7th Grade - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2a.

Materials include texts that are organized by a genre and a theme. Although texts are organized by genre and theme, it is unclear how the texts build students’ knowledge of the theme. Each unit begins with a unit opener that “introduces the genre and connects students to the literature,” includes a “thought-provoking quote [that] gives insight into literature,” features “fine art and photographs [that] connect with the unit theme,” and introduces “essential questions related to the unit theme [that] generate interest and set the stage for learning.” The opening pages of each unit provide an introduction to the unit’s genre of focus. Most text selections also include a Mirrors & Windows theme. Students make text-to-self connections to this sub-theme when responding to Mirrors & Windows questions at the start and conclusion of texts read. It is unclear how the Mirrors & Windows theme connects to the unit theme and builds students’ knowledge.

Texts are not organized around a cohesive topic/theme to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Texts are connected by a grade-appropriate cohesive topic/theme/line of inquiry. Texts miss opportunities to build knowledge, vocabulary, and the ability to read and comprehend complex texts across a school year.

  • In Unit 1, Meeting the Unexpected, students explore the fiction genre and the theme, “Meeting the Unexpected” as they seek answers to the following essential question: “What can we learn from unexpected experiences?” As students read the unit texts, framing suggests they “imagine how [they] might feel if confronted with the unusual, unexplainable, or surprising events that [the short stories] describe.” The short story, “A Day’s Wait,” by Ernest Hemingway, serves as the anchor text for this unit. Students also explore other literary selections such as “The 11:59” by Patricia McKissacky, “The Portrait” by Tomás Rivera, “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” by Rudyard Kipling, and “Uncle Tony’s Goat” by Leslie Marmon Silko. Where appropriate, materials pair literary selections with informational texts, such as “Mars Climate Orbiter Team Finds Likely Cause of Loss” by  National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) and “The Aqualung” by David Macaulay, to “add relevance to the literature selections by providing students with background information and context, and by helping them see relationships between literature, informational texts, and primary source materials.” Materials do not revisit the unit theme or essential question during the Introduction to the unit genre, embedded Close Reading questions, and Extend Understanding tasks. As a result, it is unclear how students build knowledge of the theme.

  • In Unit 4, Responding to Nature, while exploring the theme, “Responding to Nature,” students continue their nonfiction genre study from the previous unit. While reading and exploring the unit texts and visuals, students seek to answer the essential question, “How can words describe the awe of nature?”, and “examine how authors and artists present their information.” The anchor text for this unit is the essay, “Ships in the Desert” by Al Gore. Students also explore informational selections such as an entry from The Sibley Guide to Birds by David Allen Sibley, “I Am a Native of North America” by Chief Dan George, “Mute Dancers: How to Watch a Hummingbird” by Diane Ackerman, “The Face of the Deep is Frozen” by Jennifer Armstrong, “Hmong Storycloth” by Mee Vang, and “”Death in the Open” by Lewis Thomas. Materials do not revisit the unit theme or essential question during the Introduction to the unit genre, embedded Close Reading questions, and Extend Understanding tasks. As a result, it is unclear how students build knowledge of the theme.

  • In Unit 6, Searching Beneath the Surface, students continue their focus on poetry from the previous unit. Students explore the theme, “Searching Beneath the Surface” and the essential question, “How can language express deeper meaning?” While reading the various unit text selections, students “use [their] skills to find the meanings that lie just beneath the surface.” The lyric poem, “Name Giveaway” by Phil George, serves as the anchor text for this unit. Students also read other poems such as “Once by the Pacific” by Robert Frost, “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Lost Parrot” by Naomi Shihab Nye, and “I’m Nobody” by Emily Dickinson. Materials do not revisit the unit theme or essential question during the Introduction to the unit genre, embedded Close Reading questions, and Extend Understanding tasks. As a result, it is unclear how students build knowledge of the theme.

  • In Unit 7, Facing Challenges, students delve into the drama genre as they investigate the theme, “Facing Challenges'' and the essential question, “What have you learned by facing a challenge?” Throughout the unit readings, students ``consider how the characters face and resolve conflicts” and think about how they can relate the characters’ struggles to their own lives. The anchor text for this unit is the drama A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley by Israel Horowitz. Students also read other drama selections, such as, A Defenseless Creature by Neil Simon, Let Me Hear You Whisper by Paul Zindel,St. Crispin's Day Speech by William Shakespeare, and The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street by Rod Serling. Materials do not revisit the unit theme or essential question during the Introduction to the unit genre, embedded Close Reading questions, and Extend Understanding tasks. As a result, it is unclear how students build knowledge of the theme.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2b.

Materials support and require students to analyze key ideas, details, craft and structure within individual texts as well as across multiple texts; however, lessons do not always include a coherently sequenced series of high-quality questions that lead to a final task. Questions and tasks are often embedded in the following before-, during-, and after-reading sections: Setting Purpose, Reading Skills, Finding Meaning, Making Judgments, and Making Connections. Tasks often occur in the optional Extend Understanding. As a result, these tasks may not occur during core instruction and there is no guarantee all students will have an opportunity to engage with these questions. Tasks sometimes miss opportunities to meet the full requirements of their associated standard.

