Collaborative Literacy: Texas Edition - Grade 5

Evaluation for 2.1
Materials include high-quality texts for ELAR instruction and cover a range of student interests.

The materials include a diverse variety of high-quality texts that include increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and multicultural texts. The texts cover a wide range of student interests.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In Being A Writer, there are many high-quality texts. 

Knots in My Yo-Yo String is an autobiography written by Newbery medalist Jerry Spinelli. Spinelli recounts humorous, sometimes embarrassing stories from his childhood growing up in Norristown, Pennsylvania in the 1950s. Students will relate to many of the experiences the writer shares in the text (to which he attributes his success as a writer).

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Caldecott award-winning author Jon Scieszka is a humorous retelling of the classic tale from the point of view of Alexander T. Wolf. Students will enjoy the amusing take on a familiar story as well as the award-winning illustrations. 

Uncle Jed’s Barbershop by Margaree King Mitchell is a historical fiction picture book taught in both Making Meaning and Being a Writer. It tells the story of Uncle Jed’s dream of opening up a barbershop and the obstacles he had to overcome. 

The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland is a realistic fiction picture book taught in both Making Meaning and Being a Writer. It tells the story of a young girl who brings a lotus seed with her to America when she is forced to leave Vietnam. The story is told by her granddaughter years later, and students can relate to the importance of family heritage. 

In Making Meaning, there are many high-quality texts. 

Something to Remember Me By by Susan V. Bosak is a realistic fiction picture book that tells the story of a relationship between a granddaughter and grandmother through the small gifts they share. Students can relate to the multigenerational story and theme of leaving lasting legacies. 

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt is a fictional novel that tells the story of a family that has gained eternal life after drinking from a magic spring. The text’s relatable young characters, fantasy plot, and timeless theme are engaging for grade 5 students.

Big Cats by award-winning science author Seymour Simon is an expository nonfiction picture book that uses full-color photographs and text to describe big cats and their habitats. Students will learn about lions, tigers, leopards, pumas, cheetahs, jaguars, and snow leopards through full-color photographs and scientifically accurate text. 

The Van Gogh Cafe by Newbery medalist Cynthia Rylant is a fantasy fiction chapter book written in short vignettes. Students will relate to Clara, the 10-year-old main character whose father owns the cafe, and will be engaged by the magical setting and supernatural events.

Evaluation for 2.2
Materials include a variety of text types and genres across content that meet the requirements of the TEKS for each grade level.

A wide variety of genres are provided with print and graphic features for a variety of texts. However, the texts do not include drama, which is present in the TEKS. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In the “Collaborative Literacy Core Titles PDF Overview,” the chart demonstrates the percentages of genres represented in the various resources. The genres in Making Meaning are as follows: 10% poetry, 27% fiction, 63% nonfiction, and 0% drama. In Being a Writer, 24% of texts read aloud are poetry, 46% are fiction, and 31% are nonfiction.

Examples of literary texts include but are not limited to:

• The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland (realistic fiction) 
• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (fiction)
• Richard Wright and the Library Card by William Miller (historical fiction) 
• The Frog Prince Continued by Jon Scieszka (fiction)
• “I Love the Look of Words” by Maya Angelou (poetry) 
• “September” by John Updike (poetry)
• Knots in My Yo-Yo String by Jerry Spinelli (personal narrative)
• The Sweetest Fig by Chris Van Allsburg (fiction)
• “Porch Light” by Debra Chandra (poetry)
• “October Saturday” by Bobby Katz (poetry)
• Everybody Cooks Rice by Nora Dooley (realistic fiction)
• Zoo by Edward D. Hawn (science fiction)
• “Eraser and School Clock” by Gary Soto (poetry)

Examples of informational texts include but are not limited to:

• Rainforests by James Harrison (expository nonfiction)
• “WARNING: Too Much TV is Hazardous to Your Health” by Center for Screen-Time Awareness (opinion essay)
• Great Women of the American Revolution by Brianna Hall (expository nonfiction)
• I Wonder Why Penguins Can’t Fly by Pag Jacobs (expository nonfiction)
• “Animal Testing: Here is the Truth” by Giovanny P. (opinion article)
• Big Cats, Hurricanes, and Global Warming by Seymour Simon (expository nonfiction)
• “How to Make an Origami Cup” by the Center for the Collaborative Classroom (procedural)
• “Copycats: Why Clone?” by the Center for the Collaborative Classroom (expository nonfiction)

Examples of print and graphic features include but are not limited to:

In Making Meaning, Unit 2, there are text features such as table of contents, photographs, and captions to better understand the information in the text Rainforests by James Harrison. In this unit, there are the use titles, subtitles, headings, and bar graphs to better understand the information in the article “All Work and No Play: Trends in School Recess” by the Center for the Collaborative Classroom. 

In Making Meaning, Unit 4, students make predictions using the text feature of the blank space found in the chapter book Tuck Everlasting.

In Making Meaning, Unit 7, there are various text features such as captions, photographs, and timelines to infer meaning and the author’s purpose in Survival and Loss.

In Making Meaning, students read “Do Kids Need Cell Phones?” which contains captions and photographs. The fictional text The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland includes rich illustrations by Tatsuro Kiuchi depicting a young girl’s journey from Vietnam to America. 

During the opinion unit in Being A Writer, there is data within the opinion essay “WARNING: Too Much TV is Hazardous to Your Health.”

Evaluation for 2.3
Texts are appropriately challenging and are at an appropriate level of complexity to support students at their grade level.

The texts increase in complexity throughout the year based on quantitative measures. The publisher provides quantitative and qualitative analyses of the texts used throughout the materials.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The Introduction to the Making Meaning Volume 1 Teacher’s Manual includes information about the leveling systems used throughout the materials. Resources about the Fountas & Pinnell and Lexile Framework for Reading leveling systems are provided and contain more information about each system. Titles range in difficulty from 690L to 1220L, which is within the range for grade 5 students. On the Center for the Collaborative Classroom website, under General Resources, there is a list of core titles and accompanying reading levels in both Lexile and Fountas & Pinnell levels. The Collaborative Literacy Text Complexity Analysis document employs the Standard’s Model of Text Complexity to provide a quantitative, qualitative, and reader and task analysis of each text. Qualitative analyses of texts utilize guidance from Achieve the Core.

In Unit 1 of Making Meaning and Being a Writer, students read The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland as a core text. It is written at a Lexile level of AD880L and is a Fountas & Pinnell level P. The Text Structure is Slightly Complex, while the Language Features, Meaning, and Knowledge Demands are Moderately Complex. The Final Evaluation is Moderately Complex.

In Making Meaning, Unit 3, students read Big Cats by Seymour Simon. It has a Lexile level of 1050L. A Fountas & Pinnell level is not provided for this text. The Text Structure, Language Features, Meaning, and Knowledge Demands are Very Complex. The Final Evaluation is Very Complex.

