7th Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for anchor texts being of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading and consider a range of student interests.

Texts consider a range of topics that are high-interest and age-appropriate for Grade 7. Topics include space exploration, animal behavior, the constitution, the underground railroad, the dangers of social media, and humor. Many of the core texts are timeless classics, CCSS exemplar texts, written by award-winning authors, and contain rich vocabulary, both academic and content-specific. Texts are worthy of careful reading. Examples of these texts include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, students read The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. This excerpt of a timeless classic is high quality. Focusing on story elements, such as setting, character, and plot, and how they interact, students see how characters in a story may influence the action of the plot, or the plot may influence the actions of the characters.

• In Unit 1, students read Apollo 13: Mission Highlights, by NASA Kennedy Space Center. This is a high quality informational text that focuses on technical language. It is thought provoking and worthy of reading because it is a first hand account of Apollo 13’s mission to the moon.

• In Unit 1, students read The Call of the Wild, by Jack London. This timeless classic is age appropriate and high interest because it explores the irrepressible animal instinct that lies in dogs and humans. The third-person narration contains rich language and challenging vocabulary.

• In Unit 2, students read The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution, by Linda Monk. This informational text is high interest as it explores the evolving nature of the Constitution. Rich language is thoroughly scaffolded for students to understand.

• In Unit 2, students read “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson. This is a classic American short story. This age appropriate text is high interest with a relatable setting of small town.

• In Unit 2, students read The Giver, by Lois Lowry. This text distinguishes between two points of view. It is a high interest, dystopian novel that is relatable as it focuses on what happens to children in the village when they turn twelve.

• In Unit 3, students read Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad, by Ann Petry. This high-interest nonfiction text is worthy of reading as it is based on historical facts and uses primary sources containing Harriet Tubman’s actual words. It also contains photographs of Harriet Tubman.

• In Unit 3, students read “The New Colossus,” by Emma Lazarus.This Petrarchan sonnet has historical value in that it is engraved on the platform of The Statue of Liberty. This text also provides students with the opportunity to analyze structure and form.

• In Unit 3, students read “Eulogy for Mahatma Gandhi,” by Jawaharlal Nehru. This speech, dedicated to the leader of the Indian Independence Movement, contains rich language and strong content/academic vocabulary.

• In Unit 4, students read “The Dangers of Social Media,” which provides a high-interest representation of two authors’ views on the topic of social media. The text provides both a point and counterpoint for the argument.

• In Unit 4, students read “Thank You, Ma’am,” by Langston Hughes. This high interest short story centers around the theme of empathy. This story teaches the reader about forgiving someone.

• In Unit 4, students read “The Ransom of Red Chief,” by O. Henry. This short story is highly engaging and entertaining. It uses both verbal and situational irony to develop the plot and characters.

The instructional instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for materials reflecting the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards at each grade level.

Texts include a mix of informational and literary texts. There is a wide array of informational and literary anchor texts for every unit. Additional supplementary texts are included, resulting in a wide distribution of genres and text types as required by the standards. Literary texts include poems, novels, short stories, folktales, drama, and mythology. Informational texts include autobiographies, biographical essays, memoirs, editorials, and persuasive essays.

The following are examples of literature found within the instructional materials:

• In Unit 1, students read “The Song of Wandering Aengus” by William Butler Yeats, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, and “The King of Mazy May” by Jack London.
• In Unit 2, students read “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, The Giver by Lois Lowry, and Feed by M. T. Anderson.
• In Unit 3, students read “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, and “The People Could Fly” by Virginia Hamilton.
• In Unit 4, students read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, and “Oranges” by Gary Soto.

The following are examples of informational text found within the instructional materials:

• In Unit 1, students read Barrio Boy by Ernesto Galarza, “New Directions” by Maya Angelou, and Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck.
• In Unit 2, students read Gladiator by Richard Watkins, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick, and The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution by Linda R. Monk.
• In Unit 3, students read Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela, “Eulogy for Mahatma Gandhi” by Jawaharlal Nehru, and “1976 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address” by Barbara Jordan.
• In Unit 4, students read “The Teacher Who Changed My Life” by Nicholas Gage, and “California Invasive Plant Inventory” by California Invasive Plant Council.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for texts having the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and relationship to their associated student task.

