7th Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for core texts being of publishable quality and worthy of careful reading and considering a range of student interests.

Core texts cover a range of topics of interest to Grade 7 students. Many of the core texts are written by award-winning authors, and many of the texts themselves have also won awards.

Examples of central texts that are worthy of careful reading include the following:

• Module 1:
  
• Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess, Page, by Richard Platt (Silver Smarties Book Prize)
• The Midwife’s Apprentice, by Karen Kushman (John Newbery Award)
• Module 2:
• Code Talker, by Joseph Bruchac (ALA Best Books Awards)
• Farewell to Manzanar, by Houston and Houston (Christopher Award)
• Module 3:
• Animal Farm, by George Orwell (Prometheus Hall of Fame Award)
• Module 4:
• American Plague, by Jim Murphy (John Newbery Award)
• Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson (ALA Best Books for Young Adults)

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for materials reflecting the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards. The materials contain a balance of both informational and literary texts. There is also a variety of text types, including multimedia, novels, poetry, paintings, videos, articles, photos, music, and biographies.

Examples of core texts and supplemental texts from Module 1 are listed below:

Module 1:

Literary

• Castle Diary, by Richard Platt (novel)
• Identity, by Julio Noboa Polanco (poem)
• Code Talker, by Joseph Bruchac (novel)
• Animal Farm, by George Orwell (novel)
• Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson (novel)
• Invictus, by William Ernest Henley (poem)

Informational

• Knight, Western Reserve Public Media (historical accounts)
• Joachim Among the Shepherds, by Giotto di Bondone (painting)
• Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., by Alexis O’Neill (biography)
• School Children, by Ansel Adams (photograph)
• A Beautiful Dawn, by Radmilla Cody (photo)
• Is Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ the Greatest Speech in History? by Emma Mason (article)
• Excerpts from: Friedrich Engels, Revolutionary, Activist, Unionist, and Social Instigator, Cricket Media (historical account)
• Philadelphia: The Great Experiment, History Making Productions (film)
• Yellow Fever, US National Library of Medicine (article)

The instructional materials for Grade 7 meet the expectations that the majority of texts have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative and qualitative analysis and relationship to their associated student task.

Though some texts fall outside the recommended Lexile range, the materials are accompanied by a qualitative analysis that provides a rationale for use of each text. Texts in the lower end of the Lexile range are typically used to foster student interest or supplement knowledge or evidence needed to complete more demanding tasks. For example, in Module 4 students read the text, Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson. It has a quantitative measure of 580L. Central ideas and themes include human responses to crises, the will to survive, a society divided by race, class, and gender, personal growth in adversity, and the impact of limited scientific knowledge on the severity of the epidemic. Each chapter begins with a primary-source epigraph, setting the central idea or theme for the chapter. There is some figurative language and at least one instance of symbolism. The register can be unfamiliar due to arcane language, colloquialisms, and historical references. Allusions to historic events and individuals are contextualized and do not interfere with comprehension. Knowledge of the Revolutionary War and early-American government and geography will facilitate comprehension. Though at a low quantitative measure, this text's topic and historical references would make it difficult for students to understand. However, the lessons, questions, and tasks throughout Module 4 as well as the Focus Questions and class discussions allow this text to be accessible to Grade 7 students.

Texts that rise above the grade level complexity according to quantitative measures and qualitative measures have reader and task scaffolds and accommodations so that students can access the complex texts. For example, in Module 1 students read the text, The Midwife’s Apprentice, by Karen Cushman. It has a quantitative measure of 1240L. Qualitative measures include: A clear, sequential narrative structure, with chapters organized around specific episodes in the protagonist’s life, supports students’ reading. There are references to life in a medieval village. Students will have built up knowledge of medieval life by this point in the module, so these demands should not be too high for students. The lessons, questions, and tasks throughout Module 4 as well as the Focus Questions and class discussions allow this text to be accessible to Grade 7 students.

The instructional materials for Grade 7 meet the expectations that materials support students’ increasing literacy skills over the course of the school year. Each module builds in rigor over the course of the school year, providing students opportunities to learn and demonstrate literacy skills at grade level by the end of the school year. Series of texts have a variety of complexity levels and are accompanied by tasks that provide opportunity to practice increasingly rigorous skills. Although there are a few times the quantitative measure extends into the 2-3 grade band, and expands into the 9-10 grade band, the qualitative features keep the texts appropriate for students in Grade 7. Using the Appendix A- Text Complexity found in the Appendices of each module gives teachers access to the quantitative and qualitative features of each Core Text including the knowledge, structure, and language use within the texts.

