12th Grade - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 partially 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.

After each text or text set there are Critical Reading questions and Close Reading Activities which include key ideas and details, integration of knowledge and ideas, and craft and structure. All three types of questIons can also be found in the Extended Study questions. Students’ opportunities for analyzing language and author’s word choice are very limited. Questions and tasks within the parts provide evidence of student understanding of the definitions and concepts of the components identified in each unit. However, there are no culminating tasks at the end of each part for students to show their understanding of concepts. Also at the end of each unit there are no opportunities for students to show they are building understanding of topics. The tasks at the end of the unit are not necessarily related to key ideas and details or craft and structure, but are often centered around one or two of the Essential Questions of the textbook. The larger tasks do not build understanding of the texts.

• Within the texts, the language and vocabulary questions are stand-alone activities that may or may not relate to the text that were read. The vocabulary words that are identified in texts and defined for students are not used in any way in the questions or tasks. One way vocabulary was introduced was before reading a selection, a list of vocabulary words are given and students are asked to copy them into their notebook. Then the words are defined in the margin of the story. The vocabulary acquisition questions at the end of text put those same words in sentences and asks students to determine if the statement is true or false and explain. Another way vocabulary is introduced is in a “gather vocabulary knowledge” activity before reading an anchor text. They provide 3-4 words from the text, then tell students to use a dictionary to define them and find part of speech. Then students are to write a paragraph related to one of the words. In Unit 3, the activities are: “History of Language: Use a history of English to research each word’s origins. Write a paragraph about the word’s emergence in English.” and “Book of Quotations: Use an online or print collection or quotations to find a quotation containing one of the words. In a paragraph, explain nuances in meaning that are evident from the context of the quotation.” These types of activities are more interesting and require higher level thinking, but they are not related to texts nor do they build understanding of texts or topics.
• Students’ opportunities for analyzing languge and author’s word choice is very limited. For example, in Unit 4, Part 1, no examples were found. In Unit 4, Part 2, a two examples were found. In the Extended Study: William Wordsworth and Lyric Poetry there is a page on Defining Lyric Poetry with Sound Devices and Figurative Language descriptions. Then there is a model text that points out sound devices and figurative language. There are some questions to accompany the examples such as, “What effect does this use of the word suit have on the poem?” “What emotions might this alliteration cause the reader to feel?”
• In Unit 4, Part 2 during the reading of the poem “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” there are two questions analyzing language and author’s word choice, “Does Wordsworth use simple or difficult words to describe old age?” “How do the lines ‘let the misty mountain winds be free/ To blow against thee’ reflect Romantic beliefs and assumptions?”
• There are opportunities for students to analyze key ideas and details, structure, and craft. Questions and tasks provide evidence of student understanding of the definitions and concepts of the components identified in each unit. Also, the questions and tasks help students to make meaning and build understanding of texts and topics.
• In Unit 1, after each text there are Critical Reading questions. The vocabulary acquisition section of the Extended Study has stand alone activities that are not connected to the texts. The writing portion connects directly to the story that was just finished and asks students to write a sermon. It is vaguely connected to the text, only because the last lines of the story, the preacher delivers a passionate sermon on greed. It does not ask students to emulate the style of the preacher or language choices. The concept of a sermon was also not the focus for reading the text. The focus was allegory and archetypes.
• In Unit 2, there is a Text Set Workshop in which students write, research, and discuss questions related to the texts of Unit 2. The directions say students will “have the chance to further explore the fundamental connections among these texts and to deepen your essential understanding of the literature and its social and historical context.” The assignment is to use Spenser’s poems that they read in the unit and “develop and defend a claim that addresses the topic of real versus ideal love. Consider whether the poems are expressing realistic views of love or whether they use the art of poetry to construct a vision of what love should be.” The teacher edition provides instructions to remind students to use evidence from the poems and to use precise literary terms.
• In Unit 3, the Assessment Workshop has reading, grammar, writing, and speaking and listening tasks. The writing and speaking and listening tasks in the Constructed Response section are directly connected to texts and are higher level thinking tasks. The three essay choices are to analyze either the development of two or more themes in a literary work, analyze and evaluate the development of a narrative, or analyze and evaluate the structure of a work of nonfiction from the unit. The speaking and listening tasks are to deliver a presentation where students analyze the use of language in a nonfiction work, analyze and evaluate the central ideas of a work of nonfiction, or make a visual presentation that analyzes the impact of word choice on tone in a literary work from the unit. All three of these tasks are either key ideas and details or craft and structure questions. There is also a separate question directly connected to an Essential Question of the textbook where students write a literary analysis of the works of three authors from the unit and analyze the role that London played as a character in the work. These are all higher order thinking tasks at the end of the unit.
• In Unit 5, Part 3, after students read the poem “Dover Beach” there are three key ideas and details questions, and one integration of knowledge and ideas under Critical Reading. Then students read two more poems, “The Recessional” and “The Widow at Windsor”, both have key ideas and details and integration of knowledge and ideas questions right after the reading. After all three poems are read there are Close Reading Activities which include Craft and Structure questions about the three poems. For example, “Explain how the the mood and sternness and solemnity in “Recessional” relates to the theme of the poem?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 partially 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.