Materials sometimes require students to analyze the key ideas, details, craft, and structure within individual texts as well as across multiple texts using coherently sequenced, high-quality questions and tasks. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• For most texts, students analyze key ideas and details and craft and structure (according to grade-level standards). 

  • The materials contain coherently sequenced questions and tasks that address key ideas and details. 

    • In Unit 2, Learning Values, students focus on theme while reading “The Scholarship Jacket” by Marta Salinas. Students respond to questions pertaining to theme while reading the text. Questions include: “Why won’t the narrator get a school jacket for sports?”, “What does Mr. Schmidt refuse to do?”, and “How does the narrator know what the principal wants?” After reading, during one of the Extend Understanding Writing Options, students imagine they have to read Salinas’ short story to a class of fifth graders. Students are directed to use the theme map from a previous Analyze Literature prompt to write “an informative paragraph in which you explain the story’s theme,” using evidence from the text to support their explanation. The Extend Understanding section contains four optional activities from which teachers may choose. As a result, this activity may not occur during core instruction.

    • In Unit 8, Seeking Wisdom, students discuss the etymology of the term folk tale while reading “Eshu,” a Yoruban folk tale retold by Judith Gleason. The after-reading Analyze Literature task notes how folk tales “often depict everyday activities and the adventures of common people.” To depict what they have learned about the Yoruban culture, students ``[c]reate a list of details from the folktale that help paint a picture of Yoruban culture. Then write a sentence that summarizes what you know.” Although these tasks address the folktale genre, the tasks do not require students to analyze how particular elements of the text interact.  

  • The materials sometimes contain coherently sequenced questions and tasks that address craft and structure.

    • In Unit 2, Learning Values, students respond to Analyze Literature questions focused on point of view as they read “Hollywood and the Pits' ' by Cherylene Lee. Questions include: “Is the narrator part of the action?”, “What else can you tell about the narrator so far?”, and “How is [the italicized text’s] tone different from that of the regular text?” Students also “describe how the narrator’s tone changes when she makes the comment about growing too tall” and discuss “what else the narrator may be telling the reader when she says that she wondered a lot about how the animals feel into the trap.” After reading, students make a graphic organizer to “summarize how Cherylene Lee’s use of both first-person and third-person points of view affects the mood and plot of ‘Hollywood and the Pits.’” 

    • In Unit 5, Appreciating Life, students read the lyric poem,“Feel Like a Bird” by May Swenson. During the Close Read section, notes in the teacher wrap point out the free verse structure of the poem, as well as Swenson’s use of rhymed words. Students identify all of the rhyming pairs in the poem. While other questions address the use of metaphors and similes within the text, there are no questions or tasks that address the poem’s form or structure and how those elements contribute to meaning.   

• By the end of the year, at times, these components (language, word choice, key ideas, details, structure, craft) are embedded in students’ work rather than taught directly. 

  • In Unit 7, Facing Challenges, after reading Act I of the drama, A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley by Israel Horovitz, students find and read the first chapter of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in the Critical Literacy Extend Understanding task. Dickens’ text is not included in the materials. Students compare the texts, noting “how each writer reveals characters and conflicts through description, narration, and dialogue.” While students compare two adaptations of a text, they do not compare a written text to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version and analyze the effects of techniques that are unique to each medium. The Extend Understanding section contains four optional activities from which teachers may choose. As a result, this activity may not occur during core instruction. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2c.

Materials include text-specific and text-dependent questions and tasks that address key ideas and details, as well as craft and structure, within informational texts. While materials embed the integration of knowledge and ideas in students’ work, tasks often occur during the Extend Understanding section which contains four activity options from which the teacher may choose. As a result, there is no guarantee that all students will complete these tasks during core instruction. Materials include opportunities for students to develop ideas and analyze both within single texts and across multiple texts. Students respond to text-specific and text-dependent questions during and after reading. However, series of questions are not always coherently sequenced, leading to the culminating task, and culminating tasks do not always fully address the associated standard.

Materials require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas within individual texts as well as across multiple texts; however, there are missed opportunities for coherently sequenced, high-quality text-specific and/or text-dependent questions and tasks. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Most sets of questions and tasks support students’ analysis of knowledge and ideas.

  • In Unit 3, Experiencing the World, students read “The Eternal Frontier” by Louis L’Amour. Students develop a main idea map and work in small groups to share and adjust their maps based on the discussion. Students identify the author’s main point of a paragraph within the text. While students identify two central ideas of the text, they do not analyze the development of the central ideas over the course of the text nor do they provide an objective summary of the text. 

  • In Unit 4, Responding to Nature, in the Before Reading section of “The Size of Things'' by Robert Jastrow, the Analyze Literature section explains that the text “is a scientific essay, a type of informational text.” As students read the essay to discover the information Jastrow presents, they respond to questions, such as “For whom do you think the author is writing this essay?”, “What was Rutherford trying to express with this comparison?”, and “How does Jastrow help the reader visualize our galaxy?” After reading another selection, students ``[a]nalyze Jastrow’s essay with a K-W-L chart” and summarize their learning in a single sentence. During a separate activity, students ``write a full summary of the essay and exchange [their] summary with a classmate” and evaluate their work “based on the accuracy of the main ideas, supporting details, and the overall meaning of the essay.” Although students analyze the structure of the text, they do not analyze “how the major sections contribute to the whole and the development of the ideas.”    

