4th Grade - Gateway 3

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the criteria that materials are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing. 

Materials are designed to immerse students in all areas of the standards and provide explicit lesson structure with embedded teacher direction, as well as recommendations for supporting all learners. Each unit contains three genre studies and a Unit Overview, which supports the teacher as they plan for instruction. Each unit instructs the teacher throughout each lesson on its implementation before, during, and after the readings and activities, while providing recommendations for scaffolded support. At the beginning of each unit, there is a Unit Introduction followed by a weekly overview that maps out the daily content being covered. Pacing for each lesson is appropriately allocated. Each individual lesson follows the same structure. For example, for each Genre Study, the lesson cycle begins with key features, a Reading workshop that includes an essential question, academic vocabulary, a comprehension section that states strategies and skills, and a phonics and fluency section. There is also a red check mark notation that lets the teacher know that a particular skill will be tested. 

The Instructional Routines Handbook states, “In Wonders, the routines follow the same sequence of steps every time and slowly transfer the responsibility of the task to the students.” Routines effectively organize instruction, help set clear expectations for students, help teachers scaffold instruction, minimize instructional time and teacher talk, and maximize student participation. Many of the instructional routines are included in the online Model Lessons Video Library.

For each new text, students engage with an interactive read-aloud, then a shared read, and then independently with an anchor text. Lessons, questions, and prompts are sequenced so that the students interact with the text in increasingly more sophisticated ways, moving from a more literal first reading to grasp the meaning of the text, followed by a reread with questions about craft and structure, and finally synthesis and evaluation of ideas and information when reading the Anchor Text with a Paired Text. The questions and prompts are tied to the standards. Students write and collaborate using their Reading Writing Companion while reading texts. Discussion routines and writing routines are regularly employed throughout each lesson. For example:

• In Unit 3, Genre Study 1, Essential Question: “What can learning about different cultures teach us?”
• Interactive Read-Aloud: Foods for Thought
• Observe the teacher Think-Aloud the skill of summarizing. “I will summarize this section to help me understand. Taylor’s Greek grandmother made dolmade. Maybe it is a Greek food..”(T23)
• Shared Read: A Reluctant Traveler
• Students answer questions about key ideas and details about different cultures. (T24)
• Anchor Text: They Don’t Mean It!
•  "Reread the third paragraph on page 185. Identify at least two actions or events that show you this story is realistic fiction." (T43C)

Paired Text: Where Did That Come From?

“How do Frances Frost and the authors of They Don’t Mean It! and Where Did That Come From? help you understand their messages about other cultures?” Students respond in the Reading/Writing Companion page 22.

• Units and lessons include structures and resources for both whole group and small group differentiated literacy instruction. The lessons and supports for small groups link to the whole group lessons. Leveled Readers and Differentiated Genre Passages are provided at four levels (Approaching, On Level, Beyond, English Language Learners) and students practice applying the skills they used with the Shared and Anchor Text. An example includes: 
• In Unit 3: Beyond Level Text: Potluck or Potlatch? (Lexile 800) Read: "Read paragraph 4 on page B1. What does Alex do when Wakiash greets him with a big smile and a high-five?" (T88) Reread: "How does the author help you understand how Alex is feeling when he gives Wakiash the brownies?" (T89) Integrate: “Have pairs explore the connections between Potluck or Potlatch? and A Reluctant Traveler on pages 2–5 of the Reading Writing Companion as they respond to this question: 'How do the authors help you understand what learning about a different culture can teach you?'” (T89) 

The pacing of individual lessons is appropriate. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In the “Plan” tab under weekly planner, there are time limits suggested that help the teacher plan for that specific section. There are buttons on the right side that give the standards for the day and the objectives, when the teacher clicks on them. There are also time designations next to the headings of the sections of the lesson in the Teacher Edition. For example, In Unit 1, Week 5, Day 1, the following time guidelines are provided for whole-group instruction:
• Listening Comprehension: 10 minutes
• Shared Read: No time guideline given
• Vocabulary in context: 10 minutes
• Vocabulary (suffixes): 10 minutes
• Grammar: no time given
• Spelling: no time given

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the criteria that the teacher and student can reasonably complete the content within a regular school year, and the pacing allows for maximum student understanding.

