6th Grade - Gateway 2

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

Every unit revolves around a specific theme and topic and uses many texts to support the guiding ideas. Throughout all units, students read a variety of genres and texts that relate to the unit goals and overall topic of the unit. Additionally, students display their knowledge in the completion of end of unit tasks that always include writing and/or a multimedia project.  

• In Unit 6A, “Dahl and Narrative,” students read excerpts from Boy: Tales of A Childhood by Roald Dahl as well as several other extra narrative pieces to achieve the unit goal and culminating tasks. The unit overview explains that “students begin with narrative writing to quickly boost their writing production….then, students apply their new observational focus to some lively readings from Roald Dahl’s memoir, Boy: Tales of Childhood, and learn how to work closely with textual evidence.” The culminating task for this unit asks students to write an essay that focuses on “Whom does Dahl describe as causing more trouble: the boys or the adults?” Students have to use concrete details from one moment in the story to support their point. 
• In Unit 6B, “Mysteries & Investigations,” Topic & Theme: Reading like an investigator. In this unit, students read stories of mystery and suspense that challenge them to think and respond like investigators. Throughout the unit, students step into the role of investigator, read closely to notice the strategies that different characters employ, create their own theories based on available information, and even predict what the characters may do next. 
• In Unit 6C, “The Chocolate Collection,” students read a variety of pieces to explore the topic of chocolate and to achieve the unit goal and culminating task. The unit goal is explained as “ students explore primary documents and conduct independent research to better understand the….roles that chocolate has played in cultures around the world.” In addition, students learn about the reliability of sources and conducting research by constructing an evidence-based argument. carefully analyzing source documents, and building their arguments on solid, relevant evidence. As students reach the end of the unit, they take on the culminating task which asks them to write either an argumentative or informative essay as well as complete an interactive timeline. 
• In Unit 6D, “The Greeks,” Topic & Theme: Man vs. gods in ancient Greece. In this unit students are engaged in the complex world of the Olympian gods and familiarizing themselves with the primary characters of Greek mythology. This unit provides students an overview of how storytellers have used literature for centuries to grapple with some of life’s great questions, and it underscores the importance of text as a way for readers to learn about themselves and their communities. 
• In Unit 6E, “Summer of the Mariposas,” students read a novel The Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall as well as excerpts from Homer’s The Odyssey and Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario to “consider how characters change and develop, compare McCall’s retelling to episodes from Homer’s The Odyssey, contrast the sister’s fictional journey to the non-fiction account of a migrant boy’s journey, and research Aztec mythology to create their own Lotería cards”. The culminating task for this unit asks students to write an essay explaining what allows the hero of Summer of the Mariposas to be successful in specific moments.
• In Unit 6F, “The Titanic Collection and experiences of the Titanic passengers.” In this unit students examine the historical aspects of the Titanic, through the stories of the survivors.

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 Grade 6 units provide students with frequent opportunities to practice identifying and studying specific elements of texts, from analyzing words to looking at the structures of paragraphs and the larger text itself. Each unit focuses on how the writer has crafted his/her narrative and students are examining the text for examples. Each lesson includes a list of vocabulary words to use. Questions and tasks help students build comprehension and knowledge of topics and themes, and they build on each other in a coherent sequence so that by the end of the year, items are embedded in students’ work rather than taught directly.  There is an ample amount of written work throughout lessons that allows teachers to gage students’ understanding of each concept. Questions and tasks help students build comprehension and knowledge of topics and themes. 

Throughout the materials, students independently, and as a whole group, complete questions and tasks that require analysis of individual texts. Students complete multiple reads of texts with scaffolds such as read aloud, partner reading, and independent reading. The instructions have students answer questions and/or complete tasks that move from a literal understanding of the text to deep analysis within the texts or multiple texts. This scaffolded progression can be seen across the units, the sections, the lessons, and the assessments.

