11th Grade - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for Grade 11 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2a. 

The materials are organized into nine thematic units of study which are aligned with a historical period in American history and progress chronologically. 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.” Although the focus of each unit is a historical time period, as well as a theme related to that time period, each unit also includes a section titled Understanding Literary Forms that introduces a genre for quick study. The opening pages of this section include an illustrated timeline, an introduction to the historical period, and notable statistics from the period. Subsequent lessons are divided into sections, during which students explore various selections in the literary form and literary criticism as it is applied to a previously read selection; however, these activities are not connected to the essential question or guiding statement for the unit. The Scope and Sequence Guide lists sub-themes that connect to many of the selections. The Mirrors & Windows questions that accompany selections address these sub-themes, but they do not connect to the overall theme of the unit, and there is no explanation or guidance on how the unit theme and the Mirrors & Windows sub-theme work together. The individual components included in the program are not connected in a cohesive way that would build students’ knowledge of a topic or theme. 

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, Shaping the World, Origins of the American Tradition to 1800, the introduction to the unit contains a quote by John Smith, “Everything of worth is found full of difficulties,” and instructions for students to navigate the unit, “As you read the selections in this unit, think about what beliefs and values are reflected in the literature written during the creation of this new country.” Materials include a timeline of important events during the time period and readings on the historical background and the literary form of oral tradition; however, this unit does not have an essential question. Some selections connect to the unit theme, Shaping the World, while others do not. For example, after students read the paired texts “Song of the Sky Loom” by the Tewa ,and “Prayer to the Pacific” by Leslie Marmon Silko, students make text-to-text connections that relate to beliefs and values: “What [natural] elements do the two works have in common? What elements have a revered position in each culture?” In the Analyze Literature section, students answer questions about “Song of the Sky Loom,” including “What is the overall metaphor used to portray the natural world? Discuss what it suggests about Tewa culture and values.” However, the next selection, “A Journey Through Texas” by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, which is an anchor text, does not connect to the guiding question for the unit. The Mirrors & Windows theme has students focus on the relationship between Europeans and Native Americans: “After reading Cabeza de Vaca’s account, what can you infer about the future of Native American and European relationships?” The after-reading text-dependent questions and Extend the Text options also do not connect to the theme. 

  • In Unit 5, Progress and Conflict, Early Twentieth Century 1910–1929, the introductory material includes an overview of the hallmarks of the Progressive Era; however, there is no essential question: “As you read the selections in this unit, think about times when you have had to deal with conflict in order to achieve something important to you and what the consequences may have been.” Most selections and tasks do not connect to the unit theme. For example, when students read an excerpt from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the Reader’s Context prompt is as follows: “Think of a time you have gone to a party or other event where you didn’t know the host or many of the guests. What was it like? Would you do it again? Why or why not?” This does not align to the unit theme. When students read excerpts from The Sun Also Rises and For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, the Reader’s Context task directs students to “Think of a time when you were in a difficult situation and could do nothing to improve or otherwise change things,” which does connect to the unit theme and essential question. Students also examine the central conflict in each of these excerpts in the Analyze Literature section. The unit theme is not addressed in any of the other selections, embedded Close Reading questions, or the Extend the Text task.

  • In Unit 9, New Challenges, Contemporary Era 1980–Present, the unit overview notes, “Though the struggle for equality still continues for many Americans, authors are utilizing their talents to honor ancestors and celebrate cultural diversity.” The essential question is “How does the diversity that characterizes Americans themselves also characterize contemporary American culture?” Unit selections, embedded Close Reading questions, and Extend the Text tasks do not connect to the unit theme or essential question. For example, early in the unit, students read “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan. The Mirrors & Windows question for the selection is as follows: “What do people assume about you? Are they right or wrong?” The Analyze Literature questions and Extend the Text activities do not relate the selection's main idea about the impact on language when growing up in a home of non-native English speakers to the overall unit’s focus on diversity. In the middle of the unit, students read “Throughput” from Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, which focuses on “the speed and volume of a factory’s production” to the fast-food industry. The topic of the selection does not fit with the unit topic of diversity or to the essential question. The unit ends with an author’s focus on the poet Donald Hall. The Reader’s Context questions for the poems “Couplet: Old-Timers’ Day, Fenway Park, 1 May 1982,” and “Letter in Autumn” are “ How do you handle loss? What helps you find comfort in difficult times?” These questions do not connect to the unit theme or essential question.

The materials reviewed for Grade 11 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2b. 

As part of the Close Reading Model, materials embed text-specific and text-dependent questions that require students to analyze the key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts and paired selections or text sets. Materials do not consistently include coherently sequenced questions that build to a task in which students demonstrate their understanding of these literary elements. Tasks often occur during the Extend the Text section and may not occur during core instruction, as these tasks are options from which the teacher may select. At times, questions and tasks do not meet the requirements of the correlated standard. 

Materials 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 some coherently sequenced questions and tasks that address key ideas and details.

    • In Unit 2, Expressing a National Spirit, American Resistance 1800–1850, students read “The Fall of the House of Usher,” a short story by Edgar Allen Poe. While reading, students focus on details. Early in the story, students “pay close attention to descriptive details about the mansion” and “consider how these details reflect the state of the Usher family.” Next, students “collect details that contribute to” the “very dark, haunted atmosphere” described in the text. After reading the text, students respond to an Analyze Literature prompt that addresses Gothic fiction: “How does Poe set the scene for his tale of Gothic fiction? How do the descriptions of the house and grounds, as well as the characters, contribute to the plot?” Students work in small groups to adapt the text into a weekly TV show during the Collaborative Learning Extend the Text option. Students must “agree upon a set of criteria for a successful TV show, “ including “[w]hat elements (such as sets, actors, and plots) are necessary to make it interesting.” Then, students “work together to write a proposal for the drama,” “evaluate [their] proposal against the agreed-upon criteria, and make revisions as needed. This Extend the Text activity is one of four from which the teacher may choose and, as a result,may not occur during core instruction.

