6th Grade - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that texts are organized around a topic and/or theme to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently.

The StudySync materials provide texts, within units, which are connected by appropriate topics. The Grade 6 Core English Language Arts (ELA) Units allow students to experience literary and nonfiction texts that explore individuals facing crucial decisions, learning from their responses, and becoming a better version of themselves. The unit design provides students with opportunities to apply their learning across a wide range of texts that vary in complexity and genre. In the Grade 6 ELA Unit Overview, the unit topic/theme and Essential Question are provided for each unit. The materials also provide a logical sequence of texts that scaffold toward reading and comprehending grade level text proficiently.

For example, some examples include:

• In Unit 1, “Testing Our Limits,” Unit Overview, students examine the challenges we face in life. The Essential Question is included in the following: “What do we do when life gets hard?” Texts within the unit’s genre focus and across other genres present different perspectives on responding to life’s unexpected difficulties. The unit begins with Sandra Cisneros’s short story, “Eleven.” Next, students build knowledge on the hardships of the Great Depression while reading The Mighty Miss Malone, by Christopher Paul Curtis. In the paired texts, Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet and Avi’s “Scout’s Honor,” readers explore surviving in nature. Text difficulty increases in the paired selections, Red Scarf Girl, by Ji-Li Jiang and “Jabberwocky,” by Lewis Carroll.
• In Unit 2, “You and Me,” Unit Overview, the texts focus on relationships. The Essential Question is included in the following: “How do relationships shape us?” This unit offers a wide variety of literature about relationships for students to explore, including a selection from the classic novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor, a nonfiction letter to the editor titled, “We’re On the Same Team,” and poems such as “Teenagers,” by Pat Mora and “A Poem for My Librarian, Mrs. Long” by Nikki Giovanni.” Increasingly complex texts are arranged in an order that increase students’ reading proficiency and allow students to consider important relationships whose impact was so powerful that they may have changed people’s lives.
• In Unit 3, “In the Dark,” Unit Overview, students learn about how individuals take action despite uncertainty. The Essential Question is included in the following: “How do you know what to do when there are no instructions?” This unit offers a mixture of texts, both fiction and nonfiction, about people that face uncertainty, including Hamilton Wright Mabie’s classic myth Heroes Every Child Should Know: Perseus, excerpts from Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief, and an excerpt from Carl Hiaasen’s Hoot. Nonfiction works, about real individuals, include “Hatshepsut: His Majesty, Herself,” by Catherine M. Andronik, “Everybody Jump (from What If),” by Randall Munroe, “Dare to be Creative!” by Madeleine L’Engle, McGraw Hill Education’s “Margaret Bourke-White: Fearless Photographer,” and “Donna O’Meara: The Volcano Lady.” Across the unit, students dig deeper into the Essential Question by engaging with texts of varying difficulty.
• In Unit 4, “Personal Best,” Unit Overview, students are reading about a variety of people, both real and fictional, who have reached their personal best through overcoming obstacles and standing up for what they feel is right. The Essential Question is included in the following: “Which quality of character matters most? The genre focus is drama. In The Story of My Life (Chapter IV), Helen Keller, blind and deaf since infancy, tells about the moment she overcame her physical handicaps to connect to the world. Melba Pattillo Beals reveals in her autobiography, Warriors Don’t Cry, how she and eight other African-American students were expected to make a mark when they were sent to integrate a high school, in Arkansas, during the civil rights era. In Fan Kissen’s “Damon and Pythias” and Piri Thomas’s “Amigo Brothers,” friends, who are as close as brothers, put their lives and friendships at risk as they stay true to their principles and dreams. Across the unit, students dig deeper into the Essential Question by engaging with texts of varying difficulty.
• In Unit 5, “Making Your Mark,” Unit Overview, students are asked to think about their own story. The Essential Question is included in the following: “What’s Your Story?” The genre focus is fiction and also includes some nonfiction texts that deal with facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles, while trying to leave a mark on the world. Some of the nonfiction texts include the following: “The Story of My Life Chapter IV,” by Helen Keller and the autobiography Warriors Don’t Cry, by Melba Pattilo Beals. Fictional texts include Fran Kissen’s “Damon and Pythias” and Piri Thomas’s “Amigo Brothers.” Across the unit, students dig deeper into the Essential Question by engaging with texts of varying difficulty.
• In Unit 6, “True to Yourself,” Unit Overview, students think about the future. The Essential Question includes the following: “Who are you meant to be?” This unit offers a wide variety of literature and nonfiction texts for students to explore, including the following nonfiction texts—the autobiography I Never Had It Made, by Jackie Robinson“ and poem “Rosa,” by Rita Dove. Literary texts include Touching Spirit Bear, by Ben Mikaelsen and Brave, by Svetlana Chmakova, where two main characters discover who they really are and truly want in the face of obstacles.

