The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 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. Texts are of publishable quality and address several topics of interest which are engaging for Grade 6 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, articles, narrative nonfiction, poetry, biographies, and expository texts.

Multiple texts are multicultural, well-written texts from a variety of text types and genres. These anchor texts contain rich language and engaging characters or content. Some examples of quality anchor texts include:

• Unit 1, The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick - This excerpt is a creatively written text told from the point-of-view of a captivating narrator.
• Unit 1, Into the Volcano by Donna O’Meara - This engaging text about a volcanologist will be of interest to Grade 6 students. It contains colorful, striking photographs and crucial diagrams of volcanoes. The language of the text is intelligent with lively adjectives.
• Unit 2, A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park- This well-crafted text contains an interesting main character: an orphan in the 12th century Korea. The text also contains a common theme students can understand.
• Unit 3, Major Taylor by Lesa Cline-Ransome - This narrative nonfiction includes a mix of vibrant dialogue and narration about a man who defies a situation in a era of inequality. The illustrations are life-like and spectacular.
• Unit 4, Years of Dust by Albert Marrin - This text about a historical time in the USA contains impressive photos of the Dust Bowl. The author crafted a text of truth displaying despair, yet perseverance.
• Unit 5, Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis - This excerpt contains informal language such as “skeeters” and “me and Jingle Boy,” which is engaging and relatable for a Grade 6 student. The text evokes a range emotions and feelings for the reader.
• Unit 6, The Great Fire by Jim Murphy - This narrative nonfiction contains candid descriptions of the Great Chicago Fire. The descriptions of disaster are vivid and engaging with academic language.

Many anchor texts are of high quality but include only an excerpt of the original text such as Before Columbus and Pharaoh’s Boat, which may impede students’ full understanding of the text. There are limited opportunities built into the program for students to read entire chapter books or texts, making it challenging for students to analyze how a particular chapter or scene fits into the overall structure of the text.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations for reflecting the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards. Texts that all students access include an appropriate mix of literature and informational text for Grade 6. Text genres represented include, but are not limited to, expository texts, narrative nonfiction, articles, biographies, folktales, poetry, realistic fiction, and drama.

Anchor text selections include 13 literary texts and 17 informational texts. Unit 6 is predominantly informational text with Week 5 dedicated to poetry.

• Literature examples include Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell, Roman Diary by Richard Platt, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt, Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate, The Hero and the Minotaur by Robert Byrd, and “To You” by Langston Hughes.
• Informational examples include Journey into the Deep by Rebecca L. Johnson, Who Created Democracy? by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge, “Stewards of the Environment,” Years of Dust by Albert Marrin, Planet Hunter by Vicki Oransky Wittenstein, and Extreme Scientists by Donna M. Jackson.

Paired text selections include 13 literary texts and 17 informational texts.

• Literature examples include “Enough,” “Maestro,” The Music of Many, Aminata’s Tale, The People Could Fly, and The Mystery of the Missing Sandals.
• Informational examples include Donna O’Meara: The Volcano Lady, The Genius of Roman Aqueducts, Margaret Bourke-White: Fearless Photographer, Get Fit for Fun!, Looking Back to Move Forward, and Making the Scientific Method Work for You.

The included companion texts, weekly differentiated texts, and complex extended texts are also a mixture of text types and genres.

Materials reviewed for Grade 6 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 them to the appropriate level for students to access and utilize the text.

Examples of texts that are of the appropriate complexity include:

Unit 1, Week 4: Into the Volcano

• Quantitative: Lexile 960; Text Evaluator 48
• Qualitative: This text has a very complex structure with information displayed in diagrams in various places on the page. The main sections are marked with headings. The text features and graphics are essential in understanding the content of the inner workings of volcanoes. For language features, the vocabulary is sometimes unfamiliar and subject-specific. Many sentences contain clauses and transition words. The purpose is easy to identify. The subject matter is challenging, especially for students who do not live near volcanoes.
• Reader and Task: To help the reader obtain the necessary background knowledge about volcanoes, there is a 10-minute mini lesson called, Introduce the Concept. Students view a photograph of an erupting volcano. Then students participate in a collaborative conversation about the dangers of volcanoes. During the first reading of the text, students fill in a main idea and details graphic organizer. Students use the organizer to help them summarize the text after they complete the reading.