The instructional materials for Grade 7 meet the criteria for texts having the appropriate level of complexity for the grade. Texts range from 480L to 1360L; most texts fall within either the Current Lexile Band or the Stretch Lexile Band for grades 6-8. The texts are appropriate for Grade 7 according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and relationship to their associated student task. Some texts do exceed these bands, but the tasks are designed to make them accessible. Examples of texts that have the appropriate level of complexity for Grade 7 include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, students read “The Song of Wandering Aengus.” This poem is appropriate for the grade level because this complex piece of literature has students analyze the poem’s themes and allusion to Irish mythology. This narrative poem is organized sequentially in three stanzas of eight lines each that form a pattern of end rhymes.

• In Unit 2, students read The Wise Old Woman. This text has a Lexile level of 930L which falls within both the Current Lexile Band and the Stretch Lexile Band for grades 6-8. This Japanese Folktale is appropriate for Grade 7 because it teaches a moral and contains robust vocabulary words.

• In Unit 3, students read “Mother Jones: Fierce Fighters for Workers’ Rights.” This text has a Lexile level of 930L which falls within both the Current Lexile Band and the Stretch Lexile Band for grades 6-8. Judith Pinkerton Josephson uses technical language to give authority to her subject. Students will encounter specialized language used in economics, history, and social studies. They will also encounter common or multiple-meaning words that take on technical meanings in this context, such as strike. They will use these words in their writing.

• In Unit 4, students read “The Ransom of Red Chief.” This text has a Lexile level of 940L which falls within both the Current Lexile Band and the Stretch Lexile Band for grades 6-8. Students read this classic short story exploring the situational irony that besets a pair of kidnappers who get more than they bargained for from the boy they stole for ransom. Through the reading of this text, students understand the irony of the situation in the story, as well as the interplay of character, setting, and plot.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for supporting students’ increasing literacy skills over the course of the school year. (Series of texts should be at a variety of complexity levels appropriate for the grade band.)

The instructional materials provide a variety of informational texts appropriate for the grade band. These texts increase in complexity as the units progress, and while some texts fall at the high end of the grade level, students are also provided more reachable texts as they learn how to analyze texts. Along with increasing text complexity, the students’ writing also increases in complexity. Students are asked to read texts, analyze these texts, and respond to them in writing.

To ensure student success, each unit contains an Access Path where teachers can find resources scaffolded for English Language Learners; this Access Path also contains handouts that provide support for handling text complexity in the areas of purpose, genre, organization, connection of ideas, sentence structure, specific vocabulary, and prior knowledge.

Each unit focuses on the analysis of informational text. Being able to read and understand informational text helps students analyze structure, determine the author’s point of view, compare and contrast several versions’ portrayal of the same subject, and determine whether or not an author’s reasoning is sound. By the end of the year, students strengthen their understanding of informational text and its various structures as independent writing assignments such as argumentative essays. Examples of increasing literacy skills over the course of the school year include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, in the Text Study of Call of the Klondike, in the Skill section on Informational Text Structure, students are introduced to some common informational texts structures such as sequential, cause-and-effect, and comparison and contrast. Identifying these texts structures is then modeled before students practice identifying various informational text structures by answering multiple choice questions.

• In Unit 2, in the Text Study of Gladiator, students are again exposed to the informational text structures they learned about in Unit 1. The structures are defined, and the teacher models how to interact with the text and identify the structures. As a last step, the students answer a two-part question that asks them to determine the text structure of a passage.

• In Unit 3, in the Close Read of Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy, students review some aspects of informational texts before completing a short writing prompt. In the writing prompt, students structure their writing in a similar way to informational text. The prompt states, “Begin with a clear thesis statement and use your understanding of informational text structure to write a short essay to answer the question.”

• In Unit 4, in the Extended Writing Project, students complete an argumentative writing assignment. As students are working through the writing process they complete a lesson on organizing their writing. This lesson explains that the various organizational strategies that they have studied throughout the year can be applied to their argumentative writing. The lesson states, “Writers of arguments can choose from a number of organizational structures, including compare-contrast, order of importance, problem-solution, cause-effect, and chronological (or sequential) order, among others.” Students then determine which organizational structure makes the most sense for them and uses it to complete their argumentative writing assignment.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria that anchor texts and series of texts connected to them are accompanied by a text complexity analysis and rationale for purpose and placement in the grade level.

