The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that texts are organized around a topic/topics (or, for grades 6-8, topics and/or themes) to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently.

The instructional materials are organized around themes and build students' reading comprehension of complex texts. The curriculum for Grade 8 explores the trials and tensions, great and small, of the human experience. The themes of the four units are as follows: “In Suspense,” “In Time of War,” “A Moral Compass,” and “The Civil War.”

Each unit provides fiction and nonfiction selections to build student content knowledge. Students are required to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently. At the beginning of each unit, students consider the “Big Idea” or essential question of the unit, and when they read and analyze texts in the unit, they face further questions and discussions about the essential question. The reading, writing, and discussion tasks ultimately lead to a culminating task that requires students to synthesize what they have learned about the texts as they relate to the overarching idea of the unit. Examples of texts centered around topics to build students' ability to read and comprehend complex texts include but are not limited to:

• The theme of Unit 1 is “Suspense.” Students read a variety of texts written by Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen King, and Edgar Allan Poe to build student knowledge and narrative writing skills. After reading classic thrillers, such as “The Monkey’s Paw,” Lord of the Flies, and “The Tell-Tale Heart,” students try their own hands at the genre, applying what they have learned about suspense to their own narrative writing projects. Other selections include Sorry, Wrong Number, an excerpt from Cujo, “Annabel Lee,” and “The Bells.”
• Unit 2 combines several selections to build student knowledge around the theme “In Time of War.” Students explore the complexities of wartime morality as it existed during World War II. The unit opens with a powerful speech, “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat,” delivered by Winston Churchill as the United Kingdom entered into the war against German fascism. Other selections explore the hope and despair created by war, as expressed by Anne Frank, John Boyne, Elie Wiesel and other Holocaust survivors, young people in Germany, Japanese Americans, proponents of peace, and prisoners of war. Students explore brave, critical, and illuminating choices that those in immersed in extreme conflict are forced to make, and the implications of their choices.
• The theme of Unit 3 is “A Moral Compass.” This unit encourages students to consider the complexities of morality. The unit opens with “Abuela Invents the Zero,” a short story by Judith Ortiz Cofer. It chronicles a teenage girl’s struggles with her traditional Puerto Rican grandmother and the culture clash it represents. Other selections delve into rich characters and character-building situations as created by Anton Chekhov, Langston Hughes, Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, Gary Soto, Rudolfo Anaya, William Blake, and Pablo Neruda. Students explore the complexities of how people become who they are and investigate ways to realize their potential in the world.
• Unit 4 combines several selections to build student knowledge around the theme is “The Civil War.” Students learn about this time period (1861–1865) through fiction, journals, nonfiction narratives, speeches, letters, and poetry. The unit begins with an excerpt from the Newbery-award–winning novel, Across Five Aprils. It lays out the main arguments for and against the war, and moves more deeply into the lives of characters who experience the war. Other selections share the words of President Abraham Lincoln, novelist Stephen Crane, activist Sojourner Truth, poet Walt Whitman, as well as soldiers and other historical figures. Students explore the impact of the Civil War from a variety of perspectives. They also research the effects of civil conflicts around the world that continue to this day.

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials contain sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts.

The materials contain sets of coherently sequenced higher order thinking questions and tasks that provide students with multiple opportunities to analyze language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts in order to make and build understanding within each thematically-based unit. The Cold Read activity for each texts encourages students to refer to pre-defined vocabulary and contains higher order thinking questions in the form of both text-dependent and text-specific questions; this type of activity is designed to help students make meaning of what they are reading as they prepare for the Close Read’s Extended Writing Prompt that asks students to more closely analyze the text using evidence. Examples of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, in the Close Reading of “The Monkey’s Paw,” students analyze craft and structure as they answer the prompt: “How do the story elements of character, setting, and plot contribute to the theme of “The Monkey’s Paw”? Use your understanding of story elements to determine the theme of the short story.”
• In Unit 2, in the Close Reading of The Diary of Anne Frank: A Play, students respond to the prompt: “How does political or national conflict influence individual families? How does The Diary of Anne Frank: A Play explore this theme? What elements of the play help you understand this influence? Support your answer with text evidence from the selection.”
• In Unit 3, in the Close Read of “Abuela Invents the Zero,” students analyze keys details as they answer the prompt: “How does the theme of “Abuela Invents the Zero” help you understand a larger lesson about how life experiences can shape our values? Use the details you have compiled from examining the conflict between the characters, as well as the characters’ thoughts, dialogue, feelings, and actions, to identify the theme of the story and analyze how it is developed over the course of the text. Remember to support your writing with evidence and inferences from the text.”
• In Unit 4, in the Close Read of “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave,” students analyze the author’s use of language when they respond to the prompt: “In some informational texts, authors try to persuade readers to accept a specific point of view about a subject. In what way does Frederick Douglass use elements of figurative language to express the anger and torment that he feels, and help readers understand it? How does the use of these figures of speech strengthen his argument against slavery? Use your understanding of figurative language and informational text elements to determine how successfully Douglass uses them in his narrative. Support your writing with evidence from the text.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials contain a coherently sequenced set of text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts.

The materials provided students multiple opportunities, through questions and tasks, to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts. Each unit contains texts that are represented in more than one format, several texts that explore/represent one theme, and several argumentative prompts that give students the opportunity to state and claim and use evidence from the various texts to support their claim.

Throughout the year, students thoroughly read, write about, and discuss numerous reading selections. Each unit includes prompts for informational, argument, and literary analysis writing tasks that require students to cite evidence from multiple texts. Each unit also includes a Research Project.