• By the end of the year, integrating knowledge and ideas is embedded in students’ work (via tasks and/or culminating tasks).

  • In Unit 3, Experiencing the World, students focus on distinguishing fact from opinion as they read “Elizabeth I,” a biography by Milton Meltzer. Students ``[c]reate a chart to record facts and opinions'' and respond to the following Close Read question about a portion of the text: “Why is this paragraph’s first sentence a statement of fact?” Materials also include a Reading Skills: Distinguish Fact from Opinion mini-lesson, during which students ``find examples of language in the text that suggests Meltzer’s bias” and “interpret the statements.” During the Collaborative Learning Extend Understanding option, students work in groups to “identify and read the text of a contemporary policy speech, [interpreting] the speaker’s purpose by asking questions or making comments about the evidence presented. Students also “analyze the structure of the speech’s central argument and identify the different types of evidence used to support the argument,” before presenting their findings to the class. It is unclear when students learned about types of evidence. While students ask questions and comment on the evidence presented, students do not assess “whether the reasoning is sound'' and whether “the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims.” The Extend Understanding section contains four optional activities from which teachers may choose. As a result, this activity may not occur during core instruction.

  • In Unit 4, Responding to Nature, students read “Ships in the Desert,” an essay by Al Gore, and “I Am a Native of North America,” a personal essay by Chief Dan George. While reading Gore’s piece, students primarily focus on analyzing main ideas and details, performing small tasks, such as stating the main idea and one or two details that illustrate the main idea, outlining two paragraphs “by identifying the topic sentence of each paragraph and listing the supporting details,” and explaining how a reference Gore used supports his main idea. While reading George’s piece, students point out elements of description, “use a Venn diagram to compare the main ideas Gore and Chief Dan George convey about the environment,” locate repeated phrases, work in small groups to summarize the main idea expressed about one of four topics, and analyze the author’s perspective. Students respond to the following Text to Text Connection question: “What different details does Al Gore’s essay and Chief Dan George’s personal essay use to illustrate the causes and effects of human interference with nature? What common message does each writer hope to communicate? Finally, explain the difference between the theme of ‘I am a Native of North America’ and the author’s purpose in ‘Ships in the Desert.’?’”

• Sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze across multiple texts as well as within single texts.

  • In Unit 4, Responding to Nature, students read “The Face of the Deep is Frozen,” a historical essay by Jennifer Armstrong. and “Fire and Ice,” a lyric poem by Robert Frost. While reading “The Face of the Deep is Frozen,” students ``determine how Armstrong organizes the story once Shackleton and his men are introduced.” Students also examine portions of the text and infer “why an expedition to the Antarctic would include dogs,''analyze the diary entry and explain its theme,” and discuss Armstrong’s reason for using the specific word march rather than a more general word. Students also “[m]ake a three-column chart” with the column headings Sensory Details, Precise Words, and Figurative Language “to record some of Armstrong’s most effective word choices.” While reading “Fire and Ice,” students “[d]iscuss the first sentence of the poem, focusing on ways in which either fire or ice could destroy the world.” After reading the poem, the teacher makes a two-column chart on the board with the column headings desire/fire and hate/ice and students ``list other words that describe each combination.” Students respond to the following Text to Text Connection question: “How were the men of Shackleton’s expedition prepared for the end of the world? What would they have thought of Frost’s poem? Think also about how Frost equates fire with desire and ice with hate. Do you agree with those connections? Finally, explain the difference between the theme of ‘Fire and Ice’ and Jennifer Armstrong’s purpose for writing ‘The Face of the Deep is Frozen.’ Write your responses in your notebook.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2d. 

Materials include smaller tasks in the Extend Understanding sections at the end of each text, paired selection, and text set. Although these tasks allow students to demonstrate their understanding of texts, these tasks often do not integrate literacy skills and the enactment of these tasks is contingent upon teacher selection and may not occur during core instruction, as a result. Materials include text-specific and text-dependent questions and tasks; however, these questions and tasks are not coherently sequenced, and they do not provide the teacher with usable information on whether students are on track to successfully complete the end-of-unit Culminating Tasks.

Culminating tasks require students to demonstrate their knowledge through integrated literacy skills; however, it is unclear how tasks relate to the unit’s topic/theme. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Culminating tasks are evident and varied across the year and they are multifaceted, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of several different standards (reading, writing, speaking, listening) at the appropriate grade level, and comprehension and knowledge of a topic or topics through integrated skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening).

  • In Unit 1, Meeting the Unexpected, during the End-of-Unit Writing Workshop, students write a response to a short story they have read. Students gather specific details from the story that caused them to react as they read. The response must include “a compelling introduction that clearly states [the student’s] response,” “a clear organizational pattern,” varied sentence types, and “a conclusion that sums up [the student’s] response.” This task integrates reading and writing. 

  • In Unit 4, Responding to Nature, students plan a visual presentation during the End-of-Unit Critical Viewing Workshop. Students select a topic and gather information about the topic, “[using] sources such as the Internet, books, magazines, and encyclopedias.” Students take notes, which serve as the foundation for the verbal portion of their presentation, and “decide what kinds of visuals you will use to reinforce your main ideas or clarify the most difficult concepts in your presentation.” This task integrates reading, writing, and speaking and listening. 