Most texts include instructional notes and text notes. These are all found in the ELA Grade Level Overview booklet. At the beginning of each unit, there is an overall explanation of the unit. This includes the balance of literary to informational texts, the essential question, and an analysis of the text complexity of particular texts. In response to texts that are above the recommended Lexile band, the publisher provides scaffolds to assist all students in accessing the text. Quantitative, qualitative, and reader task information is included for most texts. Qualitative features such as Scaffold Instruction to Access Complex Text (ACT), ACT features, publication date, and genre. Quantitative features such as Excerpt Lexile, Full-text Lexile, and Word Count are also provided. In response to texts that are above the recommended Lexile band, the publisher provides scaffolds to assist all students in accessing the texts. Examples of texts being accompanied by text complexity analysis and rationale for purpose and placement include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, students read “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.” This text is set in 19th century colonial India which was a time of privilege for British colonialists. “The narrator tells the story of a heroic mongoose who protects a British family from a pair of cobras living in the lush garden.” The Lexile level for this excerpt and the full text is 1010L. This text can be challenging because sentences are complex; it also contains some unfamiliar vocabulary words. Students will need to follow punctuation clues as they decipher units of meaning.

• In Unit 2, students read “The Lottery.” This text is “a classic American short story that takes place in a seemingly ordinary small town. The plot twist at the end of the story may present challenges for the reader as an ordinary town becomes transformed once the real meaning of the lottery is exposed.” The Lexile level is 1090. Students might find this text challenging due to some difficult vocabulary.

• In Unit 3, students read “The Long Walk to Freedom.” In this excerpt, Nelson Mandela explores how the system of apartheid shaped his life, his views on freedom and courage, and his hope for the future. The Lexile level for this excerpt is 1270L. Students will need to attend carefully to details in the text to understand Mandela’s ideas. This text is challenging in that students need to analyze how the author contrasts his position from that of others and how sequences of events shaped his thoughts and actions. Teachers will also need to help students understand why Mandela was fighting for social justice in South Africa.

• In Unit 4, read The Outsiders. In these excerpts, Ponyboy, a Greaser and the narrator of the story, recounts fellow gang-member, Johnny’s, brutal beating at the hands of the Socs. The Lexile level is 660L. To help students access the text, students need to be guided through the flashback sections which may confuse some readers. Also, “students may be confused by the function of dialogue in this text, in that it is used both to recount past events and to move the plot forward.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for the anchor and supporting texts to provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of texts to achieve grade level reading.

Each unit exposes students to high-quality texts that cover a variety of genres, time periods, and cultures with a balance of literary and informational texts. Reading is done independently, as a whole class, aloud, and silently. All of the anchor texts and supporting materials revolve around a central theme and essential question for each unit. Reading materials increase in complexity as the year progresses, and teacher interventions are gradually released in order to enable the students to achieve grade-level reading independently. Examples of students engaging in a range of texts include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, students begin the unit on day one by reading the Blast background and materials included in several research links. The next day the students would participate in the First Read of Barrio Boy, where they read and annotate the text. Day three includes skill work on the Central or Main Idea where students read both the definition and model sections associated with the skill. Students then complete a Close Read of Barrio Boy, including a detailed reading and annotation of a selection. Finally, students complete another Blast activity to round out the text study of Barrio Boy.

• In Unit 2, over the course of nine weeks, students do a full-text study of The Giver and/or The Hunger Games and read eight other partial texts that are a balance of fiction and informational texts, including one poem. The texts are all related to the unit title of “The Powers That Be.” Nonfiction texts include Gladiator, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution, and Reality TV and Society. Fiction texts include "The Lottery," The Wise Old Woman: Retold by Yoshiko Uchida, Feed, and "I, Too, Sing America." Students have opportunities to interact with these texts through whole class read-alouds, individual silent reading, First Reads, and Close Reads.

• In Unit 3, students complete a First Read and a Close Read of Flesh and Blood So Cheap. Students also complete a skill lesson on informational text structure and use excerpts from Flesh and Blood So Cheap to practice the skill. Students also complete a Blast where they read background information regarding workplace safety. In Unit 3, there is a full text study on Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad. Throughout Unit 3, students read additional texts including The Internationale, The House of Dies Drear, Born in Slavery: Interview with an Ex-Slave, Journal of William Still, I Am an American Day Address, We Real Cool, Midnight’s Children, and Inaugural Address of Lyndon Baines Johnson.

