.

  • In Unit 2, Differing Perspectives, students construct a literary response during the Test Practice Workshop. Students refer back to the short story, “Luke Baldwin’s Vow,” by Morley Callaghan, as they respond to a decision made by the uncle in the story and take a stance on whether they agree or disagree with the decision and the importance of tradition and of ritual. Students must include “evidence from the story, including direct quotations, in support of your position.”

  • In Unit 5, Living with Words, students read the lyric poem, “Pretty Words,” by Elinor Wylie. Students write a literary analysis using examples from the poem to support their response to the following prompt: “Write an analysis of the extended metaphor in this poem.” Students continue to apply the skill of using text evidence to support writing during the Test Practice Workshop. Students write an on-demand, timed essay in which they compare and contrast the poems, “At the Library” by Nikki Grimes, and “The First Book” by Rita Dove.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 1l. 

Materials include limited explicit instruction of grade-level grammar and usage. Materials miss opportunities to address many standards or address standards that are included in a subsequent grade level. There are limited opportunities for students to apply grammar and usage standards in context, such as student writing. Practice opportunities are oftentimes absent in the grade under review but are sometimes provided in subsequent grades. 

Materials include limited explicit instruction of the grade-level grammar and usage standards, with opportunities for authentic application in context. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Students have opportunities to explain the function of verbals (gerunds, participles, infinitives) in general and their function in particular sentences.

  • In Unit 3, Looking Back, students read the memoir, “Epiphany: The Third Gift,” by Lucha Corpi. Students receive explicit instruction on prepositional and participial phrases during the Grammar & Style lesson. Students practice the skill underlining the prepositional and participial phrases in sentences and then identifying “the function of each phrase and the word that it modifies.” Students apply this skill when composing a cause-and-effect essay during the End-of-Unit Writing Workshop. During the Edit and Proofread stage, students check their work for the use of transitions, which may include prepositional words and phrases, to show cause and effect relationships. Grammar & Style lessons are listed as an option from which teachers select in the Teach the Workshop(s) section of the Lesson Plan. As a result, this lesson may not occur during core instruction.   

• Students have opportunities to form and use verbs in the active and passive voice.

  • In Unit 2, Differing Perspectives, during the Writing Skills: Active Voice activity, students learn how to use active voice in narrative writing to create stronger, more exciting writing and clarify who is performing an action. Students then practice changing sentences from passive to active voice. Although students receive explicit instruction, there is not an opportunity for application of the skill in context.

  • In Unit 5, Living with Words, students write a compare and contrast essay during the End-of-Unit Writing Workshop. Students focus on passive and active voice during the Edit and Proofread step of the writing process as they “look over [their] writing and try to rewrite passive sentences so that they are in active voice.” While students have the opportunity to practice recognizing active and passive voice, no evidence of explicit instruction of active and passive voice was found. 

• Students have opportunities to form and use verbs in the indicative, imperative, interrogative, conditional, and subjunctive mood.

  • No evidence found 

• Students have opportunities to recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb voice and mood.

  • No evidence found 

• Students have opportunities to use punctuation (comma, ellipsis, dash) to indicate a pause or break.

  • In Unit 2, Differing Perspectives, during the Grammar & Style: Comma Use lesson, students learn how to use commas in compound sentences and in a series. During the Sentence Improvement activity, students select the response that indicates the best sentence revision. Although students receive explicit instruction, there is not an opportunity for application of the skill in context. Grammar & Style lessons are listed as an option from which teachers select in the Teach the Workshop(s) section of the Lesson Plan. As a result, this lesson may not occur during core instruction.

  • In Unit 3, Looking Back, students read a paired text selection that includes the argumentative essay, “Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in a Cynical Time,” by Paul Rogat Loeb and the lyric poem, “I Was Born at the Wrong Time,” by Angela Shelf Medearis. Students receive explicit instruction on using dashes, semicolons, and colons. Then, students practice using these forms of punctuation by rewriting sentences and correcting the punctuation where needed. Students apply these skills as they write a cause-and-effect essay during the End-of-Unit Writing Workshop. While proofreading, students look for and correct mistakes in punctuation, “including the use of colons, semicolons, and dashes.” 

• Students have opportunities to use an ellipsis to indicate an omission.

  • In Unit 7, Meeting Dangers, students read the drama, The Diary of Anne Frank, by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. Students receive explicit instruction on using ellipses to indicate an omission or pause. Students then “find three examples in the play of the use of ellipses to indicate pauses or unfinished statements. Then have students quote a passage in the play, omitting some material and using ellipses to indicate the omission.” Although students receive explicit instruction, there is not an opportunity for application of the skill in context.

• Students have opportunities to spell correctly.

  • In Unit 1, Finding Ourselves, students respond to a short story of their choosing during the End-of-Unit Writing Workshop. During the Edit and Proofread stage, guidance directs students to “set aside a last step in which you check your essay for errors in grammar, such as subject-verb agreement and pronoun-antecedent agreement, punctuation, and spelling.” 

• Students have opportunities to use verbs in the active and passive voice and in the conditional and subjunctive mood to achieve particular effects (e.g., emphasizing the actor or the action, expressing uncertainty, or describing a state contrary to fact).

  • No evidence found

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 1m. 

