12th Grade - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for Grade 12 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 British 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, Heroes and Kings, Anglo-Saxon Period 449–1066, the essential question is “Why were tales of heroism so important to people during this time? What purpose did they serve?” The preview establishes that this was a time in history when England was a battle ground between the Anglos and Saxons and that heroic epics and tales of great kings survive from the time period until today. Some of the Mirrors & Windows questions relate to the unit theme, Heroes and Kings, but they do not connect to the essential question. Although the text selections are about heroes and kings, it is unclear how the texts are connected and how students use the texts to answer the essential question. For example, after reading Beowulf by Anonymous, translated by Burton Raffel, students respond to the following Mirrors & Windows questions: “What responsibilities do leaders have to the people they represent? What roles or duties are they expected to fulfill?” The Extend the Text options include one writing task that loosely relates to the essential question: “Draft an essay that analyzes how the modern Grendel, by John Gardner, relates to the ancient Beowulf. You might consider how the themes of each work relate to the Germanic society of its time; you might compare the portrayals of Grendel; or you might choose another topic to explore.” After reading the poem “The Head of Humbaba” from Gilgamesh, translated by Herbert Mason, students respond to the following Mirrors & Windows question: “Based on your personal definition of hero, who do you consider the hero of this passage: Gilgamesh, Enkidu, or Humbaba?” While this question connects to the unit theme, it does not connect to the essential question.

  • In Unit 5, Harmony and Reason, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 1625–1798, the introduction provides an overview on the Age of Reason and poses the following essential questions: “What values do the selections in this unit promote? What are some of the most important aspects of a functioning society?” The introductory page is followed by a timeline of the target time period and information on seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to provide students with the necessary historical context for the texts in this unit. Some selections in the unit refer back to the essential question while others do not. For example, students read the poems, “To Althea, from Prison,” and “To Lucasta, Going to the Wars” by Richard Lovelace. The Reader’s Context questions are “What relationships and beliefs sustain and support you in times of distress?” While these questions may connect to the unit theme, Harmony and Reason, they do not connect to the essential questions. When students read the poem, “When I consider how my light is spent” by John Milton, the Reader’s Context question is “What are the benefits of having high expectations of yourself?”, and the Mirrors and Windows thematic questions for these poems are “How can people contribute to society? Should a greater contribution be asked or expected of people with power, privilege, and ability than others?” While the Mirrors and Windows questions connect to the essential question, the Reader’s Context question does not. Neither question connects to the unit theme. The Reader’s Context question for the excerpt from the novel Gulliver’s Travels and the essay “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift aligns with the essential question: “What are the best and worst qualities of the society in which you live?”, yet the post-reading questions and tasks, along with the Mirrors & Windows question, do not connect to the unit theme or essential question.  

  • In Unit 7, Reconciling Ideals and Realities, Victorian Era 1832–1901, the introduction includes the following overview and essential question: “A closer look at Victorian writing reveals a crisis of faith for many writers and a struggle to find balance between these conflicting ideas. How do you find balance when ideas diverge?” The anchor text for this unit is “The Lady of Shalott” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Students also read My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning, an excerpt from Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, “The Lagoon” by Joseph Conrad, and “When I Was One-and-Twenty” by A. E. Housman. Although texts are from the same historical period, the text-dependent questions and Extend the Text options for the selections do not connect to the unit theme, Reconciling Ideals and Realities, or the essential question. The Mirrors & Windows sub-themes and questions also do not connect to the unit theme or the essential question. For example, students read an excerpt from the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. The before-reading Reader’s Context questions include: “How would your life be different if you were suddenly wealthy or poor? How would it be better or worse?” The Set Purpose section guides students to look for clues about the setting and examples of direct and indirect characterization. After reading, the Mirrors & Windows questions are “What are the disadvantages of clinging to things from the past? What from your past have you found difficult to give up?” It is unclear how these prompts work together to build students’ knowledge of the theme.

