6th Grade - Gateway 1

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 1c. 

Anchor texts range from 920L–1220L, with the majority of texts falling within the Grades 4–5 Lexile Stretch Band. Texts have an appropriate level of qualitative complexity, with most ranging from moderate to high complexity. The qualitative complexity of texts spans dimensions such as complex sets of events and characters that require an understanding of the time period, complicated plots, time shifts, and unfamiliar vocabulary including academic and domain-specific words. The Program Support Guide provides a text complexity analysis and rationale for purpose and placement.

Anchor/core texts have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative and qualitative analysis and relationship to their associated student task. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 4, students read “Jason’s Challenge” (1140L), an excerpt from The Golden Fleece and the Heroes who Lived Before Achilles by Padraic Colum. The quantitative complexity falls at the high end of the Grades 6–8 Lexile Stretch Band. The text has a high qualitative complexity due to its difficult sentence structure, archaic language, and references to people and places that may be unfamiliar to the reader. While reading, students make connections about characters and describe a character’s response to events. 

• In Unit 5, Week 3, Days 1–4, students read the informational text “Updating Archeology” (1220L) by Ken Floyd. The quantitative complexity is the highest in the unit, landing above the Grades 6–8  Lexile Stretch Band. Qualitatively, the text has a simple and straightforward purpose, utilizes a chronological text structure, and contains domain-specific vocabulary and complex sentences. Students trace and evaluate the author’s claim, as well as how graphics support the text’s meaning, through partner discussions. Students write their responses to questions about the best details to support an author’s claim and compare graphics from the unit texts.  

• In Unit 6, Week 3, Days 1–4, students read a fantasy text, “Midwinter Day” (940L), an excerpt from Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising. Quantitatively, this text falls at the lower end of the Grades 6–8 Lexile Stretch Band; however, the text has a high qualitative complexity rating. The text is about time travel and students must make inferences to determine meaning. The text contains figurative and old-fashioned language, as well as formal British dialect and references. Students analyze how the character’s actions impacted the plot. During the close reading lesson, students discuss and write about how the unit texts demonstrate that different cultures and time periods treated the idea of a quest differently. Then, students write a short essay on which genre best communicates the quest. 

• In Unit 8, Week 1, students read “The South Pole” (930L), a short read, science fiction excerpt from “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” by Jules Verne. The text falls just within the Grades 6–8 Lexile Stretch Band. Qualitatively, this short read is moderately complex due to its novel form and chronological order. The text contains some complex and very precise descriptions and many compound and complex sentences with subordinate clauses and transitional phrases. After analyzing the characters in the excerpt, students listen to an audio version of the story and discuss the differences in both ways of experiencing the story. Students then write a response to a prompt about the mental images created by certain phrases in the story. 

Anchor/Core texts and series of texts connected to them are accompanied by an accurate text complexity analysis and a rationale for educational purpose and placement in the grade level. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Materials include a separate text complexity document for both anchor texts and small group texts. The text complexity documents are accessible as PDFs for each grade in the digital Program Support Guide under the tab for Text Complexity Analyses and Rationales for Purpose and Placement. 

• The Teacher Resource System for each unit also includes introductory materials including a Guide to Text Complexity section that provides an accurate summary of the quantitative and qualitative data for each anchor text in the unit. This guide contains an overall qualitative text complexity measure based on a color-coded system with levels of low complexity, moderate complexity, substantial complexity, and highest complexity. The guide shares a brief statement on the four qualitative measures of each text: Purpose and Levels of Meaning, Structure, Language Conventionality and Clarity, and Knowledge Demands.

• The accuracy of the provided quantitative measures was verified using MetaMetrics or determined using the Lexile Text Analyzer on The Lexile Framework for Reading site. The accuracy of the provided qualitative measures was verified using literary and informational text rubrics.

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 1e.

Materials provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading. The anchor texts provide some range of text types, with the majority of texts being informational science or social studies texts. More varied text types are included in the small group instruction Building Knowledge Text Sets. Each unit also includes a novel study that is recommended but not required for independent reading. 

Materials provide support for the teacher to foster independent reading; however, the prompts frequently focus on comprehension strategies. Materials provide independent reading procedures but many are not built into the program framework. The program includes “independent reading mini lessons;” however, there is no schedule or guidance available for teachers to know when to teach these mini lessons. Accountability systems for independent reading include a reading log and corresponding family letter. Materials provide a recommended amount of time students should spend reading, along with a schedule to provide students adequate opportunities to engage in independent reading; however, there is no information on the volume of reading students should do during this time. The Pacing Guide in the Teachers Resource Guide for each unit delineates implementation formats for 90-minute, 120-minute, and 150-minute blocks. For the implementation of the program within a 90-minute reading block, the Read Aloud is removed and the time for small group and independent reading time is combined to 15 minutes or less which would significantly reduce the volume of reading for students, as time allotted for the Building Knowledge Text Sets is reduced.

Instructional materials clearly identify opportunities and support for students to engage in reading a variety of text types and genres. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Across Units 1-10, the anchor texts include science fiction, informational life science and social studies texts, biographies, memoirs, research nonfiction, fantasy, drama, screenplay, opinion texts, journals, speeches, personal narratives, myths, legends, science fiction, fables, and and narrative poetry. 

• The Building Knowledge Text Sets (in which not every student will access all texts) include fantasy, realistic fiction, journals, social studies texts, biographies, plays, fables, mystery, procedural texts, opinion, drama, historical fiction, life science, legends, narrative nonfiction, graphic stories, folktales and personal narrative texts. 

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Days 1-3 students read the drama “In Hiding” from The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 4 students read the myth “Jason’s Challenge” from The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles by Padraic Colum. In Unit 2, Week 2, Days 1-5 students read the realistic fiction text “Cassie’s Fight” from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor. In Unit 2, Week 3, Days 1-3 students read the legend “Feyrouz the Brave” from Arabian Nights by Wafa Tarnowska. In Unit 2, Week 3, Day 5 students read the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.

• In Unit 6, Week 1, Days 1-3 students read the poem The Legend of El Dorado/Eldorado by Edgar Allan Poe. In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 4 students read the legend “The Broken Sphere” an excerpt from Shadows of Sherwood by Kekla Magoon. In Unit 6, Week 2, Days 1-4 students read the legend/narrative poem/screenplay The Legend of Mulan / Mulan Joins the Army by Ouyang Yuqian. In Unit 6, Week 3, Days 1-3 students read the fantasy “Midwinter Day” from The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. In Unit 6, Week 3, Day 5 students read the poem Ain’t I A Woman by Sojourner Truth.

