The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 partially meet the criteria that most questions, tasks, and assignments are text dependent/specific, requiring students to engage with the text directly (drawing on textual evidence to support both what is explicit as well as valid inferences from the text).

The materials provide a consistent format for students to engage with text-dependent questions and/or tasks. However, text-dependent/specific questions, tasks, and assignments do not consistently support students’ literacy growth over the course of the school year. Many questions have students recall key details within texts and do not build to questions that ask students to analyze or infer based on what they have read. Questions do not grow in complexity across the course of the year.

In Units 1-5, questions, tasks, and assignments can be found via the Close Reading Model: Before, During, and After Reading. The Before Reading section includes four subsections with questions embedded within the margins of the textbook: Build Background, Analyze Literature, Set Purpose and Use Reading Skills. The During Reading section includes three subsections: Use Reading Strategies, Analyze Literature, and Make Connections. The After Reading section includes four subsections: Refer to Text, Reason with Text, Analyze Literature, and Extend the Text. The curriculum also includes Differentiated Instruction, Common Core Assessment Practice, Meeting the Standards, and Exceeding the Standards guides that also provide text-dependent questions. Each unit provides a variety of supports to text-dependent and text-specific questioning. Many questions that ask for student opinion require students to engage with the text directly as inferences are made, and students are required to provide support from the text in most of the work they complete within the unit.

• In Unit 1, students read, “The Open Window,” a short story by Saki. As students are reading, During Reading questions are scattered throughout the text to support students in their reading, such as, “What can you guess about Framton Nuttel from his doubts about formal visits?” Students also encounter other questions, such as “Picture the scene of the returning hunters in your mind. How might that scene seem frightening or pleasing in different contexts?” Once students complete the short story Guided Reading, they complete the After Reading section, and are asked to answer text-dependent questions in the Refer to Text and Reason With Text section, such as: "List questions Vera asks Framton about the ‘people around here’ and about her aunt. What does Vera suggest is the reason for Framton’s quick departure? Infer why Vera asks these questions. Explain the purpose of Vera’s story about Framton Nuttel.”

• In Unit 2, students read a lyrical poem titled “I am Offering this Poem” by Jimmy Santiago Baca. Students are asked to answer recall questions, such as: “List the objects to which the poem is likened. How should the recipient keep the poem? Summarize the last stanza of the poem. Propose whether the speaker has actually experienced the difficult times mentioned in the poem. Use evidence from the poem to support your answer.”

• In Unit 3, students read two sonnets: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” by William Shakespeare and “I know I am but summer to your heart” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. With the Shakespeare sonnet, students are presented with a Mirrors and Windows question: “How do you respond to the speaker’s assertion that the ‘eternal summer’ of his beloved will never fade? Is he being realistic, or is this claim merely wish fulfillment? Why do you think so?” This question requires students to reference line nine and make valid inferences once the sonnet has been read; this requires students to go back to the text to review explicit evidence. Once both poems have been read, students then complete questions within the Refer to Text and Reason With Text section. For example, students are asked: “In Shakespeare’s sonnet, identify the word in line 9 that introduces an important shift in the speaker’s focus. Contrast the poem’s last six lines with lines 1 - 8. How does the speaker’s focus shift?”

• In Unit 4, students read A Marriage Proposal, a one act play by Anton Chekhov. In the After Reading, Refer to Text and Reason With Text section, students are asked: “List the opposing viewpoints of the two arguments. Given what you know about the characters’ goals, why is the fighting funny? Identify ways Chekhov uses humor in this play. How does Chekhov’s use of humor contribute to the message of the play?”

• In Unit 5, while reading the narrative poem, “Magic Words,” by Nalungiaq, students are asked to answer the following questions: “What can you infer about the relationship of the Inuits with nature by the ideas expressed in these first few lines? Which lines in particular convey a sense of magic so frequently found in oral traditions?”