Modules 1-4 provide ample opportunities to increase students' literacy skills throughout the school year. Each of the anchor texts are sufficiently complex with qualitative factors that are diverse and authentic. While the quantitative scores of the anchor texts span from 910L-1170L, the supplementary texts provided in each module give students balanced reading opportunities, both for the development of skills as well as knowledge and vocabulary. The Module Assessments show increasing complexity of student thinking and provide students opportunities to demonstrate their reading and thinking skills. Teachers are supported in measuring student growth with multiple assessment exemplars located in each module.

The knowledge, structure, and language use within the texts expand through the modules. Evidence of this expanding rigor is found in the following examples:

• Module 1: Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer and retold by Geraldine McCaughrean: The structure of the narrative may present some challenge for students because of the frame of a set of stories told within another story. The vocabulary is rigorous, with descriptive words and content-specific, formal, and archaic words related to the medieval characters and settings. Seven historical accounts are included to assist students with background information on the Middle Ages. Even though a quantitative Lexile measure is not given, the quantitative features provide a rigorous reading experience for grade 7 students.
• Module 4: An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 (1130L). Published in 2003 and awarded the Newbery Honor Award in 2004, An American Plague details the 1793 Yellow Fever Epidemic in Philadelphia, then the new capital of a new nation. Murphy uses engaging, story-like elements and language and uses sensory and figurative descriptions, but he also employs ample complex, and at times archaic, content-specific and academic language to convey the history of the epidemic.
  

The instructional materials for Grade 7 meet the criteria for providing information to the teacher about the text complexity and features of the anchor texts. Anchor texts and series of texts connected to them are accompanied by a text complexity analysis. A rationale for educational purpose and placement in the grade level is included.

Each text is accompanied by a text complexity rubric found within the Teacher Edition in Appendix A of each module. The text complexity rubric provides the quantitative, qualitative and reader/task considerations. There is a rationale for each selection presented under the title and author's name, along with a key learning objective. The information provided includes a list of Common Core standards that are met within the piece. The rubric also offers a detailed explanation of the qualitative areas such as meaning/purpose, structure, language, and knowledge demands. On this same page, the quantitative Lexile measure is stated.

Materials also include a rationale for placement, which is located in the Module Summary section that states in a few sentences why most texts are applicable to the student. For example, the Module 1 Summary is found below:

• “For an adolescent, perhaps no inquiry is more pressing than the question of the self. As we strive to figure out how we fit in and what our place might be, society’s impact is palpable, calling us to ask: How does society influence identity? Can a social hierarchy limit opportunity? To what extent are we free to shape the course of our lives? Module 1 explores these questions of identity in society by taking students on a literary expedition across a famously inflexible social setting: Medieval Europe. Though it may seem distant, this medieval exploration illustrates the influence of societal forces on identity formation—an influence that remains undeniable in seventh graders’ modern setting.” (GM, Grade 7, Module 1, Module Summary)

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

Each module includes lessons with supplementary texts of varying lengths. These texts are read independently, in groups, aloud, and silently, offering multiple opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading. Materials also offer multiple novels across the year. Teachers read aloud the back cover of a novel, the first chapter of a novel, and sample sentences to highlight the structure of the text or specific vocabulary terms pertinent to the text. Students then take responsibility for group or independent reading. Opportunities for teacher read alouds and small group work are also available during the scaffolding options component. Students engage with the the majority of content reading independently as homework.

The lists below demonstrate the range and volume of reading across all modules and include additional independent reading from the “Parent Tip Sheet.” Examples of texts include:

• Module 2
• 1 memoir, 1 novel, 1 biography, 4 historical accounts, 1 journal, 1 piece of music, 4 photographs, and 2 posters.
• Books to Read at Home include:
  