Instruction begins with a First Read Lesson, designed to emphasize meaning making and content comprehension. First Read lessons include StudySyncTV, which models critical thinking with collaborative passages that students are reading, and end with a series of short answer text-dependent questions. Students are then introduced to Skill Lessons and Close Read Lessons to support knowledge building, and culminate with a short constructed response that synthesizes their work. Each unit also contains a Full Text Study which comes with companion texts. This text set becomes the resource for the final activity for the Full Text Study, where students are asked to complete sustained writing tasks in response to prompts that require them to compare and contrast two or more of the texts in the set. Examples of coherently sequenced set of text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, in the Close Read for Cujo, students read an excerpt of Stephen King’s novel and then watch the same excerpt of the film version. Then students will complete the following task: “Watch the 1983 film version of this scene. Then reread the excerpt. How did director Lewis Teague stay true to the original novel? What liberties did he take with the script? What inferences did you make in the text passage that are retained or abandoned in the film version? In about 300 words, analyze the choices the film director made and the effects these changes have on your perception of the characters as well as the film’s level of suspense.” To further knowledge building, in the Close Read section, students are asked to annotate using the following prompt that deeps their understanding of the text by identifying evidence that helps explain one of the main character’s reactions to the suspenseful setting: "In the twenty-fourth paragraph, after all Donna has been through - hearing the dog growl, catching her first glimpse of Cujo's blood soaked fur, getting into the car and securing the door - Stephen King writes simply that "she screamed." Use text evidence to explain why Donna finally lets loose with this expression of terror, even though she is now in relative safety inside the car."
• In Unit 2, in the Close Read of “Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech” students compare the text to watching Elie Wiesel give his speech. Students respond to the following prompt: “How does the experience of reading the text of Elie Wiesel's “Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech” differ from the experience of watching the video of the speech? How do the visual and audio components of the video affect the message of the speech? Support your writing with evidence from both the video and the speech.” A Build Background component is included at the beginning of this lesson to supplement to provide context and more support for students to assure comprehension and meaning of the texts.
• In Unit 3, the Full Text Study is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. After reading the novel, students are asked to analyze the text in an essay according to the following prompt: “Most of the action of Tom Sawyer takes place in St. Petersburg, a name with religious connections. Could this town, based on Twain’s boyhood hometown of Hannibal, Missouri, be a kind of heaven to the author? By contrast, other crucial scenes take place in a dark underworld. What do you think Mark Twain is up to? Are there characters who stand for good, evil, or a combination of both? Is there a heaven and hell in the book? What part does religion play? Drawing from characters and events in the novel as well as from pertinent additional readings, write an essay of at least 500 words about morality in Tom Sawyer. What statement is Mark Twain making about good and evil? Is it supported or contradicted by the added readings?” These linked questions encourage re-reading and demand students marshall evidence from the text.
• In Unit 4, in the Close Read of “Sojourner Truth: Speech to the Ohio Women’s Conference,” two accounts of the speech are presented. Students read both accounts and respond to the following prompt: “Consider Sojourner Truth’s statement in the first account: “If my cup won’t hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?” What does she mean by “cup, pint, and quart?” How does Robinson present this idea in the second account, and how is the meaning of Sojourner Truth’s statement changed slightly in Robinson’s account? Write an explanation of the analogies that Truth makes and compare and contrast the two accounts of the speech and how they present these analogies. Then write an answer to the second question, comparing the two presentations. Use textual evidence to support your answer.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic (or, for grades 6-8, a theme) through integrated skills (e.g. combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).

Most culminating tasks support knowledge building. Examples of tasks that have students demonstrate building knowledge through integrated standards-based skills include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, in the Extended Writing Project, students wrestle with the complexities of wartime morality during World War II and write an argumentative essay where they reflect on two of the reading selections and pull in information from outside sources to address the issue of the best way that people can respond to conflict. Student look closely at the choices people are forced to make during these trying times and how these choices impact others. Each of the reading selections in the unit features individuals who face complex wartime challenges, and students are asked to closely consider the circumstances of these challenges and the decisions that were made, such as in the Close Read of “Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat” when students respond to the following prompt: “According to Churchill's speech, what will war mean for the British people, and why should England be involved? How does the main idea of Churchill's speech reveal his response to conflict, and what does this say about him? Support your writing with textual evidence from the speech.”
• In Unit 3, in the Extended Writing Project, students explore the complexities of morality and write a literary analysis in order to examine the values of two of the characters in the unit and how their values are shaped by their experiences.The texts in the unit illustrate the human experience and how it shapes who we are and how we approach the world. Each of the texts in the unit and their associated activities relate to this idea of human experience, action, and morality, such as in the First Read of “Abuela Invents the Zero” when students answer the following question: “How does Constancia respond when Abuela becomes lost in the church? Describe her reaction, and support your answer with textual evidence.”
• In Unit Four, there are a variety of texts and materials that deepen students’ knowledge about the causes of and events surrounding the American Civil War. The research links found in the Blasts provide diverse insights into this historical conflict, providing a framework for students to write an informative text about the effects the Civil War had on Americans and their views of freedom. In Instructional Path, The Big Idea, Blast: The Civil War, Teacher Resource Lesson Plan, students use technology to produce and publish writing. Under Research Links, Core Path, Question three is as follows: “In "Born a Slave, Now a Soldier" it is clear that many white citizens and soldiers did not believe that African Americans would make good soldiers, but they were proved wrong. What were some of the reasons they had for doubting the black forces? Why do you think the black soldiers fought as hard as they did? What was different about their cause for war than their fellow white soldiers?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic and domain-specific vocabulary words in and across texts.