Grade 4 materials include six units. Each unit includes three genre studies. Each unit is designed to take six weeks to complete with approximately 180 instructional days The sixth week provides time for review, extension, and assessment opportunities. 

 Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1:
• Genre Study 1: Expository Text: Weeks 1 & 2
• Genre Study 2: Realistic Fiction Weeks 3 & 4
• Genre Study 3: Argumentative Text: Week 5
• Week 6: Opportunities for students to review, to extend the learning, and to assess the skills taught in Unit 1.
• In the Teacher Edition there are is a “core” option in the lesson plans that helps teachers and students focus on the standards that have to be covered by the end of the year, and this pathway ensures that the standards will be covered. The “optional” pathway includes other standards that can be covered if time allows. There is a video that teachers can view that explains the Core Pathway option. The teacher types “core pathway” into the search bar and clicks on the “Using the Core Pathway” video.

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 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.)

Grade 4 materials provide students with opportunities to review and practice in and with the Reading Writing Companion, note takers, leveled readers, anchor text, paired text, graphic organizers, model texts, writing rubrics, check-lists, student practice worksheets, and additional student reads and library suggested titles, book titles, reading responses and student learning goals and rubrics.

Student materials include ample review and practice resources. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 5, Week 1, students practice and review interpreting photographs and captions throughout the week while reading the shared read and the anchor text. While reading the shared read, Your World Up Close, in the Reading Writing Companion, students engage in various tasks and questions about the author’s use of photos and captions. Questions include, “How does the author use photographs and captions to support and add to the information in the text?” Students interpret photos and captions while reading the anchor text, A Drop of Water, in the Literature Anthology. The Teacher Edition includes questions and tasks for the teacher to practice this skill. For example, the teacher says, “Look at the photographs on pages 362–363. Turn to a partner and discuss what the photographs show. How do they relate to the title?” On Day 3, the Teacher Resource Book provides : 
• Decodable passages (16-20 titles per unit)
• Spelling word cards
• Student Reader Responses
• Book Talk
• Speaking and Listening Checklist
• The Practice Book includes materials for students to practice weekly skills (organized by unit) in grammar, phonics, spelling, vocabulary, and handwriting. 
• Shared Read Writing Frames ELL: Each unit includes a shared read writing frame organized by genre. 
• Graphic Organizers for reading and writing include a fact and opinion organizer, character traits web, action and judgement, sequence of events, and cause/effect.

Student materials include clear directions and explanations, and reference aids are correctly labeled. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Week 5, Day 1, the Practice Book has clear directions and explanations. The top of page 49 explains the terms run-on sentence and comma splice and provides examples of each. It also explains how to fix a run-on sentence by using examples. The directions after these explanations are clear and state, “Correct each run-on sentence and comma splice by separating it into two sentences or combining the clauses correctly.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the criteria that materials contain a Teacher Edition with ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the Student Edition and in the ancillary materials. Where applicable, materials include teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning.

The Teacher Edition is accessible in an interactive format online and in PDF files and  provides ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the Student Edition and ancillary materials. The digital Teacher Edition is organized by units, weeks, and days. The Teacher Edition PDF files are grouped by genre studies. Online files needed for presentation, as well as student materials and ancillary materials, are easily accessible in the interactive online Teacher Edition. The Teacher Edition provides direct quotes for the teacher to use in think-alouds and student explanations. Suggestions for implementation and correct answers for student questions and tasks are also found there.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Genre Study 1, Teacher Edition, the teacher can use the Data Dashboard to filter class, group, and/or individual student data to guide group placement decisions. It provides recommendations to enhance learning for gifted and talented students and provides extra support for students needing remediation. For example, the materials state:
• "Display the online Student Learning Goals for this Genre Study. Tell students they will read how natural disasters can cause a crisis, a difficult and dangerous situation. Explain that through expository text, students will analyze how people respond to natural disasters, and they will be able to talk and write about those responses.
• Read aloud the Essential Question in the Reading Writing Companion on the page opposite page 1.
• Discuss the photograph of the helicopter responding to a fire with students. Focus on how people respond to natural disasters.
• Have partners continue the discussion by sharing what they have learned about responding to natural disasters. They can complete the concept web, generating additional related words and phrases. 
• To help students develop oral language and build vocabulary, use Newcomer Cards 5-9 and the accompanying materials in the Newcomer Teacher’s Guide. For thematic connection, use Newcomer Card 15 and the accompanying materials." 
• In Unit 1, Weeks 1-2, Teacher Edition, the teacher tells students that an avalanche is a natural event that can be dangerous. The teacher will be reading aloud a passage about how avalanches form and ways that people take action to prevent and control them. As students listen, ask them to think about how the passage answers the Essential Question. 
• In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 1, Teacher Edition. Whole Group, the lesson includes links to digital items needed for the lesson presentation, including a note-taking web and a Build Knowledge Video about the essential question, “What can you discover when you look closely at something?” Classroom material files are easily accessible at the top of the lesson plan including a student task sheet used to practice sequencing. The lesson includes suggestions for implementation and correct answers to student questions and tasks. The Teacher Edition prompts the teacher to read aloud the essential question. It prompts the teacher to display Student Learning Goals and provides follow-up questions for students to discuss,“If you had the chance, what would you look at up close? What would you hope to discover?”

