7th Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials for Grade 7 fully meet the expectations of indicator 1a. Anchor texts are of publishable quality, worthy of especially careful reading, and consider a range of student interest. Texts are rich in language, engaging, grade-level appropriate, and relevant. They encompass universal and multiple multicultural themes that integrate into other content areas. They can be examined multiple times for multiple purposes, such as close reading and literature response, as well as to gather textual evidence for research assignments. Texts are used to build academic and content specific vocabulary and provide students opportunities to gain knowledge and perspective on a variety of topics. This knowledge and perspective facilitates access to future texts and exposes students to rich character development. There are representative samples from text exemplars represented and suggested in appendices, such as the poems "A Road Not Taken" and "Casey at the Bat."

Some representative examples of texts that demonstrate high quality include:

Unit 1:

• "The Road Not Taken," by Robert Frost
• "Choices," by Nikki Giovanni
• Excerpt from Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher
• Excerpt from Dust Tracks on a Road, by Zora Neale Hurston
• "Why Couldn't I Have Been Named Ashley?" by Imma Achilike
• "Daedalus and Icarus," from Greek Myths by Geraldine McCaughrean
• "The Lion, the Fox, and the Stag," from Aesop's Fables
• Film clip from The Mighty, directed by Peter Chelsom
• "Huveane and Clay People," from Voices of the Ancestors: African Myth, by Tony Allan, Fergus Fleming, and Charles Phillips

Unit 2:

• Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood, a documentary
• "America the Not-So-Beautiful," by Andrew A. Rooney
• "Another study highlights the insanity of selling junk food in school vending machines," by Karen Kaplan
• "Ain't I a Woman?" by Sojourner Truth
• "Failure to Ban Violent Video Games Makes Job Harder for Parents," by Tamika Mallory

Unit 3:

• Tangerine, by Edward Bloor
• The Sandlot, directed by David Mickey Evans
• "To an Athlete Dying Young," by A.E. Housman
• Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood
• Excerpt from Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela
• Excerpt from Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation, by John Carlin

Unit 4:

• "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," by Robert Frost
• "maggie and milly and molly and may," by e. e. cummings
• "It Happened in Montgomery," by Phil W. Petrie
• "The Raven," by Edgar Allan Poe
• "LIttle Red Riding Hood and the Wolf," by Roald Dahl
• "Outlaws and Highwaymen," by Gillian Spraggs
• Twelfth Night (1996) directed by Trevor Nunn

The instructional materials for Grade 7 fully meet the expectations of indicator 1b. Materials reflect the distribution of text types and genres required by Grade 7 standards. Grade 7 text types include poems, essays, articles, films, editorials, myths, novel excerpts, short stories, memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies. The balance of instructional time devoted to studying literary and informational text is not balanced within units, but there is a mix over the course of the year.

Unit 1: Text types included in Unit 1 include poetry, novel excerpts, autobiography, memoir, personal narrative, myths and fables, and informational text. Specific examples include (but are not limited to) the following titles and authors:

• Excerpt from Dust Tracks on a Road, by Zora Neale Hurston
• "Why Couldn't I Have Been Named Ashley?" by Imma Achilike
• "Phaethonm," by Bernard Evslin
• "Arachne," by Olivia E. Coolidge
• Excerpted film clip fromThe Mighty, directed by Peter Chelsom
• "Raven and the Sources of Light," by Dona Rosenberg

Unit 2: Text types included in Unit 2 include informational texts, documentary film, news articles, essays, and speeches. Specific examples include (but are not limited to) the following titles and authors:

• "Facts About Marketing to Children," The Center for a New American Dream
• "Responsible Marketing," produced by the Coca-Cola company
• Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood, a documentary film
• "Another study highlights the insanity of selling junk food in school vending machines," by Karen Kaplan
• "Ain't I a Woman?" by Sojourner Truth
• "It's Perverse, But It's Also Pretend," by Cheryl K. Olson
• "Screen Time?" a student essay

Unit 3: Text types included in Unit 3 include a novel, a film, news article, biography, informational text, poetry, and a speech. Specific examples include (but are not limited to) the following titles and authors:

• "A stunning tale of escape traps its hero in replay," by Harry Bruinius
• "To an Athlete Dying Young," by A.E. Housman
• Excerpt from Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela
• "Landmarks of Nelson Mandela's Life," BBC News
• "Invictus," by William Ernest Henly
• Excerpt from Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation, by John Carlin

Unit 4: Text types included in Unit 4 include poetry, monologues, informational text, drama, and film. Some specific examples include (but are not limited to) the following titles and authors:

• "Mother to Son," by Langston Hughes
• Haikus, by Richard Wright
• "Eye Contact," "Snob," "Roommate," "Mr. Perfect," "Family Additions," "Too Young for...," and "Party," by Deborah Karczewski
• "The Highwayman," by Alfred Noyes
• "We Wear the Mask," by Paul Laurence Dunbar

The anchor (or "core") texts in the Grade 7 instructional materials have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative and qualitative analysis and relationship to their associated task, therefore fully meeting the expectations of indicator 1c. Grade 7 quantitative levels, as suggested in the CCSS-ELA and Appendices, should start in range 925-1185 (using Lexile as a measure), and build, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of range.

The quantitative measure of these texts vary from a 680 Lexile level to a 1490 Lexile level. The qualitative measure tends to stay in the complex and very complex range. The texts have the appropriate level of complexity for Grade 7 according to quantitative and qualitative analysis and relationship to their associated student task. This program uses Lexile for both quantitative and qualitative measures.

Examples of texts that reflect the curriculum’s ability to meet the expectation of indicator 1c are as follows:

• Unit 1: Overall quantitative levels: 680-1250. Novel excerpts, poetry, and memoir selections are qualitatively complex and less complex. Students work within single texts and compare/contrast components of the materials.
• Unit 2: Overall quantitative levels: 750-1350. Articles, speeches, poetry, and nonfiction excerpts are qualitatively complex, and are coupled with activities that call for synthesizing evidence across texts.
• Unit 3: Overall quantitative levels: 1150-1490; texts such as a speech by Nelson Mandela and film clips from Invictus are incorporated with thematically-paired poems and articles. Students engage in working across texts.
• Unit 4: Overall quantitative levels: 1290; texts such as Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, which includes antiquated language and rigorous structures, are presented with poems and monologues, which are qualitatively rigorous (although not quantitatively measurable). Tasks are integrated reading-writing-speaking-listening and synthesize skills and knowledge learned over the course of the school year.

The instructional materials for Grade 7 fully meet the expectations of indicator 1d. Anchor texts support students' increasing literacy skills over the course of the school year. The overall reading and writing demands gradually increase in complexity and challenges over the course of the school year as they incorporate previously-taught components and move students to synthesize literacy skills. Online supports include Close Reading and Writing Workshops, which give students scaffolded instruction as well as multiple opportunities to access texts and gain experience in writing for different purposes and audiences are available as part of the core materials, although they are not explicitly tied to the day to day core plans.

Quantitatively and qualitatively, texts typically fall within the 6-8 grade level band over the course of the year. The design of the text placement over the school year supports that students have access to texts that are at the appropriate level of rigor for Grade 7 by the end of the school year. There is concern that texts are not consistently deeply examined. There are four Units to use over the course of the school year; the amount of instructional time used with each Unit may vary.

• Unit 1: The text Lexile measures range from 680 to 1250. The majority-- about 80 percent-- of the texts are in the "accessible" qualitative range.
• Unit 2: The text Lexile measures range from 750-1350. About three-fourths of texts are qualitatively "accessible," and there is an increase in rigor from a qualitative measure.
• Unit 3: The text Lexile measures in unit three range from 1150 to 1490. There is also a novel study; the suggested novel, Tangerine, has a Lexile level of 640 and is qualitatively and thematically complex.
• Unit 4: The overall text Lexile measures in unit 4 are not listed because the texts are primarily monologues, poetry, and dramas. The qualitative nature of these texts is rigorous, and much of the language (e.g. Shakespeare dramas and poetry) includes antiquated language and engages students in highly complex text.

The Grade 7 materials fully meet the expectations of indicator 1e. The publisher provides a text complexity analysis for all prose anchor texts. The analysis is a combination of quantitative measures (this program uses Lexile), qualitative measures, and task indicators. A task analysis is included as well for each section of the materials.

Online Teacher Edition: Included in the text analysis are the following: a paragraph setting the context of the reading within the rest of the unit; a quantitative/complexity measure; and qualitative considerations including purpose/levels of meaning, structure, language and knowledge demands, as well as task, reader, and grade level placement considerations.

Print Teacher Edition: In the forward, an explanation of the metrics used for text complexity measures is given. Quantitative measures are indicated with Lexile scores. Qualitative measures are indicated as "High," "Moderate," or "Low" difficulty and were determined by teachers considering meaning, purpose, structure, language, and knowledge demands of each text. "Task difficulty" was measured using Anderson's and Krathwohl's taxonomy based on the cognitive demands of tasks associated with the text. After analyzing each text based on the three part model, teachers assigned an overall rating of Accessible, Complex, and Very Complex, with complex texts representing on grade-level texts.