The Expository Nonfiction unit of Being a Writer includes I Wonder Why Penguins Can’t Fly by Pat Jacobs as a core text. It is written at Lexile level NC1160L and Fountas & Pinnell level P. The Text Structure and Meaning are Moderately Complex, while Language Features and Knowledge Demands are Very Complex. The Final Evaluation is Very Complex.

Evaluation for 3.a.1
Materials contain questions and tasks that support students in analyzing and integrating knowledge, ideas, themes, and connections within and across texts.

The resources include numerous text-dependent questions. The texts are grouped thoughtfully, providing opportunities for students to make connections and discuss big themes within and across texts. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide opportunities for students to reflect on big ideas. In Making Meaning, Unit 1, students write a reflection on the text, Everybody Cooks Rice, by answering the questions, “What do you remember about the story Everybody Cooks Rice?” “How does this story apply to your life?” This pushes students to make personal meaning of the text.

The materials also provide opportunities for students to make connections. In Unit 1 of Making Meaning, the text Something to Remember Me By, written by Susan Bosak, the teacher introduces it and has students make text-to-self connections. Students answer questions such as, “Has anyone ever given you something to remember him or her by? What was it?” as well as “Have you ever given someone something to remember you by? What was it?” Students also make text-to-text connections in a “Writing About Reading” activity by answering the questions, “In what ways are the two stories alike? In what ways are the two stories different?” 

The materials include frequent opportunities to answer text-dependent questions. In Making Meaning, Unit 2, the teacher reads aloud the expository text Rainforests by James Harrison. The teacher asks questions to guide students’ understanding of text features such as, “What features do you notice on these two pages that might help a reader better understand the topic? How does that add to your understanding of these two pages?” These questions build conceptual knowledge of nonfiction text features and direct students back to the text in order to answer them. 

In Unit 3 of Making Meaning, students learn how to ask questions and find answers within the text. Questions such as, "What information did you find about the question ‘Why do lions live in groups?’ Read a sentence that you underlined aloud.” push students to return to the text. 

In Making Meaning, Unit 4, the class reads Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. The teacher explains that an ongoing theme in the book is that “immortality is a blessing or a curse” and that each character must answer that question in their own way. The teacher asks how each character in the book would answer that question and how the student would answer that question and why. Here, students make a connection to themselves.

In Unit 5 of Making Meaning, students make inferences using the text The Van Gogh Cafe by Cynthia Rylant. After the teacher rereads a section of the text, the teacher asks, “What do you know about Clara based on what you heard in this section?” A “Teacher Note” in the sidebar states that if students make inferences that are “illogical or not supported by the text,” teachers can add the follow-up question, “ Where in the text is the evidence that supports your idea?” Students continue making inferences from this text throughout the week.

In the Poetry Unit of Being a Writer, the teacher reads aloud a poem and asks, “What sensory details do you notice in “The Sea” that help you imagine what’s happening?” This text-dependent question encompasses several TEKS: mental images (5.6D), using text evidence to support a response (5.7C), and imagery (5.10D). 

In Being a Writer, during the functional writing unit, students make connections to the functional writing in the classroom and in their lives. The teacher asks, “What other functional writing do you see in our classroom?” Students take a “school walk” to look for more examples of functional writing. 

In the Expository Nonfiction unit of Being a Writer, students read a variety of nonfiction texts. The teacher helps students establish the big idea connecting multiple nonfiction texts by asking, “What have you learned about nonfiction? What are some different ways that you have noticed authors organize and present nonfiction information?” Through this discussion, students name their conceptual understandings of nonfiction texts.

Evaluation for 3.a.2
Materials contain questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts.

The materials contain questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language and craft employed by the author. Students make inferences and draw conclusions about the author’s purpose in a variety of texts in both Making Meaning and Being a Writer. Stated and implied author’s purpose between texts happens through the thoughtful sequencing and pairing of texts and through partner and class discussions. There are also opportunities for students to analyze how the author’s choices and language impact meaning.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In Unit 1 of Being a Writer, students read The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! and The Frog Prince Continued, both by Jon Scieszka, and discuss how they might rewrite a famous story. As an extension at the end of Day 4 of Week 1, students explore the author’s language and how it contributes to voice. After re-reading a section of the text, the teacher asks students, “What’s different about the language on the first page and the language on the second page?” The teacher teaches how the author uses language, and that voice means “the way language is used to show something about the person who is telling the story.” The teacher encourages students to notice the unique way language is used in other stories. 

In Unit 4 of Making Meaning, students read Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. Students read the prologue, which is defined as a type of text feature that readers should read carefully because they contain important information. After the students listen to the prologue read aloud, they discuss the question, “What might the author be trying to do in the prologue?” On Day 4 of Week 1, students discuss how the author uses certain words or phrases to make readers feel a certain way about the setting of Tuck Everlasting. The Student Response Book contains an excerpt from the text that students use to underline words that elicit a feeling about the setting. There is a class discussion using the question, “What do you think the author wants us to feel about being in the woods? What words or phrases make you think so?”

In Unit 5 of Making Meaning, students read The Van Gogh Cafe by Cynthia Rylant and practice the comprehension strategy of making inferences. On Day 2 of Week 1, students listen to the passage “The Possum” read aloud by the teacher. Students reread an excerpt from the text and underline words and phrases that the author provides to help them answer the question, “What do you think the man sees that no one else sees?” In this instance, students study language within the text to support their understanding.

In Making Meaning, Unit 7, Week 2, students explore the author's opinion. Students underline evidence to determine the author’s opinions in the article, “Do Kids Really Need Cell Phones?” After they underline the evidence, they have a discussion to determine what the author’s opinion is. They justify their answers with text evidence.

In the Personal Narrative unit of Being a Writer, students explore personal narratives by discussing Jerry Spinelli’s Knots in My Yo-Yo String. Students listen to “Never the Monkey,” a short story from the text. Students discuss the story and respond to an author’s purpose question: “Why do you think he might have chosen to tell this story?” 

During the Opinion Writing unit of Being A Writer, students read two essays that take opposing views on the topic of TV. After reading “WARNING: Too Much TV Is Hazardous To Your Health” and “Television: The Most Disparaged Resource of the Information Age,” the teacher asks, “What is the author trying to convince us to believe? How do you know? Compare this essay to the one you read yesterday. Which essay is more persuasive to you, and why?” Here, students reflect on how the author’s choices influence their opinions.

Evaluation for 3.a.3
Materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary in and across texts.

