11th Grade - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for Indicator 2a. Texts and text sets are organized around a topic/topics to build students’ knowledge and their ability to read and comprehend complex texts proficiently.

Grade 11 units and corresponding text sets are developed around a thematic focus on the "American Dream." The concept is broad and encompasses many aspects of the “American Experience,” including freedom of speech, the pursuit of happiness, and the American journey. Each of the units develops one or more of these aspects throughout the year, helping the student to develop a better understanding of American perspectives and experiences and a more developed definition of the American Dream.

• Unit 1, The American Dream, leads students to examine the abstractions of freedom and patriotism. Students read a variety of genres, e.g., poetry, nonfiction, drama, and short stories in the process of developing a working definition of the American Dream. Among the texts in this study are Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing” and Langston Hughes’ “I, Too, Sing America,” iconic examples of American literature illustrating “differing aspects of the spirit of America.”

• Unit 2, The Power of Persuasion, “highlights America’s commitment to freedom of speech by looking closely at the rhetorical tools used by writers and speakers to persuade an audience and to make a statement about American society.” Students read a range of texts from Arthur Miller’s The Crucible to Senator Margaret Chase Smith’s “Declaration of Conscience” and Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address. These texts, along with other speeches in the unit, culminate in Embedded Assessment 2, a student exercise of freedom of speech.

• Unit 3, American Forums, continues the study of freedom of speech by “exploring the thematic issue of the relationship between news media (newspapers in particular) and the free exchange of ideas in a democracy,” as a means of helping students distinguish between “arguments that use careful reasoning based on sound evidence and those that rely instead on manipulation, biased language, and fallacious reasoning.” The unit establishes the role of free speech in relationship to the responsibility of the writer/speaker through reviewing the First Amendment and studying George Krimsky’s “The Role of Media in Democracy.”

• Unit 4, The Pursuit of Happiness, continues to thread the year’s thematic purpose as students analyze “the American Dream from the viewpoint of what it means to be happy and to pursue happiness…[and] link this pursuit to the American Transcendentalist movement that finds its spiritual moorings in the natural world.” Students study Emerson and Thoreau’s perspective on Transcendentalism and examine literature, past and present, that share similar perspectives on happiness. The unit culminates in original student poetry exploring personal beliefs about the pursuit of happiness.

• In Unit 5, An American Journey, students experience a cultural journey through the literature of the Harlem Renaissance, focusing on the writing of Zora Neale Hurston through “Sweat,” “How it Feels to be Colored Me,” and Their Eyes Were Watching God. The unit culminates in students applying their knowledge through an analysis of how Hurston is both “a reflection of and a departure from” philosophies of the Harlem Renaissance.

The sequence of texts and lesson scaffolds are designed to support students as they read to comprehend complex texts. Students read text independently, in small groups, and as whole group read alouds. In addition, students are asked to actively monitor their reading comprehension through the guiding questions of the Setting a Purpose for Reading and Second Read sections. Unit texts are distributed at varying levels within the quantitative and qualitative measures appropriate to the grade band. Finally, in each Activity, students are provided with text-dependent questions to engage them actively and provide scaffolding for students in need.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for Indicator 2b. Grade 11 materials contain sets of coherently sequenced higher order thinking questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language (words/phrases), key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts in order to make meaning and build understanding of texts and topics.

While students have been introduced to argument and written arguments in earlier grades, the activities and texts in the Grade 11 program tend to focus on argument to foster independence in students’ ability to analyze the various facets of a text. Students read a variety of seminal historic texts, consider the context of their origination, and reflect on multiple viewpoints as they come to “understand the complex and difficult task of synthesizing information to create a clear and insightful argument” related to the thematic focus of Grade 11: the American Dream. Within most activities of each unit students work independently, in small groups, and as a whole group responding to questions and completing tasks that require analysis of individual texts and text sets. The sequence of texts and tasks are designed to support students as they build knowledge and skills through progressively more complex text-based interactions.

Each unit activity introducing a new text follows a common pattern. An activity feature, Preview, explains the what and why of the lesson/activity followed by Setting a Purpose, an activity feature fostering self-monitoring through “while-reading” task engagement with the text. For example, in Unit 3, Activity 7, Preview tells students what they will be reading, an editorial, and the why, “[to] investigate slanters in action,” an essential skill for the successful completion of the unit’s Embedded Assessment 1 when students will create their own “editorial products that reflect [your] point-of-view.” Setting a Purpose asks students to “highlight slanters...circle unknown words and phrases…[p]ut a question mark next to anything that raises a question for you…[p]ut an exclamation point next to anything” that raises a strong reader response. Following the first reading, Second Read asks students a series of increasingly rich, text-dependent questions, each classified as a question related to better understanding Key Ideas and Details or Craft and Structure. In some question sets, Integration of Knowledge and Ideas is also included within this portion of the lesson.

