4th Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 4 ELA meet expectations for anchor texts being of publishable quality and worthy of careful reading. Anchor texts are found in the student edition of the Literature Anthology as the main texts for each week. Many texts are of publishable quality and address several topics of interest which are engaging for Grade 4 students while expanding big ideas and broadening students’ knowledge base and personal perspectives. Anchor texts include a variety of interesting topics that include, but are not limited to historical fiction, folktales, fantasy, and expository texts.

Numerous texts are published, original, and award-winning works from a variety of text types and genres. These anchor texts contain rich language which is engaging. Some examples of quality anchor texts are:

• Unit 1, A Crash Course in Forces and Motion with Max Axiom, Super Scientist, by Emily Sohn - This graphic novel is of high interest for students. This adventurous text contains brightly colored illustrations.
• Unit 2, The Buffalo are Back, by Jean Craighead George - This picture book contains illustrations with fine details and realistic coloring. The engaging book about Yellowstone’s ecosystem helps students build knowledge about a biological problem.
• Unit 3, Delivering Justice: W.W. Law and the Fight for Civil Rights, by Jim Haskins - This text contains bold-colored illustrations and depict thoughtful, historical images of the journey for equal rights.
• Unit 3, Abe’s Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln, by Doreen Rappaport, This well-crafted text tells the story of Abraham Lincoln’s life and stretches students’ thinking about history through the use of Lincoln’s quotes and words weaved throughout the text.
• Unit 4, LaRue for Mayor, by Mark Teague - This high-interest picture book contains a captivating main character. The structure of the text is well-crafted with black and white flashbacks.
• Unit 5, Mama, I'll Give You the World, by Roni Schotter - This text contains creative, figurative language, which hooks the reader and assists students in visualizing the characters and setting.
• Unit 5, A Drop of Water, by Gordon Morrison - This informational book displays vivid pictures of water, which support the text and help students understand water. Students are able to grow their knowledge about the scientific properties of water.
• Unit 6, “My People,” by Langston Hughes - This poem uses repetition in a unique way to show students to think of beauty. While it is short, it is a deep and engaging poem.

Some anchor texts, though high quality, include only an excerpt of the original text such as A Cricket in Time Square and Valley of the Moon, which may impede students’ full understanding of the text. While Unit 6 contains two excerpts and two less engaging texts, Energy Island and The Big Picture of Economics, Week 5 does contain quality poems such as “The Drum” and “Birdfoot’s Grampa.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the expectations for reflecting the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards. Texts which all students access include a balanced mix of literature and informational text. Text genres represented include, but are not limited to, expository texts, narrative nonfiction, articles, biographies, folktales, historical fiction, poetry, realistic fiction, drama, and fantasies.

Anchor text selections include 15 literary texts and 15 informational texts.

• Literature examples include The Princess and the Pizza, by Mary Jane Auch, Aguinaldo, by Lulu Delacre, The Moon Over Star, by Dianna Hutts Aston, and Apples to Oregon, by Deborah Hopkinson.
• Informational examples include Earthquakes, by Sneed B. Collard III, Spiders, by Nic Bishop, Why Does the Moon Change Shape? by Melissa Stewart, and The Big Picture of Economics, by David A. Adler.

Paired text selections include 14 literature texts and 16 informational texts.

• Literature examples include The Box-Zip Project, The Moonlight Concert Mystery, How It Came To Be, and The Incredible Shrinking Potion.*
• Informational examples include Tornado, Energy in the Ecosystem, A New Birth of Freedom, and One Nation, Many Cultures.

Weekly differentiated texts and complex extended texts are also a mix of text types and genres.

*Texts listed without an identified author usually indicate that they were written by the authors of the series.

Materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the expectation that texts have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative and qualitative analysis and relationship to their associated student task. The majority of texts are at the appropriate quantitative level. Texts that are above or below grade level quantitative bands have qualitative features and/or tasks that bring it to the appropriate level for students to access the text.

Examples of texts that are of the appropriate complexity are:

Unit 1, Week 1: The Princess and the Pizza

• Quantitative: Lexile 780; TextEvaluator 36
• Qualitative: This text has a clear, sequential structure. Sentence structure is complex with many sentences containing clauses. A key figurative language phrase in the story must be emphasized ("for Pete’s sake") in order for students to understand the ending of the story. Numerous hints to other fairy tales are made, which makes the text more complex for students who lack that prior knowledge.
• Reader and Task: In order to grasp references and humor in this story, students need to review fairy tale features. This review is done in the Interactive Read Aloud (page T12). Throughout the story, students take notes in a graphic organizer, which contains character, setting, beginning, middle, and end. The teacher models a think-aloud about making predictions. During the whole group reading, students answer questions about sequence and author’s craft. Students use the sequence graphic organizer to summarize the important events in the text. Students also write about how the author shows that winning the contest changes Paulina’s life.

Unit 2, Week 4: Spiders

• Quantitative: Lexile 820; TextEvaluator 27
• Qualitative: This text has a clear, sequential structure based on main ideas and details. It contains content-specific vocabulary pertaining to the biology and anatomy of spiders. Sentence structure is conversational using second person point-of-view and third person point-of-view.
• Reader and Task: During “Introduce the Concept” (pages T202-T203), students watch a video about animal survival to gain background knowledge about animal adaptations. Since this text is organized by main ideas and details, students take notes in a graphic organizer as they read. During the whole group reading, the teacher models a think-aloud about summarizing the learned information. During the whole group reading, students answer questions about details, text features, and author’s craft. Students use the sequence graphic organizer to summarize how spiders have adapted in order to survive. Students write about how text features help one to understand the author’s point-of-view about spiders.