At the beginning of each unit, the Teacher Edition lists a rationale for materials included in the "Planning the Unit" section through Context, College Readiness Standards, and Instructional Practices and Pacing. Text Complexity Icons and information appear as sidebars alongside the beginning of all prose text in the Grade 7.

The instructional materials for Grade 7 fully meet the expectations of indicator 1k, as there is a mix of on demand and process writing opportunities for students. Each unit has a culminating activity that focuses on the steps of the writing process. Materials include writing instruction aligned to the standards for the grade level, and writing instruction spans the whole school year.

Multiple opportunities require short and extended research. Mode-specific Writing Workshops are in the online Teacher Edition, which include open-ended prompts and Embedded Assessments with scoring guides to provide regular practice. The Student Edition includes writing instruction such as brainstorming, controlling idea, details, dialogue, drafting, editing, evaluating, feedback, outlining, planning, prewriting, quickwrites, research, revision strategies, multimedia components, writing process, and writing prompts. The Planning Unit section of the Teacher Edition provides an explanation of expectations of Embedded Assessments, as well as a comprehensive Instruction and Pacing Guide. A Writers Workshop is available online for extra support.

Throughout the texts, the teacher is advised to "...have students think-pair-share to write a short response or discuss their responses" to questions and prompts. In the sidebar activities, students are given questions to respond to in writing for almost every text in the student edition.

Representative examples from Grade 7 for this indicator include (but are not limited to) the following on-demand and process writing lessons and activities:

Unit 1

• After reading a set of myths and studying the components of this form, students complete an on-demand writing prompt that is a creative writing task but draws on what they have learned thus far: "Imagine and write an 'unseen scene' that might be in the 'Daedalus and Icarus' myth. Use your sketches from your plot diagram to generate ideas. Be sure to:
  • Use techniques of characterization to maintain characters’ personalities.
  • Incorporate correctly punctuated dialogue.
  • Use vivid details to enhance elements of character and plot"
• Students collaborate with a writing group to strengthen drafts through editing as they engage in their first writing groups in the first culminating task/assessment.
• Students practice with their writing groups, using revision techniques and using transitions for coherence. They learn how to create a revision plan based on Writing Group feedback. Next, students focus on revision techniques and use their own draft to put them into practice.

Unit 2

• After viewing advertisements (print, online or television), students complete a graphic organizer in which they analyze the use of advertising techniques about which they've been learning. This activity is followed by an on-demand writing prompt: "Write a response explaining how an advertisement you identified in question 4 tries to influence its target audience. Be sure to:
  • Introduce and develop your topic with relevant details/examples from the advertisement.
  • Use transitions, the precise language of advertising techniques, and formal style.
  • Include a concluding statement that supports your explanation"
• Students strengthen expository writing skills by revising for precise language, formal style, and sentence variety and use rubric criteria to write introduction and conclusion.
• In Embedded Assessment 2.2, students independently write an argument by generating a new research question, forming a claim, gathering information, taking their ideas through the writing process.

Unit 3

• Writer's Craft and Language mini lessons are threaded throughout the unit to provide ongoing practice in revising drafts for varying sentence structure.
• Students write a comparative analysis essay in small groups to practice generating ideas. Students use writing strategies such as guided writing, writing groups, and drafting text based responses.
• Students have opportunities to revise and edit their drafts to add variety and interest to their writing. They then move from group writing tasks to independent practice, drafting multiple paragraph text based responses to literary analysis writing.
• Embedded Assessment 3.1 Students will work through the stages of the writing process to create a literary analysis essay.

The instructional materials for Grade 7 fully meet the expectations of indicator 1l. The materials provide opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards for this grade.

Each unit has a culminating activity that focuses on the steps of the writing process. A variety of writing skill instruction is embedded throughout the year to hone students' craft as they learn new forms and modes of writing. Students work on a variety of skills throughout the year including conclusions, controlling ideas, dialogue, figurative language, style, introductions, note-taking, quotations, sensory details, transition words, citing sources, visual displays, supporting details, etc. The index section in the back of the book shows all the skills addressed throughout the year.