The materials reviewed for Grade 12 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, Social and Cultural Change, Medieval Period 1066–1485, students focus on characterization and irony characterization as they read “The Prologue,” “The Pardoner’s Tale,” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. Throughout each selection, students respond to Close Read questions that address characterization and irony. After reading “The Prologue,” students respond to Analyze Literature questions, such as “How much of the information comes from the characters themselves versus their fellow pilgrims? What are the major targets of irony? Use examples from the text to support your answer.” Students also “[w]rite a one-paragraph character analysis of one of the pilgrims introduced in [the text]” during the Informative Writing Extend the Text option. After reading “The Pardoner’s Tale” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” students respond to the following Analyze Literature questions: “Review Chaucer’s portrayal of the Pardoner and the Wife of Bath in ‘The Prologue.” How are these characters developed in greater depth in their individual tales? Identify instances of irony, especially situational irony, in [both selections.] What is Chaucer suggesting in each instance?” During the Creative Writing option in the Extend the Text section, students use their Creative Writing character introduction from the Creative Writing Extend the Text option for “The Prologue” and expand it “to create a short tale told in verse.” In their essay, students “[r]elate the experiences of this pilgrim, providing an appropriate lesson or 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 8, Social Transition, Early Contemporary Era 1960–1980, students read the poems, “The Rear Guard” by Siegfried Sassoon and “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen. Prior to reading the texts, the Preview the Selections portion of the Comparing Texts page directs “students to explore the author’s purpose for each of these poems after identifying their themes or main ideas.” Materials do not include questions on theme during or after reading. Materials also do not include a task in which students 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” or “provide an objective summary of the text.” 

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

    • In Unit 5, Harmony and Reason, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 1625–1798, students focus on analyzing satire and irony as they read an excerpt from Gulliver’s Travels and “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift. Teacher guidance explains the importance of identifying the author’s purpose when reading satire. During specified passages of Gulliver’s Travels, students respond to prompts in which they identify Swift’s purpose, “point out the irony in the closing sentence” of an excerpt, “identify the satirical target in [a] passage,”  “explain what is situationally ironic in context about the King’s reaction,” and “speculate what Swift’s satirical purpose is in having Gulliver reflect that the King possessed ‘narrow principles and short views’ in his reaction to the gunpowder discussion.” While reading designated passages in “A Modest Proposal,” students respond to prompts that require them to “develop a theory about what Swift’s shocking proposal is intended to satirize,” “explain how Swift uses satire in [a] passage,” and “discuss how Swift’s professed interest in brevity contributes to his purpose.” Students also use the Critical Thinking Discussion Guide to “discuss what lessons about the goals, methods, and reception of satire can be inferred from these selections.” The after-reading Analyze Literature questions are as follows: “What aspects of society does Swift satirize in the excerpts from Gulliver’s Travels?” Whom does he satirize in ‘A Modest Proposal?’ What changes does he want to bring about in British society?  How is the Brobdingnagian King being ironic when he says to Gulliver, ‘You have made a most admirable panegyric upon your country?’ Explain two other examples of irony from each selection. Discuss how the use of irony contributes to Swift’s satiric purpose.” In the optional Extend the Text Informative Writing task, students ``[w]rite an essay analyzing Swift’s use of satire and irony in Gulliver’s Travels and ‘A Modest Proposal.’  Using examples from both selections, explain how Swift uses irony to create satire. Also evaluate the effectiveness of each satire in bringing attention to a social problem.” 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..