• In Unit 6, students read from In a Sunburned Country, a travel writing by Bill Bryson. In the Refer to Text and Reason with Text section, students are asked: “At the beginning of the story all Pakhom wants is a chance to have is his own land. Each time he gets new land, describe how his attitude changes. Citing evidence from the story, compare the value Pakhom places on land and wealth, with what he places on his family. What makes greed incompatible with caring for and about other people?”

• The Assessment Project for In a Sunburned Country a travel writing by Bill Bryson, asks students to write a one page biography about Pakhom’s life, based on what they learn about Pakhom from the story. Students should demonstrate in their writing an understanding of Pakhom’s character.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 partially meet the criteria for materials containing sets of sequences of text-dependent/text-specific questions with activities that build to a culminating task which integrates skills to demonstrate understanding.

After every text selection in the After Reading, Refer to Text, Reason with Text section, there are text-dependent questions, and throughout each reading, there are strategies and activities that build students’ skills to complete the end of unit activities. Each unit includes three types of culminating activities: a Speaking and Listening Workshop, Writing Workshop, and Test Practice Workshop. The performance tasks that the students are asked to complete in these culminating activities correspond to the questions, discussions, and writing prompts that students have completed throughout the unit as they read the various selections. The lessons are detailed, follow a step-by-step process, have checklists to support students, and the Language Arts Handbook and the Exceeding the Standards Speaking and Listening Resource Guides support students by providing additional lessons on the skills necessary to complete each task. However, skills are often not integrated. Students complete each workshop independently of one another. Some tasks are loosely connected to unit texts, while others are not connected to texts. Students are often demonstrating mastery of the unit skills rather than demonstrating understanding or knowledge.

At the end of Unit 1: Fiction, there are three culminating tasks for the unit. For the Speaking and Listening Workshop, students are to present a horror story. The preparation for this speech includes selecting a story, reading the story, mapping out the story line, visualizing the story, creating mood and tone, and practicing. Activities throughout the unit that build to this culminating task include:

• Visualize a scene in the story, “The Open WIndow.” “Picture the scene of the returning hunters in your mind. How might that scene seem frightening or pleasing in different contexts?”

• Visualize a scene in “The Monkey’s Paw.” “Imagine in your mind Mrs. White’s physical reaction to the stranger’s news.” Students also create a plot diagram for the story. Additionally, after reading the story, they write a dramatization of a scene in the story then perform it while being videotaped.

These tasks require students to demonstrate the skill of presenting a story, but do not build to integrate skills that demonstrate understanding.

For the Writing Workshop, students write a plot analysis of one of the short stories in the unit. Students select their topic; gather information; organize their ideas into a plot element chart; write their thesis statement; draft their introduction, body, and conclusion; evaluate their drafts; revise their drafts for content, organization, and style; proofread for errors; publish and present their work; and reflect on their work. Activities throughout the unit that build to this culminating task include:

• Studying, identifying, and making a timeline of the plot elements of “The Monkey’s Paw.” “Take a look at the timeline you made. Summarize what has happened in the story so far.”

• Analyzing plot in “Through the Tunnel.” “What are the main conflicts in ‘Through the Tunnel’? How are they resolved?”

These tasks require students to demonstrate the skill of plot analysis, but do not build to integrate skills that demonstrate understanding.

For the Test Practice Workshop, the first section asks students to practice the reading skill of making inferences about a text through reading the short story, “Love Poems,” by Lon Otto; answering reading comprehension questions on the text; responding to a constructed response prompt on the text: “Why, do you think, does the man love the woman’s quality of being a private person? Use information from the passage to explain your answer,” and completing an extended writing prompt on an issue presented in this prompt: “Write a reflective essay for an interested reader about a book, movie, or play that has a significant impact on you. Explain why it has been important.” Activities throughout the unit that build to this culminating task include:

• Making inferences while reading “The Open Window,” by Saki: “What can you guess about Framton Nuttel from his doubts about formal visits?”

