7th Grade - Gateway 3

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria that the student resources include ample review and practice resources, clear directions, and explanation, and correct labeling of reference aids (e.g., visuals, maps, etc.).

Student materials include ample review and practice resources. Whenever a skill is introduced, students learn the definitions of associated terms, have the skill modeled via the teacher or analysis of a student model, and have an opportunity to practice and apply the skill most often in the Your Turn section. Student materials include clear directions and explanations, and reference aids are correctly labeled. The directions for completing the various activities are clear and sometimes include the academic vocabulary of the unit as an additional way to practice those words in context. Skill lessons include learning aids such as StudySync videos to aid students in learning the skill being taught.

Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 1, “Conflicts and Clashes,” students read part of the graphic novel, Nimona by Noelle Stevenson. In the Skill Lesson: Textual Evidence, students receive the definitions of terms associated with textual evidence and complete a drag and drop activity to practice those words. Next, students examine and analyze the skill modeled using the text, then complete a drag and drop activity that demonstrates their understanding of how explicit evidence can show background knowledge or an implicit meaning.
• In Unit 4, “Moment of Truth,” students read “Harrison Bergeron,” by Kurt Vonnegut. During the Introduction section of the Skill Lesson: Word Patterns and Relationships, the materials provide students with a definition of the skill, both in written form and through an informational StudySync video. Next, students dive deeper into the skill as they examine and analyze and a model for word patterns. As a last step, students have the opportunity to practice what they learned through the Your Turn activity. In this section, students read a short passage, analyze the text, and answer two multiple-choice questions.
• In Unit 5, “Test of Time,” students read “The Third Elevator,” by Aimee Bender. In the Skill Lesson: Character, students watch a StudySync video that provides definitions for the academic vocabulary and the skill, character. Students interact with the vocabulary through either a drag and drop activity or charting the words. Then, students examine and analyze a model of the skill and independently practice during the Your Turn component of the lesson as they answer multiple choice questions that focus on character.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria that materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items.

Alignment documentation is provided for all questions, tasks, and assessment items. In the Pacing Guide for each unit, the CCSS standards addressed within those sessions are indicated, including the standards for reteaching and previous skill practice. Within each Lesson Plan, the standards being addressed through instruction, application, and assessment are clearly noted. Each grade level also has a Scope and Sequence document that details how standards are addressed across the year.

Alignment documentation is provided for all questions, tasks, and assessment items. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 1, “Conflicts and Clashes, “Rikki–Tikki–Tavi,” First Read: Rikki–Tikki–Tavi, students respond to questions within the “Think” section of the lesson. One example of a question is, “How did Rikki-Tikki-Tavi come to live with the English family? Cite specific evidence from the text to support your answer.” Standard RL.7.1 is noted within the lesson at the bottom of the screen within the virtual platform and on the Lesson Plan.
• In Unit 4, ‘Moment of Truth,” students read “Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the year 1888,” by Ernest Thayer. During the Introduce the Text task in the First Read lesson, teacher guidance includes the following information: “As a class, watch the video preview and have students read the introduction in pairs to make connections to the video preview. Ask students: What key words or images from the video do you think will be most important to the poem you are about to read? What do you already know about the game of baseball? CCSS: RL.7.1, SL.7.2.” The Assessment task, Text Talk, addresses standards in question format. One of the questions is as follows: “Why is the crowd stunned at the end of the poem? (See line 52: Casey has struck out, and the crowd expected him to do well.) CCSS: RL.7.1.” The Scope and Sequence mentions the Essential Question, outlines the texts in the unit, and notes if the activity is instructional in nature, including practice and application, or application only.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 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.

Content knowledge is included, where needed, and is accurate, understandable, and gives true assistance to all educators using the materials. There are detailed lesson plans provided for each text within the units. Types of lessons include Blasts, First Reads, Skill Lessons, Close Reads, and Independent Reads with detailed instructions, activities, and answer keys for each task suggested in the lesson plans. The teacher’s edition provides possible student responses to questions and instructional strategy suggestions for struggling students. When applicable and would enhance student learning, technology support is embedded, overarching, and accessible to most. The program’s instruction in reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language is delivered digitally and includes opportunities for collaboration, writing, research, and assessment using technology. Several features of the program were also designed to mimic the style of communication on social media. During the Blasts, students engage in QuikPolls that enhance students' knowledge through questions in which students' responses cannot exceed 140 characters.

Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 1, “Conflicts and Clashed,” students read the text Woodsong, by Gary Paulsen. The Teacher’s Edition includes the following detailed instruction: “Read: Writer’s Notebook—Connect to Essential Question: Give students time to reflect on how Woodsong connects to the unit’s Essential Question, ‘When do differences become conflicts?’ by freewriting in their Writer’s Notebooks. Check for Success: If students are struggling to respond to the prompt, ask them scaffolded questions, such as: What is the main conflict in the story? How does Paulsen feel about what happens in the story?”
• In Unit 2, “Highs and Lows,” students read “The Walking Dance,” by Marcela Fuentes and complete the Skill: Plot lesson. Teacher suggestions on how to present the content include: “To provide students with guided practice, do the following with the second annotation: 1. Hide the student note and have students provide their own annotations to explain the highlighted sections of text; or 2. Hide the text beneath the student annotation and have students write or discuss their own explanation of the model student’s application of the skill.”
• In Unit 3, “Chasing the Impossible,” students read “All Together Now,” by Congresswoman Barbara Jordan. In the Blast: The Power of Words lesson, students explore background information and research links about a topic. After this, students answer the StudySync QuikPoll with a 140-character response.
• In Unit 4, “Moment of Truth,” The Big Idea, Blast, teacher guidance states, “Have students write their 140-character Blast in response to the driving question. Students must complete both their QuikPoll and Blast in order to click ‘submit.’”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 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.

More advanced concepts are consistently explained to support teachers with improving and deepening their understanding of the content. In the Lesson Plan, there are detailed, thorough explanations of all concepts to help teachers understand the content. The materials provide answer keys to student questions. Explanations are accessible to all educators. The Program Guide includes explanations of all the program’s components and suggestions on how to support struggling learners, students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), and English learners.

One example includes, but is not limited to the following:

• In Unit 4, “Moment of Truth,” the First Read lesson plan of Ernesto Galarza’s Barrio Boy includes adult level explanations to support teachers’ knowledge. For example, “Specific Vocabulary Spanish terms, such as barrio (neighborhood) and Escuela Municipal Numero 3 para Varones of Mazatlán (Municipal School Number 3 for Boys of Mazatlán), may present a challenge to some readers.” and “As students prepare to read Barrio Boy, share the following information with them to provide context. Ernesto Galarza was a labor activist in addition to his work as a writer. He was instrumental in establishing the foundation for a Union for California farm workers. He wrote an expose of the Bracero program, which was supposed to protect the rights of migrant workers but was being abused. His writing led to the dissolution of the program, which led to the migrant workers unionizing. This autobiography has a powerful message about immigration in the United States. In this text there is a reference to a common metaphor about America being a melting pot. It is often used to describe the mixing of cultures in America, where immigrants come together from all over and blend to form a new culture.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 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. the criteria that the visual design (whether in print or digital) is not distracting or chaotic, but supports students in engaging thoughtfully with the subject.

In the StudySync materials, alignment is evident in the Grade Level Overview and the Scope and Sequence for each grade level. The Grade Level Overview outlines how each text and task connects to the Essential Question and explains how the Extended Writing Project, Skills Lessons, Close Reads, Independent Reads and Blasts integrate reading and writing standards across the year and across the overall curriculum. The Scope and Sequence within the units provides an “at a glance” overview of the alignment of the curriculum and frequency of standards (Reading Literature, Reading Informational Text, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language) are addressed within the texts of the units. 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.

Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 2, the Grade Level Overview states, “Skill lessons on Thesis Statements and Organizing Argumentative Writing teach concepts specifically called out in the Common Core English Language Arts Standards, while additional skill lessons on Reasons and Relevant Evidence, Introductions, and Conclusions focus on characteristics of the argumentative writing genre of literary analysis and help students develop their unique claim.”
• In Unit 4, Scope and Sequence, alignment of Reading: Literature, Reading: Informational, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language standards are available at a glance for teachers for each text in the unit. The frequency of the standards taught in the unit are denoted with an “o” or an “x.” The “o” denotes the standards being practiced or applied. The “x” denotes instruction, practice, and application of the standard respectively. For example, in the Academic Vocabulary lesson, Standard RI.7.is practiced or applied and Standards L.7.4b and L.7.6 are instructed, practiced, and applied.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria that materials contain explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research-based strategies.

