4th Grade - Gateway 3

The materials include information about the program for students, parents, and caregivers. Weekly letters describe what students will experience at home and school. These letters include suggestions and activities on ways to support students at home as well. The program also includes a letter that explains how to support students in a remote setting. While the letters come in English, there is an ability to translate them into many languages, including Arabic, Russian, and Chinese. The materials for the various stakeholders can easily be found in the Student Center Dashboard, which provides resources for students, parents, and/or caregivers. 

Materials contain strategies for informing students, parents, or caregivers about the ELA program. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Student Center Dashboard includes the school to home tab, which contains letters and messages from the teacher. 

• The Student Center Dashboard includes resources for students such as the weekly vocabulary words and writing assignments. 

• The program includes a family letter for each week in each unit. The letter provides information about the genre students will read about, learning goals, word work, and the comprehension standards each week. For example, In Unit 3, Week 4, the letter explains that they will “focus on citizenship and the rights and responsibilities that come with it.”

• In the Administrator Resources section, found in the Professional Development tab, there is a customizable letter that can be sent to families about the Wonders curriculum that can be sent at the beginning of the year. The letter contains information on what students will experience in class and what students will experience at home. 

• In the Administrator Resources section, there is a PowerPoint presentation that teachers can use to explain the curriculum to families on a Back to School or Curriculum night. 

Materials contain suggestions for how parents or caregivers can help support student progress and achievement. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Student Center Dashboard, there is a weekly letter that informs parents or caregivers on what the students are working on that week and ways to support them at home. For example, in Unit 5, Week 1, the letter suggests that when reading the text, children “write the chronology or sequence of events.” 

• The program provides parents with differentiated spelling lists for students approaching grade level, on-grade level, and beyond grade level. The spelling lists include activities students can complete to practice the spelling words at home. 

Materials provide multiple accommodations to ensure students can access assessments and demonstrate knowledge without changing assessment content. Teachers can find support in the Equitable Access to Instruction Handbook, the Assessment Handbook, and within daily lessons. The Assessment Handbook includes general accommodation information and suggestions for how much and what type of assistance to provide during assessments. The Equitable Access to Instruction guide includes information for ELL support and visual and audio enhancements for students who struggle or have learning disabilities and require alternative options to reflect understanding.

Materials offer accommodations that ensure all students can access the assessment (e.g., text to speech, increased font size) without changing the content of the assessment. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Student online instructional materials include accommodations that do not impact content, like page view, zoom features, audio support, and highlight.

• The materials provide multimedia presentations and include accommodations that do not impact content, like audio support, turtle icons, rabbit icons, and closed captioning.

Materials include guidance for teachers on the use of provided accommodations. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Assessment Handbook lists suggestions to help teachers determine the type of assistance during assessments, “Assistance should be unrelated to the skills and learning. Assistance should not mean changing the skills and learning itself. For instance, if you read a passage to a child, demonstrating understanding becomes listening comprehension, not reading comprehension.”

• The Equitable Access to Instruction guide lists suggestions to support students with hearing disabilities during media presentations: “Consider providing a transcript of the audio narration along with the video so that students with hearing disabilities can follow along easily with the rest of the class. Alternatively, closed captioning services, which are available online for free or at a low cost, can provide hearing-challenged students with text.”

• The Equitable Access to Instruction guide lists recommendations to help struggling learners and students with disabilities demonstrate understanding. Teachers provide students with options for demonstrating understanding of content or skills such as, presentations to be submitted, recorded, or presented (e.g., through PowerPoint, Prezi, Camtasia, etc.); computer screen recordings, videos (e.g., video blogs), audio Recordings (e.g., podcasts), maps, sentence starters, diagrams, photographs, illustrations, and computer-generated graphics; webpages, animations, lab reports, digital storytelling, varied essay styles, timelines, performances, and other student options.

Materials include an arsenal of approaches to maximize student learning opportunities. Students have multiple ways to process and learn new information, including individual and partner reading, small group and whole-class discussion, investigations, opportunities to problem solve, and a variety of supports to deepen understanding. The program includes visual, auditory, reading, writing, and kinesthetic learning modalities to support different learning styles. There are opportunities for self-reflection, peer review, and teacher feedback. Students have the opportunity to monitor their learning and understanding. 

