6th Grade - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that texts are organized around a topic/topics (or, for grades 6-8, topics and/or themes) to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently.

Grade 6 materials are grouped around topics such as Unit 1’s focus on wolves, Unit 3’s focus on prehistoric art, and Unit 4’s focus on energy consumption; this intense focus builds not only literacy skills but students’ content knowledge. The instructional materials allow students to develop a range of reading and writing skills. Texts are set up to increase in complexity both in regards to the reading difficulty, as well as the writing tasks complexity.

• Unit 1 develops students’ abilities to read closely for textual details and is centered around the topic “The Wolf You Feed.” The instructional materials provide students with a variety of texts related to the social behavior of wolves, human impact on wolves, and the differences between wolves and dogs. Students are offered a variety of texts in this unit ranging from photographs to excerpts of Jack London’s White Fang to scientific studies.

• Unit 2 asks students “to make evidence-based claims through activities based on a close reading of the Commencement Address Steve Jobs delivered at Stanford University on June, 2005.” The materials divide this speech into sections providing students scaffolding at the beginning of the unit. As the unit progresses, students are expected to read and analyze the speech with peers and then independently.

• Unit 3 focuses on conducting research to deepen understanding and is centered on the topic “Prehistoric Art.” The instructional materials provide a common text set that serves not only as a resource for investigation and/or teacher modeling but as the foundation for the activities in the unit plan. This common text set offers a variety of sources such as virtual tours, images of cave paintings, encyclopedia entries, and online articles.

• Unit 4 asks student to write evidence-based arguments centered on the topic “Energy Crossroads.” The instructional materials provide students with texts related to “the broad area of energy consumption and production and more specifically on issues and controversies related to the use of hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, to access natural gas deep underground.” Students are offered a variety of sources including videos, scientific articles, political cartoons, and animated guides.

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that materials contain sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that materials contain sets of coherently sequenced higher order thinking questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language (words/phrases), key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts in order to make meaning and build understanding of texts and topics. Consistently throughout the Grade 6 instructional materials, higher order thinking questions are provided in the form of both text-dependent and text-specific questions. These questions are embedded into Questioning Path Tools that are used by students as guides when analyzing texts.

• In Unit 1, students read a variety of texts centered around the topic “The Wolf I Feed”. Students analyze these texts via Questioning Path Tools which provides questions that require students to analyze language (words/phrases), key ideas, details, craft, and structure. For example:
  • Text 2 “A Brief History of Wolves in the United States”
    • Which details in paragraph 7 to 9 cause me to rethink the historical persecution of wolves in the United States?
  • Text 7 “All About Wolves”: Pack Behavior
    • What is the author’s purpose for writing this explanation on the Isle Royle website?
    • In Paragraph 21, the authors make a claim that "wolves are like humans." What details in the text support this claim?

• In Unit 2, students read Steve Job’s Stanford Commencement Address. Students analyze these sections of this text via Questioning Path Tools which provides questions that require students to analyze language (words/phrases), key ideas, details, craft, and structure. For example:

• Text Steve Job’s Stanford Commencement Address, Paragraphs 1-8
  • At the end of paragraph 4, we learn that Steve Jobs’s mother “refused to sign the adoption papers.” Why did she do this, and why did she “relent” a few months later?
  • What do you think Steve Jobs means when he says “you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards”? What evidence does he use to support this claim?
• Text Steve Jobs’s Stanford Commencement Address, Paragraphs 15-21
  • What details or words suggest the author’s perspective?
  • How does Steve Jobs explain that puzzling claim he makes in paragraph 21 that “Death is very likely the single best investigation of Life”?

• In Unit 3, students read a variety of texts on the topic of prehistoric art. Students analyze these texts via Questioning Path Tools which provides questions that require students to analyze language (words/phrases), key ideas, details, craft, and structure. For example:

• • Text 2 “Forgotten Cave in France was Hiding Stone Age Art”
    • The article says that the cave still “fills Chauvet’s voice with wonder.” What details from the article might be the cause for Chauvet’s “wonder”?
    • How do the section titles help you understand the article?

• • Text 6.2 “Hand across Time”
    • Mary Reina admires prehistoric artists for their “courage, imagination and artistry.” Which details from the text lead her to this conclusion?

• • Text 9 “Origins of Religion”
    • What words and phrases does the author use to describe how Paleolithic humans thought about religion?