Unit 3, Week 1: The Cricket in Times Square

• Quantitative: Lexile 780; TextEvaluator 40
• Qualitative: This excerpt of a chapter book contains an abundance of back-and-forth dialogue. There are chapter headings letting readers know the character point-of-view. The setting requires background knowledge about New York City and Times Square.
• Reader and Task: To access this text, teachers are directed to tell students about Times Square and provide pictures of Times Square for students to build background knowledge. Students take notes in a graphic organizer about point-of-view. During the reading of the text, students mainly answer questions about point-of-view, although they answer questions about the illustrations, making inferences, and making predictions. The teacher does a think-aloud about visualizing. At the end of the text, students use their notes to summarize the important events in the story. Students also write about the use of dialogue: “How does George Selden use dialogue to show how Chester and Tucker’s friendship develops throughout the story? Use these sentence frames to help organize your text evidence. George Selden uses Chester and...Tucker’s first meeting to....”

Unit 4, Week 1: See How They Run

• Quantitative: Lexile 870; TextEvaluator 42
• Qualitative: The text is organized with headings. The headings are a play-on-words, such as “There’s No Place Like Rome,” which makes predicting about the sections more complex. The vocabulary is subject-specific with words such as Athens, Julius Caesar, dictator, and senate. The purpose of the text is identifiable and connects to the Essential Question. The subject matter relies on a moderate level of discipline-specific knowledge.
• Reader and Task: Prior to reading the text, background knowledge is built through vocabulary with words such as: democracy, amendments, commitment, compromise, legislation, and privilege. A lesson on how to read narrative nonfiction is also taught prior to reading the text. Students complete a graphic organizer for cause and effect as they read the text. Students identify the key details and summarize the text based on the cause and effect organizer. Students also respond to: “What is Susan E. Goodman’s viewpoint about democracy and our right to vote? Use these sentence frames to help organize your text evidence. Susan E. Goodman tells how the Founding Fathers…; She describes how democracy…; This helps me understand that she….”

Unit 5, Week 2: Apples to Oregon

• Quantitative: Lexile 840; TextEvaluator 43
• Qualitative: The organization of the text is chronological. The illustrations enhance the reader’s understanding of the genre. There is complex figurative language such as “...pull up roots...” and “It was wider than Texas, thicker than Momma’s muskrat stew, and muddier than a cowboy’s toenails.” There are complex and long sentences. The topic of pioneer life requires some discipline-specific content knowledge. There are some references students may not understand such as Johnny Appleseed, Chimney Rock, and Independence Rock.
• Reader and Task: To help students access some of the challenges in the qualitative analysis, the “Connect to Content” directions in the teacher edition tells the teacher about the famous pioneer landmarks. To help students access the unfamiliar phrases or references such as “redder than the poison apple the old witch gave to Snow White,” the teacher is to explain the reference or how to use context clues to figure out what is happening. During the story, students complete a cause and effect graphic organizer. Students answer questions about cause and effect, literacy elements, and author’s craft. At the end of the text, students use their graphic organizer to summarize the important details of the story and describe the journey for the main character and her family. Students also write about following question: “How does the author show that the family’s trip to Oregon was successful? Use these sentence frames to organize your text evidence: The author tells me about Delicious and her family by using....Through descriptive details, I learned....The illustrations help me understand….”

Unit 6, Week 1: The Game of Silence

• Quantitative: Lexile 900; TextEvaluator 51
• Qualitative: The structure of this text is sequential. The language is complex with one-word sentences and sentences with clauses or dashes. There is subject-specific language around Ojibwe words. The theme of the text is implicit and is building throughout this section of the excerpt. The subject matter is complex and relies on moderate levels of content-specific knowledge about Native American history.
• Reader and Task: The “Access Complex Text (ACT)” directions in the Teacher Edition provide multiple opportunities for scaffolding that addresses some of the challenges mentioned in the qualitative analysis. Students need prior knowledge about Ojiwbe people in 1850. Furthermore, ACT provides suggestions about accessing specific vocabulary, connecting the ideas, and sentence structure. Students complete a graphic organizer for documenting ideas about the theme. During the reading of the text, students answer questions about the text features, such as the glossary at the beginning of the excerpt. Students discuss with a partner generating their own questions, and they discuss the denotations and connotations of two vocabulary terms. The teacher provides think-alouds about rereading for details. At the end of the text, students use their theme graphic organizer to summarize the text. Students also write about the author’s use of sensory language by answering the following question: “How do you know that family is important to the story’s message? Use these sentence frames to organize text evidence. The author uses words and phrases to help me visualize…; This is important to the story’s message because…; It helps me understand….”

Two texts are significantly below the quantitative stretch grade band, but the texts are appropriate when qualitative measures and reader and task are considered:

• Unit 1, Week 4: A Crash Course in Forces and Motion with Max Axiom, Super Scientist, by Emily Sohn: This text is below the stretch grade band with a 630 Lexile. The qualitative features of this text help bolster this to an appropriate level. The text is a graphic novel. It has speech bubbles, which are not necessarily in order from left to right. The vocabulary is subject-specific to physical science. There are references to scientific topics such as friction in space and Isaac Newton. These references are supported with separate text boxes containing definitions.
• Unit 3, Week 2: Aguinaldo, by Lulu Delacre: This text is below the stretch grade band with a 650, but the Text Evaluator places the text above the grade level with a 54. The qualitative features of this text are complex. It contains difficult vocabulary such as coquettishly and caressed. Some Spanish terms such as besito de coco are not directly defined when the word is used. The theme of the story is revealed over the entirety of the text.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the expectation that anchor texts and the series of texts connected to them being accompanied by a text complexity analysis and rationale for educational purpose and placement in the grade level.