Following Second Read, students become engaged in Working from the Text, a frequently collaborative activity typically engaging students in a directed but more personally responsive work, e.g., working with a graphic organizer, preparing a summary, classifying text ideas, comparing and contrasting concepts and approaches, etc. In Unit 3, Activity 7, students use the SMELL strategy to analyze the editorial, looking at the sender-receiver relationship, message conveyed, emotional strategies, logical strategies, and language. A second Working from the Text activity asks students to “Copy five of the more slanted passages from Schroth’s editorial to the spaces below and revise them to be less rhetorically manipulative.” After having worked through the activity text/s in various ways, Check Your Understanding asks students to respond briefly, typically in writing but sometimes through discussion, to a guiding question. For example, in Unit 3, Activity 7, students are asked to respond to this question: “How does a writer use tone to advance an opinion?”

Although some of the unit activities end with Check Your Understanding, a more developed writing activity is offered by Writing to Sources, a feature found in many unit activities. For example, in Unit 3, Activity 8, after instruction in reading an editorial and lesson activities of Preview, Setting a Purpose, Second Read, Working from the Text, and Check Your Understanding, the lesson continues with a culminating activity, Writing to Sources. In this activity, students are instructed to “independently analyze a second editorial of your choice. Then write a text explaining how the writer tailors the language and argument to a target audience.” Students are reminded to include “a clear summary of the argument...cite specific examples from the text...comment on the effect the author’s language has on the intended audience.” The unit activities and texts work progressively, leading students toward the first of two Embedded Assessments appearing midway through the unit and again at the unit end. In Unit 3, Embedded Assessment 1, students are tasked with working collaboratively “to plan, develop, write, revise, and present an informational article on a timely and debatable issue of significance to your school community, local community, or national audience.” Thereafter, each student is to independently develop a variety of editorial products, e.g., cartoons, letters, posters, etc. The Embedded Assessment draws on skills and knowledge that has been practiced through the various activities of Unit 3, Activities 3.1 through 3.13.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for Indicator 2c. Grade 11 material contains a coherently sequenced set of text-dependent and text-specific questions and tasks that require students to build knowledge and integrate ideas across both individual and multiple texts. Within most activities of each unit, the sequence of questions, texts, and tasks are designed to build student knowledge and strengthen student skills. Teaching and learning materials provide explicit instruction in research-based reading strategies and text annotation, analytic discussion, and academic writing.

Reading closely is a central activity of every unit: “During the first read, students are encouraged to engage with the text and annotate it with questions and thoughts. When they return to the text for a second read, students search for answers and evidence in response to thoughtful text-dependent questions found after each passage. The questions have been written to tap into the complexity of the text: thematic complexity, structural or linguistic complexity, or content knowledge demands.” Overall, these questions are text-specific and/or text-dependent and are not framed across texts; however, some Second Read questions reference generalities related to themes, literary elements, literary devices, or conventions, further supporting the acquisition of knowledge within and across texts.

In addition to discussions fueled by text-dependent questions, a mix of argumentative, explanatory, and narrative writing prompts provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their understanding and analysis of texts through written expression. Performance tasks allow students to integrate the knowledge and skills they have acquired to demonstrate proficiencies in reading and language standards through writing. Most embedded assessments ask students to expand on unit texts by conducting independent research to integrate knowledge acquired on their own with knowledge gained in the classroom.

Unit activities are typically threaded together through a thematic focus connecting one day’s lesson to the next day’s lesson and therefore, the text of study in one activity to the text of study in the following activities. Additionally, Embedded Assessments occur twice in each unit; they ask students to use knowledge and skills gained through previous lessons to demonstrate proficiencies and growth. Each unit follows a similar pattern in developing student ability to successfully build knowledge from single texts and synthesizing knowledge among texts. Day one of each unit begins with Preview, an overview of the unit’s first Embedded Assessment; thereafter, most activities or lessons build to develop student skills and knowledge in the performance of that assessment. After the completion of the first Embedded Assessment the second half of the unit begins, this time with a preview of the second Embedded Assessment which culminates the unit study. Thereafter, most ensuing activities progress to build student proficiencies to complete the second assessment. Through this reiterative process, students gain knowledge and skills to the immediate text under study while simultaneously considering how to integrate their learning into the upcoming performance task.