• In Unit 4, students complete a First Read and a Close Read of “Thank You, M’am.” Students also complete a skill lesson on story elements and use excerpts from “Thank you, M’am” to practice the skill. Students then complete a Blast where they read background information regarding landfill orchestras. In Unit 4 there are two full text studies: The Outsiders and The Miracle Worker. Throughout Unit 4, students read additional texts including The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The World I Live In, Blind, Louis Braille: Teacher of the Blind, The Wednesday Wars, A Separate Peace, After Twenty Years, Brian’s Song, The Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea, and Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria that most questions, tasks, and assignments are text dependent/specific, requiring students to engage with the text directly (drawing on textual evidence to support both what is explicit as well as valid inferences from the text).

Grade 7 consists of four units of study that contain a variety of texts and tasks. The majority of the questions and associated activities require students to engage with the text directly. The Think tab of each First Read section contains a series of constructed response questions that require textual evidence. The Your Turn portion of the Skill sections contain multiple choice questions that refer specifically to the text. Lastly, the Close Read sections require an extended writing task that requires students to synthesize text details and requires citing textual evidence. In addition to answering text-dependent questions about written text, students answer text-dependent discussion questions tied to different types of media that can be accessed via StudySyncTV. When answering these text-dependent questions, students are provided directions on where to look for details and what kind of information should be mentioned in their answers. Sample exemplar answers are given for all questions. Examples of questions, tasks, and assignments that are text-dependent/specific include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, in the First Read of “The King of Mazy May,” students are asked “How is Walt different from most boys? Cite specific textual evidence to support your answer.” Also, in Unit 1, in the Close Read of The Call of the Wild, students answer text-specific questions that require citing textual evidence such as, “How does Buck initially respond to the kidnappers when they try to tie him up with a rope?”

• In Unit 2, in the Close Read of The Giver, students prepare for a debate. The directions state, “Prepare for the class debate using the graphic organizer provided. Record the character that you are representing, a short summary of the character's point of view, and evidence to show that your character has the most accurate point of view regarding the Ceremony of Twelve.” One example of a text-dependent question in the debate preparation is, “What evidence from the text supports your character's point of view?”

• In Unit 3, in the Skill section on Informational Text Elements for Mother Jones: Fierce Fighter for Workers’ Rights, students are asked a two-part multiple choice questions such as, (A) “Which of the following events BEST explains why the police eventually allowed the marchers to enter Trenton?” (B) “Which sentence from the passage supports your answer to Part A?”

• In Unit 4, in the First Read of “Thank You, M’am,” students are required to cite evidence in the “Finding Evidence” section of the Access 4 Handout. One example of a text-specific question is, “What event brought Roger and Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones into contact? What was Mrs. Jones's immediate reaction to this event? Cite specific evidence from the text to support your response.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for having sets of high-quality sequences of text-dependent/specific questions and tasks build to a culminating task that integrates skills (may be writing, speaking, or a combination).

Materials include both text-dependent and text-specific questions and tasks that help prepare students for the each unit’s Extended Writing Task. These culminating tasks integrate writing, speaking, or both. There are questions that prompt thinking, speaking, and writing tasks that focus on the central ideas and key details of the text. Reading and writing (and speaking and listening) are taught as integrated skills. These Extended Writing Tasks ask students to explore the theme and essential question of the unit in more depth as they reconsider what they have learned through analyzing texts, conducting research, and contemplating their own life experiences. Each unit has a different mode of writing so that over the course of the year, students demonstrate proficiency in constructing long-form argumentative, argumentative literary analysis, informative/explanatory, and narrative works. Once submitted, these writing assignments can be adapted and delivered as oral presentations. Examples of text-dependent/specific questions and tasks that build to a culminating task include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, the Extended Writing Project instructs students on the specifics of the informative/ explanatory form of writing. Students examine the unit’s central question, “What drives us to undertake a mission?” while reflecting on the ideals and situations that inspire people (in the texts in this unit) to pursue their goals, sometimes while facing personal risk and potential consequences to themselves and others. In the Skill lesson for The Call of the Klondike, students watch the Concept Definition video and read the definition of informational text structure. Either in small groups or as a whole class, students use these questions to engage in a discussion about informational text structure or organizational patterns in informational texts. Students will follow the rules for collegial discussions. One example of a question in this activity is “Can you think of any informational texts or even videos (such as news reports or documentaries) that you've read or seen that employ these common structures?” This will help the students to choose their type of structure for their informative writing piece.