    • In Unit 8, Struggle for Peace and Progress, Modern Era 1901–1945, students read the short story “Araby'' by James Joyce. While reading, students respond to Analyze Literature questions addressing epiphany and point of view. At the start of the text, students identify the sentence “that tells them the perspective from which the story is told. What is the point of view? What is the most important clue?” During reading, students respond to the following prompt: “The narrator describes the ‘innumerable follies’ that he experiences in the days after making the promise to Mangan's sister. Ask students if they think the narrator is giving an accurate description of his feelings and actions.” After reading, students ``[i]dentify the epiphany the narrator has about his much-longed for visit to the bazaar. What does he suddenly understand about the reality of human relations?” Students also identify from what point of view the story is told and respond to the following questions: “How does the point of view make the story suspenseful and intense? What details does the narrator provide and not provide? How would the use of a third-person point of view change the telling of the story?” students examine how little the narrator revealed about himself as they ponder the following question: “Why did Joyce provide so little information about the boy?” Students ``[d]iscuss the question in a one-paragraph analysis that helps you understand the author’s literary technique.`` This Informative Writing Extend the Text option is one of four 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 1, Heroes and Kings, Anglo-Saxon Period 499–1066, students read a text set that contains versions of the epic tale of Beowulf. Selections include an excerpt from the heroic epic Beowulf by Anonymous, translated by Burton Raffel, an excerpt from the graphic novel Beowulf by Gareth Hinds, and an excerpt from the novel Grendel by John Champlin Gardner. Students explore the theme of good versus evil, discussing whether this theme “might have been present in the original pre-Christian version of the tale or might have been added to convey a religious message.” During this discussion, students also “explore the idea that the theme of good versus evil is not exclusive to Christianity, and that ‘God’ may be a reference to a deity other than the Christian God.” The Teacher Wrap includes two Critical Thinking Discussion Guides that allow students to explore “the values that Beowulf, as an epic hero, embodied for Anglo-Saxon culture,” a well as “the themes of loyalty, fame, and courage as exhibited by the actions of the characters.” Questions include, but are not limited to: “Why might values such as strength, generosity, loyalty, and courage have been important to Anglo Saxon culture?” and “Why does Wiglaf emphasize the preservation of Beowulf’s fame as he attempts to bolster Beowulf’s courage?” During a Text to Text Connection question comparing the translated version to the graphic novel version, students reflect on why Beowulf insists “on fighting the monster Grendel with his bare hands” and “Beowulf’s one request if he dies in the battle.” When reading the novel excerpt, students create a Venn diagram that compares and contrasts the Beowulf excerpts and the Grendel excerpt. During the Informative Writing Extend the Text option, students respond to the following prompt: “Draft an essay that analyzes how the modern Grendel, by John Gardner, relates to the ancient Beowulf. You might consider how the themes of each work relate to the Germanic society of its time; you might compare the portrayals of Grendel; or you might choose another topic to explore.” 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 8, Struggle for Peace and Progress, Modern Era 1901–1945, students focus on theme and imagery as they read a text set containing three lyric poems by William Butler Yeats: “When You Are Old,” “The Wild Swans at Coole,” and “The Lake Isle of Innisfree.” While reading “When You Are Old,” students respond to Critical Thinking Discussion Guide questions, such as “What is the message of the second stanza?” During the reading of “The Wild Swans at Coole,” students discuss “how they would state the theme of the poem.” Students do not respond to any questions addressing theme when reading “The lake Isle of Innisfree.” Instead, students ``identify images in the poem that appeal to the sense of hearing,” as they examine imagery. During the post-reading Analyze Literature questions, students respond to the following prompt: “The themes of the three Yeats poems are implied rather than stated. For each poem, combine the information explicitly stated with your own knowledge and observations to infer, or figure out, the author’s message. Use textual evidence to support each inference. Is the theme universal? How does identifying the theme help you appreciate and understand the work?” Students then “[w]rite a brief analytical essay in which you discuss what the speaker in each of the selections of Yeats’s poetry yearns for and why,” during one of the Extend the Text options. This Informative Writing Extend the Text option is one of four activities from which the teacher may select and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

The materials reviewed for Grade 12 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. Materials do not consistently 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 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. Although students respond to questions that provide opportunities to analyze across multiple texts, materials do not consistently provide students with opportunities to analyze those same elements within single texts.

Materials do not consistently 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: 

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

  • In Unit 1, Heroes and Kings, Anglo-Saxon Period 449–1066, students read a paired selection containing selections from Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Saint Bede the Venerable: “The Conversion of King Edwin'' and “The Story of Caedmon.” As part of the Critical Thinking Discussion Guide, students “consider whether the arguments offered by Edwin’s counselors seem reasonable. Did Edwin have reason to forsake his old beliefs and embrace these new ones? Why or why not?” After reading both selections, students respond to several Reason with Text questions that allow them to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structures used in the arguments presented in each text: “Think about Paulinus’s speech to King Edwin. Describe Paulinus’s goal.”; “Compare and contrast the details presented about the old Germanic religion with those presented about Christianity.”; and “Evaluate Coifi’s argument. Determine whether he chose the best approach for his audience, the king.” During the Creative Writing Extend the Text option, students “[w]rite a one-page dialogue between King Edwin and Caedmon in which they discuss their experiences with religious transformation.” While students compare their dialogue with the dialogue of their classmates, students do not analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structures of their peers’ expositions. 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 8, Struggle for Peace and Progress, Modern Era 1901–1945, students read several selections by Virginia Woolf: an essay excerpt from A Room of One’s Own, the essay, “Mr. Sassoon’s Letters,” and the letter, “Letter to Julian Bell,” which serves as a Primary Source Connection piece. Students analyze argument and rhetorical question while reading the two essays, responding to prompts and questions, such as “Ask students in what way the remainder of the paragraph provides the answer to [Professor Trevelyan’s view that genius could not be born among women.]”; “Ask students to identify the strongest point that Woolk makes, at the end of the essay, in support of her argument that women in Shakespeare’s day did not have the same opportunities as did men.”; and “Ask students what position Woolk takes when presenting her argument about the realism of Sassoon’s war poetry.” While reading “Letter to Julian Bell,” students read the first paragraph and “compare its tone with the tone of ‘Mr. Sassoon’s Poems.’” Students respond to the following Text to Text Connection prompt: “Compare, contrast, and synthesize the ideas that Woolk presents in her essay on Sasson’s war poems and her letter about Bell’s poetry. What elements does Woolf look for in a good poem? Use textual evidence to support your answer.” After reading all three texts, students respond to Analyze Literature: Argument and Rhetorical Question questions including, but not limited to: “How does Woolf develop her argument in each essay? State what she is proposing in each selection. Then choose three items from your list of supporting evidence and explain how each item supports Woolf’s perspective. Evaluate the effectiveness of the argument in each essay.” During the Argumentative Writing option in the Extend the Text section, students choose an important topic of social interest, state their position on the topic, and “write a paragraph describing an imaginary person or situation that helps illustrate [their] position, as Woolf did with an imaginary sister of Shakespeare.” 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 not consistently embedded in students’ work (via tasks and/or culminating tasks).