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the criteria that materials contain a Teacher 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 materials provide clear explanations and examples for the teacher to support his/her content knowledge and pedagogy. Additionally, assessment concepts are defined in adult terms in the Assessment Handbook, and the Smart Start section of the Unit Overviews provide information to deepen the teacher’s understanding of literacy concepts. 

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 1, compare-and-contrast text structure is the literacy concept taught in the whole group lesson. The Teacher Edition provides an explanation for the student and teacher. “Explain that text structure is a way that authors organize a text. Compare-and-contrast is one kind of text structure. It shows how things are alike and different. When you compare, you tell how things are alike. When you contrast, you tell how things are different. An author may use signal words such as same, both, and like to signal comparisons. An author may use signal words such as neither, however, unlike, or instead to signal contrasts.”
• In Unit 1, Genre Study 1, Start Smart, teachers may access an overview of the instructional lessons in Wonders: Author Insights about research-based best practices, Social-Emotional Learning, Habits of Learning, and Classroom Culture, Instructional Routines, Teach It Your Way, and Placement and Diagnostic Assessment.
• The Assessment Handbook states, “Informal reading inventory (IRI) is a method of assessing students’ independent, instructional, and frustration reading levels in which a student reads graded text and answers comprehension questions. Both oral and silent reading can be assessed.”
• The Smart Start Section provided in the Teacher Edition further explains literacy concepts in adult language. For example, page S6 of the Smart Start Section states the following about genre to deepen teacher’s understanding, “Focusing on genre teaches students to use the appropriate strategies to unlock a text. Treat informational text as arguments and analyze the nature of the author’s assertions, logical reasoning, and/or evidence. For narrative text, evaluate the structural elements and analyze the author’s use of words and phrases.”
• Under the Professional Development tab in Resources, there is a Basics, Digital Quick Start, and Smart Start online component for teachers that explains the aspects of the program. 
• Wonders Basics
• Start here for an overview of Wonders. 
• Curriculum Design­
• Structure and Resources­
• Classroom Set-Up
• Teacher Materials­
• Get to Know Your Students

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the criteria that materials contain an explanation of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research-based strategies.

A detailed User Guide that discusses the research behind a balanced literacy approach, guided reading instruction, vocabulary and foundational skills, social-emotional learning, and writing is included in the materials. The User Guide includes research and descriptions of the instructional/educational approaches implemented in the program. The Instructional Routines Handbook explains more about the research behind the program and models evidence-based routines for collaborative conversations, word work, reading, writing and grammar, and research and inquiry. This handbook also explains the educational approaches and routines for English Language Learners. 

