3rd Grade - Gateway 3

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that the student resources include ample review and practice resources, clear directions, and explanation, and correct labeling of reference aids (e.g., visuals, maps, etc.).

The Student Interactive provides clear directions and explanations with a visual design and structure that is student-friendly and easy to navigate. Each unit has its own section that digitally opens up into a Unit Introduction, complete with an Essential Question and links to the Unit Introduction Activities and Independent Reading. After the Unit Introduction, each week has a drop down menu that links to the Reading Workshop, Reading-Writing Bridge, and Writing Workshop. Each section is clearly labeled and often accompanied by a graphic or photograph. Within the Student Interactive, a digital notebook allows students to preview vocabulary, check for understanding, take notes, and more. The Teacher's Edition effectively models the thinking and process for many lessons, which students then get to practice and reflect/review with peers. There are also Quick Checks that provide additional review or practice for students who need it and extension for those who have demonstrated the skill. Directions in the Student Interactive are easy to understand and clearly labeled for understanding. However, some response boxes in the consumable worksheets are not large enough to provide adequate space for students to respond. 

• The Student Interactive states, “As you read, mark places where the setting or plot changes. Then, use what you marked to analyze the author’s choices in the text. Go back to the Close Read notes and highlight evidence that shows the setting influences the story. Use your highlighted evidence to complete the chart.”
• In Unit 2, Week 2, Reading Workshop, the reference aid, “Reading Workshop: Media” is labeled. “On the African Savanna (title): The savanna is an enormous grassland in Africa. The weather is warm and there is plenty of sunshine.” There are graphics: “African Savanna: about 5.2 million square miles" (with a pie chart to show the data). "United States: about 3.8 million square miles" (with the pie chart to show the data). 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items.

The materials include publisher alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessments. The Getting Started guide includes a Planning Resources section that breaks down the Common Core Correlation for the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy. The Planning Resources section contains a two-column document that lists the standard and aligns the standard by page numbers with where it is taught in the Teacher's Edition, as well as Student Interactive. In addition to this resource, each lesson in the Teacher's Edition states the objective of the lesson, along with the standard to which it aligns. The Student Interactive also provides a learning goal with each lesson, written as "I can" statements that match the standards. The materials also include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by assessments. 

• The Student Interactive Learning Goal states, “I can use elements of narrative writing to write a realistic fiction story.”
• The objective of a lesson in the Teacher's Edition states, “Recognize and analyze literary elements within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical and diverse texts in literature.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that materials contain a Teacher Edition with ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student edition and in the ancillary materials. Where applicable, materials include teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning.

The teacher materials include guidance on establishing protocols, detailed information on presenting materials to students, and annotations on what to do if students need further assistance in understanding material.

• In the Teacher's Edition for each unit, the Program Overview provides the teacher with the outline in the resources, their purpose, and guides in using them. In addition, for each lesson within the unit, there are guides on how to implement the lesson and provide support to the students. In the Getting Started section, each grade level provides additional resources to support both the teacher and student.
• In Unit 1, Week 2, Weekly Launch, Interact with Sources, the teacher is provided with guidance in presenting material found in ancillary materials: “Direct students’ attention to the illustration on pages 58-59 in the Student Interactive. Explain that this illustration attempts to show some of the ideas presented in the poem. Have students look over the illustration and discuss how the artist used visual images to represent ideas from the poem.”
• In Unit 3, Week 3, Reading Workshop, Listening Comprehension, the teacher is provided guidance in providing fluency instruction: “After completing the Read-Aloud Routine, display ‘Everyday Superheroes.’ Model reading aloud a short section of the story, asking students to pay attention to your prosody, or expression, and to how you read the punctuation as well as the words. Explain that fluency is about reading for meaning, not speed. Invite partners to practice expressive reading using their favorite sentences from the story.”
• In Unit 4, Week 3, Assess & Differentiate, Teacher-Led Options, Strategy Group, the teacher is provided guidance for leading a small group instruction: “Recall that a biography is a type of narrative nonfiction that often has a theme. Biographies are written from the point of view of another person. The author’s point of view will help explain the author’s purpose for writing the biography. Review the anchor chart on page 295 in the Student Interactive. Ask students to identify some of the elements of ‘George Washington Carver.’”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that materials contain a teacher’s edition that contains full, adult-level explanations and examples of the more advanced literacy concepts so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject, as necessary.

