5th Grade - Gateway 1
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Focus & Coherence
Gateway 1 - Meets Expectations | 85% |
|---|---|
Criterion 1.1: Focus | 2 / 2 |
Criterion 1.2: Coherence | 4 / 4 |
Criterion 1.3: Coherence | 6 / 8 |
The instructional materials for ORIGO Stepping Stones 2.0 Grade 5 meet the expectations for Gateway 1. These materials meet the expectations for focus by not assessing above grade-level content and by spending the majority of the time on the major clusters of each grade level. The materials partially meet the expectations for being coherent and consistent with the standards. The materials include an amount of content that is viable for one school year, are consistent with the progressions in the standards, and foster coherence through connections at a single grade, where appropriate and required by the standards.
Criterion 1.1: Focus
The instructional materials for ORIGO Stepping Stones 2.0 Grade 5 meet the expectation for not assessing topics before the grade-level in which the topic should be introduced. The materials include some assessment questions that were above grade-level, but these could be omitted without affecting the underlying structure of the materials.
Indicator 1a
The instructional materials reviewed for ORIGO Stepping Stones 2.0 Grade 5 meet expectations that they assess grade-level content. Above grade-level assessment items are present but could be modified or omitted without a significant impact on the underlying structure of the instructional materials.
Each grade-level consists of 12 modules. Each module contains three types of summative assessments. Check-ups assess concepts taught in the module, and students select answers or provide a written response. Performance Tasks assess concepts taught in the module with deeper understanding. In Interviews, teachers ask questions in a one-on-one setting, and students demonstrate understanding of a module concept or fluency for the grade. In addition, Quarterly Tests are administered at the end of Modules 3, 6, 9, and 12.
The following questions assess grade-level standards:
- In Module 3, Check-up 2, Question 2, “Color the circle below to show the greatest number in each group.” (5.NBT.3).
- In Modules 4-6, Quarterly Test A, Question 17, “Package A weighs 3/12 kilogram, Package B weights 1 5/6 kilograms, and Package C weighs 3/4 kilograms. What is the total mass of Package A and C? Show your thinking.” (5.NF.2).
- In Module 9, Performance Task, Question 2, “A student thinks that 1/5 divided by 6 is equivalent to 1/5 ≅1/6. Are they correct? Draw a picture or write sentences to explain your answer.” (5.NF.B).
The following questions assess above-grade-level standards and would need to be omitted or modified to meet grade-level standards:
- In Module 12, Check-Up 1, Questions 2a, 2b, and 2c, students use the standard algorithm for division (6.NS.3).
- In Module 12, Performance Task, directions for the assessment state, “Use the standard algorithm to calculate the quotient.” (6.NS.3).
- In Module 12, Quarterly Tests A and Test B, Questions 10, 11, and 12, the directions state, “Use the standard algorithm to divide.” (6.NS.3).
Criterion 1.2: Coherence
Students and teachers using the materials as designed devote the large majority of class time in each grade K-8 to the major work of the grade.
The instructional materials for ORIGO Stepping Stones 2.0 Grade 5 meet the expectations for having students and teachers using the materials as designed and devoting the large majority of class time to the major work of the grade. Overall, the materials devote at least 65% of class time to major work.
Indicator 1b
Instructional material spends the majority of class time on the major cluster of each grade.
The instructional materials reviewed for ORIGO Stepping Stones 2.0 Grade 5 meet expectations for spending a majority of instructional time on major work of the grade.
To determine the amount of time spent on major work, the number of topics, the number of lessons, and the number of days were examined. Review and assessment days are included:
- The approximate number of modules devoted to major work of the grade (including supporting work connected to the major work) is 9 out of 12, which is approximately 75%.
- The approximate number of days devoted to major work of the grade (including supporting work connected to the major work, but not More Math) is 128 out of 156, which is approximately 82%.
- The approximate number of lessons devoted to major work (including supporting work connected to the major work) is 116 out of 144, which is approximately 81%.
A lesson-level analysis is most representative of the instructional materials because this calculation includes all lessons with connections to major work with no additional days factored in. As a result, approximately 81% of the instructional materials focus on major work of the grade.
Criterion 1.3: Coherence
Coherence: Each grade's instructional materials are coherent and consistent with the Standards.