There are opportunities for vocabulary instruction within the Making Meaning and Being A Writer units. There is a vocabulary guide for teachers with a year-long plan for vocabulary, including specific lessons from vocabulary found in the read-aloud texts themselves. The materials provide scaffolds and supports to guide teachers with differentiating for all learners.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The grade 5 Making Meaning materials include two volumes of a Vocabulary Teaching Guide that provide a year-long plan to build academic vocabulary. These guides provide 30 weeks of vocabulary instruction that combine direct instruction in word meanings with activities requiring students to think deeply about the words and apply their meaning in conversation and across learning contexts. 

The Vocabulary Teaching Guide focuses on 4‒6 Tier 2 words per week. According to the work of Isabel Beck at the University of Pittsburgh, these are words that students are “not likely to see frequently, but that educated adults regularly use in their speech and writing that appear in a wide range of texts students might encounter.” If a text does not contain six vocabulary words, there are words that could be applied to the text, labeled as concept words. The vocabulary teaching units include additional read-aloud texts, digital word cards, print and digital teaching guides with links to professional development media and lesson resources.

For example, in Week 4 of the Vocabulary Teaching Guide, students learn the words surge, stamina, and dissatisfied. Teachers reread and emphasize certain sections of the text Follow That Ball!: Soccer Catching on in the U.S by the Center for the Collaborative Classroom. The teacher defines the words, and students discuss them by using the words in sentences with their partners. The teacher introduces dissatisfied, and students discuss it after the teacher reads the following sentence from the article: “Soccer gets nowhere near the U.S. media coverage of other sports, even the less popular ones.” The teacher uses this context to state that fans are dissatisfied with the television coverage. The teacher formally defines the word, and the teacher introduces the prefix dis-.

The materials also include scaffolds and supports for teachers to differentiate vocabulary development for all learners. For example, the teacher introduces and defines picturesque in Week 12 of the Vocabulary Teaching Guide. The word is read within the text The Van Gogh Cafe by Cynthia Rylant. After the teacher defines the word, the teacher displays the word on a whiteboard word card. There is a “Teacher Note” to point out the word picture within picturesque and describe how the two are similar. The class then discusses picturesque places using the “Think, Pair, Share” strategy and the prompt “...is a picturesque place because….” 

In Week 20, the Vocabulary Teaching Guide, students discuss a time or reason they were befuddled. The Teacher Note gives the teacher ideas for rephrasing the question to use to help elicit student responses like: “When have you been befuddled by something at school?” or “When have you been befuddled by instructions or directions you were following?”

In Week 26 of the Vocabulary Teaching Guide, students learn the word intrigue. The teacher reads the word in a section from Zoo by Edward D. Hoch. The teacher formally defines the word, and a Teacher Note suggests explaining that the word fascinate is a synonym of intrigue. An ELL Note in the same sidebar explains that the Spanish cognate of intrigue is intrigar. Students discuss the word intrigue with the question “What is something that intrigues you? Why does it intrigue you?” A Teacher Note in the sidebar suggests supporting struggling students by asking questions such as, “What is something you have seen or heard about on TV that really interests you?” or “What is something you are curious about?” The lesson concludes by reviewing the pronunciation and meaning of the new vocabulary word. 

The Making Meaning materials also include additional suggested vocabulary for English Language Learners for each mentor text. For example, in Making Meaning, Unit 6, the suggested vocabulary for all students includes words like optician and spines. The suggested ELL vocabulary includes words and phrases such as longed and funny papers. Suggested ELL vocabulary is also present in Being a Writer. For example, during the Poetry unit, students read the poem “September” by John Updike. The suggested ELL vocabulary includes well-honeyed and suds.

Evaluation for 3.a.4
Materials include a clearly defined plan to support and hold students accountable as they engage in independent reading.

Materials include clearly defined procedures and protocols for students to engage in independent reading for sustained periods of time. There are supports to teach students the skills they need to be successful during independent reading. Independent Daily Reading is built into daily lesson structures, and the materials provide protocols for planning individual conferences that create accountability and help students set goals. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide a plan for students to select texts and read independently for a sustained period of time. There are optional Individualized Daily Reading (IDR) mini-lessons within Appendix A of the Making Meaning Teacher's Manual to help support independent reading procedures. Lesson topics include “Selecting Appropriately Leveled Text” and “Self-monitoring and Using Fix-up Strategies.” There is guidance for setting up a classroom library and building stamina for reading to teachers in the introduction of the Making Meaning Teacher’s Manual. 

Individual Comprehension Assessments in the Assessment Resource Book support teachers as they confer and assess students’ independent reading. The Assessment Resource has a guide for each unit’s IDR conferences. The guide is prescriptive with prompts for the teacher to ask the student and prompts for the teacher to reflect on after observing student reading. The guide tells the teacher what to do if a student is showing mastery or where to stop the conference if a student is showing difficulty. For example, in Unit 2, the teacher interviews the student about their independent reading book. The teacher listens to the student read a few pages and then asks, “What is the part you just read about?” In this case, the reflection question asks, “Is the student able to tell what the passage is about?” The teacher records their observations in the “Notes” column on the record sheet. If the student is successful, the teacher continues to step 3 of the IDR Assessment. If the student has difficulty, the teacher may repeat step 2 but have the student read the passage silently. Teachers use the IDR Conference Notes as well as the IDR Assessment sheets to calculate an Independent Reading score. These end-of-unit reflections help guide teachers’ future IDR conferences. For example, in Unit 6, the Individual Comprehension Assessment reflection questions include, “What did you work on with this student during the unit’s IDR conferences?” and “what might you focus on during the next unit’s IDR conferences?” 

There is guidance to teachers to foster independent reading throughout the year. The introduction of the Making Meaning Teacher’s Manual describes the role of independent reading within the lesson structure. In Unit 1, Week 1, there is the start of IDR. During this week, students learn the procedures of IDR and how to find books that are at the appropriate reading level for each student. The goal of IDR is for students to read independently for 30 minutes. There is guidance for teachers to begin with a shorter amount of time, depending on students’ attention and engagement. There is a “Teacher Note” with a QR code in the sidebar for the first IDR lesson. The link is a video to support teachers in setting up procedures and expectations.

In Unit 2 of Making Meaning, students learn how to monitor their own comprehension when reading independently. In Week 1, teachers support independent reading through the introduction of IDR Conferences. These one-on-one conferences help teachers get to know their students as readers and help assess individual students’ comprehension. There is a Resource Sheet for IDR Conferences in the Assessment Resource Book with questions such as, “Tell me about your favorite books or authors. What do you like about them?” and “What do you do best as a reader?” In Unit 3, students begin to learn fix-up strategies and continue self-monitoring. Going forward, there are more comprehension strategies, and teachers focus on those during independent reading conferences. For example, in Unit 4, Wondering/Questioning, students record their questions using sticky notes as they read.

Evaluation for 3.b.1
Materials provide support for students to develop composition skills across multiple text types for a variety of purposes and audiences.