    • In Unit 5, Progress and Conflict, Early Twentieth Century 1910–1929, under the Close Reading The Novel section of the Teach the Form page for the excerpt from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, materials include the following guidance to support students with identifying theme: “Without reducing the novel to a single moral or lesson, look for its central message. Think about what is suggested by how the conflict is resolved at the end of the story. Also consider the outcome of the story for the various characters, especially the protagonist. When you have finished reading, monitor your comprehension by summarizing your understanding of the theme.” The text does not contain further questions that address the theme. During the informative Writing option in the Extend the Text section, students complete the following task: “Write an essay in which you relate the text structures and characters of the excerpt from the classical twentieth-century novel The Great Gatsby to those of a twenty-first-century American novel, play, or film with a similar theme. Cite examples from both works to support inferences and conclusions about the treatment of this theme across time periods and, if appropriate, across genres.” While these tasks address theme, neither task meets the requirements of the standards, which state that students must determine “two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account.” This Extend the Text activity is one of four from which the teacher may choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction..

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

    • In Unit 4, Unification and Growth, Expanding Frontiers 1865–1910, the Set Purpose section of the Preview the Selection page for “To Build a Fire” by Jack London directs students to “consider how London uses this setting to set up the central conflict of the plot. Identify the primary struggle in this story and make predictions about how it will be resolved.” Teacher guidance explains that “the setting functions as a character and establishes the conflict of the plot.” Students “describe the setting as if it were a character” and “discuss what conflict the setting creates.” During the reading, guidance in the Teacher Wrap points out a point of high intensity in the plot development Students “identify where the present point in the narrative might be located on a plot diagram.” After reading “How to Build a Campfire” and “How to Be Sure Your Campfire Is Out,” two Informational Text Connection pieces by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, students respond to Analyze Literature: Setting, Plot, and Conflict questions that include, but are not limited to, the following: “In examining the plot, what is the external conflict, or outside force, against which the main character struggles? How does he fare against that force? How does the dog, a creature of nature, fare? Does the main character face any internal conflicts?” During the Informative Writing Extend the Text option, students write a literary criticism that compares and contrasts the short story and the two informational articles on fire. The literary analysis must include details to support inferences and conclusions and “[f]ocus on how effectively the style, tone, diction, and text organization of each selection advance the author’s purpose and perspective (theme).” This Extend the Text activity is one of four from which the teacher may choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

    • In Unit 7, The American Dream, Postwar Era 1945-1960, students read Act 3 of The Crucible by Arthur Miller. During the reading, students respond to a number of Analyze Literature prompts and questions addressing the three types of irony—dramatic, verbal, and situational—and mood. Students distinguish what is stated from what is meant as they analyze irony and mood in the text. Examples of prompts and questions include, but are not limited to: “Ask students to identify the irony in Danforth's boast that his signature put some four hundred people in jail and condemned seventy-two to be hanged.”; “Ask students to identify the mood in Danforth’s speech beginning ‘Indeed not.’ How would students rephrase the statement ‘We burn a hot fire here; it melts down all concealment’ in ordinary speech?”; “Ask students to identify the type of irony in Danforth’s response to Hale’s dialogue ‘Your Honor, I cannot think you may judge the man on such evidence.’”; “Have students identify the loaded word that is repeated in the dialogue between Hale and Danforth. What mood does the exchange create? Why?”; “What makes Proctor’s angry response to Parris’s words ‘poppets hid where no one ever saw them’ an example of verbal irony?”; and “Ask students what evidence enables them to identify the type of irony in the stage direction ‘They all watch, as Abigail, out of her infinite charity, reaches out and draws the sobbing Mary to her, and then looks up to Danforth.’ What two motives does Abigail have in behaving as she does?” Students ``[w]rite an essay that analyzes themes and characteristics (such as structure and mood)” in The Crucible and “a modern American drama from a different period.” Students must “[c]ite examples to support [their] inferences and conclusions about similarities and differences between the plays.” This Informative Writing Extend the Text option is one of four after-reading activities from which the teacher may select and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction..  

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

  • In Unit 3, A Nation Divided, Slavery and the Civil War 1850–1865, students focus on psychological fiction and flashback when reading “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” a short story by Ambrose Bierce. Guidance directs students to “be on the lookout for the hero’s extended interior experience.” When reading Section II, students respond to the following questions that address flashback: “What is the setting of the narrative? Has the story moved forward or backward in time? How can [you] tell? What do [you] learn about Farquhar’s feelings toward the war? How might these emotions affect his actions?” When examining a specified passage of the text, students discuss “which detail suggests that the events are a fantasy.” Students also discuss the role of fantasy in the story using questions from the Critical Thinking: Discussion Guide. During two different passages of the story, students ``characterize the atmosphere of the setting” and discuss what the last paragraph reveals about Farquhar. After reading, students respond to the following Analyze Literature: Psychological Fiction and Flashback questions: “Analyze the impact of narration when the point of view shifts from the narrator’s own thoughts to Farquhar’s thoughts within the story. How does this shift exemplify psychological fiction? What kinds of information do you learn from the narrator’s thoughts? from Farquhar’s? In what ways does the flashback advance the plot? What necessary information does the flashback provide? How would the story be different if told in regular chronological order?” During the Media Literacy option in the Extend the Text section, students watch the 1962 film adaptation of the story, directed by Robert Enrico and “[a]nalyze how the different elements in the film (music, camera, angles, dialogue) interact.” Students consider how the different elements impact their understanding of the short story and write a review of the film. This Extend the Text activity is one of four from which the teacher may choose and may not occur during core instruction, as a result.

