10th Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria that anchor/core texts are of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading.

Anchor texts are of publishable quality. Each anchor text contains content worthy of study and provides a foundation for learning across a unit. Texts provide models of extraordinary writing. All texts presented are of high interest, thought-provoking, and contain rich language with numerous instructional opportunities for both the instructor and students. Examples include:

• In Module 1, students read “The Palace Thief” by Ethan Cronin. This collection of four short stories has strong content, rich with academic vocabulary. The main character is a classics professor who presents timeless stories couched in a modern dilemma.
• In Module 1, students read excerpts from The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan and Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger. These anchor texts present contemporary stories of young people overcoming challenges. Students can identify with the timeless conflicts between youth coming-of-age and parents reluctant to let them.
• In Module 2, students read a collection of poems that consist of the following: “In This Blind Alley” by Ahmad Shamlu, “Freedom” by Rabindranath Tagore, and “Women” by Alice Walker. This collection of poems offer a counterpoint to Dr. King’s letter that provide international and feminist perspective on the human rights movement.
• In Module 3, students read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Students explore the ethics of medical research as they gain a compassionate understanding of race relations and the hierarchy of privilege versus need in American society.
• In Module 4, students read Macbeth by William Shakespeare. A classic for high school students, this Shakespearean tragedy develops many central ideas, including the role of fate and agency and the relationship between appearance and reality.
• In Module 4, students read “Death of a Pig” by E. B. White. The text is a classic tragedy that students can use as an example of the narrative essay’s structure. Students can identify with how White unfolds and draws connections between key events and ideas to develop a central idea.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria that texts have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis.

Materials offer a range of texts that are of varying levels of complexity. Overall, a large number of texts are on grade level, based on Lexile level and themes throughout each text. While there are texts that are above grade level based on Lexile level, these texts are paired or greatly scaffolded for student comprehension. The texts that are considered below grade level based on Lexile level are rich in theme and worthy of study. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Students read Shakespeare’s Macbeth. While a Lexile level is not listed for this version of the play, the text acts as a canonical piece of literature for Grade 10 students to study, dissect, and read. While this is non-standard prose and difficult to measure quantitatively, the story is timely for Grade 10 students to analyze complex characters and conflicts that develop over the course of a text.
• Students read an excerpt from The Prince with a Lexile level of 1430. Students read chapters 17 and 18 as a comparative text to Macbeth. Analysis of complex themes, including the traits that contribute to successful rulers, allows students to make connections between multiple texts.
• Students read the nonfiction text, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which has a Lexile level of 1140. The nonfiction text provides students with starting point for research of multiple topics. The texts allows students to analyze, reflect, and research multiple topics by modeling the research process and high quality writing. While this text is considered below grade level based on quantitative measures, the text is qualitatively rich.
• Students read Friday Night Lights with a Lexile level of 1220. Reading excerpts from this text, students follow the author's delicate balance of characterization and plot development. Students analyze events, conversations, and emotions in order to learn how the author advances his own point of view. While this text is considered below grade level based on quantitative measures, the text is qualitatively rich.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria that materials support students’ literacy skills (understanding and comprehension) over the course of the school year through increasingly complex text to develop independence of grade level skills. (Series of texts should be at a variety of complexity levels).

Throughout the school year, students read poems, short stories, articles, and excerpts of longer texts with guided instruction and consistent discussion in pairs, small groups, and whole class. Each module contains tasks which require students to use selected works to cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says. Texts move from mostly literary texts in the first module to exclusively informational texts in the third module as students complete their own research project. More complex texts are read in smaller chunks in class, with as little as three or four paragraphs for an instructional lesson, with time and attention given to the complexities of the text substance and structure. Students build strength of analysis and comprehension with common texts then build stamina through independent reading. Students complete independent reading of self-selected texts throughout the school year. A reading journal logs student interaction and occasional analysis of independent texts. Examples include:

