6th Grade - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 2a. 

The materials are grouped around topics/themes to grow students’ knowledge over the course of the school year. The sequence of texts around these topics/themes helps students to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently. Texts within units are connected and arranged by topics around an essential question.

Texts are connected by a grade-appropriate cohesive topic/theme/line of inquiry. Texts build knowledge and the ability to read and comprehend complex texts across a school year. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Childhood, the selection of texts lead to analysis and discussion around the following Essential Question: “What are some of the challenges and triumphs of growing up?” The unit begins with a launch text called Wagon Train at Dusk by Joe Muniz. It continues with Whole-Class, Small-Group, and Independent reading that all connect back to the Essential Question, including Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, “Declaration of the Rights of the Child” by The United Nations General Assembly, and an excerpt from Bad Boy by Walter Dean Myers.

• In Unit 4, Imagination, students focus on this Essential Question: “Where can imagination lead?” In this unit, the Launch Text models a fictional narrative, which is the “mode of writing that will be at the core of the Performance-Based Assessment.” The students read “The Great Universal Undo” by M. Vasquez.  Additional texts in the unit all connect to the theme and culminate in a unit assessment in which the students write a short story that explores the following question: “What might happen if a fictional character were to come into the real world?” Some of these texts include The Phantom Tollbooth, Acts I and II by Susan Nanus, based on the book by Norton Juster, the Jabberwocky from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, and the reflective essay “The Importance of Imagination” by Esha Chhabra.

• In Unit 5, Exploration, texts all connect to the Essential Question: “What drives people to explore?” This unit begins with an argument with a title that matches the Essential Question and acts as a model for the student Performance Assessment. All text and media in this unit is connected to the theme of exploration, including the memoir A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley, the news article “Mission Twinposssible” by TIME for Kids, and the graphic novel Lewis & Clark by Nick Bertozzi.

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 2b. 

The materials include high-quality questions and tasks in which students analyze key ideas, details, craft, and structure within individual texts as well as across multiple texts. The materials are organized in a consistent pattern across all units with multiple after-reading activities. Each unit is divided into five main parts: The Introduction, Whole-Class Learning, Small-Group Learning, Independent Learning, and the End Of Unit (Assessment, Reflection, and Test). Before beginning each reading, students engage in a First Read, which requires them to note what they notice, annotate the key vocabulary and passages, connect ideas with other selections, and respond by writing a brief summary. The Close Read notes in the Teacher’s Edition help support student analysis of key ideas, details, craft, and structure as the students read. After reading, the students work through activities to ensure their understanding of the key ideas in the reading. The Comprehension Check, Close Read of the Text, Analyze the Text, and Analyze Craft and Structure questions require students to revisit the text and use specific text evidence in their answers. In the Teacher’s Edition, the sample answers also include the depth of knowledge levels for some questions; most are at DOK 2 or 3. For some texts, the questions lead to the subsequent Writing or Speaking and Listening activities. These questions also build toward the various Performance Tasks embedded after Whole-Class Learning, Small-Group Learning, and at the End of the Unit. Throughout each unit, students keep an Evidence Log and notebook to record responses and help them prepare for the culminating tasks. 

For most texts, students analyze key ideas and details (according to grade-level standards). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Animal Allies, Whole-Class Learning, students read from My Life with Chimpanzees by Jane Goodall. During the Close Read section of lessons, students are asked how a reader can infer from the author’s first-person narrative and draw conclusions based on details from the text. Later, students analyze paragraph 8 from the text and “notice and highlight details that tell [them] what Dr. Goodall saw when she went out to view the chimps.” They are asked, “Why do you think Dr. Goodall has chosen to repeat these words?” They also consider “How does this repetition help communicate Goodall’s experience to the reader?” In addition, students identify details that illustrate how “Goodall contrasts the chimps’ and baboons’ behavior” and answer the question, “What does this contrast reveal about the chimps?” In the section called Analyze the Text, students “make inferences” by answering the question, “What do David Graybeard’s visits to Dr. Goodall’s camp show about the chimpanzees’ changing response to her presence?”

