12th Grade - Gateway 3

The StudySync instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 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.).

StudySync materials provide students the opportunity to practice and apply the skills they have learned throughout each unit. Student models and opportunities to write constructed responses are available. Instructions and directions for students are clear, and reminders are available to students throughout extended projects. Additional guidance is available for teachers through lesson plans and prompts when necessary. Reference aids are correctly labeled when the materials include these throughout the unit.

The student resources include ample review and practice resources, clear directions and explanation, and correct labeling of reference aids (e.g., visuals, maps, etc.). Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 2, Uncovering Truth, students begin the Instructional Path with Blast: Uncovering Truth. Background information on the topic related to the Blast is provided. Students highlight and annotate the text. Students write an initial response to the driving question, “How do challenges cause us to reveal our true selves?” in their Writer’s Notebook. Live research links with source information are also available for students to research the topic further. For example, “‘Joan of Arc’ Article/Informational: Click here for a closer look at Joan’s early life and her dramatic end. Why is she remembered hundreds of years after her death?” Students engage in conversation relating to the Blast and peer review to give feedback.
• In Unit 4, Sculpting Reality, students complete Skill: Print and Graphic Features during the revising step of the Extended Writing Project. A model, along with a checklist for print and graphic features is available for students. The Skill Model by the student Rishal focuses on adding print and graphic features to his essay to aid his readers’ comprehension. The student model includes a graphic collecting data from the Pew Research Center to show “28% Of Americans Live In Areas Seen To Strongly Encourage Recycling,” and the following note is available: “Respondents who did not give an answer are not shown. Source: Survey Conducted May 10-June 6 2016 Pew Research Center.”
• In Unit 6, Times of Transition, students read the Point/Counterpoint essay “Honesty on Social Media” (authors not cited). The text includes graphics, such as “A majority of Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram users visit these platforms on a daily basis” with the following “Credit: Social Media in 2018. Pew Research Center, Washington, D.D. (March 1, 2018).” Discussion directions are clear: “Which article did you find the most convincing? Do you believe we suspend our usual honesty when we are on social media? How do the graphs and media influence your opinion? Discuss how the writers’ use of evidence and language contribute to the persuasiveness of the text.” Students write a reflection after the discussion. The directions are as follows: “evaluate how well everyone followed the rules when making decisions affecting the group, evaluate your own participation in the discussion, reflect on how well you evaluated the credibility and accuracy of the media used in each source.” The Teacher Edition provides additional scaffolded questions if they are struggling with a prompt.

The StudySync instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 meet the criteria that materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items.

StudySync materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items. Teacher-facing materials provide many opportunities for teachers to see connections to Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in daily lessons, assessments, and larger culminating tasks. The Scope and Sequence indicate which CCSS students practice during each text. In Teacher Resources: Lesson Plan, under the Learning Objective, standards for the specific lesson are listed at the top of the lesson plan. Standards are also represented in each component of the lesson, including questions, tasks, and assessments. Students can also view the connections to CCSS. In student-facing materials, standards are listed under student tasks. Think questions, short quizzes, Your Turn activities, and short response prompts all have standards visible at the bottom of the page.

Materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 1, What’s Next?, students complete an expository personal essay for their culminating task. The Extended Writing Project takes students through the entire writing process as they respond to the associated prompt. A Skill lesson, on supporting details, gives students an opportunity to fill out a chart with strong supporting details that will help develop their drafts. The assignment correlates to W.11-12.2b.
• In Unit 4, Sculpting Reality, students read Heid E. Erdrich’s poem “Stung” and complete a writing task. In the lesson plan under “Write,” students complete the writing using textual evidence and submit their work online. The correlating standards are recorded under the Check for Success portion of this section and include one reading standard and four writing standards. It is evident that these are application standards, as indicated at the top of the lesson, where all the application standards are listed.
• In Unit 5, Fractured Selves, students read Katherine Mansfield’s short story “A Cup of Tea.” After reading, they complete short response Think questions. Each question lists the CCSS that it connects to in both student and teacher-facing materials. For example, students answer this question: “Why does Rosemary want to take the girl from the street home with her? Is it really just to offer her a cup of tea? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.” The question connects to RL.11-12.1 which states, “Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.”