• In the beginning of the year, Module 1 supports students' ability to read closely for textual details and make claims about and across texts using specific textual evidence. In three units covering 37 lessons, students read three poems, a short story, and a novel excerpt.
• In the middle of the year, students complete Module 2 where they use rhetoric and word choice to develop ideas and claims. Students learn to generate and respond to questions in scholarly discourse as they analyze informational texts and literature with opposing viewpoints on the same topic.
• In Module 3, students research and write about areas of investigation evidenced in the anchor text. This serves as the foundation of research process for students, overall, in Grade 10.
• By end of the year, students are able to comprehend complex works with multiple central ideas and claims that can be found in paired texts within Module 4.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria that anchor and supporting texts provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to achieve grade level reading proficiency. Each lesson follows a standard structure: overview and identification of targeted content standards, homework check, class reading and collaborative conversations, quick write to process information, and closing activity to prep homework; the majority of the activities are based solely on the text(s) in question. Students interact with texts in multiple ways including the following: teacher read-alouds, independent reading, anchor text readings and annotations, anchor text small group readings, whole group readings and discussion questions, paired readings, vocabulary journals and annotations, and research-based texts of student choice.

Students engage in a range of text types, both literary and informational. More complex texts are chunked with guiding questions that lead students through analysis with talk partners. Less complex texts ask students to do more independent processing. Students self-select resources to read in support of research and novels for independent study. The lesson structure remains consistent throughout the year so that students develop fluency with analytic practices.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 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).

In Grade 10, text-dependent and text-specific questions are included throughout the modules. Each module is divided by units of study with individual lessons. Each unit is centered around a direct quote that functions as the theme of the unit. Questions require repeated close reading focusing on a range of text segments from the use of a particular word ranging to reading and surveying a segment of text. Students also practice analyzing the overall tone, theme, or effect across an entire text. Students are required to go back into the text and read closely in order to determine what the text says explicitly while responding to questions that require students to provide evidence for inferences drawn from the text. Text-dependent questions build upon one another, providing opportunities for students to engage deeply with texts through close reading.Teachers are provided with exemplar student responses for questions and tasks.

In Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 5, students read and analyze “The Palace Thief.” In “Activity 4: Reading and Discussion,” students respond to questions, such as:

• How does Hundert’s description of Sedgewick’s behavior in their conversation after the competition develop Sedgewick’s character?
• What does Hundert’s description of his failure to follow his own “code of morals” suggest about the characters of Hundert and Sedgewick?
• How does Hundert’s conversation with the senator on page 173 affect Hundert’s view of Sedgewick on page 174?

In Module 2, Unit 3, Lesson 5, students listen to Malala Yousafzai’s “Address to the United Nations Youth Assembly.” Then, they read paragraphs one through six (1-6) of the transcript. In “Activity 4: Reading and Discussion,” students respond to questions, such as:

• In paragraph 5, what are Yousafzi’s stated purposes for addressing the United Nations Youth assembly?
• According to paragraph six (6), what did the Taliban hope to achieve by shooting Yousafzai?
• Based on your response to the last question, what can you infer about Yousafzai’s actions before the shooting?

Exemplar student answers are provided in the Teacher Guide. For example, in Module 4, Unit 3, Lesson 3, students read and analyze chapter eighteen, “How a prince should keep his word,” from The Prince. In “Activity 4: Reading and Discussion,” students respond to the following questions:

• What distinction does Machiavelli make between princes and men in chapter eighteen (18), paragraph two (2)?
• How does this distinction further develop a central idea of the text?

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

Students have varied opportunities to demonstrate understanding in each module. Students prepare for the culminating task in multiple ways that integrate skills, such as: close reading, annotating, reading independently and in small groups, hosting whole class and small group discussions in multiple formats, and asking and answering questions.