  • In Unit 3, Rebirth of Culture and Ideas, Renaissance 1485–1625, students read “Psalm 23” and “The Prodigal Son,” both from The King James Bible. Both selections include embedded pictures of artwork. “The Prodigal Son” includes an Art Connection piece with the following Critical Viewing prompt: “In addition to the great level of detail, what other qualities do you observe in Rembrandt’s self-portrait? Consider the subject’s expression and posture as well as the painting’s use of color, light, and shadow. Infer what these qualities suggest about the artist’s personality. Also consider why someone might paint his own portrait so many times and, in this case, cast himself in the role of a religious figure.” Students “identify universal metaphors in the psalm and explain what they mean,” when reading “Psalm 23.” Students analyze imagery and purpose when reading “The Prodigal Son'' and respond to questions and prompts, such as “Ask students to identify specific images on this page. Discuss the purpose that Jesus’s use of imagery might serve.” and “Ask students to discuss Jesus’s purpose in telling this parable. What do they think he was hoping to accomplish?” After reading both selections, students respond to Analyze Literature: Purpose and Imagery questions including, but not limited to: “For what purpose or purposes was Psalm 23 likely written? What about the parable? What purposes might religious texts typically have? Why?” This sequence of questions does not build to a task in which students “[i]ntegrate 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,” as noted in the standards. 

  • The Grade 12 standards correlation document notes that RI.8 and RI.9 are addressed in Grade 11, American Tradition. 

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

  • In Unit 5, Harmony and Reason, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 1625–1798, students read a diary excerpt from The Diary of Samuel Pepys by Samuel Pepys and an excerpt from the fictional journal, A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe. Students focus on diction and narrator while reading both selections. While reading Pepys’ work, students respond to questions and prompts, such as “Ask students to rephrase Pepys’s brief concluding prayer in contemporary language.”; “Discuss with students what his passage suggests about the narrator’s personality.”; and “Note how Pepys’ simile (‘like a fainting woman’) and the direct quotation emphasize the Lord Mayor’s sense of helplessness.” While reading Defoe’s work, questions and prompts include: “Have students note the unusual meaning of visitation in this passage.”; “Ask students to discuss their impressions of the narrator, based on this personal reflection about the ‘dreadful’ events he witnessed.”; and “Ask students to find examples of figurative language in this passage.” Students also use a Critical Thinking Discussion Guide to discuss what the selections “reveal about urban life in London during the mid-seventeenth century.” After reading both selections, students respond to the following Analyze Literature: Diction and Narrator questions: “Does the diction of Pepys and Defoe reflect the informal language of a typical diary or journal entry? Explain your answer. How would you compare Defoe’s diction to Pepys’s use of language? Who is the narrator in each excerpt? How is each narrator’s knowledge limited? How does the choice of narrator affect the content of each selection?”   

  • In Unit 8, Struggle for Peace and Progress, Modern Era 1901–1945, students read Winston Churchill’s “Wartime Speech, May 19, 1940” followed by Mohandas K. Gandhi’s speech, “Defending Nonviolent Resistance.” While reading both speeches, students identify each author’s purpose: “Ask students why they think Churchill used verbs such as ‘clawing down’ and ‘cutting down’ to describe the success of the British Air Force.” and “Ask students why Gandhi lists all of the instances in which he served the very empire that is trying to convict him on this day.” Students also distinguish fact from opinion and identify rhetorical devices used by each author while reading each selection. After reading both selections, students respond to the following Text to Text Connection prompt: “Identify similarities and differences between Churchill’s 1940 speech to the British people and Gandhi’s 1922 address to the Indian court. Consider the reasoning behind each work, as well as the content, tone, use of rhetorical devices, ambiguity, contradiction, and paradox, and appropriateness of appeals to the audience. Which speech do you find most compelling? Why?” During the Informative Writing Extend the Text option, students explore how carefully speechwriters must select their words and write an analytical essay in response to the following question: “How does Churchill use language to persuade his listeners not to lose hope and to be prepared to sacrifice?” This activity is one of four Extend the Text options from which the teacher may choose and, as a result, may not occur during core instruction.