Most sets of questions and tasks support students’ analysis of knowledge and ideas. Materials provide guidance to teachers in supporting students’ literacy skills.By the end of the year, integrating knowledge and ideas is embedded in students’ work. Individual texts have questions to support analysis of knowledge and ideas, although there are also many questions that may be answered without text evidence. Also, sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze across multiple texts as well as within single texts. Teachers choosing which questions and tasks to complete out of the many options may not provide access for students to be consistently building knowledge.

• In Unit 1, Part 3, there are two different opportunities for studies to show their ability to integrate knowledge within a single text. After reading “A History of the English Church and People” and studying an ‘’Atlas Page [of] the British Isles” that is placed in the middle of the story, students are asked questions only about the first text. In the teacher edition, there are questions are integration of knowledge questions between the two texts, but there are no questions for students to work on independently. Questions in the student edition after the history piece include critical reading and literary analysis sections: “In what ways does Britain’s remote location influence Bede’s description of it? In responding use at least two of these Essential Question words: geography, proximity, isolation.” and “How do Bebe’s attitudes and beliefs color the information he provides? Support your answer with examples from the selection.
• In Unit 3, in the Speaking and Listening activity at the end of the unit, the assignment is to analyze a literary work through an oral interpretation. The analysis work is on a single text: “Make a copy of a speech, poem, or soliloquy from this unit. Choose one that you truly enjoy. Then, analyze the work to identify the use of literary elements and stylistic devices, such as the following: tone, author’s style, imagery, theme, nuance and ambiguity...Write a brief analytical essay that details your understanding of the text.”
• In Unit 4, Part 1 students analyze the poem “To a Mouse” answering text-dependent questions, like, “What comparison does the speaker draw between himself and the mouse in the last stanza?” What value do you place on foresight? Explain. (provide textual evidence to support your response)”
• In Unit 5, Part 2, after students read from Hard Times and An Upheaval there is a Close Reading Activity, Timed Writing task. Students are to write an essay comparing and contrasting the means that each author, Dickens and Chekhov, use to express criticism of his society.
• In Unit 6, Part 2, after students read and analyze three texts by Virginia Woolf, they choose a passage from “The Lady in the Looking Glass” or Mrs. Dalloway that they think is a good representative of the stream-of-consciousness technique. Then they translate that passage into the style of a traditional omniscient third-person narrator. Then they write an essay in which they state whether they prefer the original version or the translation and explain why.
• Lessons support students’ developing literacy skills. For example, in Unit 5, in the Preteach pages before the Alfred, Lord Tennyson passages the first reading is to identify key ideas and details and answer any comprehension questions. The second reading is to analyze craft and structure and respond to the side-column prompts. The third reading is integrating knowledge and ideas, connecting to other texts in the world, and answering the end-of-selection questions.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 partially 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).

