3rd Grade - Gateway 1

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1a. 

The materials incorporate an assortment of informational and literary texts that are of publishable quality. The literary units feature full-length published texts of high quality by award-winning authors. Throughout the science and social studies units, there are a multitude of published texts that are informative and of high-interest to students. Texts are diverse, well-balanced, and accessible for multiple purposes. Anchor texts encompass a variation of genres and range of topics that would be appealing and engaging to students. Several texts contain engaging pictures, vivid illustrations, character relationships and motives, and rich vocabulary. 

Anchor texts are of high-quality and consider a range of student interests, are well-crafted, content-rich, and engage students at their grade level. For example:

• In Literature Unit 1, students read the published texts My Name is María Isabel by Alma Flor Ada and Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel by Nikki Grimes. 

• In Literature Unit 2, students read Her Stories, African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales by Virginia Hamilton, which is a Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner. Stories feature strong characters and engaging illustrations. Stories are captivating and of high-interest to students. 

• In Literature Unit 4, students read Garvey’s Choice by well-known author Nikki Grimes, a novel in verse of tanka poems. The characters are engaging and appeal to students. Students also read The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes, which is a Newbery Honor book and is illustrated by a Caldecott Medalist. 

• In Literature Unit 5, students read Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. This book has been selected by PBS as one of the top 100 children’s books and is a Newbery Honor Book. 

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 1, students read the text Ancient Rome and Pompeii: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #13 by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce, which is of high interest to and engaging for students in Grade 3. In addition, students read Eye Wonder: Ancient Rome (no author), which contains colorful photographs and rich academic vocabulary. 

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 2, students read Pilgrims: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #27 by Mary Pope Osborne. The text is high interest with accurate details; the material is presented in an engaging manner and contains accessible vocabulary for the grade level.

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 4, students read The People Shall Continue by acclaimed Native American writer Simon J. Ortiz.

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 5, students read What is Religion? By Bobbie Kalman and One World, Many Religions: The Ways We Worship by Mary Pope Osborne. Both authors are well-known and the texts are worthy of a careful read due to the content about world religions.

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1b. 

The materials contain an even distribution of literature and informational texts across Grade 3. Implementation of both the Literature and the Science and Social Studies Units must occur in order for there to be a 50/50 distribution. There is a variety of text types found throughout the year including mythology, fables, realistic fiction, novels, informational science, history, and social studies texts.

Materials reflect the distribution of text types/genres required by the grade-level standards. 

• Examples of literary texts include, but are not limited to:

  • In Literature Unit 1, students read two novels: My Name is María Isabel by Alma Flor Ada and Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel by Nikki Grimes.

  • In Literature Unit 2, students read multiple folktales including Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit by Julius Lester and Tales our Abuelitas Told, A Hispanic Folktale Collection by F. Isabel Compoy and Alma Flor Ada. 

  • In Literature Unit 3, students read Classic Starts: Roman Myths by Diane Namm, a collection of myths.

  • In Literature Unit 4, students read realistic fiction texts: The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes and Garvey’s Choice by Nikki Grimes

• Examples of informational texts include, but are not limited to:

  • In Science and Social Studies Unit 1, students read the books Ancient Rome and Pompeii: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #13 by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce and Eye Wonder: Ancient Rome by DK Children. Supporting materials in this unit include the articles “Roman Class Structure” (no author) and “The Fall of the Roman Empire” by Readworks.org. 

  • In Science and Social Studies Unit 2, students read several texts including Pilgrims: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #27 by Mary Pope Osborne and The Wampanoag (A True Book: American Indians) by Kevin Cunningham and Peter Benoit. Students also read five articles, including four from Scholastic. 

  • In Science and Social Studies Unit 4, students read the nonfiction texts The People Shall Continue by Simon J. Ortiz and Native Women of Courage by Kelly Fournel. Students also watch five videos on the Smithsonian website to support their learning of Indigenous people. 

  • In Science and Social Studies Unit 5, students read the informational text One World, Many Religions: The Ways We Worship by Mary Pope Osborne.

Materials reflect a 50/50 balance of informational and literary texts. For example:

• There are five Literature units. Over the course of the 144 instructional days for these units, there are nine literary core texts.

• There are five Science and Social Studies units. Over the course of the 135 instructional days for these units, there are 12 science and social studies texts.

• According to the Pacing Guide, the Science and Social Studies Units are taught in tandem with the Literature Units to ensure that students receive a balance of literary and informational texts throughout Grade 3.

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1c. 

The materials include texts that are at the appropriate level of complexity based on the quantitative levels, qualitative analysis, and associated task. Some texts are outside of the quantitative grade band; however, the qualitative features make them appropriate for Grade 3 students and/or their task and/or purpose make them complex for Grade 3. In each unit, there is a list of core texts, which contains the Lexile level. In addition, the publisher also provides a Text Selection Rationale for each unit. This rationale justifies placement in the grade as well as a detailed analysis of qualitative features. In addition, it provides information on why the text was selected.  