Language instruction in the StudySync core program provides systematic vocabulary instruction as well as repeated opportunities for practice and application in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Students will encounter vocabulary-building opportunities across all three lesson types: First Reads, Skill lessons, and Close Reads.

Students are exposed to the challenging vocabulary in the text. They are given opportunities to use context clues and analyze word parts in order to understand the meaning of the words, and teachers are encouraged to model these types of strategies. The materials focus on language development by having students use context clues, word placement, and common Greek and Latin affixes and roots to figure out the meaning of words. The lesson plans for each text focus on academic and domain-specific vocabulary, and students are exposed to these vocabulary words through a variety of media. The vocabulary words are explained by other teens through a video, and there is a written explanation and examples for each term below the video.

Students are also provided with a Vocabulary Handbook. In the vocabulary handbooks, in each unit, students have lessons on topics such as synonym, context clues, base words, and prefixes. Instructional presentation, practice activities, and assessments are included for each unit. Examples of opportunities for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, in the First Read of “The Monkey’s Paw,” students make predictions about vocabulary. There are five bold vocabulary words in the text. As students read the text, they make predictions about what they think each bold vocabulary word means based on the context clues in the sentence. Students then use the annotation tool to make their predictions.

• In Unit 2, in the Close Read of Boy in the Striped Pajamas, students complete sentence frames using the vocabulary words. Some of the vocabulary words are included in the questions and some are included in the answers. Two examples of vocabulary used in questions include, “In anatomy class today, we studied how the skeleton supports the human __________.” and “The secret to Dad's Thanksgiving stuffing is the fresh __________ leaves he adds to it.”

• In Unit 3, lesson 28 focuses on building Academic Vocabulary. Students learn words such as access, amend, and consult. The goal of this lesson is to help students incorporate the academic vocabulary words into their vocabulary so that they can better understand academic texts. As the final step in the lesson, students answer questions such as, “Which of these is most likely to be objective—a news report telling exactly what happened or a speech supporting a candidate?”

• In Unit 4, in the First Read of Across Five Aprils, students think about the meaning of each vocabulary word. Students use the meaning of the word to answer questions such as “A __________ was added to the price of steel imported from Asia to protect American steel producers.” and “An abolitionist is someone who wants to __________ a practice or institution, such as the institution of slavery.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials support students’ increasing writing skills over the course of the school year, building students’ writing ability to demonstrate proficiency at grade level at the end of the school year.

The materials supports students’ growth in writing skills over the course of the school year..To achieve this goal, instructional materials include well-designed lesson plans, models, and protocols for teachers to implement and monitor students’ writing development. Direct instruction on the writing process builds as the year progresses. Within the unit, students write in response to driving questions in Blasts, comprehension questions in First Reads, and discussion questions in Close Reads. These informal writing opportunities prepare students to write more formally as part of each unit’s Extended Writing Project and Research assignments. For Research, students discuss, plan, research, write, and deliver presentations. In the Extended Writing Project, students complete a writing project in one of the three primary modes of writing with the help of a student model, graphic organizers, rubrics, and extensive scaffolding of writing skills. The students engage in all phases of the writing process. Examples of materials supporting students’ increasing writing skills over the school year include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, the Extended Writing Project focuses on the narrative form. The Student Model is used to help students better understand how narrative elements work together to create a suspenseful story, analyze how the model employs specific skills to keep readers at the edge of their seats, examine the process the writer used to develop the narrative through graphic organizers and story road maps, and identify how the model might, like their own narratives, benefit from revision. Direct instruction is provided on narrative techniques and sequencing, descriptive details, and writing dialogue in preparation for this final writing task.

• In Unit 2, the Extended Writing Project focuses on the argumentative form. The Student Model is used to help students better understand how argumentative elements work together to create a convincing argument, analyze how the model employs specific skills, such as effective organization, strong supporting details obtained from credible sources, and accurate citations of these sources, examine the process the writer used to develop the argumentative essay through graphic organizers and roadmaps, and identify how the model might, like their own essays, benefit from revision. Direct instruction is provided on Research and Note-Taking, Organization of Argumentative Writing (State a claim and provide appropriate convincing evidence), and Sources and Citations (including a Works Cited page) in preparation for this final assignment.

• In Unit 3, in the Close Read Section of “Ode to Thanks,” students complete an extended writing assignment according to the following prompt: “In “Ode to Thanks,” how does poet Pablo Neruda invite readers to appreciate the concept of gratitude? In an essay of at least 300 words, explain how the poetic structure, as well as the poet’s use of connotative word meanings and figurative language, help you understand the poem’s message. If you were to write your own ode in the style of Pablo Neruda, what would you praise, and why?” Once students complete their writing assignment, they submit substantive feedback to two peers and use their peers' feedback to improve their writing.

• In Unit 4, in the Full Text Study of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, students write an analytical essay that synthesizes the study of the main text and the accompanying texts, as seen in the following example: “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass does not read as a manual of how to escape or end slavery. Douglass’s path to freedom is fraught with hardship, suffering, setbacks. By most accounts his well-earned independence is improbable, given the circumstances. How is freedom best obtained? Consider Henry David Thoreau’s essay urging citizens toward civil disobedience, or nonviolent protest. Evaluate Thoreau’s recommendations in the context of Douglass’s presentation of American slavery. Claim a position on whether violence is a useful and/or necessary tool for obtaining freedom. Draw on several sources from the unit as well as your own ideas and cite textual evidence from Douglass’s Narrative and Thoreau’s essay to support your argument.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials include a 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.