The Teacher Edition's Differentiate to Accelerate chart explains the text complexity attributes of each whole class text, the Lexile and TextEvaluator levels of the texts, and the places within the lesson that will help the teacher determine if the text is appropriate in terms of reader and task.

The following example is from Unit 6, Week 3, page T136:

"The Great Energy Debate" - 910L, page TE 54

• Qualitative: What Makes the Text Complex?
  • Organization
  • Information, page T145
  • Genre Narrative
  • Nonfiction, page T151
• See Scaffolded Instruction in Teacher Edition, pages T145 and T151.
• Reader and Task: The Introduce the Concept lesson on pages T138–T139 will help determine the reader’s knowledge and engagement in the weekly concept. See pages T144–T153 and T166–T167 for questions and tasks for this text.

Energy Island - 800L, page TE 33:

• Qualitative: What Makes the Text Complex?
  • Genre Illustrations, page T153A; Text Features, page T153G; Myth, page T153U
  • Prior Knowledge Geography, page T153C
  • Connection of Ideas Information, page T153E; Opinions, pages T153M, T153Q
  • Sentence Structure, page T153I
  • Specific Vocabulary Unfamiliar Words, pages T153K, T153W
  • Purpose Understand, page T153O
• See Scaffolded Instruction in Teacher Edition, pages T153A–T153X.
• Reader and Task: The Introduce the Concept lesson on pages T138–T139 will help determine the reader’s knowledge and engagement in the weekly concept. See pages T168–T169, T176–T177, T180–T181, T186–T187, and T166–T167 for questions and tasks for this text.

The Teacher Edition also contains the Instructional Path at the beginning of each week. This path lists all texts read, why students are reading each text, the educational focus, and how the texts connect to one another during the week.

Unit 6, week 4 Instructional Path, pages T196-T197:

1. Talk About Money Matters: Guide students in collaborative conversations. Discuss the essential question: What has been the role of money over time? Develop academic language and domain-specific vocabulary on money matters. Listen to “All about Money” to summarize the history of money and how it has changed.
2. Read “The History of Money”: Model close reading with a short, complex text. Learn how money has changed throughout the history of the world, citing text evidence to answer text-dependent questions. Reread “The Big Blizzard” to analyze text, craft, and structure, citing text evidence.
3. Write About Money Matters: Model writing to a source. Analyze a short response student model. Use text evidence from close reading to write to a source.
4. Read and Write About Money Matters: Practice and apply close reading of the anchor text. Read The Big Picture of Economics to learn about how the economy works. Reread The Big Picture of Economics to understand how the author presents information about how the economy affects everyday life. Write a short response about The Big Picture of Economics.
5. Independent Partner Work: Gradual release of support to independent work. Text-dependent questions, scaffolded partner work, talk with a partner, cite text evidence, complete a sentence frame, and guided text annotation.
6. Integrate Knowledge and Ideas: Connect Texts, Text-to-Text: Discuss how each of the texts answers the question: What has been the role of money over time? Text-to-Poetry: Compare how the role of money in the texts read with the poem “Sing a Song of Sixpence.” Conduct a Short Research Project: Research world currencies.

The instructional materials for Grade 4 meet expectations that materials provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading. There are supports to build students’ comprehension of grade level texts in oral and silent reading.

Texts available daily to students include close reading texts, the literature anthology, paired texts, differentiated texts, interactive Worktext, and extended complex texts.

Weekly routines include opportunities for students to practice choral reading, partner reading, repeated reading, timed reading, echo reading, oral reading modeling, and independent reading of a variety of texts.

For example, in Unit 3, Week 2, students participate in an interactive read-aloud introducing the following essential question: “In what ways can you help your community?” This leads to students participating in a shared reading and rereading of “Remembering Hurricane Katrina” then a close reading and rereading from the Literature Anthology of Aguinaldo. Students also read a paired text, “Partaking in Public Service,” and then participate in a small group reading where students are working with a differentiated text and are either being read to, echo reading, or reading with the support of a partner. Extended complex texts are also available for students to read. Students are given a purpose for reading with each reread and complete graphic organizers or answer questions to support comprehension.

In Unit 6, Week 3, students participate in an interactive read-aloud introducing the following essential question: “How have our energy resources changed over the years?” A shared reading and rereading of “Energy Solutions” is followed by a close reading and rereading from the Literature Anthology of Energy Island. Students read a paired text: “Of Fire and Water” and participate in a small group reading where students are working with a differentiated text and are either being read to, echo reading, or reading with the support of a partner. Extended complex texts are also available to read. Students are given a purpose for reading with each reread and complete graphic organizers or answer questions to support comprehension.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the expectations for text-dependent questions, tasks, and assignments requiring students to engage directly with the text and to draw on textual evidence to support what is explicit as well as make valid inferences.

During each whole-group selection, students are asked to answer a variety of literal, inferential, and evaluative questions. During whole-group reading of primary texts, students are asked to re-read to find answers to text-dependent questions. Question sets are included with each page of text. Many teacher-directed tasks support students in making connections between the text and illustrations. Questions and activities engage students in text-dependent writing and speaking opportunities.

