8th Grade - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria for Indicator 2a. 

The materials are grouped around topics/themes to grow students’ knowledge over the course of the school year. The sequence of texts around these topics/themes helps students to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently. Texts within units are connected and arranged by topics around an essential question.

Texts are connected by a grade-appropriate cohesive topic/theme/line of inquiry. Texts build knowledge and the ability to read and comprehend complex texts across a school year. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, The Holocaust, students are asked to consider the Essential Question, “How do we remember the past?” The unit begins with an Explanatory essay, Launch Text, “The Grand Mosque of Paris” by Michael Garcia. Through this unit, students read examples of explanatory texts and practice writing and presenting them. The Whole-Class Learning Anchor Text is The Diary of Anne Frank Acts I and II by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. This text, as well as the “Frank Family and World War II Timeline,” offer students a chance to examine factual information provided throughout each lesson. Students learn about the holidays of Hanukkah and St. Nicholas’ Day through the Cross-Curricular Perspectives with Social Studies, the background on the Allied landing at Normandy from Digital Perspectives, and the timeline that connects the Timeline of the Frank Family to the Timeline of the World War II Events from the final text in the first part of the unit. Students use examples from these works to write an explanatory essay that addresses the following question, “How are historical events reflected in the play The Diary of Anne Frank?”

• In Unit 3, What Matters, students are asked to consider the Essential Question, “When is it right to take a stand?” The unit begins with an Argument Model Launch Text, “Freedom of the Press?” by Elfrieda Hiebert. Throughout this unit, students read examples of arguments and practice writing and presenting them. The Whole-Class Learning Anchor Texts offer students a chance to study the craft and structure of opinion pieces. Small-Group texts offer a variety of perspectives on different arguments. They read Words Do Not Pay by Chief Joseph and watch a video called The Moth Presents: Aleeza Kazmi. Following the reading, students are asked to present an argument.

• In Unit 4, Human Intelligence, students read the Launch Text, “The Human Brain” (author not cited), which models a format of informational writing. Students use this reading and other texts to respond to the essential question, “In what different ways can people be intelligent?” Students read the short story “Flowers for Algernon” to learn the reasons the main character, Charlie Gordon, undergoes surgery to increase his intelligence. Students compare the story to the script for the movie adaptation Charly, released in 1968. They read an excerpt from Daniel Tammet’s memoir Born on a Blue Day. From this excerpt, students learn about savant syndrome, which allows people to complete math calculations with large numbers. Students learn that although someone may not be able to understand one’s emotions, they can have super intelligence in a subject like complex math. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria for Indicator 2b. 

The materials include high-quality questions and tasks in which students analyze key ideas, details, craft, and structure within individual texts as well as across multiple texts. The materials are organized in a consistent pattern across all units with multiple after-reading activities. Each unit is divided into five main parts:  The Introduction, Whole-Class Learning, Small-Group Learning, Independent Learning, and the End Of Unit (Assessment, Reflection, and Test). Before beginning each reading, the students engage in a First Read, which requires them to note what they notice, annotate the key vocabulary and passages, connect ideas with other selections, and respond by writing a brief summary. The Close Read notes in the Teacher’s Edition help support student analysis of key ideas, details, craft, and structure as the students read. After reading, the students work through activities to ensure their understanding of the key ideas in the reading. The Comprehension Check, Close Read of the Text, Analyze the Text, and Analyze Craft and Structure questions require students to revisit the text and use specific text evidence in their answers. In the Teacher’s Edition, the sample answers also include the depth of knowledge levels for some questions; most are at DOK 2 or 3. For some texts, the questions lead to the subsequent Writing or Speaking and Listening activities. These questions also build toward the various Performance Tasks embedded after Whole-Class Learning, Small-Group Learning, and at the End of the Unit. Throughout each unit, students keep an Evidence Log and notebook to record responses and help them prepare for the culminating tasks. 

For most texts, students analyze key ideas and details (according to grade-level standards). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, The Holocaust, Whole-Class Learning, students read The Diary of Anne Frank, Act l by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. During the First Read, students respond to the questions in the Comprehension Check. These questions help students analyze the key ideas and details that they read in the text. The questions are:

  • In Scene 1, what year is it?

  • How does the time period change in Scene 2?

  • Why must the Franks and the Van Daans be quiet during the day?

  • Why does Mr. Dusssel join the group in the attic?

  • What happens to interrupt the Hanukkah celebration?

