6th Grade - Gateway 3

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations that materials are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing. Each lesson is designed for a 90 minute block. Each module contains from 33-37 lessons. The total minimum number of days to cover every lesson in the module is 139. This pacing allows for unexpected or special school events which may interfere with traditional pacing.

A module overview is found at the beginning of each module which includes: Module Summary, Essential Questions, Suggested Student Understandings, Texts, Module Learning Goals, Module in Context, Standards, Major Assessments, and Module Map.

Materials include detailed lessons plans with supporting materials which include an agenda for the lesson including Welcome, Launch, Learn, Land, Wrap and a Vocabulary Deep Dive or a Style and Convention Deep Dive. Each section has hyperlinks included for materials needed such as graphic organizers or articles.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations that the teacher and student can reasonably complete the content within a regular school year and the pacing allows for maximum student understanding.

Each module provides 32-38 lessons, and each lesson is designed for a 90 minute block. Each of the four modules can be completed in a 9 week grading period. Teachers and students can reasonably complete the content within a 36-week school year as long as their schedule provides a 90 minute block of time for English Language Arts.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet expectations 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.).

Students have access to an array of materials that provide ample review and practice resources such as, note catchers, reference charts, anchor charts, new-read assessments, supporting excerpts or texts, close read guides, essay rubrics, reference aids, model writings, vocabulary words list and definitions, and speaking and listening checklists.

Student resources include clear explanation and directions. Activities that are completed with teacher guidance have directions included in the teacher lesson plan notes. Resources that are completed independently or in small groups without direct teacher guidance include clear directions and explanations so that the task can be completed.

• In Module 1, Lesson 8 includes a graphic organizer that is organized and divided into three sections and written in bold print. The first section asks for an example of figurative language, the second section asks “What does it mean?” and the third section asks “What does it reveal about the characters?”
• In Module 3, Lesson 3 includes a graphic organizer that is clearly written and divided into three sections: Chapter, Plot Development, Character Development.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations for materials including publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items.

Alignment to the CCSS is documented in multiple places in the curriculum including the following sections: Module Map, Module Learning Goals, Standards, Major Assessments, and Lesson Agenda (section-”Standards Addressed”).

For example, in the overview of each module there is a Module Map that includes learning goals and standards addressed in these goals as well as a “Standards” section which includes all Reading (Informational and Literary), Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language standards addressed in each module. In the Major Assessments section of the Module Overview, each standard is listed for each Focusing Task Question Activity and each End of Module Task.

Materials reviewed for Grade 6 meets the expectation for materials containing 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. There is limited integration of technology and or guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning.

The materials contain a teacher's edition that provides teaching notes for each lesson that provide a Focusing Question, Content Framing Question, as well as a lesson summary. The lesson overviews also include an “At A Glance” outline of each lesson as well as Learning Goals and Standards Addressed.

The following are examples which demonstrate how the materials are useful and offer good guidance for teachers:

Module 1:

Lesson 8, Launch Post the Focusing Question and Content Framing Question.

Students brainstorm and share types of figurative language they know and can recognize in context.

“Explain that authors use figurative language to convey meaning and help readers better understand information about the story or characters.If needed, review with students that similes use like or as to compare two unrelated ideas and that metaphors state that one thing is the other.”

Lesson 8, Teacher’s Note: “Ensure that students see the contrast between the Amoses and Lefty’s family. Chapter 11 includes Bud’s first insights into what it means to be part of a family and impacts his transformation.”

Lesson 19

Wrap-Up: “The lesson assumes that students in past grades and lessons have been exposed to and have a basic understanding of figurative language and imagery. If students have not had such exposure, consider grouping students differently according to skill level, and work alongside students who need additional support.”

Module 4:

Lesson 6, Teacher Note: “Ideally, students can use the next block of time to find and evaluate an additional source that can be used to support the research for their chosen individual. This may require students to evaluate more than one source depending on the quality of the site they initially select to assess. If students can work in a computer lab, or if they have access to computers in the classroom, they can accomplish this task. If students need to visit a computer lab, the rest of today’s lesson can also take place there, since students will be writing two paragraphs for Focusing Question Task 1. If students do not have access to computers at school, have students complete Handout 5A for homework.”

Lesson 6, Next Steps: “For those having trouble completing Handout 5A, check the sources that students are selecting. Determine whether the issue is linked to types of sources they’ve found or a misunderstanding about the task. Address misconceptions, and select a credible source to assess as a group, using the checklist on Handout 5A to help students understand the process.