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In the Professional Development section of the online materials, Research-Based Alignment resource, there is a chart demonstrating the alignment of the Wonders 2020 program to research-based comprehension practices. This alignment resource provides a thorough explanation and annotation of the research supporting the following literacy components: text comprehension, speaking and listening, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, fluency, vocabulary and language, conventions of English, writing, and social- emotional learning. 
• In the Instructional Routines Handbook, routines and instructional approaches that align with the research-based literacy practices are described. For example, an explanation and instructional approach to teaching fluency is provided on pages 129 and 130. “In Wonders, echo reading, choral reading, cloze reading, and structured partner reading are effective practice techniques.” The fluency routine found on page 130 includes the steps, Explain, Model, Guided Practice, and Practice. Each step of the routine is thoroughly explained. For example, the Model step is explained as, “Model fluency by reading aloud using appropriate accuracy, rate, and expression. First, select a passage from a text. Then select an aspect of fluency to model, such as intonation. When we read aloud with natural expression, we show which words go together by pausing, raising and lowering our voices, and emphasizing certain words and sounds. Today, I am going to read a passage from your Student Book. Listen to me read. Notice how fast or slow I am speaking, note any time I stop, make facial expressions, or raise or lower my voice. For example, if I read a question, I will raise my voice at the end. Read the passage. Point out the places where you read with expression. Note the phrases or sentences in which you raised or lowered your voice to emphasize or de-emphasize certain words or sounds. Also point out where you paused to show which words go together.”
• In the Instructional Routines Handbook, Use of Anchor Charts, the materials state, “Another way you can make learning visible for your students is by creating anchor charts. According to Wonders author Kathy Bumgardner, when anchor charts are created with students, they are a valuable classroom resource to refer back to as they encounter other texts and learning scenarios. Anchor charts are classroom resources created by you and your students. They provide visible cues to scaffold instruction and make instructions clear. The information on anchor charts supports lessons that you teach and then remind students of what they learned. In Wonders, students in Grades K–6 help create and add to anchor charts that focus on the Essential Question, genre features, comprehension skills and strategies, vocabulary strategies, and writing. Anchor charts help students keep track of what they are learning.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the criteria that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress.

The materials provide ongoing opportunities for assessing students’ knowledge and skills. The Reading Writing Companion is used for students to record quick writes, summaries, answers to questions, and opportunities to collaborate about the standards/skills being taught. The teacher can use this to assess student progress. Wonders also offers a formal assessment at the end of the two-week Genre Study to assess student knowledge.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 2, Reading Writing Companion, students reread A Community in Confusion on pages 101-102 and identify the causes and effects using the graphic organizer on page 109. 
• In Unit 4, Assessment Handbook, after reading the passage, Bessie Coleman, students answer prompts, such as, “Draw a line to match each cause from the passage on the left with its effect on the right.” This connects back to the formative assessment. 
• In Unit 4, Week, 3, Day 3, Quick Checks, the materials provide many opportunities for teachers to observe students independently practice a strategy or skill taught in whole group instruction.
• The Quick Check reminds teachers to “observe your students and see if any of them are having difficulty with a skill they have just learned” and to make a determination about any needs students may have for small-group instruction. For example, in the Make Predictions section, students are asked, “What do you think Gramps’s reaction to the moon landing will be? Use text clues to make a prediction.” (Gramps might not get excited about the moon landing because he thinks the space program is a waste of money.)
• In Anchor Text, Weekly Assessments, five multiple choice comprehension questions that are directly tied to the weekly standards taught and eight questions supporting the grammar skill/standard reviewed for that week are included.
• The materials indicate that not all assignments need to be formally graded, but “should be treated as a potential source of information about what students know, what they still need to learn, and what their misconceptions or difficulties are. Review assignments, noting both strengths and weaknesses, and present the student with oral or written feedback. Ask students to go over their own assignments in groups, where peers can point out their strengths and weaknesses to each other. Ask students to go over their own work and reflect upon it. This, too, is a skill that needs to be modeled and taught.” 
• In Classroom Observations, the materials encourage systematic observations including noting topics of interest for reading, how the student works cooperatively, the types of texts that interest them, and other observable reading behaviors. This allows the teacher to help students match with texts that provide appropriate challenge and engagement. 
• Students use rubrics to self-assess their writing. Teachers can also find suggestions for differentiating the writing instruction at the beginning of each instructional sequence. Included is a variety of digital tools to support instruction, including graphic organizers, student models, draft, revised, and edited, checklists for editing and peer conferencing, and videos for skills, such as taking notes and evaluating sources.

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the criteria that assessments provide sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow-up.