• In Unit 3, What Matters, Small-Group Learning, students read an excerpt from Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington. In the Analyze the Text section, students review and clarify the important information about the three girls in the story. They refer to paragraph 17 of the selection to find evidence to support their answers. They also take turns sharing passages from the text that they found especially important. Students discuss what they noticed about the text and what questions they still had about the text. Lastly, they finalize their analysis by addressing any new conclusions they reached during the discussion.

• In Unit 4, Human Intelligence, Small-Group Learning, students read “Retort” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and “The People, Yes” by Carl Sandburg. Students analyze the texts by answering three questions. They are instructed to cite textual evidence from the poems to support their answers. The first question asks the students to identify the two fools in the poem. Students use the text to explain why they are both fools and how each of the fools might have a different type of intelligence. The second question has the students share lines from the poems that they found important. They take turns sharing ideas and discussing any new conclusions that they reach. The final question asks the students to connect to the unit’s essential question: “In what different ways can people be intelligent?”

For most texts, students analyze craft and structure (according to grade-level standards). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, The Holocaust, Small-Group Learning, students read from Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. In the section of lessons called Analyze Craft and Structure, students review how “Informational texts are often organized according to a central idea and supporting details.” The Teacher’s Edition explains how to identify the central idea, whether it is stated or implied. Students discuss how the role of inference plays a part in our ability to identify an implied central idea. Students use a chart to identify details found in the text and how they contribute to the central idea.

• In Unit 4, Human Intelligence, Small-Group Learning, students view an infographic, “The Theory of Multiple Intelligences” by Howard Gardner. Instead of Analyzing the Text, the students answer three questions where they Analyze the Media. They must cite textual evidence from the infographic to support their answers. For the first question, the students explain how the captions and labels in the infographic enhance their understanding of the different ways people can be intelligent. The second question has the students explain what the advantages and disadvantages of presenting information about multiple intelligences in an infographic could be. The final question requires that students explain their understanding of the infographic and how it connects to the essential question by detailing the different ways that people can be intelligent.

• In Unit 5, Invention, Whole-Class Learning, students read “Uncle Marcos” from The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, translated by Magda Bogin. Students Analyze the Craft and Structure as they compare events in the text and determine similarities and differences. Students revisit an event at the beginning of the text and compare it to an event at the conclusion to determine how they fit together. For example, “In what ways is the barrel organ incident similar to and different from the incident with the mechanical bird?”

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria for Indicator 2c. 

The materials include multiple opportunities for students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas within individual texts and across multiple texts. The tasks are sequenced in a way that is appropriate for the grade level and include text-specific and/or text-dependent questions and tasks. The materials provide related questions as students comprehend and analyze texts and complete culminating tasks. Most sets of questions and tasks require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across the unit to build knowledge around a topic/theme and the essential question. In some instances, the materials pair two or more texts, and students practice the same skills across all texts. Multiple texts connect to the essential question in preparation for the end-of-unit assessment. In this assessment, students synthesize ideas based on various text-dependent prompts that align with grade-level standards. 

Most sets of questions and tasks support students’ analysis of knowledge and ideas. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, The Holocaust, Launch Text, students read “The Grand Mosque of Paris” by Michael Garcia. They complete a QuickWrite to show their knowledge and ideas from their own experiences and from the text to show ways that literature can help people remember and honor the victims of the Holocaust. 

• In Unit 3, What Matters, Whole-Class Learning, students read “Three Cheers for the Nanny State” by Sarah Conly. Students complete activities in the Close Read the Text section. First, students identify questions that appear in the text that the author does not answer. They respond to the following questions, “Why might the author have begun the article with several unanswered questions? What effect do these questions have on the reader?” Then the students identify “types of bias, or judgment and prejudice” in paragraphs eight through ten and respond to these questions: “Why does the author include these explanations of different biases? How does this information affect the persuasiveness of her argument?” 

Finally, students find an example in paragraph fourteen that shows the author’s support of her claim. They answer the following questions: “Why might the author have chosen this specific example as support? How does the inclusion of this example affect the author’s argument?”

• In Unit 5, Invention, Whole-Class Learning, students read “Uncle Marcos” from The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, translated by Magda Bogin. Students identify phrases used to describe the main character’s uncle and answer the following questions: “Why does the author use these descriptive details? What is the effect of these details?” Students also “mark the sentence in the latter part of paragraph two that suggests how Antonieta reacts to Marcos’s barrel-organ music” and respond to the following questions: “Why does the author provide so little description of her reaction? What is the effect of this choice to suggest but not describe Anonieta’s reaction?”

Sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze across multiple texts as well as within single texts. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Rites of Passage, Whole-Class Learning, students review “The Medicine Bag” by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve and “Apache Girl’s Rite of Passage” by National Geographic. They use their knowledge about the rites of passage from two different tribes to write a compare-and-contrast essay. They use a chart to identify what they learned from each and analyze how details in each text contributed to the overall meaning. Students analyze the text to answer the following questions: “In what ways are the two rites of passage most similar? In what ways are they most different? How does seeing the Apache rite of passage on video help you to understand it more fully?” They use their answers to supplement the main ideas in their essay.

• In Unit 4, Human Intelligence, Whole-Class Learning, students read “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes and read from the play Flowers for Algernon by David Rogers. Students respond to the following prompt to express the differences between the way a story is conveyed, “Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors.” They also determine the unique characteristics of a story and a script in order to explain how those characteristics influence the way a writer tells a story.

• In Unit 5, Invention, Small-Group Learning, students read “Nikola Tesla: The Greatest Inventor of All?” by Vicky Baez and an excerpt from The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt. In the lesson section called Effective Expression, students write a “compare-and-contrast essay in which [they] analyze the ways in which each text reveals an aspect of Tesla’s life and personality.” Small groups identify details from both texts that address Tesla’s life, character traits, important places, and accomplishments. They respond to the following questions: “Which did you enjoy reading more? Which text more effectively portrays Tesla? Which text provides more biographical detail?”

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria for Indicator 2d. 

The materials include three culminating tasks that require students to show their knowledge and understanding of a topic through integrated literacy skills. Each unit across the grade level includes an essential question connecting to a topic/theme. The units include Whole-Class Learning, Small-Group Learning, and Independent Learning opportunities. Students build knowledge on the topic/theme by reading texts or watching videos. They complete writing tasks and engage in speaking and listening with peers. The Whole-Group Learning Performance Tasks assess writing, and the Small-Group Learning Performance Tasks assess speaking and listening skills. Throughout the unit, brief writing tasks follow each reading and provide practice opportunities for multiple skills. Teachers provide feedback during writing exercises to move students toward mastery by the end of the unit. The Teacher Resources includes an Assessment section that provides culminating online and PDF versions of selection tests, extension selection tests, unit tests, and extension unit tests. Each culminating exam includes multiple choice and short answer questions testing various standards.

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). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Teacher’s Edition, each Introduction for the unit includes information about the Unit Goals, including goals related to Reading, Writing, Research, Language, and Speaking and Listening. The Teacher’s Edition states, “These unit goals were backward designed from the Performance-Based Assessment at the end of the unit and the Whole-Class and Small Group Performance Tasks. Students will practice and become proficient in many more standards over the course of this unit.”

• In Unit 3, What Matters, Small-Group Learning, students complete a culminating task with a Writing to Sources activity that asks them to “write a fictional retelling of the excerpts from Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington. Students demonstrate mastery of narrative writing skills through the development of a main idea, characters, and context. They utilize dialogue and appropriate pacing for the text they create. In small groups, they share their work and compare texts to find similarities and differences in their point of view. 

• In Unit 5, Invention, Small-Group Learning, Performance Task: Speaking and Listening Focus, students work in small groups to prepare for and conduct a debate that addresses the essential question for the unit: “Are inventions realized through inspiration or perspiration?” In the planning phase of this task, students demonstrate mastery of standards related to text comprehension and synthesis and “[u]se the evidence to begin planning the argument [they] will make in the debate.” The group discusses their ideas for the debate and “identify specific examples from the selections to support [their] group’s position.” Students need to delineate their argument and make a specific claim which supports speaking and listening standards. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria for Indicator 2f. 

The materials provide multiple opportunities for students to engage in research. Short text-specific research opportunities connect to each text through Research to Clarify and Research to Explore tasks. Throughout each unit, there are opportunities for students to conduct brief research to build knowledge about the topic of the text and/or unit, including, but not limited to, Cross-Curricular tasks and Challenge tasks. Materials provide for longer research tasks that require students to synthesize and analyze tasks connected to the unit topics. Materials include teaching around research standards such as avoiding plagiarism and correctly citing sources. Research tasks build mastery over the school year and connect to research standards.

