The instructional materials reviewed for SpringBoard Grade 10 meet the criteria for Indicator 1a. Anchor texts within the Grade 10 materials are of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading and consider a range of student interests.

Materials for Grade 10 include well-known and diverse authors such as Chinua Achebe, Susan B. Anthony, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Victor Hugo, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, Mark Mathabane, Richard Rodriguez, Marjane Satrapi, Shakespeare, Sophocles, Elie Wiesel, and William Butler Yeats. Most, if not all, of the texts--print, film, and audio recording-- have been published in some form as books or in notable newspapers and/or journals and magazines, as well as on the screen, in video, or audiocast.

Five thematic units provide anchor texts and supplementary texts encompassing a range of topics relevant and interesting to Grade 10 students: Cultural Conversations, Cultural Perspectives, Cultures in Conflict, Dramatic Justice, and Building Cultural Bridges. Books, dramas, short stories, poems, essays, graphic novels, film excerpts, articles, and editorials are among the text types studied throughout the year. Using these materials as a touchstone, students explore the connections between cultural heritage and identity and how culture affects conceptual perspectives. Students also explore how individuals from diverse cultures come to understand one another through art. In reading a novel, students are immersed in a distant and foreign culture, learning about a community and the institutions enabling it to function, as well as the conflicting roles of community members and the effects of political and social change. In looking at a broad swathe of international texts, students gain insight into the universal themes, issues of justice and injustice, and cultural clashes and conflicts continuing to challenge the world.

Unit 1: Cultural Conversations, a unit of multiple texts

• “Two Kinds,” an excerpt from The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, National Book Award Finalist
• “Everyday Use,” a short story by Alice Walker, first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Literature
• “What is Cultural Identity?” a research article by Elise Trumbull and Maria Pacheco

Unit 2: Cultural Perspectives, a unit of multiple texts

• Kaffir Boy, an autobiography listed among Outstanding Books for the College-Bound and Lifelong Learners, by Mark Mathabane
• Persepolis, a graphic novel and New York Times Notable Book, by Marjane Satrapi
• “On Surrender at Bear Paw Mountain,” a speech by Chief Joseph

Unit 3: Cultures in Conflict, a unit anchored in the study of a novel

• Things Fall Apart, a novel listed by TIME among the 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005, by Chinua Achebe

Unit 4: Dramatic Justice, a unit anchored in the study of dramatic monologues

• Antigone, a drama by Sophocles

Unit 5: Cultural Bridges, a unit anchored in a documentary film

• The 11th Hour, a documentary film narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, written and directed by Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners

The instructional materials reviewed for SpringBoard Grade 10 meet the criteria for Indicator 1c. Grade 10 texts have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and relationship to their associated student task.

SpringBoard Online provides a Text Complexity Analysis for each of the Grade 10 texts. Each text analysis provides a quantitative rating based on Lexile Measures and a qualitative measure based on the qualitative factors described in Appendix A: Research Supporting Key Elements of the Standards (pages 5-6): Levels of Meaning or Purpose, Structure, Language, and Knowledge Demands. The Text Complexity Analysis also describes the student task associated with the reading and the teaching of text and considers those activities in assigning an overall level of text complexity. Overwhelmingly, SpringBoard categorizes Grade 10 texts as complex. Only a handful of titles falls in the accessible or low categories. Texts falling below the College and Career Expectations for Lexile Ranges in the 9-10 grade band are typically offset by higher qualitative measures and task demands. In general, texts that are quantitatively above grade band have less rigorous qualitative demands and the associated tasks have scaffolds in place to ensure student access.

Examples include:

• In Unit 1, Activity 1.6, students read an excerpt from A Biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera. The passage read by students has a Lexile measure of 1180, within the College and Career Readiness range expected for the 9-10 grade. The Text Complexity Analysis rates the text with an overall moderate rating: “The text contains abstract and figurative language to describe Kahlo and her work that may challenge readers such as ‘insistence on surprise and specificity,’ ‘love of spectacle,’ and ‘transmuted her pain into art with remarkable frankness tempered by humor and fantasy.’” The qualitative analysis indicates the text’s purpose is “somewhat implied as the author writes not only to describe Kahlo’s art, but her struggles to be understood, using words to describe her art such as ‘...like a smothered cry, a nugget of emotion so dense that one felt it might explode. The text contains no graphics or ancillary text features.'” The associated student task asks learners to examine cultural identity as presented in multiple genres (RL.9-10.6) and to analyze stylistic techniques of literary selections (9 10.4). The textual analysis lays the foundation for later tasks: “Through close reading, students conduct a comparative analysis of texts in order to have deeper discussions regarding conflict and cultural identity."

• In Unit 2, Activity 16, students read an excerpt from Elie Wiesel’s lecture, “Hope, Despair, and Memory.” The text has a 770 Lexile measure, well below the College and Career Readiness range expected for the 9-10 grade, however, the overall quantitative rating is complex. The Text Complexity Analysis explains although the text is in the grade 2-3 Lexile range, “the cognitive demands are high because students analyze and then emulate the speech.” Additionally, the speech acts as a mentor text for a culminating task when students will respond to an argumentative writing prompt. Knowledge demands for better understanding the context and message of this text would be enhanced by “general historical and cultural knowledge of the Holocaust” and some background in the Bible would also enhance understanding.

• In Unit 3, Activity 3.20, “An African Voice,” an interview of Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart, has a Lexile measure of 1320, on the high end of the College and Career Readiness range expected for the 9-10 grade. The Text Complexity Analysis rates the text as moderate in qualitative difficulty and complex overall. The task demands are rated as accessible. Students are asked “to understand the literary analysis essay style by making connections between the author’s life and literary text.” Structurally, “the interview conforms to the genre with a question followed by an answer format, which will help students navigate the text.”

• In Unit 5, Activity 5.13, students read a press release written by The Humane Society of the United States and the Wild Fish Conservancy: “The HSUS and Wild Fish Conservancy File Suit to Stop Sea Lion Killing.” The text has a Lexile measure of 1580, well above the College and Career Readiness range expected for the 9-10 grade. The Text Complexity Analysis indicates an overall very complex rating while the qualitative measure is considered moderately difficult. The task considerations are challenging. The analysis explains, “The cognitive demands are high because students evaluate the use of evidence in support of a potential solution to a conflict. Although the quantitative measure places this text above the Grades 9–10 band, the learning task asks students to work in groups,” thereby scaffolding those who may struggle. The qualitative considerations indicate the press release is straightforward and explicit; however, “deep understanding of this text requires some familiarity with the argument animal right activists make to protect the sea lions, as well as the argument local fisherman and tribal officials make in support of protecting the salmon.”

The instructional materials reviewed for SpringBoard Grade 10 meet the criteria for Indicator 1d. Over the course of the year, materials support students’ increasing literacy skills through a series of texts at a variety of complexity levels appropriate for Grade 10.

Students progressively build literacy skills through work with a variety of texts over the course of the school year. Texts sets are at various complexity levels, quantitatively and qualitatively, and therefore support learners as they develop literacy skills and background knowledge to support independent and proficient reading practices.

In Unit 1, students read a range of texts measuring in complexity levels from 780 to 1290 Lexile Measure. While reading, students build literacy skills through activities that ask them to compare and contrast how central ideas are developed, determine word meaning, analyze character interaction and development, and explain how conflict advances theme. Students also build skills in connecting the unit’s theme, Cultural Conversations, evolves through the unit texts. Students are asked to analyze point of view in light of culture, compare and contrast the representation of subjects in various media, analyze cultural elements in a memoir, and infer how cultural identity is central to meaning. In the second half of the unit, students prepare to write a collaborative synthesis paper by analyzing an author’s use of literary devices to explain how specific stylistic choices support the development of tone and theme. The unit supports a progressively rich series of lessons that build on previous learning by looking at multiple texts, comparing and contrasting how two different authors explore similar subjects and themes. Additionally, students develop annotating skills, important for independent readers, by reflecting on symbols, images, figurative language, and tone. Students analyze the structure of an argument, collaborate with group members to reach consensus, and synthesize various sources to formulate a position and state it in a thesis statement.

