6th Grade - Gateway 3

The materials for Grade 6 are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing. Each unit is organized into the following sections: unit introduction, whole-class learning, small-group learning, independent learning, performance-based assessment, and unit reflection. Teachers and students are also directed to additional materials such as digital resources including media selections, modeling videos, and audio recordings.

The curriculum is composed of five, seven week units. Each unit follows the same sequence of instruction focused on the unit essential question. A sample of how lessons and units are organized and what components are included with each unit is listed below:

Unit Introduction – 2 days
Whole-Class Learning – 13 days followed by 3 days for performance task
Small-Group Learning – 12 days followed by 2 days for performance task
Independent Learning – 2 days followed by 2 days for performance based assessment

Each section begins with an overview followed by the lesson plan for the text. Each lesson plan includes:
Summary of text
Insight into the text itself
Connection to the essential question
Connection to the performance task
Lesson Resources including:
Instructional Standards for the lessonStudent and Teacher Resources are found online in Interactive Teacher’s Edition

Also included:
Reteach/Practice resources
Assessment component
Text Complexity Rubric
· Support for ELLs, struggling learners, and gifted
· Teaching and Learning Cycle: Decide and Plan → Teach → Analyze and Revise Identify Needs → Decide and Plan

For Grade 6, the teacher and student can reasonably complete the content within a regular school year, and the pacing allows for maximum student understanding. The pacing is such that students can master the content by the end of the course. The pacing guide appears in the TE on the first page of each unit, on the Whole-Class Learning overview page, on the Small-Group Learning overview page, and on the Independent Learning overview page of each unit.

The total number of lessons available for Grade 6 is 180. Each unit provides 7 weeks of instruction. With 5 units, the curriculum could be covered in a 36 week academic year. Teachers may choose to deliver whole-class learning, assign students to groups for small-group learning, or assign the independent learning lessons to individual students.

Support for block scheduling of the course content for individual lessons in each unit is available. For example, each day in the pacing plan represents a 40-50 minute class period. Teachers are advised to combine days to reflect their class schedule and they are given guidance on revising the pacing for differentiation (integrating lesson components and resources as necessary for students).

The student resources for Grade 6 include ample review and practice resources, clear directions, and explanation, and correct labeling of reference aids. Materials include but are not limited to: evidence log; word network; learning strategies for whole-class, small-group and independent learning; genre specific first and close read guides; text dependent questions; App for scanning multi-media; model text for writing; support charts; concept vocabulary; essay rubrics; organization chart for small group work; choice in many assignments; selection audio; presentation rubrics; and sentence stems.

Student directions are clearly written and units and assignments follow the same predictable sequence making it easy for students to complete activities. By beginning the Unit with a launch text written in the type of writing students will be practicing throughout the unit, and by having students address the essential question in response to the launch text, throughout the unit, and again in the culminating performance assessment, students continue to interact with the theme through reading, writing, and speaking.

The First-Read Guide is divided into quadrants titled: Notice, Annotate, Connect, and Respond.

• Notice new information or ideas you learn about the topic as you first read this text.
• Annotate by marking vocabulary and key passages you want to revisit.
• Connect ideas within the selection to other knowledge and the selections you have read.
• Respond by writing a brief summary of the selection.

The Close-Read Guide is divided into three sections:

• Close read the text – Revisit sections of the text you marked during your first read. Read these sections closely and annotate what you notice. Ask yourself questions about the text. What can you conclude? Write down your ideas.
• Analyze the text – Think about the author’s choices of patterns, structure, techniques, and ideas included in the text. Select one and record your thoughts about what this choice conveys.
• Quick Write – Pick a paragraph from the text that grabbed your interest. Explain the power of this passage.