• Eddie’s War, Carol Fisher Saller
• Weedflower, Cynthia Kadohata
• Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II and the Librarian Who Made a Difference, Joanne Oppenheim
• Courage Has No Color, Tanya Lee Stone
• Freedom Flyers: The Tuskegee Airmen of WWII, J. Todd Moye
• Milkweed, Jerry Spinelli
• Hana’s Suitcase: The Quest to Solve a Holocaust Mystery, Karen Levine
• The Boy on the Wooden Box, Leon Leyson
• Module 4
• 1 historical account, 1 novel, 1 painting, 4 articles, 1 film, 1 painting, 1 poem, and 2 videos.
• Books to Read at Home include:
• Invisible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure, Jim Murphy
• Oh, Rats! The Story of Rats and People, Albert Marrin
• Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America, Susan Campbell Bartoletti
• When Plague Strikes: The Black Death, Smallpox, and AIDS, James Cross Giblin
• The Great Trouble: A Mystery of London, The Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel, Deborah Hopkinson

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that most questions, tasks, and assignments are text-specific and require students to engage with the text directly and to draw on textual evidence to support both what is explicit as well as valid inferences from the texts. Questions draw the reader back into the text and support students’ literacy growth over the course of the school year. Reading and writing (and speaking and listening) are done in a cohesive learning environment. Students read and reread to write and discuss. The materials provide opportunities for evidence-based discussions and writing. Examples of student directions include: “Cite evidence” as you participate in Socratic Seminar, “Please remember to include proper citations for your textual evidence,” and a writing rubric requires students to use “textual evidence that develops your idea.”

Below are examples of text-dependent/specific questions included in each module:

• Module 1, Lesson 4:
• "What else did you learn about the setting from pages 30–42?"
• “What other characters did you meet, and what did you learn about them?”
• Module 2, Lesson 17:
  
• "How does the photographer use blank space? How does he use light and dark?"
• "What can you tell about the men in the photograph? How would the photograph change if you could see the men’s faces?"
• Module 3, Lesson 18:
• “What message is Old Major sending the animals by using this word?”
• “What has chapter II revealed about how the pigs are different from the other animals?”
• Module 4, Lesson 8:
• "What does Grandfather’s response to the crisis reveal about him?"
• "What different emotions does Mattie experience in chapter 10?"

Instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectation that they should contain sets of high-quality sequences of text-dependent questions and activities that build to a culminating task that integrates skills to demonstrate understanding. Each module begins with an Essential Question; each module also contains multiple Focusing Questions that deal with the core text. Each of the daily lessons work toward answering the Focusing Questions while building the skills and knowledge needed to complete the End-of-Module Task. Supplementary texts help to build knowledge while integrating skills such as speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

For example, In Module 2 the Core Texts are Farewell to Manzanar, by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston and Code Talker, by Joseph Bruchac. The Essential Question is, “How did World War II affect individuals?” The End-of-Module Task is, “Write an informative essay that analyzes World War II’s effect on either Ned Begay or Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston. Revise the essay based on feedback.” During the Module lessons student read, discuss, and write to build knowledge through various activities and routines. Students work towards understanding the Focusing Questions to build knowledge and complete the culminating task.

Focusing Questions for Module 2 include:

• Focusing Question 1: What does being Navajo mean to the protagonist of Code Talker?
• Focusing Question 2: How does Ned’s Navajo identity provide strength during times of challenge?
• Focusing Question 3: What did the Wakatsukis experience during World War II, and how did it affect them?
• Focusing Question: 4 How did World War II affect individuals?

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations providing students frequent opportunities to practice academic vocabulary and syntax in their evidence-based discussions. Each module gives the students ample opportunity to hold evidence-based discussions with Think-Pair-Share, Socratic Seminars, Jigsaw discussions. Gallery Walk/follow-up discussions, etc. The materials offer scaffolds to help students hold academic conversations, including evidence to support students’ claims. Scaffolds include sentence starters, evidence graphic organizers, and teacher-facilitated discussions.

Academic vocabulary instruction is found throughout the modules. Teachers use multiple strategies in introducing, discussing, and using new vocabulary. Each module contains Appendix B, entitled Vocabulary, which clarifies the category in which each word is listed. The materials vocabulary is presented in three categories: Content Vocabulary, Academic Vocabulary, and Text-Critical Vocabulary. Students create vocabulary journals and also participate in Vocabulary Deep Dives and Style and Conventions Deep Dives.

Examples of how students have opportunities for evidence-based discussions that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary include:

Module 1:

• Students are asked to engage in a Socratic Seminar in which they explain how the medieval social order influences identity, experience, and opportunity.