Each of the four units in the Grade 8 materials include multiple opportunities for students to engage in research activities and present their findings. Each unit begins with a Big Idea Blast that gives students their first opportunity to draft a response to the driving question of the unit. The Blast includes multi-media research links that are related to the theme, and as students interact with the research links in the Blasts throughout the unit, they formulate a broader understanding of the theme, the texts in the unit, and the issues that surround them. The First Read of each selection in the unit includes a Build Background activity that asks students to work collaboratively on a small scale research inquiry that complements the text they are reading.

Each unit also includes an extensive, multi-step Research Project that is related to the unit’s theme and is a culmination of the skills that the students have practiced over the course of the unit and the knowledge they have gained. After sharing and discussing the results of individual members’ research findings, each group plans and then delivers a formal presentation in either the narrative, argumentative, or informative mode using multimedia elements such as videos, graphics, photos, and recordings to reinforce its main ideas.

If students are working on a topic that is informative, they present evidence to develop the subject matter. If students are working on a topic that involves presenting an argument in support of a claim, they use evidence that both supports their opinion and answers opposing viewpoints, or counter arguments. The Speaking & Listening Handbook is of critical importance during this phase of the Research project both for speakers and for listeners, who are required to respond critically and constructively to the work of their peers. Each unit provides suggested topics for each research project. Examples of focused research projects to encourage students to develop knowledge in a given area include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, students research examples and impacts of suspense in mediums such as radio stories, articles, films, and documentaries. One example of suggested topics is as follows: “How do film, text, and radio versions of the same story treat the elements of suspense and horror in different ways? For example, what differences become clear after listening to the radio version of Sorry, Wrong Number and watching the film version? How does the medium affect the content and impact of the story?”

• In Unit 2, students research a particular person or group of people affected by World War II. Students explore various mediums, including diaries, letters, speeches, interviews, informational videos, historic articles, contemporary analyses, reference book entries, and images, in order to gather information about the experience of their chosen person or group. Then, students use the information they have assembled in order to create an original historical fictional narrative to be read aloud and performed as a five- to seven-minute dramatic scene, in the style of Reader’s Theater. One example of a suggested topic is as follows: “Explore the experiences of young Germans during World War II, on which Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow sheds some insight. In what ways were their lives impacted by rise of Hitler and the Nazi party? What pressures did they face? In what different ways did they respond? How did the Holocaust and the loss of the war shape their future lives?”

• In Unit 3, students investigate the different ways we work to be better people, and the way this work is described in literature, film, and other arts, as well as by the sciences. They explore different media, print and online resources. One example of a suggested topic is as follows: “What are some books, films, photographs, TV shows, or other art forms that depict people giving selflessly when they themselves have very little? How do these works continue to affect us?”

• In Unit 4, students research different ways authors have addressed these momentous events of history. They trace the wars’ development and effects through various mediums, including speeches, interviews, informational videos, historic articles, contemporary analyses, reference book entries, images, and propaganda. One example of a suggested topic is as follows: “How do different nonfiction accounts of the American Civil War represent the events leading up to the conflict? Look at several different sources of information, including letters, journals, speeches, and articles, and explain how they differ in their presentation of the run-up to the war. How do these differences affect your interpretation of what actually happened just before the fighting started?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials provide a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

The Core Program Overview includes a structured guide titled “Building an Independent Reading Program.” This section provides an overview of why independent reading is important, and it gives details on how to set up such a program in the classroom. Teachers are also given a five step plan to implement an independent reading program that provides choice for students to select texts and read independently at home and at school. This includes referring students to the StudySync Library where they can explore other titles in the library that share the same themes as addressed by the units.

Suggestions for accountability include reading logs, notebooks, online reflections, and informal conversations. Accountability suggestions also include having students complete end-of reading activities such as filling out a Google Form, pitching books, producing movie trailers, writing reviews on GoodReads, designing movie posters, and participating in a book club style chat. Examples of opportunities for students to regularly engage in a volume of independent while being held accountable include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, in the First Read of A Night to Remember, the lesson plan states, “Read and Listen Individually or as a class, read and listen to the Introduction for A Night to Remember. The introduction provides context for the excerpted chapter.” Students will use the information to form predictions on the KWL chart on this text. The Core Program Guide states, “In addition to the time you spend reading in class, it’s important to set clear expectations for independent reading outside of the classroom. Students should read outside of class for a set amount of time each day. As students become stronger readers, the time spent reading outside of class should also increase.”

• In Unit 2, students read texts related to the theme In Time of War. Students are given opportunities to read independently inside and outside of class. The Core Program Guide suggests that teachers “Designate a specific time for independent reading in the classroom that is consistent each day.” The StudySync Library provides additional texts related to the unit’s theme including All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, Stepping on the Cracks by Mary Downing Hahn, and The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen.

• In Unit 3, students are encouraged to read texts from the StudySync Library on the theme of A Moral Compass during independent reading. Additional texts include “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, “A Retrieved Reformation” by O. Henry, and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Students are encouraged to complete a Google Form shared by the teacher to share the information learned in the text. Students also complete their independent reading logs.