• In Unit 4, Imagination, Small-Group Learning, students read from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. During the section called Close Read, students “identify the main characters, setting, and plot.” They consider why characters do certain things and are reminded to use what they already know to “make inferences about the character’s motivation.” When looking at dialogue, students are asked, “Why do you think the author chose to include Alice’s own words in this paragraph?” In paragraphs 6-7, students are directed to identify “details…that show what Alice is thinking” and consider what the details tell them. Students are asked why the author uses these details. In the section called Analyze the Text, students are asked, “How do the details about what Alice is seeing and thinking help you to picture her experience as she falls?” 

• In Unit 5, Exploration, Whole-Class Learning, students read from A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierly and answer a series of questions to analyze the text. Students connect, infer, interpret, and respond to the unit’s essential question. One question that requires student analysis of the text is, “What does Brierley mean when he says, ‘And I had to try not to bend my memories to fit what I was looking at’?”

For most texts, students analyze craft and structure (according to grade-level standards). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In Unit 1, Childhood, Small-Group Learning, students read “I Was a Skinny Tomboy Kid” by Alma Luz Villanueva. When they Analyze Craft and Structure, teachers guide students to annotate lines 1–4 for something that it reveals about the character. Then, “Help students to draw conclusions about the importance of these details…why the author might have included these details so early.”

• In Unit 2, Animal Allies, Small-Group Learning, students read “Black Cowboy, Wild Horses” by Julius Lester and consider the plot of the story, paying close attention to the conflict found in the story. Students review the major components of a plot; exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, and discuss “the difference between the external conflicts and the internal conflicts that Bob encounters.” Students are asked, “In this story, what does Bob Lemmons want to achieve?” and must “Identify at least two problems Bob solves in order to achieve his goal.” Students identify details related to the setting and are asked, “To which stage of the story do [these details] belong?” Students also analyze the plot with regard to its climax and are asked, “At what point do you think the story reaches its climax or point of greatest tension?”    

• In Unit 4, Imagination, Whole-Class Learning, students read The Phantom Tollbooth, Act ll by Susan Nanus. Under the Analyze Craft and Structure section of the lesson, students consider the “dramatic structure” of the text. Students review the main purpose of lines of dialogue and stage directions. They are taught that “stage directions help readers visualize, or picture, the action. They also reveal important information about how characters feel, respond, and behave.” Students identify details found in the stage directions for the text and are asked, “How does the stage direction make the action more clear?”  

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 2c. 

The materials include multiple opportunities for students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas within individual texts and across multiple texts. The tasks are sequenced in a way that is appropriate for the grade level and include text-specific and/or text-dependent questions and tasks. The materials provide related questions as students comprehend and analyze texts and complete culminating tasks. Most sets of questions and tasks require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across the unit to build knowledge around a topic/theme and the essential question. In some instances, the materials pair two or more texts, and students practice the same skills across all texts. Multiple texts connect to the essential question in preparation for the end-of-unit assessment. In this assessment, students synthesize ideas based on various text-dependent prompts that align with grade-level standards. 

Most sets of questions and tasks support students’ analysis of knowledge and ideas. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Childhood, Whole-Class Learning, students read from Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. In the section called Close Read the Text, students “mark words that indicate the exact words of Woodson and her sister in lines 9–23 of ‘sometimes’” and respond to the following questions: “What can you tell about Woodson from these lines? What can you tell about her sister? How does this dialogue help you understand the differences between Woodson and her sister?” In lines 23–38 of “believing,” students are asked to “mark words that show how the poet’s mother reacts to her stories. Then, mark words that show how her uncle reacts.” Students respond to the following questions: “Why does the poet include these different reactions? How does this contrast help the reader better understand the poet’s struggle?” In the section called Analyze the Text, students are asked to respond to the essential question for the unit: “What are some of the challenges and triumphs of growing up?”

• In Unit 3, Modern Technology, Whole-Class Learning, students read “Teens and Technology Share a Future” by Stefan Etienne. In the lesson section called Close Read the Text, students are asked to identify “two comparisons the author makes” and are asked the following questions: “Why does the author use these comparisons? How do these comparisons help readers understand the writer’s ideas?” In the section called Analyze the Text, students respond to the essential question for the unit: “How is modern technology helpful and harmful to society?”

• In Unit 5, Exploration, Small-Group Learning, students read from Tales from The Odyssey by Mary Pope Osborne. In the Close Read section, students “reread paragraph four and mark the names of the two gods, where they rule, and what Odysseus thinks they are doing to him and his men.” They then “consider what these details help them understand.” Students also conduct research to find “images that show Odysseus and his men among the lotus-eaters.” They consider these images as they respond to the following questions: “How did the images you found compare to what you imagined as you read? Which did you find more powerful-the descriptions in the text or the images? Why?”  

Sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze across multiple texts as well as within single texts. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Childhood, Whole-Class Learning, students read from “Bad Boy” by Walter Dean Myers and “I Was a Skinny Tomboy Kid” by Alma Luz Villanueva. Students “compare and contrast the theme” of these two texts. In preparation for the writing, students “discuss differences between poetry and prose.” When students review the lessons in Effective Expression, they are instructed that The memoir Bad Boy and the poem “I Was a Skinny Tomboy Kid” share a central idea or theme, which is that being different can be difficult. Students prepare for writing by answering the following questions that relate to the texts: “What are the advantages of a memoir for expressing ideas? What are the advantages of a poem for expressing ideas? Which text do you think does a better job of expressing ideas about how boys and girls are ‘supposed’ to act? Why?”

• In Unit 2, Animal Allies, students read from My Life with the Chimpanzees by Jane Goodall, and Hachiko, The True Story of a Loyal Dog by Pamela S Turner. While reading from My Life with the Chimpanzees by Jane Goodall students answer the question, “Why does Goodall contrast the chimps’ and baboons’ behavior.” After reading Hachiko, The True Story of a Loyal Dog by Pamela S Turner, students answer the question, “How can people and animals relate to each other?” Finally, students complete a Performance Task to answer the prompt, “What qualities do Goodall and Turner believe people and animals share?” 

• In Unit 4, Imagination, Whole-Class Learning, students read  The Phantom Tollbooth, Act II by Susan Nanus, and listen to the audio version The Phantom Tollbooth by Leena Khan. Afterward, students compare-and-contrast the text and audio version as they identify what they “see” and “hear” in both versions. Students are prompted to “Discuss how reading the play is like or unlike the experience of listening to the audio. Use examples from Act II of the text and the audio excerpt to support your ideas.” In addition, students state which version they prefer and why. Following this comparison, students draft a fictional narrative in which they use their own imaginations “to write a new short story about one or more of those characters” in the Phantom and the Tollbooth. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 2d. 

The materials include three culminating tasks that require students to show their knowledge and understanding of a topic through integrated literacy skills. Each unit across the grade level includes an essential question connecting to a topic/theme. The units include Whole-Class Learning, Small-Group Learning, and Independent Learning opportunities. Students build knowledge on the topic/theme by reading texts or watching videos. They complete writing tasks and engage in speaking and listening with peers. The Whole-Group Learning Performance Tasks assess writing, and the Small-Group Learning Performance Tasks assess speaking and listening skills. Throughout the unit, brief writing tasks follow each reading and provide practice opportunities for multiple skills. Teachers provide feedback during writing exercises to move students toward mastery by the end of the unit. The Teacher Resources includes an Assessment section that provides culminating online and PDF versions of selection tests, extension selection tests, unit tests, and extension unit tests. Each culminating exam includes multiple choice and short answer questions testing various standards.

Culminating tasks are evident and varied across the year and they are multifaceted, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of several different standards (reading, writing, speaking, listening) at the appropriate grade level and comprehension and knowledge of a topic or topics through integrated skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Teacher’s Edition, each Introduction for the unit includes information about the Unit Goals, including goals related to Reading, Writing, Research, Language, and Speaking and Listening. The Teacher’s Edition states, “These unit goals were backward designed from the Performance-Based Assessment at the end of the unit and the Whole-Class and Small Group Performance Tasks. Students will practice and become proficient in many more standards over the course of this unit.”

• In Unit 1, Childhood, Whole-Group Learning, Performance Task: Writing Focus, students write a Nonfiction Narrative in response to the question: “When did you have to use your imagination to find another way to do something?” Students use this opportunity to demonstrate mastery of narrative writing standards. For example, they need to illustrate a conflict or problem, share details about those who play a role in the resolution of the conflict, and respond to the question, which is related to the essential question for the unit. Students must also ensure that events in the narrative take place sequentially and include appropriate transitions. Once students create the final version of their narrative, they are asked to “Use a class or school website, a class whiteboard, or email to share and comment on other classmates’ narratives.” 