The StudySync instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 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 ancillary materials. Where applicable, materials include teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning.

StudySync materials provide detailed lesson plans for the teacher that include answer keys, suggestions on presenting the information, and potential scaffolds for differentiation. Embedded technology contains tools for reading and analyzing, such as annotating, highlighting, audio recordings of texts, and numbering lines on paragraphs. Each unit also includes several multimedia components to aid student analysis; for example, StudySyncTV and SkillsTV are often used to start classroom discussions or to introduce student models that help deepen understanding. Each unit begins with a Blast, a feature that begins each unit and mimics social media in the classroom. Students read background information before constructing bite-sized responses. The Blasts go live in real-time, like social media, to generate student discussions that deepen understanding of the units’ concepts and questions.

Materials contain a teacher’s edition with ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student edition and the ancillary materials. Where applicable, materials include teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 1, What’s Next?, the ELA Grade Level Overview for Grade 12 provides teachers with guidance and strategies to help students access the unit. The section on Text Complexity takes teachers through a preview of the text challenges such as specific vocabulary, argumentative text structures, and pop culture references. For example, the first informational text, “Are the New ‘Golden Age’ TV Shows the New Novels?” written by Adam Kirsch and Mohsin Hamid, provides teachers with key information for preparing students to access the texts. Teachers may view the Reader and Tasks section, where the materials outline Skill lessons like Informational Text Elements, and they may view the Close Read prompt for the explanatory essay required of students.
• In Unit 3, Against the Wind, the materials include a guide to Blended Learning titled “How to Put the ‘Blended’ in Blended Learning: a Tech & Learning ebook” in the Help Center under Blended Learning. This guide references argumentative writing in the unit’s Extended Writing Project. One seven-minute lesson taught by Catlin Tucker shows teachers how she would guide a class through a whole group rotation of activities using online resources. She addresses strategies for teachers to provide editing feedback during synchronous writing.
• In Unit 6, Times of Transition, students complete a Perfect Storm Blast. Students read background information on recent major hurricanes before constructing a short response to the question, “How do natural disasters change us?” Students give one another “specific, encouraging, and constructive” feedback on the Blasts. The Lesson Plan provides insight into helping students who may struggle with constructing a short, meaningful response. It states, “Allow students to respond to the driving question orally before using the sentence frames to complete their Blast. Allow Beginning ELLs to translate or use native language peer assistance. Point out that the introductory clause ‘natural disasters change’ borrows language directly from the Blast driving question to provide a response.” The document also encourages teachers to provide these students with word banks or sentence frames as scaffolds for the assignment.

The StudySync instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 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.

StudySync materials provide a Unit Overview that identifies Difficult Concepts in advance for educators to consider. Explanations are accessible for educators, and sample answers are available in the Lesson Plans, Teacher Edition tab available with each assignment, and the End-of-Unit Assessment when the teacher selects “View as: Teacher when grading.” Within the Integrated Reading and Writing section, a Lesson Plan is available for each task in the Instructional Path, providing options for teachers with instructional moves and guidance for Scaffolding & Differentiation. A grade-level ELA Overview is also available with guidance related to text complexity, including both quantitative and qualitative features, as well as additional information related to the instructional approach to writing using mentor texts.