  • In Unit 5, Progress and Conflict, Early Twentieth Century 1910-1929, students examine plot and motivation as they read excerpts from two Ernest Hemingway selections, The Sun Also Rises and For Whom the Bell Tolls. Students discuss the “deeper conflicts, in addition to the obvious struggle between matadors and bulls, Belmonte experiences,” “explain Belmonte’s motivation for coming out of retirement,” “explain what motivates Romero as he displays his skills,” “explain why Brett is concerned that Romero must fight a nearly blind bull,” and discuss “why the crowd did not want the bullfight ‘ever to b finished,’ explaining how the crowd’s desires conflict with that of the matadors, while reading The Sun Also Rises. While reading For Whom the Bell Tolls, students discuss “why Robert Jordan does not want to read the other letters.” After reading both texts, students respond to the following Analyze Literature: Plot and Motivation questions: “What is the central conflict in each novel excerpt? How is it developed? Is it resolved by the end of the excerpt? If not, predict how the conflict might be resolved in the rest of the novel?  What is the motivation for Romero in The Sun Also Rises? What is the motivation for Robert Jordan in For Whom The Bell Tolls? How is each character’s motivation reflected in thoughts and actions?  Support your opinion with details from the text.” During the Informative Writing option in the Extend the Text section, students read the Literary Connection section  to learn “about the origin of Hemingway’s title The Sun Also Rises.” Then students “identify a character from mythic, traditional, or classical literature and write an essay explaining how that character’s confrontations with mortality compare and contrast with Romero’s.” The essay must “[d]iscuss whether the structure of Hemingway’s story draws attention to the theme of mortality and whether it is effective compared with the structure of the related myth, traditional work, or classical work.” This Extend the Text activity is one of four from which the teacher may choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

The materials reviewed for Grade 11 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2c. 

As part of the Close Reading Model, materials embed text-specific and text-dependent questions that require students to analyze the key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts and paired selections or text sets. While materials include coherently sequenced questions that build to a task in which students demonstrate their understanding of knowledge and ideas, tasks often occur during the Extend the Text section. Extend the Text tasks may not occur during core instruction, as these tasks are options from which the teacher may select. 

Materials require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas within individual texts as well as across multiple texts using 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 1, Shaping the World, Origins of the American Tradition to 1800, students read the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson paired with the Bill of Rights. Students examine text organization during both texts and respond to Critical Thinking Discussion Guide prompts and questions to analyze and evaluate the government documents: “Encourage students to discuss what the nation’s founders meant when they said all men have the ‘unalienable rights’ of ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ while knowing that large segments of the population were denied those rights.” and “Ask students why the freedoms provided by the First Amendment are essential in a democracy.” After reading both texts, students respond to the following Text to Text Connection question: “Does the Bill of Rights guarantee the unalienable rights described in the Declaration of Independence: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Try to name a specific amendment from the Bill of Rights that supports each of these three unalienable rights, or explain which of these unalienable rights is not addressed in the Bill of Rights.” During the Informative Writing Extend the Text option, students “[w]rite an analysis of the problem/solution organization of the Declaration of Independence. Include examples from the text, and explain what you can infer and conclude from Jefferson’s use of this type of organization.” This activity is one of four Extend the Text activities from which the teacher may choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

  • In Unit 4, Expanding Frontiers, Unification and Growth 1865–1910, students read an excerpt from Black Elk Speaks by Nicholas Black Elk and John G. Neihardt. While reading, students use a chart to “track the main information shared by each speaker” as they analyze the sequence of events in the narrative and explain how specific individuals and ideas interact and develop throughout the text. Students respond to questions such as, “Why did the authors break up the narrative into different perspectives this way? How does this structure relate to the way the narrative was told?”; “What seems to be the relationship between adults and children in Oglala society? What details lead you to these conclusions?”; and “What point is Black Elk making when he says, ‘You can see that it is not the grass and the water that have forgotten’? Whom is he criticizing?” After reading, students respond to the following Analyze Literature questions: “How do the recollections and views Black Elk presents in his narrative differ from those of Fire Thunder and Standing Bear? Does having three people describe the same events give you a better understanding of them? Why or why not?” During the Lifelong Learning Extend the Text option, students choose an important historical family event and create a story about the event to share with the class. To craft their story, students make notes to present the story events in chronological order and include necessary background information to ensure the audience understands their story. This activity is one of four options from which the teacher may choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction. 