• In Unit 2, Animal Allies, students read “Predators” by Linda Hogan and “A Blessing” by James Wright in order to complete the culminating task of writing a compare-and-contrast essay. Although Speaking and Listening standards are not indicated in the margins of this task, students begin by engaging in a collaborative discussion with diverse partners, a 6th-grade speaking and listening standard. Students are tasked to “With [their] group, discuss the questions as they relate to each poem on its own. Use the chart to write [their] notes and to identify relevant details from the poems.” After collaborating, students write an informative text independently. Students come back to their groups for peer review at the end of this task, “with some guidance and support from peers and adults, [they] develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 2f. 

The materials provide multiple opportunities for students to engage in research. Short text-specific research opportunities connect to each text through Research to Clarify and Research to Explore tasks. Throughout each unit, there are opportunities for students to conduct brief research to build knowledge about the topic of the text and/or unit, including, but not limited to, Cross-Curricular tasks and Challenge tasks. Materials provide for longer research tasks that require students to synthesize and analyze tasks connected to the unit topics. Materials include teaching around research standards such as avoiding plagiarism and correctly citing sources. Research tasks build mastery over the school year and connect to research standards. 

Research projects are sequenced across a school year to include a progression of research skills according to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 2, Animal Allies, Small-Group Learning, students read “Monkey Master” by Waldemar Januszczak. They conduct research to clarify an “unfamiliar detail from the text.” In addition, small groups are asked to conduct research, and participate in a group discussion on ”a topic that is related to the text.” Students “use a variety of reliable print and online sources” for this work. As students research, they “look for relevant visuals, such as photographs or videos, that will be interesting to share with [their] group.” Students cite their sources, but this is not an assessed skill. 

  • In Unit 4, Imagination, Small-Group Learning, students read from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. They create a research report on one of two possible topics. Small groups “conduct research to find both textual information as well as illustrations, image stills, and other visuals to include” in the report. Students ensure they are using “several credible print and digital sources” and “record the bibliographic information for each source” they use. Students use a chart to record the information they need for the report.

Materials support teachers in employing projects that develop students’ knowledge of different aspects of a topic via provided resources. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Teacher Resources, a Plagiarism Checker is provided for teachers to access via Safe Assign, which offers guidance for implementation, including Video Tutorials: “SafeAssign is effective as both a deterrent and an educational tool. Use SafeAssign to review assignment submissions for originality and create opportunities to help students identify how to properly attribute sources rather than paraphrase.” The tool will assist educators when assigning research projects.

• The materials offer Research Minilessons and a Writing and Research Center with a Research Writing PowerPoint Presentation that introduces research writing and provides prewriting tips to assist students in formulating a research question and making a Research Plan, such as “Once you have written your major research question, you are ready to make a research plan. As part of your plan, you will create a timeline for finishing your report. You also will find and evaluate sources of information.” The PowerPoint Presentation includes guidance relating how to organize a research report and revise and edit the draft. A grammar minilesson follows, and student instructions for publishing the piece state: “When you’ve finished your final draft, publish it. Use this chart to identify a way to publish your informational research report for the appropriate audience.” The Teacher’s Edition: End Matter, Tool Kit: Research includes detailed guidance for Conducting Research, Reviewing Research Findings, and Incorporating Research Into Writing.

Materials provide many opportunities for students to synthesize and analyze content tied to the texts under study as a part of the research process. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 1, Childhood, Whole-Class Learning, students read the Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strips, "Ghosts” and  "Do You Like Her?” and "Xing" by Bill Watterson and conduct a short research project with John Calvin or Thomas Hobbes. Students “write a short essay that introduces Calvin’s or Hobbes’s ideas and explains the connection with the cartoon character.” Students question whether their research shows a meaningful connection between the historical figures and the cartoon characters. 

  • In Unit 4, Imagination, Small-Group Learning, students read “The Importance of Imagination” by Esha Chhabra. They answer comprehension questions, including Research to Clarify questions and  Research to Explore questions. Students choose an unfamiliar detail from the text and briefly research that detail. Then students choose something they find interesting and write a research question. Teacher materials provide prompts and probing questions to assist students with this task. 

  • In Unit 5, Exploration Whole-Class Learning, students view a video by the BBC Science Club titled “All About Exploration” by Dara Ó Briain. They research an explorer whose accomplishments could be added to the “All About Exploration” video. Students then storyboard what they found and present this mini-research to the class.

• Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 2, Animal Allies, Small-Group Learning, students read “Black Cowboy, Wild Horses” by Julius Lester. The “create an informative multimedia presentation” on one of two possible topics. Once students complete their research, they are asked to “conclude [their] presentation by comparing [their] topic to Julius Lester’s portrayal of the legendary figure of Bob Lemmons in “Black Cowboy, Wild Horses.”

  • In Unit 4, Imagination, students complete a performance-based assessment prep where they review all their evidence gathered from the unit and evaluate how “the texts they’ve read and the multimedia they’ve reviewed confirmed, challenged, or changed their initial response to the question. How can imagination lead you to somewhere unexpected?” Students use a checklist to evaluate the strength of their evidence: “Do you have enough details and examples, both from the texts and your own experience, to write a well-developed, engaging fictional narrative? If not, make a plan.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 2g. 

The materials spend instructional time on content that falls within grade-level aligned instruction, practice, and assessments. Over the course of each unit, the majority of questions, tasks, and assessments are aligned to grade-level standards, with opportunities for explicit instruction. By the end of the academic year, every standard is addressed, and there are multiple opportunities for students to revisit standards to promote mastery. Some standards are repeatedly addressed within and across units to ensure students master the full intent of the standard. Students have opportunities in each grade-level standard to build skills in a logical sequence over the course of the year. 

Over the course of each unit, the majority of instruction is aligned to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In each unit, the Unit at a Glance section lists the standards for each student activity in one of three columns: Analyze Craft and Structure, Conventions/Author’s Style, and Composition/Research/Speaking and Listening. The Teacher’s Edition: End Matter PDF includes an Index of Skills where page number references are provided. In the Teacher’s Edition, Table of Contents, and Frontmatter PDF, the materials provide the Standards Correlation to myPerspectives® English Language Arts document with page numbers: “The following correlation shows points at which focused standards instruction is provided in the Student Edition. The Teacher’s Edition provides further opportunity to address standards through Personalize for Learning notes and additional resources available only in the Teacher’s Edition.” 

• In Unit 2, Animal Allies, Whole-Class Learning, students read “Hachiko: A True Story of a Loyal Dog” by Pamela S. Turner. In Writing to Sources, the students address standard W6.3: “Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.” Students write their own version of the story through the eyes of Hachiko, the dog. The Teacher’s Edition explains that students are writing their own adaptation: “As students reread the story, remind them to make notes about Hachiko relates to the people in the story and how he might express his thoughts about his life experiences.” Students then build their story adaptation by identifying the main plot events, taking careful notes about Hachiko’s actions and relationships, and adding details to show the sensory details Hachiko felt as he lived through his experience. According to the Standards Correlation chart, there are four specific instances across the school year when the students have an opportunity to address standard RI.6.3, and teachers can engage in explicit instruction.

• In Unit 4, Imagination, students read “Jabberwocky” from Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll and study the author’s word choice and tone, which aligns with standard RL.6.4: “Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.” In the Author’s Style section of this lesson, instruction takes place to review invented language, and students explore the “syntax of each sentence.” In small groups, students “choose one stanza from “Jabberwocky” and identify the invented language, followed by a discussion that addresses the impact of the language to “infer a possible meaning for each invented word.” 

Over the course of each unit, the majority of questions and tasks are aligned to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In each unit, a Whole-Class Learning Performance Task with a writing focus and a Small-Group Learning Performance Task with a speaking and listening focus is included consistently across the school year. Shorter tasks follow the reading of text selections. The questions throughout the Whole-Class Learning and Small-Group Learning connect to the Essential Question of each unit and help prepare students for the successful completion of the performance tasks.

• In Unit 2, Animal Allies, Small-Group Learning, students read “Monkey Master” by Waldemar Januszczak. They complete the majority of the close reading of the text to answer questions that align with grade-level standards. For example, “According to the author, before attending the exhibition, how did he view the art created by apes or other animals? In what ways have his thoughts on the topic changed?” and “Use your knowledge of the suffix -ist to write a definition for purist, as well as for each of these words: humorist, naturalist, realist. Then, use a dictionary to confirm your understanding of the meaning of each word.” 