Materials contain a teacher’s edition that comprises 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. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 1, What’s Next, within the Unit Overview, the materials include a section titled “Difficult Concepts” to support teachers with planning. In this unit, the materials delve into informational text elements: “Evaluating and critiquing texts can be difficult for many students because it is a higher-order cognitive task. Most students are accustomed to analyzing informational text elements, but in 12th grade students are required to evaluate and critique those elements.” This section highlights the use of a specific Skill lesson that students may use as practice.
• In Unit 2, Uncovering the truth, within the First Read of “The Postmaster,” by Rabindranath Tagore, the Lesson Plan provides teachers with support in explaining the genre. “Explain to students that the story is told by a third-person omniscient narrator who reveals the thoughts and feelings of both characters.” Teacher guidance also includes a strategy to share with students to help them understand the text: “Remind readers that they will need to draw their own conclusions about the characters' thoughts and actions and decide what the deeper meaning of the story is.”
• In Unit 5, Fractured Selves, the End-of-Unit Assessment provides additional guidance for teachers when grading, including an exemplary sample response for a multi-paragraph essay and explanations detailing why specific answers are correct or incorrect for multiple-choice questions. For example, “Incorrect. While readers may be prompted to consider their own experiences as a result of this question, the author is not directly asking readers to reflect on their own relationships with seniors.”

The StudySync instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 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 materials provide lesson plans that denote the specific standards and skills that are addressed daily. The Pacing Guide breaks down standards alignment in an easy-to-use chart that lists the standards associated with each text and points within the unit for readdressing standards. The Scope and Sequence includes a chart that lists each text, shows the standards associated with it, and denotes which standards are taught with direct instruction and reinforced with practice and which are solely practiced.

Materials contain a teacher’s edition that explains the role of the specific ELA/literacy standards in the context of the overall curriculum. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• The Grade Level Overview states the following: “Skill lessons on Thesis Statements and Organizing Informative Writing teach concepts specifically called out in the Common Core English Language Arts standards.” The Pacing Guide shows that the informational text “Community Colleges vs. Technical Schools” (authors not cited) covers several standards, including RI.11-12.5, RI.11-12.2, and RI.11-12.9. Lastly, the Scope and Sequence clearly shows that Reading: Informational, Reading: Literature, Language, Writing, and Speaking and Listening standards are addressed throughout the year.
• The Pacing Guide for Unit 1 lists an End-Of-Unit Assessment along with its correlating standards. For example, the students read a fiction piece, “Buddy Day,” and the teacher can view the skill, context clues, and the standard, L.11-12.4, that is assessed.

The StudySync instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 meet the criteria that materials contain explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research based strategies.

StudySync materials provide an Additional Resource for educators “Research-Base Alignments: A Summary of Research in Secondary School (Grades 6-12) English Language Arts” to provide a summary of key points in reading, writing, language, speaking and listening, and media and technology. The research in the documents includes “reports, experimental and quasi-experimental research designs, reviews of research, and opinion pieces written by those considered experts within the field of literacy.” StudySync uses research-based strategies to show that content-specific knowledge is highly correlated with vocabulary, and both contribute to reading comprehension and inferencing skills. The curriculum uses strategies such as repeated reading for fluency, using grammar in context to enhance basic skills, and encouraging readers to engage with a text by activating their schema.

Materials contain explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research-based strategies. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• StudySync uses the research theory, by Shen, in English Language Teaching that suggests there is a reciprocal relationship between knowledge, vocabulary, and reading and writing achievement. Readers engage with a text by activating background knowledge. “Schema is the technical term used by cognitive scientists to describe how people process, organize, and store information in their heads” (Shen, 2008, p. 104).
• Handbook of Writing Research (2015) synthesizes current knowledge on writing development and instruction at all grade levels. Timothy Shanahan provides information relating to relationships between reading and writing development. StudySync incorporates this key point into writing instruction: “Research has long found many connections and correlations between reading and writing” (Shanahan, 2015).
• “Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices” (2008) is a practice guide that presents specific and coherent evidence-based recommendations that educators can use to improve literacy levels among adolescents in upper elementary, middle, and high schools. StudySync includes a key point in Research Recommendations for Vocabulary: “The What Works Clearinghouse Improving Adolescent Literacy guide (Kamil et al., 2008) considers the level of evidence “strong” in their recommendation for explicit vocabulary instruction in the upper elementary, middle, and high school grades.”
• StudySync references the article, “Is fluent, expressive reading important for high school readers?” (2012) from the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy and utilizes research recommendations for instructional fluency methods, such as repeated readings. The article recommends these methods “at the secondary level, especially with students who struggle with fluency and reading comprehension” (Paige, Rasinski, & Magpuri-Lavell, 2012, p. 72).
• “Surface, Deep, and Transfer? Considering the Role of Content Literacy Instructional Strategies” (2017), an article by Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher, and John Hattie published in the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, provides information relating to content literacy instructional practices. StudySync includes a pivotal point in comprehending literary and informational text: “Because each discipline has its own purpose and structure, it necessarily requires different literacy skills and abilities to create, communicate, and evaluate knowledge, and students may require different strategies to deepen their understanding of text as they gain more knowledge about a topic” (Frey, Fisher, Hattie, 2017).
• “When is a verb? Using functional grammar to teach writing” (2007), an article by Fearn and Farnan in the Journal of Basic Writing, focuses on the argument against Identification, Description, Definition (IDD) by arguing that there can be a positive interaction between grammar instruction and writing performance (if the grammar is functional and used for writing purposes). “Teaching basic skills, such as grammar within the context of writing—instead of teaching them in isolation—has been shown to enhance writing performance” (Fearn & Farnan, 2007).