In Unit 3, students read a range of texts measuring in complexity levels from 890 to 1140 Lexile Measure. Students read a number of poems, typically complex by virtue of the genre. While reading, students build literacy skills through activities that ask them to analyze folktales and proverbs for cultural clues, determine author’s purpose, gather, evaluate, and cite sources, analyze the impact on tone and meaning of words, analyze complex character development on plot, cite textual evidence to support an interpretation and write an expository compare/contrast essay. Students are also asked to participate in a Socratic discussion using textual evidence to support analysis and write an analytical response. The latter half of the unit asks students to gather and cite evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly and by drawing inferences from the text, write a narrative to explore character voice, and analyze how a theme is developed over the course of a novel. The unit supports a progressively rich series of lessons that build on previous learning by asking students to analyze cultural views of gender, analyze how plot develops a theme, examine cultural misunderstandings as conflict that advances the plot, and conduct a comparative analysis between texts with similar themes.

In Unit 5, students are challenged to engage with nonfiction through print and nonprint media in order to better understand how to mediate conflicting points of view “to present a solution to a complex problem.” Students read a range of texts measuring in complexity levels from 1100 to 1760 Lexile Measure. Additionally, students watch two documentary films. Unit 5 is steeped in opportunities for students to practice not only reading print text, but also addressing RI.9-10.7: Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums, determining which details are emphasized in each account.” While reading and analyzing the documentary films, students build literacy skills through activities asking them to distinguish between objective and subjective points of view, compare and contrast documentary treatments, and evaluate how a director uses rhetoric and details to advance a subjective point of view. Students also use the pairing of film and print to build skills in RI.9-10.8: “Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.” Through Activity 5.5-Activity 5.10, students are asked to explain how filmmakers use juxtaposition for effect, analyze how documentary establishes point of view, analyze the relationship between cause-effect claims, evaluate how filmmakers use evidence and rhetorical appeals to support a claim, analyze how rhetorical appeals are used to support a persuasive claim in a documentary, analyze an interview to evaluate the impact of subjectivity on a text, and identify fallacies in order to evaluate a text’s credibility. These and other literacy skills are transformed into practice with Embedded Assessment 1. Students are asked to work collaboratively to present a solution to an environmental conflict and deliver a group presentation. Thereafter, Embedded Assessment 2 challenges students to transform the embedded assessment presentation into a documentary film. To prepare for these embedded assessments, students build on the literacy competencies taught and practiced through the unit texts and activities.

The instructional materials reviewed for SpringBoard Grade 10 meet the criteria of Indicator 1e. The Grade 10 materials provide anchor texts and series of texts connected to them. The materials are accompanied by text complexity analyses and rationales for purpose and placement in the grade level.

SpringBoard Online provides a Text Complexity Analysis complete with rationales for purpose and placement within the online Teacher Resources. Each analysis offers users a choice to download the file or preview the analysis online. The format for each analysis is identical, providing information and discussion in five areas: the context for use, a quantitative analysis with justification if the Lexile level is below grade, a qualitative review, an overview of task and reader considerations, and placement considerations in light of grade level standards.

The instructional materials reviewed for SpringBoard Grade 10 meet Indicator 1f. The program’s anchor and supporting texts provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to achieve grade level reading proficiency.

Over the year, students are provided with a variety of texts, primarily representing the disciplines of literature, social science, and earth science, from a wide distribution of media including newspaper, journals, music, film, and the internet. Among the text types are short stories, poems, drama, novels, speeches, documentary, earth science articles, and other informational texts; full text listings are provided within Planning the Unit and Resources at a Glance in the Unit Overview. The former lists all titles in the unit and the latter lists the titles in relation to the unit pacing guide and related activities. Additionally, grade level texts are listed in the End Matter PDF found through the Teacher Resources tab among the Book PDFs.

All units are developed thematically. Some units are structured around an anchor text accompanied by supplementary texts while other units provide multiple texts supporting the thematic and skill-based instruction. Regardless, students have the opportunity to achieve grade level reading proficiency through independent reading and study as well as supported reading, e.g., paired reading, small group reading, choral reading, and chunked reading. With the introduction of each new text, the Teacher Wrap encourages teachers to use their “knowledge of their students” to select the most effective format for the first reads. Each reading activity specifically addresses the reading and learning purpose for the text to follow and offers specific lessons designed to support diverse readers in text comprehension and analysis.

Embedded in each lesson are activity features to encourage rereading: Academic and Social Language Preview, Interpret the Text Using Close Reading, Interacting in Meaningful Ways, Academic Collaboration, and Working from the Text. These activity features specifically support close reading, thinking protocols, word consciousness, and grammar and language, all skills that move readers towards greater reading independence. Within all activities, the sidebar Teacher Wrap offers ideas and tips to support diverse readers in the classroom. Additional reading supports are delineated and defined in the Teacher End Materials PDF available through the Resources tab on the grade-level home page. Included in this Resource handbook is a comprehensive list of reading strategies, along with definitions, and purposes for use. Also included in the Resource are numerous graphic organizers aligned to activities specifically noted in the Teacher’s Edition, e.g., OPTIC, SMELL, SOAPStone, Web Organizer, and Word Map. Additionally found in the Teacher’s Edition Teacher Wrap is specific guidance for adapting teaching methods in the development of grade-level reading skills among diverse readers. Under headings Teacher to Teacher, Adapt, and Leveled Differentiated Instruction are explanations and references for additional supports that are also found in the Resource handbook, e.g., sequencing events, analyzing key ideas and details, charting cause and effect, and unknown word solvers.

Six supplementary close reading lesson sets are also included among the instructional materials: informational/literary nonfiction, poetry, argument, Shakespeare, informational STEM texts, and informational texts in social studies and history. Each lesson set offers three unique texts and instruction for each text follows a four-activity pattern supporting students work toward reading independence:

• Activity 1: provides guided reading instruction that emphasizes multiple readings, vocabulary development, and close-reading strategies with a complex text.
• Activity 2: gradually releases students from teacher-guided instruction and modeling to a collaborative analysis of a visual text to which students apply the skills and strategies of close reading.
• Activity 3: releases students to closely read texts independently to respond to analysis questions and to make connections to previous texts.
• Activity 4: requires students to respond to synthesis writing, presentation, or discussion prompts to demonstrate their mastery of the close-reading skills they have practiced in the workshop.

In addition to reading as part of classroom activities, students are expected to complete independent readings. In each unit, Planning this Unit provides a section titled Suggestions for Independent Reading and offers a “wide array of titles which have been chosen based on complexity and interest.” At the beginning of each unit, students develop an Independent Reading Plan and are instructed to discuss their reading plan with a partner through a series of questions: “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? How do you think literary theory might change your perspective of the texts you read independently?”

As a mechanism for monitoring their reading progress, students are accountable for monitoring their independent reading using an Independent Reading Log provided in the Resource handbook available in the Teacher End Materials PDF and the Student Front Matter, both found through the Resources tab on the grade-level home page. Independent Reading Link: Read and Connect is a sidebar activity bridging the unit’s reading instruction and the students’ independent reading. In Activity 5.15, students are asked to identify “the elements of an argument in one of your independent reading texts. Give an oral summary to a small group of peers that explains how the author used at least three different elements.” Independent Reading Checkpoints are also embedded in each unit. For example, in Unit 5, after a study of how authors and directors use various techniques to engage an audience, students are instructed to review “your independent reading. Think about the ways the print and nonprint texts enhanced your understanding of how authors and directors use various techniques to engage and influence an audience. Which text stood out for you as being especially effective? Why? Was there a text that you thought was ineffective? Why?” In building a volume of reading, students are also encouraged to do their own research, selecting their titles and topics “that intrigue them.”

The instructional materials reviewed for SpringBoard Grade 10 meet the expectations of indicator 1g. Most questions, tasks, and assignments are text-dependent and require students to engage with the text directly and to draw on textual evidence to support both what is explicit as well as valid inferences from the text.

Most questions, tasks, and assignments over the course of instruction are designed to encourage students’ interaction with the texts under study. Within each unit are recurrent activities such as Setting a Purpose and Second Read which cause students to consider text-dependent questions regarding concepts related to key ideas and details, craft and structure, and integration of knowledge and ideas. Additionally, Writing to Sources activities require students to engage directly with the text using explicit and valid inferential textual support in the development of analytic and explanatory writing.