  • In Unit 8, Seeking Wisdom, students write a research report on a topic of their choosing during the End-of-Unit Writing Workshop. The research report must include “an introduction that clearly states my purpose and thesis [and] a clear organizational pattern with effective transitions. Students must also use “at least four different sources of information,” including primary and secondary sources, in their research report. Information from sources should be “quoted, paraphrased, and summarized” to support the thesis statement. The research report must also include “an effective conclusion that sums up my main points [and] a list of sources cited in my report.” This task integrates reading and writing.   

• Earlier text-specific and/or text-dependent questions and tasks are not coherently sequenced and will not give the teacher usable information about the student's readiness (or whether they are “on track”) to complete culminating tasks.

  • In Unit 1, Meeting the Unexpected, during the embedded Writing Skills: Evaluate and Interpret Literary Texts mini lesson for “The 11:59” by Patricia McKissack, students work with a partner to “analyze what makes Lester a good storyteller.” After making a list of storytelling techniques Lester uses, students practice telling Lester’s story. Students also read “The Inn of Lost Time” by Lensey Namioka and “[w]rite a short literary analysis of [the text] in which you examine how the author’s use of flashback helps increase suspense,” during the Informative Writing option in the Extend Understanding section. Students must include a thesis and support for their analysis. After reading “The Serial Garden” by Joan Aiken, students ``[w]rite a brief essay analyzing how Joan Aiken makes her alternative world seem real.” Students must state their main idea in their thesis and support their thesis using examples from the story. These tasks are not coherently sequenced. It is unclear how these tasks provide the teacher with usable information about the student's readiness to complete the End-of-Unit Writing Workshop, in which students write a response to a short story of their choosing. 

  • In Unit 4, Responding to Nature, while reading an entry from The Sibley Guide to Birds by David Allen Sibley, students match a visual aid “to the type of information it would best convey,” during the embedded Speaking & Listening Skills: Visual Aids minilesson. After reading the paired excerpt from “Wild Turkey'' by John James Audubon, students respond to the following Text to Text Connection prompt: “How does Sibley’s ‘Wild Turkey’ entry help you visualize the turkey Audubon describes?” Afterwards, students complete an Analyze Literature: Visual media task. Students think about why “Sibley chose to convey some information visually instead of in written form” and how the use of visual media might “be more effective than language in this context.” After creating a three-column chart to examine Sibley’s use of visual media, students ``write a paragraph that explains the difference between the theme presented in ‘Wild Turkey’ and the author’s purpose within The Sibley Guide to Birds.” Near the end of the unit, students read “Dust Bowl Photographs'' by Arthur Rothstein. In the embedded Speaking & Listening Skills: Oral Summary mini lesson, students “prepare oral summaries of the photographs.” Students select one photograph, “make notes about its main message and the details that convey the message,” and rehearse their summaries with a partner before presenting the summaries to the class. These tasks are not coherently sequenced. It is unclear how these tasks provide the teacher with usable information about the student's readiness to complete the End-of-Unit Critical Viewing Workshop, in which students plan and deliver a visual presentation.

  • In Unit 8, Seeking Wisdom, after reading “Eshu” retold by Judith Gleason, students ``[r]esearch Nigeria’s history,” during the Lifelong Learning option in the Extend Understanding section. After selecting a topic of interest related to the country’s history, students "research it in greater depth," “[c]reate a multimedia presentation, and present your report to the class.” Later in the unit, students read “Amaterasu '' retold by Carolyn Smith. During the Media Literacy Extend Understanding option, students ``[l]ocate and review several websites that provide information about Japanese culture and history.” Students ``[e]valuate the websites for reliability and quality, explaining the criteria on which you based your evaluation.`` Afterwards, students write a brief paragraph for each website they evaluated. At the end of the unit, students read “Rabbit and the Tug of War '' as told by Michael Thompson with art by Jacob Warrenfeltz. During the Lifelong Learning option in the Extend Understanding section, students conduct research to learn more about the Muskoke Creek people. Afterwards, students ``[c]reate a map showing the major Native American groups in each part of the continental U.S.” These tasks are not coherently sequenced. It is unclear how these tasks provide the teacher with usable information about the student's readiness to complete the End-of-Unit Writing Workshop, in which students write a research report.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2e. 

Each unit includes a Writing Workshop that focuses on a specific writing mode and includes numerous supports for both teachers and students, including, but not limited to: guidance during each step of the writing process, checklists, models, and rubrics. During the Writing Workshop, materials explain what students should do during each step of the writing process but rarely provide explicit instruction on the writing mode of focus. Writing Workshop tasks do not connect to the unit theme and are stand-alone in nature with some tasks requiring students to use evidence from sources. Students complete the same Writing Workshop tasks in Grades 6, 7, and 8. Materials include practice opportunities in the Writing Skills section embedded within the End-of-Unit Test Practice Workshop. During this Workshop, students practice timed writing responses and revision and editing skills. As with the Writing Workshops, Test Practice Workshop activities span various genres but are not connected to the unit text selections. The optional Writing and Grammar ancillary may be used to supplant writing instruction and includes lessons for every unit, including a Writing Scope and Sequence that outlines the In-Text Writing Workshops for the school year, the writing mode of focus, and the writing assignment. Materials also include a Writing Rubrics ancillary that contains rubrics for each writing mode. Materials lack teacher guidance on enacting ancillary and optional writing lessons and tasks. 