The StudySync instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 meet the criteria that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress.

StudySync materials provide assessment opportunities to measure student progress, such as a Readiness Screener, Reading Comprehension Diagnostic, and Benchmarks for each grade level; ACT, SAT, and State Test Preparations; and EL End-of-Unit assessments that teachers can assign as Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced, and Advanced High. Summative assessments, such as the Extended Writing and Oral Projects at the end of each unit, provide opportunities for students to demonstrate proficiency in skills they practice during instruction. Formative assessments, such as the text questions, quick Checks for Success, and turn-and-talk activities, allow teachers to monitor student progress and provide timely feedback.

Materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 2, Uncovering The Truth, in the First read of “The Postmaster” by Rabindranath Tagore, the lesson will ask students to describe the qualities and behaviors of the main character and the conflicts he faces. Students complete Think questions, which formatively assess their understanding of the story's genre focus and/or standard, which was the focus of the lesson. Examples for questions include the Skill: Textual Evidence, Question: Does the postmaster seem well-adapted to his new home? Use evidence from the text to describe the postmaster’s feelings about the village. The materials provide teachers with an exemplar response to grasp the level of the student’s understanding.
• In Unit 4, Sculpting Reality, after reading an excerpt from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, students complete the “Write” section of the lesson. Students demonstrate their understanding of the author’s development of the novel’s beginning by explaining its dualities in a short written response. This short formative assessment can gauge the student’s understanding of the unit’s genre focus and/or standard, which was the focus of the lesson. The lesson also includes modified writing prompts for ELL levels. The Write prompt for this lesson is a Literary Analysis: “Charles Dickens’s novel A Tale of Two Cities explores many different dualities in ideas, settings, and characters. Write a response in which you describe the dualities and contrasts presented in Chapter 1. Make sure to support your response with textual evidence.” The materials provide teachers with an exemplar response, which can be used to grasp the level of students’ understanding and make adjustments to the next lesson to address misconceptions.
• In Unit 5, Fractured Selves, students complete a summative End-of-Unit Assessment to demonstrate proficiency in reading, writing, and language skills they practiced during the unit. For example, the final question asks students to write an argumentative essay to the following prompt: “Authors pay careful attention to the methods they use to develop text. Write an essay in which you explain how authors use tools of literature to convey meaning and messages. Use at least three examples from the texts, and argue how use of each tool allows the author to communicate meaning and messages.” Teachers provide a score with feedback, and the materials offer an exemplar response in the Teacher Edition.

The StudySync instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 meet the criteria that assessments clearly denote which standards are being emphasized.

The StudySync Student and Teacher Edition include standards listed under tasks within the assessment that, when clicked, provide details about the standard addressed in each task of the formative and summative assessments. StudySync also includes an assess component where teachers can find all the assessments and view the correlated standards assessed. Formative assessments include First Reads, Close Reads, Blasts, and lesson tasks. Summative assessments include Extended Writing Projects, Extended Oral Projects, and End-of-Unit Assessments.