Examples of text-dependent questions found throughout the units:

• “How is the explanation of friction in the story related to the sidebar about friction?” (Unit 1 TE page T217I)
• “How does what the characters say and do at the beginning of the fable help you figure out how the story will end?” (Unit 2 TE page T25Q)
• “According to Lincoln, how did brave men consecrate the grounds?” (Unit 3 TE page 217W)
• “Reread the poem. What words and phrases express the mood and feeling of the narrator?” (Unit 4 TE page T281C)
• “According to the text, what has Luisa been doing over the past few weeks?” (Unit 5 TE page T25G)
• “Why does the author start the story with italicized text?” (Unit 6 TE page T89C)

Examples of text-dependent tasks and assignments found throughout the units:

• “After students read and summarize, have them reread to develop a deeper understanding of the text by annotating and answering questions on pages 31–32 of the Close Reading Companion.” (Unit 1 TE page T281F)
• “Tell students to apply the strategy in a Think Aloud by summarizing to understand the main idea of the text.” (Unit 2 TE page T217J)
• “Choose one of the primary source quotes on pages 7–9 and tell a partner how it helps you understand Nellie Bly.” (Unit 3 TE page T245)
• “Tell students they will use the events and details from their Point of View chart to summarize.” (Unit 4 TE page T153R)
• “Encourage students to discuss with a partner how inventions can solve problems. Ask them to cite text evidence. Use these sentence frames to focus discussion: I read that Kevlar . . . . This is an example of how . . . .” (Unit 5 TE page T145)
• “Read page 397 together. As you read, model how to take notes. 'I will think about the Essential Question as I read and note main events and details.'” (Unit 6 TE page T80)

The Close Reading Companion, the Student Literature Anthology, and Reading/Writing Workshop include text dependent questions, writing prompts, and discussion prompts that require students to engage in the text directly. The Respond to the Text questions at the end of the main literature anthology selections include summarization, writing, and making connection questions. The "make connection" questions ask students to provide evidence from the texts in the unit in their answers. Write to Source Lessons included in each weekly lesson routine include writing tasks that require students to provide evidence from the Literature Anthology texts in their writing. The Practice Book also provides questions/tasks that are tied directly to text, unless the practice is a very specific skill (such as decoding).

Teacher modeling for text-dependent tasks is provided throughout instruction.

There are also “Text to Self” questions that are not text-dependent but relate to the theme of the text being read, such as “Tell about a time when a friend helped you think of a good idea.” (Unit 1, Week 1, TE page T17) and “If you could move somewhere new, where would you go? Why?” (Unit 5, Week 2, TE page 81).

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 5 meet the expectation for containing sequences of text dependent questions and activities that building to a culminating task integrating skills (may be writing, speaking, or a combination). Students are provided with a Unit Big Idea and a weekly Essential Question. Students discuss the questions, make connections, and create a graphic organizer to be used at the end of the unit. Similar processes are included at the end of most units to build students' ability to engage with the texts over the course of the school year.

Each week, an Essential Question is addressed throughout the texts and tasks. This Essential Question is revisited at the end of each text with a Make Connections Question. At the end of the week, students integrate ideas through text connections to revisit the Essential Question and create a graphic organizer using notes from the weekly read. At the end of the unit, students Wrap Up the Unit: The Big Idea. Students use their weekly graphic organizers and notes to participate in a collaborative conversation about the Unit Big Idea. Students present their ideas and create a top five most important list as a class and are encouraged to continue building knowledge through research and discussions.

Unit 3

Big Idea:

• How can you show your community spirit?

Unit 3, Week 3 Essential Question:

• How can one person make a difference?

Questions at the end of the week’s texts:

• How did Judy Bonds make a difference?
• How did Westley Wallace Law become a leader in his community?
• How did the events of the Civil Rights era influence Nora Davis Day’s life?

End of Week: Integrate Ideas/Text Connections:

• Students create a three tab foldable to record comparisons about the week’s texts. Students are to compare the information they have learned about how one person can make a difference.

End of Unit/Wrap Up the Unit: The Big Idea:

• The teacher writes “How can you show your community spirit?” on the board. In small groups, students will compare the information they have learned throughout the unit in order to answer the Big Idea question. Students use an accordion foldable to record comparisons of texts. Students present their ideas and list ideas on the board. If there are more than five things, students vote to narrow down the list to the top five most important things. Students are encouraged to continue building knowledge about the Unit Big Idea.

Unit 5

Big Idea:

• What helps you understand the world around you?

Unit 5, Week 4 Essential Question:

• How can words lead to change?

Questions/tasks at the end of the week’s texts:

• Talk about how Elizabeth Cady Stanton helped women gain the right to vote.
• Why did Lincoln’s words leave such a lasting impression on people?
• What purpose did “The Gettysburg Address” serve for people saddened by the terrible cost of war?

End of Week Integrate Ideas/Text Connections:

• Students create a layered book foldable to record comparisons about the week’s texts. Students are to compare the information they have learned about how words can lead to change.

End of Unit/Wrap Up the Unit: The Big Idea:

• The teacher writes “What helps you understand the world around you?” on the board. In small groups, students will compare the information they have learned during the course of the unit in order to answer the Big Idea question. Students use an accordion foldable to record comparisons of texts. Students present their ideas and list ideas on the board. If there are more than five things, students vote to narrow down the list to the top five most important things. Students are encouraged to continue building knowledge about the Unit Big Idea.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the criteria for frequently providing opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax (small group and whole class). Each week, unfamiliar words are introduced and taught through a variety of activities and strategies that include discussions, writing, word morphology, and a define/example/ask routine. Each page identifies academic language that can be found in the text on that page.