Research projects are sequenced across a school year to include a progression of research skills according to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 1, Rites of Passage, Small-Group Learning, students read “The Setting Sun and the Rolling World” by Charles Mungoshi. They engage in research relating to Zimbabwe healers or traditions found in Zimbabwe families. Students focus on the credibility of sources and gathering information from multiple print and digital sources. Once students gather their evidence, they correctly add this information to their research paper. For example, they are asked to “paraphrase information and properly credit [their] sources to avoid plagiarism. Follow a standard format to cite your sources.”

  • In Unit 4, Human Intelligence, Small-Group Learning, students read from “Blue Nines and Red Words” from Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet. They research an “unfamiliar point that Daniel Tammet makes about intelligence.” Students consider how “the information [they] learned shed light on an aspect of the memoir.”  

  • In Unit 5, Invention, Small-Group Learning, students view “Sounds of a Glass Armonica” (author not cited). The research and present information on an instrument of choice. Students receive guidance on how to conduct this research. For example, “Since the presentation is about a musical instrument, [they] will need to include some audio components.” Students are required to use digital sources. Then they consider the types of multimedia that will best help your audience visualize and understand how the instrument works and sounds.

Materials support teachers in employing projects that develop students’ knowledge of different aspects of a topic via provided resources. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Teacher Resources, a Plagiarism Checker is provided for teachers to access via Safe Assign, which offers guidance for implementation, including Video Tutorials: “SafeAssign is effective as both a deterrent and an educational tool. Use SafeAssign to review assignment submissions for originality and create opportunities to help students identify how to properly attribute sources rather than paraphrase.” The tool will assist educators when assigning research projects.

• The materials offer Research Minilessons and a Writing and Research Center with a Research Writing PowerPoint Presentation that introduces research writing and provides prewriting tips to assist students in formulating a research question and making a Research Plan, such as “Once you have written your major research question, you are ready to make a research plan. As part of your plan, you will create a timeline for finishing your report. You also will find and evaluate sources of information.” The PowerPoint Presentation includes guidance relating to how to organize a research report and revise and edit the draft. A grammar minilesson follows, and student instructions for publishing the piece state: “When you’ve finished your final draft, publish it. Use this chart to identify a way to publish your informational research report for the appropriate audience.” The Teacher’s Edition: End Matter, Tool Kit: Research includes detailed guidance for Conducting Research, Reviewing Research Findings, and Incorporating Research Into Writing.

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

• Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 2, The Holocaust, Small-Group Learning, students read from Maus by Art Spiegelman and write an “informative report in which [they] discuss the ways in which Spiegelman’s personal experiences are reflected in his graphic novel.” Students work in small groups to collect information from “multiple print and digital sources” that will help develop their report. They are reminded to check the credibility of sources and answer prompts, which help focus their work. Students must also include a works-cited list. 

  • In Unit 4, Human Intelligence, Performance Task, students conduct research to add supporting detail to an informative speech that weaves fictional accounts and factual elements. Students are guided to start with information from the story and research related topics. Students use a note catcher to gather evidence and how or why this information is important.

  • In Unit 5, Invention, Small-Group Learning, students create a research-based multimedia presentation that highlights a homemade or unusual musical instrument. As part of this research, students research how the instrument works, its origins, notable musicians who play the instrument, and other pertinent details. 

• Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 3, What Matters Whole-Class Learning, students draw evidence from the three opinion pieces they read while addressing whether soda should be banned or not. They use that evidence to support their claim in an argumentative essay that states which of the three arguments they found most convincing. In order to support their claims, students must analyze each fact they cite and consider how the facts each author cites are interpreted in a particular way and which does the best job of proving their claim.

  • In Unit 4, Human Intelligence, Performance-Based Assessment, students write an informative essay that responds to the Essential Question for the unit, “In what ways can people be intelligent?” This task asks students to “integrate relevant quotations, facts, and examples” from the texts in the unit to support their ideas. This is an assessed area of the written task and is reflected in the rubric.

  • In Unit 5, Invention, Small-Group Learning, students compose a compare-and-contrast essay in which they compare the biographical work “Nikola Tesla: The Greatest Inventor of All?” by Vicky Baez and  In The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt, a historical fiction account in which the author, Samantha Hunt, uses her imagination in combination with historical facts to develop the character of Nikola Tesla. As part of the writing and editing of this essay, students review and revise the evidence they have drawn upon and analyzed to successfully compose a well-written compare-and-contrast essay about Nikola Tesla.