• In Unit 4, students are encouraged to read texts on the theme of The Civil War during independent reading. The Core Program Guide states, “Your independent reading program should be ongoing, so it’s important to set up a system for recording what students are reading. This can be easily done using a Google Form to create an online reading log. As students finish each text, they should complete a form providing basic information about their book, a rating and a written review.” The pacing guide gives suggestions for further and independent reading including texts such as “American Literature and History: “The Civil War Era” by McGraw Hill Education, “Bull Run” by Paul Fleischman, and Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing.

Each lesson is designed for a fifty-minute period. The year-long instruction is broken into four units. Each unit is broken into forty-five lessons, totalling 180 days of instruction. Each unit follows a similar structure, and a Full Text Study is provided for each unit. Most lessons begin with a First Read, then a Skill lesson, followed by a Close Reading activity. Each lesson includes detailed lesson plans for the teacher, as well as online materials for the students. Each lesson plan has clear guidelines for a core path as well as an access path that may include categories for beginner, intermediate, advanced, and approaching. Units 1 and 3 contain an alternative pacing guide that incorporates core instructional units with English language development lessons.

Each unit also includes a Pacing Guide that helps teachers utilize the resources offered in each StudySync Core ELA and English Learner unit. The pacing guide weaves lessons from every segment of this Core ELA unit: the Instructional Path, Extended Writing Project, Research Project, and Full-Text Study. An additional column helps the teacher align Core ELA unit content with lessons from its companion English Learner unit.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that the teacher and student can reasonably complete the content within a regular school year, and the pacing allows for maximum student understanding.

The pacing guide for each unit divides the unit into forty-five days in order to be able to complete the curriculum in an 180-day school year. Instructional days often contain more than a single task. Pacing is based on fifty-minute instructional days, but teachers may need to modify the suggested pacing to fit their scheduling needs. This can easily be accomplished through selection of the ten to twelve available texts in each unit. Examples of pacing allowing for maximum student understanding and the ability to complete the content within a regular school year include but are not limited to:

• In order to meet the needs of individual schools, the Pacing Guide provides a Shortcuts section, which highlights areas where teachers can trim the unit to ensure that they are covering the most important sections.

• Suggestions for for shortening a unit include the following: “replacing the Research Project with a Crowdsourcing Activity: Instead of a 12 day research project, you can make the research component of this unit an informal exploration using a crowdsourcing activity, and eliminate Repeated Author’s Purpose and Point of View Skill Lessons: Each unit focuses on developing specific skills. Some of these skills are repeated throughout the unit to ensure students have plenty of practice with those skills. If you are in a rush and looking to cut some of the content in a unit, you can eliminate one or two of these skill lessons and feel confident your students will still be exposed to the information they need about author’s purpose and point of view.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that the student resources include ample review and practice resources, clear directions, and explanation, and correct labeling of reference aids (eg. visuals, maps, etc.)

The materials, through their integrated approach that combines reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and presenting, along with instructional routines that are predictable and easily understandable, provide students with activities and opportunities to practice what they are learning.

The unit components offer clear explanations and directions, teacher and student models, and a variety of instructional routines and opportunities to practice and apply skills. Student writing and text annotations are saved to an electronic binder where students can receive peer and teacher feedback. With more than 40 short, constructed responses over the course of a grade level, the materials provide frequent opportunities for on-demand writing practice.

The teacher’s lesson instructions are clear, and the lessons are detailed. For example , in Unit 1, students study the skill of Author’s Purpose and Author's Point of View while reading “Let ‘Em Play God.” As an introduction to the skill, students are provided with a definition of the skill, both in written form and through an informational video. Next, students dive deeper by observing the application of the skill through further explanation and a model. During this model section, students have the option of using an annotation tool and/or listening to the audio version of the text. As a last step, students have the opportunity to practice what they learned through the “Your Turn” section. In this section, students read a short passage, analyze the text, and answer two multiple-choice questions.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items.

The materials offer resources that connect the Common Core State Standards to the elements of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The Scope and Sequence document provides a grid that shows where all of the informational and literature standards are covered within each unit - specifically where they are introduced as practice/application only or instruction along with practice and application. Every assignment that the students complete has information at the bottom of the page that connects the task to the Common Core Standard being addressed. Every lesson comes with a detailed lesson plan that outlines the objectives and lists the Common Core Standards that are covered in the lesson. Every step of the lesson plan is provided in detail and mentions the relevant connections to the CCSS.

All of the sections and handouts in the Speaking and Listening Handbook contain references to the Common Core State Standards being addressed, as well. For example, in Unit 2, in the First Read of “Miss Breed,” students answer Think questions that are aligned to Common Core State Standards. For example, students answer the following question: “Describe the conditions at the Poston Relocation Center. What made living there so difficult? Use specific details from Dear Miss Breed in your answer.” This question aligns to CCSS.RI.8.1. In the Close Read of “Miss Breed,” students answer the following writing prompt: “Louise Ogawa, Babe Karasawa, Don Elberson, Chiyoko Morita, and Jack Watanabe all provide first-hand accounts of the relocation camp in Poston. What makes first-hand accounts of historical events more interesting and exciting than descriptions by people who weren’t present at the scene? How do first-hand accounts help you visualize places and events in the past in a way that second-hand accounts do not? Support your writing with evidence from the text.” This prompt aligns to RI.8.1, RI.8.7, W.8.10, W.8.4, W.8.5, and W.8.6.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials contain a teacher’s edition with ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student edition and in the ancillary materials. Where applicable, materials include teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning.