There is a limited number of culminating tasks that are multifaceted. The Text Set Workshop does offer students an opportunity to write, research, and present. However, these workshops do not offer an opportunity for students demonstrate their knowledge of a topic. There are limited opportunities for students to demonstrate knowledge of a topic or topics found in the Text Set Workshops at the end of each unit. Earlier questions and tasks do not give the teacher usable information about the student’s readiness to complete culminating tasks. There are many different tasks in each part of each unit. If the Assessment: Workshop Constructed Response activities at the end of Part 3 are culminating tasks then they do not support students’ ability to demonstrate knowledge of a topic. These tasks are more skill or standard related than topical or thematic. There is only one task in the Assessment: Synthesis section that refers to one of the three Essential Questions, which would require students to demonstrate knowledge of a topic. Text Set Workshops also provide four opportunities for students to demonstrate their knowledge of a topic in each of the four parts of the unit in either a writing, research or speaking and listening task.

• In each unit, there is a Text Set Workshop at the end of Part 3 that integrates topics into reading/research/writing, reading/writing, or reading/speaking and listening tasks. The teacher’s edition provides instructions that teachers should use: “1. Explain to students that the activities in the Text Set Workshop will help them gain a deeper understanding of how the texts within a part are connected historically, thematically, or structurally. 2. As a class, briefly discuss each text set, paying particular attention to the Anchor Text(s) in each part. 3. Remind students that, as they embark on these projects, they should not only re-read the texts and the anchor text in particular, but also the biographical and background information in each section and the Unit Introduction. All of this information will contribute to a fuller understanding of the material. 4. Assign activities from the Workshop. You may choose activities based on your preference for individual, group, or whole-class assignments.”
• In Unit 1, Part 3, there are two of the tasks in the Text Set Workshop. The first is “Writing: Argumentative Essay: Develop and defend a claim about the significant idea of home expressed in the Anchor Text and other poems in Part 1.” Students are reminded to “review the texts and make a list of details that characterize the speakers’ views of home. Also note how exile affects their understanding of home.” This task requires students to integrate their knowledge of the poems and write about the topic of the poems. Another task is “Research: Multimedia Storytelling Event: Working in a small group, retell “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” in a variety of modern storytelling genres. Research events and projects that focus on storytelling...Then create version of the Wife of Bath’s story based on your research.” This second task meets the research standard W11-12.9 in the most basic way by requiring students to draw evidence from literary and informational texts to support research, but there is no analysis or reflection that is part of the task as required in the standard. If the task is meant to add some narrative writing, then it does not follow the standard: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences (W11-12.3). Nor is that standard listed on the page as a grading standard. The standard for speaking and listening, initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions, could be used for this activity, but it is not clear if that standard is to be used to assess student’s knowledge. Also, the questions and tasks leading up to these activities, do not support the activity, only the comprehension and analysis of the reading of the text.
• In each unit there are Assessment: Workshop Constructed Response activities that may be considered culminating tasks (some of which are labelled SAT Prep). They include a reading test with informational text that students previously read in the unit, a grammar and writing task that is not related to this indicator, a Timed Writing activity that is loosely connected to a text from the unit and asks them to take a position or state their opinion on a topic, and Constructed Response tasks that include 3 essays choices and 3 speaking and listening choices (some mix of literature or informational text that they connect to). These Constructed Response tasks are all skill- or standard-related, asking students to analyze some aspect of one text from the unit. The standard(s) that should be assessed on each task are always listed next to the task. For example, one of the writing tasks in Unit 3, Part 3 is listed as “Literature [RL.11-12.2, W.11-12.2, W.11-12.9.a] Analyze the Development of Themes: Write an essay in which you analyze the development of two or more themes in a literary work from this unit.”
• In each unit in the Assessment: Workshop Constructed Response there is a question that is connected to one of the Essential Questions from the textbook. They always integrate reading and writing skills and require students to demonstrate their knowledge of the topic. In Unit 2, Part 3, the task that goes along with the Essential Questions is connected to the topic that was studied throughout the unit: “Choose three authors from this unit who drew from tradition to create something new. Write a literary analysis showing how each author used a traditional theme, genre, or stylistic device but refreshed it with a new or inventive approach.” The Essential Question was “What is the relationship of the writing to tradition?” Throughout the unit, students were studying the English Renaissance time period and at various points, analyzed and answered questions either teacher directed or in Close Reading Activities that had students evaluate how an author made changes to a traditional way of writing. This type of culminating task is the only one that was directly connected to work earlier in the unit and that would provide teachers knowledge if students were ready to complete the task.
• There are a limited number of culminating tasks that are multifaceted. In Unit 4, Part 3, there is a Writing Workshop section. Here students are asked to create a Multimedia Presentation of an argument. Students’ assignment is to “Research, draft, revise, and present a multimedia presentation in which they present and defend a claim on a topic.” This workshop requires students to read, write, speak, and listen.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 partially meet the criteria for providing a cohesive, year-long vocabulary development component. Vocabulary is repeated in various contexts (before texts, in texts, etc.), but not across multiple texts. Attention is paid to vocabulary essential to understanding the text, but weak in attention to high value academic words. Students are supported to accelerate vocabulary learning with vocabulary in their reading, and writing task, but not with their speaking tasks. There are no opportunities for students to learn, practice, apply and transfer words into familiar and new contexts. Students are asked to highlight and work with words out of these contexts but not embed them into ongoing use and transfer.