• Making inferences while reading “The Monkey’s Paw.” “Based on Mrs. White’s behavior, what can you infer about her state of mind?"

These tasks require students to demonstrate the skill making inferences, but do not build to integrate skills that demonstrate understanding.

At the end of Unit 3, in the Writing Workshop, students are asked to to write a Lyric Poem: ”Using concise language and imagery, write a lyric poem that expresses emotions about a specific subject.” Students write a lyric poem in three steps: step one, prewrite, select your topic, gather information/discovery, organize your ideas, write your opening. Step two, students draft your opening stanza, draft your body stanzas, draft your concluding stanza. Step three, students revise your poem and evaluate your draft.” Activities that build to the culminating task include:

• Students read “The Bean Eaters,” a lyric poem by Gwendolyn Brooks, and “Dream Variations,” a lyric poem by Langston Hughes. After answering a series of text-dependent questions that require students to apply, describe, and analyze the text, students create new understandings from their knowledge of working with the text. In the Writing Options, Creative Writing, “A tribute is a brief speech that expresses gratitude, respect, honor, or praise. Choose either the speaker in 'Dream Variations' or the elderly couple described in the 'Bean Eaters,' and write a tribute that conveys your appreciation for their lives. When you have finished, post your tribute on the classroom bulletin board.”

• In Teaching Note, Freewrite Activity, students read “from Holidays,” a prose poem by Jamaica Kincaid. “As another writing option, ask students to imagine they are alone in a secluded setting. Tell them: 'There is no television or telephone or nobody to talk to. What would you do? What might you think about? Would you enjoy the solitude? Would you be bored? Pretend you are really in such a situation and freewrite following your train of thought. If you get stuck while freewriting, keep repeating the last thing you have written until it triggers another idea.”

These tasks are not connected to texts and do not require students to use evidence to demonstrate understanding.

In Unit 6, Annotated Teacher’s Edition, Writing Workshop, Narrative Writing, the assignment is to “write a short story about a strange happening. The Purpose is to entertain and/or enlighten your readers. The audience is classmates, teachers, and readers of a teen literary magazine.”

This task is not connected to a text and does not integrate skills to demonstrate understanding of a topic.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 partially meet the criteria for materials supporting students’ listening and speaking (and discussions) about what they are reading and researching (shared projects) with relevant follow-up questions and supports.

The materials provide the teacher with ample questions to engage students in thinking about and responding to the text; however, no explanation is given on how the students will share this thinking - be it verbal or written, individual, or in groups. There are few supports or follow up questions to support students' listening and speaking to deeper their understanding about what they are reading and researching.

Throughout the Annotated Teacher Edition there are many places that prompt teachers to have students discuss in the context of pre-reading. Since these discussion opportunities occur prior to actually reading the text, discussions aren’t evidence-based. For example, in the Launch the Unit section, questions for a whole-class discussion on the text type being studied in the unit are provided. The Speaking and Listening portion of the Exceeding the Standards resource provides opportunities for students to prepare projects, and to present information orally to the class through narratives, speeches, poems, dramatic scenes, and interviews, but these activities are not tied to the texts that are studied in the unit. In the Exceeding the Standards resource for speaking and listening, the majority of tasks are presentations--these supports tie to the speaking and listening requirements, but there are very few shared projects. Also, there are some relevant follow-up questions and supports, but the supports and follow-up questions are designed for students to respond to individually, rather than practicing through the Speaking and Listening standards with one another or in small and large groups.

Each unit includes a Speaking and Listening Workshop, but the emphasis is on the individual preparing for a particular presentation. There are collaborative research and discussion activities that can be found in the Teacher Edition, most notably as Teaching Note(s) that suggest activities for students to process the text they are reading through pair and small group work, often focused on generating questions about the text. Students may also take part in Collaborative Learning, which usually occurs in the After Reading section where students practice speaking and listening skills--this includes student planning for group activities, group skit presentations, short discussions, etc. There are other frequent questions and activities that are designed to have students speaking and listening, but they do not require the student to have interacted with the text being studied. Rather, they are based on personal thoughts and experiences and connections to themes.