Materials include a year-long plan for students to achieve grade-level writing proficiency by the end of the school year; however, cohesion is lacking. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Materials include limited writing instruction that aligns to the standards for the grade level and sometimes supports students’ growth in writing skills over the course of the school year.

  • While there is an evident structure to the writing aspect of the program, including frequent opportunities for students to write in various modes and for various purposes, supports, and tools for monitoring student writing development, the structure lacks cohesion. 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. Test Practice Workshops do not include explicit instruction and their mode of focus differs from that of the Writing Workshops. It is unclear how writing instruction and tasks build upon each other to promote growth in students’ skills over the course of the unit and across the year.

  • While materials offer a number of writing opportunities, explicit writing instruction is largely absent. During the End-of-Unit Writing Workshops, students spend three regular schedule days or one and a half block schedule days transitioning through the writing process as they complete a process writing task on a specific mode of focus. Writing Workshop tasks include:

    • Unit 1—Informative Writing: Responding to a Short Story

    • Unit 2—Narrative Writing: Writing a Short Story

    • Unit 3—Informative Writing: Cause-and-Effect Essay

    • Unit 4—Descriptive Writing: Descriptive Essay

    • Unit 5—Informative Writing: Compare-and-Contrast Essay

    • Unit 6—Narrative Writing: Personal Narrative

    • Unit 7—Argumentative Writing: Argumentative Essay

    • Unit 8—Informative Writing: Research Paper

• Instructional materials include a variety of well-designed guidance, protocols, models, and support for teachers to implement and monitor students’ writing development; however, materials lack teacher guidance on the use of ancillary and optional writing supports.

  • In Unit 4, Responding to Nature, students write a descriptive essay during the Writing Workshop. The Program Resource notes instruct teachers to refer to the Writing and Grammar ancillary for additional practice and guidance. These lessons follow the same model used in the textbook and also include some additional features: a literary model, an expanded Prewrite section, a Revision Checklist, a Grammar and Style box, a Writing Rubric, and original and revised/edited student drafts.  Teacher guidance notes the ancillary can also be used to “engage students in writing about literature,” “engage students in writing across the four modes,” and in combination with supplemental writing lessons to “create a comprehensive writing strand.” 

  • In Unit 6, Searching Beyond the Surface, the Narrative Writing Workshop contains a Student Model. The Teacher Wrap in the Teacher Edition supports teachers with guiding students in reviewing the model, paying close attention to the side notes that capture the writer’s techniques, as well as the way the writer indicates the event’s significance. Guidance also supports teachers with having students outline the model to understand the writer’s strategies and use graphic organizers to investigate the writer’s development of character and setting. 

  • In Unit 7, Facing Challenges, students complete an Argumentative Writing Workshop, during which they construct an argumentative essay. Throughout the writing process, the Workshop includes What Great Writers Do sidebars that point out exceptional writing skills. One reads: “Encourage students to be careful to support their claims with logical arguments.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2f. 

While materials provide frequent opportunities for short research tasks connected to the texts students read, materials do not include a progression of research skills according to grade-level standards. The embedded Research Skills insets include research skills practice opportunities but rarely include explicit instruction of research skills. Some research skills repeat across grade levels and often do not align to grade-level standards. Where appropriate, research tasks include resources to develop students’ knowledge of different aspects of a topic. Most short research projects occur during Extend Understanding tasks. These tasks are optional and may not occur during core instruction. Students have one opportunity in each grade level to conduct a long research project—during the Unit 8 Writing Workshop. During this end-of-grade level task, materials include directions to guide students through each step of the research writing process but provide limited explicit instruction of standards-aligned research skills. 

Materials do not include a progression of focused research projects to encourage students to develop knowledge in a given area by confronting and analyzing different aspects of a topic using multiple texts and source materials. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Research projects are not sequenced across a school year to include a progression of research skills according to grade-level standards. 

  • While there are frequent opportunities for students to complete informal research tasks, materials lack explicit, standards-aligned research skills instruction. While the Teacher Edition includes embedded Research Skills insets throughout each unit, explicit instruction is lacking and the progression of skills often repeats across each grade level and does not align to grade-level standards, as a result. During most Research Skills sections, students practice a research skill but do not receive explicit instruction on the research skill. The progression of research skills and activities is as follows:

    • Unit 1: generate questions for research topic, compare sources, multimedia sources

    • Unit 2: primary and secondary sources

    • Unit 3: key word searches

    • Unit 4: evaluate sources

    • Unit 5: find examples

    • Unit 6: no evidence found

    • Unit 7: primary sources, graphic organizers

    • Unit 8: research report (Writing Workshop) 

  • During the one in-depth research project per grade level, students complete research tasks as outlined in the standards but receive limited explicit instruction when doing so. While the research-focused Writing Workshop provides detailed process steps to complete the task, the Workshop rarely includes explicit instruction or scaffolding during each step of the research writing process.

• Materials rarely support teachers in employing projects that develop students’ knowledge of different aspects of a topic via provided resources. 