Detailed lesson plans are provided for each text within each unit. Access Paths, Blasts, First Reads, Close Reads, and Skill Lessons are provided along with detailed instructions, activities, and answer keys for each task suggested in the lesson plans. Embedded technology includes Tech Infusions, which are extension activities that incorporate technology such as Padlet, Diigo, PollEverywhere, etc. Another technological feature is Blast activities. This feature allows students to participate in a classroom version of social media, beginning with a driving question and a shared reading of background on a topic. This is followed by responding to the driving question in a public forum, participating in a poll, and reviewing live research links to learn more about the Blast’s topic. Blast responses go live in real time, allowing students to give each other feedback, select favorite responses, and reflect on the driving question again in light of the words of their peers. Examples include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, in the Close Read of Sorry, Wrong Number, the teacher is provided with the following instructions and guiding questions for a class discussion: “In small, heterogeneous groups or pairs, ask students to share and discuss their annotations with a focus on the point of view presented in the selection. You can provide students with these questions to guide their discussion: Besides the dialogue, what else gives us information as we read this text? What Mrs. Stevenson's mood before she overhears the two men talking? How does her mood change by the end of the excerpt? What causes the change?”

• In Unit 2, in the First Read of “Dear Miss Breed,” the teacher is provided with the following instructions to lead a class discussion: “In small groups or pairs, have students discuss the questions and inferences they made while reading. Which details help you develop a mental picture of the living conditions Japanese-American families find at Poston? How do Louise Ogawa's descriptions of the scenery through which she traveled serve to create a sense of irony? How do you think Babe Karasawa and his brothers felt about living in the barracks apartment he describes? Which details in Babe's description help you visualize what that first day was like for them?”

• In Unit 3, in the Close Read of “Ode to Thanks,” the teacher is provided with the following embedded technology activity: “Students can create concept maps online using Bubbl.us. Google drawing can also be used to design a concept map.”

• In Unit 4, in the Close Read of Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, the teacher is provided with the following embedded technology activity: “Have students create their own crossword puzzles using words from the text. Students can create their crosswords on paper or using an online tool, like Puzzle Maker. Then students can post the puzzles and solve them.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials contain a teacher’s edition that contains full, adult-level explanations and examples of the more advanced literacy concepts so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject, as necessary.

In each lesson plan, teachers are provided with full explanations and examples of the more advanced literary concepts in the following sections of the Teacher’s Edition section entitled, “Instructional Path.” The Access to Complex Text section provides teachers with information to access the complex text by providing the actual literary concepts and examples found in the featured text. The Overview section provides teacher with a summary of the text identifying the literary concepts included in the featured text. Answer Keys are provided with all activities in each lesson plan of each text along with Access to Complex Text features for each text to assist the teacher is scaffolding instruction for the students, so that they all can access the complex text. This text includes a Teacher’s Glossary in each unit which includes linguistic, grammatical, comprehension, and literary terms that may be helpful in understanding reading instruction. Examples of explanations and examples include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, in Grade 8 ELA Overview for “Let em Play God,” the teacher is provided with the following information: “To help students understand Hitchcock’s theory, use the following ideas to provide scaffolded instruction for an initial reading of the more complex features of this text. Although Hitchcock discusses abstract ideas such as suspense and letting an audience ‘play God,’ he provides concrete examples to explain this thinking. However, because students are likely to be unfamiliar with the example of Rope, it may be difficult for them to understand.”

• In Unit 2, in the First Read of “Blood, Toils, Tears and Sweat,” the teacher is provided with the following background information about vocabulary so that the teacher can provide scaffolded instruction: “The British system of government may confuse some students. At this time, Britain was a monarchy led by King George VI. (You may wish to point out that George VI's daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, is the current monarch.) Point out that the phrase “His Majesty" is in reference to the king. Explain that Parliament is a two-chamber system comprised of the House of Lords, whose members inherit their seats, and the House of Commons, who members are democratically elected.The Parliament is presided over by a Prime Minister who, in consultation with the king, leads the nation. Students will most likely be unfamiliar with Churchill's references to the political parties that comprised the British government at that time. Point out that Labour, Opposition, and Liberals refer to various parties of differing viewpoints among themselves as well as with Churchill's Conservative Party.”

• In Unit 3, in the Grade 8 ELA Overview for “Home,” the teacher is provided with the following background information about vocabulary so that the teacher can provide scaffolded instruction: “Some difficult vocabulary may present a challenge to readers. Terms such as headmaster, governess, and other terms that pertain to upper-class Russian life may need to be defined...The thirteenth paragraph contains a sentence in French that is not translated for students. Explain that the governess is telling Seryozha that his father is calling him, and he should move quickly. You may wish to point out that this phrase in French is textual evidence allowing students to infer that, even at age 7, Seryozha is receiving lessons in foreign language.”

• In Unit 4, in the Skill Lesson: Connotation and Denotation” for “Paul Revere’s Ride,” the teacher is provided with the following information to aid in class discussion: “To help these students participate in the discussion, prompt them with questions that can be answered with a few words, such as: What type of meaning do words have beyond dictionary definitions? What does the denotation of a word refer to? What does the connotation of a word refer to? What do writers use denotative meanings for? What do writers use connotation for?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials contain a teacher’s edition that explains the role of the specific ELA/literacy standards in the context of the overall curriculum.