Materials provide multi-modal opportunities for students to question, investigate, sense-make, and problem-solve using a variety of formats and methods. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Week 3, Lesson 3, students conduct research for two weeks regarding a problem in their community. Then students write a formal letter to a local or state government about the problem. 

Students have opportunities to share their thinking, to demonstrate changes in their thinking over time, and to apply their understanding in new contexts. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Week 4, Lesson 2, students reread two texts and have discussions about what they learned from the two texts and how the texts are similar and different from each other. 

Materials leverage the use of a variety of formats and methods over time to deepen student understanding and ability to explain and apply literacy ideas. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 6, Week 6, Lesson 5, students participate in a Build Knowledge Routine and document the facts and details that they learned to help them respond to the essential question of the text set. This routine is done after every text and encourages students to demonstrate understanding in multiple ways, including, but not limited to, talking about the text, writing about the text, adding to an anchor chart, and adding to a vocabulary list. 

Materials provide for ongoing review, practice, self-reflection, and feedback. Materials provide multiple strategies, such as oral and/or written feedback, peer or teacher feedback, and self-reflection. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:  

• Throughout each lesson, the materials provide sidebar information for the teacher to provide opportunities for students to reflect, called “Student Check-In.” For example, in Unit 6, Week 5, Lesson 1, the materials direct teachers to “Have partners talk about how each poem helps them understand what shapes the speaker’s identity. Then ask them to reflect using the Check-In Routine.” According to the Teacher’s Edition, the Check-In Routine consists of the following steps:

  • “Review the lesson learning goal.

  • Reflect on the activity.

  • Self-Assess by

    • filling in the bars in the Reading/Writing Companion

    • holding up 1, 2, 3, or 4 fingers

  • Share with your teacher.”

Materials provide a clear path for students to monitor and move their own learning. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• At the end of each unit, students set their own learning goals as they move into the next unit of instruction. For example, in Unit 4, Week 6, Lesson 5, the materials direct teachers to “Have students set their own learning goal for the next unit. Ask partners or small groups to flip through Unit 5 of the Reading/Writing Companion to get an idea of what to expect.”

Materials provide a variety of grouping strategies throughout each unit and lesson across the school year. Students can engage in pairs or small groups to discuss, read, write, present, peer evaluate, and play games. Specific teacher guidance is found in lesson segments and provides details on how and when to use specific grouping strategies. The Instructional Routines Handbook provides guidance on grouping students in various formats during activities such as Collaborative Conversations, Shared Read Routine, Literature Circles, Peer Conferences, Author Study, and Book Club Chat. The “Managing Small Groups: A How-To Guide” handbook supports teachers by explaining how to group students using data.

Materials provide grouping strategies for students. Materials provide for varied types of interaction among students. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 3, Lesson 3, Week 2, during guided practice, students work with partners to read and discuss the text. Pairs circulate to discuss how the text uses a problem and solution text structure. 

•  In Unit 4, Lesson 1, Week 3, during the Build Knowledge lesson segment, students work with partners or small groups to respond to the prompt, “How does technology affect your life?”  

• In Unit 5, Lesson 2, Week 4, student pairs locate idioms in their readings or other resources and read and explain the meaning of each to the class.

Materials provide guidance for the teacher on grouping students in a variety of grouping formats. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Instructional Routines Handbook, guidance for Peer Conferences states,  “Provide your students with consistent opportunities to discuss with another student what they are reading. This allows them to exchange ideas about what they are learning and how they are growing as readers. In addition, it offers a valuable chance for you to listen in to students sharing their thinking about their reading with others. Pair two (or three) students. You might want to group students who are reading the same text or texts on the same topic or theme. Rehearse with students what these collaborative conversations should look like and sound like. By using a gradual release of responsibility, you can ensure that students will be focused when they are meeting with a peer to discuss their reading. Provide students with specific guidelines to ensure that students will use the time productively. Use the Peer Conferencing handouts on pages 126–128 to model with students.” 