• In Unit 4, Imagination, Small-Group Learning, students read “The Importance of Imagination” by Esha Chhabra. Students complete the close read of the text to answer questions that align with grade-level standards. For example, “What does the author mean when she writes, “The tools are there. You just need to reorient them towards the unexpected?” and “Use a dictionary to look up these words related to careers: paralegal, paramedic, paramilitary. Discuss with your group how the prefix para- contributes to the meaning.”

• In Unit 5, Exploration, Whole-Class Learning, students read  “Mission Twinpossible” by TIME for Kids. They answer questions regarding the vocabulary from the text, centering on language standards. For example, as part of the Word Study portion of the Comprehension Check, students engage in the following assignment: “Explain how the root -dur- contributes to the meaning of the technical vocabulary term endurance test. Then, find the definition of each of the following words, and explain how the root -dur- contributes to its meaning: durable, duress, duration.”

Over the course of each unit, the majority of assessment questions are aligned to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In each unit, a Performance-Based Assessment is included, and the unit activities are backward-designed to the Performance-Based Assessment. The materials offer Selection Tests, Extension Selections Tests, Unit Tests, Beginning-, Middle-, and End-of-Year Tests, Next Generation Practice Tests, Next Generation Performance Tasks, and Customizable Test Prep Banks. In the online Teacher’s Materials under Assessment, there is an Interpretation Guide for each Unit Test and an Answer Key for each Selection Test, which indicates the standard that is assessed for each question. All questions on all tests are aligned to one or more standards.

• In Unit 2, Animal Allies, there are assessment opportunities that are aligned with grade-level standards. Unit assessments include Selected and Short Responses and the Performance Task. Teachers are provided with an answer key and an Interpretation Guide that provides information about the alignment of the grade-level standards to each question. For example, question 1, “Which feature of the passage best explains why it is a memoir?” aligns with RI.6.6 and “Drawing on details from Ayrton’s notes, write two paragraphs. Begin your first with the underlined sentence. In your essay, make sure you expand on the first part of the draft and include a concluding statement that logically completes the essay”  aligns with W.6.2. The performance task aligns with W.6.2 “You will write a brief explanatory essay that tells about how slow the process can be to bring back a population of wolves that has been endangered.”

• In Unit 4, Imagination, there are assessment opportunities that are aligned with grade-level standards. Unit assessments include selected and short responses and the Performance Task. Teachers are provided with an answer key and an Interpretation Guide that provides information about the alignment of the grade-level standards to each question. For example, question 3, “What is the clearest purpose of the stage direction in the following excerpt?“ aligns with RL.6.5. Question 32, “Drawing on details from Nate’s notes, write the rest of the fictional narrative, beginning with the underlined sentence. To develop the story, make sure to include a conflict. Explain how the conflict is resolved or settled and what the characters learn from it.” This aligns with W.6.3. The Performance Task aligns with W.6.3, “You will write a brief short story about a crow, using facts about crows as the basis for your story.”

By the end of the academic year, standards are repeatedly addressed within and across units to ensure students master the full intent of the standard. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In each unit, the Teacher’s Edition Table of Contents and Frontmatter PDF are available. The Standards Correlation document provides the Standard in the first column, and where those standards appear in the Print and Interactive Editions in the second column with corresponding page numbers. The materials address standards multiple times across a school year to ensure students can reach mastery. For example, standard W.6.2 is thoroughly addressed across most of the units. The Standards Correlation document lists the following texts and page numbers for this standard: “Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 49; Bad Boy / I Was a Skinny Tomboy Kid, 77; My Life With the Chimpanzees, 116; A Blessing /Predators, 151; The Internet of Things, 227; Bored . . . and Brilliant?, 259; The Phantom Tollbooth,/ The Phantom Tollbooth (media), 351; Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 371; The Importance of Imagination, 387; All About Exploration, 433; Mission Twinpossible, 451; Tales From the Odyssey/To the Top of Everest, 474–475; Whole-Class Performance Task, Unit 2: 128–130, 132; Performance-Based Assessment, Unit 2: 179–181.” 

• The Frontmatter document in the Teacher Edition online explains that each unit is backward aligned to the Performance-Based Assessments. This helps to ensure that instructional and academic tasks are standards-aligned and repeated in support of this performance task. At the end of the Frontmatter document, there is a list of the standards assessed for each text and task under the section Standards Correlation. For example, in Grade 6, there is a heavy emphasis on analyzing evidence and arguments, as well as composing arguments. The standards that mostly align with this focus, RI.6.1, RI.6.5, W.6.2, and L.6.4, are repeatedly assessed through multiple tasks and activities. Additionally, many of these supporting standards, such as standards RI.6.1 and RI.6.6, are repeated in each unit for different purposes utilizing different text types.

