5th Grade - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for Grade 5 meet the expectations for texts being organized around a topic to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently. Anchor texts, supporting texts, daily tasks, and Performance Based Assessments are built around a topic(s) for some units.

Some Units and modules are not clearly organized around topics.

• Unit 1 centers around the idea of "Depending on Each Other."
  • In Module A, texts help readers understand that themes in literary texts are developed through the characters, settings, and events. A goal of the module is to help readers determine themes in literary texts by comparing and contrasting characters, settings, and events. Although the module explores how people change in reaction to their surroundings, the module is built around the theme of Depending on Each Other.
  • In Module B, texts help readers understand the relationships between individuals, concepts, and events based on information provided in texts. A goal of the module is to explain the relationships between scientific concepts presented in texts. Although in this module students are expected to explain how living things interact with and affect one another, the module is built around the theme of Depending on Each Other.

Some modules in each unit are built around a unit topic. In each module the anchor text and supporting texts center around the topic.

• Unit 2 centers around the topic of Finding Courage.
  • In Module A, students are expected to demonstrate understanding of ways in which people respond to inequality and injustice.
  • In Module B, students are expected to understand various social movements and how they have affected large groups of people.
• Unit 3 centers around the topic of Understanding the Universe.
  • In Module A, students are expected to use literary and information texts to understand various complexities about the universe.
  • In Module B, students are expected to understand that scientists continue to discover new information about the universe.
• Unit 4 centers around the topic of Exploring New Worlds
  • Module A, students are expected to explain both positive and negative effects caused by various explorations.
  • Module B, students are expected to explain how exploration and settlement changed people's views about the world.

The materials reviewed for Grade 5 meet the expectations for containing sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts.

Each lesson includes an Analysis section in which students analyze language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts. Language Analysis is also included in some small group lessons.

• In Unit 1, Module B, Lesson 11, students analyze the use of text features. Students answer questions and tasks that include the following: “Why is the word organisms boldfaced?”, “Why is this word important in this text?”, and “Find another example of a domain-specific word or phrase. Explain how you found it.”
• In Unit 1, Module A, Lesson 2, students analyze author’s craft by rereading to better understand the author’s word choices and how they shape meaning. Students work individually or in small groups to create a word choice web to map how an author brings a scene to life by choosing specific words and phrases that create a clear picture in the reader’s mind.
• In Unit 1, Module B, Lesson 14, students analyze sentence structure and figurative language. Students discuss how an author may choose to vary sentence length to emphasize ideas or use figurative language to help readers visualize a text. Students meet in teams to discuss details and examples from the text.
• In Unit 2, Module A, Lesson 3, students analyze the writer's use of story structure to better understand what is happening in the chapter. Students discuss details and examples from the text that support their own text analyses.
• In Unit 2, Module B, Lesson 14, students analyze craft and structure of a text and answer questions that include the following: “What mood do these words and phrases create?” and “Why do you think the author used these words?”
• In Unit 3, Module A, Lesson 11, students discuss the details and examples from a text that show how the author used imagery to show how something looks, sounds, feels, smells, or tastes.
• In Unit 3, Module A, Lesson 16, students analyze words choice and structure. Students answer questions that include the following: “How are the scenes in this narrative organized?” and “What examples of transitions help make the text structure clear for readers?”
• In Unit 3, Module B, Lesson 6, students use key details to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. Students use contexts clues from the text to determine meanings and complete a web organizer to display the connection.
• In Unit 3, Module B, Lesson 3, students analyze word choice and sentence structure and their effect on the text. Students complete a four column graphic organizer to show examples.
• In Unit 4, Module A, Lesson 6, students search for transitional words and phrases in a text to understand how an author uses transitional words to organize information in a way that readers can easily understand and follow.
• In Unit 4, Module B, Lesson 11, students analyze word choice and descriptive details. Students answer questions and tasks that include the following: “Does the author believe El Dorado existed?”, “What details in the text suggest that?”, “Find word choices on pages 18 and 19 that support the idea that the Aztecs were rich and prosperous.”, and “What effect does the similar wording 'They did not live and 'They lived' have?”

The Scaffolded Instruction Handbook also includes lessons to support the unit lessons.

• On page 17 of the Scaffolded Instruction Handbook, students discuss the use of imagery and figurative language in the text.
• On page 87 of the Scaffolded Instruction Handbook, students look closely at the sentences and words of a text. Students answer questions that include the following: “What does it mean when the text says, 'Graham’s punished himself'?”, “What does the word 'already' imply?”, “What does the word 'best' suggest in the second sentence?”, and “What does it mean to cross paths with someone?”
• On page 109 of the Scaffolded Instruction Handbook, students look closely at the sentences and words of a text. Students answer questions that include the following: “Who do the pronouns she and him refer to?”, “What does it mean when the author says 'Alicia shot him a sideways look' in the first sentence?”, “Why is the word Mayday in quotes?”, and “In the context of this sentence what does it mean to call Mayday?”