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

  • In Unit 1, Shaping the World, Origins of the American Tradition to 1800, students read “Speech in the Virginia Convention'' by Patrick Henry. The Teacher Wrap lists ways in which “Henry’s reliance on reason in this speech include his insistence on exercising the right to debate freely.” Students identify rhetorical questions in several paragraphs and “identify the purpose of using rhetorical questions: to encourage readers or listeners (1) to think about the questions and the issues they raise and (2) to realize that the responses are self-evident—thus, to ask the questions is to answer them.” Students respond to Critical Thinking Discussion Guide questions, such as “What does Henry’s use of this allusion suggest about his feelings toward the English king?” and “What types of freedoms and privileges does he probably have in mind?” After reading, students respond to Analyze Literature: Rhetorical Question and the Enlightenment questions including: “What is effective about letting people answer these questions for themselves, rather than telling them the information directly? What indiciations did you find that Patrick Henry was familiar with classical rhetoric, or persuasive communication? Where does he support the importance of using reason as a guide to action? What prediction does he make based on observable phenomena? Analyze the different ways Patrick Henry supports his conclusions.” During the Media Literacy option in the Extend the Text section, students choose “another historically significant American speech” and “[t]ake turns reading it aloud in a small group.” While listening, students “note the position taken and the evidence supporting that position, as well as the clarity and coherence of the speech.” Then, students are asked to “analyze the rhetorical features and other elements that make the speech memorable” and “[i]dentify passages from the speech that illustrate your points.” After sharing their findings with the class, students go online to find an audio recording of the speech, if one is available, and listen to the recording, noting “how the speaker’s diction and syntax affect [their] understanding and appreciation of the speech.” This activity is one of four options from which the teacher may choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

  • In Unit 7, The American Dream, Postwar Era 1945–1960, students read the lyric poem, “Midway” by Naomi Long Madgett along with the Informational Text Connection piece, the U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Students analyze tone in the poem and summarize each paragraph of the court case. After reading the informational text, students respond to Review Questions, such as “1. What is the Court’s position on segregation in public schools? Analyze the evidence the Court provides to support its position. What else, if anything, could the Court’s opinion have stated? 2. According to Chief Justice Warren, why is providing public education important in a democratic society? Evaluate whether Warren’s argument is still valid today.” During the Lifelong Learning option in the Extend the Text section, students research “media coverage of an event in the Civil Rights Movement that occurred in the months and years following the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling. Analyze a few different types of media and evaluate the objectivity of each source. Summarize your findings in a short essay.” This activity is one of four options from which the teacher may choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

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

  • In Unit 1, Shaping the World, Origins of the American Tradition to 1800, students read an excerpt from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and an excerpt from Poor Richard’s Almanack by Benjamin Franklin. Materials pair these selections with the Informational Text Connection piece, “Ben Franklin: Scientist and Inventor” (author not cited). While reading the autobiographical excerpt, students “create charts to record what they learn about Franklin’s life and character” and determine “which details are facts and which represent Franklin’s opinions or feelings.” While reading the excerpt from Poor Richard’s Almanack, students “identify Neoclassical traits such as reasonableness and simplicity, as they read the aphorisms from [the text].” When reading the informational article, students “create detail maps or webs” in which they “write the name of one of Franklin’s inventions” in each major circle and”record the minor details that give more information about the invention” in the smaller circles that connect to the major circles. After reading all three texts, students respond to the following Text to Text Connection: “What parallels do you see between Benjamin Franklin’s role as a scientist and inventor and his role as writer, publisher, and statesman? What seemed to motivate Franklin to try new things on both personal and professional levels?” Students also respond to Analyze Literature: Autobiography and Neoclassicism questions including, but not limited to: “What Neoclassical ideals run throughout Franklin’s life and work? In particular, how do the sayings from Poor Richard’s Almanack reflect these ideals? How did Franklin use wit (dry humor) to make these lessons more appealing to readers?”   

  • In Unit 4, Expanding Frontiers, Unification and Growth 1865–1910, students read the speeches, “I Will Fight No More Forever” by Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce and “I am the Last of My Family” by Cochise of the Chiricahua Apache. During both texts, students analyze purpose, discussing prompts, such as “Ask students to identify the purpose of redundancy in the speech. Then discuss why Chief Joseph might have phrased his final intention as he did, rather than saying ‘I will not fight any more.’” and “Ask students to compare Cochise’s comments about fighting with whites with Chief Joseph’s remarks about fighting. Discuss the purpose of each speech and how each leader’s talk of fighting affects his purpose.”  After reading both selections, students respond to Analyze Literature: Oral Tradition and Purpose questions which include: “What purpose or purposes did Chief Joseph have in speaking? What purpose or purposes did Cochise have? Compare and contrast the speakers’ purpose and how well they achieved them.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 11 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2d. 

Individual, paired, and text set selections conclude with Refer to Text and Reason with Text questions; an Analyze Literature, Compare Literature, or Text-to-Text Connection prompt; and four task options in the Extend the Text section. Earlier questions are incoherently sequenced at times and do not always build to a task. Teachers can choose from two writing options and two other types of tasks, such as Collaborative Learning, Critical Literacy, Lifelong Learning, and Media Literacy, in the Extend the Text section. Extend the Text tasks do not consistently relate to reading selections and are sometimes stand-alone in nature. Because there is no true core instructional path, completion of these tasks is optional and contingent upon teacher selection. As a result, there is no guarantee that all students will access the opportunities offered. 

Each unit concludes with three Workshops: Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Test Practice. Most of the Writing and Speaking & Listening Workshops are not connected to the literary form of study and do not require students to draw upon their knowledge of the texts in the unit. The Test Practice Workshops are not connected to unit content and are designed to help students practice taking standardized tests. The three Workshops are not integrated.

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, Shaping the World, Origins of the American Tradition to 1800, during the Speaking & Listening Workshop, students present a literary work. Students “present a poem or a work of prose, such as a short story, a brief chapter from a novel, or an essay.” Students “read the work carefully several times, until you can identify the following elements: the speaker in a lyric poem; the speaker, characters, and action in a narrative poem; the characters and action in a short story or chapter; or the main idea in an essay.” Afterwards, students practice reading the work aloud and memorize the work, if required. Students present the oral interpretation and evaluate the task using a Speaking & Listening Rubric. This task integrates reading, and speaking and listening. 