Module 2:

• In Lesson 23, students engage in Mix-Freeze-Pair to help them examine the text’s style and structure. Student will then circulate, taking Relocation Camps (Handout 23A) and Handout 4B with them. Teacher will say, "Freeze," and display the first question. Students stop and discuss it with the peer closest to them. Then say, "Mix," directing students to circulate again before freezing and discussing the next question with a new partner. A few students will be asked to share answers after pairs discuss each question.

Module 3:

• Students are instructed to engage in a Socratic Seminar and discuss which of the texts is most inspiring and why.

Module 4:

• After a reading, students engage in a Chalk Talk, recording answers on three different TBQs and then discuss their evidence-based answers.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations for materials supporting students’ listening and speaking about what they are reading and researching with relevant follow-up questions and evidence.

Speaking and listening work requires students to gather evidence from texts and sources. Opportunities to ask questions and hold discussions with peers and teachers about research, strategies and ideas are present throughout the year.

Within this curriculum there are multiple opportunities for speaking and listening that include whole group discussions and small group discussions. In addition, through the lessons there are instructions for the teacher and tips on facilitating whole group, small group, and partner speaking and listening. Students specifically practice these skills in every module in Socratic Seminars. Materials include speaking and listening rubrics, as well as the Socratic Seminars. There is a tracking form that helps the teacher track students’ ability to perform skills with speaking, listening, and reading (citing evidence).

Module 1, Lesson 30:

• The whole group discusses in a Socratic Seminar the question, “How can I improve my speaking and listening skills?” and cites evidence from the text.

Module 2, Lesson 18:

• Students Think-Pair-Share to respond to the question: “What are two new facts you learned about code talkers from reading this article?” Students share ideas as a whole group and take notes in their response journals.

Module 3, Lesson 31:

• Students count off from one to five to form groups; they use the numbered section on the handout corresponding to their number. Students then work independently on their section of a handout, reading their assigned section, looking up unfamiliar vocabulary, making notes as needed in their Vocabulary Journals to help them remember key words, and identifying the central idea of their section.
• Next, students meet with those who analyzed the same section to share information and clarify understanding. These new groups collaborate to share ideas, clarify key vocabulary, and agree on and record the central idea for the section.

Module 4, Lesson 22:

• After each presents, the students listening to the presentation provide:
• Feedback about what the group did well.
• Insights they gained about the crisis from listening to the presentation.
• One or two suggestions (total) for improvements the group might make for future presentations.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations that materials include a mix of on-demand and process writing and short, focused projects. Students write both on demand and over extended periods throughout every nine-week module. There are informal and formal responses over the course of the module, students learn, practice, and demonstrate the stages of expository writing, narrative writing, and argumentative writing. Materials include short and longer writing tasks and projects. Writing tasks and projects are aligned to the grade-level standards being reviewed. Students also keep a response journal to record thoughts and ideas.

Module 1: Writing Focus: Narrative

Students write creatively, examining and experimenting with craft techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, sensory language, and description. Through their experimentation with narrative techniques, students not only prepare to effectively blend content and craft when they complete their historical fiction EOM Tasks for Module 1, they also develop skills they can use to enliven their informational and argument writing in upcoming modules.

• Focusing Question Task: Write a diary entry from the poacher’s point of view. In it, the poacher should reflect on 1) his place in the social hierarchy and 2) how his society has shaped his identity.
• End of Module Task: Write an “exploded moment” narrative that demonstrates how medieval society supports or limits the protagonist’s identity.

Module 2 Writing Focus: Informative Writing

In their informative writing, students use many of the narrative writing skills they learned, such as using descriptive language, while developing new skills such as writing introductory paragraphs.

• Focusing Question Task: Write a paragraph that analyzes how a particular aspect of Navajo culture supports Ned Begay over the course of Code Talker.
• End-of-Module Task: Write an informative essay that analyzes World War II’s effect on either Ned Begay or Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston. Revise the essay based on feedback.

Materials provide opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards. Materials provide frequent opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply writing using evidence. Materials provide opportunities that build students' writing skills over the course of the school year. Writing opportunities are focused around students’ analyses and claims developed from reading closely and working with sources.