The materials provide a number of assessments to provide information on student performance. Rubrics and checklists offer teachers insight into student follow-up. The Teacher Edition offers follow-up suggestions on key skills for small group time. The Assessment Handbook offers teachers guidance on drawing conclusions based on what they are seeing in the data to interpret student patterns.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 2, Genre Study 2, Weeks 3 and 4, Check for Success, teachers are asked, “Use your online rubric to record student progress. Can students identify and use antonyms to figure out unknown words?” Teachers should use the yes/no response to respond accordingly in small group instruction: “If no, Approaching Small Group - Reteach p. T175, ELL Group - Develop p. T200. If yes, On Level - Review p. T182, Beyond Level - Extend p. T188.”
• Formative assessments, such as Oral Reading Fluency assessments, provide ongoing information about students’ mastery of skills to help the teacher make instructional and small group placement decisions. A screening test will tell the teacher, for example, if a student has a weakness in comprehension. A diagnostic test shows that the student understands what the words mean but has trouble identifying the sequence of events in a story. From this information, the teacher knows that the students needs additional instruction in the comprehension strategy “identify sequence of events.” Teachers should use the information to help form small, flexible groups and to inform instruction.
• Benchmark Assessments assess skills at mid-year and end-of- year junctures and provide a snapshot of student progress toward goals and can act as a signal of their readiness for the demands of high-stakes testing.
• Placement and Diagnostic Assessments serve as the initial screening instrument and contain assessments that can be assigned throughout the year to monitor student progress and pinpoint students’ strengths and weaknesses.
• Student Practice with Data Reporting is an online student assessment that includes five comprehension questions and five vocabulary questions per unit.
• Running Records allow teachers to compile information and analyze the results of the Running Record. It also allows teachers to note the strategies used when students encounter unknown words and make an error. For example, a student who has an error rate of 1:15 reads with a 93% reading accuracy percentage. 
• The Assessment Handbook (pages 45-50) provides support for instructional decisions based on assessment. For example, on page 45, instructions include:
• "Interpret: Look at the data you have collected from various types of assignments or over time. Draw conclusions based on what you are seeing in the data to interpret the patterns you may notice. 
• Decide: What can you do to meet the student’s learning needs?
• Check: As you collect ongoing information about student progress, continue to check this information against your interpretation.
• Modify: Change your instructional decisions if they are not achieving the intended results."
• Quality rubrics and scoring guides are provided throughout the curriculum. Some include:
• Reading Portfolio Reflections
• Reading Portfolio Rubric
• Reading Observations Checklist
• Reading Self-Assessment Checklist
• At the end of each unit, there is a Track Your Progress rubric. On this page in the Reading Writing Companion, students have the chance to think about what they have learned and reflect upon how well they have met the learning objectives. Students also have a chance to reflect in writing about something they want to improve and why. For example, on page 202, the directions state, “Use the rubric to evaluate yourself on the skills you learned in this unit. Write your scores in the boxes below." Students will evaluate themselves on the author's point of view, prefixes, theme, similes, point of view and homographs. Students are to complete the following: “Something that I need to work more on is _____________because _______….”

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the criteria that materials should include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress.