  • In Unit 4, Expanding Frontiers, Unification and Growth 1865–1910, during the Writing Workshop, students “create a profile using a combination of narration, biography, and oral history.” Students select a person to serve as the subject of their profile and develop a list of questions to ask the subject during an interview. Students take notes during the interview and use their notes to “produce an accurate, absorbing account,” using either a narrative structure or a chronological structure to organize the information. After writing their organizing statement to focus their work, students draft the introduction, body, and conclusion of their profile and evaluate their work using a Revision Checklist. Students may self-evaluate or exchange their work with a peer for feedback. Students “read their profiles aloud to the class, accompanied by either a photo of the subject or an object identified within the profile.” Students evaluate their work using a Writing Rubric. This task integrates writing, and speaking and listening. 

  • In Unit 7, The American Dream, Postwar Era 1945–1960, during the Writing Workshop, students review a film or play. Students may “review a film or play with which you are very familiar or a work entirely new to you.” Students may also “focus on a specific aspect of a film or play, such as the performance of a particular actor or the authenticity of the production.” While watching the film or play, students use a note-taking chart “to record supporting details for your analysis” and organize their ideas. Students also use their Film/Play Review Chart to develop their thesis statement and draft the introduction, body, and conclusion of their writing. Students exchange their work with a peer and evaluate their drafts using a Revision Checklist. Then, students read their final reviews to the class and evaluate their work using a Writing Rubric. 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, Shaping the World, Origins of the American Tradition to 1800, students read and compare an excerpt from The General History of Virginia by John Smith and an excerpt from Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford. Students examine point of view, responding to questions and prompts, such as “Have students locate Smith’s judgmental descriptions of Powhatan and his people, such as ‘more like a devil than a man’ and ‘stern barbarians.’ Ask students to consider why Smith uses such descriptions, and what part his background might play in his view of Native Americans.” and “Ask students to consider the effect of point of view on the telling of the story of the ‘very profane young man’ who died and was the first to be thrown overboard. Ask students how the story might be different if told from his perspective, from the perspective of one of his friends, or from the perspective of a less religious person aboard the ship.” During the Informative Writing option in the Extend the Text section, students complete the following task: “For each man (Smith and Bradford), write a paragraph that explains how his choice relates to his character and the motivation that drew him to the New World. Then write a paragraph making logical connections between the two situations. Support your ideas with examples from the texts.” These questions and tasks are not coherently sequenced to build to the culminating task. It is unclear how these tasks give the teacher usable information about the student's readiness to complete the End-of-Unit Speaking & Listening Workshop in which they give an oral interpretation of a literary work.

  • In Unit 4, Expanding Frontiers, Unification and Growth 1865–1910, students read the short story, “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County '' by Mark Twain, and analyze dialect and features of frame tales. Students respond to questions and prompts, such as “How does the narrator’s word usage contrast with that of Simon Wheeler? What does Wheeler’s dialect reveal about him?” and “Ask students to identify elements of the story Simon Wheeler tells that seem to be characteristic of a tall tale, such as exaggerated, unrealistic elements.” During the Collaborative Learning option in the Extend the Text section, students “[s]elect an excerpt from a piece of fiction by Twain and prepare an oral interpretation of it. Draw inferences from the details to decide what tone, speaking rate, volume, enunciation, language conventions, facial expressions, and gestures you will employ to communicate the characters, theme, and other literary elements.” Later in the unit, students read and compare two speeches: “The Destructive Male” by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and “Woman’s Right to Suffrage '' by Susan B. Anthony. Students examine argument and rhetoric while reading both texts, responding to prompts and questions, such as “Ask students to consider the quotation from Stanton’s speech on page 310. Ask them what points might be used to support this argument.” and “Ask students to identify examples of parallelism in Anthony’s speech and to explain what ideas she calls attention to by using this construction.” After reading both texts, students may complete the following Descriptive Writing option in the Extend the Text section: “Write a paragraph for your school newspaper in which you introduce Stanton and Anthony and summarize their arguments for women’s rights. Research each woman further to identify what she contributed to the movement.” These questions and tasks are not coherently sequenced to build to the culminating task. It is unclear how these tasks give the teacher usable information about the student's readiness to complete the End-of-Unit Writing Workshop in which they write a profile of a person.

  • In Unit 7, The American Dream, Postwar Era 1945-1960, while reading Act 2 of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, students analyze characterization and allusion, responding to prompts and questions, such as “What action by Elizabeth, described in the stage directions, suggests this mood? What does the dialogue after the stage directions indicate is the reason Elizabeth is upset with Mary?” and “Ask students what the reference and the description of the court scene suggest about Elizabeth’s feelings toward Abigail and the people of Salem.” During the Critical Literacy option in the Extend the Text section, students ``find a modern American drama from another period” and “compare and contrast the themes and characteristics of this drama with those in The Crucible.” Later in the unit, students read “A Supermarket in California,” a lyric poem by Allen Ginsberg. Students focus on features of free verse and allusion and respond to questions and prompts, such as “Ask students to identify features of free verse in Ginsberg’s poem, including sentence fragments and the paragraph-like structure of the lines.” and “Ask students to identify the primary allusion in the poem. Why does the speaker speak of Whitman’s enumerations?” During the Informative Writing Extend the Task option, students ``[w]rite a paragraph explaining why Whitman has influenced so many poets.” These questions and tasks are not coherently sequenced to build to the culminating task. It is unclear how these tasks give the teacher usable information about the student's readiness to complete the End-of-Unit Writing Workshop in which they write a review of a film or play.

