10th Grade - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria that texts are organized around a topic/topics or themes to build students’ knowledge and their ability to read and comprehend and analyze complex texts proficiently.

Texts are organized into modules. There are four modules that explore a particular literary element or idea. Students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts is supported by engaging in analysis, participating in evidence-based discussions, and writing to inform in the first two modules. In the third module, students learn the principles of research. In the last module, students study argumentation techniques to write their own arguments. Repeated reading for different purposes and to develop vocabulary with increasingly complex texts continues throughout the year.

Each module is divided into units. Each unit is entitled with a quotation from a text included as student reading. The quotation serves as the theme that build students’ knowledge while enhancing their ability to read and comprehend complex texts proficiently. The texts are connected by cohesive topics throughout the modules. The units within the module focus on a theme that can be supported in the various texts and demonstrated in the tasks and activities. Students are given numerous opportunities to independently practice with the texts and to build understanding.

• In Module 1, students make connections across various poems as they explore how authors draw on and transform source material in the development of central ideas. Students continue to develop skills with a close reading of a contemporary short story and excerpts from novels, including The Joy Luck Club and Friday Night Lights.
• In Module 2, students read the autobiographical essay, “A Genetics of Justice” by Julia Alvarez. Using this text students build skills for reading and understanding a literary nonfiction. The secondary text in this unit is Mark Memmot’s “Remembering to Never Forget: Dominican’s Parsley Massacre,” a journalistic text that covers the Trujillo dictatorship. Students are able to analyze two texts that handle political issues from differentiating perspectives.
• In Module 3, students research multiple perspectives on a topic to develop and support a position. The central text for the entire module is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Students study the author’s craft, read selected articles on the central topic, and develop an essential question for research.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria that materials contain sets of coherently sequenced higher order thinking questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language (words/phrases), key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts in order to make meaning and build understanding of texts and topics.

In each lesson, text-based questions build from comprehension to deeper analysis questions exploring how the text works and what the text means. Students explore author’s craft, as well as key details. Students examine the effectiveness and impact of an author’s purpose, word choice, and use of figurative language, in order to derive meaning from texts. Key ideas, craft and structure are present within each question set. Question set build upon one another to push students to higher order thinking. For example:

• In Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 11, students read and annotate “The Palace Thief” and answer questions, such as:
  • How does Hundert’s opinion of Sedgwick based on the second cheating incident contribute to the development of a central idea of the text?
  • How do Hundert’s thoughts during the night after the competition develop a central idea of the text?
  • How does Hundert’s use of figurative language on page 197 develop a central idea of the text?
• In Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 15, students read and annotate The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Students are asked a series of prompts and questions including:
  • Students are reminded to use domain-specific vocabulary. Then they are to choose one central idea that Skloot develops in the texts.
  • Another assignment asks students to articulate two or three areas of investigation and where they emerge from the text.

• In Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 5, students evaluate E.B. White’s “Death of a Pig.” students are asked a series of prompts and questions including within Activity 2 in Homework Accountability:
  • What characteristics and components of a narrative essay are present in White’s “Death of a Pig”?
  • How does White achieve beauty and meaning in the context of this narrative essay?

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria that materials contain a coherently sequenced set of text-dependent and text-specific questions and tasks that require students to build knowledge and integrate ideas across both individual and multiple texts.

Materials contain text-dependent questions that support student analysis across the text. The questions provided are scaffolded and offer opportunities to raise the level of rigor in the classroom through deeper analysis and textual evidence to justify students’ responses. The texts are organized in a manner that poses thought-provoking questions to students from the beginning to the end of the lesson. The questions also provide opportunities for each student to demonstrate these skills using one text or multiple texts. Module 3 focuses on research-based questions that extend beyond the classroom.

• In Module 1, students conduct a close read of several texts, including poems and excerpts from two narrative nonfiction texts; students then write an essay where they develop a central idea by explaining how the relationships between children and their parents differ or relate.

• Within Module 2, Unit 2, students read and analyze paragraphs 20-22 of “A Genetics of Justice.” Students participate in a whole group and small group discussion, both using the text as evidence. Questions from the small group activity are as follows:
  • How does Alvarez’s use of the word especially further develop an idea that she introduces in paragraphs 2-6?
  • How do Alvarez’s specific word choices develop the idea of trauma in the first three sentences of paragraph 20?
  • What consequences does Alvarez’s mother fear as a result of her husband’s activities?
    • After student pairs work on the above questions, they are given a graphic organizer, the Discussion Tool, to help compose ideas as they are being discussed by each group.