  • In Unit 8, Seeking Wisdom, students read the Greek myth “Persephone and Demeter” by Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire. Students may complete a Lifelong Learning task in which they find a myth that explains the same aspects of nature as “Persephone and Demeter.”  The Program Resource section instructs the teacher to use the Extension Activities resource to support instruction. This resource provides tips for conducting Internet research, as well as graphic organizers to record notes about the two myths and to compare/contrast the two myths.  

• Materials provide many opportunities for students to synthesize and analyze content tied to the texts under study as a part of the research process. 

  • In Unit 1, Meeting the Unexpected, after reading “The Foghorn” by Ray Bradbury and “The Aqualung” by David Macauley, students may research legendary underwater creatures. Students create a log with information and then answer the following questions: “Which creature do you find the most believable? Why?” Students then assess whether the websites used formality and tone correctly, offering suggestions for improvement. This Media Literacy task is one of four Extend Understanding options from which the teacher can select and,as a result, may not occur during core instruction. 

  • In Unit 3, Experiencing the World, students read “A Black Athlete Looks at Education” by Arthur Ashe. Afterwards, students work with a partner to conduct research on a sport they want to know more about, during the Collaborative Learning option in the Extend Understanding section. Students have to find information, work to summarize it, and create visuals that synthesize the information and will help them present to their class.

  • In Unit 6, Searching Beneath the Surface, after reading “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe and “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes, students research the careers and works of Edgar Allan Poe and Alfred Noyes during a Lifelong Learning task in the Extend Understanding section. Students study other poems by the authors, then write a paragraph that discusses how the poems fit into the poets’ larger body of work. Students also note the tone of each poem, the environment it was written in, and each author’s biography before presenting their research to their peers. This post-reading task is one of four options from which the teacher can select and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

  • In Unit 8, Seeking Wisdom, students read the Yoruban folktale “Eshu” by Judith Gleason. During a Lifelong Learning Extend Understanding task, students research the history of Nigeria using general references. Then, the class brainstorms specific topics about the country. Students select a topic of interest from the list, research it, and create a multimedia presentation to present their report to the class. 

• Students are provided with opportunities for both “short” and “long” projects across the course of a year and grade bands. 

  • In Unit 2, Learning Values, after reading “Hollywood and the Pits” by Cherylene Lee, students use the internet to find information on an archaeological site in or near their state. Students write a letter to the site director asking questions about the site. This Media Literacy Extend Understanding task is one of four options from which the teacher can select and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction. 

  • In Unit 4, Responding to Nature, students read the essay, “Ships in the Desert” by Al Gore, along with the personal essay, “I Am a Native of North America” by Chief Dan George. Afterwards, students search the Internet to find websites that discuss environmental issues. After narrowing the list down to ten, students evaluate the site to determine the author’s purpose, tone, bias, and credibility. This Media Literacy option is one of four Extend Understanding tasks from which the teacher can select and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

  • In Unit 5, Facing Challenges, after reading Act 2 of A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley by Israel Horowitz, students have the option to research religious holidays and practices from another culture. Students create a full oral report and must share the report  with their class using “visuals, examples, and other nonverbal media to enliven their presentation.” This Lifelong Learning Extend Understanding task is one of four post-reading options from which the teacher can choose and may not occur during core instruction, as a result. 

  • In Unit 8, Seeking Wisdom, during the End-of-Unit Writing Workshop, students write a research report on a topic of interest. Students must use at least four primary and secondary sources and also evaluate those sources to ensure they are accurate and current.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2g.

Instruction, practice, and assessments are based on teacher selection from a list of options. As a result, there is no true core instructional path. The Lesson Plan for each text includes the following sections: Before Reading, During Reading, After Reading. Within each section, teachers select or choose activities from a list of core and ancillary resources. Most ancillary resources, such as Unit & Selection Resources, do not provide explicit instruction nor do they identify correlated standards for the provided content. Some questions and tasks align to grade-level standards while others do not align or do not meet the full intent of the standards. Because assessments do not identify the standards addressed, it is unclear if the majority of assessment items align to grade-level standards. Although the Correlation to Common Core State Standards document lists page numbers covering the standards in each strand, without a true core instructional path and because the majority of questions and tasks do not align to grade-level standards, there is no guarantee that materials repeatedly address grade-level standards within and across units to ensure students master the full intent of the standards.

Materials do not spend the majority of instructional time on content that falls within grade-level aligned instruction, practice, and assessments. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Over the course of each unit, some instruction is aligned to grade-level standards.

  • In the Digital Teacher Edition, the Grade 7 Correlation to Common Core State Standards document lists page numbers for each standard in Reading: Literature, Reading: Informational Text, Writing, Speaking & Listening, and Language; however, the page numbers listed do not always contain opportunities for explicit instruction or address the correlated standard. 

    • For example, the Correlation to Common Core State Standards document states in the EMC Pages That Cover the Standards column for W.8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.This page contains an Analyze Literature task and four Extend Understanding options. During the Media Literacy Extend Understanding task, students conduct Internet research; however, guidance for the task does not include explicit instruction of the correlated standard.      

• Over the course of each unit, some questions and tasks are aligned to grade-level standards. 