The materials provide support for students to develop composition skills across various genres, including literary, information, argumentative, and correspondence. They also provide opportunities for students to write for a variety of purposes and audiences.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

First, the materials provide students opportunities to write literary texts to express their ideas and feelings about real or imagined people, events, and ideas. In Volume 1 of Being a Writer, students write a personal narrative that focuses on significant experiences from their own lives and how these experiences result in learning or change. Students use mentor texts, such as Knots in My Yo-yo String: The Autobiography of a Kid by Jerry Spinelli and Still Firetalking by Patricia Polacco. Lessons in this unit focus on using sensory details and writing engaging openings and endings that draw a story’s events to a close. 

In the Fiction Unit of Being A Writer, students explore features of good fiction through reading mentor texts like The Wreck of the Zephyr by Chris Van Allsburg, Moira’s Birthday by Robert Munsch, and Sweet Music in Harlem by Debbie A. Taylor. Students identify traits of fiction such as character’s actions, thoughts, and speech, setting, and plot and integrate them into their own story development. 

In Volume 2 of Being a Writer, students write poems about topics of interest while using sensory details. Students explore sound, imagery, and placement of words and letters within poems that they read and discuss. They learn to use simile, personification, and onomatopoeia in their own poems and explore line length and stanzas within poems they read and discuss. Students use poems such as “September” by John Updike and “Windshield Wiper” by Eve Merriam as mentor texts.

The materials also provide students opportunities to write informational texts. Volume 2 of Being a Writer provides students the opportunity to write nonfiction texts about a topic of interest to them. Over a six-week period, pairs of students write, revise, and publish an informational text by researching their chosen topic of interest. Students practice using transitional words and phrases, as well as how to take notes and organize information by subtopics. Students create text features in their own writing and learn how to write interesting introductions. This unit includes mentor texts such as I Wonder Why Penguins Can’t Fly and Other Questions about Polar Lands by Pat Jacobs, Extreme Earth Records by Seymour Simon, I Wonder Why the Sahara is Cold at Night by Jackie Gaff, Rainforests by James Harrison, and Global Warming by Seymour Simon.

Furthermore, the materials provide opportunities to write argumentative texts to influence the attitudes or actions of a specific audience on specific issues. In the Opinion Writing unit of Being A Writer, students read several texts with differing opinions on the same viewpoint, such as “Animal Experimentation Saves Lives” and “Animal Testing: Here Is The Truth.” After reading, the class discusses the author’s purpose and audience. The teacher asks, “Why might it be good to know how to write a persuasive essay?” Students identify the audience and purpose for their writing and use reasons to support their opinions. After reading “School Uniforms,” the teacher asks, “What sentence in the opening paragraph of these essays tells us exactly what the author’s opinion is? Why might starting an essay with a question be a good way to capture the reader’s attention?” By reading mentor texts, students learn how to craft strong openings and conclusions that restate their opinion and use transitional words and phrases to connect opinions and reasons. 

The materials provide students opportunities to write correspondence. At the conclusion of the Expository Nonfiction unit of Being a Writer, students practice letter writing by writing a letter home about what they learned about nonfiction. The teacher reviews elements of a letter and models writing a sample letter with the class. In Week 3 of the Opinion Writing unit of Being a Writer, students practice letter writing by writing a letter home about what they learned about opinion writing. The teacher reviews elements of a letter, including date, salutation, body, closing, and signature, and models writing a sample letter with the class. In Unit 9 of Being a Writer, students review the writing they’ve completed throughout the year. They write letters to next year’s class about what it means to be an author, reflect on the craft of the authors they’ve read, and give advice about how to become a good writer. Students also write letters to their classmates thanking them for supporting them to become better writers this year. 

Evaluation for 3.b.2
Most written tasks require students to use clear and concise information and well- defended text-supported claims to demonstrate the knowledge gained through analysis and synthesis of texts.

Both Making Meaning and Being a Writer provide opportunities for students to demonstrate knowledge gained from texts through various writing tasks. Students support their opinions and claims with textual evidence. Students also have opportunities to demonstrate in writing what they have learned from the texts through reader response activities.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials also provide opportunities for students to demonstrate in writing what they have learned through reading and listening to texts. In Unit 2 of Making Meaning, students use text features to aid in comprehension of texts. On day 4 of week 1, students apply what they learned about text features to the texts they read during Independent Reading by completing a Journal Entry within their Student Response Book. Students write what the text they are reading is about, what they learned from that day’s reading, one text feature that they found within the text, and what the text feature helped them learn. By writing about text features and their learning, students are demonstrating what they learned through reading texts.

The materials provide multiple opportunities for students to use evidence from texts to support their opinions and claims. In Making Meaning, Unit 4, students write their opinions on important themes in Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. The teacher asks, “How would you answer the question, ‘Is immortality a blessing or a curse?’ Why?” Students write their opinions and share. The teacher reminds students that they may have different opinions about this question, but “what matters is that they give reasons to explain their thinking” based on text evidence.

In Making Meaning, Unit 10, as students write summaries of various texts, they analyze the summary and opinion from various book reviews. As students share their book recommendations with their peers, they also consider the criteria for a review which includes the reader’s opinions about the text, the text evidence to support their opinion, and a summary of the important pieces of the text. Thus, in order to write an effective book review, students must use text evidence.

In the Opinion unit of Being A Writer, students write an opinion essay on a topic they feel strongly about. They read and discuss mentor texts by the publisher that contain researched facts to support a position, such as “Animal Experimentation.” Guidance states that teachers may wish to incorporate a “stronger research focus” as a way to have students support their positions, or claims, using textual evidence. 

In the Expository Nonfiction unit of Being A Writer, students read I Wonder Why Penguins Can’t Fly by Pat Jacobs and brainstorm topics about other things students wonder about. Students then independently read nonfiction texts and write about what they learned. After reading and writing, the teacher asks students to discuss things they noticed while reading expository nonfiction, such as how the information is organized. Students continue conducting research and crafting a text to demonstrate their understanding of their chosen topic based on textual evidence.

Evaluation for 3.b.3
Over the course of the year, composition convention skills are applied in increasingly complex contexts, with opportunities for students to publish their writing.

Throughout the year, students consistently experience the complete writing process to compose multiple texts across multiple genres. The materials provide opportunities to apply the conventions of academic language when speaking and writing. In addition, grammar, punctuation, and usage are taught systematically, both in and out of context of students’ writing.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Students learn the writing process in Unit 2 of Being a Writer. The Introduction within the Teacher Volume explains that in each unit, students “learn about elements of each genre as they brainstorm ideas, quick-write, and write multiple drafts. After this immersion and drafting phase, each student selects a draft to develop and revise for publication in the class library. The students spend the later weeks of each genre unit revising, proofreading, publishing, and sharing their pieces from the Author’s Chair.” Students experience all elements of the writing process as they produce a personal narrative, fictional narrative, expository nonfiction essay, opinion/argumentative essay, and poem. 