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria for Indicator 2g.

The materials spend instructional time on content that falls within grade-level aligned instruction, practice, and assessments. Over the course of each unit, the majority of questions, tasks, and assessments are aligned to grade-level standards, with opportunities for explicit instruction. By the end of the academic year, every standard is addressed, and there are multiple opportunities for students to revisit standards to promote mastery. Some standards are repeatedly addressed within and across units to ensure students master the full intent of the standard. Students have opportunities in each grade-level standard to build skills in a logical sequence over the course of the year. 

Over the course of each unit, the majority of instruction is aligned to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In each unit, the Unit at a Glance section lists the standards for each student activity in one of three columns: Analyze Craft and Structure, Conventions/Author’s Style, and Composition/Research/Speaking and Listening. The Teacher’s Edition: End Matter PDF includes an Index of Skills where page number references are provided. In the Teacher’s Edition, Table of Contents, and Frontmatter PDF, the materials provide the Standards Correlation to myPerspectives® English Language Arts document with page numbers: “The following correlation shows points at which focused standards instruction is provided in the Student Edition. The Teacher’s Edition provides further opportunity to address standards through Personalize for Learning notes and additional resources available only in the Teacher’s Edition.” 

• In Unit 1, Rites of Passage, Whole-Class Learning, students read “The Medicine Bag” by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve and watch the video “Apache Girl’s Rite of Passage” by National Geographic. After watching the video, students “deepen [their] analysis of the two selections and express [their] observations in writing.” They “write a compare-and-contrast essay in which [they] compare the rites of passage in the two selections about young Native Americans.” This task contains instruction on W.8.2, “Write informative/ explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content,” and W.8.2.a “Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.” The first activity includes gathering evidence about what they learned from the short story and the video. Then they compare the text to the video. As they draft, they structure the body of their essay following the provided outline. To practice the skill of writing an introduction, students are provided with instructions from the Teacher’s Edition, “Remind students not to overload their introduction with too much information. Introductions should focus on a thesis statement plus a few sentences outlining the support, as well as a hook.” Students are to introduce and engage the reader by thinking of an image or a piece of information that they can use to “hook” the reader. According to the Standards Correlation chart, there are fourteen specific instances across the school year when the students have an opportunity to address standard W.8.2. Students have seven opportunities to address standard W.8.2a.

• In Unit 3, What Matters, Whole-Class Learning, students read “Barrington Irving: Pilot and Educator” by National Geographic. Students address the standard RI.8.1: “Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly, as well as inferences drawn from the text.” The Standards Correlation document states: “Students will address this standard in Analyze the Text features which appear with every informational text selection.” When students complete the Analyze the Text questions for this text, they answer the questions: 

  • “Paraphrase Reread paragraph 3. Then, paraphrase how Barrington Irving discovered his life’s calling. 

  • Make a Judgment The author states that Irving’s life is his “most compelling educational tool.” Do you agree? Explain your thinking. 

  • Essential Question: When is it right to take a stand? What have you learned about when and how to take action from reading this article?” 

The Teacher’s Edition provides guidance for formative assessment as students analyze the text, including but not limited to: “If students fail to cite evidence, then remind them to support their ideas with specific information. If students struggle to paraphrase how Irving became inspired to follow his dream, then review the steps need[ed] to paraphrase a text and provide examples. According to the Standards Correlation chart, there are four specific instances across the school year when the students have an opportunity to address standard RI.8.1, and teachers can engage in explicit instruction.

• In Unit 5, Invention, Small-Group Learning, students read an excerpt from The House of Spirits, “Uncle Marcos” by Isabel Allende, translated by Magda Bogin, and “To Fly” from Space Chronicles by Neil deGrasse Tyson. For the Performance Task, students write an argumentative essay and engage in Editing and Proofreading as part of the writing process. Student instructions state, “Reread your draft for accuracy and consistency. Correct errors in grammar and word usage. Make sure you have correctly combined sentences using gerunds and participles.” The Teacher’s Edition includes some guidance: “As students edit, remind them to identify sentences that could be combined using gerunds and participles.”

Over the course of each unit, the majority of questions and tasks are aligned to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In each unit, a Whole-Class Learning Performance Task with a writing focus and a Small-Group Learning Performance Task with a speaking and listening focus is included consistently across the school year. Shorter tasks follow the reading of text selections. The questions throughout the Whole-Class Learning and Small-Group Learning connect to the Essential Question of each unit and help prepare students for the successful completion of the performance tasks.