Ample review and practice resources are available:

• Evaluating Your Draft checklist:
  • Purpose and Organization
    • Provides an introduction that establishes a clear context and introduces the characters.
    • Presents a clear chronological sequence of events that are linked by a variety of transitions.
    • Provides a conclusion that follows from the events and experiences in the narrative.
  • Evidence and Elaboration
    • Effectively uses narrative techniques such as dialogue, pacing , and description.
    • Uses descriptive details, sensory language, and precise words and phrases.
    • Establishes the writer’s voice through word choice, sentence structure, and tone.
  • Conventions
    • Attends to the norms and conventions of the discipline.

Directions and explanations are clear and reference materials are correctly labeled:

• Peer Review
  • Exchange papers with a classmate. Use the checklist to evaluate your classmate’s nonfiction narrative and provide supportive feedback

Materials for Grade 6 include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items. Alignment to the standards is found repeatedly throughout the series.

On pages T48-T59 of the TE, there is the Standards Correlation noting, by standard, the name of the text or assignment and page number on which it appears. In Lesson Resources prior to each text in the TE, the standards appear in the chart broken down by Reading, Language, Writing, and Speaking and Listening.

In the SE, Standards are found on pp. xx-xxix and noted in the margins throughout each text selection, with the activities and questions following the text, with the performance tasks, and with the culminating Performance-Based Assessment.

There is alignment between questions, tasks and assessment items. Examples like the one below, can be found throughout the textbook:

• Question
  • What was the author’s dream at age 12?
• Task
  • Using this chart, cite three of the author’s influences and explain how each influence affected the central idea of the text. Share your responses with your group.
• Assessment Item
  • You have read about imaginary characters and settings. Work with your group to develop, plan, and perform a fictional narrative for your class in which you address this question: What might Alice and the Jabberwock discuss if they had met and had a conversation?

My Perspectives: English Language Arts - Grade 6 includes a teacher’s edition with ample and useful annotation suggestions on how to present the content in the student edition and in the ancillary materials. Where applicable, materials include teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning.

The series includes an overview for each of the five units that include a pacing plan with suggested days for unit introduction, whole-class learning, small-group learning, and independent learning. After each type of learning there are performance tasks that lead to the performance-based assessment at the end of each unit. To further assist teachers, there is a connection to standards, other lessons, trade books, skills, and vocabulary. The units include notes for cross-curricular perspectives and differentiation of instruction.

Throughout the unit, teacher guidance is provided in the margins on every page. For example, during Close Read the narrative guides teachers through this process by reminding students of what to look for, Annotate gives modeling language,Question models questioning and has the teacher talk through what they are wondering following the narrative, and finally, Conclude where the teacher makes a conclusion based on the modeled think aloud.

Pearson Realize has online resources supplementing the TE and SE. Digital Perspectives in the TE shows what digital resources are available for each lesson. For example, audio, video, document, annotation highlights, EL highlights, and online assessments. Students have an online Evidence Log that is used to record evidence from all selections in a unit to aid in writing the culminating task of the Performance Based Assessment.

The teacher's edition materials for My Perspectives: English Language Arts - Grade 6 contains full, adult-level explanations and examples of the more advanced literacy concepts so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject, as necessary.

Each unit in this series includes labels (Introduction with Unit Goals, Overview, Planning, and Teaching) that give teachers an explanation of how to teach the texts and skills. The Personalize for Learning offers English Language Support, as well as Challenges for advanced students. This and other resources are available at http://eladashboard.com/myperspectives - the online support for the Teacher Edition.

Throughout the unit, teacher guidance is provided in the margins on every page. Pages are also color coded, Whole Group Learning is green and says Teaching at the top of the page, Performance Tasks are color coded in orange, Small Group Learning is blue with Facilitating at the top of the page, and Independent Learning is dark blue with Advising at the top of the page. The teacher should be very clear what his/her role will be at every point in the unit.

Author’s Perspective notes are integrated throughout each unit and assist teachers by offering an expert opinion on topics such as the Importance of Background Knowledge, Why Goal Setting Matters, Using Sentence Starters, Strategic Use of Media,etc. My Perspectives has a team of four experts in the educational field who are known for their best practices.