Instructional materials identify opportunities and support for students to engage in a volume of reading. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Students read 50 anchor texts over the course of the year. 20 of these texts are short reads, 20 are extended reads, and 10 are poems. Additionally they read 30 vocabulary practice texts and 10 reader theater texts. Students listen to a read aloud for 10-15 minutes daily.

• Within a school day students listen to a read-aloud for 10-15 minutes, engage with an anchor text, and participate in small group and/or independent reading. 30-40 minutes of independent reading time is suggested per day.

• The Weekly Comprehensive Literacy Planner includes a section titled Independent Reading & Conferring. While materials offer independent reading selections, the teacher is also prompted within the lesson for students to use this time to complete the whole group reading and task. Each day has a focus task for independent reading including “Set Personal Learning Goals,” “Read Independently,” Begin the Blueprint,” “Read the Vocabulary Practice Text,” or “Create a Decision Making Guide.” The planner provides these teacher recommendations for independent reading:

  •  Ensure that all students read independently to build volume and stamina.

  • Confer with a few students on their text selections, application of strategies, and knowledge building tasks.

  • See additional independent suggestions (including the Research and Inquiry Project) on the Unit Foldout. 

• In Unit 10, during a three week time period, students read two short reads; an informational science text Mission to Mars by Ann Hodgeman and an opinion Humans to Mars: Yes or No? By Ann Hodgeman. Students read two extended texts; an informational science text Flip, Spin, and Soar! By Michael Sandler and an opinion Track Cycling for Young People: Pros and Cons by Asha Sandler, Andrea Hawkins, Jonathan Montre and a free verse poem The Windmill by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater. Students participate in daily independent and/or small group reading.

There is sufficient teacher guidance to foster independence for all readers (e.g., independent reading procedures, proposed schedule, tracking system for independent reading). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The teacher edition includes daily Reading and Responding lessons to be used with the anchor texts.

• Materials provide a list of trade books for read alouds that could also be used as recommendations for students during independent reading time.

• Materials include a weekly reading log for both at home and at school, as well as a family letter that coincides with the home reading log.

• Materials offer additional resources to support the teacher with fostering students’ independent reading; however, some of these resources are not a part of the core program or are not incorporated into the daily framework. These materials include:

  • Independent reading mini lessons are provided but information as to when to do them is not included.

  • The Teacher Edition provides Review and Routines which includes independent reading routines. The routines provide information as to what to do during independent reading. They do not provide information for setting up procedures or expectations. Materials also do not provide information on the volume of reading students should be doing during this time.

  • The Additional Resources section includes a Managing Your Independent Reading Guide. This  resource includes teacher guidance on conferring periodically or as often as possible with students. The “Conferring with Students'' section explains what a reading conference is, why teachers should have them and a general idea of how to run one. This section does not give teachers guidance on how to grow independent readers during a conference.

  • Each unit provides a student ebook for recommended independent reading; however, materials do not provide text-specific guidance, student tasks, or accountability measures for the ebook.

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 1f. 

The majority of questions and tasks are text-specific, text-dependent, and require evidence from the text. Activities such as Build, Reflect, Write; Extended Thinking Questions; Apply Understanding; Share and Reflect; Constructive Conversations, and Guided Practice accompany the anchor texts for Short Reads and Extended Reads. When completing many of these tasks, students must use textual evidence to support answers to questions and discussions, both independently and collaboratively. Each unit also includes text-specific questions during which students synthesize or compare and contrast information across texts. 

The Teacher’s Resource System for each unit provides implementation and follow up support for text-dependent questioning and discussion. The Teacher’s Resource System also includes text-dependent questions and tasks for the teacher to use during mini-lessons and small group instruction. The student ebook for each unit’s anchor texts also includes text-dependent questions in the Apply Understanding and Build Knowledge sections after each text. Writing prompts that build toward the unit culminating task are also typically text-dependent. Materials include possible responses for many questions or discussion prompts posed during the mini-lessons. The Small Group texts also include text-dependent questions; however, due to the choice in literacy block length and needs of students, some students may not have the opportunity to respond to all of the text-dependent questions during small group time.

Text-specific and text-dependent questions and tasks support students in making meaning of the core understandings of the texts being studied. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 3, Week 1, Lesson 13, the teacher uses  The Haudenosaunee Confederacy by Monica Halpern to model how to use text details to determine the author’s purpose. During Guided Practice, students complete the following task, “Read paragraphs 4–6. What do you think is the author’s purpose for focusing on Dekanawida? What details support your thinking?” Materials include possible responses for teacher use.

• In Unit 6, Week 2, Lesson 8, after reading The Legend of Mulan by Ouyang Yuqian, students work with a partner to read, annotate, and discuss the following prompt during Constructive Conversations: “How is Mulan’s response to the narrator in stanza 2 of ‘The Ballad of Mulan’ different from her response to the prince in stanza 9? What can we infer about how her character has changed based on these responses?” Materials provide possible responses for teacher use.

• In Unit 10, Week 3, Lesson 4, students independently write in response to the following Apply Understanding question: “Evaluate the three opinion articles in the selection “Track Cycling for Young People: Pros and Cons.” Which of the authors in this section does the best job of supporting his or her claims with reasons and evidence? Use details from the selection to support your thinking.” Materials include sample answers and evidence as a model for student use.

Teacher materials provide support for planning and implementation of text-based questions and tasks. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Lesson 4, the teacher conducts a read aloud of “In Hiding” an excerpt from The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. Then, the teacher models going back into the text to annotate details: “I can see several details in this introduction that can help me understand the central idea of this section. For example, the text says that Anne hid because, “Jewish people were the target of discrimination and, eventually, persecution.” I will underline this detail.” 

• In Unit 4, Week 3, Lesson 12, materials include the following guidance to support the teacher with engaging student thinking and setting the purpose for the lesson: “Lyric poems are often written with strong emotions and typically have a musical quality. Today, we will explore the structure and rhythm of one of Emily Dickinson’s best-known poems, ‘I’m Nobody! Who are you?’ by comparing our silent reading to an audio recording of the poem.” The teacher reads the first stanza aloud and models how the punctuation in the poem guides the reading of the poem. Then the teacher plays the audio version of the first stanza. Materials include guidance to support the teacher with pointing out differences in the two types of texts: “I noticed that when I read the poem, the pause I took when I encountered a dash was different in length than the narrator’s in the recording. I also noticed that my inflections when I read the lines with the exclamation points and question marks were slightly different as well.”