Protocols and routines are presented in “Start Smart” pages at the beginning of Unit 1. Teachers are instructed to teach these procedures and routines to students in the first days of the school year. These procedures and routines will be used throughout the school year.

• “Build Background” (pages S5-S6 and pages S19-S20) introduces the concept of the weekly Essential Question. Protocol is introduced for using concept words related to the big idea, academic language, and domain-specific words in partner discussions.
• “Collaborative Conversations”: Teachers are instructed to have students watch a video outlining procedures for partner and small group conversations, then share discussion guidelines revolving around turn-taking, careful listening, adding new ideas, preparing for discussions, asking and answering questions, taking on discussion roles, and being open to all ideas.
• “Comprehension: Theme” (pages S11-S12): Teachers are guided to teach students how to answer a question by paraphrasing part of the text.
• “Genre: Literature” (pages S13-S14): Teachers are guided to teach students about close reading to analyze and evaluate what they read and using direct quotes to cite text evidence.
• “Comprehension: Author’s Point of View” (pages S23-S24): Teachers are guided to teach students about citing text evidence when making an inference.
• “Genre: Informational Text” (pages S25-S26): Teachers are guided to teach students about using facts, details, graphs, charts, and diagrams as text evidence.

During weekly lessons, multiple collaborative opportunities are presented daily, with modeling and explicit directions provided to facilitate evidence-based discussions focusing on academic vocabulary and syntax.

• Academic language is highlighted in the margins of the Teacher Edition, providing ease of reference and use.
• Routines and procedures are provided as periodic reminders for collaborative conversations and peer conferences.
• The vocabulary routine attends to speaking and listening skills associated with evidence-based discussions, academic vocabulary, and syntax. Students use a wide variety of graphic organizers and sentence frames throughout the school year.
• In Unit 1, Week 2, students make connections and discuss how Sarah Weeks uses dialogue in Experts, Incorporated and tell how she helps you to understand how Rodney feels as he struggles and then comes up with his idea. Students are asked to cite text evidence and given the sentence frames: "Sarah Weeks uses dialogues to show that Rodney and his friends.… This helps me understand...."
• In Unit 6, Week 5, during an Imagery and Personification mini-lesson, the teacher is directed to “Model identifying examples of imagery and personification in the poem, ‘Climbing Blue Hill’ on page 439.”

Lessons include frequent opportunities for the teacher to frame and guide discussion during Collaborative Conversations.

• In Unit 5, Week 2, students are advised to add new ideas to their conversations. During the Build Background mini-lesson the Teacher Edition states, “Add New Ideas as students engage in partner, small-group, and whole-class discussions; encourage them to add new ideas to their conversations. Remind students to stay on topic, connect their own ideas to things their peers have said, and look for ways to connect their personal experiences or prior knowledge to the conversations.“
• In Unit 3, Week 4, students are advised to be open to all ideas. During the Build Background mini-lesson the Teacher Edition states, “As students engage in partner, small group, and whole-class discussions, encourage them to share and listen openly in their conversations. Remind students to wait for a person to finish before they speak. They should not speak over others, quietly raise their hand to let others know they would like a turn to speak, and ask others in the group to share their opinions so that all students have a chance to share.“

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet expectations for supporting students’ listening and speaking about what they are reading and researching (including presentation opportunities) with relevant follow-up questions and evidence.

Protocols and routines for speaking and listening are presented in “Start Smart” pages at the beginning of Unit 1. Teachers are instructed to teach these procedures and routines to students in the first days of the school year. These procedures and routines will be used throughout the school year.

Multiple collaboration opportunities are provided throughout the week, such as Text Connections, Research and Inquiry, End-of-Unit Routine, Integrate Ideas – Inquiry Space and Research and Inquiry, Wrap Up the Unit – Text Connections, and Publishing Celebrations.

• In Unit 2, Week 2, students reread the section “The Ant and the Grasshopper” and answer the question, “Talk about how Ant and Grasshopper act like real people.” in a collaborative group.
• In Unit 4, Week 3, students work with a partner to discuss how the invention of the telephone affected the town of Centerburg. Students cite evidence from the text and use sentence frames for discussion.

Students are provided speaking and listening opportunities about the target vocabulary in the Reading/Writing Workshop throughout the year. In the Smart Start instructions to teachers in Unit 1, there are specific instructions about listening comprehension such as to take turns talking, listen carefully, add new ideas, use text evidence, prepare for discussions, ask and answer questions, take on discussion roles, and be open to all ideas.

There are also speaking and listening checklists in the online teacher resources and in the description of assessments in week 6 of each unit that instruct students as they engage in partner, small group, and whole class discussions.

There are varied weekly projects (i.e., interview a classmate, research the effects of human actions, make a poster, research a topic, research a famous business owner) in which students work in pairs or small groups. Then, students work in small groups to present a project through culminating unit project.

Listening comprehension lessons are included in each weekly Interactive Read Aloud. Students are prompted to think about the genre and the strategy prior to listening to the read aloud by the teacher.

A presentation checklist is provided in the materials for students to evaluate student presentations.

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet expectations for materials including a mix of on-demand and process writing and short, focused projects, incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

Writing projects, tasks, and presentations align to standards and allow students to learn, practice, develop, and apply writing skills across the course of the school year. Writing projects, tasks, and presentations are associated with texts of various genres, topics, or themes. Writing tasks are embedded throughout lessons and provide students opportunities for short and extended writings. For example, students write to sources, answer text-dependent questions, take notes, complete graphic organizers, and complete research projects and presentations. Students write informative, opinion, and narrative pieces focusing on topics such as ideas, voice, word choice, organization, and sentence fluency. Students are provided opportunities to work through the various stages of the writing process during which they revise their writings and conference with their peers and teacher. There are also anchor papers in the Assessment Handbook.