StudySync’s Program Overview states, “The core program was built from the ground up to fully align with the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. The program’s instruction targets requirements of these standards.” The program offers a variety of high-quality texts. The selections presented in each unit and grade offer a balance of literary and informational texts. These texts offer complex themes and ideas as well as compelling characters and language.The alignment is evident in the Scope and Sequence. In this chart, texts are listed in order by unit. For each text, the materials identify which standards are being practiced and which ones are being taught and practiced. This is indicated by an “o” and an “x” respectively. At a glance, teachers can tell which Reading Literature, Reading Informational Text, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language standards are being addressed by each text.

The materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials contain a explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research based strategies.

The materials provide a document in the Core Program Guide entitled, “Research-Based Alignments”. In this document, the publisher provides an overview of the research upon which the instruction in StudySync was built. The document provides a summary of key research findings and recommendations for best practices of instruction in English Language Arts, focused on Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language, and Media and Technology. The document summarizes key research findings and research-based recommendations related to effective reading instruction from several key sources. Some of the key sources are as follows:

• Reading Next-A Vision for Action and Research in Middle and High School Literacy: A Report to Carnegie Corporation of New York 2nd Edition (Biancarosa & Snow, 2006). Written in conjunction with staff from the Alliance for Excellent Education, this document describes 15 key elements of effective adolescent literacy programs. Designed to improve adolescent achievement in middle and high schools, the elements are subdivided into instructional improvements and infrastructural improvements.

• Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices: A Practice Guide (Kamil, Borman, Dole, Kral, Salinger, & Torgesen, 2008). This report provides clear and evidence-based recommendations for enhancing literacy skills in the upper elementary, middle, and secondary levels. An analysis of the quality of the evidence supporting each claim is provided.

• Reading for Understanding: Toward an R&D Program in Reading Comprehension (2002). This review of the research on reading comprehension instruction was conducted by the Reading Study Group for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Education Research and Improvement.

• Writing to Read: Evidence for How Writing Can Improve Reading. A Report from the Carnegie Corporation of New York (Graham & Herbert, 2010). This document provides a meta-analysis of research on the effects of specific types of writing interventions found to enhance students’ reading skills.

• Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools. A Report from the Carnegie Corporation of New York (Graham & Perin, 2007). This report provides a review of research-based techniques designed to enhance the writing skills of 4th to 12th grade students. Additionally, specific findings have been incorporated from other recent, reputable research related.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress.

The materials contain both formative and summative assessments that can be used to measure student progress. There is a placement test that can be given at the beginning of the unit. Each unit has a summative assessment that tests comprehension, skills, vocabulary, and writing. Teachers use the responses in the First Read, the Skills lessons, Close Reads, Blasts, and Extended Writing Projects to conduct ongoing formative assessments. These formative assessments contain a variety of assessment types including multiple choice, short answer, discussion, and extended response. Formative assessments are found throughout the unit, and the End of Unit summative assessments are found in the Core ELA Assessment materials.

The materials provide Placement and Diagnostic Assessments, which are typically given at the beginning of the school year. These assessments focus on fluency and spelling, including an upper-level spelling inventory. The materials also provide oral reading and maze fluency assessments.

In the final portion of a Skills lesson, students respond to two short questions about a different passage of text from the First Read. These assessments provide teachers with immediate feedback on student performance, and the program contains guidance to teachers on how to alter instruction based on that performance.

Throughout each unit, students are assessed on their understanding of key instructional content along with their ability to write to sources. The results of these summative assessments provide teachers with data to track year-long progress and inform instructional decisions.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that assessments clearly denote which standards are being emphasized.

Formative assessments are built into each unit through Blasts, First Reads, Close Reads, and Skills Activities. Each formative assessment includes notations of the standards that are being addressed. The Teacher Introduction portion of the Core ELA Assessments document describes the assessments’ key areas of focus. The answer key at the end of each downloadable paper copy of the assessments provides item-specific information such as content focus/skill, Common Core State Standard, and Depth of Knowledge (DOK) level. The online version of the assessments offers the same metadata for each item along with tech-enhanced item functionality.

For example, in Unit 1, in the Skill lesson on Theme for “The Monkey’s Paw,” students define theme, participate in a whole group discussion that helps them understand how to identify theme in a work of fiction, and independently answer the following questions in the Your Turn section of the lesson: “Which of the following states an important idea that may be the theme of the selection? Which sentences or phrases from the passage best supports your answer?” These questions serve as a summative assessment and support teachers to identify mastery of Common Core State Standards RL.8.1 and RL.8.2.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that assessments provide sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow up.

At the culmination of each unit, students are assessed on key instructional concepts and their ability to write to prompts. The information that these assessments reveal informs future instruction, leveling and grouping, and the need for remediation and/or reteaching. These end-of-unit assessments also generate reports for students and parents on skill strengths, skill deficiencies, standard and skill proficiency levels, and across-unit growth. Students take end-of-year assessments that indicate their readiness for state testing.

At the end of the final assessment for Unit 3, the materials guide the teacher in how to modify instruction based on outcomes such as, “Students score less than 7 on the Performance Task full write for unit assessment...then reteach the following skill lessons from the Extended Writing Project as needed, using the Access 4 Handout and the Approaching instructional scaffolds in the Access Path: Thesis Statement, Organize Argumentative Writing, Supporting Details, Introductions, Transitions, Conclusions, Style, Sources and Citations.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials should include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress.