The materials reviewed for Grade 12 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, Heroes and Kings, Anglo-Saxon Period 449–1066, during the Writing Workshop, students ``compose a narrative poem about a modern-day hero.” After selecting a topic, students ``[r]esearch your hero to learn more about his or her life” and “gather information about the foe, or challenge your hero has faced.” Students use a graphic organizer to record their findings, organize their ideas, and state in one sentence the main message they wish to communicate about their selected hero. The teacher encourages students “to reread some narrative poems to review meter and rhyme,” as students work on their drafts. Students self- or peer-evaluate their work using a Revision Checklist and then “[p]erform your poem for the class using costumed readers, props, and musical accompaniment, or show the class a videotaped presentation of your poem.” Students evaluate their work using a Writing Rubric. This task integrates reading, writing, and speaking and listening.

  • In Unit 6, New Freedom and Equality, Romantic Period 1798–1832, during the Speaking & Listening Workshop, students summarize factual information. After deciding on an interesting topic, students “focus [their] research by developing useful questions,” using research tools as needed to gather information. Afterwards, students develop a thesis statement, or main idea, and “prepare notes that are like an outline” to present their speech. Students rehearse their presentation and evaluate the task using a Speaking & Listening Rubric. This task integrates reading, writing, and speaking and listening. 

  • In Unit 9, Finding a Place in the World, Postmodern Era 1945–Present, students present an oral analysis of a literary selection. Students “select a short story you have read and enjoyed” or “one that you have not yet read.” After reading “the short story once to familiarize yourself with the plot and characters,” students “read it a second time and focus on specific elements of it.” Students jot down notes as they analytically read the short story and use their notes to develop their thesis. Afterwards, students “organize your notes into prompts, or cues, for your oral presentation.” Students practice their presentation before delivering it to the class and evaluate the task using a Speaking & Listening Rubric. This task integrates reading, writing, and speaking and listening.  

• 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, Heroes and Kings, Anglo-Saxon Period 449–1066, students read “The Head of Humbaba” from Gilgamesh, verse translation by Herbert Mason. Students examine figurative language and respond to the following prompt: “Ask students what comparison the poet makes in the description of Humbaba in lines 9–14.” After reading, students respond to Refer and Reason questions, such as “Evaluate Gilgamesh as a hero. What strengths and weaknesses does he have? What kind of friend is he to Enkidu? Is Gilgamesh an admirable hero? Why or why not?” During the Writing Options section, students write “an epic poem about a hero from today.” 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 narrative poem about a modern-day hero.

  • In Unit 6, New Freedom and Equality, Romantic Period 1798–1832, students read a text set containing three lyric poems by William Blake: “The Lamb,” “The Tyger,” and “London.” Students examine synesthesia and parallelism while reading, responding to prompts and questions, such as “Ask students to analyze the parallel elements that help balance stanza 2 with stanza 1.” and “Have students identify an example of synesthesia in stanza 2.” During the Collaborative Learning option in the Extend the Text section, students work in small groups to “research changes in graphic elements used in British poetry across time periods.” Later in the unit, students read a paired selection of lyric poems by George Gordon, Lord Byron: “She Walks in Beauty” and an excerpt from “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.” Students analyze simile and enjambment while reading the selections and respond to prompts and questions including: “Have students identify and describe the simile in the poem’s opening lines.”; “Ask students which words are connected by the enjambment in line 8”; and “Ask students to identify the lines in stanza 91.” During the Collaborative Learning Extend the Text option, students work in small groups to “prepare a speech that Byron might make to a high school graduating class.” 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 and Listening Workshop in which they present an oral analysis of a short story.