The instructional 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 questions and tasks help students to build comprehension and knowledge of topics. Within each unit, tasks such as literary analysis, Collaborative Conversations, and Reading Comprehension Quizzes are embedded in various strategies that spiral throughout the unit. During the First Read lessons and Skill lessons, students answer comprehension questions that mostly require analysis of language, key ideas, author’s craft, and structure. During the Close Read, students hold Collaborative Conversations and respond in writing to a literary analysis prompt that focuses on text structure. By facilitating student work, the teacher monitors the students’ understanding of the components identified in each unit. By the end of the year, items are embedded in student prompts rather than taught directly.

For most texts, students are asked to analyze language and/or author’s word choice (according to grade-level standards). For example, some examples include:

• The materials contain coherently sequenced questions and tasks that address language and/or word choice.
• In Unit 1, “Testing Our Limits,” students read the short story “Eleven,” by Sandra Cisneros. In the Skill: Figurative Language lesson, students define figurative language terms. The teacher models how to analyze and determine the meaning of figurative language. Students answer multiple-choice questions that ask them to analyze the use of figurative language in the text. For example, “How does the figurative language in paragraph 14 help readers understand Rachel’s reaction to the sweater?”
• In Unit 4, “Personal Best,” students read the persuasive essay “Bullying in Schools.” In the Skill: Word Patterns and Relationship lesson, students “reread paragraphs seven through eight of the counterpoint article. Then, [they] answer the multiple-choice questions that follow.” Students also respond to questions that address the author’s word choice. “In paragraph seven, the author explains that schools are allowed to take disciplinary action against bullies. Then, the author goes on to describe the intended results of disciplinary action in paragraph eight. This is an example of what kind of word relationship? How does recognizing the relationship between disciplinary action and the intended results help you to better understand the text?”
• In Unit 5, “Making Your Mark,” students read Listen, Slowly, by Thannhhà Lai. In the Skill: Language, Style, and Audience lesson, students define words related to the topic. The teacher models how to determine the author’s style and the impact of specific word choice. Students answer multiple-choice questions about the author’s tone and word choice in paragraphs 19 and 20.