The teacher's edition for My Perspectives: English Language Arts - Grade 6 clearly explains the role of the specific ELA/literacy standards in the context of the overall curriculum.

Teachers are provided with a Pacing Plan for each unit that includes the Unit Introduction, Whole Group Learning, Small Group Learning, and Independent Learning. Within each section, there is a recommended number of days allocated for each reading selection and activities, including Performance Tasks. This gives a great overview of the unit and what to expect for ease of planning.

The teacher’s edition shows the connections between the standards and myPerspectives: ELA series. The Personalize for Learning notes include opportunities for teachers to address standards with additional resources in the online resource http://eladashboard.com/myperspectives.

My Perspectives: English Language Arts has an online explanation for the correlation between standards and the texs at http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PS2rBh&PMDbSiteId=2781&PMDbSolutionId=6724&PMDbSubSolutionId=&PMDbCategoryId=3289&PMDbSubCategoryId=28138&PMDbSubjectAreaId=&PMDbProgramId=144499&elementType=correlations

The instructional materials for Grade 6 meet the expectations of indicator 3i. The materials contain explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research-based strategies. The program outline includes foundational background:

“The program is backward designed from standards-based learning outcomes. All activities, instruction, and assessments contribute to students demonstrating their learning in response to an achievable performance-based assessment. Students integrate the knowledge they acquired, apply critical thinking skills, cite evidence, and use effective expression to respond to a complex multi-step writing and/or speaking and listening task.”

Teachers are provided with a Pacing Plan for each unit that includes the Unit Introduction, Whole Group Learning, Small Group Learning, and Independent Learning. Within each section, there is a recommended number of days allocated for each reading selection and activities, including Performance Tasks. This gives a great overview of the unit and what to expect for ease of planning.

Pages are also color coded, Whole Group Learning is green and says teaching at the top of the page, Performance Tasks are color coded in orange, Small Group Learning is blue with Facilitating at the top of the page, and Independent Learning is dark blue with Advising at the top of the page. The teacher should be very clear what his/her role will be at every point in the unit.

There is also a Planning section before each text selection showing the Lesson Resources, both student and teacher resources organized by Making Meaning, Language Development, and Effective Expression. Next, is a Personalize For Learning: Reading Support that gives the Text Complexity rubric for that reading selection and a Decide and Plan section which gives teachers additional information for English Language Support, Strategic Support, and Challenge support as well as a Read and Respond teaching scaffold. Decide and Plan also includes CCSS Instructional Standards for the selection with a Catching up suggestion and a looking forward selection for the various standards covered in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language.

Materials for Grade 6 regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress. The series provides for year-long assessments in the form of a Beginning-of-Year Test on all standards taught in the academic year for planning standard focus, a Mid-Year Test for mastery of standards taught the first half of year, providing opportunities to remediate, and End-of-Year Test to determine mastery of standards, future class placement, and to capture final assessment data.

Examples of what Unit-level Assessments include are shown below:

• Selection activities formatively used to assess students’ grasp of critical concepts such as analyzing text, analyzing craft and structure, concept vocabulary, word study, and author’s style. (Notes in the TE offer suggestions for re-teaching, if needed.)
• Selection tests tracking student progress toward mastering standards taught with the selection
• Performance tasks including both a writing and a speaking and listening performance task preparing students for success on the end-of-unit Performance-Based Assessment
• Unit tests requiring students to apply standards taught in the unit with new text, providing an opportunity for teachers to remediate
• Performance-Based Assessments where students use their notes, knowledge, and skills learned to complete a project on their own.

The materials meet the expectations of indicator 3l.i. Included assessments for Grade 6 clearly denote which standards are being emphasized. On pages T48-T59 of the TE, there is the Standards Correlation noting, by standard, the name of the text or assignment and page number on which it appears. In Lesson Resources prior to each text in the TE, the standards appear in the chart by activity and assessment, broken down by Reading, Language, Writing, and Speaking and Listening.