The instructional materials for ORIGO Stepping Stones 2.0 Grade 5 partially meet the expectations for being coherent and consistent with the standards. Supporting work is partially connected to the major work of the grade, and the amount of content for one grade-level is viable for one school year and fosters coherence between the grades. Content from prior grades is clearly identified, but there is no evidence of standards 5.G.3 and 5.G.4 in the materials. The objectives for the materials are shaped by the CCSSM cluster headings, and they also include problems and activities that connect two or more clusters in a domain or two or more domains.
Indicator 1c
Supporting content enhances focus and coherence simultaneously by engaging students in the major work of the grade.
The instructional materials reviewed for ORIGO Stepping Stones 2.0 Grade 5 partially meet the expectations for engaging students in mathematics at a level of sophistication appropriate to Grade 5. Supporting work standard connections to major work standards are not called out in the program. For example, when hovering over the eye in the Steps section of each lesson, the standard for the lesson is stated and connections are not made.
Connections between supporting and major work:
- Module 9, Lesson 6, major work connects to (5.NF.B), applying and extending previous understandings of multiplication and division to multiply and divide fractions, with supporting work (5.OA.A), writing and interpreting numerical expressions. Students use knowledge and work with numerical expressions to perform operations with multi-digit whole numbers and to divide unit fractions when working with equations like this: 4 x (⅕ /6)=____.
- Module 1, Lesson 6, major work connects to (5.NF.A), using equivalent fractions as a strategy to add and subtract fractions, with supporting work (5.MD.B), representing and interpreting data. Students interpret the population and connect those given populations to an equivalent fraction.
- Module 1, Lesson 7, major work connects to (5.NBT.A), understanding the place value system, with supporting work (5.MD.B), representing and interpreting data. Students place the data they are provided on a number line.
- Module 1, Lessons 11-12, major work connects to (5.NBT.B), performing operations with multi-digit whole numbers and with decimals to hundredths, with supporting work (5.OA.A), writing and interpret numerical expressions. Student solve word problems.
Missed connections between supporting and major work:
- Module 9, Lesson 8, does not connect the major work of (5.NBT.A), understanding the place value system, with supporting (5.MD.A), convert like measurement units within a given measurement system. Students make metric conversions but connections to using powers of 10 to calculate conversions is not addressed.
- Module 9, Lesson 12, does not connect the major work of (5.NF.A), using equivalent fractions as a strategy to add and subtract fractions, with supporting (5.MD.B), representing and interpreting data. Students create, describe, and interpret line plots, but line plots using fraction sets with the same denominator are missing. The opportunity to connect adding and subtracting mixed numbers/fractions to interpret line plots is also missing.
Indicator 1d
The amount of content designated for one grade level is viable for one school year in order to foster coherence between grades.
The instructional materials reviewed for ORIGO Stepping Stones 2.0 Grade 5 meet expectations that the amount of content designated for one grade-level is viable for one year.
There are a total of 180 instructional days within the materials.
- There are 12 modules and each module contains 12 lessons for a total of 144 lessons.
- There are 36 days dedicated to assessments and More Math.
According to the publisher, “The Stepping Stones program is set up to teach 1 lesson per day and to complete a module in approximately 2 1/2 weeks. Each lesson has been written around a 60 minute time frame but may be anywhere from 30-75 minutes depending upon teacher choice and classroom interaction.”
Indicator 1e
Materials are consistent with the progressions in the Standards i. Materials develop according to the grade-by-grade progressions in the Standards. If there is content from prior or future grades, that content is clearly identified and related to grade-level work ii. Materials give all students extensive work with grade-level problems iii. Materials relate grade level concepts explicitly to prior knowledge from earlier grades.
The instructional materials reviewed for ORIGO Stepping Stones 2.0 Grade 5 partially meet expectations for being consistent with the progressions in the standards.
The instructional materials identify content from prior grades and use it to support the progressions of the grade-level standards. Future grade levels are not identified in the instructional materials. For example:
- In each module prior content needed for the module is identified in the section Coherence: Prerequisite Skills from Prior Grades. For example, in Module 9, students investigate fractions involving division. In Grade 4, Module 8, students master Solving Division Problems and Solving Common Fraction Word Problems.