Materials offer ongoing formative and summative assessments. Assessments clearly denote which standards are being emphasized. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 1, What’s Next?, students write a meaningful personal essay for their Extended Writing Project. The summative assessment takes students through each step in the writing process as they respond to a prompt. The assessment addresses multiple standards, including W.11-12.2.A, W.11-12.4, and W.11-12.5, which are denoted in both student- and teacher-facing materials.
• In Unit 4, Sculpting Reality, students complete a summative research writing project and can view the standards assessed in the Writing section of the planning stage. Under the response area, students can see the writing standards, W.11-12.2A, W.11-12.4, W.11-12.5, W.8.4, and W.8.5, associated with the written response. Students may access descriptions of standards by clicking on the standard.
• In Unit 5, Fractured Selves, students read Katherine Mansfield’s short story “A Cup of Tea.” They complete short answer Think questions after reading. The formative assessment asks questions, such as “Why does Rosemary want to take the girl from the street home with her? Is it really just to offer her a cup of tea? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.” This question addresses standard RL.11-12.1 and is denoted on the student’s assignment as well as in the answer key provided to teachers in the lesson plan.

The StudySync instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 meet the criteria that assessments provide sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow up.

StudySync materials provide data tracking tools in StudySync that allow teachers to use information from formative assessments throughout the units. Data-tracking tools like the Gradebook display more than just raw scores for students. They also breakdown student scores against standards and skills. The tool is color-coded so teachers can easily spot student needs according to standards. Green denotes that a student is on track for grade-level mastery or beyond. A yellow box denotes that a student may require scaffolded instruction to get back on track toward grade-level performance. Finally, the color red indicates that an instructor should use diagnostic assessments to determine whether the student requires foundational skill intervention. Teachers may filter assessments in the Assess section where they can also utilize Screening, and Diagnostic and Benchmark Assessments. The materials include teacher guidance on student mastery of standards for assessments such as quizzes, skills mastery checks, and Extended Writing Projects. The Grade Level Pacing Guide includes time for review and reteaching, which allows teachers to reteach those concepts that students struggled with earlier in the unit. StudySync provides teachers with Spotlight Skill lessons to reteach and remediate. Every unit culminates with the End-Of-Unit-Assessment that provides teachers with the student's current understanding of unit standards and provides reports for students and teachers highlighting skill strengths, skill deficiencies, standard, and skill proficiency levels and across unit growth.

Materials offer ongoing formative and summative assessments. Assessments provide sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow-up. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 2, Uncovering Truth, StudySync Assess for Grade 12 provides reporting, questions, passages, and assessment options. There are 27 assessments teachers may utilize to determine student competency in connection to grade-level standards. Teachers may use the State Test Preparation Grade 12-Form 1, 2, and 3 to measure growing mastery of curriculum throughout the year. Students' scores are displayed immediately after completing the assessment. Teachers may guide students in interpreting scores, responses, and explanations per question.
• In Unit 6, Times of Transition, students plan an argumentative oral project in response to what future students need to know. In the draft stage of the project, students access four Skill lessons that provide scaffolding of the necessary skills to present findings. Each Skill lesson, such as Skill: Organizing an Oral Presentation, offers feedback to students and teachers through the Your Turn activity. For example, in this activity, students must identify sentences that represent outline categories such as purpose and introduction and thesis. The Your Turn activity informs teachers of the skills and standards that need reteaching.

The StudySync instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 meet the criteria that materials should include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress.

StudySync materials include a variety of opportunities, such as a Readiness Screener and End-of-Unit assessments, to monitor student progress. Beginning of the year assessments include the Reading Comprehension Diagnostic and Maze Fluency Assessment. The Benchmark Assessment monitors students' progress in standards mastery throughout the school year. The materials include data tracking tools with day-to-day student performance on all standards, which teachers may use to guide instructional decisions.