In the SE, Standards are noted in the margin next to each text, activity, assessment and performance task. Standards identified align with the appropriate tasks and questions students complete.

Assessments for Grade 6 provide sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow-up.

When assessing taught standards, Mid-Year Tests and Unit Tests can be administered online and remediation is assigned automatically. If not administered online, an interpretation guide can be used to assign remediation resources.

The writing portion of each Performance-Based Assessment includes a genre specific rubric in both the TE and SE. The second part of the Performance-Based Assessment, speaking and listening, includes a rubric specific to the type of presentation. The wording in these rubrics is taken directly from the standards.

For example, the rubric for the Nonfiction Narrative that is part of the Performance-Based Assessment at the end of Unit 1, includes the following indicators for a student to receive the highest score relating to Standard W.6.3 - Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequence:

o The introduction is engaging and introduces the characters and situation in a way that appeals to readers.
o Events in the narrative progress in logical order and are linked by clear transitions.
o The conclusion effectively follows from the narrated experiences or events.
o The narrative effectively includes techniques such as dialogue and descriptions to add interest and to develop the characters and events.
o The narrative effectively includes precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to convey experiences and events.
o The narrative effectively establishes voice through word choice, sentence structure, and tone.

Formative assessment tips and suggestions are included with each activity. A section entitled, Personalize for Learning, located in the bottom margin of the TE throughout each unit, provides support for ELLs, Strategic Support, and Challenge.

Materials for Grade 6 include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress.

Prior to the introductory launch text, students complete a self-assessment, rating themselves on how they meet the unit goals.

The first activity students complete at the end of each text during Whole-Group and Small-Group Learning is a Comprehension Check, in which students respond to several open-ended questions following the first read of the text and write a summary of the text. During Small-Group Learning, students respond individually, then review and clarify details with group members.

Formative assessment tips and suggestions are included in the TE in the margins with each of the activities student are to complete following a text. For example, in Unit 2, pg. 122, students are to respond to questions analyzing the text and citing text evidence. If students fail to cite evidence, teachers are instructed to remind them to support their ideas with specific information. If students struggle to identify why “Hachiko symbolizes loyalty”, teachers are to discuss the term “symbolize” and illustrate with examples.

In the lesson plan for each text, teachers are provided the list of resources to go with that text found in the Interactive TE or Unit Resources. The list includes Reteach/Practice documents and Assessment for the text if available.

Materials for Grade 6 provide teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of a range of learners, so the content is accessible to all learners and supports them in meeting or exceeding the grade-level standards.

Each unit begins with a Launch Text that is a lower Lexile, so that students can read independently and complete the assigned homework. There is also an audio summary for students to build additional background for students before reading.

There is a Personalize For Learning: Reading Support section that gives the Text Complexity rubric for that reading selection and a Decide and Plan section which gives teachers additional information for:

• English Language Support with suggestions for Knowledge Demands and Language
• Strategic Support with suggestions for Knowledge Demands and Language/Clarity
• Challenge support with suggestions for Text Analysis and Written Response

As part of supporting the standards throughout the unit’s teaching and learning cycle, under Decide and Plan is the standard being taught.

• Next to the standard under Catching Up, selection scaffolds are provided before the lesson is assigned in the SE to scaffold learning for students who are below grade level or students who need English Language support.
• The Looking Forward section provides activities to practice mastered skills in depth

There are also notes in the TE under the heading Personalize For Learning to provide extra support. There is a Vocabulary Development section that focuses on multiple meaning words and gives examples for several meanings of selected word.

Under Lesson Resources in the TE there are Reteach/Practice materials available online for students who may need extra teaching and practice with author’s craft, word study, conventions and writing/discussion. Each selection has the option to listen to the audio online as well as the Word Network graphic organizer and the Evidence Log.

Author’s Perspective gives teachers pertinent information to assist with providing differentiated instruction.