Anchor texts have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative and qualitative analysis and relationship to their associated student task. For example:

• In Literature Unit 2, students read the core texts Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit by Julius Lester (760L), Tales Our Abuelitas Told, A Hispanic Folktale Collection by F. Isabel Campoy (no Lexile) and Alma Flora Ada, and Her Stories, African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales by Virginia Hamilton (960L). According to the publisher, “the knowledge demands of all three texts, particularly the cultural demands of the texts, make the texts moderately complex.” Students use these texts to analyze and discover the ways in which messages are developed. 

• In Literature Unit 5, students read Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (650L).Though the Lexile level places this text within the Grades 2–3 stretch band, the publisher explains the placement at the end of Grade 3: “The qualitative measures, particularly the complex vocabulary and sentence structure, make the text appropriate for study. The author writes using a wide variety of powerful descriptive vocabulary, some of which is archaic or unfamiliar to students.” Throughout the unit students use the novel to consider what it means to be a good friend. 

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 2, students read Pilgrims: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #27 by Mary Pope Osborne. This text falls below the grade band; however, the publisher explains that “with a Lexile level of 550L the quantitative measures place the core text at the low end of the third grade band. The qualitative measures and task demands also support the placement of the core text as part of the unit.” This text is used to support readers as they engage with the paired text, The Wampanoag (A True Book: American Indians) by Kevin Cunningham and Peter Benoit (910L), which is above the grade level band. 

• In Social Studies and Science Unit 5, students read One World, Many Religions: The Ways We Worship by Mary Pope Osborne (no Lexile). The publisher explains that the text is moderately complex due to the text structure and knowledge demands. In this unit, students synthesize information across this text and another text to build an understanding of world religions. 

Anchor texts and series of texts connected to them are accompanied by an accurate text complexity analysis and a rationale for educational purpose and placement in the grade level. For example: 

• In Literature Unit 1, students read several texts including My Name is Maria Isabel by Alma Flor Ada (860L). The Text Selection Rationale identifies that the text is slightly about the grade-level band but explains that “the qualitative measures, matched with the task demands of the unit, however, support the placement of both core texts in the unit.” 

• In Literature Unit 3, students read the text Class Starts: Roman Myths by Diane Namm (no Lexile). However, the Text Selection Rationale explains, “the qualitative analysis, specifically the levels of meaning, text structure, and conventionality, suggest the text is appropriate for the third grade band level.” 

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 1, students read several texts including Ancient Rome and Pompeii: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #13 by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce. The Text Selection Rationale states, “With a Lexile level of 750L the core text falls within the third grade band level. The qualitative features of the text, particularly the text structure, illustrations, graphics, and page layout, support the placement of the text in this unit.” 

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 4, students read several texts including The People Shall Continue by Simon J. Ortiz (660L). The Text Selection Rationale states that the Lexiles range from 660L to 1190L but explain that this was done to “ensure accurate representation” and make sure all of the texts were written by Indigenous people. The text complexity analysis further explains that the “knowledge demands are what make each of the texts complex.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1d. 

The materials include units that build upon the next with increasing demands for knowledge and application as students master the content, and the texts increase in complexity. The complexity of anchor texts and supporting texts offer students the opportunity to grow their literacy skills across the year. Scaffolds are provided for more complex texts including key questions to support comprehension and graphic organizers. Toward the end of the year, students engage more independently with texts. In addition, in the Teacher Tools section, there is a general guidance document under Providing Access for Complex Texts, that provides guidance for how to recognize and address complexity in fiction and nonfiction texts as well as provide student support and scaffolds.  

The complexity of anchor texts students read provides an opportunity for students’ literacy skills to increase across the year, encompassing an entire year’s worth of growth. For example:

• In the beginning of the year, students read two texts with Lexiles of 620 and 860 in Unit 1 of Literature. In this unit, students learn that characters are nuanced and focus on the idea that character traits and feelings influence character’s actions. Students also read four texts, including one at a Lexile of 750 in Science and Social Studies Unit 1. In this unit, students analyze the similarities and differences between two texts. 

• In the middle of the year, students read two texts with Lexiles of 620 and 870 in Unit 4 of Literature and focus on point of view. They also read three texts with Lexiles of 770, 880 and 940 in Unit 3 of Science and Social Studies. In this unit, students focus on text features and are challenged to think critically about science topics. 

• At the end of the year, students read one text with a Lexile of 680 in Unit 5 of Literature. In this unit, students focus on analyzing themes, settings, characters, and language that are less familiar and relatable. In Science and Social Studies, they also read two texts, including one with a Lexile of 800, and focus on synthesizing information across two texts.  

As texts become more complex, appropriate scaffolds and/or materials are provided in the Teacher Edition (i.e., spending more time on texts, more questions, repeated readings). For example:

• The Teacher Tools digital platform provides general ways teachers can support students when accessing complex texts. The general supports are “temporary and adjustable, removed gradually” and “used to scaffold content, task, or materials.” The purpose for these general supports are for teachers to determine “what supports to provide students, either as a whole-class, small-group, or individually” as texts get more complex. 