In the Fiction unit in Being a Writer, students explore and engage in fiction writing over a six-week timeframe. In Weeks 1‒3, the teacher immerses students in the genre by listening to texts such as The Wreck of the Zephyr by Chris Van Allsburg and Sweet Music in Harlem by Debbie A. Taylor. During this immersion phase, students explore elements of the genre as they begin to draft their own stories and apply their learning from the mentor texts. In Week 4 of this unit, students begin analyzing and revising a chosen draft through guided peer conferring. In Weeks 5 and 6, students continue to revise and proofread their drafts, focusing on language conventions, such as maintaining consistent verb tense and correcting run-on sentences. Students publish and present final drafts to the class through Author’s Chair sharing on Day 5 of Week 6.

The materials provide opportunities for practice and application of the conventions of academic language when speaking and writing, including punctuation and grammar. At the end of each unit, students share their writing through the Author’s Chair. They use conventions of academic language. For example, on Day 5 of Week 6 of the Being A Writer Fiction unit, the teacher reviews speaking clearly and at an appropriate rate by asking students questions such as, “Why is it important to speak in a loud, clear voice when sharing with the class?” 

The materials include discussion prompts throughout the year to foster speaking in complete sentences. For example, in the Expository Nonfiction writing unit of Being A Writer, the teacher reminds the students to use the prompts previously taught, including, “I agree with...because…. I disagree with...because…. In addition to what...said, I think….” 

Grammar, punctuation, and usage are taught systematically, both in and out of the context of students’ writing. Being A Writer comes with a Skill Practice Teaching Guide and Student Skill Practice Book that provide 30 weeks of mini-lessons in grammar, usage, and mechanics skills. These lessons supplement the writing instruction within the Being a Writer units. During these lessons, there is a proofreading notes chart on the board for students to add specific notes to their student writing handbook. Skill Practice Notes within the Being a Writer Teacher’s Manuals alert teachers to particular skills lessons. Most skill instruction is within the revision and proofreading portions of the writing process, though these lessons can also be used out of context based on students’ needs. For example, within the Personal Narrative genre in Being a Writer, students write a personal narrative. Within the revision and proofreading stages in Weeks 3 and 4 of this unit, students learn specific language skills, such as recognizing and correcting sentence fragments and run-on sentences, as well as maintaining consistency in verb tenses (Lessons 1, 5, 13, and 15 of the Skills Practice Teaching Guide). They then apply these skills to their proofreading of drafts during week 4. Similarly, students apply proofreading skills to each genre of writing during the editing phase.

Evaluation for 3.b.4
Materials include practice for students to write legibly in cursive. (Grades 3-5 only)

The materials do not include practice to write in cursive or supports to assess handwriting development. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

There are no opportunities for students to write in cursive or supports to assess handwriting development.

Evaluation for 3.c.1
Materials support students’ listening and speaking about texts.

The materials support students’ listening and speaking about texts studied in class to demonstrate comprehension. Listening and speaking opportunities are built into lessons at strategic points. The tasks require students to use clear and concise information and claims based on textual evidence to demonstrate their knowledge.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials support students as they listen and speak about various texts and genre characteristics. Many of these listening and discussion opportunities occur through student partnerships that are designated at the beginning of each unit. In Unit 3 of Making Meaning, students use the comprehension strategy of questioning to discuss texts in whole group or in partners. In Week 1, students contribute questions about big cats to a class chart as a pre-reading activity. After listening to portions of Big Cats by Seymour Simon, students discuss questions about the text, including “What is one thing you learned from the reading today?” and “What did you learn about big cats’ cubs?” Students refer to the class-created chart as they answer the question, “Which of these questions were discussed in the reading today? How were they discussed?” Thus, students have the opportunity to demonstrate comprehension orally.

In Making Meaning, Unit 4, students show understanding of the novels read during independent daily reading by discussing their novels as a class. Students discuss the main characters, the setting, and the plot. These topics are aligned to the lesson for the class novel, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. This discussion allows students to apply their learning through the mini-lesson to their own independent reading. 

Most oral tasks require students to use clear and concise information and well-defended text-supported claims to demonstrate the knowledge gained through analysis and synthesis of texts. In Making Meaning, Unit 7, students learn about the author's opinion. Students underline evidence to determine the author’s opinions in the article, “Do Kids Really Need Cell Phones?” They then discuss to determine the author’s opinion, using their evidence as the basis for their claims.

 In Making Meaning, Unit 9, students read an independently selected text, think about their response to it, and record their opinions on a sticky note. After reading, students discuss with a partner. Partners choose from a list of discussion questions to share with their partner, including “What happened in the part of the story you read today? Did it hold your interest? Why or why not?” and “How did you feel as you read the selection? What made you feel that way? Read that part aloud.” In this instance, students use textual evidence to justify responses as they share with a partner.

In the Opinion Writing Unit of Being a Writer, students demonstrate comprehension of the article “School Uniforms” by discussing, “What is the author trying to convince us in this essay? What reasons does the author give to support the opinion that students should wear uniforms in public schools?” Students turn and talk to their partner, and a few volunteers share out. Through the turn and talk, students show their understanding of the article and support it with text evidence. 

In the Opinion Writing unit of Being a Writer, students read and discuss persuasive essays such as “WARNING: Too Much TV is Hazardous to Your Health” by the Center for Collaborative Classroom. Students discuss the author's purpose by answering questions such as “What is the author trying to convince us to believe? How do you know?” as well as “Did this essay change what you believe? Why or Why not?” A “Students Might Say” section helps facilitate this class discussion. 

In the Expository Nonfiction Unit of Being a Writer, students discuss to synthesize their understanding of the informational text I Wonder Why The Sahara is Cold at Night and Other Questions about the Desert by Jackie Gaff. Students turn and discuss the organization of information, what they learned, and what they are curious about. This discussion allows them to demonstrate their learning about both the desert and about nonfiction texts as a whole. 

Evaluation for 3.c.2
Materials engage students in productive teamwork and in student-led discussions, in both formal and informal settings.

The materials provide a range of opportunities for students to participate in discussions using protocols in both Making Meaning and Being A Writer. While Making Meaning only provides presentations and performances as extensions, Being A Writer provides regular opportunities for students to share their writing with the class.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In Making Meaning, students discuss with partners or as a class throughout the units. In Unit 1 of Making Meaning, students learn the “Turn to Your Partner” procedure. The teacher and a class volunteer model what this procedure should look and sound like. The teacher also introduces the signal to end the discussion and face the teacher. Students practice their first “Turn to Your Partner” by discussing the question, “What is something you did in school last year that was especially fun or interesting? Turn to your partner.” There are several guiding “Teacher Notes” in this lesson to help support the teacher in building partnerships as well as using hand signals and building accountability.