Following are some representative examples of how Grade 10 materials employ text-based questions and tasks over the course of the school year:

• In Unit 1, Activity 1.3, while reading “What is Cultural Identity” by Elise Trumbull and Maria Pacheco, Setting a Purpose asks students to “[u]nderline or highlight information that helps you identify the concept of cultural identity.”

• In Unit 3, Activity 3.15, after reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and learning about Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero, Writing to Sources asks students to consider “[t]o what degree does Okonkwo fit Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero? What flaws lead to his downfall? Students are instructed to “provide supporting details and textual evidence from different chapters” as part of their responses.

• In Unit 4, Activity 4.3, after reading an excerpt from Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, Second Read asks students, “What does Benvolio’s retelling of the fight reveal about his character? Which details does he choose to emphasize and what does that tell you about him?”

The instructional materials reviewed for SpringBoard Grade 10 meet the criteria for indicator Ih. The materials contain sets of high-quality, sequenced, text-dependent, and text-specific questions with activities that build to a culminating task which integrates skills to demonstrate understanding. Culminating tasks are rich and varied, providing opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know and are able to do in speaking and/or writing over the year.

Each of the five units presents two embedded assessments followed by a logical progression of instruction and practice in preparing students to successfully demonstrate their skills and understandings. Preview of Embedded Assessment 1 occurs on the first day of the unit as students unpack the skills required for the task which culminates midpoint in the unit. Following the completion of Embedded Assessment 1, students are introduced to Embedded Assessment 2, again unpacking the skills necessary to successfully accomplish the end task. For each Embedded Assessment, the sequence of activities that follows the unpacking sequentially develops the skills necessary to complete the requirements of the assessment.

• The Unit 1, Embedded Assessment 1 asks students to write a “reflective essay explaining your cultural identity.” The scoring rubric indicates exemplary writing will “develop a clear, strongly maintained central idea, using a range of relevant well-chosen evidence using an effective organizational style with logically linked ideas and varied transitions.” Activity 1.1 asks students to define and describe culture and cultural identify in writing. Activity 1.2 engages students in making collaborative decisions about effective communication via speaking and listening. Activity 1.3 introduces scholarly articles and a personal essay supported by text-dependent questions to build background knowledge of cultural identity. Activity 1.4 builds knowledge of writer’s craft through analysis and editing of syntax, phrases, and parenthetical expression using the texts from the previous activity. Activity 1.5 through Activity 1.8 introduce various genres--novel, biography, memoir, and interview/essay--to further develop the students’ understanding of cultural identity while analyzing organizational styles and author’s craft through text-dependent questions. The culminating task also guides the student writer through a series of questions beginning with planning/prewriting and continuing throughout the drafting, revising, editing, and publishing phases of the project.

• The Unit 3, Embedded Assessment 1 is based on a combination of independent research and the novel, Things Fall Apart. Students are directed to work collaboratively in researching for a formal presentation comparing and contrasting a single cultural change from precolonial to postcolonial Nigeria. In preparation for the assessment, eight unit activities provide a foundation for success. Early unit activities introduce the importance of proverbs and fables in the novel and as part of an oral tradition. Additional lessons engage students in using the internet to research as well as teaching documentation and citation strategies for internet resources. Continued study of the chapters in the primary text through a series of sequential text-dependent questions deepens students’ understandings of the Ibo culture and language as well as generates cultural wonderings for later research. Alongside the reading, activities supporting technology skills for presentation purposes support success for an effective final presentation. Later activities ground learner skills in the structure of comparison and contrast analyses essential for success in the culminating task. Before beginning Embedded Assessment 1, a lesson on academic voice and formal diction is applied through a Socratic Seminar. The final lesson before assessment begins directs students to review research questions from early lessons and focus on one cultural change for the resulting research and presentation.

The instructional materials reviewed for SpringBoard Grade 10 meet the criteria for materials providing frequent opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions--small groups, peer-to-peer, whole class-- that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax.

The Grade 10 materials establish the importance of evidence-based discussion from the outset by asking students to design a set of class norms displayed for reference throughout the year. The class norms play an important role as students regularly engage in a variety of evidence-based discussions within the whole class, as small group conversations, and as partners sharing text-based ideas and information. Discussions take place within the whole class, as small group conversations, and as partners sharing text-based ideas and information. Embedded within each unit are several Academic Collaboration lessons focused on the current text under study and designed to promote meaningful interaction. The lessons provide a discussion protocol guiding “academic conversation” and sometimes extend into a Language Checkpoint where students work with partners examining syntax related to the anchor text. Academic and Social Language Previews also appear in each unit. These collaborative investigations promote student exploration of word meaning by asking students to determine meaning through the context and then apply the word in a new context. Additionally, the Teacher Wrap supports activities with additional protocols, ideas for increasing pair and small group speaking and listening interactions, instructional advice for differentiation, modeling suggestions, and technology tips for heightening student interaction in effective evidence-based discussion.

Following are some representative examples of how Grade 10 materials provide opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax:

• In Unit 1, Activity 1.2, students work in small groups to discuss what the term “culture” means. After performing some independent work to define the term, students are instructed to “[d]iscuss your definition with a small group of peers.” The Teacher Wrap suggests using sentence stems as needed for differentiation and advises teachers to ensure students go beyond superficial understandings of culture and explore subcultures as well. The Round Table Discussion Organizer is introduced for the first time, and the Teacher Wrap suggests the teacher “model for the class how to record student ideas.” Following this initial small-group discussion, students are asked to identify “two to three norms you and your fellow classmates can follow to communicate effectively.” The Teacher Wrap suggests four attitudes and skills aligned to the Common Core Speaking and Listening Standards, Grade Band 9-10.

• In Unit 2, Activity 2.16, after reading speeches by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Elie Wiesel, Working from the Text asks students to “synthesize textual evidence by participating actively in a Socratic Seminar.” Students are to “come to the discussion prepared with textual evidence” and three or four questions and are reminded that the following actions help to create a successful seminar: “[talking] to the participants and not the teacher or seminar leader; [referring] to the text to support your thinking or challenge an idea; [paraphrasing] what other students say to make sure that you understand their points before challenging their opinions and evidence.” In preparation for the seminar, students have read the speeches twice and worked through two series of text-dependent questions independently, as pairs, or in small groups.

• In Unit 5, Activity 5.5 - Activity 5.8, while viewing the documentary, The Eleventh Hour, students initially work in small groups to understand the how the juxtaposition of film images impacts the rhetorical stances of ethos, logos, and pathos. As viewing continues, students work collaboratively to “record comments about the film, questions about its function as a text, and a summary of the effectiveness of the argument it makes.” In the final stages of viewing, each group is asked to focus on one of three areas: Ethos and Credibility, Evidence and Persuasion, or Values and Perspectives. Group members take notes independently while viewing. After viewing, groups consolidate their notes into a single summary on the assigned area. Groups then jigsaw into new three-person groups to share their evidence and conclusions within the new group.

The instructional materials reviewed for SpringBoard Grade 10 meet the expectations of indicator 1j. Most materials support students’ listening and speaking about what they are reading and researching (including presentation opportunities) with relevant follow-up questions and evidence.

Throughout the year, students are engaged in a variety of listening and speaking activities including pairing with peers to discussion in small groups, participating in Socratic Seminars, and staging class presentations. Most collaborative activities occur after reading a text and/or a combination of texts sometimes paired with multimedia sources. In most instances, students are required to engage in evidence-based discussions relevant to text themes, structure, development, and purpose. Discussion questions encouraging students to draw on academic vocabulary and syntax are provided within both teacher and student materials and support students’ preparation for collaboration to follow. Additionally, students are taught to generate text-related open-ended questions to propel ensuing conversations and discussions. Guidance for differentiating, extending, and monitoring student learning is provided to the teacher in the Teacher Wrap section provided with each activity.