• In Literature Unit 1, Lesson 12, students are provided with a graphic organizer to use to gather evidence from the text to show how the character, Maria Isabel, felt about going to a new school. The graphic organizer helps students answer the writing prompt and requires students to include her feelings and evidence from the text. 

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 1, Lesson 17, students write about what led to the decline of the Roman Empire. To support students, the lesson plan states that students can answer Key Questions orally, in the margins, or in writing and additional supports can be provided such as a cause and effect graphic organizer. 

• In Literature Unit 5, Lesson 18, after reading Chapter 15 of Charlotte’s Web students write about the significance of the chapter title, “The Crickets”. To help students with this task, the teacher is provided with ways to close read the section to help students understand that the chapter is foreshadowing what is to come. 

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 5, Lesson 14, students read pages 30-35 independently of the text One World, Many Religions: The Ways we Worship by Mary Pope Osborne (no Lexile) and fill out a Religion Note Taking Template to help comprehend the text.

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1e.

The materials contain a wide range and volume of daily reading throughout both the Literature and Science and Social Studies lessons. Students read the texts independently, in pairs, and in group settings. Students read books (both literary and informational), articles, and websites. Additionally, students participate in daily independent reading that can be structured in a number of ways outlined in the Teacher Tools section of the materials. The materials highlight teachers having the option to exercise flexibility within the framework to establish routines most suitable for their classroom. There is an emphasis on the independent reading time being an essential facet of the program, and there is a recommended list of independent reading books per unit that align with the topic/theme. Multiple reading logs are included and permit teacher flexibility for independent reading opportunities. In the Independent Reading Routines, there are general recommendations for monitoring the students’ comprehension of independent reading and establishing independent reading goals. Decisions about the implementation and monitoring of independent reading are made at the teacher’s discretion using the universal tools provided. 

Instructional materials clearly identify opportunities and support for students to engage in reading a variety of text types and genres. For example: 

• Students read a total of 21 Core Texts across Grade 3.

• In the Literature Units, students read novels, folktales, and myths.

• In the Science and Social Studies units, students read nonfiction books, articles, websites, and watch videos.

• The program also provides a recommended list of texts for students to independently read that align with each unit. For example, in Literature Unit 5, students read Charlotte’s Web and there are five recommended informational texts to build knowledge, 11 recommended literary texts about friendship, and two recommended books by the same author, E.B. White. 

Instructional materials clearly identify opportunities and support for students to engage in a volume of reading. For example: 

• Each daily lesson plan includes the section, Engaging with the Text, where students have direct interaction with the text including independent, partner, and group reading. Teacher guidance is provided each day for how to have students engage with the text. For example, in Science and Social Studies Unit 2, Lesson 19, students “read and engage with the text using a combination of independent reading and partner reading.”

• According to the Pacing Guide, students spend 60 minutes in the Literature Block each day, 60 minutes in the Science & Social Studies Block each day, and 45 minutes in the Independent Reading Block each day. In a typical Literature and Science and Social Studies block, the first five minutes is spent building knowledge and skills, the next 30 minutes is where students engage with the text, and the last 25 minutes is where students build deeper meaning of the text

There is sufficient teacher guidance to foster independence for all readers (e.g., independent reading procedures, proposed schedule, tracking system for independent reading). For example:

• In the Teacher Tools, there is a section called Independent Reading that provides a detailed plan for supporting students’ independent reading in the classroom including an Independent Reading Targeted Mini Lesson Planning template, an Independent Reading Weekly Planning template, and a Parent/Guardian letter template.

• In the Teacher Tools, there is a section on Independent Reading which recommends that teachers do the following before any lesson: “When internalizing a Fishtank lesson, decide if and when you may be able to include independent reading. (This will most often be noted in Enhanced Lesson Plans, but you may also decide to use one at additional moments depending on student needs.)

  • Solidify what sections of the text students should read independently. 

  • Solidify how you will check for understanding while students are reading independently.

  • Decide which students you want to check in with during independent work time.” 

• Materials call for students to have a minimum of 45 minutes of independent reading time daily as described in the Course Overview Pacing guide. 

• In the Independent Reading (3-5) Teacher Tools, there is a minimum number of independent reading benchmarks for each quarter of the school year. It also provides a chart of the portion of each ELA block reading time that should be independent reading. 

• There are three printable forms for tracking student independent reading: an Independent Reading Journal (Writing Prompts), Independent Reading Journal (Summary), and an Independent Reading Log. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1f. 

The materials include lessons with a variety of text-dependent questions.across the Literature and Science & Social Studies units. This includes both open-ended and multiple choice questions. There are numerous opportunities for students to respond to questions both orally and in writing and support their responses with textual evidence. Embedded within each unit is evidence of writing tasks that require students to interact with the text. Students answer both explicit and implicit questions and are required to offer explanations for their responses. In the Enhanced Lesson Plan, each question is accompanied by an exemplar answer to guide teachers. 