Unit 2, Week 1: The Technology of Mesopotamia

• Quantitative: Lexile 990; Text Evaluator 52
• Qualitative: The organization of the text is evident with main idea and details. There are headings to help students know what to expect to read about in The Technology of Mesopotamia. The text features and graphics are integral to the understanding the text. The language conventionality is easy to understand. The vocabulary is very complex and subject-specific to Mesopotamia. The purpose of the text is moderately complex and is easy to identify based on the text. The subject matter is complex, since Grade 6 students may be less familiar with Mesopotamia.
• Reader and Task: To assist students in building background for the text, there is a 10-minute mini lesson about early civilizations. Students are introduced to the following vocabulary prior to reading the text: artifact, communal, derived, inscription, and millennium. While reading the text, students take notes in a problem and solution graphic organizer. After the first read, students summarize how early inventions helped people solve problems. During the second read, students analyze the author’s craft of word choice and point-of-view.

Unit 3, Week 2: Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

• Quantitative: Lexile 1000; Text Evaluator 49
• Qualitative: The text is chronological, but it may be difficult to predict where the plot is going. The conventionality is very complex with figurative language and abstract repetitions of phrases. The vocabulary is moderately complex with some challenging words such as roused, dory, and vastness. The sentence structure is very complex with clauses. The life experiences are difficult because the character’s experiences are uncommon to Grade 6 students.
• Reader and Task: There is a 10-minute mini lesson designed to help prepare students to delve into identifying and analyzing the theme. During the first reading of the text, students take notes in a Theme Chart wherein students collect details to help them determine the theme. After the reading, students summarize the most important events in the story. In the second reading of the text, students analyze author’s craft, which helps students write to the following question: “How does Gary D. Schmidt use Turner’s encounter with the whale to help you understand the message in this story?”

Unit 4, Week 2: Seeing Things His Own Way

• Quantitative: Lexile 1050; Text Evaluator 63
• Qualitative: The organization of the text is moderately complex with a backstory/flashback. The graphics supplement the text. The conventionality is very complex with figurative language such as, “The howling winds, gusting up to 100 miles per hour, roared like a fleet of jet planes.” The vocabulary is moderately complex with very complex sentence structures. The purpose is easy to identify especially when students reach the end of the text.
• Reader and Task: To prepare students for the text, there is a 10-minute mini lesson on building background about people meeting personal challenges. There is also a 10-minute mini lesson to help students learn vocabulary associated with the text. During the first reading of the text, students take notes in the Author’s Point of View Chart. This helps students summarize how Erik met his own personal challenge. After the second reading, students write to the following prompt: “How does Marty Kaminsky convince you that Erik should be seen as a role model?”

Unit 5, Week 1: The Hero and the Minotaur

• Quantitative: Lexile 1050; Text Evaluator 63
• Qualitative: This text contains complex characters. The conventionality is very complex with figurative language such as, “...oceans churned and roared before him.” The vocabulary is complex with Greek gods and goddess names and locations. It contains complex sentence structure such as: “So when the king traveled to Troezen, met Princess Aethra, and had a son with her, the mother and baby stayed safely in that town, while he returned to Athens.” There are multiple levels of meaning. The life experiences portrayed are distinctly different from the common reader.
• Reader and Task: To help students gain the background knowledge needed to read the text, there is a 10-minute mini lesson about myths as well as a 10-minute mini lesson on genre. Students learn about heroic exploits (brave adventures) and myths as stories passed down from generation to generation. During the first reading, students fill in a character, setting, and plot chart. This is used to help students summarize the most important events in the plot. Students also write a response to the following prompt: “How does the way the author begins and ends the myth help you understand Poseidon’s influence in Theseus’s life?”

Unit 6, Week 1: The Story of Salt

• Quantitative: Lexile 1050; Text Evaluator 63
• Qualitative: The organization is evident with headings provided to hint at the topics. The text features such as a timeline about salt through the centuries enhance the reader’s understanding of content. Some vocabulary is unfamiliar with words such as sodium chloride, ornate, salt domes, and organic. The sentence structure is complex with clauses and transition words. The purpose of the text is moderately complex with subject matter that includes a mix of recognizable ideas and challenging abstract concepts.
• Reader and Task: To prepare students to read about salt, there is a build background 10-minute mini lesson about natural resources. Students learn about commodities and distribution of work. Commodity and distribution are also discussed in a 10-minute vocabulary mini lesson. During the first reading, students write notes in a Main Idea and Key Details Chart. After reading the text, students summarize the ways that salt has had an impact on different civilizations throughout history.