Grade 10 speaking and listening expectations are based on the establishment of discussion norms corresponding to the Common Core Speaking and Listening standards. Students grow their speaking and listening skills by moving beyond discussions of text analysis to researching and presenting information on current issues. Throughout, students are expected to verify and clarify ideas as well as advance differing views and support all information with credible and sufficient evidence. Opportunities to talk and ask questions of peers and teachers about research, strategies, and ideas are present throughout the year. The curriculum includes a host of protocols and graphic organizers to promote and scaffold academic discussions.

Following are some representative examples of how Grade 10 materials support students’ listening and speaking about what they are reading, researching, and presenting with relevant follow-up questions and evidence:

• In Unit 1 Activity 1.6, after viewing and taking notes on the PBS film clip The Life and Times of Frida and reading an excerpt from Frida, a Biography of Frida Kahlo, students prepare for a small group discussion “with well-reasoned, text-based responses to address Kahlo’s life, art, and cultural identity.” The discussion asks students to synthesize the information and concepts of both texts. In preparation, students organize the notes they had taken and work through a series of text-dependent questions: "What did you learn about Kahlo’s life, art, and cultural identity? What details are emphasized in each text to support your interpretation of the artist and how she depicts her cultural identity in her work?" Following the discussion, students are introduced to Kahlo’s Self-Portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States and the poem, “Legal Alien” by Pat Mora. In studying each of these texts, students answer a series of text-dependent questions and then participate in a second group discussion to compare and contrast what each text emphasizes and how emphasis is achieved.

• In Unit 2, Activity 2.15, after reading the 1959 United Nations' “Declaration on the Rights of the Child” and studying current statistics published by the World Health Organization, students “conduct research on the issue of hunger in [their] community” and “synthesize findings into a brief, informal presentation and present information to a small group of peers.” Teachers are given additional guidance in the Teacher Wrap to “ask students to provide feedback to the presenter to clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions presented.”

• In Unit 3, Activity 3.8, after reading Chapters 7 and 8 of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, students return to the text, working in small groups or pairs to prepare for a Socratic Discussion. Each group is assigned a single open-ended, text-dependent question. Working together, students are to “skim/scan Chapters 7 and 8, taking notes to find textual evidence to support their response.” Additionally, students are to develop a set of “talking points” in support of their answer and design a “drawing, outline, or graphic organizer” to act as a visual aid in their response. The Teacher wrap suggests the students participate in either a Gallery Walk or a jigsaw group to share their points with other members of the class, taking notes and asking questions to be used during the Socratic Discussion. Groups are then to prepare four questions for the discussion: two interpretive questions and two universal questions. Before beginning the discussion, students are reminded of the five Socratic Seminar norms.

• In Unit 4, Activity 4.4, after reading an excerpted monologue from White Teeth by Zadie Smith, students use a SOAPStone organizer to analyze the monologue: speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, and tone. Students use the analysis to consider how a monologue develops the complexity of a character and then are instructed to “write an original monologue on an issue of importance to them that reveals characterization, an internal conflict, or perhaps an issue of fairness or justice” and “include a summary statement of the scenario before the monologue; the speaker’s feelings on an internal conflict to convey a theme; diction, detail, sentence structure, and punctuation for effect.” After writing, students trade monologues with partners and “rehearse and conduct an oral reading of [their] partner’s monologue with appropriate vocal and visual delivery.” Presentation to small groups is followed up with a discussion on “ways to refine [their] monologue to make [their] intentions clearer.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the indicators for 1k. Materials include a mix of on-demand and process writing (e.g., multiple drafts and revisions over time) and short, focused projects incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

On-demand writing tasks are present within most unit activities and focus on specific text/s and/or on a specific writing skill: e.g., quickwrites, double entry journals, reflections, note taking, and answering writing prompts. Standard features of each unit--Working from the Text, Writing to Sources, Argument Writing Prompts, Explanatory Writing Prompts, and Narrative Writing Prompts--ask students to write shorter, on-demand responses that require attention to development, textual evidence, and incorporation of writing skills studied. Additionally, the program offers opportunities for student revisions of many on-demand writing activities.

Following are some representative examples of how Grade 10 materials employ on-demand writing alongside technology, editing, and/or revision tasks over the course of the school year:

• In Unit 1, Activity 1.5, after a close reading of Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds,” Writing to Sources: Explanatory Texts asks students to complete an on-demand assignment. Students are to write an essay explaining “how Tan uses the central conflict between mother and daughter to develop the theme of the work.” They are reminded to establish a clear focus regarding Tan’s “perspective toward cultural identity, toward her mother, toward America,” use sufficient quotes and details from the text, maintain an academic voice, and “vary syntax by incorporating a variety of phrases” in the essay.

• In Unit 2, through a series of activities, students revise a narrative essay into a series of panel drawings. In Activity 2.5, after reading the narrative essay, “Pick One” by David Matthews, students are asked to write a narrative essay recounting a time when they made a weighty decision about themselves. In this essay, they are to pay special attention to pacing, transitions, details, and sentence types. Later, in Activity 2.7, after studying the elements of a graphic novel and reading an excerpt from the graphic novel, Persephone by Marjane Satrapi, students are asked to return to the earlier narrative and revise it into a series of panel drawings using the elements of the graphic novel, editing captions and dialogue “to correctly use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.”

• In Unit 3, Activity 3.18, after reading chapter 22 of Things Fall Apart and the poems “Prayer to the Masks” by Leopold Sedar Senghor and “The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats, Writing to Sources: Explanatory Texts asks students to refer to their notes from Setting a Purpose for Reading and Second Read activities and write an essay making connections between the poems and the novel: “What similarities in theme or central idea did you notice?” Students are further instructed to “include quotes or specific details from the poems and the novel to support [their] claims; explain how specific words in the poems and the novel relate to each other and show similarity between themes; use a coherent organizational structure and employ transitions effectively to highlight similarities and difference.

• In Unit 3, Activity 3.19, after reading chapters 23-25 of Things Fall Apart, students are asked to “write a letter to the District Commissioner explaining how his attitude toward the Ibo people is based on cultural misunderstanding.” Students are to state their purpose in the first sentence, provide contextual evidence, and use appropriate voice and tone. Later in the unit, after a study of noun agreement, students are to return to the letter and verify all nouns match in number and agreement as well as agreement between antecedents and words such as “all,” “each,” and “both.”

Process writing is supported in each unit through two Embedded Assessments preceded by a series of instructional and practice activities with concepts ranging from ideation to grammar and syntax choices, writing structures, revision and editing. The ten Embedded Assessments offer a breadth of ELA writing purposes: Writing a Reflective Expository Essay about Cultural Identity; Writing a Synthesis Paper; Writing a Narrative; Writing an Argument; Writing a Literary Analysis; and Writing a Literary Analysis on Characterization and Theme. Each Embedded Assessment is outlined in Planning the Unit and Unit Overview sections of the Teacher’s Edition, and the Teacher Wrap provides general guidance to the teacher in the areas of revision and editing. Each Embedded Assessment also includes a scoring rubric and set of questions encouraging students to consider the elements of planning, drafting, and revising throughout the writing process.

Following are some representative examples of how Grade 10 materials employ process writing in longer written tasks featuring technology, revision, and/or editing over the course of the school year:

• In Unit 4, Embedded Assessment 2, after reading Antigone, students are to write an analytical essay examining the effects of character interaction: “Choose a character whose words, actions, or ideas contrast with Creon’s character. Explain how these conflicting motivations contribute to Creon’s development as a tragic hero and how the character interactions advance the plot or develop the themes of the play.” Preparation for and writing of this essay span nineteen class periods or approximately four weeks. Activities 4.8 through 4.15 take students through an in-depth study of characterization in the play, including “static and dynamic characters [and] complex characters who advance the plot,” character foils, and tragic heroes. The formal drafting, revising, and editing for publishing of the analytical essay occurs the final week of the process.