Text-specific and text-dependent questions and tasks support students in making meaning of the core understandings of the texts being studied. For example: 

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 1, Lesson 4, after reading Ancient Rome and Pompeii: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #13 by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce, students answer questions: “What evidence does the author give to support the point that ‘the Roman Empire would not have been possible without the army?’ In what ways did the Romans excel at ‘siege’ warfare? Describe some of the different war machines used by the Roman army. How did they fit with the Romans’ strategy of siege warfare?”

• In Literature Unit 3, Lesson 4, after reading "Prometheus and Io" from Classic Starts: Roman Myths by Diane Namm, students answer questions: “What description does the author include to describe the cow? Why was Io turned into a cow? What does this show about Jupiter? How did Jupiter and Io end up together?”

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 3, Lesson 6, after reading What is the Animal Kingdom? (The Science of Living Things) by Bobbie Kalman, students answer questions: “What are the key characteristics of vertebrates? Why are they important for survival? How does an amphibian change as it grows? Why?” 

• In Literature Unit 5, Lesson 14, after reading Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, students answer questions: “How does Templeton feel about helping at first? Why does he change his mind? How does Wilbur feel at the end of the chapter? What does Charlotte say to try and calm him? What does this show about friendship?”

Teacher materials provide support for planning and implementation of text-based questions and tasks. For example:

• In the Internalizing an ELA Lesson in Teacher Tools, questions are provided for the teacher to consider when lesson planning: “What do students need to know/understand to answer this question? What do students need to do to answer this question? What key moments do students need to understand in order to answer the question correctly?”

• Most lessons include a Target Task, which is a text-specific or text-dependent question that indicates to the teacher if the objective was mastered or not. For example, in Literature Unit 1, Lesson 3, after reading an excerpt from Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel by Nikki Grimes, students complete a Target Task writing prompt: “How has Dyamonde’s life changed? How does the change impact the way she feels?” The lesson plan includes a sample response to help the teacher evaluate student responses. 

• Enhanced lesson plans include language supports, quick review questions, and opportunities for enrichment. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • In Literature Unit 3, Lesson 14, Language Supports, the teacher is given sentence frames for students to use when close reading the text in partners: “(Character) influences (Character) because...”. This will support students in answering text-dependent questions in partners. 

  • In Science and Social Studies Unit 3, Lesson 21, Engaging with the Text, teachers are provided with Key Questions to help students build meaning: “Why have animals adapted to keep babies safe? Based on what you know about life cycles, why is this important?”

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1g. 

The materials include frequent opportunities and protocols for students to engage in evidence-based discussions. There is a whole section in the Teacher Tools page that describes the purpose and the processes of Academic Discourse in Match Fishtank. This section outlines the three types of Academic Discourse and provides several protocols for each. In addition, this section provides information on the three tiers of Academic Discourse to help further develop student thinking and speaking and listening skills. Some lessons specify exactly which protocols to use, while others identify the type of discussion (i.e., whole-group, small-group, or partner), and teachers use their judgement to decide on the best protocol. To facilitate this, there is a series of questions for the teacher to consider to help them identify which Tier to focus on and which protocol. 

Materials provide varied protocols to support students’ developing speaking and listening skills across the whole year’s scope of instructional materials. For example:

• In the Teacher Tools, there is a whole section on Academic Discourse that outlines discussion protocols for whole class discussions, small group discussions, and partner discussions.

• For Whole Class discussions, the materials outline the steps for the Take a Stand protocol which gives a question and students need to take a side and students work together to convince others to agree with them. In addition, there is a four-step procedure for a Fishbowl discussion, which allows for the whole class to hear the ideas of other classmates. 

• There are four protocols provided for small group discussion including Simultaneous Round Table, Rally Coach, Talking Chips, and Numbered Heads Together. Each of the protocols give the purpose and the steps. 

• Partner discussions contain five protocols, including four that are various types of think-pair-shares. 

• The Teacher Tools also provides an explanation of three tiers of discourse. In each tier there are discourse strategies, key teacher talk moves, and a variety of sentence frames to help with each discourse tier. For example, in Tier II, students engage with the thinking of others. A discourse strategy is paraphrasing what other students say. A key teacher talk move is to give students an opportunity to turn and talk. Sentence frames are provided to help students build on a classmate’s ideas and to question or clarify the ideas of others. 

• Lessons utilize a variety of discussion topics and formats. For example:

  • In Literature Unit 2, Lesson 16, students participate in a jigsaw “in which each pair of students works on one story, and then brings their ‘piece of the puzzle’ to the larger group to synthesize and analyze findings.” 

  • In Science and Social Studies Unit 3, Lesson 6, students work in partners to orally answer the Target Task questions. Teachers have the flexibility to choose which partner sharing protocol they wish to utilize. 

Speaking and listening instruction includes facilitation, monitoring, and instructional support for teachers. For example:

• In the Teacher Tools, the Academic Discourse section contains an Academic Discourse Rubric and a Discussion Recording Form for Grades 3-5. 

• In the Teacher Tools, the Academic Discourse section includes general information on how to facilitate students in speaking and listening skills. There are supports to help students, such as “have students use a graphic organizer to gather ideas”; supports during discussions, such as “provide sentence frames for students to use”; and ways to ensure students synthesize understanding during discussions, such as “model how to revise and refine thinking”. 