For example, in Unit 2, Activity 14, after reading The Crucible in the first half of the unit, students read the speech, “Declaration of Conscience” by Margaret Chase Smith and “Why I Wrote The Crucible: An Artist’s Answer to Politics” by Arthur Miller. Preview indicates that students are reading to “conduct research into McCarthyism to better understand the society Arthur Miller was commenting on in his writing of The Crucible. Setting a Purpose instructs students to underline or highlight “portions of the text in which you find especially powerful use of language for the purpose and audience” and “circle unknown words and phrases” during the first reading the “Declaration of Conscience.” Second Read engages students in a closer reading of the text, prompting students to connect this text to their background knowledge. For example, students are asked, “What is the difference between ‘trial by jury’ and ‘trial by accusation’? How is one a ‘witch hunt’?” This question requires students draw on their knowledge of the Constitution, alluded to in this speech but not directly cited, and integrate their knowledge to derive an inferential response. Check Your Understanding asks students to complete a quick write, identifying what part of the speech they find most powerful and explaining why. Following the two reads and discussion of the Smith speech, students engage in their first read of “Why I Wrote The Crucible,” again highlighting the most powerful portions of the essay. Second Read engages students in a closer reading of the text, prompting students to consider questions that are both text-based and text-dependent. Regarding Miller in paragraph 2: "How have his memories of the time he wrote The Crucible changed? What purpose for writing does this suggest?’” and the slightly more inferential text-dependent question, “As Miller finds connections between the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy hearings, what central idea regarding human nature begins to emerge?” Working from the Text asks students to complete a topical chart comparing Miller’s feelings towards McCarthyism to Hollywood’s feelings, Miller’s fascinations with the Salem witch trials, and the critical and public reactions to his work. Explain How an Author Builds an Argument culminates Activity 2.14 with an assignment asking students to write an essay explaining “how the author builds an argument to persuade the audience of the social agenda promoted in a speech or essay.” Students are to use the elements of argument learned in Unit 1, Activity 13 to analyze The Declaration of Independence and to examine “how the author uses three or more of the rhetorical techniques...to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of the argument,” choosing one of the texts read during Unit 2, Activity 14.

Unit 2, Activity 19 continues to build knowledge as students analyze Patrick Henry’s argument in his “Speech to the Second Virginia Convention.” Following the standard lesson protocol, Preview, Setting a Purpose, Second Read, Working from the Text, and Check Your Understanding, students conduct the first read marking “elements of the argumentative structure,” highlighting “rhetorical devices used by the speaker,” and circling “unknown words and phrases.” Second read engages students in deeper thinking with text-based and text-dependent questions, e.g., “Which element of the typical structure of an argument does Henry present in paragraph 5? Explain his rhetorical response.” and “What kinds of appeals does Henry use to convince Virginia to begin to prepare for war with Great Britain?” Explain How an Author Builds an Argument asks students to write an essay explaining “how Patrick Henry builds an argument to persuade his audience that the colonies should declare their independence from Great Britain.” Further building knowledge, Unit 2, Activity 20 introduces rhetorical appeals and employs them in the analysis of Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address.” After following the teaching and learning protocols, Independent Reading Link asks students to demonstrate their knowledge by using their Reader/Writer Notebook and comparing and contrasting “one of the speeches you have read independently with your analysis of Abraham Lincoln’s use of rhetorical appeals.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for Indicator 2d. The Grade 11 questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic through integrated skills (e.g. a combination of reading, writing, speaking, and listening).

During each unit, students complete two Embedded Assessments, one midpoint in the unit and the second at the unit’s end; the Embedded Assessments ask students to work collaboratively as well as independently. Each one is a unique performance task that allows students to show knowledge proficiency with texts, concepts, and skills representative of multiple grade-level standards and taught through previous lesson sets. The Embedded Assessments require students to deepen learning through analysis and synthesis, presenting their findings through a variety of products: essays, multimedia presentations, speeches, dramatic interpretations, and anthologies. Each unit strategically builds towards the culminating assessment and provides teachers with usable information about student readiness. Skills needed to complete the performance tasks, e.g., writing processes, technology fluency, and speaking and listening skills, are modeled and directly taught as well as practiced in relationship to the performance task. Further supports exist within the student and teacher materials to ensure students are able to complete the performance task. Additionally, many of the text-dependent questions related to Second Read as well as the questions and activities in Check Your Understanding align to the culminating tasks.