• In Unit 2, The Holocaust, Whole-Class Learning, students read The Diary of Anne Frank, Act I by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. In the Analyze the Text activity, the questions align to RL.8.1 and are of high quality, being rated with a DOK 2 or DOK 3. Examples of questions include: 

  • “Compare and Contrast: How is Anne’s response to her confinement different from her sister’s?

  •  Make a Judgment: Many of the adults in the play became frustrated with Anne’s behavior. Do you think they are being unfair? Explain.

  • Draw Conclusions: What insights does the Hanukkah scene suggest about the different ways in which people deal with crises? 

  • Essential Question: What has this selection taught you about how people remember the past?”

• In Unit 5, Invention, Small-Group Learning, students read an excerpt from The House of Spirits, “Uncle Marcos” by Isabel Allende, translated by Magda Bogin, and “To Fly” from Space Chronicles by Neil deGrasse Tyson. For the Performance Task, students write an argumentative essay that has them make a claim that answers this question: “Which text— ‘Uncle Marcos’ or ‘To Fly’ —-best describes the dream or fantasy of human flight?” This task aligns with standard W.8.1: “Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or text, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.” Students collect ideas in their Evidence Log and use the information to write a working claim. They also identify the types of supporting details they will use to support their claim. A chart has them locate two possible counterclaims with supporting evidence so that they can acknowledge them in the essay.

• In Unit 4, Human Intelligence, Small-Group Learning, students read an infographic, “The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Infographic” by Howard Gardner. After reading, they complete a Speaking and Listening task that is aligned with SL8.1: “Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.” Students take part in a group discussion, choosing from the following topics:

  • Analyze the nine types of intelligence. Focus on four types of intelligence, and find a well-known person who demonstrates that type of intelligence in a strong way.

  • Analyze the nine types of intelligence. Focus on four types of intelligence, and find a fictional person who demonstrates that type of intelligence in a strong way.

Students will present their ideas to diverse partners. They practice building on each others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Over the course of each unit, the majority of assessment questions are aligned to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In each unit, a Performance-Based Assessment is included, and the unit activities are backward-designed to the Performance-Based Assessment. The materials offer Selection Tests, Extension Selections Tests, Unit Tests, Beginning-, Middle-, and End-of-Year Tests, Next Generation Practice Tests, Next Generation Performance Tasks, and Customizable Test Prep Banks. In the online Teacher’s Materials under Assessment, there is an Interpretation Guide for each Unit Test and an Answer Key for each Selection Test, which indicates the standard that is assessed for each question. All questions on all tests are aligned to one or more standards. 

• In Unit 2, The Holocaust, students complete Performance-Based Assessment by writing an Explanatory Essay that answers the following question: “How can literature help us remember and honor the victims of the Holocaust?” This aligns with Standards W.8.2 and W.8.10. The rubric for this assessment measures Focus and Organization, Evidence and Elaboration, and Language Conventions.

• In Unit 4, Human Intelligence, students complete a Performance-Based Assessment by writing an Informative Essay that answers the following question: “In what different ways can people be intelligent?” This task aligns with Standards W.8.2, W.8.9, and W.8.10. The rubric for this assessment measures Focus and Organization, Evidence and Elaboration, and Language Conventions.

• In Unit 5, Invention, students take a unit assessment that measures their proficiency on standards taught throughout the unit. The assessment includes 35 questions and measures proficiency in Reading for Information, Reading for Literature, Language, and Writing standards. RI.8.3 and RI.8.5 assess understanding of biographical writing and the author’s purpose.

By the end of the academic year, standards are repeatedly addressed within and across units to ensure students master the full intent of the standard. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In each unit, the Teacher’s Edition Table of Contents and Frontmatter PDF are available. The Standards Correlation document provides the Standard in the first column, and where those standards appear in the Print and Interactive Editions in the second column with corresponding page numbers. The materials address standards multiple times across a school year to ensure students can reach mastery. For example, standard RL.8.10 is thoroughly addressed across all units. The Standards Correlation document lists the following texts and page numbers for this standard: “The Medicine Bag, 12; Hanging Fire/Translating Grandfather’s House, 54; The Setting Sun and the Rolling World, 66; First-Read Guide, Unit 1: 80, Unit 2: 246, Unit 3: 332, Unit 4: 430, Unit 5: 528; Close-Read Guide, Unit 1: 81, Unit 2: 247, Unit 3: 333, Unit 4: 431, Unit 5: 529; The Diary of Anne Frank, Act I, 100; The Diary of Anne Frank, Act II, 156; Maus, 230; Flowers for Algernon, 350; Flowers for Algernon (video), 384; Retort/ The People, Yes, 416; Uncle Marcos, 448; The Invention of Everything Else, 494.”