• In Literature Unit 1, Lesson 9, students read Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel by Nikki Grimes. To prepare for a whole class discussion, students use the text to complete a graphic organizer about Dyamonde’s identity and traits. Materials prompt teachers: “Lead students in a discussion of who Dyamonde is. Model for students how to use both of the discussion goals for the unit: Elaborate to support ideas. Provide evidence or examples to justify a point clearly. Use specific vocabulary. Use vocabulary that is specific to the subject and task to clarify and share thoughts.”

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 1, Lesson 8, students read Eye Wonder: Ancient Rome (no author). While reading, students answer the questions: “What role did enslaved people play in Ancient Rome? What jobs were they responsible for?” Once students collect evidence from their reading, they discuss the text as a class to answer the Target Question: “What was life like for enslaved people in the Roman Empire? Why?”

• In Literature Unit 5, Lesson 11, students read Charlotte’s Web and participate in a class discussion to determine understandings about Charlotte and Wilbur’s friendship. Teacher guidance provides directions to model how students can build on and change classmate’s ideas. 

• In Social Studies and Science Unit 5, Lesson 4, students participate in a discussion where they share the information they have learned about Judaism. Information is collected by the teacher during the discussion before the class collaborates on determining the main idea of the section, “The Story of Judaism.” Guiding questions are provided for the teacher: “What do all of the details have in common? What is the author trying to teach?” 

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1h. 

The materials include opportunities for evidence-based discussions in pairs, small groups, and whole class settings in the majority of lessons. Through discussions, students build knowledge, explain their thinking, and support their reasoning. The majority of discussions pertain to the unit texts or topics and ask students to provide evidence to support their ideas. Materials provide some guidance for teachers in the enhanced lesson plans to build student discussion skills. The Teacher Tools also provide guidance for developing and implementing student discussion protocols across the curriculum and include ways to monitor student discussions. Lessons provide sentence stems for students and recommendations for ways that teachers can model speaking and listening skills. 

Students have multiple opportunities over the school year to demonstrate what they are reading through varied speaking and listening opportunities. For example: 

• In Literature Unit 2, Lesson 16, students work in pairs and are given one of the folktales from the units. In their partnerships, students discuss the key events, important characters, and the lesson of the folktale. Then partners work with another group to discuss their folktale. The groups discuss similarities and differences between the folktales. 

• In Literature Unit 3, Lesson 6, in a whole-class setting, students recount the story orally and the teacher records responses on the board.

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 3, Lesson 14, students work with partners to draw pictures about either reptiles or amphibians. Then students meet with students who worked on the other animal and create two to three statements that explain how amphibian and reptile life cycles are unique and different. Sentence frames are provided: “While ______ has ______, _______ has _______.” 

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 5, Lesson 5, students work in pairs to sequence the events in the history of Judaism. The goal for the lesson is for students to practice orally explaining what happened and why. 

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

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 2, Lesson 17, students are given the discussion prompt, “Who were the first people to live in present day New England? How were their lives and communities impacted by the Europeans?” Prior to the discussion, students are given 5-10 minutes to gather evidence from the text that they can use to answer the question during the discussion.

• In Literature Unit 4, Lesson 8, students break into three groups to discuss the ways the characters play the hundred dresses game. Then students present their findings to the whole class.

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1i. 

The materials include opportunities in each unit for students to complete on-demand and process. Both types of writing tasks are connected to the unit topic and texts and assist students with building knowledge of the unit topic. Throughout each unit, students have almost daily opportunities to respond to the Target Task in writing, which provides students with opportunities in on-demand writing. In addition, each Literature and Science and Social Studies unit ends with a process writing task that requires multiple instructional days to complete. Process writing is the focus of most end of unit tasks, with a few focused lessons occurring across each unit. Occasionally on-demand writing tasks prompt students to revise or edit their work whereas the end of unit process tasks include time for revision and multiple drafts. Some tasks include opportunities for students to use information from digital sources such as videos or websites. Occasionally, materials prompt teachers to use the internet as enrichment but technology is not required for use in completing tasks or presentations. Most task sheets for student writing can be loaded into Google Classroom for students to engage in writing on a technical platform. This is optional and not required to utilize the materials.  

Materials include a mix of BOTH on-demand and process writing, including opportunities for students to revise and/or edit, that covers a year’s worth of instruction; however, the bulk of process writing occurs in the end-of-unit tasks. 

• Examples of on-demand writing include:

  • In Literature Unit 1, Lesson 9, the Target Task is an on-demand writing prompt: “Describe Dyamonde. In your answer, include details about Dyamonde’s identity and her traits.” 

  • In Science and Social Studies,Unit 1, Lesson 5, students read an excerpt from Eye Wonder: Ancient Rome and answer questions: “What additional information does this text provide about the Roman Army? How does the author use text structure and features to help a reader learn more about the Roman army?” 

  • In Literature Unit 3, Lesson 6, students complete an on-demand writing prompt: “How did Hercules’s actions contribute to the sequence of events?”