In Unit 1, Embedded Assessment 2 asks students to synthesize “at least three to five sources and your own observations to defend, challenge, or qualify the statement that America still provides access to the American Dream.” The performance task asks students to integrate a variety of sources into a coherent, well-written argumentative essay. Students are told to refer to the sources and “employ your own observations to support your position,” noting the argument should be the focus of the essay while the sources and personal observations are in support of the position. Prior to the embedded assessment, students prepare for the task by reading historical documents, including The Declaration of Independence, poetry, drama, and essays addressing a similar theme. They also participate and rehearse their ideas in Unit 1, Activity 18 in the Position Presentation, a paired activity asking students to take a position, research the position, and “present your position and evidence to the groups with the opposing argument.” The Teacher Wrap for this activity guides students in preparing for the embedded assessment noting the teacher should point out “this is the last activity before the Embedded Assessment. Have students glance through the Embedded Assessment requirements again. Ask them whether they are prepared, and have them note on an exit slip any concepts they are still uncertain about. Review those concepts.”

In Unit 2, Embedded Assessment 1 asks students to integrate multiple skills to show mastery of a variety of standards to accomplish the task: “Your assignment is to work with a group to write and perform an original dramatic script in which you make a statement about a conflict that faces society.” The completion of this task offers students not only the opportunity to perform, but also to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of concepts related to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, speaking out about the “persecution of suspected communists” through a drama written in a time far removed but with corresponding events, the “persecution of suspected witches.” The completion of this task requires students to work and write collaboratively and “make a statement about a social conflict or issue” through a dramatic interpretation; work and write collaboratively. Other aspects of the task related to the unit’s study related to use of setting “as a backdrop for social commentary.” Additionally, students are to demonstrate an understanding of script-writing conventions, theatrical elements, and literary elements, all areas of study during Unit 2. In preparation for the assignment, students read and analyze The Crucible and practice the skills needed to complete the assessment, such as Activity 2.9, which has students study the diction and figurative language of the Puritan culture and then put it into practice in the narrative writing prompt: “Write an original scene between two characters from The Crucible. In this scene, emulate the language Miller creates to develop or extend a conflict related to one of the themes of the play.” Students are reminded to include appropriate language echoing Puritan speech and write stage directions establishing the context and supporting actors in their actions and delivery. Teachers are asked to monitor students’ progress in the Teacher Wrap of this activity by reviewing “students’ dialogue for formatting, appropriate language, stage directions, and central conflicts” to ensure the student work complements the original text.

In Unit 4, Embedded Assessment 2, asks students to “create a multi-genre research project that expresses your research and perspective on a person, event, or movement that embodies the American ideal of the pursuit of happiness.” In completing the task students will demonstrate the following skills and knowledge: “Select a topic, generate research questions, and conduct research; read analytically from a variety of sources; draft and revise a working thesis to guide research; collect, record, and synthesize information; understand the essential features of a variety of genres; use genres and their conventions appropriately; create a cohesive project that establishes a connection among genres selected; write and revise in multiple genres for multiple purposes.” In Activities 4.19-4.25, students review a student example of the multi-genre research paper and work collaboratively on a multi-genre research paper over Charles Schultz before working independently on their own in the Embedded Assessment. The Teacher Wrap for Activity 4.25 gives teachers means of assessing student understanding and for addressing concerns: “While students complete the steps of this activity in groups or individually, you might consider having mini-conferences. Use this time to check in with each student to determine where he or she is in his or her progress toward completing the project and to clear up any questions or concerns.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for Indicator 2e. Grade 9 materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts. Materials include a consistent approach for students to regularly interact with word relationships and build academic and figurative language in context.