Examples of materials that contain sets of coherently sequenced questions include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 6A, “Dahl and Narrative,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 11, Activity 3, students discuss the Meaning of The “Tuck-Box”, students use words and phrases from the passage to develop an understanding of the definition and connotative meaning of “tuck-box” in the text.
• In Unit 6B, “Mysteries and Investigations,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 1, Activity 3, students look at an image of Philadelphia in 1793 and answer five questions. The directions and questions are: "1. Look at the image of the city of Philadelphia from the 1790s. In five words or less, describe what you see. 2. Does the sense of community (how people interact with each other) seem strong or weak? Describe a detail from the image that supports your answer. 3. Look at how cared for the buildings and streets look. Does the sense of civic responsibility seem strong or weak? Describe a detail from the image that supports your answer. 4. Does the economic life (whether people seem to have what they need) seem strong or weak? Describe a detail from the image that supports your answer. 5. What do you infer life would be like in Philadelphia in the 1790s? Describe one detail that you observed in the engraving to support your answer."
• In Unit 6D, “The Greeks,” Sub-unit 5, Lesson 1, students complete a reading assessment for the unit. The assessment is divided into three different tasks. The first task asks students to “complete 20 selected response questions to show their proficiency with the skills practiced in this unit.'' For one part of this section students are asked to read an excerpt from "Prometheus" in Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin. An example of one of the questions that students are asked after reading the passage is: 
• Part 1: How would Zeus describe man’s life without knowledge of fire?
• Part 2: Which quote from the story BEST supports the correct answer to Part 1?
• The second section of the assessment asks students to answer the following with the same excerpt: “In a well-constructed paragraph, describe Zeus’s attitude toward man. Use at least two details from the text to support your answer.”
• For the final section students are also asked to read an excerpt from The Odyssey. Then they are asked: “Does the excerpt from The Odyssey better support Prometheus’s or Zeus’s beliefs about humans? Write a well-constructed paragraph using evidence from both texts.”

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

High-quality text-dependent questions and tasks are embedded throughout the sub-units to provide opportunities for students to understand and analyze the texts in order to respond to tasks requiring students to develop, evaluate, and support their claims. The text-dependent questions and tasks are coherently sequenced and structured within each unit and across units to support students’ literacy skills. By the end of the year, the summative essays and tasks integrate knowledge and ideas from throughout the unit.

Examples of this include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 6A, “Dahl and Narrative,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 6, Activity 3, students read three different excerpts from Boy: Tales of A Childhood by Roald Dahl. While reading each excerpt, students answer the question, "What details do you notice that help you understand Dahl's emotion in each scene?" After students answer that question for each excerpt they work with a partner and “highlight any details that show you Dahl's emotion(s) in this moment.” Then, they choose an emotion Dahl feels from the provided list and write one sentence that names Dahl’s emotion and explain how you know he feels this way.
• In Unit 6B, “Mysteries and Investigations,” students read three major texts: The Secret of the Yellow Death: A True Story of Medical Sleuthing by Suzanne Jurmain and “The Speckled Band” and “The Red-Headed League” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. As they read the Sherlock Holmes stories, questions and tasks provide opportunities for students to read closely, noticing the strategies that Holmes uses to solve cases. For example, in Lesson 3, students answer questions about “The Speckled Band” individually and then participate in a whole-group discussion. Questions include “What does Holmes inspect most closely during his visit to Stoke Moran?”and “What does Holmes say or do that shows when he thinks a detail is suspicious?” An example of a task is, “Think about which objects or pieces of furniture in the rooms seem suspicious or unusual. What makes you think that these items are suspicious or unusual? Cite at least one piece of textual evidence that supports your inference.” At the end of the unit, students write an essay that requires analysis across the three major texts. The essay prompt requires students to identify and describe an important characteristic of an investigator, using examples from the texts. 
• In Unit 6C, “The Chocolate Collection,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 3, Activity 3, students read the poem “Chocolate” by Rita Dove and then watch a video of her reciting the poem. After looking at both texts, students answer the questions: “How does Rita Dove use her voice and facial expressions to communicate her ideas or feelings about Chocolate? When we do our own reading, we can linger over or go back to reread a particular line or detail. How does that ability to look closely at a particular line or detail affect your understanding of what the poem is communicating about chocolate?”
• In Unit 6D, “The Greeks,” students read several Greek myths in order to explore how one individual’s story can make us think more broadly about human nature and the roles people play in their communities. After reading the myth “Prometheus," students individually consider questions, then participate in a class discussion. Examples of questions include “Why did Zeus create humans?” and “According to Zeus, what will humans think about themselves if they get fire?” Examples of tasks include, “Think like Prometheus: In your own words, list two reasons that fire might make humans more interesting” and “Think like Zeus: In your own words, list two reasons that fire might make humans more dangerous.” At the end of the unit, students write an essay analyzing the integration of knowledge and ideas across texts. The essay prompt requires students to address the questions “Are humans destroyed by their pride? Why or why not?” Students are asked to support their claim with textual evidence from at least two of the myths they studied.
• In Unit 6E, “Summer of the Mariposas,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 12, students respond to a writing prompt after reading Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall, "Do the sisters become more united during their journey or not? Use details from earlier and later in the story to support your claim."
• In Unit 6F, “The Titanic Collection,” Sub-unit 2, Lesson 3: Internet Research, students respond to the question, citing text evidence to support their responses. “Write 1–2 paragraphs providing key information you discovered about your topic. Make sure to include two framed quotes from at least two sources.”
•  In Sub-Unit 3: Passport and Collection Research, Lesson 2, students respond to the question citing text evidence to support their response: “In character, write a letter to a friend or family member at home. Date the letter April 14, 1912. Describe your experiences aboard the Titanic. Use the information you’ve noted in your Passenger Profile to help craft your response. Your letter should include at least one fact from each of the documents.”