Students apply the “Turn to Your Partner” procedure to talk about their thinking. In Making Meaning, Unit 2, students read Great Women of the American Revolution by Brianna Hall. They “Think, Pair, Share” to discuss questions. After sharing with a partner, volunteers share their partners’ thinking with the class. Students reference the text as they discuss to explain their thoughts. 

During the final week of every writing unit of Being a Writer, students share their published writing with the class from the Author’s Chair. The teacher establishes procedures for Author’s Chair in Unit 2, Week 2 of the program. During the Fiction unit, before students share, students review expectations for speaking clearly and listening attentively. Questions such as “Why is it important to speak in a loud, clear voice when you're sharing your book with the class?” facilitate a discussion on proper ways to present to an audience. 

Throughout Making Meaning, the materials provide extension opportunities for students that incorporate research and presentations. For example, in Unit 5, Week 3, students have the opportunity to perform or record oral readings of poetry. Questions provide guidance as students prepare to record the poems and listen to the recordings, including: “Why is it important to practice reading a poem aloud before you record it? What did you enjoy most about recording a poem? What was challenging or difficult about it? What did you enjoy about hearing your classmates read a poem? Which do you prefer: reading a poem yourself or hearing a poem read aloud? Why?”

In Making Meaning, Unit 6 students make inferences about the characters and plot in the historical fiction book Richard Wright and the Library Card by William Miller. A Technology Extension calls for students to work in pairs to research and create a digital presentation on a prominent African American author. Students present their slides to the class.

In Making Meaning, Unit 7, as students read the article “All Girls and All Boys Schools,” the teacher stops on pages 414 and 415 for students to write a short summary and discuss with their partner. After reading, students answer these questions using the “Heads Together” structure: “What does the article say about how having all-girls and all-boys classrooms affect students’ test scores?”, “What are some reasons the article gives for having all-girls and all-boys schools?” or “What did you find out about all-girls and all-boys schools that surprised you?  In this structure, the teacher asks key questions and students talk in a small group to answer. Then, the teacher chooses one group to share their response with the class.  

In Making Meaning and Being A Writer, students maintain their partners throughout the unit to build rapport. The teacher consistently provides discussion prompts to guide partner discussions. These include “I agree with...because…. I disagree with...because….” “In addition to what...said, I think….” (Being A Writer, Expository Nonfiction unit). These prompts help students use the conventions of language.

During the Expository Nonfiction unit of Being a Writer, students conduct research about something in nature and then present their informational report. Students share using the Author’s Chair. After reading their report aloud, students answer questions from their classmates. The teacher guides the class discussion by asking students what they learned from each report or what they are curious about after listening. The teacher also reviews proper speaking skills for presenters, such as reminding them to use an appropriate rate and volume when speaking.

Evaluation for 3.d.1
Materials engage students in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes to confront and analyze various aspects of a topic using relevant sources.

The materials provide opportunities for students to engage in inquiry using various sources. Students organize and present this information within core lessons.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Although the terms primary resources and secondary resources are not utilized in the materials, the program provides opportunities for students to reference research materials.

Being a Writer contains a Writing Performance Task Preparation Guide that supports students as they analyze and gather information from multiple sources to produce a piece of writing within a specific genre. Students evaluate, interpret, and integrate information from primary and secondary sources. For example, During the Narrative Writing performance task, students read a brochure (Monuments of Washington D.C.), watch a video (“Lincoln Memorial”), and review a map (“National Mall and Memorial Parks”). They use the information they gather to complete a writing performance task. Teachers ask guiding questions to support students as they summarize these sources and gather notes. In this way, students use the sources to complete the writing task.

In the Expository Nonfiction Unit of Being a Writer, students learn about expository writing and conduct an extended research project. Students learn how to select a source, including choosing a book that includes information related to their topic and using search queries on a search engine website. There are also optional technology mini-lessons to support the selection of research sources and how to cite them. Students utilize at least three resources as they conduct their research. 

In Week 1 and 2 of the Expository Nonfiction unit, students hear and discuss expository nonfiction and begin to explore different ways to organize and present information. After reading nonfiction texts about different countries, including Rainforests by James Harrison, students discuss and make connections to the various ways authors organize information. They discuss questions such as “How is the information organized and presented in Rainforests?” and “When reading today, what did you notice about how the information you looked at is organized?” By Week 4, students have conducted research on their topic of interest. They begin the process of grouping their notes in order to organize their drafts. Partners respond to the question, “What other notes can we put together? What could we call this group of notes?” Materials then support teachers as they model organizing research notes and beginning a draft. At the end of the unit, students present their information through the Author’s Chair.

Evaluation for 3.e.1
Materials contain interconnected tasks that build student knowledge and provide opportunities for increased independence.

The materials consistently provide opportunities for students to build and apply knowledge and skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, thinking, and language. Throughout the year, they contain 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. While they have limited opportunities to integrate syntax, they include components of vocabulary and fluency.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Within Making Meaning, students engage in whole group strategy lessons where they listen to a read-aloud, listen to and discuss the key skill with partners, share their thoughts with the whole group, and often write in response to the discussion from the whole class. For example, in Unit 3, students read Big Cats by Seymour Simon. Students first think of their own schema for big cats and generate a list of questions they think the book may answer. After listening to a read-aloud of the text, students discuss with their partner which questions the text answered and what text evidence gave them that answer. During individualized reading time, students write questions they have about the topic of their independent reading book before reading. After reading, students discuss the answers they found in their text. The incorporation of both the discussion and the written response helps students strengthen their understanding of language while solidifying their learning about how to analyze texts. 

In Making Meaning, Unit 6, students compare and contrast the stories Uncle Jed’s Barbershop and Richard Wright and the Library Card. After reading a couple of excerpts from each story and comparing them through a “Think, Pair, Share” discussion with partners, students answer the question, “Who is telling the story? What makes you think so?”. The teacher explains that the Richard Wright story is told from the perspective of someone not in the story. Students answer the question “Do you think Richard Wright and the Library Card would be a more interesting story if it was told from the first-person point of view?” After discussing connections between the two texts as a class, students write about the similarities and differences between the texts. Students are invited to share their writing with the class.

The questions and tasks help students build and apply knowledge and skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, thinking, and language. During the Expository Nonfiction Unit of Being a Writer, students read examples of informational texts such as Rainforests by James Harrison. Students apply their learning from these examples to guide their writing as they craft expository texts. In addition, there are ample opportunities to practice listening and speaking about informational texts. For example, as students listen to the teacher read I Wonder Why the Sahara is Cold at Night by Jackie Gaff, they turn and talk about what they found interesting and what they are curious about.