• In Module 3, students answer questions regarding Henrietta Lacks’ cancer cells, from the text, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and how they were used in research. Then, students identify their own areas of investigation based on their reading and understanding of the text, paired with the text-dependent and text-specific questions. While conducting research, students explore the author’s method(s) of presenting the story of Henrietta Lacks.

• Within Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 13, students read Act 4.2 of Macbeth. To learn how figurative language reveals meaning, they are assigned to answer the following questions:
  • What words or phrases develop your understanding of how Lady Macduff feels about Macduff?
  • What metaphor does Lady Macduff use to illustrate Macduff’s “madness” (line 4)?
  • How does this figurative language develop a central idea in this scene?
    • To assist students with answering the questions, students annotate their texts for the central idea, using the code “CI.” This strategy assists “them to keep track of evidence they will be using later in the lesson assessments and Performance Assessment, which focus on the development of central ideas.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic through integrated skills (e.g. combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).

Each module includes a Module Performance Assessment that serves as a culminating task in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic through integrated skills. 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. Each unit also includes both a Mid-Unit Assessment and an End-of Unit of Unit Assessment that connect to the Module Performance Assessment. These unit assessments give teachers feedback as students work towards the Module Performance Assessment.

In Module 1, student explore the intertextuality of three related poems that span several centuries. Students study character motivations and interactions of complex characters and explore the effects of those interaction on character identities. In the Module 1 Performance Assessment, students to respond to the prompt, “Draw on your analysis of two of the 10.1 texts in order to respond to the prompt, How do the two narrators’ different points of view affect the development of a common central idea?” As students work through the units, the Mid- and End-of-Unit Assessments provide feedback. For example,

• In the Unit 2 End-of-Unit Assessment students, “Analyze how the interactions between Hundert and the Bells develop a central idea of the text in ‘The Palace Thief’”.
• In the Unit 3 End-of-Unit Assessment students read two texts and write a formal, multi-paragraph response to answer the prompt, “How do the relationships between children and their parents develop a central idea common to these two texts?”

In Module 3, students conduct inquiry-based research to surface and track potential research topics regarding medicine, ethics, and scientific research topics to produce evidence-based arguments. In the Module 3 Performance Assessment, students respond to the 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.” As students work through the units, the Mid- and End-of-Unit Assessments provide feedback. For example,

• In the Unit 1 End-of-Unit Assessment students respond to prompts citing textual evidence to support analysis and inferences drawn from the text. Part 1 asks students to “Choose one central idea that Skloot develops in the text. How does Skloot unfold an analysis of this central idea?”
• In the Unit 2 End-of Unit Assessment students complete a research portfolio.
• In the Unit 3 End-of-Unit Assessment students work in class to finalize research-based argument papers.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria that materials contain a yearlong, cohesive plan of writing instruction and practice which support students in building and communicating substantive understanding of topics and texts.

Module 1 introduces expository/informational writing in a series of lessons intended to develop close reading habits paired with evidence-based writing. Modules 2 and 3 extend and deepen the expository/informational writing skills and habits. Module 4 is dedicated exclusively to argument writing. Most lessons end with a Quick Write, on-demand assessment, which provides the opportunity to respond to texts, often following a text-based discussion in class. Quick Write activities in all instances act as major process writing assignments. Mid-unit and end-of-unit writing assignments allow extended writing. In Module 3 students research to support exploration of topics.

In Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 8, students complete the following activities:

• For the Mid-Unit Assessment, students complete a Text-Based Response. Students must “Rely on [their] reading and analysis of paragraphs 1-15 of ‘A Genetics of Justice’ to write a well developed response to the following prompt: How does Alvarez develop the claim she makes in paragraph 15?”

• Students are tasked with the End-of-Unit Assessment: Text-Based Response. Students must “Rely on [their] reading and analysis of ‘A Genetics of Justice’ to write a well-developed response to the following prompt: How does the sentence ‘No flies fly into a closed mouth’ (par. 21) develop and refine one of Alvarez’s ides in ‘A Genetics of Justices’?”