Opportunities to build vocabulary are found throughout the instructional materials. A cohesive, year-long description of vocabulary instruction is found in the Language Development section of The Front Matter, Teacher’s Edition found in the listings under the Teacher Resource tab on the program’s landing page. The Front Matter describes the program’s approach to language skills and knowledge as “part of an integrated approach to reading, writing, speaking, and listening with instruction that focuses on language as a flexible tool that can be adapted for specific contexts.” The section goes on to specifically outline four instructional features embedded within each unit: Academic Vocabulary featuring Tier Two terms and concepts; Literary Terms equipping students with Tier Three language from the ELA domain; Word Connections featuring roots and affixes etymology, cognates, word relationships, and multiple-meaning words; and Academic Vocabulary in Context featuring glossed terms at the point of use for words with insufficient context clues to aid in comprehension. Additionally, Language and Writer’s Craft activities along with Grammar and Usage sidebars provide language instruction and grammar support in the context of reading and writing within the unit. Language Checkpoint activities offer optional practice opportunities for students to develop or refresh their knowledge of standard English conventions.

Other unit features support teacher instruction and student use of vocabulary in various contexts. The Unit Overview, a feature page of each unit, presents a sidebar listing of Academic Vocabulary and Literary Terms introduced, taught, and studied in each unit. Within the activities or lessons, the Setting a Purpose for Reading feature frequently asks students to identify “unknown words or phrases” and determine their meaning using “context clues, word parts, or a dictionary.” Additionally, Planning the Unit offers two features, Supporting Students’ Language Development and Digital Resource: English Language Development Activities, offering additional supports in scaffolded language instruction to ensure students have opportunities to learn, practice, apply, and transfer the language needed to “develop the content knowledge, skills, and academic language needed to perform well on the Embedded Assessments.” The application of words across texts or in ways that support accelerated vocabulary learning in reading, speaking, and writing tasks is most strongly supported through Tier 3 study of language related to literature, rhetoric, and other studies of the ELA domain and reiteratively applied in analysis and communicated through speaking and writing.

In Unit 1, Unit Overview lists Academic Vocabulary and Literary Terms for study across the next 18 activities or lessons. Academic terms listed are primary source, defend, challenge, qualify; literary terms listed are exemplification, imagery, personification, synecdoche. Over the course of the unit, students frequently interact with these words in the context of texts, activities, and tasks. Unit 1 Activity 2 is a lesson on extended definitions. The lesson delineates four means by which a definition can be extended: exemplification, function, classification, and negation. The word, “exemplification” is featured in a sidebar and defined as “to define by showing specific, relevant examples that fit the writer’s definition.” Activity 1.2 focuses further on the term exemplification by explaining, “Successful extended definitions go beyond dictionary definitions...to extend a definition, writers use a variety of strategies. One definition strategy is to define by example, which is showing specific, relevant examples that fit the writer’s definition.” The discussion of exemplification and its meaning integrates into Setting a Purpose. Students are asked to conduct the first reading of an essay by John McCain and while reading, underline “phrases that exemplify the author’s definition of patriot.” All terms listed in the Unit Overview are featured in activity sidebars and each activity provides similar treatment of featured words; terms are fully defined and contextualized and, thereafter, repeated many times through the unit’s study in both receptive and expressive modes. Sidebars supported through activities such as this provide rich, multidimensional interaction with language and accelerate vocabulary learning. These types of activities are foundational as students build academic vocabulary, read diverse literary texts, research among primary and secondary sources, and become college and career ready.

In Unit 5, Unit Overview lists two Academic Vocabulary and six Literary Terms for study across the next 18 activities or lessons. The unit feature, Supporting Students’ Language Development Section notes that numerous “resources are available in this unit to help teachers differentiate instruction for English language learners or other students who need extra support in English language development.” The associated ELL Support Document found on the listings under the Teacher Resource tab on the program’s landing page indicates teachers should “consistently apply and practice strategic vocabulary development support for Academic Vocabulary with tools such as interactive word walls, diffusing, vocabulary graphic organizers, and QHT work.” The Digital Resources feature indicates where ELD-focused activities for three texts within the unit can be found, i.e.: Academic and Social Language Preview, Interpreting the Text Using Close Reading, and Collaborative Academic Discussion. Each of these activities uses an excerpt from the text under study to support language learning essential to understanding the isolated text, the concepts under study, and the larger goals of the unit. For example, Unit 5, Activity 5.3a Academic and Social Language Preview draws on vocabulary from the Activity 5.3 text, an excerpt from “On, ‘From the Dark Tower.’” The activity begins by providing a three-column chart listing selected words for study, e.g., restrained, dignified, and poignant. The second column of the provides a contextual reference as a direct quotation from the text. In the third column, students are asked to “work with a partner to see if you can determine the word’s meaning using context clues or your knowledge of word parts.” Following completion of the chart, students work through a series of Language Practice exercises. In Activity 5.3a, among the exercises are talking with a partner using 4 specific words from the vocabulary list, writing an octave, an eight-line poem, using four specific words, and writing novel sentences using pairings of vocabulary words provided by the activity. Unit 5, Activity 3c, Collaborative Academic Discussion, engages students in small group or paired discussions around academic language and literary concerns. For example, Activity 5.3c asks students. “How does Collier incrementally develop the idea that Cullen embraces the color black?” It then provides a sentence frame for student response, “Collier incrementally develops the idea that Cullen embraces the color black by ______. ” The activity ends with the feature, Asking Questions, which typically begins by providing an explanation of the text’s content or message and then asks students to write a response. For example, in Activity 5.3c, students are told, “Countee Cullen’s poem is full of symbols, including fruit, seeds, stars, buds, and reaping. If you could ask the poet one question about these symbols, what would it be?” Two additional questions follow, and students are to share their questions with the class.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for Indicator 2f. Grade 11 materials contain a year-long, cohesive plan of writing instruction and tasks which support students in building and communicating substantive understanding of topics and texts.