  • In Unit 9, Finding a Place in the World, Postmodern Era 1945–Present, students read and compare the lyric poem, “Telephone Conversation” by Wole Soyinka to an excerpt from another lyric poem, “Midsummer XXII'' by Derek Walcott. Students analyze theme in each selection and respond to questions and prompts, such as “Have students read lines 4–5 carefully. What theme do these lines suggest?”; “Ask students to identify the tone of this statement and state how it relates to the theme.”; “Have students identify the allusions the author makes in lines 3–11. How do these allusions reflect a theme of the poem?”; and “Have students identify the allusions the speaker makes in lines 19–21. How do these allusions relate to the theme of the poem?” The Extend the Text section contains two oral presentation opportunities. Students ``research the causes and effects of the Brixton riot in 1981” and “[p]repare an oral report in which you outline the causes and explain one of the effects in greater detail,” during the Lifelong Learning option. Students work in a small group to “prepare a reading of ‘Telephone Conversation,’ during the Critical Literacy option. Students “practice reading the poem out loud, using your voices and facial expressions to convey the thoughts and feelings of the different characters' ' and “[p]erform the reading for the class. Later in the unit, students read “No Witchcraft for Sale,” a short story by Doris Lessing. Students focus on analyzing characterization and motivation and respond to questions and prompts, such as “Ask students what motivates Mrs. Farquhar to raise Gideon’s wages. Does she really care for Gideon?” and “Have students give an example of direct characterization and indirect characterization in the marked passage.” During the Informative Writing Extend the Text option, students ``[w]rite a one-paragraph analysis of the Farquars’ motivation for wanting to know about the secret root. Using evidence from the story, explore possible primary and secondary reasons for their motivation.” 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 and Listening Workshop in which they present an oral analysis of a short story.

The materials reviewed for Grade 12 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 Rubric  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— three informative, three argumentative, one descriptive, two narrative—resulting in a mostly balanced 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—Narrative Writing: Write a Narrative Poem

    • Unit 2—Informative Writing: Write a Cover Letter and Résumé

    • Unit 3—Informative Writing: Write a Poetry Explication

    • Unit 4—Descriptive Writing: Describe a Character

    • Unit 5—Argumentative Writing: Write a Satire

    • Unit 6—Narrative Writing: Write a Personal Essay

    • Unit 7—Argumentative Writing: Review a Short Story or Book

    • Unit 8—Informative Writing: Analyze an Advertisement

    • 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, Heroes and Kings, Anglo-Saxon Period 449–1066, students complete a narrative writing assignment in the Writing Workshop. The Teacher Wrap in the Teacher Edition includes a Teaching Note that guides teachers on having students look more closely at the different phases of the student sample included in the activity: “Have students mark the meter for the opening stanza of Sasha’s draft on page 71. Then have students mark the meter for the opening stanza of Sasha’s final poem on page 73. Ask students to read aloud the draft and the finished product and note how the revisions improved the meter. Point out the importance of reading one’s work aloud to check the meter.” 

  • In Unit 3, Rebirth of Culture and Ideas, Renaissance 1485–1625, students write a poetry explication during the Writing Workshop. The Workshop outlines a step-by-step process for writing the explication, including a table for organizing the analysis, a Writing Rubric, ideas about what great writers do, a Revision Checklist, a multi-staged Student Model, and guidance for teachers to help students along the way.

  • In Unit 5, Harmony and Reason, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 1625–1798, students write a description of a character during the Writing Workshop. During the Revision stage of the process, the Teacher Wrap in the Teacher Edition includes a Teaching Note on grammar and style: “Review with students the importance of sentence variety, especially in an essay that focuses on a single character. Hold a class-wide brainstorming session that focuses, for example, on different structures for sentence beginnings, such as prepositional phrases, participial phrases, transition words, or subordinate clauses. Also remind students of the possibilities for combining short sentences.” 

  • In Unit 7, Reconciling Ideals and Realities, Victorian Era 1832–1901, students write a reflective essay as part of the Test Practice Workshop. 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, Finding a Place in the World, Postmodern Era 1945–Present, students write a research paper during the Writing Workshop. The Workshop includes a box titled What Great Writers Do. The Teacher Wrap in the Teacher Edition includes a Teaching Note referencing this embedded support: “Read and discuss the What Great Writers Do box on this page. Remind students that quotations should not stand alone. They should be introduced or commented on so the reader understands why the quotation is part of the paper.” 