• In Unit 2, the Extended Writing Project is a fictional narrative addressing the following prompt: “Imagine how you would feel if the government banned your favorite TV show. You would probably find it terribly unfair if the authorities took your show off the air. In this unit, you have been reading fiction and nonfiction narratives—imagined and true stories—about characters or real people who do not live in fair, or just, societies. All these selections have something in common: like the gladiators of ancient Rome or the people of North Korea, the characters or people in these texts are the victims of unfair laws and unjust rulers. Think about the principles of an open and just society, and contrast them with the rules of a closed and unjust society. Then write a fictional narrative (or story) about a character who is seeking justice in an unjust society. Model your story on one of the texts you have read in this unit.” Students must use the texts that they read during the unit to serve as models for their own narrative that includes a scene, a narrator with a specific point of view, well-described characters, a series of clearly described events, and a theme.

• In Unit 3, the Extended Writing Project concentrates on the literary analysis form of writing. Students examine the unit’s central question,”Why is it essential to defend human rights?” as they reflect on unit texts that present real-life examples of people who have stood up for the rights of others and inspired social change, such as Mother Jones, a defender of child labor laws, and Cesar Chavez, an advocate for the rights of ill-treated farm workers. In the Close Read of, “Mother Jones: Fierce Fighter for Worker’s Rights,” in small, heterogeneous groups or pairs, students share and discuss their annotations from the text with a focus on the process of identifying and analyzing informational text elements and technical language presented in the selection. One question included in this activity is, “Other than the march, what were some of the ways Mother Jones influenced people's ideas of child labor?”

• In Unit 4, the Extended Writing Project challenges students to write an argumentative research paper and consider the unit’s central question, “What are the challenges of human interactions?” where they seek answers that revolve around the idea of the way people affect each other and the environment in which they live. In the Extended Writing Project lesson, Blast-Audience and Purpose, students watch the video "Writing a Thesis Statement." Some of the questions they answer after the viewing include “What is a common mistake that writers make when writing an argumentative essay?” and “How can writers edit their thesis statement to help focus their argument?” This activity will assist students when they write their own argumentative research paper

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 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.

Each of the four units provide frequent and varied opportunities for students to engage in whole class, small group, and peer-to-peer discussion that reference the text under study and incorporate the understanding and use of academic vocabulary and syntax. A Speaking and Listening Handbook provides teachers with explicit instructions on teaching and modeling collegial discussions and strategies and handouts to guide students as they practice and assess evidence-based discussions. Checklists and graphic organizers are offered to students to use in preparation for the discussions and rubrics are provided for peers and teachers to assess the academic conversations. Examples of how materials meet the criteria of this indicator include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, in the First Read of The Hobbit, instruction includes a “StudySync” video that shows students discussing the text. After the students watch and discuss the video, the teacher is instructed to put them into small groups and have them engage in their own discussion, modeled after the StudySync video. The students are given guiding questions such as, “What are the two sides of Bilbo's personality? Why might this be important to the action of the plot?”

• In Unit 2, in the Close Read of The Giver, students are grouped into three teams: one to represent Jonas, one to represent Jonas's father, and one to represent Jonas's mother. Students participate in a debate in which each group argues why their character's point of view regarding the Ceremony of Twelve is the most accurate. Each team supports its claim with evidence from the text and poses questions to challenge the other teams. Students can use the graphic organizer provided in the Access 1, 2, and 4 handouts to record their summary and evidence.

• In Unit 3, the First Read of The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales includes a set of questions under the Think tab such as, “By remembering that shed is a multiple-meaning word and that depending on its context, it may be a noun or a verb, use context clues provided in paragraph 2 to determine the meaning of’ “shed.” The Teacher Edition suggests that after the students answer the questions individually, they then use the peer review instructions and rubric to complete two peer reviews of the answers to the questions.

• In Unit 4, in the Close Read of “Thank You, M’am,” in small, heterogeneous groups or pairs, students will share and discuss their annotations with a focus on the setting presented in the selection. Students are provided with questions to guide their discussion such as, “At first, the woman shows anger toward the boy. What causes the woman's feelings about the boy to begin to change? Cite specific textual evidence to support your statements.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for materials supporting students’ listening and speaking about what they are reading and researching (including presentation opportunities) with relevant follow-up questions and supports.

Students are given frequent and varied opportunities to engage in speaking, listening, and presenting activities surrounding their study of texts and the associated reading, writing, and research tasks. The opportunities for speaking, listening, and presenting can be found throughout the unit in the Blasts, First Reads, Skills, and Close Reads.

Speaking and listening are also important aspects of the Research Project students complete in each unit. 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.