• In Unit 7, Week 3, Lesson 7, during Constructive Conversations, students work in partner groups to reread and annotate “The Golden Age of the Inca Empire” by Vincent Banks and to discuss the following prompt: “How well does the author support his claim that the Inca were ‘one of the greatest civilizations in the Americas?’ Cite specific evidence from the text to support your thinking.” Materials include possible responses to support the teacher such as, “The author provides strong text evidence to support his claim that the Inca were ‘one of the greatest civilizations in the Americas.’ He gives data on the size of the empire and the number of structures and terraces at Machu Picchu, and he backs up the statistics with a map and photographs.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 1g. 

Materials include regular opportunities for students to engage in discussions with the class or partners. The discussion protocols fall primarily under the following two protocols: Turn and Talk and Constructive Conversations. These discussion opportunities are frequent in the materials and vary in purpose. Guidance for teachers and students includes a question for the teacher to pose, possible student responses, and generic protocol directions through the use of the “Guidance for Effective Classroom, Small Group, and Partner Discussion in the Review and Routines Guide.” Most notably, the materials provide a breakdown of each protocol in the “Speaking and Listening Protocols” document found in the Additional Materials section. 

Materials provide varied protocols to support students’ developing speaking and listening skills across the whole year’s scope of instructional materials. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Multiple opportunities to Turn and Talk throughout each unit and the year. These Turn and Talks vary on their structure and their purpose. 

• Each unit contains Discuss the Blueprint lessons. These lessons include a Constructive Conversations component. The directions remain the same throughout the units and the school year. 

• Under Additional Resources for each unit, materials provide a Real-World Perspectives Supporting Constructive Conversations reproducible for use with the corresponding lesson of the unit. This reproducible tells students the different parts of a Constructive Conversation and includes sentence stems for student use during each part. According to the reproducible, the five parts of a Constructive Conversation include state ideas; clarify ideas; support and build up ideas; introduce, clarify, and support a second idea; and evaluate and compare ideas. The reproducible includes 5 Respectful Conversation Tips and a Build Knowledge Word Bank. The reproducible starts with the first 3 parts of the conversation and adds the fourth and fifth step as the year progresses. The Build Knowledge Word Bank changes from unit to unit.

• In the Launch materials, the Day 2 mini lesson,students learn about being an active listener. “Conduct a brief discussion about what people do to be active listeners. List suggestions given by students on the anchor chart. Some important things to include could be as follows: - Have eyes on the speaker, - Maintain a quiet body, - Use appropriate expression to show interest, - Be patient while the speaker chooses what to say. Give enough wait time - Think carefully about what the speaker is saying.” 

• In the Research and Inquiry guide for teachers, the margin on page 10 provides Options for Presenting for student use. The options are the same for each research project and the following is provided:

  • “There are many ways that students can share with one another. Choose one that works well in your classroom setting.

  • Whole group: Students can present to the entire class.

  • Small group: Break students into groups of 3–4 to present to one another.

  • Partnerships: Pair students up to share their projects.

  • Video: Students can film their presentation and share them on a digital platform.

  • Visits: Students can visit other classrooms to share what they have created and learned, or guests can join you in the classroom in person or virtually.

  • Out in the World: If the inquiry project is one that would be useful for others, students can mail or email the project.”

• In Unit 2, Week 2 Lesson 14, students engage in a Constructive Conversation with a partner to prepare for the culminating task. The teacher states, ”Now you will talk with a partner about what you learned. Then you’ll do the second step in creating a character analysis chart, this unit’s culminating task.” Using the Knowledge Blueprint, students turn to a partner and discuss the questions. 

• In Unit 6, Week 3, Lesson 9, students engage in a Share and Reflect with a partner to “...reflect on how examining the way different texts approach quests helps them explore this theme.” Use the Speaking and Writing Response Frames for modeling support. Students are told to use the Speaking and Writing response frames. Teachers are told to provide additional support or extend the experience, use Reinforce or Reaffirm the Strategy. The teacher calls on a few students to share their reflections. 

• In Unit 10, Week 1, Lesson 6, students practice reading a limerick with a partner “using delivery and expression that is appropriate to the poem’s content.” Then partners discuss “what makes the limerick funny.” The teacher calls on a few students to share out. 

Speaking and listening instruction includes facilitation, monitoring, and instructional support for teachers. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Teacher Resource material, under the Additional Materials section for each unit, materials include a document that provides general teacher guidance on “Maximizing the Quality of Classroom Constructive Conversations.” This guidance is the same throughout all units across the year.

  • For example, the resource states, “Teachers and students can better understand how to improve conversations with the tools that accompany the Benchmark Advance program. The first tool, the ‘Conversation Blueprint,’ is a visual guide to help teachers scaffold students’ conversations. This tool shows the structure of the two main types of conversations that should happen during lessons. The tools especially designed for students are the … Think-Speak-Listen Flip Book…” These tools offer sentence systems for various skills within a conversation.”

• The Discuss the Blueprint Constructive Conversations lessons include an Observational Checklist for Constructive Conversations for teacher use. Guidance in the Observational Checklist includes, “As peers engage in conversation, use the questions below to evaluate how effectively they communicate with each other. Based on your answers, you may wish to plan future lessons to support the constructive conversation process.” Questions include, “stay on topic throughout the discussion?, listen respectfully?, build on the comments of others?”

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Lesson 12 in Connect Skills to Knowledge: Turn and Talk, teacher guidance includes, “Pose questions that require students to use their knowledge of cause and effect to focus on Enduring Understanding 2 from the Knowledge Blueprint (Human development of resources has a lasting impact on the natural world). Ask partners to share ideas using words from the Build Knowledge Word Bank. Use the Build Up an Idea protocol found in the Additional Materials Bank. Invite a few students to share their ideas.” 

• In Unit 6, Week 1, Lesson 15 students read the poem, “The Legend of El Dorado” by Edgar Allen Poe. During the Constructive Conversation: Partner section of the mini-lesson, students discuss their annotations of the poem on descriptions of a character's actions. The margin of the Teacher’s Resource System provides an Observation Checklist for Constructive Conversation: “As peers engage in close reading, use the questions below to evaluate how effectively they communicate with each other. Based on your answers, you may wish to plan future lessons to support the constructive conversation process. Do peers…

  • stay on topic throughout the discussion? 

  • listen respectfully? 

  • build on the comments of others appropriately? 