The materials reviewed for Grade 12 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 John Donne’s poems, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” and “‘Death, be not proud’ (Holy Sonnet 10)” in Unit 3, Rebirth of Culture and Ideas, Renaissance 1485–1625, students may complete a Lifelong Learning Extend the Text task in which they research religious differences: “Team up with a classmate to research the similarities and differences between the Anglican and Catholic faiths. Begin by reviewing the conditions under which the Church of England was formed. Also determine why it was advantageous for Donne to join this church.” Materials do not provide support for teachers or students on how to conduct this research or how the information should be evaluated or organized. 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 2, Social and Cultural Change, Medieval Period 1066–1485, students read “The Prologue” from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Nevill Coghill. In the Extend the Text section of the after-reading activities, the Lifelong Learning task reads as follows: “Using library and Internet sources, research social stratification (or class structure) in the Medieval Period. Identify the primary social classes and what determined membership in them. Make a research plan and adjust it as you narrow your topic. To which class does each character in ‘The Prologue’ belong? Create a chart that identifies the primary social classes and lists the pilgrims that belong in each class.” Through this task, students will demonstrate their comprehension and knowledge of social stratifications in the Medieval Period. 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 6, Hard Times, Depression and World War II 1929–1945, students read the poems, “The World is Too Much With Us,” “Composed Upon Westminster Bridge,” and an excerpt from Preface to Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth. In the Extend the Text section of the after reading activities, the Lifelong Learning task reads as follows: “Research how the ideals of Romanticism revealed themselves in the music and visual art of the period. Then pair one song or one piece of visual art with one of Wordsworth’s poems. If you choose a song, draw parallels between the music’s melody, lyrics, and instrumental choices and the Romantic ideals of the poetry. If you choose a piece of visual art, such as a painting or a sculpture, make connections between the imagery, subjects, emotions, materials, and techniques of the artwork and the Romantic ideals of the poetry. Present your ideas to your classmates.” 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, after reading the poems “War Poet” by Sydney Keyes and “Words” by Keith Douglas, students may complete a Media Literacy Extend the Text task: “A vast archive of newspaper and magazine articles, documents, films, speeches, and radio transcripts form World War II is available in libraries and on the Internet...select one aspect of the conflict—for example, British and American perspectives on staying the course to achieve victory—and examine the media coverage in terms of its intended effect on the audience and purpose.” 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 5,  Progress and Conflict, Early Twentieth Century 1910–1929, students read “Song (‘Why So Pale and Wan’),” a lyric poem by Sir John Suckling. In the Extend the Text section of the after-reading activities, students research a famous person who has been imprisoned for their beliefs during the Collaborative Learning task. Students explore the reason for the person’s imprisonment, what he/she has accomplished, then share with classmates. This is a shorter project that could be accomplished in one or two class projects. 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 8, Struggle for Peace and Progress, Modern Era 1901–1945, after reading the lyric poems, “When You Are Old,” “The Wild Swans at Coole,” and “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by William Butler Yeats, students may complete an Extend the Text activity during which they research swans then compare Yeats’ view of the swans with a non-fiction portrayal of them. This is a shorter project that would take one or two class periods to complete. 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 9, Finding a Place in the World, Postmodern Era 1945–Present, students “[p]lan, write, and revise a research paper that describes a contemporary conflict and presents an argument about it” 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 12 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 12 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 498 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: Dialect and Meter prompt, and the four Extend the Text options for the lyric poem, “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns. The page also contains an Analyze Literature inset that includes information on dialect and meter. While this inset explains the use of dialect and meter 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 2, Social and Cultural Change, Medieval Period, students read “The Prodigal Son'' from The King James Bible. During reading, students identify specific images and “[d]iscuss the purpose that Jesus’s use of imagery might serve.” Students also “discuss Jesus’ purpose in telling this parable” and “record the events of the parable on a brief sequence chart.” Students then “use the text in their sequence charts to draft a children’s book based on Jesus’s story.” The text also includes an Art Connection piece on Rembrandt’s painting, “Self-Portrait as Paul the Apostle.” Students respond to the following Critical Viewing question: “In addition to the great level of detail, what other qualities do you observe in Rembrandt’s self-portrait? Consider the subject’s expression and posture as well as the painting’s use of color, light, and shadow. Infer what these qualities suggest about the artist’s personality. Also consider why someone might paint his own portrait so many times and, in this case, cast himself in the role of a religious figure.” These questions and tasks 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.”: 173, 187–193, 235, 659, 747–757, E237, E243, E248. On page 235, materials define drama, types of drama, and elements of drama on the Understanding Literary Forms page. This does not address the correlated standard. On page 659, students complete a Speaking & Listening Workshop in which they present an argument. While listening to their peers, students “identify the position taken and supporting evidence. Ask questions to clarify your understanding of the content. Assess the persuasiveness of the argument based on content, diction, rhetorical strategies, and delivery.” The provided Speaking & Listening Rubric contains evaluation criteria on Content and Delivery & Presentation.

The materials reviewed for Grade 12 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 VII (Grade 12), 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, Social and Cultural Change, Medieval Period 1066–1485, students read “The Prologue” to The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Nevill Coghill. During reading, teachers have many options for implementing activities that do not align to the core instructional goals on characterization and irony. For example, during an enrichment activity, students research cathedrals and create an illustrated report. This task does not support students’ learning of the core skills for this text. 