• In Unit 5, Embedded Assessment 1, after a study of climate change and global warming, students are asked to complete a focused project arguing “a solution to the environmental conflict your group has researched.” Students are to deliver a group presentation designed to contextualize the conflict and justify their resolution. Students are urged to consider using a digital format for their presentation, e.g., PowerPoint, Prezi, or other technological media. Activities 5.1 through 5.12 lay the foundations for the project. In Activity 5.15, students are to “write a position paper representing your stakeholder’s position...[choosing] an appropriate structure for your paper, [gathering] multiple sources to support your claim...being sure to: organize your points to present a clear argument, using the components of argumentation as a general outline; citing quotes and details from your sources to develop your claims...[including] transitions to link main points and a final statement that restates your claim.” Drafting the Embedded Assessment activity is followed up with Check Your Understanding, asking students to “annotate your draft, labeling the elements of argument in your paper” and marking edits for corrections in conventions. Additionally, revision and reflection activities occur in Activity 5.16 following a lesson on appropriate citation conventions. Students are to “exchange position papers with a partner and highlight all references to specific evidence, quotes, or ideas from sources” as well as add editing suggestions for accurate citations as needed. They are to look for variety in the use of direct and indirect quotations and syntax “to enhance the flow of the writing.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria for Indicator 1m. The Grade 10 materials include frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information appropriate to the grade level.

The instructional materials for Grade 10 support the indicator’s focus on writing to sources, a key task to grow students’ literacy skills. Writing tasks build over the course of the school year, providing students with varied opportunities of growing complexity to learn, practice, and demonstrate evidenced-based writing. Students are asked to analyze texts, create claims, and include clear information and evidence from texts read within the unit as well as texts read independently. Application of these skills is evident within the on-demand writing assignments as well as in the embedded assessments within each unit.

• In Unit 1, Embedded Assessment 2, students are asked to “collaborate with peers” to write a synthesis essay. Preparation of the thesis begins in Activity 1.14 after students have read several essays by various authors on the “individual’s attitudes and perspectives about cultures that have affected or influenced their own.” Choosing a Position asks students to take a position defending, challenging, or qualifying a response to this prompt: To what extent does a person’s culture inform the way he or she views others and the world? In Activity 1.15, students return to unit texts and independent readings to identify and qualify evidence for inclusion in the synthesis essay and in the final stages of writing, students work together crafting a group position paper integrating multiple sources and multiple pieces of evidence and explanations to support their claim.

• In Unit 2, Activity 2.6, after reading an excerpt from the essay “If You are What You Eat, Then What am I?” by Geeta Kothari, students write an essay that “explains the author’s use of a can of tuna as a symbol of cultural difference.” Students are reminded to discuss “the author’s use of specific words and figurative language to describe the characters’ ideas about tuna” and comment on how the narrative technique draws readers into the text.” Students are reminded to begin with a clear thesis fully conveying the “topic of the symbol and your view on how the writer uses it to engage readers” and to include “direct quotations and specific examples and details from the text to support your thesis statement.”

• In Unit 2, Embedded Assessment 2, asks students to develop an argument about “an issue that resonates across cultures...choose a position, target audience, and effective genre to convey your argument to a wide audience.” The Assessment Scoring Guide indicates an exemplary response “synthesizes evidence from a variety of sources that strongly support the claim; summarizes and refutes counterclaims with relevant reasoning and clear evidence; and smoothly integrates textual evidence from multiple sources.” In preparation for the assessment, Activity 2.17 asks students to read an editorial by Kathleen Kingsbury, and analyze how the author builds her argument. Students then write an essay explaining how Kingsbury builds an argument “to persuade her readers to support better treatment for restaurant workers.” Working from the Text pairs students in the use of a graphic organizer to “create an outline of the main argument and details of the passage” reminding students to “use your own words to paraphrase or summarize each section of the editorial, and check to make sure that your summary is accurate.” Students are reminded to focus “on the most relevant features of the passage” and consider how Kingsbury used evidence, such as facts and examples, to support claims.

• In Unit 3, Activity 3.11, while reading chapter ten of Things Fall Apart, students are asked to note values and norms of Ibo culture as they become apparent. Later in the activity, Writing to Sources: Explanatory Text asks students to use their notes “to write a paragraph to explain the values and norms of Ibo culture….[I]nclude a well-stated topic sentence; include the best details and textual evidence that highlight the values and norms of Ibo culture and use precise or domain-specific vocabulary when possible; use a logical organizational structure and employ transitions effectively to move from one key point to the next.”

• In Unit 4, Embedded Assessment 2, students are asked to “write an analytical essay about the effect of character interaction in the play Antigone. Choose a character whose words, actions, or ideas contrast with Creon’s character. Explain how these conflicting motivations contribute to Creon’s development as a tragic hero and how the character interactions advance the plot or develop themes of the play.” The Assessment Scoring Guide indicates an exemplary response “thoroughly examines the effect of character interaction on plot or theme; accurately analyzes characterization, including another character’s role (such as foil) in the development of a tragic hero; and smoothly integrates relevant textual evidence, including details, quotations, and examples.” In preparation for the assessment, Activity 4.15 asks students to analyze “the development of a tragic hero over the course of a play,” and “Write a character analysis incorporating textual support.” Working from the Text asks students to find “textual evidence to support your analysis of Creon as a tragic hero” and write an explanatory paragraph that “explains how Teiresias contributes to Creon’s development as a tragic hero.” Students are instructed to “[i]nclude specific relevant details...Cite direct quotations and specific examples from both characters.”

• In Unit 5, Activity 5.8, after watching the documentary film, The 11th Hour, students are asked to write a film review, taking a position “on whether or not it is effective as a documentary. Identify the criteria that are relevant to your target audience. Defend your position with relevant and sufficient evidence. Write a precise claim and support it with valid reasoning and relevant evidence. Be sure to: acknowledge counterclaims that anticipate the audience’s knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases while also refuting the evidence for those claims; maintain a formal tone, vary sentence types, and use effective transitions; end with a call to action to your target audience.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria for Indicator 1n. The instructional materials include instruction of grammar and conventions/language standards for Grade 10 and are applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts with opportunities for application context.

Direct instruction and practice with grammar and conventions/language standards are explicitly delineated and also embedded within the activities of unit lessons. Each of the five Grade 10 units is introduced with Planning the Unit, a Teacher Resource page explaining the unit purpose, followed by the Instructional Activities and Pacing chart listing instructional activities including grammar and language skills as they are taught and applied in the text selections and writing activities. An additional chart, Unit Resources at a Glance, provides a categorical list of unit features: Language Skills comprised of Language and Writer’s Craft featured on activity pages; Grammar and Usage, identified on activity pages through a sidebar; Writing Workshop with Grammar Activities, available through Teacher Resources; and English Language Development. Beneath each of these categories are specifically listed conventions and applications of grammatical structures taught and practiced throughout the unit. The unit’s activities, Word Connections, Academic and Social Language Preview, and some Check Your Understanding activities, address specific language concepts (L.9-10.4-6) and provide opportunities for student practice.

For example, in Unit 2, the Instructional Activities and Pacing Guide indicates that Activities 2.2 and 2.3 offer instruction and practice with language goals. Unit 2, Resources at a Glance lists sentence variety and varying sentence beginnings as among studies in Language and Writer’s Craft, and lists colons, semicolons (L.9-10.2a & 2b), punctuation for effect (L.9-10.2b), syntax, and verb tense as among the Grammar and Usage conventions to be studied. In Activity 2.2, a Grammar & Usage sidebar contextualizes sentences and fragments and provides an example from the text under study: “In academic writing, it is important to make sure all of your sentences are complete. In narrative writing and in poems, however, sentence fragments can sometimes be used for effect.” The sidebar provides an example from the mentor poem, “Where I’m From,” and asks students to consider how this “fragment affects the pace of the poem.” Later in the activity, Writing to Sources asks students to write an explanatory essay explaining how Lyon “uses imagery and specific words and phrases to convey a sense of family culture and identity.” Students are expected to include direct quotations (L.9-10.2), introduce and punctuate all quotations correctly (L.9-10.2b, W.9-10.2b), and use a coherent, organizational structure that makes connections between specific ideas (W.9-10.2c). The subsequent Activity 2.3 defines syntax as “the way a writer organizes the words, phrases, and clauses of sentences” and introduces students to subordinate structures such as subordinate clauses and appositives. Students read closely to identify authors' syntax choices, an activity building on previous activities exploring organizational structures that create cohesion and clarity (L.9-10.1b). Other grammar and convention practice in this unit includes punctuation using quotation marks (L.9-10.2b), understanding how to punctuate dialogue, using dashes within quotations to provide emphasis, and showing understanding of sentence variety by mixing simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences (L.9-10.3).