The materials reviewed for Grade 11 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2e.

The writing program design includes two on-demand, post-reading writing prompts selections. Prompts span creative, argumentative, informative, narrative, and descriptive writing modes. While some prompts are stand-alone tasks, others connect to texts students read and sometimes require students to use textual evidence in their responses. Each unit also includes an End-of-Unit Writing Workshop. During the Writing Workshop, materials explain what students should do during each step of the writing process but rarely provide instruction on the writing mode of focus. Writing Workshops include various supports and tools for monitoring writing development, such as rubrics, student models, literary models, graphic organizers, and checklists. Unlike their on-demand counterparts, these process writing tasks do not connect to the unit theme and are stand-alone in nature with some tasks requiring students to use evidence from sources. 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 Writing & Grammar workbook may be used to supplant Writing Workshops, as the ancillary resource includes an additional in-depth writing workshop for each unit. Writing & Grammar activities begin with a Learn From a Literary Model section. This section draws upon one of the unit text selections. The Writing Rubrics ancillary contains four PDF files: a narrative writing rubric, an informative writing rubric, an argumentative writing rubric, and a four-point general writing rubric. 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— one informative, four argumentative, three descriptive, one 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—Argumentative Writing: Defend a Viewpoint

    • Unit 2—Descriptive Writing: Describe a Setting

    • Unit 3—Argumentative Writing: Solve a Problem

    • Unit 4—Descriptive Writing: Create a Profile

    • Unit 5—Narrative Writing: Write an Application Essay

    • Unit 6—Informative Writing: Create a Multimedia Presentation

    • Unit 7—Argumentative Writing: Review a Film or Play

    • Unit 8—Descriptive Writing: Write a Descriptive Poem

    • Unit 9—Argumentative Writing: Write a Research Paper

• Instructional materials include a variety of well-designed guidance, protocols, models, and support for teachers to implement and monitor students’ writing development.

  • In Unit 1, Shaping the World, Origins of the American Tradition to 1800, in the Writing Workshop, students plan and write an argumentative essay defending a viewpoint that expresses an informed opinion about a topic that interests them. The Workshop includes a Writing Rubric, an Argument Chart for prewriting, a side-by-side example of the Draft and Revise stages, a Revision Checklist, a Writing Follow-Up checklist, and a Student Model. 

  • In Unit 3, A Nation Divided, Slavery and the Civil War 1850–1865, students write an essay that explains a problem and suggest one or more solutions. During the Draft stage, the Teacher Wrap in the Teacher Edition includes a Teaching Note on addressing counterarguments: “Point out how, in the body of her essay, the student identifies an opposing view and then refutes it. This shows that she has carefully considered her topic and looked at opposing points of view before coming to her own conclusions. Ask students to do the same in their problem-solution  essays. They might do so by offering alternative solutions to the problem they posed, and then explaining why their solution is the best one.”

  • In Unit 5, Progress and Conflict, Early Twentieth Century 1910–1929, students write an application essay during the Writing Workshop. During the Draft stage, the Teacher Wrap in the Teacher Edition includes a Teaching Note on maintaining an appropriate tone: “Point out to students that their application essays should reflect their unique perspective and character. Also caution them not to use the essay to oversell themselves. The tone of the essay should be thoughtful, serious, and respectful of readers.”

  • In Unit 7, The American Dream, Postwar Era 1945–1960, as part of the Test Practice Workshop, students practice addressing alternate viewpoints when writing a reflective essay. The Teacher Wrap in the Teacher Edition includes a Reflective Essay Rubric which contains the following criteria: Content, Organization and Development, and Grammar and Style. 

  • In Unit 9, New Challenges, Contemporary Era 1980–Present, students write a research paper during the Writing Workshop. The Teacher Wrap in the Teacher Edition includes a Teaching Note on refocusing or refining a Topic: “As students gather information, they may decide that they can refocus or refine their topic. If a topic is too broad, they will not be able to make their point effectively. If a topic is too narrow, they may not have enough to say. Encourage students to choose a focus for their research but to be flexible and make adjustments if research in a particular area interests them or if new information leads them to a different focus.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 11 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. Short research tasks do not include standards-aligned, explicit instruction and typically occur during one of the post-reading Extend the Text options. 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 6 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. 

While materials provide opportunities to expand the Extend the Text research tasks, teachers must access the Extension Activities ancillary to do so. Materials also include a Language Arts Handbook ancillary with a section on Research and Documentation, but there is no guidance on how to use this handbook for instruction or how it ties to the specific tasks students complete. Ancillary resources are not a part of core instruction.

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 teacher guidance to support students with completing these tasks. The Teacher Edition does not provide information on how to teach the research skills necessary to complete the after-reading research tasks, and it contains limited guidance for the End-of-Unit Writing Workshop research project. Materials do not include a sequence or progression of research skills, nor is there explicit instruction of research skills that aligns to the standards. 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 provide limited support for teachers in employing projects that develop students’ knowledge of different aspects of a topic via provided resources. 

  • There is no evidence of the instructional materials providing support to teachers in employing projects that develop students’ knowledge of different aspects of a topic via provided resources. Research-oriented Extend the Text tasks are not accompanied by instructional support for teachers to guide students through what they are being asked to accomplish. For example, after reading the poems “The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls” and “A Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in Unit 2, Expressing a National Spirit, American Resistance 1800–1850, students may complete a Lifelong Learning Extend the Text task in which they research life expectancy: “Conduct research on life expectancy in the United States to determining trends over the last two hundred years and to project trends in the near future. Also identify factors such as gender, race/ethnicity, disease, and lifestyle that affect individual life expectancy. Synthesize information from a variety of sources, examining them for accuracy, bias, and credibility. Summarize this information in a newsletter intended for someone your age.” Materials do not include guidance for teachers or students to conduct this research, such as where to look for such information; how to synthesize the information; and how to evaluate sources for accuracy, bias, and credibility. During the one in-depth research project per grade level, teachers receive limited support for helping students complete the steps of the research project such as how to write a thesis statement, incorporate parenthetical citations, paraphrase, or construct citations or a Works Cited page.  