The StudySync materials provide for ongoing review, practice, and feedback. The Core Program Guide explains that assessments available in StudySync ELA allow for monitoring student progress, diagnosing possible issues, and measuring student achievement in relation to their understanding of previously-taught skills. The assessments included within the program help teachers gather data to address students’ instructional needs, and they measure the critical components of reading. The assessment options are grounded in research. Each unit has a Research and an Extended Writing Project, which include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress in writing. Routines and guidance include but are not limited to:

• Teachers are provided with placement and diagnostic assessments that support their decision-making regarding appropriate instructional levels for students. These assessments serve as a baseline and help teachers to monitor student progress throughout the school year.
• Each Unit provides teachers with lesson plans that “point teachers toward minute-to-minute formative assessment opportunities.” First Reads, Skills, Close Reads, and Extended Writing Projects offer “medium cycle assessment opportunities for students and teachers to chart progress toward key learning outcomes. End of unit assessments and performance tasks test key skills and measure progress summatively.”
• Each chapter of the Language and Composition Handbook focuses on a specific grammar or usage skill. Each chapter begins with a pretest, followed by instruction and practice, and ends with a post test.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials provide teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of range of learners so the content is accessible to all learners and supports them in meeting or exceeding the grade-level standards.

Throughout each instructional Unit, differentiated lessons are provided for the teacher to use. This Access Path provides differentiated lessons that are classified as emerging, intermediate, advanced, and approaching. The lesson plans provide a column to offer suggestions for the teacher to use in order to adequately differentiate the lesson. Student grouping is suggested in many lessons. Differentiated worksheets are provided. ELL students may be provided with more sentence frames while receiving access to the same materials.

Each lesson includes a full complement of Access Handouts. Access Handouts are differentiated through the use of sentence frames, graphic organizers, glossaries, and many other activities. Access handouts provide students with support to complete core assignments alongside their on-grade level classmates.

Teachers can create multiple online classes and custom learning groups. This allows teachers to assign texts and weekly Blast based on Lexile levels. Teacher can customize the directions and requirements for entire classes, smaller groups, or individual students. Teachers can “modify prompts, turn on audio readings, and extend due dates” to help students meet learning goals.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level, or in a language other than English, with extensive opportunities to work with grade level text and meet or exceed grade-level standards.

Students read grade-level texts through the support of teacher modeling and scaffolded instruction. Students work as individuals, in small groups, and as a whole class. Student Models of interactions with texts are provided via multimedia introductions. Reading skills are supported by explicit grammar and vocabulary instruction. The instructional materials provide guidance on how to adapt instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners.

For each Unit, teachers can choose the Core unit or EL Unit. The EL Unit contains materials and assessments for beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners. All lessons contain a Core Path and an Access Path for teachers along with Access handouts for students to support the instruction in the Access Path. The program provides instructional materials that can be used for pre-teaching, reteaching, remediation, and small group instruction. Documents include the following: Grammar, Language, and Composition Workbook, Vocabulary Workbook, Spelling Workbook, Standard English Learners Handbook, and Foundational Skills.

The materials provide access supports for the reading of texts such as Audio Options, Audio Text Highlight Tool, Audio Speed controls, Video Content with Closed Captioning, Text Enlargement, and Keyboarding. The materials provide supports for students who are full English language learners, and they provide supports for students who are learning Standard English, such as Contrastive Analysis Drills, Translative Drills, and Discrimination Drills.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials regularly include extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade level.

There are activities in the Access path in each of the four units that are offered for beyond grade-level students. These activities are designed to take above grade level students further into the core path content should they complete the activity before other students. Along with the scaffolds that differentiate instruction for English learners in the access path, teachers locate differentiation suggestions for beyond grade-level learners that stretch their thinking, adding more opportunities for collaborative and creative engagement. While core path questions may exercise reading comprehension strategies as well as inference techniques and the application of textual evidence, the beyond activity asks students to brainstorm how two characters might talk their way out of trouble.Technology can be leveraged to support these students.

For example, in Unit 2, in the First Read of The Diary of Anne Frank: A Play, the Access Path provides advanced students with an opportunity to summarize. Students “complete the Summarize activity on the Access 3 handout to summarize the first two paragraphs of the excerpt.” Students then exchange their work with a partner to review each other's answers. Teachers check for understanding after the activity is complete.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 8 meet the criteria that materials provide opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies.

Throughout each instructional unit, students are encouraged to learn in groups. Students participate in collaborative conversations about texts, watch StudySyncTV group discussions which serve as models, and receive instruction in whole group, small group, and one-on-one settings.

Throughout every instructional unit, the lesson plans provide a column to offer suggestions for the teacher in order to adequately differentiate the lesson. Student grouping suggestions are provided in many lesson plans. Differentiated worksheets are provided. ELL students may be provided with more sentence frames while still receiving access to the same materials. For example:

• In the Close Reads for each text, students express their ideas in collaborative conversation groups before planning and writing a short constructed response.

• The Access Path guides teachers to leverage technology tools, such as Closed Captioning and Audio Text Highlight to engage and instruct learners. Additionally, the Access Path guides provide suggestions for alternating between whole group, small group, and one-on-one instruction.

• At each grade level, the Speaking and Listening handbook is divided into four sections: Collaborative Discussions, Critical Listening, Research Using Various Media, and Presentation Skills. Each section is comprised of a comprehension lesson plan, including student handouts, checklists, and rubrics. Each section contains formative assessments that can be used and repeated for the following activities: engaging in small or large-group discussions, listening critically and responding to information and ideas shared by others, conducting research and assembling findings, and presenting in the narrative, informative, and argumentative modes using multimedia elements.