- Focus found at the beginning of each module identifies the domains addressed and the coherence within each module, and summarizes how the lessons address the targeted standards. Focus explains how the lessons in each module transition through the progressions and make applicable connections to past or future content. Focus also identifies common errors and misconceptions in student work. For example, in Module 1, a table identifies Standards 4.NBT.1, 4.NBT.2, and 4.NBT.3 as prerequisites for the 5th grade content in the module. The table for Module 5 lists 4.NBT.4 and 4.MD.6 as prerequisite standards for the grade 5 skills taught in that module.
- The mathematics tab includes a newsletter for parents, providing parents with information on how the content their child is learning connects to prior grades. In Module 3, the Newsletter states, “Students extend their understanding to decimal fractions in the thousandths, visualizing how place value in our number system decreases as we move to the right in writing numbers, and increases as we move left in writing numbers.”
The instructional materials provide students with extensive grade-level work, although there is no evidence of Standards 5.G.3 and 5.G.4 being addressed in the materials. The lesson structure presents opportunities for students to explore grade-level mathematics more in-depth:
- During the Step In Discussion, students engage with grade-level content through guided practice, and complete independent journal tasks during the Step Up and Step Ahead parts of the lesson.
- Each lesson includes Starting the Lesson, Teaching the Lesson, and Reflecting on the Work which present opportunities for students to engage with content.
- Ongoing Practice provides additional grade-level activities.
- Maintaining Concepts and Skills provides practice with prior and current grade-level mathematics.
- The Preparing for the next module activities include fluency practice, spiral review, and vocabulary activities.
Materials relate grade-level concepts explicitly to prior knowledge from earlier grades.
- Focus, specifically identifies where in the module and in the lesson, a prerequisite skill is located.
- In Maintaining Concepts and Skills page there is a “preparing for the next module” problem that is a skill from the previous grade preparing the student for the upcoming module. These problems clearly indicate coherence between grade levels. For example, in Grade 5, Module 1, Lesson 2, preparing for the next module identifies 4.NF.3c (adding fractions with the same denominators) as the prerequisite for Module 6 where students are adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators.
- In Module 4, Lesson 7, length (converting between inches and feet) is connected to Grade 4, and prepares students for Module 6, Lesson 8, length (exploring the relationship between miles, yards, and feet).
Indicator 1f
Materials foster coherence through connections at a single grade, where appropriate and required by the Standards i. Materials include learning objectives that are visibly shaped by CCSSM cluster headings. ii. Materials include problems and activities that serve to connect two or more clusters in a domain, or two or more domains in a grade, in cases where these connections are natural and important.
The instructional materials reviewed for ORIGO Stepping Stones 2.0 Grade 5 meet expectations that materials foster coherence through connections at a single grade, where appropriate and required by the Standards.
Overall, the instructional materials identify standards. A comprehensive list of the CCSSM and correlating lessons is found under the drop down menu on the home page. Cluster headings are clearly identified by hovering over the Lesson title.
The materials include learning objectives that are visibly shaped by standard cluster headings.
- In Module 1, Lesson 5, students understand the place value system (5.NBT.A).
- In Module 2, Lesson 7-12, students understand concepts of volume and relate volume to multiplication and to addition (5.MD.C).
- In Module 4, Lesson 1-5, students use equivalent fractions as a strategy to add and subtract fractions (5.NF.A).
- In Module 6, Lesson 8-10, students apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division to multiply and divide fractions (5.NF.B).
The instructional materials include problems and activities that connect two or more clusters in a domain or two or more domains.
- In Module 4, Lesson 7, students use equivalent fractions as a strategy to add and subtract fractions (5.NF.A) and convert like measurement units within a given measurement system (5.MD.A) by measuring different times and comparing them.
- In Module 6, Lesson 10, students perform operations with multi-digit whole numbers and with decimals to hundredths (5.NBT.B) and apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division (5.NF.B) to multiply and divide fractions by working with decimal remainders.
- In Module 11, students understand concepts of volume and relate volume to multiplication and to addition (5.MD.C) and convert like measurement units within a given measurement system, (5.MD.A) by using volume in like measurements to solve real-life problems.