• 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, Shaping the World, Origins of the American Tradition to 1800, students read the Declaration of Independence  by Thomas Jefferson. In the Extend the Text section of the after-reading activities, students research how the original passage condemning slavery was worded and why it was removed during the Lifelong Learning task. Students also conduct research to discover what other changes were made to the original document, then write an essay explaining their findings. This is one of four Extend the Text options from which the teacher can choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction. 

  • In Unit 4, Expanding Frontiers, Unification and Growth 1865–1910, students read “I Will Fight No More Forever” by Chief Joseph ,and “I am the Last of My Family” by Cochise. In the optional Extend the Text section of the after-reading activities, teachers may choose to enact the Lifelong Learning activity, during which students research a Native American Treaty: “Do research to identify a treaty that the U.S. government made with a Native American tribe in your region. Find out about the events leading up to the treaty, the terms of the agreement, and whether both groups fulfilled the terms. Also determine the current status of the tribe and identify problems or disputes faced by modern-day members. Prepare a written report that students might read during Native American history month at their school.” This is one of four Extend the Text options from which the teacher can choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

  • In Unit 7, The American Dream, Postwar Era 1945–1960, students read the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller. After reading Act I, students may complete a Media Literacy Extend the Text task on researching mob hysteria. “Investigate the phenomenon of mob hysteria. What different theories explain its origins? Why does it become difficult, if not impossible, for one individual to stand up to a mob? Support your answers using real-life instances of mob hysteria.” This is one of four Extend the Text options from which the teacher can choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

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

  • In Unit 3, A Nation Divided, Slavery and the Civil War 1850–1865, students read the poems “By the Bivouac’s Fitful Flame” and “Beat! Beat! Drums” by Walt Whitman. After reading, students may complete a short, one- to two-class period Media Literacy research task: “Make a list of five websites that provide valuable information about the Civil War and give it to your school’s media center. To evaluate the websites, create a checklist of criteria. Each website should be objective, factually accurate, and use an appropriate tone and level of formality for the intended audience and purpose. Turn in your list of criteria with your list of websites so that others will know they are credible.” This is one of four Extend the Text options from which the teacher can choose and, as a result,may not occur during core instruction.

  • In Unit 7, The American Dream, Postwar Era 1945–1960, students read an excerpt from On the Road by Jack Kerouac. In the Extend the Text section, the Media Literacy task is as follows: “Research the history and importance of “be-bop,” a style of jazz music made popular in the 1940s, including its association with the Beat movement. Then draft a plan for a website about be-bop. Decide whether the site will serve as an introduction to the general public or be geared more toward jazz enthusiasts.” This is a shorter project that would likely require students one to two class periods to complete; however, the enactment of this research task is contingent upon teacher selection and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

  • In Unit 9, New Challenges, Contemporary Era 1980 to Present, students “[p]lan, write, and revise a research paper that presents an argument about immigration” during the End-of-Unit Writing Workshop. The body of the research paper must “[support] the thesis with detailed evidence gathered from research.” This long research project spans three class periods.

The materials reviewed for Grade 11 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 11 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 lists page 730 in the EMC Pages That Cover the Standards column for RL.5 “Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.” This page contains Refer to Text and Reason with Text questions, an Analyze Literature: Realism and Climax prompt, and the four Extend the Text options for the short story, “Ambush” by Tim O’Brien. The page also contains an Analyze Literature inset that includes information on realism and climax. While this inset notes and explains occurrences of realism and climax in the text, materials do not provide an opportunity for explicit instruction on 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 the Text 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 5, Progress and Conflict, Early Twentieth Century 1910–1929, students read “Lucinda Matlock,” a dramatic poem by Edgar Lee Masters. During reading, students observe shifts in tone and note elements of free verse. The text also includes an Art Connection piece on two paintings, “Stone City, Iowa” and “American Gothic,” both by Grant Wood. Students respond to the following Critical Viewing question: “Examine the paintings “American Gothic” and “Stone City, Iowa” (see page E209). What techniques does Wood use to make the scenes seem realistic? What qualities of his work seem especially middle American?” These questions do not address the correlated standard: “Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.” 

• 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 the following page numbers for SL.3 “Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.”: 51, 55, 325, 789, H33–H34. On page 51, the Text Overview page for Patrick Henry’s “Speech in the Virginia Convention” defines rhetorical question and the Enlightenment and sets the purpose for reading: “While reading his speech, write down four rhetorical questions Henry asks to appeal to people’s hearts and minds. Also look for evidence of his knowledge of classical rhetoric, or persuasive communication, and other Enlightenment principles.” On page 55, students respond to Refer to Text and Reason with Text questions, but it is unclear which questions address the correlated standard. Students also respond to an Analyze Literature prompt addressing rhetorical question and the Enlightenment: “Review the four rhetorical questions you wrote down from Henry’s speech. Next to each, write down the answer that Henry assumes his listeners will infer. What is effective about letting people answer these questions for themselves, rather than telling them the information directly?” During the Media Literacy option, students work in small groups, taking turns reading aloud “another historically significant American speech.” While listening, students “note the position taken and the evidence supporting that position, as well as the clarity and coherence of the speech.” Students then “analyze the rhetorical features and other elements that make the speech memorable,” identifying “passages from the speech that illustrate [their] points.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 11 partially meet the criteria for Indicator 2h. 