  • Questions often focus on comprehension strategies, such as Make Connections, Ask Questions, Draw Conclusions, and Visualize. These comprehension strategies do not align to grade-level standards. Some Extend Understanding tasks align to grade-level standards, while others either do not align or do not meet the full requirements of the standards. Because post-reading questions and tasks do not have correlated standards identified, it is not always clear which question or task addresses the standard listed on the Correlation to Common Core State Standards document.

    • In Unit 8, Seeking Wisdom, students read the Yoruban folktale, “Eshu” retold by Judith Gleason. While reading a specified passage of the text, students respond to the following Use Reading Skills prompt: “Encourage students to use visualization as they consider the main idea. For example, as the friends begin to fight here, have readers take time to visualize the details provided earlier about Eshu’s appearance. That way they will better understand why the two men disagree.” While this prompt uses visualization to address the main idea, it does not address the full intent of the standard: “Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.” 

• Over the course of each unit, it is unclear whether the majority of assessment questions are aligned to grade-level standards. 

  • Materials do not identify assessed standards on Selection Quizzes, Lesson Tests, Unit Exams, or Formative Surveys. As a result, it is unclear whether the majority of assessment questions are aligned to grade-level standards. 

• By the end of the academic year, standards are not repeatedly addressed within and across units to ensure students master the full intent of the standard.

  • Because the page numbers listed on the Correlation to Common Core State Standards document for each standard in Reading: Literature, Reading: Informational Text, Writing, Speaking & Listening, and Language are not always the standard addressed and because the majority of questions and tasks do not align to grade-level standards, materials do not consistently provide students with multiple opportunities to address standards within and across units to ensure mastery. It is also unclear which items address the correlated standard, because standards are not identified at the question or task level.  

    • The Correlation to Common Core State Standards document lists page numbers for L.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

      • a. Interpret figures of speech (e.g., literary, biblical, and mythological allusions) in context.

      • b. Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., synonym/antonym, analogy) to better understand each of the words.

      • c. Distinguish among the connotations(associations) of words with similar denotations (definitions) (e.g. refined, respectful, polite, diplomatic, condescending.

    On page 14, students focus on denotation and connotation, and spelling words with double letters, during the Vocabulary & Spelling Workshop. On page 130, students identify the roots, prefixes, and suffixes” for a list of six academic terms and write the meaning of each word in their own terms, using a dictionary if needed. While the first Workshop addresses one sub-standard, this sub-standard is not revisited in the subsequent Workshop nor are the other sub-standards addressed in either Workshop.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2h. 

The Visual Planning Guide for each unit includes suggested pacing for each text, but there is no suggested timeline for the pacing of units nor for the curriculum as a whole over the course of the year. The suggested pacing for texts does not take into account the extension opportunities or End-of-Unit Speaking & Listening, Writing, or Test Practice Workshops. While materials provide a large variety of optional tasks, the amount of material cannot reasonably be completed within the suggested amount of time and is not viable for a school year. Similarly, as teachers use the editable lesson plan templates in the Program Planning Guide Editable Lesson Plans resource, materials do not provide direction as to what the suggested optional tasks are, which should be used in conjunction with one another, or the pacing for the tasks. Although these resources are provided, the curriculum lacks clear directives to explain how to incorporate core instruction, found in the Teacher’s Edition, and ancillary resources. Furthermore, the curriculum fails to provide teacher guidance on when and how to incorporate reteaching and remediation within the provided pacing suggestions. The Program Planning Guide includes the Mirrors & Windows College & Career Readiness Curriculum Guide Level II (Grade 7), an alternative implementation schedule that focuses on selections and workshops necessary for students to “master critical skills that appear on state and national assessments.” 

Materials do not regularly and systematically balance time and resources required for following the suggested implementation, as well as information for alternative implementations that maintain alignment and intent of the standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Suggested implementation schedules and alternative implementation schedules do not consistently align to core learning and objectives. 

  • In Unit 1, Meeting the Unexpected, students read the short story “The Portrait” by Tomas Rivera. The Scope and Sequence Guide outlines the lesson components, including the Reading Skill: analyze cause and effect, the Literary Element: conflict, and the Mirrors & Windows theme: miscommunication. The text overview page sets a purpose for reading that focuses on students skimming the first page of the text to make a prediction about the story’s conflict and resolution, defines the terms plot, conflict, climax, and resolution, and provides a sample chart to track causes and effects. Objectives include, but are not limited to, “use reading skills such as analyzing cause and effect” and “define plot and recognize the elements of plot in the selection..” Before reading, students read through the text overview page and respond to a prompt addressing the Mirrors & Windows theme. During reading, students respond to one Use Reading Skills prompt addressing cause and effect and one Analyze Literature prompt addressing plot. After reading, students respond to the Mirrors & Windows question addressing miscommunication, six Text-Dependent Questions, and an Analyze Literature: Plot prompt in which they “indicate the climax and resolution of ‘The Portrait’” on a plot diagram and “[e]xplain at what points you verified or changed your predictions about the outcome of the story.” While the four optional Extend Understanding tasks connect to the text, the Collaborative Learning: List Setting Details and Lifelong Learning: Research the Internet options do not align to core learning and objectives. 