One text, Pharaoh’s Boat, is slightly above the stretch Lexile grade band. This text has a Lexile of 1170. The text structure is accessible to students as the organization is sequential and similar to most expository texts students encounter. The topic of Egyptian pharaohs is sometimes introduced prior to Grade 6, making the text at this higher lexile level more accessible. The reader and task activities support the understanding of the text.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 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's edition 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 5, week 1:

"Thunder Helper" 980L, Teacher Edition 51

• Qualitative: What Makes the Text Complex?
  • Genre: Myth, T17
  • Sentence Structure, T19
  • See Scaffolded Instruction in Teacher Edition, T17 and T19.
• Reader and Task: The Introduce the Concept lesson on pages T10–T11 will help determine the reader’s knowledge and engagement in the weekly concept. See pages T16–T25 and T38–T39 for questions and tasks for this text.

The Hero and the Minotaur, 1030L, TE 50

• Qualitative: What Makes the Text Complex?
  • Specific Vocabulary
    • Word Origin, T25A
    • Context Clues, T25E, T25G
  • Genre
    • Myth, T25C, T25E, T25M
    • Parody, T25S
  • Purpose Values, T25I
  • Connection of Ideas
    • Relationships, T25I, T25K
    • Foreshadowing, T25O
  • Sentence Structure, T25U
  • See Scaffolded Instruction in Teacher Edition, T25A–T25V.
• Reader and Task: The Introduce the Concept lesson on pages T10–T11 will help determine the reader’s knowledge and engagement in the weekly concept. See pages T40–T41, T48–T49, T52–T53, T58–T59, and T38–T39 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 the text, the educational focus, and how the texts connect to one another during the week.

Unit 3, Week 1 Instructional Path, T4-T5

1. Talk About Common Ground: Guide students in collaborative conversations. Discuss the essential question: What happens when people share ideas? Develop academic language. Listen to “The Neighborhood Problem” and discuss the story.
2. Read “The Rockers Build a Soccer Field”: Model close reading with a short complex text. Read “The Rockers Build a Soccer Field” to learn about how sharing ideas helps build the soccer field, citing text evidence to answer text-dependent questions. Reread “The Rockers Build a Soccer Field” to analyze text, craft, and structure, citing text evidence.
3. Write About “The Rockers Build a Soccer Field”: 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 How Tia Lola Came to Visit Stay: Practice and apply close reading of the anchor text. Read How Tia Lola Came to Visit Stay to learn about how two people from different cultures learn from one another. Then use text evidence to understand how the author uses text, craft, and structure to develop a deeper understanding of the story. Write a short response about How Tia Lola Came to Visit Stay.
5. Independent Partner Work: Gradual release of support to independent work. Includes text-dependent questions, scaffolded partner work, talk with a partner, cite text evidence, complete a sentence frame, guided text annotation.
6. Integrate Knowledge and Ideas: Connect Texts, Text-to-Text, Discuss how each of the texts answers the question: What happens when people share ideas? Text to Poetry compares information about common ground in the texts read with John Milton Hay’s poem, “Words.” Performance Task: Analyze the task and form a research plan.

The instructional materials for Grade 6 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 work text, differentiated texts, 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 4, week 2 students participate in an interactive read aloud introducing the following essential question: “How do people meet personal challenges?” This leads to students participating in a shared reading and rereading of “She Had to Walk Before She Could Run” then a close reading and rereading from the Literature Anthology of Seeing Things HIs Own Way. Students also read a paired text, “Get Fit for Fun!,” and then 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 2 students participate in an interactive read aloud introducing the following essential question: “How do we learn about historical events?” A shared reading and rereading of “The Great Fire of London” is followed by a close reading and re-reading from the Literature Anthology of The Great Fire. Students read a paired text of “Aftermath of a Fire” and participate in 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 6 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 making 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 reread 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:

• “Reread page 31. What is the setting? What actual event is the story about?” (Unit 1, T89A)
• What real event from history is mentioned on page 143? (the fire that destroyed a large part of Rome) • What other details reflect the story’s time and place?” (Unit 2, T153M).
• “Reread page 232. Ask: What do you notice about the way this life story is written?” (Unit 3, 217C)
• “Reread the poem. What words and phrases express the mood and feeling of the narrator?” (Unit 4, T281C)
• “According to the text, what has Luisa been doing over the past few weeks?” (Unit 5, T25G)
• “Why does the author start the story with italicized text?” (Unit 6, Teacher Edition, page T89C)