  • In Science and Social Studies Unit 3, Lesson 3, students complete a Target Task on-demand paragraph: “What characteristics do all mollusks share? What characteristics are varied? What characteristics do all arthropods share? What characteristics are varied?”

• Examples of process writing include:

  • In Literature Unit 2, Lesson 24, students complete a four-day process writing task to  write their own folktale. Students brainstorm on Day 1, draft on Day 2 and 3, and edit and revise on Day 4. 

  • In Science and Social Studies Unit 2, Lesson 24, students spend five days on an informational writing task where they create books to teach younger students about the real first story of the First Thanksgiving. During the first three days, students gather ideas and draft, and on Day 4, students begin editing. 

  • In Science and Social Studies, Unit 3, Lesson 9, students spend two days on the writing prompt: “A classmate makes the following statement during a class discussion, ‘All reptiles are exactly the same. All reptiles can survive in a variety of habitats.’ How would you respond? Support your answer with a specific example.” Students brainstorm and research to answer the prompt on Day 1. On Day 2, students receive instruction on topic sentences and details and draft their paragraphs. 

  • In Literature Unit 5, Lesson 27, students spend two days on an opinion task that describes which character helped Wilbur the most. On Day 1, students brainstorm details to support their opinion, and on Day 2, students revise.

Materials include some use of digital resources with writing tasks. Most of the resources are optional. Each Target Task writing prompt can be sent to Google Classroom, enabling students to type responses directly on the worksheet. This also allows students to publish final copies of process writing tasks digitally. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1j.

The materials include sufficient opportunities for writing the three text types required by the standards. The Literature and Science and Social Studies units address informational, opinion, and narrative writing. The majority of narrative and opinion writing take place in the Literature units. Informative writing is found in both Literature and Science and Social Studies units. Students regularly respond to a prompt after reading a text in both units and direct instruction is provided in Science and Social Studies for informational writing, typically in the form of a research project. Students receive explicit, sequenced instruction to assist in developing grade-level writing techniques in narrative, informational, and opinion styles of writing. 

Materials provide multiple opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply different genres/modes/types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards. 

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 1, Lesson 22, students create a brochure on Ancient Rome to show what they learned in the unit.

• In Literature Unit 2, Lesson 24, students write their own folktale making sure to include characteristics of a folktale. 

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 2, Lesson 5, students learn about compound sentences and “write three to four compound sentences that describe the major challenges of the voyage” after reading about the Mayflower. 

• In Literature Unit 3, Lesson 16, students read the story of “Otus and Ephialtes, Twin Giants” from the book, Classic Starts: Roman Myths. Then, they write a description to explain what happens after the gods got their revenge by retelling key details from the text using descriptive details. 

Different genres/modes/types of writing are distributed throughout the school year. 

• Students have opportunities to engage in opinion writing. Opinion writing happens in about 30% of all writing opportunities. For example:

  • In Literature Unit 4, Lesson 17, the Target Task requires students to state their opinion by answering the question, “Do Peggy, Maddie, and Wanda’s roles in the hundred dresses game evolve? Defend why or why not”. 

  • In Literature Unit 5, Lesson 27, students write an opinion paragraph: “Explain which character helped Wilbur the most using the best supporting details from the text.”

• Students have opportunities to engage in informative/explanatory writing. Informative writing happens in about 40% of all writing opportunities. For example:

  • In Literature Unit 3, Lesson 11, students answer the question, “How did Psyche's sisters influence her? What is a positive or negative influence?”

  • In Science and Social Studies Unit 3, Lesson 5, students complete a two-day writing project where they defend whether or not they think all arthropods are the same and if they can survive in a variety of habitats. Students use information from the texts to defend their answer. 

• Students have opportunities to engage in narrative writing. Narrative writing happens in about 30% of all writing opportunities. For example:: 

  • In Literature Unit 1, Lesson 20, students spend six days drafting and revising a narrative from the prompt, “Write a story about an experience that has shaped who you are”. 

  • In Literature Unit 3, Lesson 19, students write a story about what happened after Romulus welcomed everyone to his new city, Rome. 

Where appropriate, writing opportunities are connected to texts and/or text sets (either as prompts, models, anchors, or supports). Examples include:

• In Literature Unit 3, Lesson 2, the Target Task requires students to “Describe Jupiter” and answer the question, “What details does the author include to show what Jupiter is like?” This connects to the text Classic Starts: Roman Myths by Diane Namm. 

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 5, Lesson 4, students explain what the section “The Story of Judaism” is mostly about and what details the author includes to support the main idea.

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the criteria for Indicator 1k. 

The materials include evidence-based writing tasks in the majority of lessons in the Literature units and Science and Social Studies units. Writing prompts are specific to the texts and help students build knowledge on each unit topic. Writing assignments are designed for students to construct meaningful responses and to think critically about new knowledge and themes in the unit. Each lesson includes a Target Task question, which requires students to answer, in writing, based on the reading from that day. Some of these tasks require students to complete a close read of a particular piece of text and use detailed evidence to support their responses to writing prompts. The Teacher Tools provide a variety of instructional strategies for direct instruction and support for facilitating student practice needed to provide students with explicit, sequenced instruction to help them develop grade-level writing techniques, though none are specific to evidence-based writing. 