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

• The materials contain coherently sequenced questions and tasks that address key ideas and details.
• In Unit 1, “Testing Our Limits,” students read, “The Magic Marker Mystery,” by René Saldaña, Jr. In the first read, students read independently to “identify key details, events, characters, and connections between them” and “use text features to make and confirm or correct predictions as they read” as stated in the Lesson Plan. In the Text Talk section of the lesson, teachers utilize the following questions to monitor student progress: “What is the relationship between Bucho and Mickey? How does Mickey identify Joe as the guilty person?”
• In Unit 2, “You and Me,” students read Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech. In the Close Read, students analyze key ideas and details when they respond to the following prompt: “Rewrite this excerpt of Walk Two Moons with Phoebe, Prudence, or Mrs. Winterbottom as the narrator instead of Sal. Use evidence explicitly stated in the text, as well as inferences drawn from the text, to identify the narrator's relationship with the other characters. In your narrative, select language that reflects an appropriate tone for the narrator you choose.”
• In Unit 3, “In The Dark,” students read “Hatshepsut: His Majesty Herself,” by Catherine M. Andronik. In the first read, students read independently to “identify key details, events, characters, and connections between them as stated in the lesson plan.” In the Text Talk section of the lesson, the following questions are asked to monitor student progress: “Generally, how did someone become pharaoh of ancient Egypt? In what ways did Hatshepsut maintain the illusion that a male ruled Egypt?”
• The materials contain coherently sequenced questions and tasks that address structure.
• In Unit 3, “In The Dark,” students read an excerpt of the text The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan. In the first read, students analyze story structure in order to participate in a Collaborative Conversation and write a short constructed response. The questions and directions are as follows: “How does this excerpt, of The Lightning Thief, connect to the overall structure of the story? What hints does the author provide about the overall plot and theme? Think about how the author uses flashbacks to describe Percy’s past, Percy’s thoughts, and dialogue with his mother. As you prepare for your discussion, be sure to find plenty of textual evidence to support your ideas.” Afterward, students compose a literary analysis with questions that include the following: “How do Damon and Pythias respond to conflict as the drama unfolds? Does their friendship ever waver? What do their responses to conflict reveal about their characters? Use evidence and relevant examples of dialogue from the text to support your answer.”
• In Unit 4, “Personal Best,” students read “Famous,” by Naomi Shihab Nye. In the Close Read, students respond to a literary analysis prompt that focuses on text structure. The prompt is as follows: “In her poem, Naomi Shihab Nye shakes up most people’s ideas about what it means to be famous. Fame isn’t about celebrity; it’s about what’s important. How does Nye’s use of poetic elements and structure contribute to this theme? Be sure to cite evidence from the poem in your response.”
• In Unit 5, “Making Your Mark,” students read the myth “Damon and Pythias.” In the Close Read, students analyze how the plot of the story is developed through the character’s dialogue, actions, and motivations in a short, written response.” In the Complete Skills Focus of the Lesson Plan, students respond to the following questions to prepare for their participation in a Collaborative Conversation: “What does the narrator reveal about the plot in lines seven and 12? What does the narrator reveal about the plot in line 45? How do Damon and Pythias respond to conflict as the drama unfolds? Does their friendship ever waver? What do their responses to conflict reveal about their characters? Use evidence and relevant examples of dialogue from the text to support your answer.”
• The materials contain coherently sequenced questions and tasks that address craft.
• In Unit 1, “Testing Our Limits,” students read an excerpt from “The Magic Marker Mystery,” by René Saldaña Jr. In the Close Read, students write a response to the following prompt: “Think about how the playwright uses specific scenes to develop the plot. How would Act Three of The Magic Marker Mystery be different if it were told from Joe’s perspective? In your response, indicate how this would affect the structure of the play as a whole. Support your writing with specific evidence from the text.”
• In Unit 5, “Making Your Mark,” students read Listen, Slowly, by Thanhhà Lai. In the Close Read, students compose a literary analysis. The instructions state the following: “How does the author use language to develop the audience’s understanding of Mai and Bà? What does their conversation in the excerpt say about them as individuals and as family members? Cite evidence from the text to support your response.”
• In Unit 6, “True to Yourself,” students read I Never Had it Made, by Jackie Robinson. During the Skill lesson, students analyze craft by responding to the following questions: “The author’s purpose for including the information about Mr. Rickey in paragraph nine may have been to explain that —” and “What is one idea the author wants readers to understand from the information in paragraph 10?” and “What do the details in paragraphs 11 and 12 suggest about Robinson’s point of view regarding his fans?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that materials contain a coherently sequenced set of text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts.

Most sets of questions and tasks support students’ analysis of knowledge and ideas. Instructional units include Blasts, Skill Lessons, StudySync TV lessons, First Reads, Close Reads, Independent Reads, and writing tasks. Materials provide guidance to teachers in supporting students’ literacy skills. The Teacher Edition outlines skill introduction, Turn and Talk opportunities, questions, vocabulary instruction, Checks for Success, and modeling for annotation of the text and skill being taught. Each unit includes opportunities for students to analyze ideas within individual texts ,and there are paired selections of texts for analyzing across multiple texts. There are Model tabs for students, exemplar responses for teachers, Skill lessons, and StudySync TV to support students in growing their literacy skills. By the end of the year, integrating knowledge and ideas is embedded in students’ work (via tasks and/or culminating tasks). Students use evidence from one or multiple texts in all discussions and written tasks such as Extended Writing Project and End of Unit Assessments.

Sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze ideas within an individual text. For example, some examples include:

• In Unit 4, Integrating Reading and Writing, students read “Letter to Xavier High School,” by Kurt Vonnegut, as they explore the theme “Personal Best” and seek answers to the Essential Question, “Which qualities of character matter most?” Students complete the following task: “PERSONAL RESPONSE: Vonnegut claims that any creative pursuit, whether as a hobby or career, has a significant and positive impact on a person’s life. In your opinion, do you think schools today do enough to nurture and promote creativity? Support your response with evidence from the text as well as your own experiences.” In the Teacher Edition, the following guidance is provided to the teacher to assist students who may need extra assistance: “Check for Success: If students struggle to respond to the prompt, ask students the following questions: What kinds of creative things do you like to do? Do you take art or music classes or participate in creative activities in school? What other creative classes or activities would you want offered in school? List what you have been a part of and what else you would like to do.”
• In Unit 4, Integrating Reading and Writing, students read “Nobel Lecture,” by Malala Yousafzai, while exploring the theme, “Personal Best” and the Essential Question, “Which qualities of character matter most?” Students then complete the following task: “ARGUMENTATIVE: Near the end of her speech, Malala gives a call to action. She says, ‘Dear sisters and brothers, dear fellow children, we must work . . . not wait. Not just the politicians and the world leaders, we all need to contribute. Me. You. We. It is our duty.’ Malala uses a combination of informational text structures in the course of her speech to communicate the idea contained in this call to action. Which do you think is the most effective, and why? Write a response using specific examples from the text and the video to support your claims.”
• In Unit 6, Integrating Reading and Writing, the theme is “True to Yourself” and the Essential Question states, “Who are you meant to be?” Students read “A BEACON of Hope: The Story of Hannah Herbst,” by Rebecca Harrington, and complete the following task: “PERSONAL RESPONSE: "A BEACON of Hope: The Story of Hannah Herbst" describes a teen’s invention that can help power an entire nation. If you were to create an invention to help a nation in need, what would it be? Why? Support your response with evidence from the article as well as personal experience. As you make connections between Hannah's life and your own, include anything that may have impacted your ideas about your potential invention.”

Sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze across multiple texts. Some examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 1, Integrating Reading and Writing, the theme is “Testing Our Limits” and the Essential Question states, “What do we do when life gets hard?” After reading Red Scarf Girl, by Ji-Li Jiang and Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet, applying an analysis across multiple texts, students compare and contrast by writing in response to the following prompt: “Red Scarf Girl and Hatchet feature young people trapped in challenging situations. In both texts, the setting provides the context for the main conflict or problem. Compare and contrast the role that the setting plays in influencing the characters and events in the two texts.”
• In Unit 4, Extended Writing Project and Grammar, students discuss and analyze across the texts presented in the Text Talk unit, as they explore the theme “Personal Best” and answer the Essential Question, “Which qualities of character matter most?” Then, they complete the following task: “After reading the texts from the Personal Best unit, write a proposal in which you argue which texts would be the most effective for a school-wide book club. In your proposal, choose one informational and one literary text. Use textual evidence to help support an argument and explain how both of the texts you have chosen develop a theme or a main idea that communicates the qualities of character that matter most.”
• In Unit 5, Integrating Reading and Writing, students discuss and analyze across the two texts “Saying Yes,” by Diana Chang and “The All-American Slurp,” by Leslie Namioka, as they explore the theme “Making Your Mark” and the Essential Question, “What’s your story?” Students respond to the following prompt: “Both feature distinct cultural settings. How does each text make use of Chinese and American cultures to influence the development of plot and character? Compare and contrast the relationships between setting, plot, and character in the two texts. Remember to support your ideas with evidence from the texts. In a discussion with your peers, use evidence from both texts as well as personal experience to respond to these questions.”

The instructional 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 (or, for grades 6-8, a theme) through integrated skills (e.g., combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).

Culminating tasks are engaging and provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate comprehension and knowledge of a topic or topics. Through the Skill lessons and Close Reads within the unit texts, students are prepared to complete the larger culminating tasks, Extended Writing Projects and/or Extended Oral Projects. Every unit title serves as a theme for the entire unit. The facilitation of Checks for Success, offered in Lesson Plans from numerous tasks in each unit, give the teacher usable information about the student's readiness to complete culminating tasks. Culminating tasks integrate reading, writing, speaking and listening and include the following types of writing: argument, research, and multimedia presentations.