The materials contain a Professional Development Center with videos and white papers that contain advanced literacy concepts so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject. Professional Learning videos are provided to give teachers the research behind the series and enhance teaching practices. These materials are authored by the authors and researchers of the program.

Professional Learning videos are provided to give teachers the research behind the series and enhance teaching practices. The myView Literacy authors provide teachers with best practices. The Professional Development Tab contains full adult-level explanations and examples of the more advanced literacy concepts so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject, as necessary. Categories provided include Assessment, Book Club, Comprehension & Assessment, Differentiation, Dual Language, Engagement, Foundational Skills, Inquiry, Reading, Small Group, and Vocabulary. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Reading, there are four video offerings: Isolated vs. Integrated Skills Instruction in Texts to Improve Comprehension, Organizing the Literacy Block and the Reading Workshop Part 1, Organizing the Literacy Block and the Reading Workshop Part 2, What is Integrated Skills Instruction? The White Papers include: Text Complexity Systems: A Teacher’s Toolkit and The Reading Workshop.
• In Vocabulary, there are two video offerings: How to Start Teaching a Generative Vocabulary Approach and What is a Generative Approach to Vocabulary Instruction? These videos are both authored by Elfrieda “Freddy” Hiebert, Ph.D.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that materials contain an explanation of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research based strategies.

The materials include multiple explanations of instructional approaches. The small group guide provides explanations of how the curriculum uses small groups to meet student needs and support for teachers in how to implement the groups. In the Getting Started section, there are explanations of the instructional approaches. The Assessment Guide provides further explanations of the approaches implemented in the curriculum. 

In Getting Started, there is a document titled Teacher's Edition Lesson Walkthrough that provides an outline to what to teach, how to teach, and why. The explanations are brief in why a lesson is conducted to support student learning. Also the document, ELL Support, outlines what a teacher should do to support ELL students at Emerging, Developing, Expanding, and Bridging throughout the curriculum. This is a brief overview of how a teacher can support this group(s) of students.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress.

The materials contain formative assessments that are integrated into daily routines and provide informal opportunities to measure student understanding through Quick Checks, Observational Assessments, Conferring Checklists, Rubrics, and Assess Understanding sections of the lessons. Progress Check-ups are available and designed to measure student progress of the standards. Summative assessments also occur throughout the year. Students are given a baseline at the beginning of the year, which is followed up with mid-year and end-of year assessments. Unit tests to assess the standards taught in each unit in reading comprehension and writing are provided for each unit. 

The Small Group Guide lists options and the purpose for each assessment. For example:

• “Progress Check-ups: Assess skills taught that week. Monitors progress to intervene as needed.”
• “Weekly Standards Practice: Given at the end of a lesson as an ‘exit ticket’ to check students’ knowledge of specific literary skills.”
• “Unit Tests: Assess the key skills from each week’s instruction in the unit.”
• “End of Year Test: Gives a summative view of a student’s progress for the year.”

Through Examview, teachers can create Cold Reads, Progress Check-ups, and Unit Tests using questions from a bank or creating their own. Teachers can also choose from multiple choice, multiple response, and essays, or include all three. The program offers both English and Spanish. Additionally, teachers can monitor and track student progress within Examview.

The Assessment Guide states: “Once you have collected the data, it is time for action. Set aside some time to organize your observational notes by student. Review them and think about what they tell you about individual students. Ask yourself questions like these: Is this student making progress in this small group? Do I need to assign this student to a different group? Do I need to change the way I am instructing this student? Do I need to change the texts this student is reading?” The Guide also indicates, “...the myView Writer’s Workshop format is that it includes teacher modeling, responsive feedback, and time for reteaching. This structure encourages constant feedback, reteaching, and improvement.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that assessments clearly denote which standards are being emphasized.

There are several forms of formative, summative, and unit assessments within the materials. The Summative Assessments Guide includes a standards correlation chart for the baseline, middle-of-year, and end-of-year assessments, as well as for all unit tests. The guide provides item analysis information for the teacher, including the item focus/skill, DOK level, and which standard it measures.