Throughout the Teacher Edition, the Access Complex Text and Stop and Check sections offer opportunities to monitor student progress. In addition, Screening and Diagnostic assessments, as well as comprehension assessments, offer guidance to inform instructional decisions.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 2, Genre Study 2, Weeks 3 and 4, Teacher Edition, Access Complex Text, Connection of Ideas, teachers instruct students that when they read complex text, they should try to connect new details with what they have already read. “In this play, the idea of keeping a promise is an idea discussed throughout.” Students are asked, “In the beginning of the play, does Felipe seem to take promises seriously? How do his actions confirm that he is not trustworthy?” On page T141D, there is a Stop and Check section offering teachers a way to monitor if students understand. For example, in the Ask and Answer Questions, students will respond to, "What kind of character is Felipe? Go back to the text to find the answer.” A teacher Think-Aloud is provided to help provide students with assistance if needed.
• In Unit 3, Week 1, Access Complex Text, Genre, guidance is given for students who may have difficulty identifying the transition between the main story and the flashback. Students reread the second and third paragraphs on page 3 and look for clues that signal a flashback. "Which words tell you the author is going to include a flashback? (reminded me of another storm ten years earlier) How can you tell you are reading a flashback?” (The narrator is thinking about an event that happened when he was nine years old.) Stop and Check headings are found throughout weekly units. For example, Unit 4, Week 3, Day 3, Visualize, “How does the author depict the setting on pages 184 and 185? Visualize Marilia does not want to go on the trip to the nursing home. Which words on page 182 help you visualize Marilia’s desperation?”
• A screening test will tell the teacher, for example, if a student has a weakness in comprehension. A diagnostic test shows that the student understands what the words mean but has trouble identifying the sequence of events in a story. From this information, the teacher knows that the students needs additional instruction in the comprehension strategy “identify sequence of events.” Teachers should use the information to help form small, flexible groups and to inform instruction.
• The Informal Reading Inventory (IRI) is an individually-administered diagnostic tool that assesses a student’s reading comprehension and reading accuracy. The IRI measures three reading levels: independent, instructional and frustrational. The independent reading level is the level at which a student reads without help from the teacher. At each grade level, there are two fiction and two non-fiction reading passages. These passages alternate between oral reading and silent reading as the IRI tests for both oral and silent reading comprehension. To assess the student’s comprehension, there are three literal (L) questions, one vocabulary (V) question, and one interpretive (I) question per passage.
• The Comprehension Tests assess overall reading comprehension and grade-level reading proficiency. Students read a series of passages that get progressively harder and answer accompanying comprehension questions. There is one set of passages and questions for each grade level. If students achieve a score of 80%–90%, they should receive instruction on that grade level. If students receive a score below 80%, the teacher should administer additional assessments to determine specific skill needs. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 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.

The materials include many strategies for teachers to use. Examples of strategies include Teacher think-alouds, modeling, questioning techniques, sentence stems, differentiated leveled passages, and readers organized under the small group instructional routines in the Teacher Edition, including Approaching, On-level, Beyond, and ELL levels.  A shared-read and anchor text provide access to the grade-level text through additional supports including read-alouds, graphic organizers, student collaboration, Access Complex Text strategies, and “spot-light” on language for ELL supports. 

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In the Teacher Edition, the Data Dashboard is used to filter class, group, and/or individual student data to guide group placement decisions. It provides recommendations to enhance learning for gifted and talented students and provides extra support for students needing remediation.
• In Unit 1, Weeks 3 and 4, Small Group, Scaffolded Shared Read, Preview Text Structure, teachers “Point out that understanding text structure makes it easier to comprehend and follow the story in realistic fiction. Briefly explain that most realistic fiction has realistic characters, events, and settings. The story begins with the rising action, which might introduce a problem or conflict and includes the events that lead up to the most exciting part of the story, or climax. The events after the climax are called the falling action, which eventually lead to the resolution, when the problem in the story is solved." In Read and Respond, the teacher reads the text aloud to students. The teacher says to preview the comprehension strategy, Make Predictions, by using the Think-Alouds on page T121. Think-Aloud Clouds Display the online Think-Aloud Master 3: "I predicted because . . . to reinforce what you used to make, confirm, and revise predictions strategy to understand content." In Genre Features, the text directs, "With students, discuss the elements of the Read -Aloud that let them know the text is realistic fiction. Ask them to think about other texts that you have read or they have read independently that were realistic fiction stories.”
• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 3, the Teacher Edition provides differentiated instruction small group lessons on vocabulary and comprehension at four different levels: Approaching, On Level, Beyond Level, and English Language Learners. Phonics/Decoding and fluency lessons are also provided for the Approaching Level. Each Genre Study is accompanied by topic-related Leveled Readers and Genre Passages for small group instruction at the four levels, as well as instructional support for each of them in the Teacher Edition. For example:
• Approaching Level passage: Differentiated passage, as students preview the book, have them identify features of realistic fiction in Playground Buddy. Note Taking, ask students to use a copy of the online Point of View Graphic Organizer 146. On pages 2–4, the materials ask,  "What’s the narrator’s point of view? Use evidence from the text to tell a partner. What’s the narrator’s opinion of Sofia? Use evidence from the text to support your answer." On pages 5–7, students are asked to visualize the scene on the playground and describe it to a partner. On pages 8–9, the materials ask, "What word or phrase helps define wandering on page 9?" Students work with a partner to write a short paragraph describing how they would feel if they were Kim starting a new school and having Sofia help them. They include two details from the story.
• ELL Interactive Question Response Routine: After each section of text, teachers use the following Interactive Question-Response prompts to provide language support and guide comprehension. Page E1, Paragraphs 1–3, Beginning – "Discuss with a partner: Who are the characters? The characters are_____. What does Vera ask Brad? Vera asks Brad for _________." The teacher reads Brad’s response with students and helps them to restate his response. Intermediate –Discuss with a partner what happened in September. "Vera had asked Brad for____. Which words or phrases tell you? I know this from the words ________." Advanced – "What words tell you that Brad has been giving Vera food for a long time?" Advanced High – "Why does Brad give the apple to Vera?”