Some examples of how vocabulary study is incorporated in the materials are shown below:

• At the beginning of Part 1-4 of each unit is a Building Knowledge and Insight page that introduces 4-6 vocabulary terms. After being told to copy the terms into their notebooks, students are directed to do different things with the list of terms throughout the unit and textbook. In Unit 1, Part 1, they are asked to “sort them into words you know and words you do not know.” While in Unit 1, Part 4, they are asked to decide “which word is a noun that might be related to the idea of nobility? How can you tell?” There is no further instruction about what they will do with the vocabulary terms.
• While reading the selections in Parts 1-4, the terms are defined in the margin of the student edition. In the Close Reading Activities after reading the texts that are combined together, a Vocabulary Acquisition and Use activity is provided. There is always a Word Analysis: The Word Root activity where a Latin root is introduced and defined. Then, students answer various questions related to the root. The second activity is a Vocabulary activity with a variety of different types of questions related to the 6 vocabulary terms introduced at the beginning of the selection(s). These could be stand alone tasks.
• At the end of each unit is a Language Study with two different activities. One is skill-based on things like using a dictionary to understanding etymology. There are examples provided and then practice questions. The practice questions do not have students apply any of the practice to larger writing activities beyond putting terms in a sentence of their own. The other activity is Vocabulary Acquisition and Use: Context Clues where students answer multiple choice questions questions with sentence starts and 5 choices of vocabulary terms. Both of these activities are stand-alone activities and are not referenced in other activities in the textbook.
• In Unit 5, from Hard Times, the academic words that students focus on are; monotonous, obstinate, deficient, adversary, indignant, approbation, etymology, syntax. Students read the words aloud and then rate them based on their knowledge of the words. When students finish reading discussing the selection, they are to read aloud the words have them rank again. They are to clarify any words that are still problematic. They do not interact with the words during the reading, during the text. At the end of the text there are three Vocabulary Acquisition and Use exercises involving the academic words. The first exercise has students identify the prefix mono in six words . Then they explain how mono contributes to the meaning of each word. The text is not necessary in order to complete this task. The second exercise has students identify antonyms for the academic words. Again the text is not needed. The third exercise has students review a list of utilitarian words that Dickens puts in Gradgrind’s mouth -or thoughts. Students are to use a dictionary to find the connotation of these words. Then find an antonym, then explain why each word they chose was a suitable antonym.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 partially meet the criteria that materials contain a year long, cohesive plan of writing instruction and tasks which support students in building and communicating substantive understanding of topics and texts.

There is a variety of writing opportunities in the textbook for teachers to choose from, which creates difficulty to know which to choose to form a cohesive writing plan for the school year. The activities fit with writing standards expected for grade 12, but are haphazardly arranged and do not always connect to the readings. Writing instruction is present in the Writing Workshops however, there is no follow through with tasks after the workshops. So support for students’ growth in writing skills over the course of the school year, and building students’ writing ability to demonstrate proficiency at grade level at the end of the year is not clearly present.

The materials do include a mix of both on-demand and process writing, however it not always clear with each writing task which one is required. There are not always clear guidelines in teachers materials or student prompts for which writing tasks are on-demand and which are process writing. There are opportunities for students to revise their writing, however there are limited opportunities to edit. In the writing to source tasks, students are guided each time to revise and are provided a focus for their revisions. The only time they are guided to edit their work is during the Writing Workshops found at the end of each unit, six times during the school year. The digital resources included are limited and not necessary for students to use in order to support their writing process or product.There are student and teacher resources available on-line. It is unclear if assignments are short or long. There are no clear parameters given for the length of the written product or the time students should spend on writing assignments (with the exception of the timed writings found in the material - 2 times per unit). Writing tasks and projects are sometimes aligned to the grade level standards being reviewed.