Materials should include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 2, Uncovering Truth, teachers can chart outcomes toward key learning standards when students complete an Extended Writing Project. Students follow a consistent Instructional Path with each unit, including Plan, Draft, Revise, and Edit and Publish. Teachers can track student growth toward proficiency of grade level reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language standards throughout the narrative writing process.
• In Unit 4, Sculpting Reality, students read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight independently. The Teacher Edition offers a Check for Success with guidance, including the following: “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 readers make inferences about characters and events by engaging in the following: combining their knowledge of the world with clues provided in the text. You may also show and discuss these examples...”
• In Unit 5, Fractured Selves, students independently read “The Great Figure,” by William Carlos Williams, and respond to a personal narrative writing prompt to demonstrate their understanding of sensory details. The Lesson Plan provides opportunities to monitor student progress through Text Talk response questions, the Writer’s Notebook, Collaborative Conversations, and Check for Success vocabulary review. For example: “Writer’s Notebook Connect to Literary Focus—Give students time to reflect on how ‘The Great Figure’ demonstrates the conventions and characteristics of this unit’s literary focus, Modernism, by freewriting in their Writer’s Notebooks” and “Check for Success: If students are still struggling to respond to the prompt, ask them scaffolded questions, such as: ‘What were some common stylistic choices of Modernist writers? Which of these stylistic choices is reflected in the poem?’”

The StudySync instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 meet the criteria that 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.

StudySync materials provide teachers with the opportunity to differentiate within each lesson, and guidance is available to teachers for scaffolding, including offering options for instructional routines and questions to prompt thinking. There are instructional options for English learners: Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced, and Advanced-High. There are also proficiency levels for Below Level: Approaching and Above Level: Beyond. Teachers can customize lessons when assigning, such as increasing the length limit for Blast responses from 140 characters to 280 characters. Teachers can add and remove standards associated with the Blast assignment, add additional instructions/teacher’s notes, show scaffolds to students who need them, and select a Lexile to change the background.

Materials provide teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of a range of learners so that they demonstrate independent ability with grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 2, Uncovering Truth, during the reading of “The Postmaster” by Rabindranath Tagore, students complete a Skill: Theme lesson, during which they explain how characterization, setting, and plot details relate to the development of multiple themes in “The Postmaster.” Students complete a drag and drop vocabulary chart. Modifications for Beginning and Intermediate ELLs suggest the teacher circulates and supports students as they complete the chart and provide additional examples of each term if necessary. A visual glossary is also listed as an available scaffold for ELL students.
• In Unit 3, Against the Wind, students complete a Close Read of “To His Excellency, General Washington,” by Phillis Wheatley. The Lesson Plan provides suggestions for grouping students as well as scaffolding and differentiation during vocabulary instruction, reading, and writing. A Check for Success provides teachers with scaffolded questions such as “How does the poem’s speaker feel about Washington’s ability to face this challenge?” to prompt students,
• In Unit 6, Times of Transition, after reading and discussing “The Mysterious Anxiety of Them and Us” by Ben Okri, students identify and describe character traits and setting details as well as articulate the conflict that is central to the plot. During the Text Talk, students answer questions and discuss their responses. Questions include “What is the setting?” and “What does the narrator do when people begin to eat?” Scaffolds support language development for ELL students. For example, Beginning and Intermediate ELLs use speaking frames while Advanced and Advanced-High ELLs and Approaching students use speaking frames and paragraph guides. Beyond-grade-level students write one additional discussion question.

The StudySync instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 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.

StudySync materials provide teachers the opportunity to differentiate instruction for all learners. Each lesson can be modified to support four levels of English Language Learners—Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced, and Advanced-High. When instructors change the proficiency level of the lessons, the readings, assignments, and scaffolds adjust accordingly. Additionally, all lesson plans include suggestions for scaffolding each activity to meet the needs of English Language Learners and Approaching students.

Scaffolds include visual glossaries, text synopses, Spanish cognates, speaking frames, sentence frames, word banks, and differentiated questions. Each unit includes a folder of 20 ELL Resources lessons. These lessons are more targeted and aimed at helping students develop their language skills. The lessons can be taught alongside the core ELA program, allowing students to practice language skills and strategies while also working on grade-level standards.