• The Frontmatter document in the Teacher Edition online explains that each unit is backward aligned to the Performance-Based Assessments. This helps to ensure that instructional and academic tasks are standards-aligned and repeated in support of this performance task. In addition, at the end of the Frontmatter document, there is a list of the standards assessed in each text and task under the section “Standards Correlation.” For example, in Grade 8, there is a heavy emphasis on analyzing evidence and arguments, as well as composing arguments. The standards that mostly align with this focus, RI.8.1, RI.8.6, RI.8.8, and W.8.1, are repeatedly assessed through multiple tasks and activities, as shown in the Standards Correlation chart. Additionally, many of these supporting standards, such as standards RI.6-8.1 and RI/RL.6-8.2, are repeated in each unit for different purposes utilizing different text types.

• In Unit 3, What Matters, and Unit 5, Invention, argumentative writing standards are repeatedly addressed. Standards W.8.1., W.8.1.a, W.8.1.b, W.8.1.c, W.8.1.d, W.8.1.e are instructed, practiced, and assessed in short writing tasks, performance tasks, and Performance Based Assessments. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria for Indicator 2h. 

The materials are organized into five units, and the culminating task for each unit is a Performance-Based Assessment. The pacing for the units is generally reasonable. Implementation and pacing for each unit can be found in the introduction and also in the Unit at a Glance. In the introduction of each unit, a pacing plan is provided for the whole group text–breaking implementation of the material day by day with assigned texts or tasks to be completed. The pacing plan for implementation of Small Group and Independent Reading texts is broken out day by day, text by text, leading into the Performance Based Assessment. The Unit at a Glance resource provides a table view breakout with text, pacing/# of days, along with other key information. The pacing guide is built on a 40 to 50-minute daily class. Trade book integration provides alternative implementations, which can be found in the Teacher Edition Table of Contents and Front Matter for each unit. 

Suggested implementation schedules and alternative implementation schedules align to core learning and objectives. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Rites of Passage, the pacing guide covers 36 total days and includes whole-class, small-group, and independent learning. Alternative trade book options are available that include Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, and All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. The Teacher’s Edition provides a pacing guide for reading the trade books either in lieu of lessons included in the unit or in addition to the lessons. Teachers are advised: “However you choose to integrate trade books, the Pacing Guide below offers suggestions for aligning the trade books with this unit.” Trade book lesson plans are available in the program supplement called myPerspectives+. In addition to trade books, Unit 1 includes Hook and Inspire activities that would extend the unit introduction. This unit includes materials that supplement “The Medicine Bag” by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve and include additional videos, articles, and image galleries that can be reviewed to help build background knowledge and provide interest.

• In Unit 2, The Holocaust, Small-Group Learning, students read from Maus by Art Spiegelman. The text and tasks associated with from Maus align with core learning and objectives. Students apply reading, speaking, language, and writing standards. For example, as students write a brief research report on “the ways in which Spiegelman’s personal experiences are reflected in his graphic novel,” students apply eighth-grade level standards to conduct short research projects to answer a question. One alternative implementation is reading the novel The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen. If the novel is used as a supplement, which is one suggestion, this choice will guarantee alignment with core learning and objectives. 

• In Unit 5, Invention,the pacing guide covers 36 total days and includes whole-class, small-group, and independent learning. Alternative trade book options are available that include, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, and Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl. The Teacher’s Edition provides a pacing guide for reading the trade books either in lieu of lessons included in the unit or in addition to the lessons. Teachers are advised: “However you choose to integrate trade books, the Pacing Guide below offers suggestions for aligning the trade books with this unit.” Trade book lesson plans are available in the program supplement called myPerspectives+. In addition to trade books, Unit 5 includes Hook and Inspire activities that would extend the unit introduction. This unit includes materials that supplement The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt and include additional videos, articles, and image galleries that can be reviewed to help build background knowledge and provide interest.