Each unit includes on-demand writing prompts.

• Respond to the Text: Students immediately respond to a text that has been read. For example, in Unit 1, Week 5, students write to respond to the prompt, “How does the author make his or her point of view clear in this selection?”
• Write to Sources: This is a 5-day routine of evidence-based writing that repeats each week. For example, in Unit 5, Week 4, students write to respond to the prompt, “Why does the author begin and end the selection with a drop of water?”
• After Reading the Differentiated Texts: This is often a small group writing prompt. For example, in Unit 6, Week 4, students reading the on-level text are prompted to work with a partner to write a short paragraph about the steps Hector takes before he produces his first bike. Have them include details from the text.
• Research and Inquiry and Inquiry Space: Writing includes evidence from researched texts. For example, in Unit 2, Week 4, students write and outline to begin a draft about a shark investigation they have been working on. Students can collaborate digitally working with teams online through the online portal.

A text to media integrated lesson is available at the end of each weekly lesson. Students use digital technology to post responses online. In Unit 1, Week 3, students are prompted to write and post discussion using the online forum.

Each unit includes two Genre Writing process writing lessons that include 3-week process writing lessons. Students are provided with an expert model in Week 1; prewrite in Week 2; draft the writing in Week 3; and proofread, edit, publish, and evaluate during Week 3. Students can complete one or both of the lessons.

The following are examples of the writing lessons:

Unit 1: Narrative Writing

• Friendly Letter, pages T344–T349: Week 1 expert model, prewrite; week 2 draft, revise; week 3 proofread/edit and publish/evaluate.
• Personal Narrative, pages T350–T355: Week 4 expert model, prewrite; week 5 draft, revise; week 6 proofread/edit and publish/evaluate.

Unit 3: Opinion Writing

• Book Review: Week 1 expert model, prewrite; Week 2 draft, revise; Week 3 proofread/edit and publish/evaluate.
• Opinion Essay: Week 4 expert model, prewrite; Week 5 draft, revise Week 6 proofread/edit and publish/evaluate.

Unit 5: Informational Writing

• Expository Letter: Week 1 expert model, prewrite; Week 2 draft, revise; Week 3 proofread/edit and publish/evaluate.
• Book Review, Week 4, expert model, prewrite; Week 5 draft, revise; Week 6 proofread/edit and publish/evaluate.

Writer’s Workspace includes graphic organizers, tools, templates, model writing and organizers, scoring rubrics, writing traits mini-lessons, and editing checklists for informative, opinion, and narrative writing.

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the expectations for providing opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards. The writing prompts are balanced between informative and narrative.

Process writing prompts include opportunities for students to address different types of writing:

• Unit 1 - Narrative Text - Friendly Letters and Personal Narrative
• Unit 2 - Informative Text - Explanatory Essay and How-To Text
• Unit 3 - Opinion Writing - Book Review and Opinion Essay
• Unit 4 - Narrative Text/Poetry - Fictional Narrative and Poetry
• Unit 5 - Informative Text - Expository Letter and Research Report
• Unit 6 - Opinion Writing - Book Review and Opinion Essay

On demand prompts and quick writes include opportunities for students to address different types of writing:

• In Unit 2, Week 5, students write a poem about an animal using a simile or metaphor.
• In Unit 2, Week 3, students write to answer the prompt, “How does the author use the event of the moon landing to develop the relationship between Mae and Gramps?”
• In Unit 3, Week 3, students make text-to-text connections when answering the prompt, “Compare Nora Davis Day’s experiences with those of others who made a difference. Contrast how each selection presents information.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the expectation for materials including frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information. The materials include weekly opportunities for students to respond to one or two texts in a variety of writing modes including informative, opinion, and narrative analysis.

Examples of opportunities for evidence-based writing are:

• In Unit 1, Week 2, students write a paragraph that paraphrases the events in the text that lead to the solution. Teachers are directed to make sure students include a concluding sentence in their paragraphs.
• In Unit 5, Week 4, students use evidence from two texts when answering the prompt, “How do A Drop of Water and ‘The Incredible Shrinking Potion’ convince readers to look closely at something?”
• In Unit 6, Week 5, students write a summary of “My Name is Ivy,” including the poem’s theme.
• In Unit 2, Week 1, students write about how the author structures the events in the folktale. Students use sentence frames to organize evidence from the text.
• In Unit 4, Week 3, students write about how the author uses the event of the moon landing to develop the relationship between Mae and her grandfather.

The Write to Sources weekly lesson objectives are to have students write in response to the texts of the week. Students write to the Reading/Writing Workshop text by writing in response to a prompt. Most prompts require a text evidence to answer. Some prompts do not require text evidence.

• Day 1: Writing Fluency – Students respond to a text-dependent question.
• Day 2: Write to Reading/Writing Workshop Text – An evidence-based expert model is provided and discussed, students analyze their prompt, take notes with evidence, then write.
• Day 3: Write to Literature Anthology Text – The teacher guides students in analyzing the prompt, identifying and collecting evidence, students write, then the teacher conferences with students (guidance is provided for conferencing).
• Days 4 and 5: Write to Two Sources – The teacher guides students in identifying and collecting evidence, students write, then the students conference with peers. Guiding questions are provided for peer conferences.
• Throughout the week, the Teacher Edition and supplemental online materials provide instructional supports for analyzing models, analyzing prompts, collecting evidence, using graphic organizers, structuring responses, and conferencing.