The materials include a substantial document that provides the research base for all of the elements of the program. In Additional Resources, Research-Base Alignments, the materials provide the research base that outlines how the program components address all of the parts of the CCSS standards, including comprehending literary and informational text; writing; knowledge of content, language, and literature; speaking and listening; reading fluency; and conventions. Each one of these sections provides detailed explanations and citations from supporting literacy theory and research.

Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In the Research-Base Alignments, Speaking and Listening, Speaking and Listening Research Recommendations, the materials include the following research-based recommendation: Students demonstrate the ability to orally present ideas in a logical, thoughtful manner.” Support for this recommendation is found in Unit 6, Extended Oral Presentation, Skill: Organizing an Oral Presentation.
• In the Research-Base Alignments, Conventions of Language, Conventions of Language Research Recommendations, the materials provide this research-based recommendation: “Students participate in shared-language activities to refine and develop their language skills.” An example supporting this occurs during Unit 3, Extended Writing Project, Argumentative Writing Process, Skill: Transitions.

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress.

Materials provide regular and systematic assessment opportunities for assessment throughout all grade levels and units. Teachers use Checks for Success in text-dependent questions, discussions, and short written responses to informally assess students. Formal assessments include Benchmark tests, Diagnostic tests, Extended Writing/Oral Projects, Reading quizzes, and End of Unit assessments. Materials genuinely measure student progress. According to the Program Guide, every StudySync lesson offers students an opportunity to demonstrate progress toward standards mastery. Responding to sources, auto-graded Reading Quizzes, skills mastery checks, and longer written responses in the Extended Writing Projects all include standards labeling.

Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 4, “Moment of Truth,” the Check for Success section in the First Read lesson plan for “Barrio Boy,” by Ernesto Galarza, contains formative assessment opportunities. “Circulate as students read independently, and encourage them to use the reading comprehension strategy of Making Inferences to deepen their understanding of the text. If students struggle, remind them that Making Inferences is: the process of combining your knowledge of the world with clues provided by the text. You may also show and discuss examples using the model provided: After reading the first paragraph, I might think to myself: Ernesto noticed only differences, and none of them were very reassuring. What does that reveal that is not directly stated by the author?”
• In Unit 5, “Test of Time, in the End-of-Unit Assessment, students complete a summative assessment. Students read passages and answer multiple choice questions that address literacy skills, vocabulary, and the use of textual evidence from the passage. Students also respond to a short answer question. For example, Question 1 is a multiple choice question and is as follows: “What does Agamemnon’s killing of the stag reveal about his character?”
• There are Benchmark assessments available in the Assess tab. There are three forms for each grade level.
• There are also Reading Diagnostic tests for each grade level. These assessments are under the Placement and Diagnostic tab at the bottom of the grade level page under the units.

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for assessments clearly denote which standards are being emphasized.

Materials include denotations of the standards being assessed in both types of assessments. The answer key at the end of the assessments provides item-specific information such as content focus/skill, Common Core State Standard, and Depth of Knowledge (DOK) level. The End-of-Unit Assessment serves as a summative assessment which provides standards aligned to each question to ensure that all standards taught within the unit are being addressed in the assessment.

Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 3, “Chasing the Impossible,” during the First Read of “The First American” by Grand Council Fire of American Indians, students demonstrate their mastery of aligned standards as they respond to the written assessment question: “What is the meaning of ‘teach them truth about the First Americans’ as it is used in Paragraph 1 of the text?” These questions support teachers in identifying students’ mastery of Common Core State Standards CCRA.R.2 and CCRA.R.4.
• In Unit 6, “The Power of One,” End-of-Unit Assessment, when looking at the assessment from the teacher's view, each question has a standard attached to it. Teachers can click on the standard number to see the full language of the standard. An example of a question from the assessment asks students to read a text then answer the multiple choice question: “Why does the playwright include the stage direction at the end of paragraph 5?” The teacher-facing side shows that this question corresponds to Standard RL.7.5, which relates to a play’s structure and meaning.

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meets the criteria for assessments or provide sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow up.