Although the Teacher Edition outlines the program’s vocabulary components, neither the Teacher Edition nor the Program Guide outline the program’s plan for vocabulary development or provide teacher guidance to support students’ vocabulary development. At the start of each unit, materials include a Building Vocabulary list, which contains the following categories of vocabulary terms: Preview Vocabulary, Selection Words, Academic Vocabulary, and Key Terms. Words listed as Preview Vocabulary are taken from sentences within selections and are defined in the side margin or at the bottom of the pages where they appear. Words listed as Selection Words are additional words from the reading that may be challenging, but are not central to the selection. These are Tier One words that can easily be understood by using context clues. Words listed as Academic Vocabulary are words that are used in the directions about the lessons. These are Tier Two words that explain what students should focus on, help establish context, clarify meaning of literary terms, and define goals or instructional purpose. Words that are listed as Key Terms are domain-specific Tier Three words. The repetition of these words throughout the program helps to ensure student mastery. While vocabulary words repeat in contexts and across texts, materials miss opportunities to build students’ vocabulary development of Tier One and Tier Two words.

Materials include a cohesive year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Materials include opportunities for students to interact with key academic vocabulary words in and across texts; however, the year-long vocabulary plan lacks cohesion.

  • The Teacher Edition outlines the Integrated Literacy and Language Resources provided: “Vocabulary & Spelling: Comprehensive developmental Vocabulary and Spelling lessons build word study skills. In-depth instruction is modeled using words from the selections in each unit.” The Teacher Edition also includes specific explanations of the Vocabulary & Spelling Workshop: “Word Knowledge: Concise vocabulary and spelling lessons are integrated with two of the literature selections in each unit. The lessons incorporate vocabulary words from the preceding selection. Each lesson contains instruction, followed by practice exercises.” While materials provide explanations of the program’s vocabulary development component, materials do not include teacher guidance for enacting students’ vocabulary development.  

• Vocabulary is repeated in contexts (before texts, in texts) and across multiple texts; however, it is unclear how materials build students’ vocabulary development of Tier One and Tier Two words during core instruction.

  • In Unit 1, Finding Ourselves, students read “Charles” by Shirley Jackson. In the Build Background section, students encounter the Tier Two word context. Materials use the word context during two section headers in the Build Background section: Literary Context and Reader’s Context. Later in the unit’s Test Practice Workshop Reading Skills section, materials use the word context used in several of the questions students answer, including, but not limited to, “ Based on the context, which of the following is the best definition for the word strange in line 11?” Materials do not identify or define the word context in either setting. 

  • In Unit 3, Looking Back, students read an excerpt from the autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou. During the Meet the Author section, materials use the Tier Two word excerpt: “She spent much of her childhood with her grandmother in rural Stamps, Arkansas, which is the setting for the excerpt.” In Unit 5, Living with Words, the word excerpt is used to explain simile on the Understanding Imagery and Figurative Language: “For example, in the excerpt to the right, Rivera writes that the chirps ‘rise like tiny bells.’” Materials do not identify or define the word excerpt in either selection. 

• Attention is paid to vocabulary essential to understanding the text and to high-value academic words (e.g., words that might appear in other contexts/content areas). 

  • At the start of each unit, materials contain a Building Vocabulary page: “The lists below identify the Words in use, Academic Vocabulary, and Key Terms within this unit. These words are listed at the bottom of the Teacher’s Edition pages at the beginning of each lesson. Vocabulary development activities are provided in the Unit Selection Resources unit book and in the Vocabulary & Spelling resource.” Materials do not include teacher guidance on how to use the Building Vocabulary words to build students’ vocabulary development. Words from the Building Vocabulary list are not consistently addressed in the embedded Vocabulary & Spelling Workshop.

  • The Building Vocabulary page contains the following word categories: 

    • Preview Vocabulary: “words taken from the sentences within each selection. These words are defined in the side margin or at the bottom of the pages on which they appear. The ‘Preview Vocabulary’ section introduces these words in the Before Reading page preceding each selection (Tier One Words).”

    • Selection Words: “additional words from the reading that may be challenging, but are not central to the selection and are not identified in the pre reading section. These words can easily be learned using the story context, and they provide excellent practice for using content clues to find meaning without explicit instruction (Tier One Words).” 

    • Academic Vocabulary: “words that are used in the directions about the lessons. Academic vocabulary words explain to students what to focus on within the selection, help establish the story context, clarify the meaning of literary terms, and define the goals or instructional purpose (Tier Two Words).”

    • Key Terms: “commonly referred to as domain-specific words. These terms appear in the instructional material to teach the terminology that students need to acquire to understand literature. The repetition of the terms throughout the program ensures student mastery and provides a solid foundation for the continuing study of literature and language arts (Tier Three Words).”

• Materials provide limited support for students to accelerate vocabulary learning with vocabulary in their reading, speaking, and writing tasks.

  • In Unit 6, Reaching Out, Academic Vocabulary terms, such as memorable, interacting, facial, and courteous, occur throughout the end-of-unit Speaking & Listening Workshop. These words, amongst other vocabulary terms, are peppered throughout the directions and reminders for students, woven in to allow students practice with utilizing the words as part of their normal vocabulary.

  • In Unit 7, Meeting Dangers, students read the screenplay, “Sorry, Right Number” by Stephen King. The text overview page for the selection previews Tier I vocabulary; however, materials do not define the terms. Materials utilize Tier III words, such as foreshadow, plot, and thesis statement, as students write a short essay to “analyze how the character’s interactions foreshadow events in the plot.”