  • pose or respond to questions to clarify information? 

  • support their peers?” 

• In Unit 10, Week 3, Lesson 10, students complete the Discuss the Blueprint mini-lesson. During the Constructive Conversation: Partner section, teacher guidance includes: “Ask students to turn to page 26 in ‘Forces: Going to Extremes’ and focus on Discuss Your Knowledge Blueprint in the Build Knowledge section. Explain that they will now turn to a partner to answer and discuss the questions listed in the section.” Then, in the Look-Fors text box below, materials include the following monitoring suggestions for teacher use: 

• “Partners are actively engaged in discussion, with both partners contributing ideas.

• Partners are referring to their blueprints and going back into their Texts for Close Reading and referencing their annotations.

• Words from the Build Knowledge Word Bank are being used, as well as words related to biochemistry and Marie M. Daley’s work.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 1h. 

Throughout the year, students typically have the opportunity to engage in speaking and listening daily, including opportunities to speak in whole group, partner, and small group settings. In some units, students engage in whole group presentations. These opportunities include speaker and audience expectations in the form of teacher directions and anchor charts. The materials provide partner sharing and small group discussion opportunities during the majority of speaking and listening tasks. Students complete a Knowledge Blueprint graphic organizer during the unit and hold a class discussion on what they learned at the end of the unit; the Knowledge Blueprint is expanded upon throughout the unit. Materials include opportunities to implement agreed upon rules for discussions, partner and small group work, and to guide students on answering questions about a speaker. While the materials do provide opportunities for students to address all of the Speaking and Listening standards, some of the activities are optional or at the discretion of the teacher. 

Students have many opportunities over the school year to demonstrate what they are reading through varied speaking and listening opportunities. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 1, Week 1 students work with a partner and reread “Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Friend of the Everglades” by Amanda Polidore. Students respond to the following questions: “What other details support the central idea of the text? What major event or detail do you think should be included in the text?” Afterwards, students continue their partner discussions, focusing on “the details that helped them determine the central idea of the paragraphs. Were they different? Were they the same?” The teacher calls on “one or two students to share their thoughts with the class.” 

• Follow rules for collegial discussions, set specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In the Research and Inquiry Project Teacher’s Guide Grade 5, Overview, How to Group Students: Flexible Grouping to Promote Learning, the materials provide to teachers about how these projects can organized, including individualism collaborative, and as a jigsaw. In the jigsaw, each student in a group is responsible for a certain portion of the project.

  • In the Grade 5, Reader’s Theater Handbook, Unit 2, Lesson 3, students take on various roles in the text and determine as a group how to complete the task in the given time frame. 

• Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, images, music, sound) and visual displays in presentations to clarify information. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 2, Weeks 1–3,  students work on a Research and Inquiry report: “For this Research and Inquiry Project, you will research discrimination during an era or event, and then create a research presentation for it. A research presentation shares important facts about a topic, and often includes visuals and/or audio to help explain the information. You can choose to create a virtual slide show, video report, typed report with pictures-or an idea of your own!” Students present their project upon completion and the teacher may utilize the Options for Presenting resource.

Speaking and listening work sometimes requires students to utilize, apply, and incorporate evidence from texts and/or sources.

• Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making comments that contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In the Research and Inquiry Project Teacher’s Guide Grade 6, Units 7-8, Step 5, students are presenting their research project about ancient civilizations. The materials direct teachers to say, “History investigators—it is time for you to work on Step 5 of your research project in your e-notebooks. This is a chance for you to show others all that you learned about your ancient civilization. Remember that after you present, you should ask audience members specific questions about your presentation.

Audience—Remember to respond to the questions the presenter asks with elaboration and detail by making comments that contribute to the topic. You should also pose your own questions.”

• Review the key ideas expressed and demonstrate understanding of multiple perspectives through reflection and paraphrasing. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 4, Week 3, Lesson 10, students will poll their classmates to learn about their perspectives about the texts in the unit. The materials direct the teacher to say, “t the end of this unit, you will have polled several classmates about their perspectives of the selections in this unit. Using your notes, you will write a summary of your classmates’ responses and include your own insights. Today, you will poll two classmates on their perspectives of this week’s text.

Look back at “The Meeting.” What is the topic of this text? What is Stef’s perspective? Ask two classmates what insights they gained from this text. You may ask open‑ended questions such as What are your feelings about the topic? Take notes on their responses.”

• Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 6, Week 2, students participate in a Constructive Conversation with a partner. After reading “The Legend of Mulan” by Ouyang Yuqian, students listen to the audio of the text. Students “mark the text when they hear audio that shows mood or indicates feeling or emotion” and “work with a partner to discuss their annotations.” 

• Delineate a speaker's argument and specific claims, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 10, Week 1, students engage in a Constructive Conversation. The teacher frames the activity, stating, “In a previous lesson, we examined two sides of an argument in ‘Humans to Mars: Yes or No.’ Today, you will synthesize information to form your own opinions and decide where you stand on traveling to Mars.” During the Constructive Conversation, students discuss which argument from the texts is most convincing. Afterwards, the teacher “[selects] one or two students to share their thoughts on the selection with the class.” 

• Present claims and findings, sequencing ideas logically and using pertinent descriptions, facts, and details to accentuate main ideas or themes; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 8, Weeks 1-3, students research an ancient civilization, determining how to present their research in an organized and logical manner, with guidance on effective presentation skills.

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 1i. 

Materials provide opportunities for on-demand writing and longer process writing tasks throughout the school year. Mini-lessons provide students with direct instruction, guided practice, and independent time for writing. Students engage in a variety of genres of writing tasks including, but not limited to, informative/explanatory, argument, narrative and summaries. At the end of each text or text set, students have opportunities to write in response to text and are required to cite text evidence in their response. With multi-day writing tasks, the teacher models various revision and editing strategies and students have time to revise and edit their writing. Materials provide guidance for digital opportunities with some writing tasks. Materials also include additional guided inquiry projects aligned with unit(s) topics that can be incorporated within the unit. 

Materials include on-demand writing opportunities that cover a year’s worth of instruction. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In Unit 2, Week 1, students read  “Jason’s Challenge” by Padraic Colum.  Then, students write a text connection, a self connection, and a world connection response. 

• In Unit 4, Week 1, students write a paragraph comparing the theme of being an American using the texts “In Response to Executive Order 9066” by Dwight Okita and “Executive Order 9066” by Dwight Okita.  Students must use text evidence in their response. 