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the expectations for materials, questions, and tasks addressing grade-level CCSS by providing instruction in phonics, word recognition, vocabulary, morphology, and reading fluency in a research-based and transparent progression.

Each week of each unit addresses foundational skills for phonics through instruction, application, and assessment. Whole group phonics and fluency instruction are provided as part of every weekly lesson.

• One 20-minute mini-lesson is taught each week. Each mini lesson targets two primary skills. For example, in Unit 1, Week 2, long a and inflectional endings are taught, although these are below Grade 4 level foundational skills.
• Each mini-lesson also includes a focus on reading multi-syllabic words and on a particular fluency skill, such as reading rate or accuracy.

Differentiation of phonics and fluency instruction is supported in the small group instruction lessons. Students are provided multiple opportunities to practice the strategies for learning foundational skills during these teacher-led lessons and when completing the Your Turn practice pages that correspond to foundational reading skills lessons.

Phonics is also addressed through the spelling. Phonics through spelling in Unit 1 and Unit 2 are review phonics from prior grade levels such as in Unit 1, Week 1, short vowels are taught. In Unit 2, Week 2, digraphs are taught. In Unit 3, Week 4, plurals and suffixes are taught.

• Some of the skills are reinforced in the weekly spelling list, but none of the skills are applied in reading instruction, writing instruction, weekly/unit assessments, or culminating tasks.

Other routines for phonics and spelling are described in the “Instructional Routine Handbook,” pages R17 and R50. Phonics and spelling are assessed with dictated sentences students must write and through phonics passages in which students read words with the phonics spelling patterns presented for the week.

Aside from the Phonics/Fluency lessons, fluency is also addressed through partner reading, choral reading, echo reading, and timed reading. Progress monitoring of fluency and recommendations and lessons for interventions are provided in the curriculum.

Vocabulary is taught in each unit through lessons called, "Build Vocabulary." These include 5-day plans for students to learn categories of words such as synonyms, idioms, metaphors, suffixes, and root words.

• Day 1: “Connect to Words,” in which students are asked a series of questions that can only be answered with an understanding of the vocabulary word.
• Day 2: “Expand Vocabulary,” in which students are taken through a series of activities that generate different forms of the word such as adding or deleting suffixes or inflectional endings.
• Day 3: “Reinforce the Words,” in which students complete sentence stems with words related to the weekly vocabulary.
• Day 4: “Connect to Writing,” in which students write sentences using the vocabulary words in their notebooks.
• Day 5: “Word Squares,” in which students create word squares for each vocabulary words (Frayer model-define, illustrate, example, non-example).

Morphology is taught through Build Vocabulary and Vocabulary Strategy.

• In Unit 1, Week 5, students learn three common suffixes: -ly, -ive, and -ful. The teacher models using the suffix -ive using a word from the Companion Text. Students are tasked with identifying and defining suffixes in the following words: immediately, traditionally, and successful. Students can also practice those suffixes in Your Turn, page 47.
• In Unit 5, Week 1, students learn the prefix en-. The teacher chunks out the word encircle in order to show students that en- means, “put into” or “cover with.” Therefore, encircle means, “to put in a circle.”
• In Unit 6, Week 5, students learn -ity as part of the word individuality. The teacher separates individual and -ity and explains that -ity means, “having the quality of” or “a state of being.” Students discuss how adding -ity changes the meaning of the word individual. Students are directed to search the dictionary for other words ending with the suffix, -ity.

Materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet expectations for materials, questions, and tasks guiding students to read with purpose and understanding and to make frequent connections between acquisition of foundation skills and making meaning from reading.

Materials provide explicit instruction of new vocabulary along with multiple routine activities for students to work with new and unfamiliar words and figurative language. The “Instructional Routine Handbook” describes routines for teaching new vocabulary words, beginning on page R40. The materials do include activities for making meaning from unfamiliar words read in context during close reading of text sets each week.

• In Unit 1, Week 3 page T153N, “What is the meaning of the word fault in the text? What is another meaning of the word fault?”
• In Unit 2, Week 2 page T89K, “Look at the word desperate in the stage directions for Felipe. With your partner, name words or phrases that are antonyms for desperate. Why is Felipe desperate?”
• In Unit 3, Week 1 page T25E, “Find the word sprang on page 183. What do you think it means? Use paragraph clues to check your meaning.”
• In Unit 4, Week 4 page T217E, “Which context clues help you to determine the meaning of ‘dwarf planets’ in the first paragraph on page 341?”
• In Unit 5, Week 1 page T250, “An author can use the same word in different ways to express different ideas. The author uses the word world several times on pages 376 and 377. When the author says, ‘the World seems to sparkle,’ what ‘world’ is the author referring to? Reread the last sentence on page 377. When the author says ‘there is no more beautiful place in the world,’ how is the meaning of world here different than on page 376?”
• In Unit 6, Week 2 page T89E, “Using context clues, what do you think the Spanish words mestizos and vaqueros mean? What do these words tell the reader about the region where the story is set?”

Opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery of the application of word analysis skills to grade level text occur during weekly assessments. The materials include two weekly assessments, and both are referred to as the "Weekly Assessment." There is also a selection test for each week.