Suggested implementation schedules can be reasonably completed in the time allotted. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• There is a Grade 8 Unit Planning Guide in the Program resources that is available in Microsoft Word format that reviews each unit’s topic, essential question, unit overview, unit goals, selections and media listed by Whole-Class Learning, Small-Group Learning, and Independent Learning. It also reviews the Performance-Based Assessment and Unit Reflection. Lastly, it provides a day-to-day plan that reviews each day’s focus, referenced pages in the Student Edition, Unit Goals, Academic Vocabulary, Home Connection Letters, Standards, Tasks, Text Selection Titles, and ELL Supports. This unit guide implies teachers will be following the lessons exactly, which contradicts what is embedded in the Teacher Edition, suggesting leaving time for reteaching, enrichment, and use of trade books and optional tasks.

• In Unit 3, What Matters, Small-Group Learning, students read “Words Do Not Pay” by Chief Joseph. The teacher materials list text to be completed in lessons 20-24. Student materials are organized around Making Meaning and Effective Expression. During the Making Meaning section, students go over the concept vocabulary, conduct a first read, answer questions and annotate, complete a comprehension check, conduct a close review, and analyze the text. In the last section, Effective Expression, students conduct research, gather information and then write a research report. This is an adequate amount of work for students to complete over the course of five days. 

• In Unit 5, Inventions, Performance Task, students are allotted two days to complete the tasks. Students begin by engaging in Assessment Prep, where they discuss the prompt, review their evidence, evaluate their evidence, and then students write the argumentative essay. Then using the final essay as their foundation, they craft a speech and present it. Then students complete a unit reflection. Even with the knowledge that their evidence would already be collected throughout the unit, two days may not be enough time to complete this task without tight routines.

Optional tasks do not distract from core learning. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, trade books can be used in a variety of ways. For example, teachers can have students “form literature circles” and read one of the selections throughout the unit. Teachers could also “replace unit selections with a trade book” or “[e]xtend the unit by replacing independent reading selections with one of the trade books.” Each of the trade books has an appropriate Lexile range for the grade, and the teacher has access to activities and worksheets for the books online in myPerspectives+.

• In Unit 3, What Matters, Small-Group Learning, students read from Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington. There are opportunities for optional tasks for support and enrichment. For example, there is a Personalized for Learning English Language Support task that prompts students to work with the idiom in paragraph 26. There is also a How Language Works section calling attention to the adjectives and adverbs in paragraph 34. 

• In Unit 5, Invention, Whole-Class Learning, students read “Uncle Marcos” from The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, translated by Magda Bogin. There are opportunities for optional tasks for support and enrichment. For example, there is a Personalized for Learning, Strategic Support to help understand a passage that has very long sentences by conducting a choral read. There is also a How Language Works section calling attention to the linking verbs and how they are used in paragraph 5. 

Optional tasks are meaningful and enhance core instruction. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, The Holocaust, Small-Group Learning, students read from Maus by Art Spiegelman. One optional task requires students to complete a Digital Perspectives task The task requires students to watch a video of an interview from 1991 of the author Art Spiegelman, “The Holocaust Through the Eyes of a Maus.” This video enhances students’ understanding of the excerpt as they learn about the author’s thoughts behind his work. 

• In Unit 5, the trade books all relate to the overarching topic of the unit: Invention. The Essential Question for this unit is the following: “Are inventions realized through inspiration or perspiration?” The trade book The Time Machine by H.G. Wells recounts a man’s attempt to invent a time machine, which takes a long time. In the story, ‘[t]here are plenty of hidden steps between the Time Traveler’s insights into the fourth dimension and the completion of the machine.” As students consider the Essential Question for the unit, this process provides insight into a possible response to the question.

• In the myPerspectives optional resources, teachers have access to Listenwise Currents Events, which provide audio features on topics connected to the topics of each unit. For example, there is an audio recording of “Debate: Are Deliveries by Robots a Good Idea?” from NPR that relates to the topics in Unit 5, Invention. 

• In the myPerspectives optional resources, teachers have access to additional skill-based resources, including the Grammar Center, Writing and Research Center, Collaboration Center, Speaking and Listening Center, and Vocabulary Center. These “Centers” contain lessons, worksheets, videos, and other resources to support students. For example, in the Collaboration Center, there is a video for students to “Build Consensus.” In the “Vocabulary Center,” there are worksheets for word study, including but not limited to prefixes, suffixes, and homophones.