The speaking and listening opportunities require students to provide evidence from what they are reading and researching. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, students read “The Masque of the Red Death,” a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. The Extend the Text - Collaborative Learning activity prompts students to Make a Map: “The detailed description on pages 84-85 is quite complex and can be difficult to visualize. With a partner, read the description again and create a map of the fortress. Use an overhead perspective. Once you have established the layout of the rooms, color and furnish them as they are described in the story. When you are finished, compare your map with the maps of other pairs to see if you depicted the fortress in the same way.”

• In Unit 5, students read “The Drowned Maid” from “The Kalevala,” an epic by Elias Lonnrot. The Extend the Text Critical Literacy section prompts students: “Research another epic besides The Kalevala, such as Homer’s The Iliad or The Odyssey, Virgil’s Aeneid, the Indian Ramayana, Dante’s The Divine Comedy, the old English Beowulf, or John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Then gather with a few classmates and take turns presenting what your epic is about and give a plot summary. Explain what makes your epic an epic. What heroes and gods are portrayed? What does the epic reveal about the legends, beliefs, values, laws, arts, and ways of life of the people from whose culture it arose?"

Frequently, questions and activities provide speaking and listening opportunities about what students are reading and researching, but do not require students to have interacted with the text being studied. Discussions are based more on personal thoughts and experiences and connections to the themes. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 4, the Critical Thinking Discussion Guide provides this prompt: “This story contains a surprise ending which, like a gunshot, shocks the reader and provokes a response. Ask students to discuss the surprise ending. Is it foreshadowed in any way during the story? If so how? Call on volunteers to offer examples of other short stories they have read with surprise endings. How do students feel about this device in fiction? Encourage them to exchange and support their opinions. Though this prompt is tied to a text, the discussion takes place outside the text with students pulling from prior knowledge in order to discuss.

• In Unit 5, the Extend the Text, Collaborative Learning, Practice Storytelling states, "Many children’s stories, such as 'Cinderella,' 'The Frog and the Prince,' and 'Beauty and the Beast,' contain elements of magic. Work with other students to brainstorm a list of such stories. Take turn telling these stories to each other orally. Then discuss how stories change when they are told orally."

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 partially meet the criteria for materials including instruction and practice of the grammar and conventions/language standards for grade level as applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts, with opportunities for application in context.

The materials contain several workshops in grammar and style, as well as vocabulary and spelling. Within each unit, students experience between two and six Grammar and Style Workshops; all workshops have students practice various grammatical and syntactical tasks that apply directly to the texts they read within the unit. However, there is inconsistent support for students to practice in increasingly sophisticated contexts. The skills instruction does not include opportunities for application both in and out of context. Additionally, the materials do not promote and build students’ ability to apply conventions and other aspects of language within their own writing. There are minimal opportunities to practice skills taught in the unit with the selected readings in the Teacher’s Edition, therefore limiting opportunities for increased sophistication of the addressed standards. While the resource workbook, Exceeding the Standards, includes “comprehensive skills development lessons," the same language standards are not necessarily addressed during the Writer’s Workshop task or other possible places within the unit of study. Therefore, students are not consistently given opportunities to apply the lessons on grammar and conventions in context.

In Unit 1, students experience three Grammar and Style workshops. Within each Grammar and Style workshop, students practice Understand the Concept and an Apply the Skill sections. There are five Grammar and Style workshops within Unit 1. One example is:

• Parallel Structure: In the Parallel Structure Workshop, students read about parallelism; as they build their knowledge they are also presented with examples throughout. Students are also presented with Review Terms. Within the Apply the Skill section students practice the following skills: Identify Parallel Structure, Correct Parallel Structure, Improve a Paragraph, Use Parallel Structure In Your Writing, and Extend the Skill. An example from Correct Parallel Structure is as follows: “2. Jerry’s feelings are conflicted between longs to go to the bay and contrition for making his mother anxious.” An example from Extend the Skill is as follows: “Many speeches, such as Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, and John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, use parallelism. Use the library or Internet to find a copy of one of one of these speeches, or a different speech that interests you, and identify examples of parallelism in the speech you choose. How might the use of parallel structure influence the effect of the speech on its listeners?”