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 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.

Grade 4 materials provide opportunities for students to access grade-level texts with support in activating prior knowledge through photographs and videos that help supply or initiate recall of background knowledge and collaborative graphic organizers for recording ideas. Organizers allow teachers and students to highlight patterns, critical features, big ideas, and relationships (e.g., use outlines to emphasize important ideas or draw students’ attention to critical features). Materials also guide information processing, visualization, and manipulation (e.g., provide explicit prompts for each step in a sequential process). Instruction is provided for cross-curricular connections students make as they answer the Essential Question through the Connect to Content features. 

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In the Newcomers Guide, there are leveled reader resources that the teacher can use as a resource for ELL students.
• In Unit 1, Weeks 3 and 4, Genre Study 2, Spotlight on Idioms, teachers explain to students that idioms are figurative language and do not have a literal meaning. “Point out the idiom pay off and explain that it means ‘to be rewarded.’ Ask: How did standing up pay off? (Tina and Maura played a game that Maura chose.) Have students use one of the idioms to describe a time when they stood up for themselves or something they did that paid off.”
• In Unit 1, Weeks 3 and 4, Genre Study 2, English Language Learners Scaffold, teachers use the following scaffolds with Guided Practice to have students learn new expressions:
• "Beginning: Review with students that idioms are phrases that have a meaning different from the meaning of the words. Reread the fifth paragraph on page 36. Explain that the phrase 'cat got your tongue' is an idiom that describes a person who is not talking. Have partners practice using the idiom: Why aren’t you talking? Cat got your tongue? No, I don’t want to talk. Repeat for 'standing up for myself.'"
• Intermediate: Review using context clues to figure out the meaning of idioms with students. Read the fifth paragraph on page 36 with them. Help students find context clues for the idiom “cat got your tongue” and discuss the meaning. Ask: Why does Maura’s grandmother use the idiom? Have partners respond: Maura’s grandmother uses the idiom because Maura does not talk. Repeat for “standing up for myself.”
• Advanced/Advanced High: Discuss with students using context clues to figure out idioms. Have partners read the fifth paragraph on page 36 and find context clues to figure out the meaning. Have partners describe the meaning using the term idiom. Repeat for “standing up for myself.”
• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 1, the Essential Question/Topic is “In what ways can you help your community?” The directions state, "Display the online Student Learning Goals for this genre study. Tell students they will read realistic fiction to learn how people show their generosity by helping others in their communities Display the online Student Learning Goals for this genre study. Tell students they will read realistic fiction to learn how people show their generosity by helping others in their communities. Explain that they will analyze characters in realistic fiction and talk and write about how the characters helped people in their community. Read aloud the Essential Question on Reading Writing Companion. Model using the Concept Web to generate words and phrases related to helping the community. Add students’ contributions. Have partners continue the discussion by sharing what they have learned about helping their community. Remind students to make eye contact, and to speak slowly and clearly. They can complete the Concept Web, generating additional related words and phrases. Use the following scaffolds with Ask to have students learn new words and describe ways to help the community. Advanced/Advanced High: Have students describe the photograph to discuss the meanings of generosity and volunteering and give examples. Have partners discuss ways people help the community and respond using the words generosity and volunteering. Use the routine on the Visual Vocabulary Cards to pre-teach ELL Vocabulary: habitat, pressure, and survive. Use the glossary definitions on page 19 to define vocabulary in context. Have students add these words to their glossaries."

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the criteria that materials regularly include extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade level.