The 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).

The materials include culminating tasks that are multifaceted, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of different grade level standards, including writing and presentation of knowledge and ideas. Each unit has questions and activities that increase in rigor and depth and support students in developing an ability to complete a culminating task. Culminating tasks vary for each text and include activities comprised of multiple types of reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.

Examples of high quality questions and assignments that lead to multifaceted culminating tasks include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 6B, “Mysteries and Investigations,” Sub-unit 4, students write an essay for the prompt, “Based on the texts you have read, what stands out to you as one important characteristic to have as a problem solver or investigator? Include two examples of individuals demonstrating this characteristic in your response.” Earlier in the unit, Sub-unit 4, Lesson 2, students read an excerpt from Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. After reading the excerpt, students identified suspicious details about the Red-Headed League, Duncan Ross, and Holmes’s visit to Saxe-Coburg Square. In the next lesson, students use the evidence they have gathered to examine which details from the story are suspicious and why. This directly connects with the culminating task at the end of the unit. 
• In Unit 6C, “The Chocolate Collection,” there are two culminating tasks. The first is a debate about whether or not school lunches should include chocolate milk. In Sub-unit 4, Lesson 1, students read four texts about chocolate and health and gather evidence to support both sides of the debate. This lesson also introduces the debate format, criteria for a strong debate, and provides scaffolds for planning. In Lesson 2, students are taught how to plan their opening statements and their counter arguments before beginning the actual debate. The second culminating task in this unit is an essay. Students choose to write either an informational essay about the history of slavery in the production of chocolate or an argumentative essay about the effects of chocolate on brain chemistry. Students learn about these topics in Sub-Units 2 and 3 as they read texts about chocolate and answered text-dependent questions. These lessons consist of a combination of independent, partner, and whole-class work and involve reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing. Sub-unit 5 focuses on the essay, teaching students to gather evidence, make claims, write body paragraphs, revise, edit, and cite references.
• In Unit 6D, “The Greeks,” Sub-unit 4, students write an essay in which they use two of the following characters: the humans from “Prometheus,” Odysseus from The Odyssey, or Arachne from “Arachne” to answer the following question, "Are humans destroyed by their pride? Why or why not?” Earlier in the unit, Sub-unit 3, Lesson 5, students read the Arachne myth. This lesson gives students the opportunity to use new strategies to think through the connection between Arachne's talent and Minerva's punishment. Students rewrite the Arachne myth, endowing her with a new talent and a punishment that fits that talent. Students also use specific details, including sensory details, to show readers how important this talent is and to help them understand the punishment Arachne experiences. This continues the focus that they connect to the culminating task about character traits and the consequences they carry. 
• In Unit 6F, “The Titanic Collection”, for the culminating task students write an essay and present a multimedia project centering on the historical tragedy. Earlier in the unit, Sub-unit 3, Lesson 3, students choose a text from the Titanic Collection. The directions state, “In your scavenger hunt lessons, you’ve seen many images and read several texts in The Titanic Collection. Today, you’ll choose one additional text that you’re interested in reading. The ideas you generate here will be used again at the end of the lesson when you integrate the information presented by different media types.” This lesson directly connects with the culminating task students complete at the end where they create a profile on a simulated social media app within the program where they use information from their research to post entries from the point of view of a passenger or from one of the orphans from the Titanic.

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. 

The materials provide a year-long approach to building students' academic vocabulary, providing them opportunities to master many new words and apply new vocabulary across multiple contexts. The lesson plans include daily support for this goal at the start of each sub unit. Time is allotted at the beginning of each lesson for vocabulary development delivered through the Amplify Vocab App. “Words to Use” are also listed in the daily lesson guide. Teachers are encouraged to use these words throughout instruction along with the activities that utilize that vocabulary. Students complete assessment activities which show their mastery of using the word in context. The app also provides games for students to study morphology, figurative language, dictionary skills, words in context, and synonyms/antonyms.