Opportunities to build and communicate learning of topics and texts through written expression are found throughout the instructional materials. A cohesive, year-long description of writing instruction is found in the Effective Expression section of The Front Matter, Teacher’s Edition found in the listings under the Teacher Resource tab on the program’s landing page. The Front Matter explains the program provides “multiple opportunities for authentic, task-based writing and writing to sources. As students are learning to write, they learn to consider task, audience, and purpose in structuring and organizing their writing. Direct instruction in writing in different modes—narrative, argumentative, and explanatory—is a primary focus of unit instruction.” The section goes on to delineate five areas integrated within unit activities and additional resources available through the teacher resource tab: guided instruction in the major modes of writing; direct instruction emphasizing incorporation of details, reasons, and textual evidence; short and extended research writing focused on evaluating sources, gathering relevant evidence, and citing and reporting findings accurately; integration of research-based strategies supporting the writing process; and formative writing prompts, performance-based embedded assessments and optional mode-specific writing workshops.

Several unit features also support student growth in writing skills. Language and Writer’s Craft and Language Checkpoints features “build students’ knowledge of grammar and conventions, making them more proficient, confident, and creative writers and more effective self- and peer-editors.” Explain How an Author Builds an Argument, another frequent unit feature, presents formative writing prompts encouraging the use of academic vocabulary in various contexts. Additionally, each unit presents two performance-based embedded assessments and a corresponding rubric outlining performance expectations. Instruction is progressive, incorporating strategies and protocols to support students' writing independence as they work towards mastery. Finally, a portfolio of student work is cultivated over the course of the year and acts as a final assessment of student writing development.

Unit 1, Activity 2 Writing to Sources asks students to write a brief response to an extended definition essay by John McCain. In preparation for the writing assignment, students study the concept of an extended definition and conduct a close reading of McCain’s essay, an extended definition of the word “patriot.” In the subsequent student generated essay, they are to explain how McCain’s interpretation “impacted your own understanding of the word.” Students are directed to have a clear thesis explaining their new understanding of “patriot” and include appropriate transitions and a concluding statement. Teachers are urged to use this activity as an assessment of student “ability to choose appropriate evidence and explain it in their own words,” a skill they will need for a later embedded assessment. The Teacher Wrap provides adaptations and tips for students needing additional support, offering additional resources as explicit examples of the extended definition: “A Cause Greater Than Self” by John McCain and “A Faith in Simple Dreams” by Barack Obama,” both available online. This formative writing task previews and supports student practice in preparation for Embedded Assessment 1, “a multi-paragraph essay that defines your interpretation of what it means to be an American.”

Unit 3, Activity 11 Writing to Sources asks students to write a letter to the editor in response to an editorial. In preparation for the writing activity, students are provided instruction in the form and process of writing a letter to the editor followed by a close reading of an editorial, “Why I Hate Cell Phones.” During the close reading discussion, students reflect on the juxtaposition of words, the author’s point-of-view, and tone. They also make inferences about the author’s choices of words and implications. In their writing of a letter to the editor, students are urged to sequence claims logically and provide reasons and evidence for their claims as well as respond to counterclaims. Additionally, students are to use a variety of rhetorical techniques, including anecdotes studied throughout Unit 1 and reviewed earlier in Unit 3, and case studies, or analogies, studied in Unit 2. Following this lesson, Unit 3, Activity 12 asks students to identify “fallacious logic, appeals, and rhetoric in sample texts...and use logical fallacies [to] refute the fallacies of others in a debate.”). As a formative assessment to check student understanding of and proficiency with fallacies, the Writing to Sources: Argument prompt instructs students to review “the letter to the editor that you wrote in Activity 3.11 and revise it using at least one of the types of fallacy from this activity.” These assignments and others are designed to prepare and support students in the completion of Embedded Assessment 1, a writing task asking students to “plan, develop, write, revise, and present an informational article on a timely and debatable issue of significance to your school community, local community, or national audience.”