The StudySync instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 meet the criteria that materials regularly include extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade level.

StudySync materials provide advanced opportunities for students during Blasts. Each Blast can be customized. Teachers may select the highest Lexile of the three options to change the background. With regard to quantitative text complexity measures, this option ensures students are in the appropriate stretch Lexile band. Lesson Plans include suggestions for differentiation for Beyond-grade-level students, and the Teacher Edition tab within each Assignment includes a column specific for differentiation with the Beyond suggestions and questions. The activities offered for Beyond-grade-level students are designed to take them further into the content of a lesson should they complete the activity before other students. The Beyond supports challenge students to stretch their thinking and add more opportunities for collaborative, creative engagement.

Materials regularly include extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade level. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 1, What’s Next, after reading an excerpt from Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott, students begin Collaborative Conversations by breaking down the prompt before they discuss relevant ideas and textual evidence. Beyond students are also asked to make text to world connections, as they reread the final paragraph and respond to probing questions, such as “How can Lamott’s story about her older brother and his report on birds offer readers ‘the power of being cheerful in circumstances that we know to be desperate’? What are some challenges that your community or the country faces? How could Lamott’s advice help you or others be cheerful and hopeful in these circumstances? What is a specific problem you care about, one that affects many people? Using Lamott’s advice, what might be your first ‘bird’ in solving that problem?”
• In Unit 4, Sculpting Reality, students independently read an excerpt from Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë. The Teacher Edition provides suggestions for differentiation with Beyond-grade-level readers. For example, teachers may ask students Ethical Issues questions. “Reread the final sentence of the excerpt: ‘It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced for their sex.’ What dilemmas or controversies are involved with the way women are treated in 19th century England? From the perspective of an English citizen of the 1800s, what societal rules or norms are being violated?”
• In Unit 5, Fractured Selves, students read “The Great Figure,” by William Carlos Williams and display their understanding of sensory details through personal narratives. Beyond students analyze the author's syntax by attempting to write the poem as a single sentence without line breaks. Then, students add punctuation to the poem according to standard grammatical rules. Finally, students break up the sentence into two or more smaller sentences. The teacher then asks the following probing questions: “Why do you think Williams chose to present the poem in this manner? What effect do the syntax and line breaks have on the meaning of the poem?”

The StudySync instructional materials reviewed for Grade 12 meet the criteria that materials provide opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies.

StudySync materials provide opportunities for individual, partner, small group, and whole class work. Each teacher lesson includes suggestions for grouping, providing instructional opportunities in a variety of settings. Suggestions for grouping along with available scaffolds for each group are listed next to each activity. Scaffolds include speaking frames, discussion guides, and probing questions.

Materials provide opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 1, What’s Next?, students engage in a First Read lesson of the informational text, “Overcoming Imposter Syndrome,” written by Dena Simmons, and restate key ideas and details found in the text. Students begin the lesson engaging in the “Introduce the Text” activity. In whole group, students view a video on the imposter syndrome and then move to small group work, making connections while responding to teacher-directed questions. ELL grouping suggests pairing ELL students with on-grade-level peers.
• In Unit 3, Against the Wind, students complete a Close Read of Gulliver's Travels, written by Jonathan Swift, and describe a movie scene relating to contemporary leaders. As a whole class, students watch a StudySyncTV episode, as the teacher stops the video at specific times and prompts the class to respond to questions. One example includes at 3:29 in the video, at which time the teacher stops the video and asks, “How do the students relate the laws about how to break and egg to their own lives?”
• In Unit 6, Times of Transition, students read “Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story, “A Temporary Matter.” During the Skill: Theme lesson, students use a checklist to analyze the Skill Model in groups. The Lesson Plan provides the following guidance for grouping Beginning and Intermediate English Language Learners: “Group students in mixed-level pairs for peer support as they follow along. Allow students to work together to highlight and annotate the text, in English or in their native language.”