  • In Unit 6, New Freedom and Equality, Romantic Period 1798–1832, students read “Ozymandias” and “Ode to the West Wind” by Percy Bysshe Shelley. In the Teacher Edition, the Launch the Lesson recommendation directs teachers to ask students to spend time outside and write a journal entry on how nature inspires them. A Teaching Note also provides caution on events in Shelley’s life concerning suicide. The pre-reading activity begins with a biography of the poet. In addition, materials provide literary context on both poems, terza rima, and purpose. During the reading of the text, students answer questions related to analyzing literature and using reading skills. Students also respond to Mirrors and Windows questions. After-reading tasks include responding to Text-Dependent Questions and Analyze Literature prompts addressing terza rima and character. The optional Extend the Text tasks include Creative and Narrative Writing options, as well as a Collaborative Learning option during which students write a fable and a Media Literacy option in which students review a film. The four Exent the Text options do not address character or terza rima. 

  • In Unit 7, Reconciling Ideals and Realities, Victorian Era 1832–1901, students read an excerpt from the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. The objectives for the lesson include reading, interpreting, analyzing, and evaluating the excerpt; understanding how social conditions of the Victorian period influenced Dickens’s writing; and understanding and analyzing setting and characterization. The four Extend the Text options align to core learning and objectives for the text. 

• 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 VII (Grade 12): “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 the lesson should take. 

• Optional tasks distract from core learning. 

  • In Unit 1, Heroes and Kings, Anglo-Saxon Period 449–1066, students read the historical texts, “The Conversion of King Edwin” and “The Story of Caedmon” by Saint Bede the Venerable. The Scope and Sequence Guide outlines the lesson components, including the Literary Element: allegory and caesura, and the Mirrors & Windows theme: leadership and decision making. Before reading, students learn the definitions of allegory and caesura. During reading, students identify allegory twice and caesura once. Materials include several other during-reading questions on identifying the author's purpose, clarifying, identifying a miracle tale, making inferences, and connecting to the historical period. After reading, students respond to a few questions on allegory and caesura, but materials do not address the other skills and elements. One of the four Extend the Text options connects to the lesson components. During the Descriptive Writing option, students write an allegory for a sixth-grade student on the topic of accomplishing a certain goal.

  • In Unit 5, Harmony and Reason, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 1625–1798, students read the lyric poems, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” by Robert Herrick, and “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvel. The Before Reading material establishes the purpose for reading, which is to study the authors’ use of figurative language, in particular, metaphor and hyperbole. Students also practice the reading skills of visualization and paraphrasing. The optional Extend the Text tasks do not support the students’ acquisition of these skills, nor do they deepen the students’ understanding of the texts. The tasks include writing a letter to the speaker of “To His Coy Mistress;” writing an essay comparing the poems’ expression of the carpe diem theme; writing a review of a movie; and writing and delivering a poetry explication on any poem in the unit.

  • In Unit 8, Struggle for Peace and Progress, Modern Era 1901–1945, students read the drama, The Rising of the Moon by Lady Augusta Gregory. While reading, students study stage directions, dialogue, and monologue, and practice visualizing. The exercises and questions included during and after reading support core learning. The optional Extend the Text tasks do not directly connect to the goals of the lesson and could distract from students’ acquisition of skills. Tasks include creating a wanted poster for a fugitive in the play, analyzing the play for its relevance to a particular community, writing an editorial on the status of Northern Ireland today, and presenting a reader’s theater performance of the drama. 

• Some optional tasks are meaningful and enhance core instruction.

  • In Unit 3, Rebirth of Culture and Ideas, Renaissance 1485–1625, the paired Writing and Grammar ancillary activity for the unit is an informative writing workshop in which students make a comparison using figurative language. The workshop includes studying a literary model, practicing associated skills, then writing an essay using an analogy to compare two items or ideas. Materials provide a rubric for self-evaluation at the end of the workshop. The workshop connects to core learning solely through the use of a mentor text that appears in the unit. 

  • In Unit 4, Comedy and Tragedy, Renaissance Drama 1485–1642, while reading Act IV of The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, students may complete an enrichment activity in which they research Medieval castles and draw floor plans. While this activity is intended to help students visualize Macduff’s castle and deepen their knowledge of the time period, it does little to enhance core instruction or understanding of the play. 

  • In Unit 8, Struggle for Peace and Progress, Modern Era 1901–1945, after reading the lyric poems, “The Rear-Guard” by Siegfried Sassoon and “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, students may complete a Differentiated Instruction visual activity during which they draw one or two striking images from the lines of the poems. This enrichment activity may familiarize students with the text on a deeper level while emphasizing the importance of imagery.