• In Units 2, Animal Allies, and Unit 4, Imagination, there is instruction that builds proficiency in RL.6.6. According to the Unit At A Glance: “Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.” In Unit 2, Animal Allies, students read from My Life With Chimpanzees by Jane Goodall. Under the lesson section called Analyze Craft and Structure, students review the author’s purpose by discussing the “memoir” and completing activities that focus on details that “explain what each passage shows about Goodall’s experiences.” Students then review their notes and respond to this question: “What might be Goodall’s overall purpose for writing?” In Unit 4, Imagination, students read The Phantom Tollbooth, Act l by Susan Nanus. Under the less section called Analyze Craft and Structure, students review point of view and look at how passages of dialogue tell them “about a character, the setting, and an action.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria for Indicator 2h. 

The materials are organized into five units, and the culminating task for each unit is a Performance-Based Assessment. The pacing for the units is generally reasonable. Implementation and pacing for each unit can be found in the introduction and also in the Unit at a Glance. In the introduction of each unit, a pacing plan is provided for the whole group text–breaking implementation of the material day by day with assigned texts or tasks to be completed. The pacing plan for implementation of Small Group and Independent Reading texts is broken out day by day, text by text, leading into the Performance Based Assessment. The Unit at a Glance resource provides a table view breakout with text, pacing/# of days, along with other key information. The pacing guide is built on a 40- to 50-minute daily class. Trade book integration provides alternative implementations, which can be found in the Teacher Edition Table of Contents and Front Matter for each unit. 

Suggested implementation schedules and alternative implementation schedules align to core learning and objectives. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Childhood, the pacing guide covers 36 total days and includes whole-class, small-group, and independent learning. Alternative trade book options are available that include The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, and The Young Landlords by Walter Dean Myers. The Teacher’s Edition provides a pacing guide for reading the trade books either in lieu of lessons included in the unit or in addition to the lessons. Teachers are advised: “However you choose to integrate trade books, the Pacing Guide below offers suggestions for aligning the trade books with this unit.” Trade book lesson plans are available in the program supplement called myPerspectives+. In addition to trade books, Unit 1 includes Hook and Inspire activities that would extend the unit introduction. This unit includes materials that supplement Bad Boy and include additional videos, articles, and image galleries that can be reviewed to help build background knowledge and provide interest.

• In Unit 2, Animal Allies, Small-Group Learning, students read “A Blessing” by James Wright. Pacing implementation suggests two days of instruction for this text. The text is a 24-line free verse poem. Tasks entail a comprehension check, brief research of one detail in the poem, three question analysis of the text, three sentence concept vocabulary review, a five-question analyze craft and structure task, and a closing convention lesson on the action and linking verbs with five interactive questions to complete and apply. Considering the length of the text, students should be able to complete these tasks in the suggested two days.

• In Unit 5, Exploration, the pacing guide covers 36 total days and includes whole-class, small-group, and independent learning. Alternative trade book options are available that include Around the World in 80 Days, The House of Dies Drear, and Maniac Magee. The Teacher’s Edition provides a pacing guide for reading the trade books either in lieu of lessons included in the unit or in addition to the lessons. Teachers are advised: “However you choose to integrate trade books, the Pacing Guide below offers suggestions for aligning the trade books with this unit.” Trade book lesson plans are available in the program supplement called myPerspectives+. In addition to trade books, Unit 5 includes Hook and Inspire activities that would extend the unit introduction. This unit includes materials that supplement A Long Way Home and include additional videos, articles, and image galleries that can be reviewed to help build background knowledge and provide interest.

Suggested implementation schedules can be reasonably completed in the time allotted. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• There is a Grade 6 Unit Planning Guide in the Program resources that is available in Microsoft Word format that reviews each unit’s topic, essential question, unit overview, unit goals, selections, and media listed by Whole-Class Learning, Small-Group Learning, and Independent Learning. It also reviews the Performance-Based Assessment and Unit Reflection. Lastly, it provides a day-to-day plan that reviews each day’s focus, referenced pages in the Student Edition, Unit Goals, Academic Vocabulary, Home Connection Letters, Standards, Tasks, Text Selection Titles, and ELL Supports. This unit guide implies teachers will be following the lessons exactly, which contradicts what is embedded in the Teacher Edition, suggesting leaving time for reteaching, enrichment, and use of trade books and optional tasks.