The culminating tasks provided are multifaceted, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of several different standards at the grade level. For example, some examples include:

• In Unit 2, “You and Me,” students read stories, poems, and nonfiction selections about important relationships that had such a powerful impact in which they may have changed people’s lives. In the Extended Writing Project, students write an argumentative essay about a person who has affected their lives and their opinion regarding whether relationships can truly shape one’s future. This culminating task integrates writing, speaking, and listening skills. To prepare for this task, students read Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech. During the Close Read, students complete a freewrite activity to connect their reading to the Essential Question. “Would Sal’s relationship with her mother have been different if Sal hadn’t yelled at her the last time she saw her?” connects to the unit’s Essential Question “How do relationships shape us?”
• In Unit 4, “Personal Best,” students read stories and informational texts about individuals and characters that strive for their personal best. During the Extended Oral Project, students write a literary analysis essay. In their essays, students identify two unit texts that they think develop a main idea or theme that communicates the qualities of character that matter most. This culminating task integrates writing, speaking, and listening skills. To prepare for this task, students read “Bullying in Schools,” by StudySync. During the Close Read, students reflect on how “Bullying in Schools” connects to the unit’s essential question “Which qualities of character matter most?” by freewriting in their Writer’s Notebooks.
• In Unit 5, “Making Your Mark,” students read an assortment of fiction and nonfiction texts about individuals who overcome challenges and obstacles in their quest to “make [their] mark” on the world. Students explore a number of ways in which one can “make a mark” on the world as they seek the answer to the unit’s Essential Question, “What’s your story?” During the Extended Oral Project, students write an argumentative oral presentation in response to the following prompt: “What is something you believe in? Think about something for which you hold a position or take a stance. How did you come to adopt this position? What experience, event, person, or story shaped your belief? Give an organized presentation with a specific stand and position. Tell a story from your life that explains how you adopted your position. Your story should focus on a singular moment or experience from your life and clearly relate to your position or stance.” This culminating task integrates writing, speaking, and listening skills. To prepare for this task, students read “Charles,” by Shirley Jackson. During the Close Read, students complete a freewrite activity to connect their reading to the Essential Question. The following guidance is provided: “Give students time to reflect on how ‘Charles’ connects to the unit’s Essential Question ‘What’s your story?’ by freewriting in their Writer’s Notebooks.”
• In Unit 6, “True to Yourself,” students read literary and nonfiction texts about individuals and characters in search of their truest selves. Then, in the Extended Writing Project, students write a research report, devise a research question in response to their reading, and find and take notes from reliable sources. This culminating task integrates writing, speaking, and listening skills. To prepare for this task, students read “Shree Bose: Never Too Young to Change the World,” by Amanda Sperber. During the Close Read, students complete a freewrite activity to connect their reading to the Essential Question. Then, they synthesize this information into a full-length essay that includes parenthetical citations and a Works Cited page. Students reflect on how “Shree Bose: Never Too Young to Change the World” connects to the unit’s Essential Question, “Who are you meant to be?” by freewriting in their Writer’s Notebooks.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts.

Materials provide teacher guidance for outlining a plan that builds students’ academic vocabulary, which supports building knowledge. The Program Guide outlines strategies and protocols for teaching vocabulary. Vocabulary is separated into three components—Selection Vocabulary, Skill Vocabulary, and Academic Vocabulary. The Big Idea section, at the beginning of each unit, contains a Skill: Academic Vocabulary lesson that introduces students to the ten academic vocabulary words for the unit. The academic vocabulary words are sporadically revisited in the Close Read lessons for multiple texts and appear in some writing prompts and rubrics. Additionally, students are prompted to use these words in their discussions and written responses. Each unit ends with a Vocabulary Review lesson on the unit’s vocabulary. The lesson includes practice opportunities for students to use the words within the context of their writing.