Unit 5, Embedded Assessment 2 asks students to write an analytical essay critiquing Zora Neale Hurston’s writing “as both a departure from and a reflection of the ideas of the Harlem Renaissance.” To complete this task, students must determine which elements of the Harlem Renaissance they recognize in Hurston’s writing and which elements of her writings seem to be departures from those aspects. The subsequent claim must be stated as a single thesis statement and the essay must use an organizational structure allowing for comparison of Hurston’s work to aspects of the time period. Students are expected to use and cite textual evidence as well as provide commentary to explain how the evidence relates to the thesis.

While the content for this assignment comes directly from Unit 5 as a culminating task, this paper requires students to demonstrate all writing skills practiced throughout the year. Guiding questions help students to frame their thinking on the writing process: planning, drafting and revising, and editing and publishing. The Scoring Guide outlines student expectations. After completing the assignment, students are prompted to write a reflection that asks them to think about “how you went about accomplishing this task, and respond to the following question: How did the use of both primary and secondary sources help you examine how writers’ works can be a product of both their time and their own personal perspective?”

Throughout the year, students have the option to add formative and summative writing to a writing portfolio. Teachers are encouraged to have students perform self-evaluations using the work collected over the year as evidence of growth in learning. The Teacher Wrap indicates self-evaluations can be conducted in a variety of ways, “but it should reflect a level of self-discovery about individual strengths and challenges faced during the academic year. Students may choose to write a letter to next year’s teacher or to create a final portfolio of samples of best work with a description of each work, or they could even write a final reflection that synthesizes all the reflective thinking about learning over the year.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for Indicator 2g. Grade 11 materials include a progression of focused, shared research, and writing projects to encourage students to synthesize knowledge and understanding of a topic using texts and other source materials.

Opportunities to build skill in research as well as synthesize knowledge and understanding across classroom activities and research-based projects are found throughout the SpringBoard materials. The Front Matter of the Teacher’s Edition indicates that “SpringBoard provides multiple opportunities for authentic, task-based writing and writing to sources” with many writing tasks requiring students seek evidence beyond those texts provided as part of the curriculum. Additionally, students are engaged in short-term tasks and longer-term projects wherein they practice and demonstrate proficiencies in “evaluating sources, gathering relevant evidence, and citing and reporting findings accurately.” Specifically, the Grade 11 materials include a steady “progression of focused research projects to encourage students to develop knowledge in a given area by confronting and analyzing different aspects of a topic using multiple texts and source materials.” Students begin with basic research skills, which build in complexity and are applied in diverse ways throughout the year, both collaboratively and independently. The Teacher Wrap provides teachers with support in “employing projects that develop students’ knowledge of different aspects of a topic,” as well as “resources for student research.” Students are given opportunities to complete short projects as they develop the foundational skills necessary to move on and complete long projects typically encompassed in the embedded assessments.Unit 1, Activity 1.8 engages students in a short research project, Researching Images of America, to analyze “the use of imagery in a poem and a visual text” and to examine “the historical significance behind an iconic American image.” After reading and annotating Langston Hughes’, “Let America Be America Again,” students collectively view and analyze the photograph, Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. Following a discussion on what makes the image iconic, including the evocative feeling of the image, students research to find their “own idea of an iconic American image.” As part of this task, students submit an image for the classroom’s “Gallery of America and provide an explanation of your choice to share with your fellow students.” Students use the internet, print media, and history textbooks to help select a topic and research an image.