In Unit 2, students experience two Grammar and Style Workshops. Within each Grammar and Style Workshop, students practice an Understand the Concept section and an Apply the Skill section. Within Unit 2, there are six Grammar and Style workshops. One example is:

• Consistent Use of Verb Tenses: For this workshop, students read about consistent use of verb tenses; as they build their knowledge they are also presented with examples throughout. Students are also presented with Review Terms. Within the Apply the Skill section students practice the following skills: Identify Verb Tenses, Correct Errors in Verb Tense, Use Verb Tenses Consistently in Your Writing, and Extend the Skill. An example from Use Verb Tenses Consistently in Your Writing is as follows: “Choose one of your favorite authors and write a two-paragraph biographical sketch of him or her. Pay close attention to the verb tenses you choose to use, and try to use them consistently throughout the two paragraphs. When you have finished your draft, exchange it with a partner. Your partner should check carefully for consistent use of verb tenses. Rewrite any sentences that contain errors.”

In Unit 4, Drama, there are three grammar and style workshops: Active and Passive Voice; Hyphens, Dashes, and Ellipses; and Coordination, Subordination, and Apposition. It contains two Vocabulary and Spelling Workshops: Using a Dictionary and Thesaurus, and Spelling Rules and Tips. Examples include:

• In the Hyphens, Dashes, and Ellipses Workshop, students read about the appropriate time to use each of the three pieces of punctuation. They then complete practice exercises such as identifying the proper placement of hyphens and dashes in sentences: “1. Julius Caesar was approximately fifty six years old when he died.”

• In the Coordination, Subordination, and Apposition Workshop, students read about independent and subordinate clauses, appositives and appositive phrases. They then complete practice exercises such as identifying whether a sentence uses a coordination, subordination, apposition, or a combination of the three: “1. Creon buried our brother Eteocles with military honors, gave him a soldier’s funeral, and it was right that he should.”

• The Vocabulary and Spelling section of The Exceeding the Standards booklet includes practice exercises to support the spelling and word classification workshop: categorizing and classifying vocabulary; semantic mapping; spelling rules and tips; and spelling patterns.

In Unit 5, Grammar and Style, Understand the Concept, students learn the concept of Using Adjectives and Adverbs. After reviewing the terms. In Applying the Skill students Identify Adjectives and Adverbs in Literature. Students Understand Adjectives and Adverbs, by using them in sentences. Students also practice using Adjectives and Adverbs in Your Writing, by practicing writing a letter. In Extend the Skill, students practice using adjectives and adverbs while rewriting sentences.

In Unit 6, Independent Reading, grammar practice is only in the Exceeding the Standards resource, Grammar and Style.

• Lesson 52: students practice recognizing sentence fragments. In Exercise 1, students practice Identifying Sentence Fragments, in Exercise 2, Understanding Sentence Fragments and in Exercise 3, Correcting Sentence Fragments.

• Lesson 57: students practice Making Your Language Precise and Colorful. In Exercise 1, students practice Identifying Precise and Colorful Language in Literature, in Exercise 2, students practice Understanding Precise and Colorful Language, and in Exercise 3, students practice Using Precise and Colorful Language in Your Writing.

• Lesson 61: students practice developing appropriate paragraph format in The Paragraph.In Exercise 1, students practice Identifying Main Ideas in Paragraphs in Literature, in Exercise 2, students practice Understanding Main Ideas and Supporting Details in a Paragraph, and in Exercise 3, students practice Using Related Sentences to Develop a Main Idea in a Paragraph.