Examples of writing prompts found throughout the modules that show how the materials meet the expectations of these indicators include:

Module 1:

• Write a diary entry from the poacher’s point of view. In it, the poacher should reflect on 1) his place in the social hierarchy and 2) how his society has shaped his identity.

Module 2:

• Write an “exploded moment” narrative that demonstrates how medieval society supports or limits the protagonist’s identity.

Module 3:

• Write a paragraph that analyzes how a particular aspect of Navajo culture supports Ned Begay over the course of Code Talker.
• Write an informative essay that analyzes World War II’s effect on either Ned Begay or Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston. Revise the essay based on feedback.

Module 4:

• Write an argument paragraph about which of the three animals—Squealer, Boxer, or the sheep—is most influential in helping Napoleon gain and maintain power in Animal Farm.
• Write an argument essay about whether language is more powerful when it is used to uplift or whether it is more powerful when used to control. Develop your argument with evidence from Animal Farm and at least one other text.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the expectations that materials include frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information. Materials provide frequent opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply writing with evidence. Writing opportunities are focused around students' analyses and claims developed from reading closely and working with sources. Materials provide opportunities that build students' writing skills over the course of the school year.

The following examples demonstrate evidence-based writing opportunities across all four modules:

Module 1:

• Students answer a series of text-dependent questions in small groups to help them explore the character of Alyce in a deeper way. In groups of four, each student jots down their ideas for each question, with textual support, and then discusses as a group.

Module 2:

• Character Analysis 3A: Based on the text, students choose a word or phrase that describes a trait that Kii Yázhí possesses, writing that in the first column. In the second column, the choice is supported with evidence from the text, including page references. In the third column, students elaborate on the evidence by explaining how it supports the word or phrase identified in the first column.

Module 3:

• Students are asked to examine the 7 commandments in Animal Farm and provide evidence and inferences about the reasons the pigs included these commandments.
• Students analyze Squealer’s Milk-And-Apples argument by stating the claim, reasons, and evidence that he includes in Animal Farm.

Module 4:

• Students answer questions to compare and contrast Anderson’s account including facts from Murphy and their own research. Students use evidence from their research and the book to complete the chart.
• Students analyze the character of Mattie from the book, Fever 1793, by what Mattie thinks, does, says, and what others say about Mattie; evidence is recorded on a graphic organizer.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet expectations for explicit instruction of the grammar and conventions standards as applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts, with opportunities for application both in and out of the context. Each lesson has a deep dive in either vocabulary or style and conventions for 15 minutes of instruction, allowing students to practice the skills throughout the modules. Writing rubrics include grammar and conventions, and there are checklists at the End-of-Module tasks to assess application of conventions listed in the language standards.

Examples include:

Module 1:

• Lesson 19: Identify and explore how complex and compound-complex sentences signal differing relationships among ideas.
• Lesson 25: Explain how phrases and clauses affect writing.
• Lesson 26: Complete sentence frames using sets of appropriately punctuated modifiers.
• Lesson 28: Appropriately use coordinate adjectives to add description in writing.
• Lesson 32: Employ phrases and clauses appropriately to enhance writing.

Module 2:

• Lesson 11: Identify transitional phrases and clauses and explain their function in specific instances.
• Lesson 12: Use transitional phrases and clauses in writing.
• Lesson 16: Recognize and correct misplaced modifiers.
• Lesson 21: Explain why subjects are important when using participial phrases.
• Lesson 17: Revise argument paragraphs by using phrases or clauses to create transitions, add detail or precision, or clarify relationships.

Module 3:

• Lesson 14: Identify phrases and clauses and explain their function in specific instances.
• Lesson 15: Revise an argument paragraph by using phrases to create transitions, add detail and precision, or clarify relationships.
• Lesson 17: Revise argument paragraphs by using phrases or clauses to create transitions, add detail or precision, or clarify relationships.
• Lesson 24: Combine simple sentences to create complex sentences to communicate multiple ideas.

Module 4:

• Lesson 2: Examine and identify coordinate adjectives in context.
• Lesson 5: Examine coordinate and compound adjectives and their punctuation and consider their effect in a text.
• Lesson 6: Describe characters, scenes, and settings from Fever 1793, using correctly punctuated coordinate and compound adjectives.
• Lesson 8: Execute skill in using and correctly punctuating compound and coordinate adjectives.
• Lesson 27: Edit a research paragraph to ensure correct citation punctuation.