Materials for Grade 6 regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level, or in a language other than English, with extensive opportunities to work with grade level text and meet or exceed grade-level standards.

All students have extensive opportunities to read, write, speak, and listen to grade level text and meet or exceed grade level standards. The students read the same grade level texts throughout each unit, with the teacher modeling and scaffolding instruction during whole group learning and facilitating during small group learning. The students do have a choice of 4-6 selections during Independent Learning. These selections vary in genre and Lexile but are all tied to the unit’s Essential Question and have a similar lesson plan and expectations.

There are supports built into the series to help make students who are not at grade level and students who speak a language other than English successful with the grade level text and grade level standards. For example, when introducing a unit, there is an introduction video and a Launch Text that is always a model of the type of writing students will be expected to write at the end of the unit. Audio Summaries are also available in both English and Spanish to help build background knowledge before reading.

Materials for Grade 6 regularly include extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade level.

All students have extensive opportunities to read, write, speak, and listen to grade level text and meet or exceed grade level standards. The students read the same grade level texts throughout each unit, with the teacher modeling and scaffolding instruction during whole group learning and facilitating during small group learning.

Under Personalize For Learning: Reading Support the Decide and Plan section gives teachers additional information for Challenge support with suggestions for Text Analysis and Written Response.

Under Standards Support Through Teaching and Learning Cycle, the Looking Forward section provides activities to practice mastered skills in depth for those students exceeding grade level standards. Within the Teacher’s Edition (TE), there is a chart that has the CCSS grade level standard listed that includes a column called “Looking Forward.” This gives advanced opportunities for students who have mastered the standard to go deeper into the standard.

• In Reading CCSS RI.6 students determine an author’s point of view or purpose and explain how it is conveyed in a text. To go deeper, those students are asked to “find three details from the text that help them identify the point of view and three details that help them identify the author’s purpose.” (TE grade 6 p. 100D)

The Teacher’s Edition has tips for the teacher throughout the unit under the heading of Personalize For Learning and one category is Challenge. Here are suggestions to extend the learning for students who are exceeding grade level standards.

• In this example students are asked to create a brief video where they are a news crew interviewing Dr. Goodall and will write scripts for their interviews (TE grade 6 p. 106). The format is similar for each unit and each grade level.

Materials for Grade 6 provide opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies. Lessons provide whole class, small group, and independent learning opportunities throughout the school year. Some examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

Unit 1

Whole-Class Learning: After reading an excerpt from Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming, students are asked to think about the authors claim, “Maybe the truth is somewhere in between/all that I’m told/and memory.” They are asked, “At what point does the use of imagination become lying?” Students are asked to take a position and participate in a debate with classmates.

Take a stand: Form two groups. One group will take the position that Woodson is lying, and the other group will take the position that she is just using her imagination

Small-Group Learning Performance Task: What childhood challenge from either your own experience or observation is addressed or illustrated in a selection you have read?

Independent Learning: After choosing a text from the selections offered as independent readings for this unit, students are asked to share what they have learned with classmates (pairing or small groups). The task is as follows: “Reflect on the text you explored independently and write notes about its connection to the unit. In your notes, consider why this text belongs in the this unit.” Under “Learn From Your Classmates,” students are asked to “Share your ideas about the text you explored on your own. As you talk with others in your class, jot down a few ideas that you learned from them.”

Unit 4

Whole-Class Learning: After reading “The Phantom Tollbooth,” students are asked to compare the text with its animated movie adaptation by analyzing the two. They are asked to have a “discussion with a partner” in which they “analyze the ways in which the experience of reading the play was similar to and different from the experience of watching the video.”

Small-Group Learning: After reading “Jabberwocky” from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass, students are asked to work within their groups to choose one stanza from the reading. Then, using their knowledge of English grammar and syntax, work together to define every invented word in the stanza.

Personalize for Learning: English Language Development. Students are asked to work in pairs to look for a passage in the selection where the author tells about her mother’s impact on her vocation.