For students who struggle with the first paragraph of the Focusing Question Task Assessment, consider providing students with a photograph and text pairing, such as the photograph on page 49 and the text of chapter 1. Suggest that the details in this photograph, and the ways in which Antarctica are described in chapter 1, could be cited and explained to complete the requirements of paragraph 1. For the task’s second paragraph, consider providing struggling students with another photograph and text pairing, such as the photograph on page 53 and the text on page 54.”

The instructional materials reviewed 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.

The Implementation Guide provides multiple explanations and charts regarding curriculum terminology. The implementation Guide also explains at length the research behind each approach in the curriculum. There are also Appendixes that include adult level explanations as well as sample student answers and annotated responses teachers can use to improve their knowledge of what standards being met would look like in a response.

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet expectations for materials containing a teacher’s edition that explains the role of the specific ELA/literacy standards in the context of the overall curriculum.

Materials include an extensive Implementation Guide which goes into great depth about how the curriculum as a whole addresses all of the standards. Additionally, a “Module in Context” and a “Module Learning Goals” document are provided in the Module Overview of each unit. The Module in Context includes an overview of how the materials address the Common Core shifts as well as a detailed account of how the CCSS standards have a role in the curriculum. The Module Learning Goals articulate specific standards as they are addressed in each individual Module.

Materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations for materials containing explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identifying research-based strategies.Materials include resources found primarily in the Implementation Guide that provide explanations of the instructional approaches and identify research-based strategies. The Implementation Guide lists what research says, what students need and how Wit and Wisdom materials provide what students need within the curriculum.

For example:

Research Says: “Performance on complex texts is the clearest differentiator in reading between students who are likely to be ready for college and those who are not.” (ACT 16-17) “But as expectations of college and career reading have held steady or increased, the complexity of Grades K-12 texts have held steady or increased, the complexity of Grades K-12 texts has declined (Adams 4-5; NGA Center and CCSS) 3).”

Students Need: “Students need to be able to unlock meaning from complex texts.”

Wit & Wisdom Responds: “Instead of basals, Wit & Wisdom students read complex, grade-level books they love from classics such as The Story of Ferdinand and Animal Farm, to new favorites such as Last Stop on Market Street and The Crossover, to captivating nonfiction such as I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban and An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. Students use these texts at every turn-to learn, and eventually master, essential reading, writing, speaking, listening, grammar, and vocabulary skills.”

Some Core Practice examples include:

Vocabulary: “The Wit & Wisdom approach to teaching vocabulary thorough knowledge of word meanings is key to understanding any complex text and to learning as a whole (Chall and Jacobs; Anderson and Freebody 77). Vocabulary instruction in Wit & Wisdom is accordingly designed to achieve three key student outcomes:

• Better comprehension of complex texts
• Broader and deeper knowledge of words and word parts (including affixes and roots)
• Increased ability to determine the meanings of unknown words As a text-based curriculum,

Wit & Wisdom teaches vocabulary both implicitly and explicitly using words in the core and supplementary texts. Through repeated readings of complex, knowledge-building texts, students implicitly learn many new words (Feitelson, Kita, and Goldstein 340; Miller and Gildea 96; Nagy and Scott 273). Explicit vocabulary instruction focused on the three student outcomes emphasizes three categories of high-leverage vocabulary words and phrases.”

Questioning: “Students monitor their understanding of the text by recording questions they have about it. During their first encounter of the text, students record questions they have about it. When students return to the text, they continue to monitor their understanding, recording any additional questions that arise while also looking for answers to their original questions. After the first stage of reading, students share, and when possible, answer these text based questions, or problem solve about how to answer the questions. For example, students may return to the text, consult a reference source, or conduct research. This helps students maintain engagement with and focus on the text while reading and monitor their comprehension of what they are reading. This helps teachers formatively assess students to indicate their understanding of the text and learning from previous modules.”

Materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations for materials regularly and systematically offering assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress. Each module incorporates a series of checkpoints in the form of Focusing Question Tasks that help students demonstrate the knowledge and standards they are learning throughout the module. These tasks build to an End of Module (EOM) Task which is labeled in the materials as Major Assessments. Teachers can monitor student progress throughout the module to ensure that students are prepared to complete the summative task (EOM). As formative assessments, the materials provide several New Read Assessments per module in which students demonstrate their understanding of the standards covered at that point in the module. Students independently do a cold read of an informational or literary text and then complete various question (multiple choice, open-ended, short response, multi-select, etc). After answering questions, students also complete a short writing task accompanied by a graphic organizer to capture their thinking).