The Speaking & Listening Handbook is utilized during the Research project by students, who will be required to respond critically and constructively to the work of their peers. This handbook also provides teacher support in the form of lesson plans, handouts, checklists, rubrics, and formative assessments that help them teach and assess the Speaking and Listening standards.

Examples of speaking and listening tasks, relevant follow-up questions, and supports include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, in the First Read of The Hobbit, students will work in small groups and read one assigned passage from the excerpt. Each group will be encouraged to use Blabberize to create a dramatic reading of the passage. Students are encouraged to be creative in the images they “Blabberize” by photographing themselves as the characters or by creating a collage of characters using images from the Internet. Each group then shares its reading with the class and discusses what the passages contributes to the interaction of the story elements.

• In Unit 2, in the First Read of “The Lottery,” students watch a StudySyncTV video that shows students discussing the text. The Teacher Edition suggests providing students with a prompt and having them form small discussion groups that are modeled after the StudySyncTV video. The students can create video or audio recordings of their discussion. One suggested prompt for this activity is, “What elements in the first three paragraphs foreshadow the darker events that are to come in the story? Why do you think Shirley Jackson begins the story in this way?”

• In Unit 3, in the Research section, students complete topic-specific group research projects connected to the unit’s theme and essential question. The Essential Question, which guides research and is discussed in whole group is, “Why is it essential to defend human rights?” In small groups, students brainstorm individual research questions. The directions state, “In groups, students share what they have learned about their individual research and why this information is important. As students develop their research presentations, they should remember to include relevant facts, details, and definitions. They should use precise language and, when appropriate, domain-specific vocabulary.”

• In Unit 4, in the Skill-Dramatic Elements section of The Miracle Worker, students watch a video then select a play they have read or seen. They will briefly describe the setting, list the characters, and summarize the main events of the plot, including the conflict. The teacher will compile these examples using a whiteboard or a Padlet Wall. Students will share how these various dramatic elements contribute to the theme of the play, as they understand it. Students can then suggest any changes to the setting, character, plot, or conflict that might have altered the theme by presenting a different message about life or human nature.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for materials including a mix of on-demand and process writing (e.g. multiple drafts, revisions over time) and short, focused projects, incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria that materials include a mix of on-demand and process writing and short, focused projects. Each unit of study asks student to engage in both on-demand writing and process writing. Students engage in on-demand writing via Blasts and Think questions that are part of Close Read assignments. In addition to shorter, on-demand writing, the students complete an Extended Writing Project at the end of each unit. Each of the four units covers one of these essential writing forms: narrative, informative/explanatory, literary analysis, and argumentative writing. These Extended Writing Projects take students through the writing process including the following: prewriting, planning, drafting, revising, and editing/proofreading/publishing. Students explore different aspects of the writing process and are given a variety of writing practice opportunities to hone their skills and enhance their understanding of each unit’s particular writing form. Examples of on-demand and process writing include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, in the Close Read of The King of Mazy May students are asked to complete an on demand writing task. Students respond to the prompt, “What inferences can you make about the Klondike Gold Rush from reading “The King of Mazy May”? What textual evidence in Call of the Klondike, a historical account of the Klondike Gold Rush, supports or refutes the idea that London portrayed history accurately in his short story?” Students have the option to use a venn diagram to organize their ideas before responding to this writing prompt.

• In Unit 2, the Extended Writing Prompt focuses on narrative form. Students probe the unit’s central question, “What should be the principles of a just society?” as they consider a situation in which the government has banned their favorite TV show. Three examples of narrative lessons include the skills lessons on organization, descriptive details, and narrative techniques and sequencing. Short constructed responses that accompany all Close Read lessons in the unit help students demonstrate understanding of the specific reading and language skills developed in conjunction with the texts, such as identifying informational text structure, comparing works in different mediums, exploring character and point of view, analyzing figurative language, and raising awareness of word meanings.

• In Unit 3, in the Close Read of the 1976 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address, students complete an on-demand writing task. Students respond to the prompt, “How does Barbara Jordan’s speech demonstrate that she believed it was essential to defend human rights? What ideas does she put forth in the speech to support this interpretation?” Students use text evidence to support their claims and after submitting their responses online, students give advice on each other’s writing to help them improve in the future.

• In Unit 4, the Extended Writing Project asks students to write an argument that makes a claim about whether or not humans should take action against invasive species and why. This is an extensive writing task with many phases, including completing several prewriting strategies; considering audience, purpose, and style; practicing research and note taking skills; developing a thesis statement; examining organizational structures; building in supporting details; completing a graphic organizer; crafting introductions, conclusions, and transitions; writing and revising; citing sources; and editing, proofreading, and publishing

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for materials providing opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards.