Students complete a narrative writing end-of-year performance task. The Narrative Writing Task consists of five days of guided lessons during which students apply literacy skills to a genre-specific performance task as a class, in partnerships, and independently. Students review source materials, including the “National Mall and Memorial Parks” map, “Monuments of Washington D.C.” brochure, and a video titled “Lincoln Memorial,” all publisher-created materials. Students listen to the task as the teacher explains it, discuss what they have learned about narrative writing, read the source materials for the task, then apply their writing skills within the genre to plan, write, and revise a narrative story about visiting monuments in Washington D.C.

The text-dependent questions in the materials allow for the integration of knowledge and ideas taught in guided practice. Questions allow for the integration of knowledge and ideas taught in guided practice. In the Synthesizing Unit of Making Meaning, students listen to “12 Seconds From Death” by Paul Downswell. The teacher stops to ask comprehension questions such as, “What are the important events in the story?” Students read independently and record thoughts in a response notebook using a double-entry journal to help them synthesize. In this instance, the questions and tasks integrate listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills. 

While the materials include limited opportunities to integrate syntax, they regularly include components of vocabulary and fluency with opportunities for increased independence. Students engage in Independent Daily Reading and Independent Writing for 20‒30 minutes per day. During independent reading and writing time, students practice skills taught during the guided lesson. For example, during the Determining Important Ideas and Summarizing Unit of Making Meaning, students listen to the teacher read A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry. While reading independently, students practice writing down important ideas as they read. After reading, students discuss questions such as, “Why do you think the idea you marked is important?” This demonstrates that the tasks in the materials provide opportunities to increase student independence on what is covered during guided practice. 

Evaluation for 3.e.2
Materials provide spiraling and scaffolded practice.

The materials provide spiraled and distributed practice of integrated skills across the year through both reading and writing. The materials provide scaffolds for students to demonstrate the integration of spiraled literacy skills throughout the year.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Throughout the Making Meaning units, students use the Student Response Book to respond to the texts the class is reading. Students also respond to books they read independently in their Reading Journals and track their reading across the year.

The CCC standards correlation tab shows a breakdown of TEKS as they are taught throughout the year. This document shows how the standards are distributed throughout the year, giving students ample opportunity to practice. For example, “110.7.b.9.D.i. The central idea with supporting evidence” is taught 104 times throughout the year.

The materials support distributed practice over the course of the year. In Making Meaning, reading comprehension strategies are taught and developed throughout the year within nine units of instruction. In Unit 1, students learn about comprehension strategies and apply these strategies during their Individualized Daily Reading (IDR). In Unit 2, the class creates a Reading Comprehension Chart with the first strategy, “Using Text Features.” A Teacher Note in the sidebar guides teachers to reference the chart often and post it in a clearly visible place for students to access as they read. By Unit 9, students know the chart, which includes a variety of comprehension strategies. In this last unit, students reflect on their use of these strategies by answering class discussion questions such as, “How do these strategies help you make sense of what you are reading?”

Students continuously integrate self-monitoring skills and learn and apply reading “fix-up” strategies during IDR. Students learn self-monitoring in Unit 1 of Making Meaning as a way to pause while reading to ask themselves questions such as “Do I understand what I am reading?” The teacher models this strategy, and students practice it as they read independently. Then, in Unit 3, learn “fix-up” strategies of reading and reading ahead that they will use when they are having difficulty understanding a text throughout the year. 

The program design includes scaffolds for students to demonstrate the integration of literacy skills that spiral over the school year. In Making Meaning, Unit 3, students practice asking questions while reading Big Cats by Seymore Simon with a partner as the teacher reads aloud. Students then engage in IDR and note their own wonderings about their books. In this instance, students listen to a text and practice with a partner before practicing the skill independently, which serves as a scaffold.

In Unit 7 of Making Meaning, the guided practice is about analyzing nonfiction text features. During IDR, students practice utilizing text features to find information while reading independently. This spiraled scaffold supports students in developing their understanding of what they read throughout the year.

Being a Writer has distributed practice. While writing personal narratives, students maintain consistency with verb tenses. In the subsequent Fiction Writing Unit, students continue to maintain verb tense. Later, in the Expository Nonfiction Unit, students receive extra practice in the skill workbook on shifts in verb tense (Lesson 15).

In Being a Writer, students listen to a read-aloud of a mentor text in the same genre that they will write. In the Personal Narrative Unit, students listen to Knots in My Yo-yo String by Jerry Spinelli before drafting their own personal narratives. The teacher confers with students to support drafting. This gives students a concrete, published example and provides time to practice independently with teacher support. 

Based on the Vocabulary Teaching Guide for Making Meaning, students receive five days of vocabulary instruction. Every week, Ongoing Review activities review vocabulary words and structures previously learned. The materials support students as they practice using the vocabulary through oral conversations with peers. For example, on Day 5 of Week 12, students review previously learned words (circulate, inspire, intimidate, intricate, and neglect). Students review the pronunciation and meaning of the displayed words and use the words in context when playing the game “Does That Make Sense?” 

Evaluation for 4.1
Materials provide systematic instruction and practice of foundational skills, including opportunities for phonics and word analysis skills (e.g., examination of grade-level prefixes and suffixes, decoding of multisyllabic words by using syllabication, and automaticity with grade-level regular and irregular spelling patterns).

The materials provide explicit, systematic instruction in spelling skills and instruction in word analysis skills. However, they lack a systematic, research-based phonics program to support students, especially those in need of remediation.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Collaborative Literacy includes a research-based spelling program called Guided Spelling that contains 30 weeks of spelling instruction. The program is based on four areas of research on spelling, including Developmental Stages (Edmund Henderson, University of Virginia), Explicit Instruction (Barak Rosenshine), Word Frequency (Carroll, Davies, and Richman), and Basal Spelling. 

Guided Spelling progresses from spelling short vowels in Week 1 to doubling consonants in polysyllabic words in Week 28. Each week contains approximately 30 words, including the new words, review words, and challenge words. Students also practice recognizing high-frequency words, as well as frequently misspelled words. For example, in Week 20, students learn 15 new words (8 that use -ance or -ence) and 10 review words such as content, present, and enormous.  The frequently misspelled word for the week is January. Students practice spelling the word list by following a sequence such as reading the word, saying the syllables, underlining hard parts, covering the word, saying and writing the word by syllables, and checking your answer. 

Making Meaning includes two volumes of a Vocabulary Teaching Guide. These 30 weeks of vocabulary instruction are based on the research of Baumann and Kame'enui, McKeown and Beck, and Stahl (1999). Students receive direct instruction in specific words and strategies to recognize words independently. For example, students learn to determine word meanings by using prefixes dis- and pre-, suffixes -er and -less, using Greek and Latin roots, and recognizing synonyms, antonyms, and multiple-meaning words. In Making Meaning, Appendix A, Lesson 6, students learn how to identify prefixes, suffixes, and base words. As the teacher reads an excerpt from What’s Your Dream Job, the teacher circles the word questioner. The teacher demonstrates how to break the word into parts and use knowledge about the word base and suffix to determine the meaning of the word.  