The Assessment Guide states, “Pearson Realize allows teachers to view each student’s results of assessments taken online, and for assessments aligned to standards, they can see scores by question and by standard. Use the DATA tab of Pearson Realize to view results. Click or tap a bar in the Mastery bar chart to show details of that assessment. Choose the Item Analysis tab to see question level scores. Choose Mastery Analysis tab to see scores by standard.” 

In Assessment Guide, Teacher Form, the Weekly Standards Practice details the “slides” to be presented to students that have formative assessments that are used as a measure of vocabulary, phonics, language and conventions. Alignment of standards is presented at bottom of each slide.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that assessments provide sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow up.

The materials provide sufficient guidance for teachers to interpret student performance and plan suggested follow-up activities. Other resources include Assessment Guides, Summative Guides, Professional Development videos, educational articles and information within the Teacher's Edition. 

Within the Teacher’s Guide are Quick Checks for Assess and Differentiate, which provide data to determine small group instruction, which then includes Strategy Groups, Intervention Activity, On-Level, and Advanced lessons. These occur within every Reading Workshop.

• The Summative Assessment Guide offers follow up suggestions. For example, “You may wish to use the following guidelines to help determine how best to help improve students’ areas of need and build upon students’ areas of strength. Students who score below 60% on the Baseline Test might benefit from: • regular instruction during whole-class time • intervention activities during small-group time, more scaffolding, more practice with critical skills, and more opportunities to respond • myFocus Readers to practice word-reading skills.”
• The Assessment Guide provides a section titled, “How can I use assessment and data to drive instruction?" It explains the types of assessments in the materials, including diagnostic, formative, and summative. It further details an overview of the assessments, including Baseline, Cold Reads, Progress Check-ups Unit Tests, Middle of the Year, End of Year, and Project-Based Inquiries.
• The Assessment Guide includes a section called, “What is reporting and how do I use it to inform instruction?” It presents a table with the data collection tool, what it looks like, and how it works. It also includes information on Data Based Decision Making, which details four stages of data based decision making: Collect Data, Document Data, Evaluate Data, and Instruct from Data.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that materials should include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress.

The Teacher’s Guide provides routines to monitor student progress and are embedded throughout the lessons in each unit. Several formative assessments included within daily routines check for understanding using checklists, conferencing, observation, and rubrics. Progress Check-ups monitor student progress and skills being taught each week, including comprehension, vocabulary, word study, and writing. Cold Reads track student progress each week for comprehension and fluency, and Project-Based Inquiry monitors and tracks student progress through student work centered on the unit theme. A Summative Assessment Guide provides information on interpreting test results, informing instruction, and analyzing results to understand student strengths and weaknesses. The Small Group Guide provides guidance to teachers on how assessment informs instruction, collecting and using information to determine students who need additional skill support, students who have mastered skills being taught, and how to extend the learning for students who are ready to practice and apply skills being taught.

• “Circulate to discover if students can determine how the elements of a fictional story are similar to and different from the elements of an informational text.”
• “Quick Check: Notice and Assess: Can students identify the plot and setting in the story to determine the type of fiction? Decide if students struggle, revisit instruction about fiction in small group. If students show understanding, have them continue practicing strategies for reading fiction using the Independent Reading or Literacy Activities in small group.”
• “Use texts at a student’s independent reading level to practice new strategies. When those strategies become automatic, move on to more challenging and complex texts.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that materials provide teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of a range of learners so the content is accessible to all learners and supports them in meeting or exceeding the grade-level standards.

The Teacher’s Guide provides many strategies for meeting the needs of all learners, including English Language Learners, students who may require accommodations and/or modifications to the lessons and/or learning, as well as a multi-tiered system for students who need re-teaching, review, or enhanced instruction. Each lesson in every unit provides teachers with opportunities to assess and differentiate for the students. Teacher-led options include “strategy groups”, “intervention activities”, and “quick checks” that allow for differentiation where needed to ensure students are meeting the standards. 