Unit 3, Embedded Assessment 1 asks students to “plan, develop, write, revise, and present an informational article on a timely and debatable issue of significance to your school community, local community, or national audience.” Prior to the task, Unit 1, Activities 8, 9, and 11 provide lessons in the editorial format, opportunities to evaluate the “effectiveness of multiple editorials,” and practice for editorial writing. As part of the performance task, students gather evidence to support a stated position, use models of argumentative writing, and incorporate effective rhetorical elements. Additionally, students are to use examples of either print or online newspapers to create a realistic layout for their editorial products to reflect their point-of-view, including “at least two different pieces, such as cartoons, editorials, letters, posters, photos, and so on.”

Unit 5, Embedded Assessment 1 asks students to “create an interactive multimedia research presentation about a topic related to the Harlem Renaissance” that includes a variety of media and an annotated bibliography. Students must choose and research a topic that focuses on some aspect of the era representing the values and ideas of the Harlem Renaissance, e.g., historical context, philosophy and beliefs, the arts, or daily life. Prior to the task, in Activity 5.2, students read an informational text to develop literal, interpretive, and universal research questions. In Activity 5.3, students research the historical context of the Harlem Renaissance, including drawing “information from both primary and secondary sources” and select “appropriate sources to answer a research question.” In Activity 5.4, students “record factual information from research sources." All facets of activities preceding the actual assessment presentation support student proficiencies in completing the larger and more independent summative task.

The materials reviewed for Grade 11 meet the criteria for Indicator 2h. Grade 11 materials provide a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

Grade 11 materials provide students with numerous opportunities for independent reading both in and outside of classroom. Each unit incorporates two independent reading assignments connected to an aspect of the unit study or theme and sometimes directly related to the embedded assessments. Six close reading workshops of various genres or modes are found in the Teacher Resources tab and provide opportunities for enrichment or accelerated learning. Each workshop provides three texts, each with explicit instruction advancing students' independent reading skills. Each text moves through four activities: a guided activity, a collaborative activity, an independent activity, and assessment opportunities for the entire workshop. Additionally, literature studied by the whole class, e.g., novels and plays, sometimes require independent reading beyond the classroom. Accountability is maintained through double-entry journals, reader/writer notebooks, independent reading links, independent reading checkpoints, and in-class discussions for which students must be prepared. Teachers, meanwhile, are provided with guidance for the inclusion of independent reading within the text and with ideas and suggestions for fostering reading independence through the Planning the Unit guide and the Teacher Wrap.

Unit 1 exemplifies how independent reading is established throughout the year. Each unit requires the students to read two texts independently, one during the first half of the unit and the second during the latter half of the unit. Independent reading suggestions for each unit are found in Planning the Unit page and “have been chosen based on complexity and interest.” While typically related to the unit’s theme, students have a variety of fiction and nonfiction texts from which to choose. Texts are equally varied by Lexile measures. For example, in Unit 1, suggested selections range from Illegal by Bettina Restrepoe (540L), Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich (780L), Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (630L), A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean (1160L), and Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger (1220L), and The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride (1240L). Teachers are urged to “encourage students to do their own research and select titles that intrigue them.”

In the first days of each unit, students create their Independent Reading Plan and share their plan with a partner: “How do you go about choosing what to read independently? Where can you find advice on which books or articles to read? What genre of texts do you most enjoy reading outside of class? How can you make time in your schedule to read independently?” Additionally, students are given guidance in their reading selection and how their reading may apply to the unit’s theme. For example, in Unit 1 the Independent Reading Link notes, “To enhance this unit’s focus, look for nonfiction essays, memoirs, autobiographies, or biographies that that will help you understand how others define the American Dream. Consider how these readings connect to what you read in the unit and to your own perspectives.”

The Teacher Wrap gives teachers guidance in setting up the Independent Reading as well: “Review expectations as noted in the Independent Reading Link. Include a deadline by which selections should be made and reading should begin.” Additionally, the Teacher Wrap suggests differentiated approaches to support those who struggle gain independence as readers: “As students develop their independent reading plans, consider giving students who are at an early stage of English language development the option of reading a text in their home language. These students can build on native language literacy as they begin to develop academic English.”

As students proceed through the unit, connections are drawn between their independent reading and in-class readings through the Independent Reading Links found as sidebars throughout the teaching materials. For example, in Activity 1.4 the sidebar notes, “Select a person in your independent reading who identifies an important symbol that keeps the American Dream alive. Compare this symbol to a symbol selected by an author of a reading in this unit. In your Reader/Writer Notebook, note similarities and differences.” Teachers, likewise, are guided by the Teacher Wrap to engage students in their independent reading throughout the unit and are reminded to draw students attention to connections between their independent reading and the texts studied in class.