• In Unit 9, Week 1, after reading “Marco Polo, China Trader” by Andrea Matthews and “Kublai, The Great Khan” by Susan Virgilio, students write 1–2 paragraphs in response to the following questions: “Why do you think Kublai Khan trusted Marco Polo with important missions? Kublai Khan expanded the Mogol Empire even farther than Genghis Khan did. What factors allowed him to accomplish this? What can you infer about Kublai Khan’s reign from the two texts? Was it a successful one? Use details from the texts to support your answer.”

Materials include process writing opportunities that cover a year’s worth of instruction. Opportunities for students to revise and edit are provided. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 3, Weeks 1–3, students write an informative/explanatory essay about a topic related to why societies form different governments. The teacher uses the Draft Model Text to model how to combine or separate sentences. Then, students work with a partner to practice. Finally students go back to their essay draft and work on revisions including focusing on sentence length. The teacher reminds students to use their writing resources for support with their revisions including, but not limited to, the Essay Anchor Chart and the Essay Planning Guide. 

• In Unit 5, Week 3, students write an argumentative essay about a technology-related issue. After students plan and begin their drafts, the teacher models “how to edit to identify and correct inappropriate shifts in pronoun number and persons.” During Guided Practice, students work with a partner to continue identifying the pronouns and their antecedents in the model text. During independent writing, “students review their use of pronouns as they edit their argument essay drafts. Students should also refer to the Argument Essay Rubric to begin their final revisions to their drafts.”

• In Unit 7, Week 3, students engage in a mini-lesson on word choice while writing a narrative essay. The teacher models how to add precise, descriptive, and sensory language to a Draft Modeling Text. Students work with a partner to add the three types of language to a Practice Text. Then students revise their narrative by adding descriptive, precise, and sensory language. 

Materials include digital resources where appropriate. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• All units include Build-Reflect-Write eNotebooks for student use when responding to the close reading text Apply Understanding questions and Culminating Activity Enduring Understanding questions, as well as when completing Build Vocabulary tasks, Build Grammar and Language tasks, and graphic organizers for their Research and Inquiry project.

• In Unit 3, Week 3, students may create the final draft of their opinion essay on the computer. Materials also include a Keyboarding Practice Lesson that can be given to increase students’ keyboarding skills. 

• In Unit 5, Week 1, students learn about credible print and digital sources. After the teacher models the process for evaluating sources, students work with a partner to evaluate sources using a provided website. Students use these three questions to determine if a source is credible:

  • “Who created and maintains the website content, and is the author or organization considered an expert on the topic?

  • When was the information created and last updated? 

  • Does the information on the site show a particular bias or point of view?”

• In Unit 8, Week 2, students create a multimedia presentation. The teacher models how to choose images for multimedia presentations. During Guided Practice, students work with a partner to brainstorm types of images they might use in the Mentor Multimedia Presentation. During independent time, students continue to draft their presentations, select images that support their topic and important ideas, and keep track of the sources for the images.

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 1k. 

The majority of units feature text-based prompts or process writing prompts that explicitly require students to gather and use evidence from either anchor texts or outside sources such as websites. Evidence-based writing instruction occurs during writing lessons and includes intentional modeling, practice, and analysis. Teacher modeling typically uses graphic organizers or anchor charts, think-alouds, and underlining in the text where to find evidence. Each unit includes three writing prompts and 1–2 longer writing texts in which students must use text evidence in their responses.

Materials provide frequent opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply writing using evidence. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Week 2, Mini-Lesson 6, the teacher models how to combine evidence and reasons from the text “Cassie's Fight” by Mildred D. Taylor to take a position on what qualities a true friend must have. The teacher uses the Source, Reason, and Text Evidence chart to model adding new information. 

• In Unit 6, Week 2, Mini-Lesson 11, the teacher models how to use information from the Mentor Planning Guide to draft an informative/explanatory essay in response to the Mentor Writing Prompt. The teacher displays the Modeling Text, reads each paragraph, and explains what each paragraph entails. The modeling illustrates how to craft an introduction that engages readers’ attention and clearly identifies the topic of the essay, incorporate specific details and reasons to support the topic, and form a conclusion by restating the topic and ending with a question. Materials include a script and a Modeling text for teacher use.  

• In Unit 8, Week 2, Mini-Lesson 6, the teacher models how to develop a multimedia presentation topic using specific facts and details. The teacher reads aloud the script from Mentor Multimedia Presentation: First Step and models how to analyze the facts and details used to support the explanation provided in the Mentor Multimedia Presentation. Materials include a script and a list of additional materials for teacher use. 

Writing opportunities focus around students’ analyses and claims developed from reading closely and working with texts and sources to provide supporting evidence.

• In Unit 2, Weeks 1–3, students analyze a mentor writing prompt based on the short anchor texts they are reading. After teacher modeling and guided practice, students analyze their own prompt in Week 2: “Write a multiparagraph essay in which you take a position on what qualities a true friend must have. Use information and examples from ‘In Hiding’ and ‘Cassie’s Fight.’” Using the same skills modeled in Week 1, students analyze the texts, form a claim, and gather evidence to support their claim. In Week 3, students review, revise, and publish their response. 

• In Unit 5, Weeks 1–3, students engage in process writing for an argumentative essay. The unit focus is technology, and the anchor texts share multiple perspectives on the use of robots in the workplace and self-driving vehicles. During Week 1, the teacher models how to begin creating a claim and gathering evidence to support the claim. Students self-select a topic and the topic does not have to connect to the unit texts. Teacher guidance includes, “[T]ell students to select a topic they have read about and to think about technology that interests them. Remind students that they want to select topics that are broad enough to support their claims with sufficient examples but narrow enough that they will be able to write a focused argument.”

• In Unit 8, Weeks 1–3, students create a multimedia presentation that explores the Essential Question, “How does Earth itself inspire human endeavors?” During Week 1, the teacher introduces the Multimedia Presentation Checklist and models how to think about a multimedia presentation using the Mentor Multimedia Presentation resource. The teacher works with students to “[c]reate an anchor chart to identify the key features of a multimedia presentation.” Students work with partners to discuss possible purposes and audiences, brainstorm ideas related to Earth’s structure, evaluate topics, find credible sources for their topics, and generate ideas for visuals to include in their presentation. During Week 2, students begin drafting their presentations, including writing an introduction to their topic, developing the topic with supporting facts and details, and providing a concluding statement. Students also “[gather and select] images that support their topic and important ideas” and create “diagrams, charts, and tables to support important ideas in their scripts.” During Week 3, students revise their presentations “to include more multimedia components and formatting to aid the audience’s comprehension” and ensure their presentation “includes a variety of sentence patterns that will engage and interest [their] audience.” Students then rehearse and deliver their multimedia presentations to the class.