Every lesson culminates in a Quick Write assessment task. This assessment provides information about students understanding of the lesson objectives and texts. Teachers are provided with high performance response criteria. Lessons contain sets of high quality text-dependent/specific questions that build to the culminating task. For example, in Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 5, students respond to the following prompt, citing textual evidence to support analysis and inferences drawn from the text: “Analyze the impact of Shakespeare’s use of figurative language on the mood of the scene (Act 2.1). The activities and questions leading up to this task include:

• Students participate in a Masterful Reading of Act 2.1. Students are asked to listen for details that develop the mood of the scene.
• What time is it at the beginning of the scene? Support your answer with evidence from lines 1-4.
• What effect does Shakespeare create in lines 1-14? Use specific examples to support your answer.
• How do Shakespeare’s specific word choices in these lines contribute to the mood of the scene?
• What is the effect of Shakespeare’s references to the supernatural in Act 2.1?

Each unit includes a Mid-Unit Assessment and an End-of-Unit Assessment that connect to the Module Performance Assessment. These unit assessments give teachers feedback as students work towards the Module Performance Assessment. For example, in Module 2, the Unit 2 End-of-Unit Assessment asks students to “Analyze how the interactions between Hundert and the Bells develop a central idea of the text in 'The Palace Thief'.”

Each module includes a Module Performance Assessment that serves as a culminating task. The lessons and activities that are completed within the units of study lead to preparing students for the Performance Assessment. Supporting lessons contain text-dependent and text-specific questions, tasks, and assignments. Thinking, speaking, writing, and listening skills are the focus of key ideas and details in the modules. Writing and reading are integrated throughout the tasks. Text-dependent questions scaffold throughout the modules to help students become equipped to respond to the culminating tasks. Students demonstrate understanding through written expression, oral discussions, and presentations within groups. For example, in the Module 3, the Performance Assessment, students to respond to the following prompt: “Build on the analysis you did for your research-based argument paper by producing a 5-minute podcast. Synthesize your research and offer salient points of research in an engaging oral presentation that demonstrates command of formal spoken English. Your podcast should detail your central claim, two supporting claims with relevant and sufficient evidence and one counterclaim with corresponding limitations.”

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

Opportunities are presented for students to engage in speaking and listening activities for the texts they are reading and for the chosen area of investigation that they want to research. Students further demonstrate their speaking and listening skills through creating and sharing inquiry questions and engaging in discussion regarding self-created inquiry questions.

Throughout the modules, students are given opportunities to respond to higher order questions by utilizing textual evidence. Furthermore, students are directed to read and annotate with their peers, take notes, and respond to their peers’ questions and thoughts. Students collaborate with others and revise writings, as needed. Teachers are provided with exemplar answers as models, as well as student look-fors. For example:

• In Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 1, students read page 155 of “The Palace Thief” and discuss questions, such as “What relationship does Canin establish between the narrator and his students on page 155? What relationship does Canin establish between the narrator and St. Benedict’s School on page 155? What do the narrator’s expectations of his students suggest about what he values?”
• In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 12, Activity 4, within Reading and Discussion, students form small groups after reading “Letters from a Birmingham Jail.” As they read individually, they are assigned to annotate, so they can share out during discussion. Student groups are then assigned to reread paragraph 24, and answer assigned questions before sharing out to centralize the discussion. Students are asked the following questions to think about before discussion: “How does King begin paragraph 24, and how does this connect to the last sentence in paragraph 23? What is the significance of this connection?"
• In Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 1, students meet in small groups to discuss, “In paragraph 1, how does Skloot connect Henrietta and the future of medicine? What does Skloot mean when she describes HeLa cells as 'immortal' (p. 1)? Cite evidence from the text to support your understanding of the word immortal? How have Henrietta’s cells 'helped with some of the most important advances in medicine' (p. 2)?” After students read and annotate in small groups then share with the whole class.
• In Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 12, students Turn and Talk with a partner to discuss the following questions: "What does Macbeth still desire to know (lines 115-117)? How do the interactions between Macbeth and the Witches affect Macbeth’s state of mind in this scene? How does this final series of apparitions fulfill Hecate's’ directions in act 3.5 (lines 28-33)?"

