2nd Grade - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for 2nd grade meet the expectations for texts organized around topic/topics to build students’ knowledge and their ability to read and comprehend complex texts proficiently. All of the domains created in K-2 revolve around a topic through a set of texts rather than an anchor text. The Program Guide states, “In the Knowledge Strand, students spend several weeks at a time learning about a topic in science, social studies, history, literature, etc." (CKLA, Program Guide, page 45). The purpose of the domains is to immerse students in a topic for several weeks. “Children gain deep exposure to topics such as nursery rhymes and fables; seasons and weather; and presidents and American symbols” (CKLA Program Guide page 30). The topics also build on each other through each year.

All of the domains in the Grade 2 curriculum are centered around a topic. The topics are as follows: Fairy Tales and Tall Tales, Early Asian Civilizations, Ancient Greek Civilizations, Greek Myths, War of 1812, Cycles in Nature, Westward Expansion, Insects, U.S. Civil War, Human Body: Building Blocks of Nutrition, Immigration, and Fighting for a Cause.

Texts included in each domain support the building knowledge about the topic. A specific example is in Domain 3, The Ancient Greek Civilization. Topics in the texts include Ancient Greeks, Mount Olympus, the Olympic Games, Sparta, Athens and the Olive Tree, Athens, the Birthplace of Democracy, the Marathon, Thermopylae, Persians Strike Again, the Great Thinkers of Greece, and Alexander the Great. Another example is in Domain 10, Human Body: Building Blocks and Nutrition. Topics in the texts include Anton van Leeuwenhoek, cells and tissues, organs, the digestive system, the excretory system, nutrients, a well-balanced diet, and a healthy human body.

These topics will help students develop their knowledge of both social studies and science content.

The curriculum materials in Grade 2 meet the expectations that materials contain sets of coherently sequenced 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. The materials contain many opportunities for students to look at key ideas and details.

Some examples of questions that show students being required to analyze include those found in Domain 3, Lesson 5. “Why do you think it was important to Lysander to look brave in front of Platon when he was leading them away from his family?” To engage this question, students need to have comprehension of the text as well as a grasp of the main ideas and relationships between characters.

In some of the skills lessons, there are close reading lessons that include analysis of the text. One example is in Skills, Unit 2, Lesson 3, where the question is, “As she went, she was the king of the cash she would get from selling the milk. What does this mean?” Another example is, “In the second paragraph of page 56, reread the parts of the story that let us know if this is fiction.” (Unit 2, Lesson 12) The materials support the teacher guiding students to re-read and to identify details at both the explicit and implicit levels.

The materials in Grade 2 meet the requirement that materials contain a coherently sequenced set of text-based questions and tasks that require students to build knowledge and integrate ideas across both individual and multiple texts.

At the end of each read aloud the teacher asks the students comprehension questions that range from literal recall questions, to inferential questions, to evaluative questions. For example, in Domain 3, Lesson 7, students have to answer the literal question, "How did the city-state Athens get its name?" and the inferential question, "What were all the benefits of the olive tree that Athena went on to describe?” Similarly, in that same lesson, examples of a literal question and an evaluative question are, “What two main city-states have you learned about? How are they similar? How were they different?” An example of a question that is both literal and evaluative is in Domain 5, Lesson 1, when students have to answer the question, “After the Revolutionary War, what was the type of government formed in the United States, and how was it different from a government ruled by a king?"

In some lessons, students have to compare characters and knowledge across more than one text. This helps them to build knowledge and integrate ideas across multiple texts. For example, in Domain 1, Lesson 6, students have to compare and contrast other elements of "Pecos Bill" and "Paul Bunyan". In Lesson 8 of that domain, student complete a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting the characters in "John Henry" and "Casey Jones".

Before each lesson, students also have to review what they previously read and answer questions about what they read. This helps to integrate the knowledge across each text that the students read in the Domain. For example, in Domain 8, lesson 3, students begin by reviewing the characteristics of insects. Then the teacher asks questions about information that they read previously such as “What is a life cycle?” and “What are the stages of a human being’s life cycle?” This type of previewing to support the building of background knowledge as well as questioning to integrate the knowledge is seen in each lesson. Another example is in Domain 12, Lesson 7, where students first have to answer recall-type comprehension questions about what they have read so far, including “What were some of the causes for which Eleanor Roosevelt fought?" and “How would you describe Jackie Robinson’s achievements?”

The materials in Grade 2 meet the requirements of this indicator. Students demonstrate knowledge through multiple standards through the Pausing Points activities and through the Assessments (both mid-domain and end of domain), which provide ample opportunities for the teacher to identify students' knowledge and skills development.

Some of the culminating activities at the end of Domains are optional and geared towards students who do not require remediation after the culminating assessment, although teacher notes provide explicit suggestions for deploying them. For example, in Domain 1, students make their own book retelling one of the fables they heard. In Domain 3, students form five groups, and each group is assigned to one component of ancient Greek civilization that they draw a picture about and write a sentence explaining the image. In Domain 5, students pretend they were at one of the important events during the War of 1812 and describe what they saw and heard. In Domain 8, students search through trade books in the classroom to look up answers about insects. They journal their information, which integrates reading and writing and knowledge from texts read and heard. In the Student Performance Task Assessment for this domain, students label a visual of an insect with academic vocabulary from a provided word bank (Instructional Master page 1). Each of these tasks demonstrate knowledge gained from texts in the Domain.