The materials include an overwhelming number of components with no guide for teachers to understand how to navigate and integrate the many ancillary resources. The Program Planning Guide includes the Mirrors & Windows College & Career Readiness Curriculum Guide Level VI (Grade 11), an alternative implementation schedule that focuses on selections and workshops necessary for students to “master critical skills that appear on state and national assessments.” Given the amount of time suggested and allotted for the core materials to be covered, there is little surplus time for covering the many extension activities, workshops and assessments located within and outside of the core materials. As a result, it is unclear how to assure grade-level standards are covered methodically or evenly when incorporating optional tasks or ancillary materials into daily lesson planning. 

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 2, Expressing a National Spirit, American Resistance 1800–1850, students read the short story,“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe. The Scope and Sequence Guide outlines the lesson components, including the Literary Element: Gothic fiction and foreshadowing, and the Mirrors & Windows theme: isolation. Although students identify elements of gothic fiction several occurrences of foreshadowing in the text, students also engage in conversations about several other skills and elements, including determining the importance of details, noting the influence of French culture on word choice, describing the atmosphere of the story, comparing and contrasting the uses of a verb, analyzing the effect of diction on mood, identifying an allegory, and aking predictions, all while reading the text. After reading, students respond to questions on Gothic fiction and foreshadowing, but materials do not address or assess the other skills and story elements students analyzed during reading. The optional Extend the Text tasks do not connect to any of the skills or elements discussed in the lesson. Tasks include creating a children’s version of the story; writing a health column for a local newspaper; developing the story into a weekly TV drama; and comparing and contrasting the story to a modern novel, play, or film. 

  • In Unit 5, Progress and Conflict, Early Twentieth Century 1910–1929, students read the lyric poems, “Poetry” by Marianne Moore, and “Ars Poetica” by Archibald MacLeish. The lesson for these selections includes studying theme and stanza and making inferences while reading the poems. During-reading practice exercises and after-reading questions support these skills; however, the optional Extend the Text tasks do not align to these core learning objectives. For example, during the Creative Writing option, students write a dialogue between Marainne Moore and Archibald MacLeish, focusing on the attitude they might have towards each other. 

  • In Unit 8, Social Transition, Early Contemporary Era 1960–1980, students read the short story, “Ambush” by Tim O’Brien. Goals for this lesson, as outlined in the Before Reading section, include a study of realism, climax, and identifying multiple levels of meaning. During-reading activities and questions support the development of these skills, and after-reading questions assess students’ acquisition of the skills; however, the optional Extend the Text activities teachers may choose to assign do not serve to deepen students’ understanding of the core learning. For example, students may write a persuasive paragraph in response to the question of whether the draft should be mandatory.

• 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 VI (Grade 11): “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 or block schedule days the lesson should take. 

• Optional tasks distract from core learning. 

  • In the Writing section of the Writing & Grammar ancillary, materials provide instruction on writing a lyric poem to accompany Unit 3 content. This resource is an intensive workshop that includes a large number of steps, which could impact the suggested pacing of unit selections. While students read many lyric poems over the course of Unit 3, this workshop does not support students’ deeper understanding of the poems under study. 

  • In Unit 5, Progress and Conflict, Early Twentieth Century 1910–1929, students read an excerpt from the novel The Sun Also Rises by F. Scott Fitzgerald. During reading, materials include a Differentiated Instruction activity in which students choreograph movements based on the description in the bullfighting scene. While this opportunity allows students to be physically active while learning more about bulls and bullfighting and recalling the scene, the activity does not allow students to practice skills related to reading the text or contribute to a deeper understanding of the text. 

  • In Unit 8, Social Transition, Early Contemporary Era 1960–1980, students study imagery and simile while reading two lyric poems by Yusef Komunyakaa, “Camouflaging the Chimera” and “Monsoon Season.” The Extend the Text task options at the end of the selection do not connect to these skills. Tasks include writing a diary entry as a soldier in one of the poems, writing a compare and contrast essay about the poems and Tim O’Brien’s story, “Ambush,” communicating with a Vietnamese school, and preparing an explanation of one of the poems featuring unrelated text features. 

• Some optional tasks are meaningful and enhance core instruction.

  • In Unit 3, A Nation Divided, Slavery and the Civil War 1850–1865, students read an excerpt from the preface for Leaves of Grass and an excerpt from “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman. The Unit & Selection Resources ancillary provides additional options for student work, but these options do not enhance the instruction of these texts. Students complete an out-of-context vocabulary exercise in which they use words from the text to practice how synonyms affect connotation; read a new selection by William Wordsworth in the same genre and compare it to the selections read by filling out a chart; and write an essay comparing the two author’s Romantic ideals.  

  • In Unit 4, Expanding Frontiers, Unification and Growth 1865–1910, students read “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” a short story by Mark Twain. Guidance in the Teacher Edition suggests teachers launch the lesson by having students research frontier mining camps and make a scale model or drawing of a camp. The Before Reading material contains the historical context of the story and includes a map of the mining district. Completing this task would be redundant and would not enhance core instruction. 

  • In Unit 7, The American Dream, Postwar Era 1945–1960, students read the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. During the reading of Act I, materials include an enrichment activity during which students research scapegoating and answer a trio of historical questions about scapegoating. This task supports students with understanding the discrimination and prejudice present in the reading.