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria that materials include a mix of on-demand and process writing (e.g. multiple drafts, revisions over time) and short, focused projects, incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

There are regular, on-demand writings called Quick Writes that include a rubric and a writing checklist. These are used consistently throughout lessons and build to the unit assessments. Each unit includes a mid-unit and end-of-unit assessment, which provide students an opportunity to develop process writing habits that include using evidence from text analysis and information from research or inquiry projects. Graphic organizers, rubrics, and exemplar responses are provided for written responses throughout the units.

In the Module 1, Module Performance Assessment, students develop a process writing and choose two narrators from the module texts and explore how their different points of view impact the development of a common central idea. Students participate in multiple quick writes throughout the unit to prepare for the final process writing:

• In Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 1, students respond to a Quick Write: “How does Canin develop the character of the narrator in this passage?” The Quick Write rubric and checklist are provided to guide both development of and reflection after the task. Students are reminded to use vocabulary from the lesson in their response.
• In Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 8, students respond to a Quick Write: “What does Hundert’s reaction to his retirement suggest about his character?”
• In Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 13, students write a multi-paragraph essay to analyze how the interactions between Hundert and the Bells develop a central idea of the text, “The Palace Thief.”

In Module 3, students engage in an inquiry-based, iterative process for research. Building on work with evidence-based analysis, students explore topics that have multiple positions and perspectives by gathering and analyzing research based on vetted sources to establish a position of their own. Students read and analyze sources to surface potential problem-based questions for research, and develop and strengthen their writing with self-edits, peer reviews, and revision to produce effective evidence-based arguments. Students participate in multiple Quick Writes throughout the unit to prepare for the final process writing:

• In Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 1, students are introduced to the High Performance Response criteria at the beginning of the lesson. At the end of the lesson, they respond to the Quick Write prompt based off of the novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: “How does Skloot unfold events in this excerpt and what connections does she draw among these events?” Students have an opportunity to read collaboratively and discuss the passage before the quick write activity. A high performance response is included in teacher resources.
• In Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 4, students utilize a short response rubric to guide on-demand and short writing response development. At the end of the lesson, students are presented the following quick writing prompt: “Determine a central idea in this excerpt and analyze how specific details about HeLa cells contribute to its development." At the end of the unit, students first analyze the seed text, and then they explain the possible questions they would like to research with an explanation of why they are intrigued by this course of inquiry. Students have been building parts of the final process writing assessment through the series of quick writes. Students are provided a checklist and rubric for the end of unit writing assessment. A high performance response is included in teacher resources.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the expectation that materials provide opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards. (Writing opportunities incorporate digital resources/multimodal literacy materials where appropriate. Opportunities may include blended writing styles that reflect the distribution required by the standards.)

The distribution of writing assignments for Grade 10 can be found in the four modules, and the Curriculum Map details what types of writing are available. Students focus on developing expository writing in Modules 1-3 and argumentative writing in Module 4. Students address multiple text types and genres through Quick Writes, Mid-Unit Assessments, End-of-Unit Assessments, and Module Performance Assessments. For example,

• In Module 1, Unit 1, The End-of-Unit Assessment asks students to “write an expository essay to explain how a shared central idea develops over the course of the three poems presented in the unit.”
• In Unit 3, the Mid-Unit Assessment has students select one of two prompts to write an expository essay: “In ‘Rules of the Game,’ to what extent does Waverly meet her mother’s expectation that she master ‘the art of invisible strength’ over the course of the chapter?” Or, "In ‘Two Kinds,’ Jing-mei states, ‘My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America.’ To what extent does JIng-mei’s story support this belief?”
• In Module 3, Unit 1, the End-of-Unit Assessment unfolds in two parts. Students have been building parts of the final process writing assessment through the series of Quick Writes. The unit assessment pulls all the pieces together and prepares for the next unit. Students first analyze the seed text then explain the possible questions they would like to research with an explanation of why they are intrigued by this course of inquiry. Students are provided a checklist and rubric for the end of unit writing assessment. In Unit 3, for the final assessment of the module, students write a researched argument about a topic inspired by the reading throughout the module and developed by the student.
• In Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 5, students respond to the following prompt, citing textual evidence to support analysis and inferences drawn from the text: “Analyze the impact of Shakespeare’s use of figurative language on the mood of the scene (Act 2.1).