Materials include quality rubrics and scoring guides. The descriptors on the rubrics are unique to the tasks. Rubrics and scoring guides can be used to assess the standards to their full intent. Rubrics are specific to the writing tasks and include scoring descriptors as guidance to assess the standards to their full intent. Materials provide quality suggestions for follow-up. The Program Guide states that the pacing guide allows time for teachers to revisit key concepts with which students may have struggled during core instruction and application. The Review and Reteaching section of each unit is guided by the data tracking tools in StudySync, which allow teachers to view day-to-day student performance on all standards. Teachers may use Spotlight Skills, targeted lessons that provide resources to reteach or remediate without assigning additional readings. Quality guidance for the teacher to interpret assessment data is provided. Data tracking and presentation tools help teachers use the results of assessments to identify which standards and skills present particular challenges for students, as well as where students are excelling and are ready for enrichment.

Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• Students are assessed often, via formative and summative assessments, and the materials provide teachers with many tools, such as task-specific rubrics, to help them interpret student performance. Each rubric uses a four-point scale to help teachers and students identify areas of strength, weakness, and growth. This system of rubrics allows teachers to compare student performance as the year progresses. The instructional materials provide follow-up suggestions for students who do not master the skills/habits in the Review and Reteach section, and teachers can provide Spotlight Skills lessons to support students with this learning.
• As stated in the Program Guide, “Data tracking and presentation tools help teachers use the results of assessments to identify which standards and skills present particular challenges for students, as well as where students are excelling and are ready for enrichment. Using the StudySync Gradebook, teachers can effectively decide how to scaffold instruction and provide remediation support for individual students. Tracking tools for these assessments will provide teachers with raw scores as well as a breakdown of student performance against standards and a breakdown of student performance against skills. In addition, color-coded reporting will allow teachers to quickly and easily monitor student performance and needs.”
• As stated in the Program Guide, “Spotlight Skills are targeted lessons that provide resources to reteach or remediate without assigning additional readings.” Each Core Skill lesson has a corresponding, standards-aligned, Spotlight Skill lesson. Spotlight Skills can be assigned at any point in the year, but the end of each unit provides a set time to pause, review data collected throughout the unit, and reteach skills students have not yet mastered.

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for materials should include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress.

The materials reviewed include routines and guidance for opportunities to monitor student progress. The Lesson Plan includes Vocabulary, Check for Success, and Complete Skills Focus sections which assist teachers in monitoring students’ progress throughout the unit. The materials also provide teachers with prompts and suggestions for supporting students who may be struggling and for understanding students’ thinking about the concepts to make instructional decisions about next steps.

Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 2, “Highs and Lows,” students read “Second Estrangement,” by Aracellis Girmay. The Close Read lesson plan includes suggestions for teachers to support them with monitoring students’ progress. The guidance provided is as follows: “If students are struggling to respond to the prompt, ask them scaffolded questions, such as: How does this poem connect to the theme of loss? What does the child learn from being lost? How did reading ‘Second Estrangement’ make you feel?”
• In Unit 4, “Moment of Truth,” in Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson, the Close Read for Vocabulary provides teachers with the following guidance: “Have students complete the vocabulary chart by dragging and dropping the definition and writing their sample sentences. Answers are available under the Vocabulary tab (select View When: Submitted).”

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for materials provide teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of a range of learners so the content is accessible to all learners and supports them in meeting or exceeding the grade-level standards.

Specific strategies to meet the needs of all learners are included. Scaffolds exist as part of the many standard features in the StudySync digital platform and can be strategically utilized to support students’ comprehension and engagement. Students who have been identified as English Learners, Approaching-Grade-Level students, or Beyond-Grade-Level students automatically receive scaffolded support or enrichment in their digital accounts. Vocabulary scaffolds are also available, including Spanish translations, in a slide-in screen for Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Advanced-High English learners, as well as Approaching-Grade-Level students. Each lesson is concise and follows a Teach/Model and Practice/Apply routine with suggestions for differentiated practice. StudySync also offers a variety of accessibility options, presentation customization options, content accommodation and modification, and instructional strategies to address the needs of students with disabilities. Some of these options are as follows: shortened or modified assignments, the Scaffolds tab, and Screen Reader.