The materials Grade 2 meet the requirements that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts. Vocabulary is repeated both in context and across multiple texts. Students are supported to accelerate vocabulary learning with vocabulary in their reading, listening, speaking, and writing. Each Knowledge lesson has the introduction of the vocabulary, use of the vocabulary in the application section, key vocabulary brainstorming in the Domain review, and a vocabulary assessment. The end of domain Vocabulary Assessment is used to determine students’ understanding of the vocabulary words in context. The assessment evaluates each student’s retention of domain and academic vocabulary words.

In each Domain Unit, four to six words are introduced with each new word read aloud. These words show up in either the pre-reading activities that help to build the background knowledge or during the read aloud itself. Some examples include: in Domain 8, Lesson 5, the words are aggressive, chambers, destructive, emit, nurseries, and in Domain 9, Lesson 9, the words are abolished, cabinet, emancipation, proclamation, scroll and in Domain 10, Lesson 4, the words are collapse, kidneys, liver, nourish, transplant, and in Domain 12, Lesson 6, the words are assigned boycott, disrupted, injustice, and segregation. In each word list, there is one word that is in bold, which is explained in more depth to the students. The students engage in an activity with these words, including hearing a variety of sentences and deciding if a sentence describes the word or not. For example, in Domain 1, Lesson 5, the word is admiration, and the students describe someone for whom they have admiration. At the end of each Domain, there is also an assessment that evaluates students’ retention of domain and academic vocabulary words.

In the Skills Strand, before a new chapter is read the teacher previews and discusses vocabulary. In the close reading lessons, there are questions focusing on the vocabulary words.

Students are also taught formal dictionary skills in Grade 2. According to the Program Guide, the students “should be encouraged to apply the formal morphology knowledge to deciphering the meaning of new words in new contexts."

Throughout the lessons there are supports and challenges embedded. In Domain 9, a challenge is for students to explain the meaning of the phrase, "her body and mind cried out for sleep," and a support is to review the meaning of the word value.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the expectations of materials containing writing tasks and instruction which support students in building and communicating substantive understanding of topics and texts. Across both sections, a four step plan is used that helps students plan, draft, revise, and publish.

In both the Domain and Skills Sections, the writing lessons cover narrative, informative, and opinion writing. Formal writing instruction begins in Unit 2 of the Skills Section with lessons on narrative writing. They begin by retelling a fable in writing, and they later complete a book report. In both cases, students go through the writing process. They revisit narrative writing in Skills, Unit 3. In Unit 6, students engage in report writing. They learn to take notes to complete the report, and they write a multi-paragraph essay.

A further connection between the Skills Section and the Knowledge section is evidenced in the persuasive letter writing in Skills, Unit 4, and the persuasive speech writing in Domain 5, which both revolve around the War of 1812. In Domain 5, students deliver a written persuasive speech, while in Skills, Unit 4, students are required to take what they read about the War of 1812 and write a persuasive letter. They practice the skills of persuasive letter writing in Lesson 14 and 15 and then start the process independently in Lesson 16. The persuasive speech is from the point of view of either a War Hawk or a merchant in America, and the students need to convince James Madison to either go to war with Britain or not to go to war with Britain.

While no formal evaluation tool is used in this curriculum, a writing portfolio is suggested. There are specific items that are suggested to be included in the portfolio. Writing is also used to determine if students understand information. For example, in Domain 3, Lesson 7, students write a paragraph explaining why they would rather live in the city-state of Sparta or Athens.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the expectations of materials including a progression of focused, shared research and writing projects to encourage students to develop knowledge and understanding of a topic using texts and other source materials. The structure of units focusing on one topic each does support enhanced student understanding and knowledge development around the unit materials. Students engaging with the materials are writing, reading, and seeking out new information as well as beginning to synthesize information for research, developing presentations, and sharing their work in the class.

Students are provided with background information in each lesson that is intended to give the students the information they need for the text being covered. There is some guidance for teachers to build students' independent study and researching skills. Some of these components are optional and come as part of the Pausing Points and/or domain reviews and assessments, although the directions to the teacher identify the focus.

Examples of how the Grade 2 materials support students' growing research skills include, but are not limited to, the following examples:

• In Domain 1, students can conduct online research to find out where specific statues, monuments, or museums are located. Using multimedia in identifying/classifying specific information and quality sources is key to further research understanding.
• In Domain 5, student prepare individual research papers related to the War of 1812 after small groups research about people and events. This work includes speaking and listening, collaboration, reading different modes of text, taking notes, classifying information, and preparing a written culminating project.
• In Domain 6, students practice collecting and synthesizing information by using note-taking tools such as charts and graphic organizers. The class participates in a shared research project by recording observations of scientific phenomena. There are also suggestions for students who need a challenge to research outside of the domain's additional facts as suggested in Lessons 5 and 6.