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria that materials include frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support sophisticated analysis, argumentation, and synthesis.

Instructional materials include frequent opportunities for students to write evidence-based claims relating to various topics and in response to text sets organized around the topic. Students are asked to analyze text, develop claims, and support those claims with evidence from the text. There are opportunities to practice and demonstrate literary analysis, understanding of author’s craft, and synthesis of information from class discussions. Tools, such as graphic organizers are provided to help students analyze and organize text to be used in later writing. The checklists and rubrics also include criteria for using evidence which asks students to support explanations/claims with evidence from the text by using accurate quotations, paraphrases, and references.

Opportunities for writing to sources include informal writing with Quick Writes, within the units and formal writing in the form of Module Unit Assessments and the culminating Module Performance Assessments. High performance responses are also included. These response provide examples for the teacher and list criteria that students can refer to when writing. For example:

• In Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 2, students analyze a poem by Philip Marlowe for the cumulative impact of specific word choices and imagery on meaning and tone. The end-of-lesson Quick Write prompt is as follows: “How do the time and place that Marlow evokes in stanzas 3-6 develop a central idea of his poem?” In Unit 1, Lesson 5, students write to explain how Williams introduces and develops a central idea in “Raleigh Was Right.” In Unit 2, students read “The Palace Thief” by Ethan Canin throughout 13 lessons and analyze the narrator’s development for a mid-unit writing assessment in how the narrator’s interactions with other characters contributes to the development of a central idea. Students must use evidence from the text to support their written responses. In Unit 2, Lesson 2, students examine their lists of inquiry questions to select, vet, and refine at least five lines of inquiry for assessment. In Unit 2, Lesson 6, students use the “Research Frame Tool” to group and categorize questions for research. In Unit 3, students use at least one of the texts to analyze character development and the author’s craft in the mid-unit and end-of-unit assessments.
• In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 8, students complete several assignments. For the Quick Write assignment, students answer the following prompt: “Determine King’s purpose in paragraphs 16-18 and analyze how he uses rhetoric to advance that purpose." For a student to score as a "High Performer," he or she must do the following:
  • Identify King’s purpose (e.g., King’s purpose is to convince his addresses of the importance of disobeying unjust laws.)
  • Cite specific examples of King’s rhetoric and explain how each example advances his purpose (e.g., King uses biblical and historical references to show his addresses that people they admire also disobeyed unjust laws: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego...early Christians...Hungarian freedom fighters” all disobeyed the unjust laws of their rulers (par. 17-18).
• In Module 3, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the mentor text that is the basis of the research unit. Unit 1 models how to initiate a process of inquiry-based research. In Lesson 4, students complete the Quick Write, which requires students to respond to the following prompt: ”Determine a central idea in this excerpt and analyze how specific details about HeLa cells contribute to its development.” In Lesson 8, students complete the Quick Write, which requires students to respond to the following prompt: “How does Skloot use specific details in this section to further develop and refine a central idea in the text?” In Unit 2, students vet their research approach and refine paths to inquiry. In Unit 3, students navigate the research writing process including reviewing and revising multiple drafts.
• In Module 4, students complete the following Quick Write: “How do White’s specific word choices in section 4 refine the tone of ‘Death of a Pig’?” Students use annotations and evidence from the text to address the prompt.