• Both the Mid-Unit and the End-of-Unit Assessments are assessed and scored using the same criteria.

In Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 24, students complete the following activities:

• For the Mid-Unit Assessment: Text-Based Response, students must “Rely on [their] reading and analysis of Acts 1 and 2 of Macbeth to write a well-developed response to the following prompt: How do Shakespeare’s structural choices create an effect of mystery, tension, or surprise in the first two acts of the play?”

• Utilizing the “Homework Scaffolding Tool” for Macbeth, students are assigned to read the Acts 3.3 and 3.4: LInes 1-41 as they are written in the tool’s first column. In the second column, students answer questions, and in the third column they examine the vocabulary found in the selected lines. This assignment prepares students to answer the Text-Based Writing Prompt: “Which character is most responsible for the tragedy of Macbeth?”
• In the End-of-Unit Assessment, students rely on their close reading and writing to write an argument paper.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria that materials include a progression of focused, shared research and writing projects to encourage students to develop and synthesize knowledge and understanding of a topic using texts and other source materials.

Module 3 is dedicated to conducting a sustained research project. Students practice the skills and concepts of research throughout all modules via extension questions with each text. Students are presented with questions regarding historical figures in specific texts, etc. Module 3 offers students the opportunity to synthesize their findings through a major process writing: a written argument.

Students examine mentor texts and determine qualities of well-researched, evidence-based writing. Students also develop their own line of inquiry and present their findings in a culminating task. Students also practice the research process through Accountable Independent Reading (AIR), which pushes students to discuss the text and relate it to what they are doing within their personal lives; students must go outside of their regular assigned tasks to meet with a school librarian to identify a text that peeks their interest(s). Students synthesize knowledge gained through AIR with current assignments and projects.

Students are presented with graphic organizers that provide students a method of recording information, and rubrics make expectations for quality explicit. The use of rubrics encourages synthesis of knowledge and understanding of said topic(s). Overall, students will research an area of investigation by generating inquiry-based questions, evaluating sources (self-selected texts), analyzing the claims of authors, and developing their own claims and counterclaims throughout.

In Module 3, students read and analyze The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot to understand the process of research and explore the ethics of medical research. Students then develop a line of inquiry, determine sources to explore, and prepare to share their findings as a final product. The final product of inquiry is both an evidence-based research paper and a podcast which provides opportunity to demonstrate use of media and tools for presentation. Students engage in discussion to fine tune and refine their research. They work with peers to review, edit, and revise papers. During the process of inquiry, students are taught to search for details, select details for relevance, connect details for coherence, and make a claim. The students gain a deep understanding of a topic by developing evidence to support a claim throughout the module.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria that materials provide a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

Students read independently and regularly for homework. Students’ independent reading is often completed as assigned homework. Students do have some opportunities to read independently in class. The reading assignments, in and outside of class, often require that students annotate the lesson’s text. The assignments extend the day’s lesson or prepare students for the following day. This includes finding new words and using context clues to draw meaning. There is a Homework Accountability activity in the next day’s lesson following the assignment.

Additionally, students are assigned several nights a week to read their Accountable Independent Reading (AIR) text. AIR is a frequent daily expectation for homework, and through protocols built into the lessons, students engage in accountable talk in pairs and with their teacher about their independent reading texts. In the Teacher Resource Book, teachers are instructed to use the school librarian or media specialist to help students locate quality, high-interest texts. The accountability for independent reading can be seen in the follow-up activities which usually require students to share with a classroom or group what they have read.

Within Module 2, Unit 1, after reading “Letters from Birmingham Jail,” in whole-class instruction, students are assigned to read the text again, independently, with the task of answering questions. Teachers are instructed to direct student pairs to reread and analyze paragraphs 26-29 and answer questions before sharing out with the class.

In Module 4, Unit 2, students are studying the play, Macbeth. In class, they use a masterful reading to assist with their understanding of the text, but homework assignments require independent reading. For example, “Read Act 1.4, lines 1-65. Use the explanatory notes to support your reading, as well as the Homework Scaffolding Tool: Macbeth, Act 1.4, and be prepared to discuss the plot of this scene in the following lesson.”