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria that materials provide opportunities for students to address different text types of writing. The materials provide for a variety of writing tasks across the school year that vary in length and depth, tie to classroom texts and “Big Ideas,” and represent equally narrative, informative/explanatory, literary analysis, and argumentative writing.

Students engage in writing activities throughout each unit. Students write short constructed responses as part of each Close Read lesson for each text in the unit. This informal writing allows students to demonstrate understanding of the specific text while practicing the featured type of writing. Students engage in informal writing through the annotations that students create as they closely read the various units in the text.

In addition to these shorter, less formal writing opportunities, each of the four units of study contains an “Extended Writing Task” that takes place at the end of the unit. These writing prompts are linked to the unit texts. Throughout the unit, students are given opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply writing types addressed in the standards. StudySync also provides guidance and support from peers and adults, to develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. Students are given opportunities use digital sources for research and presentation. Examples of opportunities to address different text types include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, in the Extended Writing Project, students focus on informative/explanatory writing. Students write an essay that addresses the prompt, “Think about what motivates the people or characters in the selections you have read. Consider this question: What drives us to undertake a mission? Write an informative/explanatory essay that answers this question, modeling elements of your writing on the Student Model or a unit selection.”
• In Unit 2, the Extended Writing Project focuses on narrative writing. Students write a narrative in response to the prompt, “In this unit, you have been reading fiction and nonfiction narratives—imagined and true stories—about characters or real people who do not live in fair, or just, societies. All these selections have something in common: like the gladiators of ancient Rome or the people of North Korea, the characters or people in these texts are the victims of unfair laws and unjust rulers. Think about the principles of an open and just society, and contrast them with the rules of a closed and unjust society. Then write a fictional narrative (or story) about a character who is seeking justice in an unjust society. Model your story on one of the texts you have read in this unit.”
• In Unit 3, the Extended Writing Project concentrates on the literary analysis form of writing. Students examine the unit’s central question, “Why is it essential to defend human rights?—as they reflect on unit texts that present real-life examples of people who have stood up for the rights of others and inspired social change, such as Mother Jones, a defender of child labor laws, and Cesar Chavez, an advocate for the rights of ill-treated farm workers.”
• In Unit 4, the Extended Writing Project focuses on argumentative writing. The students write an essay according to these directions, “Write an argumentative essay in which you explore the challenges caused by human interaction (interference) with the environment. Choose an invasive plant or animal, such as the Burmese python that people have introduced into the Florida Everglades or kudzu, a spreading invasive plant. Research your invasive plant or animal in at least three print or digital sources, such as books, magazines, or reliable websites. As you research, ask yourself: Should humans try to solve this problem or let nature take its course?

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for materials including frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information appropriate for the grade level.

The materials provide students with writing activities that vary in length and purpose in response to a variety of texts. The First Read lesson for each text requires students to complete short answer questions that are text-dependent. The Close Read lessons at the end of each text include an extended writing prompt that requires students to synthesize all of the close reading and skills work that they have done with the text. At the conclusion of each Full-Text Unit, there are two opportunities for long-form writing responses that are connected to an anchor text. One of these is always analytical in nature and requires an argumentative or informative/explanatory response to the whole text. Lastly, the Extended Writing Project requires students to return to the texts they have read over the course of a thematic unit in order to draw evidence from and analyze these mentor texts. Examples of evidence-based writing to support careful, well-defended analyses include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, in the Close Read of The Hobbit, students are asked to complete the prewriting questions given to prepare for their writing assignment. They are asked to support their answers with details, examples, and/or quotes from the text. Questions, such as “Does Gandalf believe Baggins to be more cowardly or fierce? How do you know this?” are text-specific and require textual-evidence in their responses.

• In Unit 2, in the Close Read of “Reality TV and Society,” students complete an extended writing prompt that synthesizes all of the work they have done with the text in response to the prompt: “You have read the opposing viewpoints in the article titled “Are Reality Shows Good for Society?” With which author’s point of view do you agree? Are reality shows bad or beneficial for society? Use transitions to show relationships between ideas. In your opinion, which author made the stronger argument? Which writer was more convincing? Why? How strong was the author’s reasons and evidence? Support your own writing with clear reasons and relevant evidence from the text to explain why one author and not the other persuaded you to accept his or her point of view about the influence of reality TV on society. Maintain a formal writing style and end with a strong conclusion.”