Instructional materials reviewed clearly denote which standards are being emphasized in lessons.Standards are found in multiple places and times during the module. Each lesson include Learning Goals which are connected to and labeled with a standard. In each module, there is a tab labeled Module Overview. A chart is provided that lists all of the standards for---- New Read Assessments, Socratic Seminar, and EOM (End of Module) Assessments. All standards assessed are labeled clearly.

Instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations of assessments providing sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow-up. Appendices include Answer Keys, Rubrics, and Sample Responses as well as rubrics for all writing types tasks.

Materials regularly provide:

• Sample answers and recommended scripts to share with students
• Suggestions for differentiation
• Next steps, if students had difficulty. ‘Consider reviewing handout…. and re-watching ……”
• Rubrics for scoring student tasks

Guidance for Interpreting Student Performance and suggestions for follow up can be found in the teacher’s notes and in the wrap section of each lesson.

Materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectation for including routines and guidance that provide opportunities to monitor student progress.

All modules of Wit and Wisdom follow the same format and elements for student performance. The New Read Assessments are routine and help teachers monitor students progress towards standards mastery. The Focus Questioning Tasks routinely and regularly build to the End of the Module (EOM) Assessment and monitors student progress. Checklists are provided with tasks so that students are prepared for the EOM Assessment.

A variety of resources are available in Appendix C to assist teachers in monitoring progress. Some examples include:

• Self, peer and teacher evaluations
• Checklists for poetry performances and Socratic Seminars.
• Speaking and Listening Rubrics

Materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations for providing teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of range of learners so that the content is accessible to all learners and supports them in meeting or exceeding the grade-level standards.

Examples include the following:

• Focusing Question Tasks - These tasks may also come with a recommendation for differentiation depending on student performance or ability.
• Scaffolding or Extension boxes are located within lesson materials in the Teacher’s Edition. There are also recommendations for teachers to review, re-watch, or re-read materials depending on how students performed on lesson tasks.
• The Next steps in the “Land/Wrap” section of the end of each lesson will also give recommendations for teachers to support students who didn’t understand portions of the lesson.

The instructional materials reviewed meet the expectations 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. Materials include explicit vocabulary and grammar instruction, Text-dependent questions that focus all students on key terms, phrases, and passages for rereading and repeated exploration, partner work that includes oral practice of written responses , and multiple authentic opportunities to use academic language with support, such as explicit teaching about speaking and listening, sentence frames, and vocabulary support

Example of materials for supporting below grade level students include:

• In each lesson, there is a section titled “Land/Wrap”. Teachers are given strategies to assist struggling students with the complex text or task in the “Next Steps” section (located in at the conclusion of every lesson). For example:“For students who had trouble recognizing the challenges Carbone describes, encourage them to skim pages 227–229 for keywords that indicate a challenge (e.g., “not the easiest thing in the world” [227], “not always easy” [228], “Another challenge” [229]). Pair students to reread these sections to identify the challenge Carbone is referring to and the solution she developed to address this challenge.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet requirements for regularly including extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade level. Extension activities are provided throughout materials. These are included in boxes in the Teacher’s Edition lesson plans. For example, Module 3, Lesson 13, A set of extension activities are included in the lesson plan concentrating on Reasons, Evidence, and Elaboration.

Materials reviewed meet the expectations of providing ample opportunities for teachers to use grouping strategies during lessons. Lessons indicate where pairs, whole group, small group, or individual groupings are utilized for instruction. Each lesson provides students opportunities to work through more than one type of grouping. Teachers are also provided suggestions for how to assign roles or divide groups. For example, Socratic Seminars are used frequently and teachers are given detailed instructions on how to model the strategy and assign groups and responsibilities. Other routines that provide opportunities for grouping include, but are not limited to anchor charts, boxes and buttons, categorization, chalk talk, choral reading, echo reading, fishbowl, gallery walk, give one-get one- move on, graffiti wall, grammar safari, graphic organizers, jigsaw, link up, literary dominoes, mix and mingle, outside-in, partner reading, praise/question/suggestion, question corners, quick write, quiz-quiz-trade, reader’s theater, and response techniques.