•  In Strategy Groups, “Students practice, with scaffolded support, using their independent level or familiar text. Students might each have a different text to use. The students are “trying on the strategy” to see if they understand the process or steps.
• In On-Level Groups, “You may choose to use text that is at the students’ instructional level. The guided support of the teacher allows for the use of more complex text. All students in the group may use the same text to make sharing the reading easier.”
• In Intervention Groups, “The goal is to have all students master the grade-level expectations. When working with students who are struggling with a skill, identify the related sub-skills they have mastered and build from there. From time to time, any student in the class may need intervention. While working on the same skills as other students, you may need to adjust the amount of support and scaffolding based on needs.”
• In Enrichment/Advanced Groups, “Every learner can learn a skill at a deeper, more complex level. For example, the skill of identifying a character’s emotions can be made more complex when reading text that forces the reader to infer the emotions, rather than reading direct statements in the text. Rather than focusing on more advanced skills, help students become masters of the skills using a variety of more complex texts.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that materials regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level, or in a language other than English, with extensive opportunities to work with grade-level text and meet or exceed grade-level standards.

Each lesson has components to assess and differentiate learning for students, with suggestions for re-teaching, reviewing, extending, and scaffolding for multi-tiers, including ELL students. There are English and Spanish leveled readers. Strategy Groups and ELL guides for scaffolded instruction within the lessons present grade-level content with opportunities for reteaching, review, accommodations, modifications, and additional strategies to check for understanding, while offering targeted support where needed. Each scaffold provides suggestions for emerging/developing/expanding skills. The materials also contain a MyFocus Intervention Guide, which contains scaffolded lessons and “checkpoint assessments” for the skills being taught.

• “ELL Targeted Support, Visual Support: Read aloud the caption for each image in the infographic. Tell students to listen for the description of each adaptation.”
• “Quick Check, Notice and Assess: Can students identify key features in an informational text? Decide: If students struggle, revisit instruction about informational text in small group. If students show understanding, have them continue practicing the strategies for reading informational text using the Independent Reading Library and Literacy Activities in small group.” 
• “Use the ELL Observational Assessment Checklist to monitor student progress for this unit.”
• “Differentiated Support Option 2, Extend: If students show understanding, have them sort questions into two groups: those they think will be easy to answer and those they think will be more difficult. Ask students to develop a plan for finding answers to the questions in the second category.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that materials regularly include extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade level.

In the Daily Plan, during Small Group Instruction, several options are available: Guided Reading, Strategy Groups, Intervention, On-Level and Advanced Activities, ELL Targeted Support, Conferring, and Fluency. The activities found in this section are geared toward both On-Level and Advanced students, with the bulk of the differentiation accounted for in the use of more complex texts with advanced readers.  

There is a page in the Small Group Guide titled, “What modifications should I make for students who need enrichment of advanced work?”  Extension Activities are available in the Resource Download Center. 

• The Small Group Guide states, “Every learner can learn a skill at a deeper, more complex level. For example, the skill of identifying a character’s emotions can be made more complex when reading text that forces the reader to infer the emotions, rather than reading direct statements in the text. Rather than focusing on more advanced skills, help students become masters of the skills using a variety of more complex texts.”
• In Unit 1, Week 1, On-Level and Advanced during Teacher-Led Options Assess and Differentiate: “Have students review the map on Student Interactive pages 14-15 to develop questions about how people travel in different environments. Invite them to do research during the week to answer the questions.” 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria that materials provide opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies.

There are a variety of grouping strategies provided in the instructional materials. There are Teacher-Led Options, Independent/Collaborative options, Turn Talk and Share, and Whole Group opportunities. There are times for students to work with a partner and Small Group times. During Shared Reading time, students may read independently, in pairs, or as a whole group. 

• In Unit 1, Week 1, during Teacher-Led Options, there is Independent Reading where “Students read a self-selected trade book.”  
• In the Small Group Guide, Chapter 1, Small Groups in myView, Chapter 2 is Forming and Organizing Groups, Chapter 3 is Managing Small Groups, Chapter 4 is Small Groups in Action, and Chapter 5 is Independent and Collaborative Work in Action. 
• In the Small Group Guide, Chapter 5, “The following should be used as a checklist when planning for small groups and collaborative work: • Everyone understands what they are responsible for working on or completing. • Students are able to work independently if the teacher needs to focus on small groups. • Activities are of equal duration so all students feel sufficiently occupied. • There is a good balance between quiet activities and activities that require social interaction. “
• In the Small Group Guide, Chapter 5, “Having students know that they are accountable for their work when working independently will help them stay on task. Self-monitoring is a skill to be practiced and reinforced.”