• In the Instructional Routines Handbook, guidance for an Author Study states, “Have students form an independent study group and choose an author to study. Have students choose two pieces of work by the author and read the selections independently. Students should have collaborative conversations about their reading each week in which they can choose a character and compare their traits; compare and contrast themes; compare the author’s purpose; compare text structures; compare poetic devices or the use of figurative language and the effect it has on the mood of a text. Remind students to use text evidence to support their ideas.” 

• In Unit 5, Lesson 4, Week 3, group guidance is provided in the practice/apply segment of the lesson stating, “Have students take turns partner-reading the passage and listening for tone and phrasing. Ask them to give constructive feedback on their partner’s tone and phrasing.”

The instructional materials provide a balance of drawings and realistic images representing different demographic and physical characteristics of the characters. Across the year, the materials include positive representations of all individuals in the illustrations and images and avoid stereotypes and biases toward underrepresented groups or individuals. The content supports strengthening a student’s sense of identity, promoting equity and inclusion, and engaging students in learning. Students have a variety of opportunities to demonstrate success and understanding. 

Materials and assessments depict different individuals of different genders, races, ethnicities, and other physical characteristics. Depictions of demographics or physical characteristics are portrayed positively across the series. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In Unit 1, Week 2, students read “A New President Takes Office” (author not cited). The text includes a picture of the first African- American President of the United States, Barack Obama.

• In Unit 5, Weeks 3–4, Lesson 1, Reading/Writing Companion, students build knowledge about the Essential Question, “In what ways do people show they care about each other?” The image accompanying the activity depicts a young boy pushing an older man in a wheelchair, both appear to be of Asian descent. 

Materials and assessments balance positive portrayals of demographics or physical characteristics. Materials avoid stereotypes or language that might be offensive to a particular group. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Weeks 3–4, Lesson 1, students build knowledge about the Essential Question, “How do your actions affect others?” The image accompanying the activity in the Reading/Writing Companion features two girls of varying skin tones and hair colors telling a secret.

• In Unit 5, Week 1, students read “Sadie’s Game” about a girl with a health impairment due to an accident and the great relationship she has with her older brother. Included in the story are details about Sadie playing basketball before and after her accident.

Materials provide representations that show students that they can succeed in the subject, going beyond just showing photos of diverse students not engaged in work related to the context of the learning. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Week 6, Lesson 2, students read “Bullying: It’s Against the Law,” a TIME For Kids digital story. This story depicts individuals of various skin tones and provides students with information about bullying laws per state and ways they can stop bullying. 

• In Unit 3, Weeks 5-6, Extended Writing 2, the Reading/Writing Companion includes a model argumentative essay. An inset picture shows a girl with pigtail braids writing on lined paper.

Materials provide guidance to encourage teachers to draw upon student home language to facilitate learning. The Language Transfers Handbook includes a sound transfer chart, a grammar transfer chart, and examples of cognates. This handbook also provides background knowledge and suggestions for teachers to help students as they learn a second language. In addition, the program also includes a Bridge to English section, which connects students’ English skills with Spanish. Each section provides examples of transferable and non-transferable language skills that students can use as they acquire English. It provides students of varying English proficiency levels opportunities to interact as they develop their English language skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Lastly, in the differentiated section of each lesson, teachers are provided with cognates with vocabulary words in the ELL Academic Lessons section to help students understand the pronunciation and meaning of new words.  

Materials provide suggestions and strategies to use the home language to support students in learning ELA. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Resource Library, the Language Transfers Handbook provides teachers with a sample lesson on cognates to help students use their native language to identify words. 

• In Unit 2, Week 5, a Bridge to English segment reviews the transferable and non-transferable skills. The transferable skills are that both English and Spanish have adverbs and adverbial phrases to modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. The non-transferable skills are the digraphs ph and gh are not used in Spanish to express the /f/ sound. 

• In Unit 5, Week 5, a Bridge to English segment explains to students that while many words in English and Spanish start with the/s/ sound, Spanish words do not begin with an s-based, two-, or three-letter consonant blend. 

• In Unit 3, Week 3, Lesson 2, the Differentiated Instruction section includes the Spanish cognates for the English words synonym and perspective. 