• In Unit 3, in the Full Text Study of Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad, at the conclusion of reading the text, the students read the companion text “Locked In and Locked Out.” They then complete a compare and contrast essay in response to the prompt: “Harriet Tubman and many others in the Underground Railroad helped slaves to escape. By contrast, after the Civil War, “Sundown Towns” refused to let emancipated African Americans move in. Write an essay of at least 400 words that compares and contrasts these two denials of freedom—slavery and Sundown: being locked in and being locked out. Respond to one or more of the following questions: What do these two abridgements of freedom have in common and how are they different? How do they each help define the nature of freedom? How do they fit into the spectrum of punishment African Americans faced before and after Emancipation—including Jim Crow laws, lynchings, and “unofficial” racism?”

• In Unit 4, in the Close Read of “The Dangers of Social Media”, students are asked to think about two different viewpoints regarding social media. Students are then asked to respond to the writing prompt: “In your opinion, which author made the stronger argument? Why was the author you chose more convincing? Support your own writing with sound reasoning and relevant evidence from the text to explain why one author and not the other persuaded you to accept his or her point of view about why preteens should (or shouldn’t) have access to social media.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for materials including explicit instruction of the grammar and conventions standards for grade level as applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts, with opportunities for application both in and out of context.

The materials include a student edition and an annotated teacher edition of the Grammar, Language, and Composition Guide. The guide can be used for students who need more instruction and support either in a small group or a tutorial setting. The lessons can be used for pre-teaching or reteaching. The second part of the Grammar, Language, and Composition Guide focuses specifically on grammar and usage, with each chapter focusing on a specific grammar or usage skill. The lessons provide instructions, practice, and review. Grammar and usage instruction and practice is also embedded in each of the units of study in the First Read Section of several texts. These lessons and tasks build in complexity.

The teaching of grammar, usage, and mechanics happens throughout the Core Program and is designed to help students develop a complex understanding of language that they can use to enhance their comprehension of texts. The grammar strand is structured around instruction, practice exercises, and student application. After receiving direct instruction and completing a practice handout on the lesson’s grammar, usage, or mechanics concept, students are prompted to analyze the use of this concept in a given text and answer questions about the purpose and effect of the concept. They may also be prompted to practice the skill through short revision tasks. Core concepts are revisited with opportunities for application throughout a grade level. Language instruction is also provided strategically throughout a unit’s Extended Writing Project, which gives students the immediate opportunity to apply grammar, usage, and mechanics concepts to their own writing, by revising their drafts to incorporate the concept and editing their drafts to apply it correctly. Examples of explicit instruction of the grammar and conventions standards include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, in the First Read of “Barrio Boy,” students learn how to punctuate coordinate adjectives. Students learn a quick test to help them figure out where adjectives are coordinate and need a comma between them. “The test has two parts: (1) Can you replace the comma with "and" and have the sentence still sound correct? (2) Can you reverse the order of the adjectives and have the sentence still sound correct? If the answer is "yes" to each part, then the adjectives are coordinate adjectives and need to be separated by a comma.” Students then read the last sentence of paragraph 12 reading and highlighting adjectives or label them in their notes.

• In Unit 2, in the First Read of The Giver, students works with simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences. Students learn that “all four sentence types consist of main clauses or a combination of main and subordinate clauses.” Students also analyze the use of sentence types in The Giver by answering questions such as “Reread paragraph 8. What type of sentence does the paragraph begin with?” and “Explain how the structure of the sentence helps set up a relationship between ideas.”

• In Unit 3, in the First Read of Long Walk to Freedom, students learn how to properly write simple and compound sentences. After analyzing the structure of both simple and compound sentence, students apply what they have learned by analyzing compound sentence in Long Walk to Freedom by answering questions such as “What are the two main clauses in this sentence from paragraph 4: “I felt fear myself more times that I can remember, but I hid it behind a mask of boldness?”’

• In Unit 4, in the First Read of “Amigo Brothers,” students learn that a main clause is a group of words that contains a complete subject and a complete predicate and can stand alone as a complete sentence. Students also learn that a subordinate clause can also contain a subject and a predicate. However, because it depends on the main clause, it cannot stand alone. Subordinate clauses usually begin with a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun. Students then reread the first sentence in paragraph 4: "While some youngsters were into street negatives, Antonio and Felix slept, ate, rapped, and dreamt positive." Student then highlight the the main clause