Materials provide teacher guidance outlining a cohesive year long development component that builds students’ academic vocabulary that supports building knowledge. For example, some examples include:

• Vocabulary is repeated in contexts (before texts, in texts, etc.).
• In Unit 1, “Testing Our Limits,” in the Close Read of The Mighty Miss Malone, by Christopher Paul Curtis, students drag and drop the correct meaning into the column beside the correct vocabulary word. Then, they write an original sentence using each of the vocabulary words.
• In Unit 6, “True to Yourself, “ in the Big Idea, Skill: Content Vocabulary—Terms About Destiny lesson, students receive a list of ten words for the text. Students study a model of the context of the words along with an exemplar of the words used in sample sentences. Then, they practice using an image plus a sentence to arrive at the meaning of a word, choose the correct meaning of a word in a given sentence, and write their own sentence with the vocabulary words as a practice activity during the Your Turn portion of the lesson.
• Vocabulary is repeated across multiple texts.
• In Unit 4, “ Personal Best,” in the Big Idea Skill Academic Vocabulary lesson, students receive a list of ten vocabulary words for the text. Students study a model of roots and affixes and the words. They practice dragging and dropping word parts, complete a sentence with the correct word, and write their own sentence with a given vocabulary word during Your Turn. Then, in the Close Read of “Malala Yousafzai-Nobel Lecture,” students incorporate the academic vocabulary in their written response in the Write section. One of the vocabulary words is repeated during a close read of the Unit 6 text excerpt from Rosa Parks: My Story, by Rosa Parks. The lesson plan states, “Draw attention to the academic vocabulary word previous. Call on students to share out the definition of the word in their own words. Remind students that the word previous means ‘just preceding something else in time or order’ and can be used in everyday as well as academic and workplace contexts. Encourage students to use this vocabulary word in their written response.”

Students are supported to accelerate vocabulary learning with vocabulary in their reading, speaking, and writing tasks. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Unit 2, “You and Me,” in the Big Idea Skill Academic Vocabulary lesson, students receive a list of ten words for the text. Students study a model of the words used in context before practicing in the Your Turn section. In this activity, students drag and drop examples and nonexamples of the words, use the vocabulary words in a sentence, and write their own sentences using the vocabulary words from the lesson.
• In Unit 5, “Making Your Mark,” Vocabulary Review, during the Skill: Vocabulary Review lesson, students review the words they learned throughout the unit. In the Your Turn section, they sort the words based on whether they related to personal goals or debatable issues. In the Write section, students discuss and respond to a prompt using the vocabulary from the chapter: “Discussion: In this unit, you have read drama and other texts related to the theme of Making Your Mark and the essential question, What’s your story? Imagine that you are nominating someone for an award. Who is this person, and what type of award would you like to honor him or her with? What information would you present about them to an awards committee? Use as many Big Idea and Academic Vocabulary words in your discussion as you can.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan to 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.

Materials include writing instruction aligned to the standards for the grade level, and writing instruction spans the whole school year. Throughout all the units of study, students engage in a variety of writing activities in response to the reading of texts, including creating short constructed responses and completing Extended Writing Projects. The short constructed responses include Blasts, Think questions, and Prompt responses. Within each unit, students write in response to four Blasts which connect the students to the Essential Question, synthesize information from a variety of online sources, compose a clear response in 140 characters or less, and share their responses with a digital community. The First Reads writing tasks involve answering Think questions that require students to cite evidence. The Close Read Prompt responses connect to the type of featured writing in the unit and prepare the students for the Extended Writing Project or Research assignments. In the Extended Writing Project, materials prepare students to transition through the writing process using supports such as a Student Model, graphic organizers, checklists, rubrics, and extensive scaffolding of writing skills. For Research, students discuss, plan, research, write, and deliver presentations. Materials include consistent scaffolding and strategies that support students through the process of achieving proficiency at the end of the year.

For example, some examples include:

• In Unit 1, “Testing Our Limits,” students read the text, “The Magic Marker Mystery,” by René Saldaña Jr. In the Close Read, students complete a literary analysis in which they respond to the Prompt: “Think about how the playwright uses specific scenes to develop the plot. How would Act Three of The Magic Marker Mystery be different if it were told from Joe’s perspective? In your response, indicate how this would affect the structure of the play as a whole. Support your writing with specific evidence from the text." Scaffolding, based upon proficiency, is evident in the lesson plan. Examples include speaking frames and a paragraph guide.
• In Unit 2, “You and Me,” the students compose an argumentative piece during the Extended Writing Project. Materials provide a Student Model illustrating an example of a grade-level response to the prompt. As students read the Model, they highlight and annotate the features of argumentative writing that the author of the Student Model, Ellie, included in her argument. The student model helps students understand how to write an effective argumentative essay. Materials also include a list of characteristics of an effective argument. Students receive guidance on revision and editing. Teachers provide direct instruction, via Skill lessons, in the areas of planning, organizing, crafting a thesis statement, adding reasons and relevant evidence, transitions, introductions, and conclusions.
• In Unit 4, “Personal Best,” students read the text “All Summer in a Day,” by Ray Bradbury. In the First Read, students respond to Think questions, such as “How does Bradbury describe the sun? Citing at least two descriptive passages that you find in the text, explain what the sun means to the characters in the story.” and “Based on the text, how has life on Venus affected Margot? Cite specific evidence from the text to support your answer.” Teachers guidance includes the following: “Circulate as students answer Think Questions independently. See the answer key for sample responses.”
• In Unit 6, “True to Yourself,” Extended Writing Project, students engage in the process of writing a research paper. Students respond to the following prompt: “Consider the texts included in the ‘True to Yourself’ unit, identify a topic you would like to know more about, and write a research report about that topic. In the process, you will learn how to select a research question, develop a research plan, gather and evaluate source materials, and synthesize and present your research findings. Regardless of which topic you choose, be sure your research paper includes the following: an introduction; supporting details from credible sources; a clear text structure; a conclusion multimedia components such as charts, images, or video; a works cited page. As you gather ideas and information from the texts in the unit, be sure to: use evidence from multiple sources; and avoid overly relying on one source.” Through a series of lessons, students read and analyze sources, plan, draft, revise, and edit, and publish their writing. The teacher manual provides sentence starters and questioning techniques for struggling students, graphic organizers, rubrics for the class, writing checklists, vocabulary supports, and suggestions for peer review and reflection.

The instructional 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.

Research projects are sequenced across a school year to include a progression of research skills appropriate for the grade level. Each of the six units include multiple opportunities for students to engage in research activities and present their findings. Materials support teachers in employing projects that develop students’ knowledge on a topic via provided resources. Teachers support the development of students’ knowledge via high-quality texts, text-dependent questioning, and Blast lessons. Blast lessons include multi-media research links related to the theme. As students utilize the included research links, they develop a broader understanding of the theme and texts within the unit. The materials provide many opportunities for students to apply reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language skills to synthesize and analyze information during their grade-level readings. Research activities provide opportunities for students to show their learning in different ways, including presenting their findings to the class, writing about their research, and creating multimedia displays. Each unit includes an extensive, multi-step Extended Writing Project related to the unit’s theme. In Unit 6, students complete a research project showing their learning across the year. This project entails a full-length essay that includes multimedia components, parenthetical citations, and a Works Cited page.

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. For example, some examples include:

• Students have opportunities to engage in “short” projects across grades and grade bands.
• In Unit 1, “Testing Our Limits,” Grade Level Overview, students read The Mighty Miss Malone. Students can learn more about the setting and context for the book through a research project related to the Great Depression. Groups research a topic, create a visual aid, and present informally to the class.
• In Unit 2, “You and Me,” in the Blast lesson, students study the Essential Question, “How do relationships shape us?” In the Blast lesson, students read, annotate, and highlight information that builds knowledge centered around this question. Students respond to prompts to help them connect to the Essential Question. In the Blast lesson, there is a jigsaw activity, during which students research and discuss information pertaining to the Essential Question.
• In Unit 5, “Making Your Mark,” Grade Level Overview, students research cultural norms around food from another country. In small groups, they use this information to create a comical scene where an American traveler violates this cultural norm.
• Students have opportunities to engage in “long” projects across grades and grade bands.
• In Unit 3, “In the Dark," the Essential Question for the research project is, “How do you know what to do when there are no instructions?” The research project is an informative piece that occurs during the Extended Writing Project at the unit’s close. Students read stories of people who experience uncertainty in their life and how they overcome these events. Novels and real life accounts are used to teach lessons. Texts in this unit include The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan, Hoot, by Carl Hiaasen, and Madeleine L’Engle’s speech “Dare to be Creative.” This knowledge allows students to explore the unit’s topic of overcoming uncertainty in life.
• In Unit 4, “Personal Best," in the Extended Writing Project, students write a literary analysis in response to the Essential Question, “Which qualities of character matter most?” Throughout the unit, students read texts and conduct research to explore what matters most in developing someone’s personal best. “This unit offers a mixture of texts about real individuals and fictional characters who achieve their personal best through wrestling with familiar and realistic struggles. After interacting with these texts, students write a literary analysis argumentative essay. In their essays, students will identify two unit texts that they think develop a main idea or theme that communicates the qualities of character that matter most.”
• In Unit 6, “True to Yourself,” in the Extended Writing Project, students compose a research report in response to the Essential Question, “Who are you meant to be?” Throughout the unit, students read texts and conduct research to study the journey of becoming one’s true self. “This unit offers a variety of literature and nonfiction texts about individuals and characters in search of their true selves. After interacting with these texts, students will have the opportunity to write a research report, devise a research question in response to their reading, and find and take notes from primary and secondary sources. Afterwards, they will synthesize this information into a full-length essay that includes multimedia components.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 6 meet the criteria that materials provide a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