An example includes, but is not limited to the following:

• In Unit 4, “Moment of Truth,” students read Barrio Boy, by Ernesto Galarza. The Complete Skills Focus section of the Close Read includes the following scaffolding guidance for Advanced ELLs and Approaching grade-level students: “If necessary, have students annotate in pairs or small groups for support. Direct students to focus on questions 1 through 4. Available scaffold: annotation guide.” Teacher guidance for Beyond grade-level students is as follows: “Assign groups of students one or more paragraphs in the excerpt. Have each group use a main-idea chart (see Supplementary Material at the end of this lesson plan) to record textual evidence from their paragraph(s) to determine the main idea. Have groups share their graphic organizers in a class discussion about the central ideas in the text.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for 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.

Materials provide support for EL students and students who work below grade level. The Instruction and Differentiation tab of each Lesson Plan includes various scaffolding suggestions for teachers to use with learners at varying ability levels. Examples of these lesson scaffolds are as follows: visual glossaries, speaking frames, text synopses, sentence frames, word banks, etc. Scaffolds support EL students with varying ability levels such as Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Advanced-High. The student-facing digital materials provide options for enabling the various scaffolds detailed in the Lesson Plan. Tech scaffolds include audio with variable speed, audio text highlight, and supplemental language. The Program Guide contains a substantial section that provides explanations of the scaffolds and how they might be used. Scaffolds may be printed for each lesson using the Actions drop down. The Newcomer EL Support guide provides teachers with detailed lessons, materials, and strategies for supporting EL learners of many different languages. The progress monitoring feature allows teachers to monitor student progress after each lesson.

Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 1, “Conflict and Clashes,” students read Woodsong, by Gary Paulsen. The Teacher Edition for Skills Lesson: Generating Questions provides teachers with guidance on student groupings. Teachers place ELs in collaborative mixed-level groups and prompt them to identify at least one before, one during, and one after reading question in the model. A reading chart is available for additional scaffolds during the Model—Read and Annotate portion of the lesson.
• In Unit 5, “Test of Time,” students read the poem “The New Colossus,” by Emma Lazarus. In the First Read, students participate in a Text Talk. Some of the available scaffolds for ELs include speaking frames and paragraph guides.

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for materials regularly include extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade level.

Materials provide multiple opportunities for advanced students to investigate the grade-level content at a greater depth. The Program Guide contains information for teachers about how to support and push their beyond-grade-level students and includes a description of how differentiation is built into different types of lessons for these students. The Scaffolding & Differentiation section of the Lesson Plan includes additional opportunities for working with smaller groups of beyond-grade-level students, such as having them analyze the text with greater scrutiny or with a different analytical skill. These activities often introduce students to a new literary device or consider the effect of an author’s choices. These opportunities give students further enrichment in their study of literature as they practice the type of close scrutiny and analysis that will prepare them for the rigors of more advanced courses. Technology may also be leveraged to support these students.

Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 2, “Highs and Lows,” students read an excerpt from A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. Advanced students complete the Beyond by Analyzing a Quote task in the Scaffolding & Differentiation section of the Lesson Plan. “Ask students to analyze the following quote: ‘To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.’ (Douglas Adams). Encourage them to consider questions like: What do you think this quote means? Do you agree with this quote? Why or why not?”
• In Unit 6, “The Power of One,” Integrated Reading and Writing, the materials include a scaffold for beyond-grade-level students during the Independent Read lesson for “New Directions,” by Maya Angelou. Teacher guidance is as follows: “Have your Beyond-Grade-Level students lead the discussion about racial discrimination with their peers. Remind them to provide all students equal opportunities to share and discuss, and to generate a list (on the board or on paper) of their peers’ responses.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria for materials provide opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies.

Each Lesson Plan in the materials includes a variety of grouping strategies. The beginning of the Lesson Plan for all Blast, First Read, Close Read, Skills, and Writing lessons includes a chart noting the grouping strategy suggestion for each part of the lesson—whole group, pairs or small group, and one-to-one. Lesson Plans also provide grouping strategies for activities such as Text Talk, Turn and Talk, and Collaborative Discussions.

Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 4, “Moment of Truth,” during the Blast lesson, students engage in a Turn and Talk to discuss these Driving Questions, “What do you think this Blast will be about? Make a prediction using text features, including the title and bold vocabulary words. What was your favorite event of the last year? Tell what made it special.”
• In Unit 5, “Test of Time,” Extended Oral Project and Grammar, Research Writing Process: Plan, the teacher provides whole group instruction to students as they examine the Informative Writing Rubric.