• In Unit 4, students read a variety of texts on the topic “Energy Crossroads.” Students analyze these texts via Questioning Path Tools which provides questions that require students to analyze language (words/phrases), key ideas, details, craft, and structure. For example:

• • Text 4.2 “The Costs of Fracking”
    • What seems to be the author’s attitude or point of view (based on their relationship to the issue)?
    • Which sentences best communicate the Environment America’s position about fracking?
    • How does one of the bolded sentences relate to the author’s overall argument, and what specific evidence do they offer for support?

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that materials contain text-dependent and text-specific questions and tasks that require students to build knowledge and integrate ideas across texts. These questions are provided through Questioning Path Tools and the Guiding Questions Handout. These questions guide teachers as they support student growth in analyzing language, determining main ideas and supporting evidence, identifying author’s purpose and point of view, and analyzing structure of text. Both the student work with individual and multiple texts and teacher materials provide support in growing analytical skills of students.

• In Unit 1, Part 2, Activity 2, the Questioning Path Tools provides text-dependent questions such as, “What do I learn about how wolves 'consume...their prey'? Which words and details suggest the author’s perspective?” These questions help student analyze texts as they build content knowledge about wolves.

• In Unit 2, students examine the speech, “Stanford University Commencement Address” by Steve Jobs, June 12, 2005. Students work across this text in chunks to make evidence-based claims. Throughout the unit, students encounter several opportunities to respond to text dependent questions and tasks that require them to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across this individual text. For example, In Unit 2, Part 1, Activity 2, students answer text-dependent questions such as “What were the reasons why Steve Jobs 'decided to drop out' of college? Why was doing so 'one of the best decisions I ever made?' and What are the 'dots' that Steve Jobs connected between his post-college experiences and his designing of the first Mac computer?”

• In Unit 3, students read a variety of texts and use information from these sources to organize a body of research and write a reflective research narrative that communicates their evidence-based perspective on their area of investigation, which can also be expressed in an optional multimedia presentation. In Unit 3, Part 3, Activity 1, the teacher is provided with text notes for texts 10 through 12. The Text Notes include “sample text-specific questions to drive initial close reading and discussion.” For example, for Text 11, “Neanderthals: The Oldest Cave Painters,” the instructional materials include questions such as, “What details from the text help you understand more about cave art? What would you still want to explore?”

• In Unit 4, students read a variety of texts and use information from these sources to write an argumentative essay. The instructional materials provide text-specific questions, via Questioning Path Tools, to help students analyze some of these common sources. For example, in Unit 4, Part 2, Activity 5, students answer questions such as, “Which sentences best communicate the Environment America’s position about fracking?” Questions like this help students see the topic of energy from different perspectives.

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic and/or theme through integrated skills (e.g., combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).

Grade 6 materials include sets of questions and tasks to support students to complete culminating tasks in which they are demonstrating knowledge of topics and/or themes. Each module has several Questioning Path Tools that scaffold the material to encourage the successful completion of culminating tasks. The materials contain sets of high-quality sequences of text-dependent questions and activities that build to each culminating task. Tasks engage students in speaking, listening, reading and writing, which provide learning through integrated skills. Culminating tasks showcase students' demonstration of topics and themes through a combination of skills, print, and nonprint texts.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Unit 1’s culminating task states, “Students will be reading and studying texts with increasing independence and will be expected to write a text-based explanation and lead a group discussion about one of the final texts at the end of the unit.” Because the focus of this unit is for student to read closely for textual details, the instructional materials integrate the development of explanatory communication skills into the close-reading process and provide Questioning Path Tools to guide students. For example, in Unit 1, Part 3, Activity 5, students participate in structured text-centered discussions in which they examine discoveries they have made by explaining and comparing textual analyses with their peers.

• In Unit 2, Part 5, Activity 4, students write an evidence-based essay using claims they created based on Steve Jobs’s “Connecting the Dots” as a way to demonstrate their mastery of the unit’s objectives. This activity requires students to express their understanding of the text through writing. In Unit 2, Part 5, Activity 5, “the class discusses final evidence-based claims essays...and reflects on the Literacy Skills and Academic Habits involved in making and communicating evidence-based claims.” This activity asks students to speak about “the process through which they arrived at their claim - how it emerged from their reading of the text and how they honed it.” They also listen as other students share their experience.

• Unit 3’s culminating task states, “Students will have an organized body of research and will write a reflective research narrative that communicates their evidence-based perspective on their area of investigation, which can also be expressed in an optional multimedia presentation.” To prepare for this final task, students explore topics, collaborate with peers, pose and refine questions, and organize information. Questions and tasks are designed to help students analyze connections that “aid in comprehension, deepen understanding, and prepare students to express their evolving perspective.” For example, students build their listening and speaking skills in Unit 3, Part 1 when they are initiating inquiry. Students initially explore a topic and build background knowledge through reading and text-centered discussion, then initiate inquiry by generating questions collaboratively that can frame and direct their research.