Examples of how students are supported to accelerate vocabulary learning with vocabulary in their reading, speaking, and writing tasks include, but are not limited to: 

• In Unit 6A, “Dahl and Narrative,” Sub-unit 2, Lesson 1, students watch a short video on the definition of the vocabulary word and complete two activities that support the learning of the word in the correct context. For example, this particular lesson has a brief video clip that humorously explains the word “gruff” followed by using the word “gruff” in a sentence. Then, students decide which sentence uses the word “gruff” correctly. Next, students are given a hypothetical scenario and asked which one uses the word “gruff” correctly. 
• In Unit 6B, “Mysteries and Investigations,” Sub-unit 2, Lesson 1, the “words to use” are conquer and corpses.  Students interact with and apply the words in the text, in whole-class discussion, in the writing task, in a comprehension question, and in the exit ticket.
• In Unit 6C, “The Chocolate Collection,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 1, students are provided instruction on several vocabulary words using the Vocab app. In the Vocab Word list for this sub-unit provided in the app, the following words are listed for Lesson 1: clench, henchmen, impute, interact, misleading, offences, proximity, summon. Some of these words are “core” words for the unit. 
• In Unit 6D,  Sub-unit 2, Lesson 2, the “words to use” are lurched and outposts.  Students closely read and discuss the paragraph of text which contains these two words.  Students write about how the author introduces a character in this paragraph, giving students the opportunity to use the words in their writing.
• In Unit 6E, “Summer of the Mariposas,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 10, students are provided instruction on several vocabulary words using the Vocab app. In the Vocab Word list for this sub-unit provided in the app, the following words are listed for Lesson 10: bristly, flapped, flickering, mumbled, noisily, shredding, streamed. Some of these words are core words for the unit. For example, for the core word “flickering”, students can do an activity called Analogy. The instructions say “compare the words below and pick another pair of words that uses the same analogy”. The activity then states: “Flickering is to Firefly” before listing the examples students can choose from.  
• In Unit 6F, “The Titanic Collection,” Sub-unit 3, Passport and Collection Research, students are guided to use the words Blunder, Ineptitude, Distortions, and Inexplicable. Students are prompted to use the vocabulary app to determine the meanings of the designated words. In the app game hashtag it out students uncover the meaning of the word by choosing the correct answer, once the student guesses correctly the definition of the word is revealed.

The 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.

Writing is used across lesson plans and assessments as an opportunity for learning and as a way for students to express their understanding. Lesson plans are carefully put together and scaffolded so students read and analyze a text in careful, specific detail before having to write thoughtfully about them. Within lessons, students complete smaller writing tasks such as taking notes, responding to short-answer questions, and writing quick reflection responses before they complete a more demanding writing task which is present in every unit. As the year progresses, students produce a variety of essays that include a variety of styles and text types, gradually increasing in rigor and complexity. In addition, the final essay requires students to incorporate multimedia components or research. Materials include writing instruction aligned to the standards for the grade level, and writing instruction spans the whole school year.

Instructional materials include well-designed lesson plans, models, and protocols for teachers to implement and monitor students’ writing development. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 6B, “Mysteries and Investigations," Sub-unit 5, students write an essay to “explain which character trait is most useful for problem solvers and investigators”. This prompt is considered to be the culminating writing assessment for the unit.  For this particular unit, students are first introduced to the overview for the task, and then asked to get evidence from the text in order to support their claim. Then, students support their points using two examples of people demonstrating this characteristic. In the sub-unit overview it explains that students are supposed to focus on evidence collection and the prompt rather than organization and revision.
• In Unit 6D, “The Greeks," sub-unit 4, students are asked the following prompt: Using two of the following characters—the humans from “Prometheus,” Odysseus from The Odyssey, or Arachne from “Arachne”— answer the following question: Are humans destroyed by their pride? Why or why not? Use your answer to stake a claim about whether or not these characters have been destroyed by their pride”. For this sub-unit, students look at a sample essay’s textual evidence and see how it supports the writer’s claim. Also, students have to look at three texts and choose 1-2 pieces of evidence from each text as well as focusing on what character they are going to write about. Finally, students are instructed to share their writing and then collect additional evidence based on feedback. 
• In Unit 6E, “Summer of the Mariposas,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 3, students are prompted to respond: "Choose either Odilia or the sister you just profiled using the notes in your Amplify Library. Which character trait do you think will be important as the sisters begin this adventure? Explain your answer using text details and your understanding of her character traits." Later, in Lesson 13, students are prompted to respond to the question, "What is one key way in which Odilia compares to or contrasts with Odysseus during each character’s encounter with a monster?"
• In Unit 6F, “The Titanic Collection”, sub-unit 5, students write a four paragraph essay that asks students to gather evidence and conduct research from the Internet in order to support their points. In the Sub-unit overview, Amplify explains that they are building on previous units including a “compelling introduction and a strong conclusion”. In addition to the essay, students are also taught in-text citations, frames for quotes and a work cited page. They also have to put together a multimedia project as well as presentation. Another addition to this unit at the end of the year is that students decide between an argumentative essay prompt and an informative essay prompt.  