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

• “Who are the main characters in the story? (Homer and his brother Harold) What is the setting? (Gettysburg, at the start of the battle) What problem do the characters face? (Homer wants Harold to come home, but Harold has been arrested and faces court-martial.) Add the information to your sequence chart.” (Unit 1, T89E)
• “Think about how Iliona’s master might want to reward her for her heroic act. Turn to your partner and make a prediction using evidence from the story. ” (Unit 2, T153N)
• “Why was Anderson’s performance in New York unsuccessful? (Because she was African American, few Americans came to hear her.)
• "Use a signal word to show the cause and effect in the last sentence of the paragraph at the top of page 210." (Anderson went to Europe because she hoped European audiences would accept her.) (Unit 3, T213)
• “Reread the first three lines of 'Primer Lesson.' Help students understand what 'proud words' are."
• "What kinds of words are not easy to call back?" (Words that hurt someone’s feelings, or words that make someone mad.) (Unit 4, T281F)
• “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, 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, 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 to answer the connection questions. Write to Source Lessons included in each weekly lesson routine include writing tasks that require student 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/World” questions that are not text-dependent but relate to the theme of the text being read such as, “Talk about what you had to consider at a time when you made a difficult decision.” (Unit 4, Week 3, T145) and “Do you feel that forming an alliance can make a difference in people’s lives? Explain why or why not.” (Unit 2, Week 4, TE page T89R).

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation for materials culminating tasks that support series of text dependent questions and activities. Students are provided with a Unit Big Idea and a weekly Essential Question. Students discuss the questions, make connections, and usually create a graphic organizer to be used at the end of the unit. There is repetition of this process built into the culminating tasks 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. Students use their weekly graphic organizers and notes to participate in a collaborative conversation in the "Wrap Up the Unit: The Big Idea" section. 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 2 Big Idea:

• What can we gain from reading about past civilizations?

Unit 2, Week 3 Essential Question:

• What was life like for people in ancient cultures?

Questions at the end of the week’s texts:

• Talk about the way in which the past affects the speaker in each poem.
• How does the past teach us about ourselves?
• What do these poets remember and celebrate from the past? Why is it important to them?

End of Week Integrate Ideas: Text Connections:

• Students create a four-door foldable to record comparisons about the week’s texts. Students are to compare the information they have learned about what the past can teach us about the present.

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

• The teacher writes “What can we gain from reading about past civilizations?” 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 ideas, students vote to narrow down the list to the top five most important ideas. Students are encouraged to continue building knowledge about the unit's big idea.

Unit 6 Big Idea:

• When is it important to take action?

Unit 6, week 5 Essential Question:

• Why is taking a break important?

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

• Talk about the way each poet expresses an understanding of how people may take time to relax.
• How is taking a break from technology also important?
• In what ways do “Drumbeat” and “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” both offer and incentive to take a break from the activity in our lives and enjoy some recreation?

End of Week Integrate Ideas:Text Connections:

• Students create an accordion foldable to record comparisons about the week’s texts. Students are to compare the information they have learned about why taking a break is important.

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

• The teacher writes “When is it important to take action?” 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 ideas, students vote to narrow down the list to the top five most important ideas. Students are encouraged to continue building knowledge about the unit's big idea.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 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 instruct students about close reading to help the students analyze and evaluate what they read and use 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 with a focus 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 utilize a wide variety of graphic organizers and sentence frames throughout the school year.
• In Unit 5, week 3 students are directed to, “Look at the fourth paragraph on page 381. What happens in nature when genetic codes in offspring get slightly scrambled? From this context, how would you define mutations? Now look at the next paragraph. During the first read of Before Columbus The Americas of 1491, students are asked, "What context clues help you figure out the meaning of hybrid?”
• In Unit 6, week 5, students collaborate and reread “How Many Seconds?” on pages 438-439. Students use the poem’s structure and any feelings expressed by the speaker to determine whether it is a lyric poem, an ode, or both, and to explain their answer. Modeled directions are provided for students.