The instructional materials for Grade 5 meet the expectations that the materials contain a coherently sequenced set of text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts.

The majority of questions in a module require students to analyze text. Many of the questions measure at levels 2 and 3 on the Depth of Knowledge scale. Students reason, analyze and evaluate the text or texts, and questions and tasks are sequenced so that students analyze and integrate knowledge during each lesson.

• In Unit 2, Module A, Lesson 3, students read the text The Road to Freedom. Students analyze story structure and summarize the text. Students answer questions such as the following: “What do you think Emma and her mother are thinking as the rain begins to fall?", “ How does the illustration help support the text?”, “Why did the author include this detail?”, and “ What evidence from the text supports this?”
• In Unit 4, Module A, Lesson 5, students read the text Beyond the Horizon to see how the scenes work together to support the structure of the narrative. Students answer questions such as the following: “What communication problems do Sarah and Priya’s family face? How are they able to overcome some of these difficulties?” and “ How does the scene between Sarah and Priya’s father reflect and earlier scene between Sarah and her own father?”

Multiple lessons in each module require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts.

• In Unit 1, Module A, Lesson 18 students analyze and answer questions across the texts Night of the Spadefoot Toads, “Shells,” and Hatchet. Students compare how characters in three stories change in reaction to their surroundings. Students discuss how the characters change and answer questions that include “Which themes do the text share?”
• In Unit 3, Module B, Lesson 14 students analyze and answer questions across the texts Jess and Layla’s Astronomical Assignment and Our Mysterious Universe. Students compare and contrast information about the universe in the two texts. Students answer questions that direct students to scan the visuals and compare how they are used in each text. Students answer questions that include “ What is an advantage of each type of visual?”

Other examples of lessons that integrate knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts include:

• In Unit 1, Module A, Lesson 14, students analyze and answer questions across the the texts Night of the Spadefoot Toads and “Shells.”
• In Unit 2, Module B, Lesson 18, students analyze and answer questions across the texts Real-Life Superheroes, The Great Migration, and Angel Island.
• In Unit 3 Module B, Lesson 18, students analyze and answer questions across the texts Jess and Layla’s Astronomical Assignment and A Black Hole is NOT a Hole.
• In Unit 4 Module B, Lesson 17, students analyze and answer questions across the texts Beyond the Horizon, Explorers of North America and New Beginnings:Jamestown and the Virginia Colony.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 5 meet the expectations that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts.

The materials use a generative approach to vocabulary instruction. In each module of the curriculum, there are Benchmark Vocabulary words that are, according to the Publisher's Guide, important for understanding concepts within the text. This vocabulary is addressed during Focused Reading Instruction where students find and read sentences from the text with the words. Students develop contextual understanding of the Benchmark Vocabulary words in their Reader’s and Writer’s Journal.

• There are benchmark vocabulary routines for informational texts where students learn 2-6 words. Teachers write the sentence or display the passage that contains the unknown word. Then they encourage students to use context clues or go back in the text to help determine the word. The materials suggest that teachers have students create a semantic map as a class and give students time to talk with a partner using the word.
  • In Unit 1, Module B, benchmark vocabulary words include but are not limited to, civilization, reality, ultimate, predicted, frugally, ingenious, glum, murky, conclusions, precisely, notoriously, and dramatically.
• There is a benchmark vocabulary routine for literary texts where students learn 2-6 new words. Teachers write the sentence or display the passage that contains the unknown word. Then students look up the word in the dictionary. Then the teacher uses the word in other ways, and the class discusses the word in more depth. Students compare and contrast the word with synonyms and have a conversation with a partner using the word.
  • In Unit 2, Module A, benchmark vocabulary words include, but are not limited to, debts, master, stumble, patrolled, screech, scent, conductor, whinnied, sluttered, drifted, scattered, pillars, abolish, and tremendous.

In each module of the curriculum, there are By-the-Way Words that are sophisticated or unusual words for known concepts that can be stumbling blocks to comprehending a text. The words are defined quickly during reading without interfering with the fluent reading of the text. These words are addressed during Close Reading.

• In Unit 3, Module A, when reading the text George’s Secret Key to the Universe, By-The-Way Words include "expelled" and "eternal".

Students demonstrate their understanding of the generative vocabulary process by using words in conversations, in their writings, and in the Performance-Based Assessments.

The instructional materials for Grade 5 meet the expectations for materials including instruction in writing aligned to the standards, including well-designed plans, models, and protocols to support students writing.