• The final goal of Unit 4 is for students to be able to write an evidence-based argument. In Unit 4, Part 5, Activity 1, “students learn about the collaborative, question-based approach to developing and improving writing...in the context of talking out a first draft.” This is part of the four components of the Collaborative Workshop. Through this collaborative process, students read each other’s papers and write and edit their own papers. This process is driven through peer editing that asks students to both speak and listen about their own writing and the writing of others.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that materials support students’ increasing writing skills over the course of the school year, building students’ writing ability to demonstrate proficiency at grade level at the end of the school year.

Grade 6 materials meet the expectation for materials supporting students’ increasing writing skills over the course of the school year, building students’ writing ability to demonstrate proficiency at grade level at the end of the school year. Students are supported through the writing process in well-designed lessons, models, and protocols for teachers to monitor writing development. Feedback is provided by peers, the teacher, and self-evaluations to ensure that students' writing skills are increasing throughout the year. Students apply their learned knowledge to their writing and continue to build on it to make it strong and meet grade-level expectations following rubrics and standards.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Part 2, Activity 3, students write a short paragraph of clear, coherent, and complete sentences that states and then explains something from their analysis of text 5, specifically connected to what they have noted on their Analyzing Details Tool. In Part 3, Activity 3, students draw from their notes, tools, annotated texts, and sentences from earlier activities to construct a paragraph answering their comparative questions. The writing assignments in Unit 1 lead, guide, and instruct students to the final project, which require students to independently write a text-based explanation by including paragraphs that are drawn from their notes from one of the three final texts that they have read.
• In Unit 2, Part 4, Activity 3, students work in pairs to write “a paragraph that communicates an evidence-based claim using one of their claims from previous assignments." In Part 5, Activity 4, students independently draft an evidence-based essay. The writing assignments in Unit 2 lead, guide, and instruct students to the final project which require students to write a one to two paragraph evidence-based claim.
• In Unit 3, Part 2, Activity 3, the teacher models for students how to take notes related to a specific topic through research. In Part 3, Activity 2, “students develop an evidence-based claim about some of the common sources using their notes and annotations.” The writing assignments in Unit 3 lead, guide, and instruct students to the final project which requires students to write a reflective research narrative.
• In Unit 4, Part 1, Activity 5, “students develop and write an evidence-based claim about the nature of the issue.” In Part 2, Activity 7, “students write paragraphs analyzing an argument.” The writing assignments in Unit 4 lead, guide, and instruct students to the final project which require students to write an evidence-based argument.

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that materials include a progression of focused research projects to encourage students to develop knowledge in a given area by confronting and analyzing different aspects of a topic using multiple texts and source materials.

The progression of research activities is organized as follows: Units 1 and 2 build skills, such as reading closely for textual details and making evidence-based claims, that will be needed to conduct the research projects outlined in Units 3 and 4. Units 3 and 4 encourage students to develop knowledge in a given area by confronting and analyzing different aspects of a topic using multiple texts and sources. Students engage in research projects that require them to analyze different aspects of the topic using multiple texts and source materials.

In Unit 1, Part 1, Activity 5, students use Guiding Questions to independently explore the Living With Wolves website or the Lobos of the Southwest website. This activity asks students to “apply close-reading skills in the context of Internet research but also enrich their understanding of the topic and other texts they will encounter in the unit.” This activity also asks students to share information they acquired through the Internet research with their small groups.

In Unit 2, Part 2, Activity 1, “students independently read part of the text...to look for evidence to support a claim made by the teachers.” This activity helps prepare for later research by asking them to find supporting evidence from a nonfiction text to support a claim.

In Unit 3, students conduct research centered on the topic Prehistoric Cave Art; students choose an area to investigate and gather information to deepen their knowledge on the topic using multiple texts and sources. There is a learning progression in this unit to help guide students through the research process. For example, in Unit 3, Part 2, Activity 3, students “annotate sources and record key information, personal impressions, and ideas for further exploration.” In Part 4, Activity 2, students organize evidence and evidence-based claims in preparation for the culminating writing task.

In Unit 4, students conduct research centered on the topic, “Energy Crossroads,” and write argumentative essays; students choose an area to investigate and gather information to deepen their knowledge on the topic using multiple texts and sources. There is a learning progression in this unit to help guide students through the research process. For example, in Unit 4, Part 2, Activity 3, “student teams read and delineate arguments and write an evidence-based claim about one position on the issue.” This activity prepares students for the culminating task by asking them to analyze “a text that briefly summarizes the pros and cons of fracking.”