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

• In Unit 3, week 3, during a Build Background mini lesson, students are advised to add new ideas. As students engage in partner, small group, and whole-class discussions, the teacher is to encourage them to share and listen openly in their conversations. The teacher is then directed to remind students to stay on topic, connect their own ideas to things their peers have said, and to look for ways to connect their personal experiences or prior knowledge to the conversation.
• In Unit 2, week 4, during a Build Background mini lesson, students are advised to listen carefully. The Teacher Edition states, “As students engage in partner, small group, and whole-class discussions, encourage students to follow discussion rules by listening carefully to speakers. Remind students to always look at the person who is speaking, respect others by not interrupting them, and to repeat peers’ ideas to indicate that they’ve been listening and to check their comprehension of the ideas.“

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 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 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 1, week 2 students work with a partner to look for text evidence that explains how Sarah and her brother form the alliance and discuss why the alliance was so strong. Students are given sentence frames to focus the discussion.
• In Unit 4, week 3 students work in a group to reread “Treasure in the Attic” Students identify other important details about a main character or plot event, and add them to the graphic organizer. Then, they are directed to use all the details to determine the theme of the play.

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 (e.g., interviews, oral presentations, research displays, interviews, timelines, speeches) in which students work in pairs or small groups. Then, students work in small groups to present a project through a 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 6 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 aligned 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 6, week 2 students write to respond to the prompt, “How does Jim Murphy’s use of cause and effect help you understand the story of the Great Chicago Fire?” Students are given sentence frames before writing.
• Write to Sources: This is a 5-day routine of evidence-based writing that repeats each week. For example, in Unit 3, week 4 students write to respond to the prompt, “In what ways were the paths to success for Marshall Taylor and Margaret Bourke-White similar?”
• After Reading the Differentiated Texts: For example, in Unit 2, week 1 students reading the on-level text are prompted to use evidence from the text to identify the problems that people living on floodplains in ancient times had to face.
• Research and Inquiry and Inquiry Space: Writing including evidence from researched texts. For example, in Unit 4, week 4, students create a foldable to compare the information they have learned about how people discover what they have in common from the week’s texts.

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, pre-write 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 lesson.

The following are examples of the writing lessons:

Unit 1: Narrative Writing

• Autobiographical Sketch, T344–T34, week 1, expert model and pre-write; week 2, draft and revise; week 3, proofread/edit and publish.
• Evaluate Personal Narrative, T350–T355, week 4, expert model and pre-write; week 5, draft and revise; week 6, proofread/edit, publish, and evaluate.

Unit 3: Opinion Writing

• Book Review, T344–T349, week 1, expert model and pre-write; week 2, draft and revise; week 3, proofread/edit and publish.
• Evaluate Book Review, T350–T355, week 4, expert model and pre-write; week 5, draft and revise; week 6, proofread/edit, publish, and evaluate.

Unit 5: Informative/Explanatory Writing

• History Research Report, T344–T349, week 1, expert model and pre-write; week 2, draft and revise; week 3, proofread/edit and publish.
• Evaluate Book Review, T350–T355, week 4 expert model and pre-write; week 5, draft and revise; week 6, proofread/edit, publish, and 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 6 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 - Autobiographical Sketch and Personal Narrative
• Unit 2 - Informative Text - Explanatory Essay and Formal Letter
• Unit 3 - Opinion Writing - Book Review and Argument Essay
• Unit 4 - Narrative Text/Poetry - Fictional Narrative and Narrative Poetry
• Unit 5 - Informative Text - History Research Report and Science Research Report
• Unit 6 - Opinion Writing - Argument Essay and Book Review

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

• In Unit 5, week 1 students add an event to a story. For example, “Create additional conversation between the boy and the elders before they decide to let the boy fight the enemy alone.”
• In Unit 3, week 4 students write to answer the prompt, “Reread the section ‘Racism and Rejection.’ Identify the key events and tell what they have in common. Then summarize the main ideas in the section”
• In Unit 1, week 5 students write to answer the prompt, “What is the easiest form of money to use and why? Support your argument with relevant evidence and clear reasons.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 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:

• Unit 1, week 2: Students answer the prompt, “How does the author help you understand how Homer changes from the beginning of the story to the end? Use these sentence frames to organize your text evidence.”
• Unit 2, week 2: Students answer the prompt, “Write an analysis that compares and contrasts Plato’s and Aristotle’s beliefs about democracy.”
• Unit 3, week: Students answer the prompt, “Does the author successfully support her argument for building energy-efficient houses? Use text evidence to support your answer.”
• Unit 4, week 5: Students answer the prompt, “Write an analysis of the point of view in, 'Hi Rachel.'"
• Unit 5, week 3: Students answer the prompt, “How has the process of creating silk changed over time? Use details from the text.”
• Unit 6, week 3: Students answer the prompt, “Why is collaborating with others so important in providing the best care for manatees? Use text evidence.”

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 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 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.