Word Connections, a sidebar featured throughout many unit activities, supports L.9-10.4-6, language standards related to Vocabulary Acquisition and Use. For example, in Unit 5, Activity 3, a callout box analyzes the words objectivity and subjectivity by analyzing the words’ roots and affixes, with the root ject, from the Latin jacere, meaning 'to throw.'” The callout box provides other examples of words with the root ject and follows with an analysis of the words’ prefixes, ob- and sub- before closing with a challenge for students to consider word parts in determining word meaning. Word Connections and Literary Terminology support students as they grow in skill to determine word meaning and as they “acquire and use accurately general academic and domain specific words and phrases” (CCSS, page 53).

Additionally, found in all Grade 10 units are lessons titled Academic and Social Language Preview and Optional Language Checkpoint. The Academic and Social Language Preview typically precedes lessons titled Interpreting the Text Using Close Reading. Unit 2 offers three such lessons. Academic and Social Language Preview offers an opportunity for students to determine word meaning through a context sentence prior to reading an entire text and then to check their definitions against a formal source (L.9-10.4a & 4d). The lesson is followed by the close reading and study of the associated mentor text. Optional Language Checkpoint, a class period activity, also appears in each unit. Included among the Grade 10 checkpoints are lessons in parallel structure, using punctuation within sentences, using subordination and coordination, noun agreement, recognizing frequently-confused words, recognizing conventional expressions. For example, Unit 2 Lc2.5 is a study of subordinate and coordinate clauses and related conjunctions (L.9-10.1b). Following the instruction and practice section of the lesson, Check Your Understanding instructs students to edit a written response provided in the activity: “Several clauses should be joined with conjunctions. Suggest which conjunctions you would choose...[R]emember to check your writing for subordinating and coordinating conjunctions.” Students then revise their own writing to include or to improve the use of subordinating and coordinating conjunctions.

Among the resource materials found under the Teacher Resource tab on the SpringBoard landing page are Grammar Activities aligned to specific grades, units, and activities (currently bearing the 2014 copyright date) as well as a Grammar Handbook for grades 9-12 (2014 copyright). Writing Workshops (copyright 2014), accessed through the Teacher Resources tab, also include instruction and practice with Language and Writer’s Craft using mentor texts. For example, Writing Workshop 5: Response to Literature, Short Story and Writer’s Craft Practice provides instruction on stylistic choices made by a writer: parallelism, analogy, allusion, and anaphora. The activity continues by asking students to cite an example of a stylistic choice from the Alice Walker mentor text used throughout the lesson and to explain the effect (L.9-10.3). Then, the activity asks students to return to their writing and edit for coherence, adding a transition to show comparison and contrast (L.9-10.1).

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 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 10 units and corresponding text sets are developed around a theme of culture and cultural conflicts in the largest sense. All units, with the exception of Unit 4, bear the word “culture” in their unit titles; unlike the other three units, Unit 4 addresses conflicts of cultures in the application of justice as played out across literature in drama and novels.

• In Unit 1, Cultural Conversations, students explore diverse cultures by reading texts that reflect on the connection between one’s cultural heritage and sense of identity to argue to what extent a person’s culture influences how he or she perceives the world and other people.

• In Unit 2, Cultural Perspectives, students expand the examination of culture from Unit 1 to include how culture affects people’s perspectives on the concepts of family and justice--including people from diverse cultures--and can come to understand one another through art, as well as universal human concern.

• In Unit 3, Cultures in Conflict, students continue their exploration of culture by reading and studying Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, to analyze a complex community, the institutions that enable it to function, the conflicting roles of its members, and the way in which it is affected by political and social change.

• In Unit 4, Dramatic Justice, students read texts from ancient Greece to modern times in a quest to analyze the complexity of justice and the universal struggle across time and cultures as expressed through literature. In that study, students evaluate and critique oral interpretations, analyze conflicting motivations of complex characters, and trace major themes as they evolve across the literary canon.

• In Unit 5, Cultural Bridges, students conduct an in-depth examination of climate change and the surrounding controversy, analyzing how conflicts over environmental resources are increasingly a source of culture clash.

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 10 meet the criteria for Indicator 2b. Grade 10 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.

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 2 Activity 3, Preview tells students what they will be reading, a memoir, and the why, “[to] analyze the narrative techniques that the author uses to tell her story,” an essential skill for the successful completion of the unit’s Embedded Assessment 1, when students will write their own narrative to “convey a cultural perspective.” Preview also engages students in vocabulary development, asking them to “circle unknown words and phrases. Try to determine the meaning of the words by using context clues, word parts, or a dictionary.” Setting a Purpose asks students to annotate the text while reading the memoir, an excerpt from Funny in Farsi, finding important narrative elements. 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 2, Activity 3, students complete a graphic organizer analyzing narrative elements and providing correspondent details from the narrative as textual evidence. After having worked through the activity text/s in various ways, Check Your Understanding asks students to respond briefly to a guiding question, typically in writing but sometimes through discussion. For example, in Unit 2, Activity 3, students are asked to reread “the description of Dumas’s mother’s lack of education. Discuss with a partner: How can adding background information about a character add depth to a character in a narrative?” The activity ends with Writing to Sources: Explanatory Text. In Unit 2, Activity 3, students are asked to “Write an essay to explain how the incidents portrayed in the narrative make a point about a particular aspect of culture.” The unit activities and texts work progressively, leading students to toward the first of two Embedded Assessments appearing midway through the unit and again at the unit end. In Grade 10 Unit 2, Embedded Assessment 1, students are tasked with writing a narrative about an incident, either real or imagined, that conveys a cultural perspective.” Students are reminded they have studied “narratives in multiple genres, and [you] have explored a variety of cultural perspectives. You will now select the genre you feel is most appropriate to convey a real or fictional experience that includes one or more elements of culture.” The Embedded Assessment draws on skills and knowledge that has been practiced through the various activities of Unit 2, Activities 2.1 through 2.10.

Not only do daily activities build in knowledge and skill, writing prompts also increase in complexity over the course of each unit. For example, Unit 1, Activity 2, the first explanatory writing prompt, asks students to explain a cultural artifact by writing an essay that describes the artifact, how it is used, and how it connects to the student’s culture. In Unit 1, Activity 3, the second explanatory prompt instructs students to examine the similarities and differences between the formation of cultural identity as analyzed by academics and as experienced by individuals, drawing on both selections as they explore this issue. The directions remind students to be sure to effectively incorporate multiple direct quotations from both texts, introducing and punctuating them correctly. A third explanatory writing prompt, Unit 1, Activity 6, asks students to explain how author, Amy Tan uses the central conflict between mother and daughter to develop the theme of the work in “Two Kinds.” The progression tasks from descriptive to comparison to analyzing the use of a literary device to developing a theme. This increasing sophistication prepares students to demonstrate competence when completing Embedded Assessment 1 as they write a reflective essay explaining their cultural identities, discussing how their sense of cultural identity compares to that of parents, peers, or strangers and how cultural conflict can influence one’s perspective.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria for Indicator 2c. Grade 10 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.