Grade 4 materials provide opportunities for students to interact with text in extension activities including, leveled small groups (advanced), Talented and Gifted recommended lessons, author studies, book talks/chats, research/writing, and independent book titles for student choice reads. 

Examples and teacher directions include, but are not limited to: 

• In Unit 1, Weeks 3 and 4, Genre Study 2, Advanced/Advanced High, the students discuss how to make a prediction. “Have partners read paragraph 9 on page 35 and the beginning of page 37 to predict how Maura will solve a problem. Have them support their prediction using text clues and have them respond using predict. Have students review how to identify events that tell about a problem and solution. Have partners read the last three paragraphs on page 36 and take notes and describe the event that solves Maura’s problem. Have them describe using the terms problem and solution. Have partners review the parts of a business letter. Then have partners describe a law they want to learn about and generate questions they want to ask. Have partners write a business letter with questions they generated about the law and express their opinion in their letter.”
• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 3, Gifted and Talented, students think of a way they could help protect an animal in the text. Students select one animal they have read about and write a checklist of ways people could protect that animal. Students may do additional research or work based on what they already know. Volunteers are invited to share their work with the class.
• In the Instructional Routines Handbook, Author Study, students form independent study groups 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 the Instructional Routines Handbook, Support for Advanced Learners, students engage in a variety of independent reading study pages/routines. “Ask students to create a two-three minute movie trailer for their books that provides enough plot details to captivate the viewer without spoiling the end. Students can use video editing software applications to create their trailers." In Book Club Chat, students choose an exciting, interesting, or descriptive passage to read aloud to the group. The passage should reveal something interesting about a situation in the text and/or provide some insight into a main character. In Concept Study, students do a research report on a topic related to their independent reading. Students may choose to study one of the following topics: a specific time-period from a text, a specific concept or idea from a text, a specific person in history, and/or the pros and cons of a controversial subject.

The materials reviewed for Grade 4 meet the criteria that materials provide opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies.

Throughout the materials, there is evidence of support and notations of which grouping strategies should be used and when to implement them in the lesson planning. Lessons indicate where pairs, collaborative conferences, small group or individual groupings are utilized for instruction. Teachers are also provided suggestions for how to group students using the Instructional Routines Handbook, Data Dashboard, Assessment Handbook, student interest, and teacher observation.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In the Teacher Edition, Differentiated Instruction, small group lessons on vocabulary and comprehension are available at four different levels: Approaching, On Level, Beyond Level, and English Language Learners. Phonics/Decoding and fluency lessons are also provided for the Approaching Level. Each Genre Study is also accompanied by topic-related Leveled Readers and Genre Passages for small group instruction at the four levels, as well as instructional support for each of them in the Teacher Edition. Teachers can search the Leveled Reader Database at my.mheducation.com for more leveled titles to use as they teach small groups. The database is searchable by Theme, Keyword, Genre, Skill, Text Feature, Grade Range, Lexile, and Guided Reading Level. 
• The Assessment Handbook and the Data Dashboard at my.mheducation.com provide more information on assessments that teachers can use to form small groups. The Running Records/Benchmark Books resource provides leveled passages and recording forms for determining students’ guided reading levels. 
• Teachers can use the Data Dashboard to filter class, group, and/or individual student data to guide group placement decisions. It provides recommendations to enhance learning for gifted and talented students and provides extra support for students needing remediation.
• Peer Conferences: The materials state, “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.”
• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 3, Collaborative Discussions, students work with partners to discuss the meaning of survive to review the word. “Then have them discuss examples of how animals use adaptations. Students can respond using: Animals use adaptations to ___ survive. You can ask yourself questions about the text and answer them to make sure you understand what you’ve read. The text on page 102 contains a lot of information about silk. Why is spider silk such an important substance for spiders? Discuss with a partner. Help student pairs figure out the meanings of revisit and disappear in Animal Adaptations. Guide partners as they go back into the text and separate prefixes from their base words to help them determine each word’s definition. Discuss how the prefixes helped them work out the meanings. Have students complete pages 104-105. Discuss the answers as a class.”
• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 3, Small Group, students preview the title, the table of contents, and the photographs and captions in “Extreme Animals,” and predict what the selection will be about. Partners discuss their predictions and students practice reading with a partner.