Materials present multilingualism as an asset in reading, but students are not explicitly encouraged to develop home language literacy and to use their home language strategically for learning how to negotiate texts in the target language. Teacher materials include guidance on how to garner information that will aid in learning, including the family’s preferred language of communication, schooling experiences in other languages, literacy abilities in other languages, and previous exposure to academic or everyday English. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Language Transfers Handbook provides teachers with strategies for supporting students as they learn English orthography. This handbook contains charts for phonemes that may cause a problem for speakers of specific languages. For example, the Sound Transfer Chart identifies the transferable and non-transferable sounds between English and Spanish, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Hmong, Korean, Tagalog, Arabic, Urdu, Russian, Hatian-Creole, and French. 

• The Language Transfers Handbook provides teachers with strategies for supporting students as they learn English syntax. The handbook suggests that teachers highlight the transferable skills if the group of students all speak the same native language. 

• In the Resource Library, there are a variety of videos that promote using the students’ home language, including “Bridging Lessons: Transferring Learning Between Languages” with Peggy Cerna and “Building First Language Proficiency” with Dr. Josefina Tinajero. 

The instructional materials provide guidance and support across the year to encourage teachers to draw upon students’ cultural and social backgrounds to facilitate learning. The Resource Library contains three resources, the Language Transfers Handbook, a Culturally Responsive Teacher Guidance document, and the Equitable Access to Instruction guide. The Language Transfers Handbook provides teachers with assistance to make linguistic connections that support increasing their knowledge of English. The Culturally Responsive Teacher Guidance document cultivates critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Teachers receive equity guidance through the Equitable Access to Instruction guide, which includes options for student choice during independent work. Opportunities for students to share personal home experiences to enhance their understanding of various concepts are present in the materials. 

Materials make connections to the linguistic, cultural, and conventions used in learning ELA. Materials make connections to the linguistic and cultural diversity to facilitate learning. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Language Transfers Handbook, the following guidance is provided to support students in making connections to their home language to learn English: “Help students whose first language shares cognates with English draw on their first language knowledge by teaching how to use cognate knowledge: Explain that cognates are words that look similar, sound similar, and share meanings across some languages. Explain that many words have multiple meanings, and sometimes cognates share one meaning but not others. Explain that sometimes words look and/or sound alike but are not cognates. Pie is an example. It means ‘foot’ in Spanish but ‘a type of pastry’ in English. Model differences and similarities in sounds and letters, for example, mysterious and misterioso. Ask students whose first language shares cognate status with English to pronounce the pairs and note similarities and differences in sounds. Ask students to find letters in the pairs that are similar. Give students the opportunity to find cognates in authentic text. Ask students to check to see if the meaning of the word in their first language makes sense in the English sentence. Check a dictionary to confirm.” 

• In the Newcomer Teacher Guide, there are three lessons for each newcomer card topic. The lessons include reading and writing activities to help students transition into the English-speaking classroom.

• In Unit 5, Week 5, Lesson 1, students read “The Founding of Jamestown” from TIME for Kids. The materials provide ELA Academic Language to support English Language Learners, including the terms chronology, proverb, sidebar, and summarize. The materials also provide the cognates to some terms, including cronología and proverbio.

Materials include teacher guidance on how to engage culturally diverse students in the learning of ELA. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Resources section, the Becoming a Culturally Responsive Teacher document includes a selection of resources to help teachers achieve the goals listed in the document: “respect my students’ preferences and honor their experiences, provide rigorous instruction that invites critical thinking, acknowledge bias and privilege, own my own learning, communicate positive intentions, avoid assumptions, reject color blindness, consider context, be open to being wrong, get comfortable with discomfort, and create a classroom that offers the opportunity to achieve academic excellence to all.” 

• In the Resources section, the Becoming a Culturally Responsive Teacher document includes a model lesson section teachers can apply to their lessons. This scaffolded lesson plan includes suggestions regarding a culturally-responsive essential question, objectives, sensitivities, key vocabulary, building background by introducing the concept, and after reading optional activities that extend the concept. In addition, this lesson format includes teacher tips, expanding your classroom library, and resources. The document also contains suggestions on how to use these model lessons, namely as supplements, to provide historical and cultural background and to explore identity and social justice.