• In the Introductory Unit of the textbook, students are given an explanation for Composing an Argument. This one page of instruction includes directions for how to choose a topic, introduce a claim and establish its significance, develop a claim with reasoning and evidence, and write a concluding statement. The next page has a practice section where students complete a chart with claim, counterclaim, evidence and justification sections.
• In each unit, there are between 9 or 15 individual writing assignments that are classified as Writing to Sources or Timed Writing. They work on different parts of the writing standards and include all types of writing: argumentative essays, letters to the editor, dramatic scenes, public service announcements, etc.
• In each Part 3 of each unit there is a Writing Workshop about a different type of writing. They include Narrative, Argumentative Essay, Reflective Essay, Multimedia Presentation of an Argument, Historical Investigation Report, and Short Story. In Unit 3, the Writing Workshop is Reflective Essay which includes the assignment to “Write a reflective essay in which you describe an event from your personal experience and then share insights about its significance.” The texts leading up to this activity are all essays and offer good models for students in their own writing. The instruction for the workshop includes one-page directions for Prewriting and Planning, Drafting, Writers on Writing (which includes an excerpt from one of the selections in the unit with annotations), Revising, Writer’s Toolbox (developing style in this unit), a Student Model, Editing and Proofreading, Publishing, Presenting, and Reflecting. These workshops are stand-alone activities and do not connect to writing assessments later in the unit.
• At the end of Part 3 in every unit there is a Text Set Workshop which includes two writing activities that connect to the readings in either Part 1 or Part 2 of the unit. The teacher edition offers teachers the directions to “assign activities from the Workshop...choose activities based on your preference for individual, group, or whole-group assignments.” The Text Set Workshop activities along with the Writing Workshop and the Assessment Synthesis (which includes writing assignments) would be a robust amount and array of writing to cover the whole school year.
• There is a Writing Workshop in every unit during Part 3. They are all structured similar. Below is a sample structure from Unit 4, Part 3 Writing Workshop - Multimedia Presentation of an Argument
• Assignment is to research, draft, revise, and present a multimedia presentation in which students present and defend a claim on a topic that is meaningful to them.
• There is a Prewriting and Planning page where students read how to choose a topic, develop their argument, and gather details. There is a sample outline that shows students how to identify how they would like to use their information in their presentation.
• There is a Drafting page which explains how to shape the presentation, provide elaboration, and clarify and frame the media.
• Then there is a “Writers on Writing” essay written by Elizabeth Mc Cracken explaining her process on writing a multimedia presentation.
• Next, is a Revising page explaining how to improve pacing of presentation, evaluating media and delivery, revising media elements, and a peer review suggestion.
• Mini lesson on organization and integrating media to support the argument.
• A student model on how to script out the text and audio and video for the presentation.
• Then an Editing and Proofreading suggestion, a Publishing, Presenting, and Reflecting section, and a Rubric for Self -Assessment.
• Unit 6, Writing Workshop is on Writing a Short Story. In Unit 6, Part 3 after the Writing Workshop there is a Text Set Workshop where students have an opportunity to show from “text to understanding”. In Part 1 of this section they are asked to write an argumentative essay. In Part 2, they are to write an analytical essay comparing the relationship between the reader and the narrative perspective from two stories. In Part 3, they create a documentary on one of the settings they read about. In Part 4, they write and present a speech announcing the winner of a Prize for Contemporary Literature.
• In Unit 6, Part 3 towards the end of the unit, there is a Constructed Response section, where students can write an essay in which they analyze the development of a key narrative element in a story from Unit 6. There is another opportunity where they can write an essay in which they analyze the development of two or more themes in a literary work from Unit 6. Lastly, an opportunity to write an essay in which they analyze and evaluate the structure of a nonfiction work from Unit 6. Nowhere do they have an opportunity to practice writing a short story in which they learned in the Unit 6 Writing Workshop.