Types of writing found in the units include:

• personal narratives
• poetry and short stories
• expository and argumentative essays
• take notes, and synthesize into research reports
• illustrated myth
• notes for collaborative discussion
• literary analysis essay
• biographical presentation
• creating and presenting a monologue

Each unit includes short paragraph response writing as well as pocess writing practice, which students apply to the writing type included with the lesson. Writing types are associated with texts that may be used as models for students. Some examples that show the balance of writing over the year as writing assignments are positioned with mentor texts include: in Unit 1, students read personal narratives and then are guided to write one of their own. In Unit 2, students read articles from multiple media sources and write expository and argumentative essays. In Unit 3, students write literary analyses after reading a novel. In Unit 4, students read monologues and Shakespearean drama, and craft their own monologue.

The instructional materials for Grade 7 fully meet the expectations of indicator 1m. Materials include frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information. In addition to requiring text-based evidence in responding to questions for each selection, there are many opportunities for evidence-based writing. With some texts, students' writing is mostly tied directly to texts they have been reading, analyzing, and critiquing although in others, student writing is only focused on extracting evidence of literary devices.

Evidence-based responses are required as follow up activities for all reading selections. Materials provide frequent opportunities throughout the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply their new knowledge in writing. Writing tasks often reference the reading content and mode in which the reading was presented. As students study a text for form and content, students are provided prompts and guidance to identify the components and then practice replicating or analyzing those components.

Across the consumable Student Edition, there are graphic organizers and note-taking prompts to assist students in producing writing associated with the texts being read. Prompts include questions that are dependent to the text, but used with multiple texts as well as text-specific writing demands. In the sidebars of the student consumable, students are provided organized space and guidance to annotate, and collect evidence to use in the writing tasks at the ends of each text and/or section.

Most writing tasks explicitly require students to cite components of text in the writing. An example that represents the materials can be found in Unit 2. After reading multiple texts on advertising and media marketing to youth, students will be writing an essay. This sample outline frame is provided:

"Marketing to Youth"

1. Introduction/Thesis Statement That Answers the Prompt
2. Body Paragraphs (with examples and information to support the main ideas of the thesis that include evidence and commentary in each paragraph.)
3. Concluding Statement

In this part of the unit, you have read several texts on marketing to young people, viewed a documentary film, and had numerous group discussions about the topic. In addition, you have collected information from websites. Using the information from these sources, create an outline for an expository essay about this topic."

Students complete the outline, drawing on specific source material from what they've read. Then, the on-demand writing prompt has students write a component of an essay:

"Write a conclusion for an essay on the topic of advertising to young people. Be sure to:

• Write a final statement that supports the thesis topic sentences.
• Bring a sense of closure by using transitions and explanations that follow from the essay's main points.
• Use a formal writing style"

In each component, as well as in the guided questions and tasks along the reading, students are consistently required to cite and reference specific evidence from the materials. This progression of working from reading to note-taking to organizer to frame to writing is common throughout the program.

The materials for Grade 7 fully meet the expectations of indicator 1n. Language instruction in grammar and conventions is provided in a sequence consistent with the demands of the CCSS-ELA and is integrated with reading and writing instruction. Language skills are taught explicitly and then applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts. Across the school year, materials build and promote students' ability to apply conventions and writing within their own writing. In the "Teacher Resources" section of the online textbook, there are approximately 30 additional Grammar Activities which can be downloaded covering a variety of grammar topics. These files contain a learning target, examples/lesson, and a "Check your understanding" practice segment. There is also a 24 page downloadable "Grammar Handbook" which can be used as a reference document.

Some representative samples of activities and lessons that are embedded in context of units and show evidence of this indicator include the following:

Grammar and usage lessons:

• 1.5 Verb tenses
• 1.14 Pronouns and Antecedents
• 1.9 Punctuating Coordinate Adjectives
• 2.15 Phrases and Clauses
• 3.4 Revising with Subordinate Clauses
• 3.7 Revising with Coordinating Conjunctions
• 3.8 Understanding Phrases
• 3.17 Adjectival and Prepositional Phrases
• 3.21 and 4.7 Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers

Language "Knowledge of Language" (CCSS ELA L.3) refers to choosing language that expresses ideas precisely and concisely, recognizing and eliminating redundancy. Some lessons supporting this include:

• 1.6 Creating Coherence and Sentence Variety
• 1.7 Coherence
• 2.4 Revising for Cohesion and Clarity
• 2.6 Revising for Precise Language and Formal Style
• 2.8 Sentence Variety
• 2.13 Sentence Structure and Transitions
• 2.14 Using Rhetorical Devices
• 3.11 Active vs. Passive Voice
• 4.4 Varying Syntax for Effect