Materials include equity guidance and opportunities. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Equitable Access to Instruction guide, support to use multiple media for expression states, “Provide alternative media for expression. Creating options for students reduces barriers to expression while developing a wider range of articulation. Video and audio are common tools, but don’t forget simple pictures, graphics, and images. Build further scaffolds through audio. Cartoons, drawings, picture books, and interactive timelines offer various media alternatives.”

• In the Teacher Edition, student choice for independent work guidance states, “Independent Work-In addition to reading independently from texts listed above or those of their own choice, students have options for independent work time, including responding to reading in their writer’s notebooks, completing Workstation Activity Cards, reading with a partner, participating in literature circles or peer reading conferences, and preparing a book talk.”

Materials include opportunities for students to feel “acknowledged,” such as tasks based on customs of other cultures; sections provided in multiple languages such as the glossary, digital materials, family letters; etc. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Glossaries for students are provided in several languages, specifically an English-French glossary, an English-Hmong glossary, an English-Korean glossary, an English-Arabic glossary, an English-Portuguese glossary, an English-Spanish glossary, an English-Chinese glossary, an English-Urdu glossary, an English-Russian glossary, an English-Vietnamese glossary, an English-Tagalog glossary, and an English-Haitian Creole glossary.

Materials include prompts where students are encouraged to share how they (or their parents) do things at home or use information to create personal problems, etc. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 3, Week 1, Lesson 1, a Blast Assignment entitled “Let’s Pitch In” requires students to respond to the following prompt and poll question, “Why are volunteers an important part of the community? How would you like to improve your community?”

• In Unit 5, Week 1, Lesson 1, a Blast Assignment entitled “How Old is Your Water?”  requires students to respond to the following prompt and poll question, “What can you discover when you follow a drop of water through the water cycle? What is the most important activity that you use water for everyday?”

The program integrates technology in a variety of ways that provide opportunities for engagement, support, and customization. Interactive technology tools encourage an engaging and supportive learning environment such as the option for texts to be read aloud, games, and the ability to customize assignments. Age-appropriate digital tools are found throughout the materials to help students access the content and master the standards. 

Digital technology and interactive tools, such as data collection tools, simulations, and/or modeling tools are available to students. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Reading/Writing Companion digital version, students can select a thumbs down, a sideways thumb, or a thumbs up for each check-in throughout the course.

• There are Build Knowledge videos provided to help students learn about the topic of the unit. 

• Students can learn the weekly vocabulary words in the “Words to Know” digital tool. The tool introduces the vocabulary word, provides a definition, gives an example, and a question is asked with the word contained within the question. This tool allows students to listen to each of the components of the tool. 

• All texts can be found online and students can listen to the text. In addition, students can use a bookmark feature to mark a page. The online texts also have a visual glossary. 

Digital tools support student engagement in ELA. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Resource Library, there are a variety of interactive graphic organizers. When the interactive version of the graphic organizer is selected, students can use the pencil tool to write on the graphic organizer.

• Materials include Inquiry Space, which provides resources to support students in three research and inquiry projects. Teachers can assign and monitor guided digital projects related to specific units. 

Digital materials can be customized for local use (i.e., student and/or community interests). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• By selecting “Manage and Assign” from the menu, teachers can select “Make an Assignment” to create a new assignment for a select group of students or an entire class. Teachers have the option to add a title, directions, and resources such as ebooks, interactive games, and graphic organizers.

• In the Online Assessment Center, teachers can either modify an existing assessment or create a new one. There are a variety of question types that teachers can choose from including multiple choice, short answer, fill in the blank, and essay. 

The materials include digital opportunities for teachers and students to collaborate with each other. The materials allow the teacher to post assignments, projects, weekly learning goals, and messages. Students can view current and past messages posted by the teacher and respond to the teacher. 

Materials include or reference digital technology that provides opportunities for teachers and/or students to collaborate with each other, when applicable. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Student Dashboard provides students with the opportunity to collaborate with the teacher using the My Binder section. Here, students can view assignments and assessments that the teacher posts. 