• In Unit 1, Childhood, there are 36 daily lessons that include two days to introduce the unit, 13 days of whole-group instruction, three days for the first performance task, 12 days of small-group learning, two days for the second performance task, two days of independent learning, and two days for the performance based assessment. The pacing is based on a 40-50 minute class period and a recommendation for block scheduling to combine multiple lessons. An additional suggestion is made for teachers to “revise pacing to differentiate and support core instruction by integrating components and resources as students require.” 

• Unit 5 includes a pacing guide that introduces the unit over two days, provides 13 days for whole-class learning activities, 12 days for small-group learning, two days for independent learning activities, and seven days dispersed intermittently throughout the unit for performance tasks. The pacing guide alone is reasonable, but it does not leave room for supplemental learning or remediated instruction.

Optional tasks do not distract from core learning. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Animal Allies, Small-Group Learning, students read “A Blessing” by James Wright. Two options may be available to students. One option is a challenge activity, “Invite students to write a poem based on ‘A Blessing’ from the perspective of one of the ponies.” Students practice applying figurative language and sensory and sound devices that supplement and support the materials for the text. Three different trade books may be integrated with this unit, and if that choice is made, the novels fit the theme of Animal Allies and will supplement learning. 

• In Unit 4, Imagination, Small-Group Learning, students read “The Importance of Imagination” by Esha Chhabra. Two optional tasks are suggested that appear to support learning and not distract from core learning. For example, one option requires students to create a positive-negative chart while reading. The teacher's directions state, “Have students chart a character’s good and bad behavior, positive and negative influence, or the highest and lowest point in a story.” The tracking of these elements will help students delve deeper into the text and complete the tasks that follow the text. 

• In Unit 5, Exploration, Small-Group Learning, students read “To the Top of Everest” by Samantha Larson. Teachers have an optional task for English Language Learners. Students are instructed to reread paragraphs 24 and 25 and describe the camp. Teachers are instructed to point out certain words, such as hypoxic. Then students write a paragraph describing the main idea and supporting details of the section.

Optional tasks are meaningful and enhance core instruction. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Childhood, optional pacing for supplemental trade books is provided. Direction for the incorporation of the trade books includes using them as supplemental texts, substitution for unit text, and a way to extend independent learning. Teacher instructions note that if they are used as substitute text to review the standards that are taught with those selections and no other information is provided. Three trade books are suggested, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, and The Young Landlords by Walter Dean Meyers. Each trade book has a suggested pacing calendar that correlates with the core curriculum. For example, The Secret Garden chapters 1-15 are read along lessons 3-18, chapters 16-24 are read along lessons 19-30, and chapters 25-27 are read during lessons 33 and 34. Each trade book has the Lexile, summary, and connection to the unit’s essential question. 

• In Unit 2, Animal Allies, students read “Black Cowboy, Wild Horses” by Julius Lester.  In the Hook and Inspire section, there are videos and supporting texts, and activities to help students get into, through, and beyond the text. In addition, there is a list of hyperlinked extension activities, such as Animal Tracking, in which students are challenged to emulate Bob Lemmons by tracking animals. A website is linked that allows the teacher to print animal tracking sheets. This compilation of related tasks, texts, and activities focuses on student-centered learning that is active, engaging, and enhances learning.

• In the Perspectives optional resources, teachers have access to Listenwise Currents Events, which provide audio features on topics connected to the topics of each unit. For example, there is an audio recording of “Debate: Does Birth Order Matter?” from NPR that relates to the topics in Unit 1, Childhood. 

• In the Perspectives optional resources, teachers have access to additional skill-based resources, including the Grammar Center, Writing and Research Center, Collaboration Center, Speaking and Listening Center, and Vocabulary Center. These “Centers” contain lessons, worksheets, videos, and other resources to support students. For example, in the Collaboration Center, there is a video for students to “Build Consensus.”  In the “Vocabulary Center,” there are worksheets for word study, including but not limited to prefixes, suffixes, and homophones.