Day 1 of Unit 3, Activity 1 begins with the preview of Embedded Assessment 1, a reflective essay explaining their cultural identity. The assessment will follow Activity 8, and prior to the assessment students will “read poetry, short stories, and essays—all focusing on some element of cultural identity.” Activity 1.2 introduces essential academic vocabulary for the unit, culture, and cultural identity, terminology that will support students as they explore “the concept of culture and the role it plays in personal perceptions.” The first conventional text is introduced in Activity 3.3 and follows the program protocol for engaging students in new text: Preview, Setting a Purpose, Second Read, Working from the Text, and Check Your Understanding. Writing to Sources, a more extensive writing feature, frequently follows Check Your Understanding. Preview indicates the students will be reading two texts “to compare and contrast how the main idea is developed through the authors’ distinct voices.” The first text is an essay, “What is Cultural Identity?” and the second is a personal narrative, “Ethnic Hash.” Setting a Purpose instructs students to underline words that help “define the concept of cultural identity” and “circle unknown words and phrases” during the first reading of each text, an activity meant to build necessary knowledge to complete the embedded assessment. Each text is read and discussed separately. Following the first read of “What is Cultural Identity?” Second Read engages students in a closer reading of the text, prompting students to consider questions that are both text-based and text-dependent. For example, students are asked the explicit text-based question, “Based on the information given in the text, explain the difference between ‘cultural heritage’ and ‘cultural inheritance’” and the slightly more inferential text-dependent question, “What is the purpose of beginning the selection with the individual’s sense of identity and then moving to shared webs of meaning?” Working from the Text asks students to write an objective summary of “each section of the text” and then asks students to respond to more probing questions that are related to the Embedded Assessment yet to come, e.g., “Reflect on invisible aspects of your culture. What differences exist between you and your culture?” and “What are some examples of your culture? Explain how these aspects are dynamic.” Through these questions, students consider not only the text they are currently reading but the text they will be creating in few days.

After reading and rereading “What is Cultural Identity?” the second text is introduced. The instructional protocol again proceeds with Setting a Purpose, instructing students to underline words that help “define the concept of cultural identity” and “circle unknown words and phrases.” Following the first reading, Second Read asks students a series of text-based and text-dependent questions, e.g., “How does the author use food to develop her ideas about ethnicity?” and “What does the metaphorical title suggest about Williams’s cultural identity?”

This discussion is followed by a Language and Writer’s Craft lesson on formal and informal voice, and a Check Your Understanding activity wherein students complete a Venn diagram comparing voice between the two texts. Unit 3, Activity 3 culminates in Writing to Sources: Explanatory Text. Students are asked to use “your notes as the basis of an essay that examines the similarities and differences between the formation of cultural identity as analyzed by academics and as experienced by individuals. Draw on both selections as you explore this issue.” Students are reminded to use formal academic voice (as studied in the lesson), develop a clear thesis, use transition words, provide a concluding statement, and effectively “incorporate multiple direct quotations from both texts, introducing and punctuating them correctly.” Additionally, an Independent Reading Link sidebar in the lesson asks students to consider their independent reading and “consider people’s awareness of how their cultural identity is shaped—through ethnicity, family history, and/or geographical location. Note in your journal specific texts that cause you to reflect on how your own cultural identity has been shaped.”

This lesson activity is followed by a series of activities following the same instructional protocols to build background knowledge not only through a single text but also through the synthesis of understanding brought about through broad reading. Unit 3, Activity 5 introduces a novel excerpt from The Joy Luck Club and Unit 3, Activity 6 shares a biographical excerpt from Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo, artwork, a poem and a memoir. Each isolated text joins the library of texts built across the unit’s study and through the students’ independent reading in preparation for Embedded Assessment 1, “a reflection about your own cultural identity and argue to what extent a person’s culture influences how he or she perceives the world and other people.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria for Indicator 2d. The Grade 10 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 collaborate “with your peers to write an essay that responds to the following synthesis prompt: To what extent does one’s culture inform the way one views others and the world?” In preparation for this assessment, students have read a variety of texts including informational, personal essay, poems, and short stories with a primary focus on cultural identity. To complete the Embedded Assessment, groups are asked to reach a consensus and write a preliminary thesis or claim on the extent to which culture shapes perspective, ensuring each group member contributes a section that supports the thesis with evidence identifying cultural influences (SL.9-10.1a). Students must also support claims with evidence from at least three different texts read, viewed, or listened to in this unit (R.9-10.1, R.9-10.2, and W.9 –10.2, W.9-10.4 and W.9-10.5). To support students in completion of this task, a series of questions guides students through planning and prewriting, drafting and revising, and editing and publishing phases of the task, e.g., Who is your audience, and what are their concerns that must be addressed as counterclaims? What counterclaims will you acknowledge and what evidence do you have to refute them? Have you maintained a formal style throughout? In addition, the Scoring Guide outlines student expectations. Supports also exist in the Teacher’s Edition to help teachers identify that students are prepared to address these tasks. Teachers are encouraged to “have students revisit the group norms they have established and add to or revise the list as they embark on collaborative writing,” for example. Other supports include having students review the Scoring Guide to understand criteria, submit preliminary theses and outlines along with individual assignments for each group member, provide class time for student collaboration, and having teachers “model how to use the Scoring Guide to generate questions for peer revision, such as, ‘Does this paragraph integrate relevant examples from texts and personal insight to support the claim?’”

In Unit 3, Embedded Assessment 1 asks students to create a presentation that examines “one aspect of tribal culture presented in Things Fall Apart, its significance to the Ibo community, and to compare and contrast how that cultural aspect changed from precolonial to postcolonial Nigeria.” In preparation for this assessment, students have read the novel, Things Fall Apart, focusing on colliding cultures. To complete this embedded assessment, students select research questions to help compare and contrast one aspect of pre- and post-colonial Ibo culture (W.9-10.7), find and incorporate textual evidence of a cultural aspect from the novel Things Fall Apart (W.9-10.9), gather additional authoritative resources to answer their research question (W.9-10.8), and record their research in an annotated bibliography. Finally, students must utilize effective speaking and listening techniques to engage their audience (SL.9-10.4) as well as take notes during the presentation of their peers (SL.9-10.3). To help students to complete this task, a series of guided questions helps students to think through the planning, creating and rehearsing, and presenting and listening phases of the task, e.g., “How could you use a presentation tool such as PowerPoint or Prezi…?” “How will you choose relevant images and write appropriate captions to engage your audience?” “What are the effective speaking and listening techniques you will need to use to engage your audience?” In addition, the Scoring Guide outlines student expectations. Supports also exist in the Teacher’s Edition to help teachers identify that students are prepared to address these tasks. Teachers are encouraged to “provide examples of effective research questions and review the criteria for an annotated bibliography,” for example. Other supports include showing students examples of PowerPoint and/or Prezi presentations in order to illustrate effective and ineffective strategies, encouraging students to rehearse through their entire presentation as another group evaluates them, using the Scoring Guide criteria in order to provide feedback for improvement, and review the basic criteria for an effective presentation such as font size and color; use of images or graphs; use of notecards or a script to avoid reading off the screen; and quantity of text. Teachers are also encouraged to have students “Work together as a class to write a set of “best practices,” or look online for tips.

In Unit 5, Embedded Assessment 1 asks students to present “a solution to the environmental conflict your group has researched.” In preparation for this assessment, students have explored a variety of texts including documentary films, speeches, articles, editorials, and press releases, with a focus on the art of persuasion. To complete this embedded assessment, students are asked to apply the speaking skills practiced in Unit 3 and use logic, evidence, and rhetorical appeals to advocate in the effective delivery of a group presentation “designed to contextualize the conflict for your classmates and justify your approach to resolving it.” Students are to use maps, visual aids, or other media to engage the audience (W.9-10.6) and integrate oral source citations to cite research (W.9-10.8). In the process, students use technology to produce, publish, and update their writing product and to link and display information flexibly and dynamically. To help students to complete this task, a series of guided questions helps students to think through the planning, drafting and organizing, and rehearsing and presenting phases of the task, e.g., “How will your group identify common ground…?” “What background information will you provide to give a context for the conflict?” “What evidence and citations will you include to develop claims, counterclaims, and reasons?” In addition, the Scoring Guide outlines student expectations. Teacher materials provide supports that include reviewing with students the work done in previous activities to prepare them for this project, including research, annotated bibliographies, position papers, and collaborative work completed in the preceding unit activities.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 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 3, Unit Overview lists Academic Vocabulary and Literary Terms for study across the next 20 activities or lessons. Academic terms listed are: reliability, validity, plagiarism, annotated bibliography; literary terms listed are proverb, folktale, archetype, epitaph, motif, foil, characterization, foreshadowing, tragic hero, hamartia, irony, dramatic irony, verbal irony, andsituational irony. Over the course of the unit, students frequently interact with these words in the context of texts, activities, and tasks. In Unit 3, Activity 2, two essential unit terms, proverb and folktale, are featured in sidebars, the former defined as “a short saying about a general truth” and the latter, “a story without a known author that has been preserved through oral retellings.” Activity 3.2 focuses on these two terms, going beyond definitions to engage students in interpretive and analytic activities. In the first activity, students are provided with a series of proverbs and asked to write an interpretive explanation; the second activity asks students to analyze folktales for the qualities of the genre: characters, setting, plot, symbols, archetypes, meaning, and universal significance. 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. The second half of Unit 3 builds on academic and literary vocabulary preparing students for Embedded Assessment 2, an analytical essay asking students to examine a character’s response to the cultural collisions depicted in Things Fall Apart. In the essay, students must “analyze how the collision challenges the character’s sense of identity, and explain how his or her response shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.” Deep understanding of concepts such as archetype, motif, foil, and irony will help students to more accurately and critically analyze the work in reading, writing, and speaking. These activities are foundational to students as they build academic vocabulary enabling them to read diverse literary texts, research among primary and secondary sources, and become college and career ready.