Materials provide frequent opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply writing using evidence. For example:

• In Literature Unit 1, Lesson 2, students answer the prompt, “What is Dyamonde like? How do you know?” Prior to answering the question, students participate in a discussion about Dyamonde’s identity. There are sentence frames to help students, such as “Dyamonde is _______ because _______.” 

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 2, Lesson 6, students close read an excerpt from Pilgrims: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #27. Students gather text evidence and use sentence stems in order to answer the question, “Why were the pilgrims not satisfied with Cape Cod? Why were they satisfied with Plymouth?” Prior to writing, students turn and talk to discuss the different reasons the Pilgrims weren’t satisfied with Cape Code. 

• In Literature Unit 4, Lesson 13, students read an excerpt of The Hundred Dresses and answer the question, “Maddie reaches an important conclusion after reflecting on what happened with Wanda. What conclusion does she reach?” Prior to answering the question, students find and underline details in the text about Maddie. Students are also given sentence frames to help with the writing prompt: “Maddie reached the right conclusion because.....”. 

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 5, Lesson 14, students answer the question, “Explain the five pillars of Islam. Why are they each an important part of the religion?” The lesson says to not provide any support with this writing prompt, and instead collect it and use the Written Response Rubric to determine if additional instruction needs to be provided in upcoming writing lessons. 

Writing opportunities are focused around students’ recall of information to develop opinions from reading closely and working with evidence from texts and sources. For example:

• In Literature Unit 1, Lesson 15, students read My Name is María Isabel and complete the Target Task writing prompt: “At the end of the chapter María Isabel says that ‘she knew that there really were good reasons to be thankful on this Thanksgiving.’ Why is María Isabel feeling thankful?” Prior to answering the question, students close read and answer five questions orally. 

• In Social Studies and Science Unit 1, Lesson 19, students compare and contrast the most important key details in both texts from the unit in writing. 

• In Social Studies and Science Unit 3, Lesson 21, students independently read the text and then “reread and take notes on the cause and effect relationships that show how the environment in which an animal lives influences an animal’s traits and behaviors.” Students discuss the following question: “How does the environment in which an animal lives influence an animal’s traits and behaviors? Why are different adaptations needed?”

• In Literature Unit 5,  Lesson 22, students read Charlotte’s Web and complete the writing prompt: “The fair has caused people to change. In what ways have Charlotte, Wilbur, Templeton, and Fern changed? Explain why.” Prior to answering this question, students write about how Charlotte is changing on page 146 and how Wilbur is changing on page 146. This writing is completed either independently or with a partner.

The materials reviewed for Grade 3 meet the expectations of Indicator 1l.

The materials include explicit instruction in all grammar standards. Materials include instruction during the Literature and Science and Social Studies units primarily using the core anchor text and example sentences. Students have multiple opportunities to practice crafting sentences using the newly learned grammar skill, as well as additional opportunities for continuous practice. Materials also include opportunities for students to demonstrate the application of skills in the context of student writing. 

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

• Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences.

  • In Literature Unit 4, Lesson 4, the teacher tells students they have been working to make their writing more interesting. The teacher tells them they will use an “appositive,” a second noun placed to a first noun to make their writing more interesting. 

  • In Literature Unit 2, Lesson 6, the teacher explains what a comparative adjective is: add -er to one-syllable words, or add “more”, or “less” to words with two or more syllables. 

• Form and use regular and irregular plural nouns.

  • In Science and Social Studies Unit 3, Lesson 8, in the engaging with the text section, it says that many of the examples use possessives, but if students are unfamiliar, the teacher should tell students how to make a singular noun or plural nouns not ending in possessives by adding an apostrophe s. 

• Use abstract nouns (e.g., childhood).

  • In Literature Unit 1, Lesson 20, students work to expand kernel sentences with the question words, who, what, and where. Students are then directed to circle the nouns they used to expand their sentences. The teacher then is directed to explain the difference between a concrete noun and an abstract noun. Students then continue expanding their sentences using either concrete or abstract nouns. 

• Form and use regular and irregular verbs.

  • In Literature Unit 2, Lesson 24, the teacher tells students to edit their writing for irregular verbs. The teacher can use guidance from the Supplemental Language Lesson: Irregular Verbs to review with students how some verbs have irregular past tenses. The teacher has the students correct the provided sentences as a class for the correct form of the irregular verb. 

• Form and use the simple (e.g., I walked; I walk; I will walk) verb tenses.

  • In Literature Unit 2, Lesson 24, the teacher Introduces students to the simple verb tenses of past, present, and future. The teacher explains their narrative will likely be in the present or past tense and demonstrates writing a paragraph in the past tense. If students need additional support for understanding verb tenses, the teacher can use the Supplemental Language Lesson: Verb Tenses.

• Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement.