Each writing lesson focuses on a standards-based writing type (narrative, opinion, or informative/explanatory). Students receive explicit instruction that guides them through the writing process. Students have writing models from anchor and supporting texts that they can use to examine writers’ styles and techniques. Student have the opportunity to apply writing skills during Independent Writing Practice and share their work at the end of each lesson. Students develop grammar, usage, and convention skills by practicing in their Reader’s and Writer’s Journal.

Each module has a writing goal.

• In Unit 2, Module B, the goal of the module is for students to understand how to develop a topic with concrete, facts, details, and definitions. Many of the lessons throughout the module align to this goal and to the standard W.5.2 which states that students should be able to write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas.

Each module’s lessons include writing that is connected either by genre or topic to the texts being read in the lesson. Writing lessons align to the grade-level standards as seen in Unit 2, Module B:

• Standard W.5.2a requires students to introduce a topic and is taught in lesson 1 of this module.
• Standard W.5.2b requires students to develop a topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, etc. is taught in Lessons 3, 4, and 5 of this module.
• Standard W.5.2c requires students link ideas and is taught in Lesson 7 in this module.
• Standard W5.2d addresses domain specific vocabulary and is included in Lesson 5 of this module.
• Standard W.5.2e requires students write a concluding statement and is taught in Lesson 8 of this module.

Teachers support students during writing and tasks offer multiple opportunities for students to revisit and edit writings edit as their skills develop.

Several of the lessons connect to texts or text sets. For example, in Unit 1, Module B, Lesson 9, student analyze the text features of the text read during reading and write about it. However, not all lessons are connected to texts. For example, in Unit 1, Module A, students write narratives that are not connected to a text they have read. Students are reading narratives and teachers can use the texts as models if desired.

End of unit and module performance based assessments involve a writing assignment that aligns to the writing focus of the module. For example, in Unit 2, Module A, students write an opinion piece on an injustice that they have read about throughout the unit and/or an injustice they have experienced in their own Iives.

The Grade 5 materials meet expectations for including a progression of focused research projects to develop knowledge in a given area by confronting and analyzing different aspects of a topic using multiple texts and materials. Students are given research opportunities throughout the year on various topics in a manner that building research skills. Students are led through the research process across the school year and the research requirements for students between Unit 1 and Unit 4 increase in complexity.

Some examples of how the program supports these skills include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Module B, students learn how to write informative pieces. In lesson 10, students have a research specific lesson where they evaluate sources based on what they want to research in both books and digital prints. In Unit 2, Module A, Lesson 17, students take notes on a person from a variety of sources.
• In Unit 2, Module B, Lesson 10, students have a lesson where they go to the library to conduct research on an inspirational person from the unit. In lesson 11 students evaluate sources and in lesson 12, they create a presentation based on the research.
• In Unit 3, Module B, Lesson 7, students learn how to research multimedia online for their own writing. In addition, in lesson 10, the lesson also focuses on research. Similar to other lessons, students must evaluate the sources before they begin.
• In Unit 3, Module B, students conduct a short research project on something they find ferreting in the universe.

Several performance based assessments include research projects.

• In Unit 1, Module B, students take the Information they have read throughout the unit to write an explanatory piece of writing.

Each module has a research center for small group time with several options for students.

• In Unit 3, Module A, research topic choices include researching real celestial bodies, researching authors from the module, or researching some of the scientific inventions they read about in the module.

The level of complexity increases across the modules. By the last unit and module, students have to take what they have read, include research, and then write a persuasive essay on the five most important items needed explorers needed.

The materials for Grade 5 meet the standards for providing a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class. Independent reading is part of the daily reading instruction. A number of resources are provided to assist students as they engage in a volume of independent reading. Students are provided regular opportunities to apply their learning in the reading lessons to texts of their own choosing. The instructional materials provide students a number of opportunities to extend and apply what they have learned to a “just right” text of their choice.

• The Independent Reading Routine on page TR14 of Teacher’s Guide provides teachers with support and a rationale for implementation.
• Independent Reading Rubric is included on TR16 of the Teacher’s Guide.
• Students are guided in how to apply the content of the day's Reading Analysis lesson to their self-selected text.
• Students monitor their reading by recording it in their daily reading log. They gauge and record their engagement.
• Students can review books they read on Pearson Realize as well as find an Independent Reading Activity that is appropriate for the text they are reading.
• Each module includes 15 leveled texts which can be used for independent reading.
• Each module includes center time which involves independent reading. During independent reading, the teacher can have the student focus on either a process focus or a strategy focus. A process focus is where students either focus on independence, stamina, or engagement. The strategy focus has students focus on fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, or critical thinking.