Most texts, in the StudySync materials, are organized with built-in supports and/or scaffolds to foster independence. Within the Core ELA Units, there are Integrated Reading and Writing lessons that support students throughout the reading of the texts. These lessons consist of First Reads, Skills focus lessons, Close Reads, Blasts, and Independent Reads. Each unit ends with Self-Selected Reading Lessons; however, procedures for independent reading included in the units are unclear. The Teacher Edition provides teacher guidance to foster all students’ reading independence. Within each Lesson Plan, the Teacher Edition Differentiation tab includes supports for differentiation. Scaffolding is also provided in this section for beginning, intermediate, and advanced ELLs. The proposed schedule for the Independent Read lessons are included in the Pacing Guide. Core ELA Units pair Independent Read lessons with a core text at least two times within each unit. Each unit concludes with five self-selected reading selections, and the Pacing Guide has been updated to include the Self-Selected Reading Selections. The updated Program Guide also includes a section titled Building an Outside Independent Reading Program. A tracking system is provided through the Bookshelf and Reading Quizzes. Student reading materials span a wide volume of texts at grade levels and at various Lexile levels within the grade. There are a variety of informational and fiction texts for students to read, including articles, essays, poems, novels, short stories, and drama. Texts range in Lexiles from 520L to 1130L.

For example, some examples include:

• In Unit 1, “Testing Our Limits,” three Independent Read lessons are paired with core texts. For example, the first Independent Read task, Red Scarf Girl, by Ji-ji Jiang, is paired with the core text Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen. After engaging in a First Read, Skill: Setting Lesson, Skill: Compare and Contrast Lesson, and a Close Read of Hatchet, students complete a compare and contrast writing task, citing evidence from the two texts. According to the Pacing Guide, this lesson takes place on Days 10–13 of the unit.
• In Unit 5, “Making Your Mark,” in the Self-Selected Reading lesson, the Blast provides students information on how to use a critical review to choose a book. The five self-selected reading texts for the unit are as follows: The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea, by Sy Montgomery, Joey Pigza Loses Control, by Jack Gantos, All But My Life: A Memoir, by Gerda Weissmann Klein, and Running Out of Time, by Margaret Peterson Haddix. After selecting and reading one of the provided options, students complete the “Write: Self-Selected Response” in which they complete a critical review for their self-selected reading text. The Pacing Guide does not allocate time for the actual reading of the self-selected text.
• In Unit 6, “True to Yourself,” during a paired reading, students independently read and annotate the text “A BEACON of Hope: The Story of Hannah Herbst,” by Rebecca Harrington. Then, students complete a First Read, two Skill lessons, and a Close Read of the paired text “Shree Bose: Never Too Young to Change the World,” by Amanda Sperber. The Teacher Edition, Differentiation Tab, includes the following scaffolds for the Text Talk activity: “Approaching Grade Level—Speaking Frames and Paragraph Guides; Beyond Grade Level—ask each student to write one additional discussion question. Then, have one or two students facilitate a discussion, using their questions to guide the conversation; Beginning and Intermediate ELLs—Speaking Frames; Advanced and Advanced-High ELLs—Speaking Frames and Paragraph Guides.” According to the Pacing Guide, these lessons are completed on Days six through nine.