Collections

The HMH Collections 2017 instructional materials reviewed for Grades 6-8 partially met expectations for alignment. The instructional materials partially meet the expectations for Gateway 1 as they feature engaging texts, tasks and questions grounded in evidence, and opportunities for rich reading and literacy growth but inconsistently support speaking and listening. Writing support meets the requirements of the standards, although grammar and conventions lessons and practice are not always connected to the materials at hand in multiple contexts, and culminating tasks are of value but sometimes disconnected to the rich questions and reading that precede them. The instructional materials for all grades partially meet the expectations of Gateway 2 as they feature engaging and relevant texts and text sets organized around topics or themes to support students’ growing knowledge deeply but partially support students’ academic vocabulary development and growing integrated skills in literacy. Students are inconsistently asked to integrate their literacy skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) into full culminating tasks, and support for students to learn and practice vocabulary to build knowledge as they read texts is minimal. The overall year-long plans and structures for writing and for research instruction are partially present, with inconsistent supports, and there is no year-long plan for independent reading.

The instructional materials for HMH Collections 2017 includes varying degrees of alignment across the grade levels. Grades 9 and 11 meet the expectations of high quality texts, appropriately rigorous tasks in reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language support for students. Grades 10 and 12 include materials that partially meet these expectations, and teachers may need to provide some supplementation to ensure students have access to consistent text-focused, on-standards lessons. The materials for Grade 11 partially meet the expectations of building knowledge and providing support for synthesis of standards over the course of the school year (with emphasis on academic vocabulary and text-focused critical thinking work) Grades 9, 10, and 12 do not meet the expectations of building knowledge, with texts loosely connected to broad themes. Teachers may need to provide students support around building research skills and continuing to grow writing skills to prepare for end-of-grade level work.