• In the Unit Assessment, there are vocabulary questions where students are required to identify multiple meanings of a vocabulary term.
  • Unit 1, “One week into her new job, the luck that brought her to Colorado seemed to change. Which word has almost the same meaning as luck as it is used in the sentence?”
• In the Weekly Assessment, there are vocabulary questions where students are required to use context clues to define a vocabulary term.
  • Unit 3, week 2, “They came in search of possible work prospects, or chances for jobs in America. What are prospects?”
• In the Selection Test, the first eight questions ask students to identify definitions for each of the week's vocabulary words with no context provided.
  • “What does the word attracted mean?” (Unit 2, week 1)

Each week, “Vocabulary: Words in Context” and “Vocabulary Strategy” are introduced prior to reading texts.

• For “Vocabulary: Words in Context”, the week's vocabulary words and definitions are introduced through a 10-minute mini-lesson using the Reading/Writing Workshop text prior to the shared read and the close read. The text provides an example of the word used in an isolated sentence, along with a representative picture and a question for partners to discuss. The week's vocabulary words are highlighted in the shared read and the close read; however, there is no instruction for teachers to revisit the words or their meanings in context.

• For "Vocabulary Strategy," the week's vocabulary strategy is introduced through a 10-minute mini-lesson using the Reading/Writing Workshop text. Students are instructed to practice applying the skill with one or two words from the shared read (the Reading/Writing Workshop text).

The Teacher Edition usually provides one opportunity for teachers to direct students in applying the vocabulary strategy skill during the close read.

• Close Read - "Build Vocabulary"
  • Throughout the close read (in the Literature Anthology), "Build Vocabulary" words are called out in the margins of the Teacher Edition. These words are not related to the "Words in Context" or the "Vocabulary Strategy." Instructions are not provided for the words, but the word definitions are.
• Close Read - "Access Complex Text: Specific Vocabulary"
  • At one or two points during the close read, a vocabulary word or word part is called out in the Teacher Edition for teachers to discuss with students.
• "Build More Vocabulary" - Each day, an additional vocabulary skill is introduced or reviewed. These skills include, but are not limited to, homographs, homophones, academic vocabulary, context clues, related words, prefixes, and suffixes.
• With the exception of the "Context Clues" activities, most practice activities involve students creating isolated sentences with the words, discussing examples, creating charts, and composing/decomposing words with word parts.

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet expectations for providing students frequent opportunities to practice and achieve reading fluency in oral and silent reading, as well as to read on-level prose and poetry with accuracy, rate appropriate to the text, and expression.

Fluency routines are described in the Instructional Routine Handbook on page R36A. Routines include partner reading, choral reading, echo reading, and timed reading. For example:

• "Phonics/Fluency" - At the end of a 20-minute phonics lesson, the "Fluency" box directs teachers to model a fluency skill (expression, accuracy, or rate). Students then practice fluency with echo reading, choral reading, or partner reading.
• Small Group - At each reading level, after completing the leveled reader, the teacher models reading one page, then students practice (together as a group, with a partner).
• Reader's Theater - At the end of each Unit, during week 6, students practice their parts for Reader's Theater every day.
• Reading Workstation cards include a fluency card and reader's theater card to be used in workstations for week 6.

Weekly sets of lessons focus on one aspect of fluency as listed below, along with some sample activities. Most of this fluency instruction occurs in differentiated small group instruction. Each unit focuses specific fluency skills such as expression, rate, phrasing, accuracy, and intonation. For example:

• In Unit 1, Weeks 4 and 5, the teacher models reading appropriate phrasing and rate. Students take turns reading with a partner. Each partner should follow along in the text and give feedback regarding phrasing and rate.
• In Unit 1, Week 1 and Unit 2, week 2, the teacher models reading with intonation. Students read with a partner taking turns to read the passage with intonation to express the characters’ feelings.
• In Unit 3, Week 5 and Unit 5, week 4, the teacher models reading with proper rate. The class is divided into two groups with the first group reading the first paragraph at a steady rate. The second group echo reads using the same steady rate.
• In Unit 4, Week 3, the teacher models reading with expression. Students take turns partner-reading paragraphs. The first time through reading students are asked to read without expression. The second time through reading students are to read with strong expression.
• In Unit 5, Week 3, the teacher models reading with proper rate and accuracy. The class is divided into small groups, and each group takes turns chorally reading the passage. Students are reminded to listen to each other and read at an accurate rate.
• In Unit 6, Week 4, the teacher models reading with proper accuracy. Students take turns in pairs, reading with accuracy and confirming word meanings if necessary.

Opportunities to demonstrate oral fluency are provided through the Your Turn practice book.

• Each week, two out of ten activities focus on fluency and comprehension. Students read a passage aloud with a partner and answer comprehension questions. Partners track each other’s words correct per minute on the first read and second read.
• Lexile levels for the reading passages are not provided in the student handbook or the teacher's annotated version. Without Lexile levels, the data for words per minute cannot be compared as students progress through the school year.

Students have the opportunity to practice fluency with poetry by reading and rereading poetry selections. Students read “The Sandpiper” and “Fog” in Unit 2. In Unit 6, students practice reading fluency with poetry by reading and rereading: “Climbing Blue Hill,” “My Name is Ivy,” “Collage,” “The Drum,” “Birdfoot’s Grampa,” “From My Chinatown,” “Growing Up,” and “My People.”

Fluency assessments are included in the instructional materials. A beginning of the year diagnostic assessment is provided to determine students’ needs in foundational reading skills. The series includes blackline masters for fluency benchmarking and for ongoing fluency assessment.

• Thirty assessments are provided for the entire school year.
• In the introductory section of the handbook, teachers are instructed to use at least two selections every two to three weeks for most students.
• In each unit, the first passage is set at a Lexile level below the grade level band, the next two are within the grade level band, and the last two are at the high end or beyond the grade level band.