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the expectations of Indicator 1n.

Materials provide explicit instruction for all grade-level grammar and usage standards. Student practice opportunities are designed to lead to mastery of the standards. Instruction on grammar and usage occurs in context within anchor reading texts and in grammar lessons provided in the writing block. Student practice is included in Grammar in Context lessons, the Phonics and Word Study Resource Book, and the Build-Reflect-Write e-Notebook. The Grammar & Spelling Activity Book contains opportunities to further reinforce students’ skills through guided practice, scaffolded learning, independent work, in class or for homework. Students routinely apply grammar and usage standards to their writing. All grammar lessons require students to return to their writing to edit for recently-taught skills, and students edit their writing for appropriate usage. 

Materials include explicit instruction of grammar and conventions standards for the grade level. For example:

• Ensure that pronouns are in the proper case (subjective, objective, possessive).

  • In Unit 1, Week 1, Lesson 8, the teacher defines subjective pronouns and displays the following list: I, he, she, it, they, we, you. The teacher uses the core text to model identifying subjective pronouns, and students practice identifying the subjective pronoun in an additional sentence from the core text.

    • In the Grammar and Spelling Activity Book, Unit 1, Week 1, students choose the correct pronoun to complete two sets of sentences. Students identify incorrect pronoun usage in sentences and rewrite each sentence using the correct subjective pronouns. 

  • In Unit 1, Week 2, Lesson 13, the teacher uses the modeling text to identify objective pronouns and their antecedents. Students identify the objective pronoun and antecedent in the fourth sentence of the text and explain how they know it is an objective pronoun. 

    • In the Grammar and Spelling Activity Book, Unit 1, Week 2, students choose the correct pronoun to complete two sets of sentences. Students identify incorrect pronoun usage in sentences and rewrite each sentence using the correct objective pronouns. 

  • In Unit 1, Week 3, Lesson 5, the teacher uses the core text to model identifying possessive pronouns. Students annotate a sentence from the core text, identifying possessive pronouns and explaining their function in the sentence.

    • In the Build-Write-Reflect e-Notebook, Unit 1, Week 3, students write a sentence with correct possessive pronoun usage.

  • In Unit 2, Week 3, Lesson 5, the teacher models underlining pronouns in paragraph eight from “Feyrouz the Brave'' in Character Matters. The teacher models making sure the pronouns are the correct case saying, “She is a sentence subject because Feyrouz is performing the action. She is a subjective pronoun; so, she is correct here.” The teacher points out that making sure the pronouns are in the correct case and verbs are the same tense makes text clearer and easier to understand.

    • In the Grammar and Spelling Activity Book, Unit 2, Week 3, students complete sentences with the appropriate subjective, objective, or possessive pronoun. Students identify the incorrect pronoun in sentences and rewrite each sentence to include the correct pronoun. 

• Use intensive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves).

  • In Unit 6, Week 2, Lesson 7, the teacher introduces reflexive and intensive pronouns and defines each. The teacher displays two sentences and models the use of yourself and myself. The margins contain the definition and examples of reflexive and intensive pronouns.

    • In the Build-Write-Reflect e-Notebook, Unit 6, Week 2, students write a sentence that pairs a noun or personal pronoun with a reflexive or intensive pronoun. 

  • In Unit 8, Week 2, Lesson 7, the teacher tells students that intensive pronouns refer back to and emphasize a noun or pronoun in a sentence but can be removed without changing its meaning. The teacher displays and reads aloud the Modeling Text from pages 12-16 of Exploring Earth’s Structures, modeling identifying the intensive pronoun.

    • In the Build-Write-Reflect e-Notebook, Unit 6, Week 2, students write a sentence that uses an intensive pronoun with an antecedent. 

• Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in pronoun number and person.

  • In Unit 2, Week 1, Lesson 8, the teacher reviews pronouns and states, “a pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number and person.” The teacher displays text, underlines the pronouns, and discusses the number and person for each pronoun. 

    • In the Build-Reflect-Write e-Notebook, Unit 2, Week 1, students write a sentence containing pronouns that match numbers and people. 

    • In the Spelling and Grammar Activity Book, Unit 2, Week 1, students read sentences with inappropriate shifts in either number or person. Students circle the incorrect pronoun in each sentence then write the correct pronoun. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 1, Lesson 14, the teacher uses the draft modeling text to model identifying and correcting pronouns that do not match in number or person. Students identify the remaining incorrect pronouns and revise the modeling text to include correct pronouns. 

    • In the Spelling and Grammar Activity Book, Unit 5, Week 1, students read sentences with inappropriate shifts in either number or person. Students circle the incorrect pronoun in each sentence then write the correct pronoun. 

• Recognize and correct vague pronouns (i.e., ones with unclear or ambiguous antecedents).*

  • In Unit 1, Week 1, Lesson 14, the teacher tells students that eliminating vague pronouns makes writing more effective. The teacher uses the modeling text to demonstrate how to ensure that pronouns correctly reflect their antecedent. Students write short paragraphs that contain at least two pronouns that reflect their antecedent.

    •  In the Grammar and Spelling Activity Book, Unit 1, Week 1, students complete the following activity: “In each sentence, underline the vague pronoun. Then rewrite the sentence correctly.”

  • In Unit 5, Week 2, Lesson 7, the teacher models recognizing and correcting vague pronouns saying, “When I read this text, I noticed the pronoun they and underlined it. But I was a bit confused at first--does this pronoun refer to the nouns areas or vents? If I look at the context clues, I can see that the pronoun describes something that produces ‘streams of mineral-rich fluids’. Although the sentence describes the areas where the vents are located, the vents are the ones producing the mineral-rich fluids. The pronoun refers to the vents. I’ll circle this word.” The teacher displays sentences from the core text, and students identify pronouns and their antecedents. Students discuss whether each pronoun is linked to an antecedent or whether it is a vague pronoun.

    •  In the Build-Reflect-Write e-Notebook, Unit 5, Week 2, students write two sentences: one with a vague pronoun and another that corrects the vague pronoun. 