In Unit 5, Unit Overview lists ten Academic Vocabulary and nine Literary Terms for study across the next 20 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 5.11a Academic and Social Language Preview draws vocabulary from the Activity 5.11 text, “A Roaring Battle Over Sea Lions.” The activity begins by providing a three-column chart listing selected words for study, e.g., dam, controversy, and prey. 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, e.g., practice matching photographs with vocabulary words or phrases, using a dictionary and marking the root word, and turn and talk using words from the vocabulary list. Unit 5, Activity 11c, Collaborative Academic Discussion, engages students in small group or paired discussions around academic language and literary concerns. For example, Activity 5.11c asks students “Does the author of this article choose a side in this controversy? Cite evidence to explain your reasoning,” and then it provides a sentence frame for student response, “It seems to me the author of this article _____.” 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 5.11c, students are told, “‘A Roaring Battle Over Sea Lions’ explores a conflict between animal rights activists and fishermen and tribal members of the region. With your small group, discuss the stakeholders in this conflict and the agendas of both groups.” Thereafter, students are to write their own opinion using a writing frame: “In my opinion….The appeal I found most effective...One thing I still wonder is…”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria for Indicator 2f. Grade 10 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 leads students in the preliminary work of defining and exemplifying the term, culture. Using note-taking strategies such as a word web and graphic organizers, students record thoughts, ideas, and notes evoked by iconic images presented by the teacher and discussed in class. Later in the activity, students are asked to list five items they could bring to class that would “express something about your cultural identity.” The first formative writing task of the year is presented in the Activity 2 Explanatory Writing Prompt: “Choose one of the five items from your list as the focus of a brief essay that explains the object to an audience that is unfamiliar with what it is, how it is used, and how it connects to your culture (and personally to you).” Students are instructed to describe the object using vivid and concrete language; explain the object’s connection to their culture, and explain the object’s personal significance. As a formative writing assessment, teachers are urged to check for student understanding “by asking for volunteers to share their explanatory essays.” Although not specifically stated, one might assume teachers can use the samples from this initial prompt to assess student proficiency and inform future instruction.

Unit 3, Activity 8 asks students to respond a question arising from Things Fall Apart. In preparation for the writing, students are asked to prepare for a Socratic Seminar by responding to a series of assigned questions as well as formulating novel, interpretive, and universal questions. After working in small groups to generate and address questions, students participate in the Socratic Seminar, taking notes in a two-column graphic organizer over peer responses. Following the seminar, teachers are directed to “ask students to select one of the questions from the graphic organizer and use it as the basis of an analytical paragraph.” Prior to writing, the Language and Writer’s Craft feature presents a mini-lesson on Academic Voice, advising students that literary analysis is “typically written in academic voice, which uses a straightforward, formal style and avoids a conversational tone. Academic writing focuses readers on the ideas as presented in the text, rather than on the personality and voice of the author.” The lesson includes a definition of formal diction and provides students with the characteristics of formal and informal writing styles. Student instructions state “[b]efore you begin the following writing prompt, look over your notes, which were probably written in an informal style and voice. When you respond to the prompt, you will want to use a formal style and voice to lend credibility to your academic writing.”

Throughout the year, The Teacher Wrap urges teachers to provide opportunities and time for students to move the work of their embedded assessment writing from Working Folders into the Student Portfolios: “Keeping a portfolio of work is an important strategy for having students go through regular self-evaluations of their academic progress.” Additionally, Teacher Wrap suggests the reflection questions related to each of the ten embedded assessments occurring over the course of the year also be included in the portfolio.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria for Indicator 2g. Grade 10 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 10 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, Embedded Assessment 2 asks students to “write an essay that responds to the following synthesis prompt: To what extent does one’s culture inform the way one views others and the world?” Students are expected to support their claims “with evidence from at least three different texts you have read, viewed, or listened to in this unit.” To prepare for this assignment, activities preceding the Embedded Assessment focus on how the attitudes and perspectives of others affect or influence one’s own perspective. Additionally, preceding activities analyze how rhetorical devices and elements of argument influence one’s perspective. In Activity 1.14, students draw on and synthesize the unit’s readings to take and support a position in response to this prompt: “To what extent does a person’s culture inform the way he or she views others and the world?” To complete this assignment, students not only review the unit texts but also incorporate textual evidence from the readings into a cohesive essay using correct punctuation and in-text parenthetical citations, demonstrating proficiencies in standards W.9-10.7 and W.9-10.9 as well as SL.9-10.1.

Unit 3, students continue their exploration of culture by reading and studying Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, analyzing the complex Ibo culture and community, the institutions that enable it to function, the conflicting roles of its members, and the way in which it is affected by political and social change. Embedded Assessment 1 asks students to “to examine one aspect of tribal culture presented in Things Fall Apart, its significance to the Ibo community, and compare and contrast how that cultural aspect changed from precolonial to postcolonial Nigeria.” Prior to reading the novel, Activity 3.2 and Activity 3.3 ask students to “[g]ather, evaluate, and cite sources to answer questions about the historical, cultural, social, and geographical context of the novel,” including completing a protocol to help them evaluate the validity and reliability of online information. The Academic Vocabulary feature in the same lesson defines and explains the terms validity and reliability. As part of the assignment, students must generate research questions to help them compare and contrast an aspect of pre- and post-colonial Ibo culture, find and incorporate textual evidence from the novel, and record research in an annotated bibliography.

In Unit 5, the Unit Overview informs students they will study the issue of climate change “one, to understand the issue and the conflicts to which it contributes, and two, as a model for a research project that you will present to your classmates.” To complete the task, students “conduct research on stakeholder positions” by analyzing “the relationship between cause-effect claims and the use of supporting evidence” and by evaluating “how filmmakers use evidence and rhetorical appeals to support a claim.” In Activity 5.12, students collaborate “to select an environmental issue for a research topic” and identify “stakeholders in order to focus research and draft a preliminary topic proposal.” In Activity 5.14, students prepare an annotated bibliography and examine “the link between careful documentation and ethos as a researcher.” The embedded assessment asks students to “deliver a group presentation designed to contextualize the conflict for your classmates and justify your approach to resolving it” including incorporating multiple pieces of evidence and citations to develop claims, counterclaims, and reasons, and integrating oral source citations to cite research.

The materials reviewed for Grade 10 meet the criteria for Indicator 2h. Grade 10 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 10 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 Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin (810L), Black Boy by Richard Wright (950L), Meridian by Alice Walker (1010L), and When I was a Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago (1029L). 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? How do you think learning about new cultures might change your perspective of the texts you 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, “In this unit, you will be exploring cultural identity. For your independent reading, find texts by authors who share your cultural ideas and make comparisons about shared experiences and experiences that are different.”

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 1.3 the sidebar notes, “From your independent reading, select an example that illustrates a character’s cultural experience. The character may be part of a smaller cultural group within a larger and much different culture. Discuss the text with your peers, sharing how characters experience cultural identity.” Teachers, likewise, are guided to engage students in their independent reading throughout the unit and are reminded in Teacher Wrap to draw students' attention to connections between their independent reading and the texts studied in class.