• The Student Dashboard includes a “To Do” section, which lists specific tasks that students should practice and/or complete. There is a “Note to Teacher” box, which allows students to communicate directly with the teacher. 

• The Student Dashboard allows students to collaborate with the teacher in the Writing and Research section. Students can view topics and projects assigned by the teacher. The teacher can also pose questions, and students can respond to the question, see the responses of their classmates, and respond to their peers’ comments. 

• The Student Dashboard includes a Home to School Section where students and families can view messages, word activities, learning goals, and spelling lists the teacher posts. 

The Instructional materials provide a visual design to support students in engaging thoughtfully with the subject. The teacher’s edition is organized similarly in each unit, week, and lesson. The student edition is easy to navigate and has titles to help students navigate the curriculum. The visual design is age-appropriate and includes both realistic photographs as well as illustrations to support student learning. Text boxes provide additional information for students to help them understand the topics, content, and texts. The table of contents, glossary, and table headers are easy to understand and navigate. 

Images, graphics, and models support student learning and engagement without being visually distracting. Images, graphics, and models clearly communicate information or support student understanding of topics, texts, or concepts. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Core instruction provides pre-teaching with every lesson to activate prior knowledge and includes photographs and videos to support student learning. This allows students to collaborate by filling in graphic organizers and recording ideas.

• Instruction is presented in multiple media formats to engage all learners. The guidance states, “Inquiry Space projects guide students through a step-by-step process of completing more complex performance tasks. Tasks include an array of multimedia tools in the toolkit to support students. Research and Inquiry projects offer students options to create projects in multiple media, such as text, speech, drawing, illustration, visual art, and music.”   

Teacher and student materials are consistent in layout and structure across lessons/modules/units. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The digital teacher edition is organized with units, weeks, and lessons. Each day is organized with a weekly concept, Essential Question, reading, differentiated instruction, and writing.

• The digital student edition is organized with My Binder, Writing & Research, Resources, School to Home, Notes, Glossary, To Do, Words to Know, Write, Games, and Read.

• A weekly phonics lesson is presented to support students in decoding multisyllabic words and is integrated with reading instruction. 

• Resources are provided for daily fluency practice, including Shared Reads in the Reading/Writing Companion, Differentiated Genre Passages, Leveled Readers, and Reader’s Theatre plays.

• Echo reading, choral reading, cloze reading, and structured partner reading are used consistently as effective fluency practice techniques.

Organizational features (Table of Contents, glossary, index, internal references, table headers, captions, etc.) in the materials are clear, accurate, and error-free. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Resources tab contains a glossary. The glossary includes words such as “celebrate,” where the word and definition are spoken when the video’s play button is clicked. In addition, there is a definition of the word along with a picture and a section entitled Routine that offers opportunities for students to use this word. 

• The Table of Contents in the student textbook includes images, text, and colors to help all students access the necessary materials. For example, “To Do” includes a paper with a checkmark and is contained within a green circle. The text is visible when a student hovers over the icon. 

The instructional materials provide teacher guidance for using embedded technology to support and enhance student learning. Technology is used in a variety of purposeful ways. The materials include guidance to integrate technology to increase engagement and maximize student learning. Technology resources to support student learning include but are not limited to presentations, games, and videos.

Materials provide teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning, when applicable. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Teacher’s Online Dashboard includes daily presentations with resources that teachers can display on a whiteboard or other tool.

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Lesson 1, students examine the Essential Question, “How do people respond to natural disasters?” Teacher guidance states, “Watch the Video, play the video without sound first. Have partners narrate what they see. Then replay the video with sound as students listen. Talk About the Video, have partners discuss how people respond to natural disasters. Write About the Video, and have students add their ideas to the Build Knowledge pages of their reader’s notebooks.”

• In Unit 3, Week 5, Lesson 2, students use research to create a slideshow. Teacher guidance states, “Identify sources, Work with students to scan books and websites to find examples of technological advances in farming. Then help students locate reliable print and digital resources for their research, such as books, magazines, and websites that include information about technological advances in farming. Organize and Synthesize Information Show students how to analyze their information, including images, video, and audio. Discuss what they might use in their slideshow and ways they might organize the information.”