• Recognize variations from standard English in their own and others' writing and speaking, and identify and use strategies to improve expression in conventional language.*

  • In Unit 4, Week 2, Lesson 7, the teacher introduces “why authors break rules of standard English” and points out that writers can use less formal English to show speech in a different dialect. The teacher models how to identify nonstandard English in the core text. Students use the practice text to identify examples of nonstandard English. Students revise the sentence to use conventional English. Students discuss the differences between the nonstandard and conventional versions of the text. Students discuss when it is appropriate and inappropriate to use variations in standard English in text.

    •  In the Build-Reflect-Write e-Notebook, Unit 4, Week 2, students write a sentence that uses dialect or another variation from standard English. 

  • In Unit 4, Week 2, Lesson 13, the teacher models revising the unedited modeling text in Bud Caldwell’s authentic voice using variations from standard English. The teacher displays the edited sentences and reads them aloud, emphasizing the revisions.

    • In the Grammar and Spelling Activity Book, Unit 4, Week 2, students complete the following activities: “Rewrite each sentence. Then rewrite it using standard English grammar and vocabulary. In the letter below, errors in standard English are underlined. Rewrite the letter using standard English grammar, spelling, punctuation, and vocabulary.”

• Use punctuation (commas, parentheses, dashes) to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements.

  • In Unit 3, Week 1, Lesson 8, the teacher introduces using nonrestrictive elements in a sentence. The teacher displays a sentence and points out the use of the dash. 

  • In Unit 3, Week 1, Lesson 14, the teacher defines nonrestrictive elements and uses the modeling text to model identifying nonrestrictive elements and combining two sentences to include a nonrestrictive element set off by commas. Students practice the same skills using the practice text. 

    • In the Build-Reflect-Write e-Notebook, Unit 3, Week 1, students write a sentence using punctuation to set off two nonrestrictive elements. 

    • In the Grammar and Spelling Activity Book, Unit 3, Week 1, students complete the following activity: “Rewrite each sentence. Use the punctuation named in parentheses ( ) to set off the nonrestrictive element.”

  • In Unit 7, Week 1, Lesson 14, the teacher uses the unedited modeling text to model how to punctuate nonrestrictive and parenthetical text for clarity. Students use the practice text to identify nonrestrictive clauses and insert commas to edit the text. Students write and punctuate a sentence containing a nonrestrictive clause. 

    • In the Grammar and Spelling Activity Book, Unit 7, Week 1, students use the punctuation indicated (commas, dashes, or parentheses) to set off a nonrestrictive element in a sentence. 

• Spell correctly. 

  • In the Reference Materials Guide, Use Spelling Reference Materials Lesson, the teacher models using a print or digital dictionary to check the spelling of a word. The teacher models using guide words to locate the word and using the definition to confirm correct word choice. Students practice using a print dictionary to check the spelling of a word they had trouble spelling. 

  • In Unit 5, Additional Materials, Instructional Routines and Strategies, the Spelling Routine includes a three-step process for introducing, practicing, and assessing spelling words weekly. The routine consists of teacher modeling using word parts to spell words, partner and independent practice, cloze sentences, and writing sentences. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 1, Lesson 5, the teacher reminds students to consult print or digital materials to confirm spelling accuracy.

• Vary sentence patterns for meaning, reader/listener interest, and style.*

  • In Unit 4, Week 1, Lesson 8, the teacher states, “writers engage readers by varying sentences.” The teacher displays two sentences and explains the effect of the varying lengths. The teacher guides students in analyzing sentence lengths of four lines of text. 

    • In Build-Reflect-Write e-Notebook, Unit 4, Week 1, students write sentences or phrases in varying patterns by pairing longer complex sentences with simpler short sentences. 

  • In Unit 8, Week 3, Lesson 6, the teacher models evaluating their writing to improve it, saying, “When I reread this, I see that I use too many sentences that are the same length. It sounds choppy. I will use fewer simple sentences and expand some sentences to keep my viewers’ interest.” The teacher displays and reads aloud the Revision Modeling Text and discusses the revisions made. Students revise the practice text to vary sentence length and make the style stronger. Students revise their use of sentence variety in their drafts. 

• Maintain consistency in style and tone.*

  • In Unit 3, Week 3, Lesson 3, the teacher demonstrates revising writing to maintain a formal style and tone. The teacher displays a text and makes changes, clarifying the purpose of each change. Students use the practice text to edit the text to present a formal style and tone. Students review their essays and make revisions to maintain a formal style and tone. Students discuss their revisions with a partner and share revisions with the class. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 3, Lesson 6, the teacher displays and reads aloud the Draft Modeling Text and models evaluating their writing for formal tone. “This draft sounds more like I’m stating my opinion to friends rather than writing a formal essay. I start with the phrase ‘as you know,’ which sounds like the beginning of an informal opinion and doesn’t provide the reader with useful information. I also use a contraction, quotation marks that indicate non-literal meaning rather than a quote from a source, and the slang word crummy.” The teacher displays the Revision Modeling Text and discusses the revisions with students. Students use the practice text to make revisions to maintain a formal style. The teacher reminds students that the formal style uses domain-specific language and avoids informal language, slang, and contractions. 

  • In Unit Unit 6, Week 3, Lesson 5, the teacher tells students that writers often use dialogue and informal language to help show emotion. The teacher uses the core text to model identifying dialogue and how the dialogue helps maintain the style and tone of the writing. Students analyze a paragraph from the core text and determine how the author used sentence length to maintain a suspenseful tone. 

    • In the Grammar and Spelling Activity Book, Unit 6, Week 3, students complete the following activity: “Read each pair of sentences. If the style and tone are consistent, write a checkmark on the line. If the style and tone are not consistent, write ‘no’ on the line.”

• Materials include authentic opportunities for students to demonstrate application of skills in context, including applying grammar and convention skills to writing. For example:

  • In Unit 3, Week 3, Lesson 8, students edit their informative/explanatory essays focusing on varying sentence lengths during independent writing time.

  • In Unit 5, Week 3, Lesson 3, the teacher uses modeling text to model revising writing by varying sentence patterns. Students use the practice text to practice revising by varying sentence patterns, then revise their writing.

  • In Unit 5, Week 3, Lesson 6, during independent writing time, students revise their essays to have a more formal style.

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 1m. 

The Program Support Guide provides a one-page Year-Long Vocabulary Development Plan which provides the focus word list for each week. Vocabulary relates to the Unit’s theme or topic and appears in the texts and activities students engage in during the lessons. Each unit focuses on different types of vocabulary development including Language of Instruction, General and Domain-Specific Vocabulary, and Word Study/Spelling. Within these focuses, students have opportunities to work with vocabulary including, but not limited to, context clues, determining meaning through roots and affixes, drawing, and acting out words. The digital Program Support Guide includes an expanded version of the Vocabulary Development Plan. Anchor text and close reading texts have selected vocabulary identified and provide brief opportunities for students to define and/or exemplify the words. Vocabulary is explicitly taught before reading each anchor text in various ways.