The 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 start on a smaller scale in the beginning of the year and then gradually progress to a comprehensive research project at the end. 

Examples of the type of opportunities students have to engage in both short and long projects include, but are not limited to: 

• In Unit 6B, “Mysteries & Investigations,” Sub-unit 2, Lesson 3, Activity 3, students practice evaluating the strength of evidence for a specific claim by distinguishing the evidence that supports the theory from the evidence that does not. This skill prepares them for evaluating evidence during longer research projects in the year. In this activity, students are given a theory and then given specific evidence that they have to rank from strongest to weakest. In the next activity (Activity 4), students use the Evidence app to evaluate the evidence for three existing theories of yellow fever.
• In Unit 6C, Sub-unit 1, “The Chocolate Collection,” the culminating task is a research project. The unit begins with a series of lessons on information literacy. Students learn how to judge the credibility of a website as well as how to quote, cite, and paraphrase information. In Sub-unit 2, Lesson 3, students then embark on their own research, writing a research question, gathering information, and refocusing the research question as needed.
• In Unit 6F, “The Titanic Collection,” the culminating task is a research project. First, students learn how to tell the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources, they then determine if a source is reliable, and demonstrate the understanding of the ethical uses of information. After that, they construct their own research questions and explore the Internet for answers. Then, each student is assigned a passenger from the Titanic’s manifest. They consider gender and class issues as they research and write narrative accounts from the point of view of their passengers. Next, this lesson forms the basis for a Socratic Seminar in which students rely on their research to examine the complicated issues inherent in the Titanic story. As students reach the end of the unit, they synthesize all of the skills they’ve developed to tackle a culminating research assignment, part essay and part multimedia project. In this assignment, they have to choose from an argumentative or informative essay and then create a social media profile for one of the Titanic passengers using the Spinnr app. This project requires students to revisit their research to find relevant information for the profile. Finally, students present and display their findings to the class.

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.

Lessons include some independent reading followed by text-specific questions and tasks that reflect student accountability. Procedures are organized for independent reading included in the lessons for each unit under the headings of “Extra” or “Solo”. There is sufficient teacher guidance to foster independence for readers at all levels. Students have access to additional texts within the Amplify Library. This library allows teachers to track students’ progress and monitor their choices for reading. Also, each time students read a text independently, there is a tracker for them to monitor their own progress. Assessments are available for the independent reading selections and teachers can assess students formatively during flex days. Student reading materials span a wide volume of texts at grade level (and at various lexile levels within the grade). 

Examples of readings inside and outside of class include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 6A, “Dahl and Narrative,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 5 in the Grade 6 Solo Workbook on page 27, students are instructed to read an additional selection from Boy: Tales of a Childhood by Roald Dahl. The instructions tell students to “read “Mr Coombes,” paragraphs 1–28. Note two places in your reading that grabbed your attention and describe what you notice and think about this place in the text.” Once students have read the passage they are given 6 questions for comprehension. 
• In Unit 6B, “Mysteries & Investigations,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 1, students answer questions directly related to the reading. "Question 2. According to the text, what two nations worked together to fight against this disease? Select TWO."
• In Unit 6C ,“The Chocolate Collection,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 1, the first lesson directs students toward “Independent Reading." Specifically, the directions instruct students to find something to read and then gives them three options of where they could go to find texts: “suggested reading for lessons in this sub-unit, Amplify Library or the local library." Then it directs students to read 20 minutes or more and then complete the accompanying handout. The handout asks students to explain what they read, provide an opinion on whether or not they liked the text, track how many minutes they read as well as how many interruptions they had during the reading.
• In Unit 6E, “Summer of the Mariposas,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 14, students are directed to "Read Summer of the Mariposas Part III 'The Return' and Chapter 16. Identify a stage or figure from the hero’s journey structure (you can find the map of the hero’s journey in your lesson materials).” Then, students are posed three additional questions to check their reading comprehension on that reading selection.