  • In Unit 4, Responding to Nature, students read the anchor text, “Ships in the Desert” by Al Gore, along with the informational Text Connection piece, “I Am a Native of North America,” by Chief Dan George. The Scope and Sequence Guide outlines the lesson components, including the Reading Skill: main idea and supporting details, the Literary Element: analogy, and the Mirrors & Windows theme: environmental activism. The text overview page sets a purpose for reading that focuses on students using the Build Background information and the first paragraph of the text to predict the environmental changes Gore will focus on in his essay, defines the term analogy, and provides a sample web to “keep track of details that can help you find the main idea.” Objectives include, but are not limited to, “use reading skills such as analyzing the main idea and supporting details” and “compare the perspectives that Al Gore and Chief Dan George hold regarding the environment.” The lesson plan is separated into Before Reading (Preview and Motivate), During Reading (Teach the Selection and Differentiate Instruction), and After Reading (Review, Teach the Workshops, and Extend and Assess) sections. Before reading, students read through the text overview page and respond to a Mirrors & Windows discussion prompt. During reading, students respond to four Use Reading Skills questions on analyzing the main idea and supporting details and two Analyze Literature questions on analogy. Students also respond to two Use Reading Skills questions on comparing and contrasting, during which students compare and contrast each author’s perspectives. After reading Gore’s work, students respond to the Mirrors & Windows question addressing environmental activism and five Text-Dependent Questions. After reading George’s work, students respond to a Text to Text Connection prompt in which students identify the different details each author uses “to illustrate the causes and effects of human interference with nature” and “the common message the writers hope to communicate, and “explain the difference between the theme of ‘I am a Native of North America’ and the author’s purpose in ‘Ships in the Desert.’” Students also respond to an Analyze Literature: Analogy prompt in which they use a chart to record the analogies in “Ships in the Desert,” “tell what the analogies compare,” write one or two sentences explaining “how these analogies affect the author’s message,” and “write a full summary of the essay.” While the four Extend Understanding task options connect to the texts, the Media Literacy: Conduct Internet Research option does not address the core learning objectives. 

• Suggested implementation schedules cannot be reasonably completed in the time allotted.

  • The Program Planning Guide notes the overabundance of material: “To help you meet the diverse needs of your students, the Mirrors & Windows program offers a wealth of material—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.” 

  • As an alternative to the Scope and Sequence Guide provided in each unit, materials include the Mirrors & Windows College & Career Readiness Curriculum Guide Level II (Grade 7): “The selections and workshops listed here represent the core course of study students need to master critical skills that appear on state and national assessments. To ensure standards coverage, students who are having difficulty may concentrate on only these selections and workshops. Students on and above grade level may read more selections.” When utilizing this abridged course of study, the teacher must still select which instructional activities to enact during each Program Planning Guide lesson plan.

  • The Program Planning Guide contains lesson plans for each text selection and the three end-of-unit Workshops. Text selection lesson plans include the following sections: Before Reading, During Reading, and After Reading. In the Before Reading: Preview and Motivate section, teachers “[c]hoose from the following materials to preview the selection and motivate your students.” The During Reading section contains two sub-sections, Teach the Selection(s) and Differentiate Instruction. Teachers choose from a list of resources to teach the selection and consider “alternative teaching options to differentiate instruction.” The After Reading section contains two to three subsections: Review and Extend, Teach the Workshop(s), and Assess. Teachers select activities from a list of options and resources to extend learning and teach the Workshop included, where applicable. Teachers do not select from a list of options during the Assess subsection. The lesson plan does not provide guidance on how many minutes each option should take or how long the lesson should last. Pacing guidance is limited to the number of regular schedule or block schedule days that the lesson should take. 

• Optional tasks distract from core learning. 

  • In Unit 5, Appreciating Life, students read the lyric poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes. After reading, students may complete an Extend Understanding task. During the Collaborative Learning option, students “discuss the kinds of challenges the speaker in this poem might have faced.” During the Critical Literacy option, students perform a dramatic reading of the poem. The Program Resources note directs teachers to utilize the Extension Activities ancillary workbook to guide the completion of this Critical Literacy task. These tasks do not align to the Analyze Literature focus, repetition, nor do they align to the Reading Skills focus, identify the main idea.

  • In Unit 8, Seeking Wisdom, students read a paired selection comprised of “The Secret Name of Ra '' by Geraldine Harris and an excerpt from Ankhenaton’s Hymn to the Sun by John A. Wilson. The lesson plan for this text includes nine additional After Reading task options, ranging from Selection Quizzes to group discussion questions to vocabulary and spelling practice exercises. The optional tasks focus on a multitude of items, such as homophones and homographs, multiple word meanings, and character motivations. Due to the limited teacher guidance on selecting activities, the volume of optional tasks distract from core learning.

• Some optional tasks are meaningful and enhance core instruction.

  • In Unit 6, Searching Beneath the Surface, students read “For my Father” by Janice Mirikitani. After reading, optional Extend Understanding tasks include a Creative Writing assignment where students write a personal letter, a literary response, a research report on the setting of the poem, and a dialogue activity. While three of the Extend Understanding task options connect to the text and align to grade-level standards, the Creative Writing activity does not.

  • In Unit 7, Facing Challenges, students read the drama “A Defenseless Creature” by Neil Simon. As a post-reading option in the Unit and Selection Resources ancillary, students may use reading strategies to make connections. The worksheet includes a choice of four prompts during which students make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections. These task options do not align to grade-level standards, or the Reading Skills or Analyze Literature foci for the text.