  • In Literature Unit 1, Lesson 4, the teacher introduces students to fragments. The teacher asks students if the sentence tells the reader who or what does something? Or does it tell about the subject and what they did?

  • In Literature Unit 2, Lesson 4, the teacher tells students that today they are going to combine two or more sentences so that their writing is clear and interesting for their readers. The teacher models combining two sentences together and asks students to notice what the teacher did. The teacher explains why a pronoun is used in the second part of the sentence (because the subject is already known). If necessary, the teacher is advised to repeat using three declarative sentences. The teacher works with students to combine three sentences.

• Form and use comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified.

  • In Literature Unit 2, Lesson 6, students are introduced to comparative adjectives. Students learn when to add -er to words and more or less and the teacher displays sample sentences. Students then are directed to draft their own comparative sentences. Later in Lesson 17, students use both comparative and superlative adjectives to complete sentences. 

• Use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.

  • In Literature Unit 2, Lesson 4, the teacher explains that students have learned how to write a complete sentence and have learned to use the conjunctions because, but and so to make the sentence more interesting. The teacher models with an example using a conjunction. 

• Produce simple, compound, and complex sentences.

  • In Literature Unit 2, Lesson 8, the teacher tells students that today they are going to combine two or more sentences so that their writing is clear and interesting for their readers. The teacher models combining two sentences together and asks students to notice what the teacher did. If necessary, the teacher is advised to repeat using three declarative sentences. The teacher works with students to combine three sentences. 

  • In Literature Unit 5, Lesson 4, the teacher tells students when we combine simple sentences in the writing it helps to make the writing more interesting. The teacher uses appositives, pronouns, and conjunctions to combine these sentences. 

• Capitalize appropriate words in titles.

  • In Literature Unit 4, Lesson 32, the teacher states the rules for capitalization, “The first word of a sentence should always be capitalized. Names and other proper nouns should always be capitalized. Most words in titles should be capitalized. The pronoun “I” should be capitalized.” Students then practice editing a set of sentences. 

• Use commas in addresses.

  • In Literature Unit 4, Lesson 32, the teacher tells students that they are going to mail a letter to their principal and that a comma should go between the city and the state. 

• Use commas and quotation marks in dialogue.

  • In Literature Unit 3, Lesson 8, the teacher has students underline dialogue in the Mastery Response and asks what they notice. The teacher creates a list including how to punctuate dialogue. The teacher then says sentences out loud, and students write them as dialogue. 

• Form and use possessives.

  • In Science and Social Studies Unit 3, Lesson 12, in the Language Supports section, it says if students are struggling to use the possessive, the teacher should circle the possessive and review how possessives show ownership. The teacher then describes to students singular and plural nouns. 

• Use conventional spelling for high-frequency and other studied words and for adding suffixes to base words (e.g., sitting, smiled, cries, happiness). 

  • In Literature Unit 3, Lesson 22, students are provided with a list of common high frequency words and edit their writing for correct spelling. 

• Use spelling patterns and generalizations (e.g., word families, position-based spellings, syllable patterns, ending rules, meaningful word parts) in writing words.

  • In Science and Social Studies Unit 3, Lesson 1, the teacher is prompted that if the lesson has syllabication patterns that are difficult for the students, the teacher should use the syllabication routine. The teacher circles the word parts at the beginning and end. The teacher then underlines the letters representing the vowel sounds, says each part, then says the parts fast, and then reads it as a whole word.

  • In Literature Unit 2, Lesson 24, the teacher explains that students will use syllable patterns to help them decide how to spell new words. The teacher explains that understanding and using syllable patterns help them spell longer words more accurately as they write.

• Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.

  • In Literature Unit 2, Lesson 24, the teacher explains that “sometimes words are even trickier than we think, and we still can’t get it right. Another resource writers use is a dictionary.” The teacher then shows students where the student dictionaries are in the room and/or directs them to dictionary.com to use as an online tool. 

• Choose words and phrases for effect.

  • In Literature Unit 3, Lesson 16, students review their writing to add more powerful words. The teacher models uses sentences from the text and students notice the vocabulary in each sentence and then move to adjectives. Students draft sentences with precise word choice using vocabulary from the text, the class word wall, and the Using Precise Adjectives handout. 

• Recognize and observe differences between the conventions of spoken and written standard English.

  • In Literature Unit 1, Lesson 4, the teacher explains to students that they are going to spend time learning about sentences. The teacher explains that when people speak, they may not use complete sentences. The teacher further explains that students are going to learn a variety of strategies to ensure they write correctly. 

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

• In Science and Social Studies Unit 3, Lesson 8, students practice writing dialogue in pairs. The teacher is prompted to say something out loud and students add the quotation marks, the dialogue tag, and who said it. 

• In Literature Unit 4, Lesson 32, the teacher explains to students that before they share their writing, they need to edit their writing. The capitalization rules are reviewed. Students are then to edit their writing with a partner for correct capitalization. If there is time, students are encouraged to edit for spelling, complete sentences, regular and irregular verbs, commas, and quotation marks in dialogue, and possessives.