The Additional Materials section provides several graphic organizers such as a Concept Map or Frayer Model for vocabulary acquisition. Materials also provide a Vocabulary Development Tool that includes graphic organizers and a one-page explanation of the Define/Example/Ask routine which is the main vocabulary routine highlighted in each unit. Materials also provide a Multilingual Glossary that includes a definition, example, and image for each of the focus words for the units. 

Materials provide teacher guidance outlining a cohesive year-long vocabulary development component. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Materials include a year-long vocabulary development plan which lists the explicitly taught words by units and weeks. The list identifies the words as Tier 2 or Tier 3 words. While this document is labeled as a plan, it is a one-page list of words per unit.

• The digital Program Support Guide includes an expanded version of the Vocabulary Development Plan. This plan highlights the vocabulary development research base and the key types of vocabulary instruction used in the materials.

• The Teacher’s Resource System includes a Vocabulary Development section for each unit. This section provides a two-page overview of the Build Knowledge Word Bank, Language of Instruction, General Academic and Domain-Specific words, graphic organizers, and Word Study/Spelling supports. The Build Knowledge Word Bank lists the words that are explicitly taught in the first lesson of each unit and repeated throughout. The Vocabulary Development section also provides a chart that includes the Tier 2 and Tier 3 words that are found in each text. Materials highlight words that are explicitly taught at the beginning of each week and include images of the graphic organizers used to teach these words. Each identified word also includes the page number on which it appears in the student text. 

• Materials provide a Vocabulary Development Tools resource. This resource contains printable vocabulary tools, including an analogy graphic organizer, a concept map, a Frayer model, a vocabulary word study log, vocabulary routines, and making meaning with words. There are two protocols in the Vocabulary Routine section: Define/Example/Ask and a Kate Kinsella routine. During the Kate Kinsella routine, the teacher introduces the word and provides verbal practice for students, and then students engage in written practice. 

• Materials include Vocabulary Routines that the teacher can use to introduce vocabulary words. The routine that is stated in the teacher lesson plans is Define/Example/Ask; however teachers can choose to use the Academic Vocabulary Routine provided in Vocabulary Routines. While the directions for these routines state that teachers should review vocabulary every day, the actual lesson plan does not allot time or provide guidance on vocabulary review other than in the lessons where vocabulary is introduced or when the skill is vocabulary-related. Additionally, teacher guidance for using vocabulary words that are not explicitly taught is unclear.

Vocabulary is repeated in contexts (before texts, in texts) and across multiple texts.

• The Vocabulary Development Plan notes that the Build Knowledge Vocabulary “words and phrases may or may not appear in the unit texts that students read. They were chosen to provide conceptual language that supports the unit topic and Enduring Understandings and for students to use as they communicate and grow their word knowledge within and across grades.” For example, in Unit 5, Unit Resources, Vocabulary Development, the Building Knowledge vocabulary words and phrases are innovations, advances/advancements, technological, insight, and equity. The vocabulary term technology appears in “Probing the Ocean Deep” by Kathy Furgang. Innovations, advances/advancements, insight, and equity do not appear in any of the unit texts that students read. 

• In Unit 1, the focus is on Relationships in Nature. In Week 1, Lesson 1, the teacher introduces and explicitly teaches the Build Knowledge Vocabulary, which includes the words conservationist, ecosystem, impact, nature/natural, preserve/preservation, and restore. Students use these words to discuss the concepts and themes in the units, in addition to encountering some of them within the texts they read. In Lesson 10, prior to teaching the text, “Protectors of the Land: Wangari Maathai and John Muir” by Laura McDonald, the teacher provides additional instruction about the word preserve, which students encounter in the text along with preservation. In Lesson 2, students also encounter the word conservation when they read the text, “Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Friend of the Everglades” by ____.  They encounter the word conserve when they read “Protectors of the Land: Wangari Maathai and John Muir” by Laura McDonald in Lesson 10.

• In Unit 7, Week 3, Lesson 1, during Build Vocabulary/Preview the Text, the teacher introduces four vocabulary words using the Define/Example/Ask Routine. Students will encounter these words as they read “The Golden Age of the Inca Empire” (author not cited). The teacher guide states, “Tell students that during independent time, they will encounter the Week 3 words again by reading the Vocabulary Practice Text on page 25 of the Texts for Close Reading and by completing vocabulary activities in their Build-Reflect-Write e-notebooks.” Some of these activities include answering vocabulary questions related to the Vocabulary Practice Text, answering questions connected to students’ experiences with the vocabulary words, writing a sentence using a vocabulary word, using vocabulary words to create labels and captions, and writing a poem using a vocabulary word.

Attention is paid to vocabulary essential to understanding the text and to high-value academic words (e.g., words that might appear in other contexts/content areas). 

• In each unit, the Vocabulary Development tab within Unit Resources illustrates the vocabulary terms students will cover. Materials note that the Build Knowledge Word Bank terms “are explicitly introduced in Mini-Lesson 1, practiced each week in Texts from Close Reading “Build Vocabulary” activities, and used orally and in writing as students construct the Knowledge Blueprint, discuss the Essential Question and Enduring Understandings, and complete-building tasks.” The General Academic and Domain-Specific words “appear in this unit’s Texts for Close Reading selections. Highlighted words are explicitly taught during First Reading mini-lessons each week. Students encounter these words again as they read the weekly Vocabulary Practice Texts.” Because explicit instruction focuses on the highlighted words, many of the General Academic and Domain-Specific words listed are not addressed. 

• Each unit includes a Vocabulary Practice Text for each week. This short new text focuses on some of the vocabulary words from the anchor texts. Students read these texts independently and complete vocabulary tasks in their Build-Reflect-Write e-Notebooks.

• In Unit 3, Week 1, students engage in a mini-lesson where they read a section of “Beyond Democracy” (author not cited). At the beginning of this mini-lesson, the teacher uses the Define/Example/Protocol to introduce several vocabulary words, such as transitioned, upheavals, and inherited. The teacher defines inherited as “Something inherited is received from a person who previously had ownership.” Then, the teacher provides an example, “I inherited a ring that belonged to my great-aunt.” Finally, the teacher asks students to turn and talk to their neighbor to answer the question, “What is something that might be inherited?”