There is minimal guidance for remediation in vocabulary. Guidance appears at the bottom of each vocabulary assessment record in the Assessment Resource Booklet. Examples of guidance include: “If only a few of the students understand the word’s meaning, reteach the word using the vocabulary lesson in which it was taught as a model” or “If about half of the students understand a word’s meaning, provide further practice by having the students play…”. The materials reference an extension from a previous week’s lesson which addressed this skill.  No other remediation lessons or small group lesson plans are included in the vocabulary, spelling, reading, or writing resources.

The Collaborative Literacy program materials do not include instruction in phonics, phonological awareness, or decoding of multisyllabic words through syllabication. They also do not include instruction or remediation in phonics, phonological awareness, or decoding of words. In order to teach phonics skills, the materials suggest the SIPPS program, which is available as a separate purchase.

Evaluation for 4.2
Materials include diagnostic tools and provide opportunities to assess student mastery, in and out of context, at regular intervals for teachers to make instructional adjustments.

There are various assessment resources in the materials, including diagnostic resources that assess reading and writing skills. However, these assessments do not assess foundational skills or provide teachers with guidance on how to respond to students’ needs. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

While the Guided Spelling materials do not include guidance for assessing or teaching skill gaps in phonics or decoding, the materials provide resources to teach spelling patterns. The spelling resources include a weekly formative assessment and tools for the teacher to interpret this data to inform or adjust instruction. For example, in Guided Spelling, Week 7, the materials focus on the drop e generalization in words such as smoky and preparing. The lists indicate new words, review words, and challenge words for students who are able to master the grade level list. The students also generate words with final consonant clusters such as -mp and -nch. It is important to note that a diagnostic tool is not included for spelling.

The program also includes a Vocabulary Teaching Guide where teachers will find Individual Vocabulary Assessments. These eight assessments are multiple-choice and help teachers assess individual student word knowledge. Directions for administering the assessment and recording sheets are found in the Assessment Resource Book. There are suggestions for how to score the assessment, such as awarding a point per word or creating a rubric.

While reading diagnostic tools are not included in the Making Meaning materials, there are Individual Daily Reading (IDR) Conference Notes in the Assessment Resource Book. These notes are divided into four parts: “Initiate the Conference,” “Listen to the Student Read Aloud,” “Discuss the Text,” and “Discuss Text Level.” A “Suggestions For Supporting Readers” section directs teachers to a “Reading Development” section of the Assessment Resource Book. This informational section discusses the five stages of reading development (Awareness and Exploration, Emergent, and Fluent/Independent) and general ways to support each stage, such as “Work on phonics and phonological awareness” at the early reader stage. No phonics or phonological awareness instruction is provided in the materials at the time of this review. 

In Making Meaning, Unit 1, students learn how to select books for independent reading. They also learn to use fix-up strategies when they struggle, such as asking, “What is happening in my book?” and “Do I understand what I am reading?” In the Making Meaning Assessment Guide, there are notes that explain the rubric for each unit assessment. However, the rating scales in the rubric are not broken down to indicate the specific skills to reteach.

The materials provide a “Reading Assessment Preparation Guide” on the teacher portal. These assessments are short passages with questions in a variety of formats. For example, after reading “The Erie Canal,” students answer multiple-choice questions such as, “What is the main point the author makes in paragraph 1?” and short answer questions such as, “In paragraph 5, the author states that ‘Life along the canal changed as the canal’s popularity grew.’ On the lines below, list three examples of evidence from the text that support this statement.” The materials contain a Class Assessment Record sheet where the teacher notes if “all or most students, about half of the students, or only a few students” are successfully answering the questions and using comprehension fix-up strategies. If half or fewer students adequately answer the questions, the teacher reviews a comprehension lesson such as “Self-Monitoring or Using Fix-Up Strategies,” found in Appendix A of the Making Meaning Teacher Manual. 

The Being A Writer Skills Practice Supplement includes a diagnostic language skills assessment. After administering this, the teacher may use the cumulative report forms to record individual results and class results. The teacher also utilizes the Center for the Collaborative Classroom (CCC) Class View Assessment App to track student progress and growth across all CCC systems. After analyzing these results, the teacher identifies skill practice mini-lessons to support student needs for additional learning. The skill practice mini-lessons include topics such as sentences, nouns and pronouns, and punctuation. The diagnostic does not assess foundational literacy skills. Furthermore, the resources do not support teachers with identifying gaps in phonological awareness, phonics, decoding, or fluency. The program suggests the use of a partner system called SIPPS, but this is not within the CCC materials for review.

Evaluation for 4.3
Materials provide frequent opportunities for students to practice and develop oral and silent reading fluency, while reading a wide variety of grade-appropriate texts at the appropriate rate with accuracy and expression to support comprehension.

Students have ample opportunities to independently read the text at their level. While the materials reference the importance of teaching fluency and building foundational skills, they provide minimal guidance on how to teach these skills. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide ample opportunities for students to read independently. Making Meaning lessons include Individualized Daily Reading (IDR), during which students independently read the text at their reading levels and apply the reading strategies learned.

The Assessment Resource Book provides IDR Conference Notes. Teachers use these notes to individually assess students’ comprehension of the text they read independently and discuss text levels. Teachers conduct one IDR conference per student in each unit. During the conference, teachers ask, ”Do you think this [book] is at the right level for you—not too difficult and not too easy? Why do you say that?” The “Suggestions for Supporting Readers” section of the Assessment Resource Book provides suggestions for helping a student choose a more appropriate book.

The IDR Conference Notes include a section labeled “Listen to the Student Read Aloud.” One of the criteria on which they score students is “The student reads fluently” by determining a score range from 1‒4. There is no guidance to explain what fluent reading looks like or how to monitor for accuracy and fluency as students are reading (Introduction to Making Meaning). If a student does not read fluently during this conference, the teacher teaches IDR Mini Lesson 4, “Reading with Expression,” and IDR Mini Lesson 5, “Reading in Meaningful Phrases,” found in Teacher Volume II of Making Meaning, Appendix A. For example, in the mini-lesson for Reading in Meaningful Phrases, the teacher shows an excerpt from pages 4‒5 of the book Rainforests by James Harrison. The teacher reads aloud with and without phrasing. Then, students discuss the differences between the two readings. The group works together to chunk the excerpt into meaningful phrases and read it with phrasing. Students then compare what the reading sounds like with and without phrasing. Students continue to practice reading with phrasing using another excerpt and their IDR texts. The materials only provide one lesson to target each component of fluency, and the lessons utilize the same strategies and resources across grades 3‒5.

The Introduction to Making Meaning also stresses the importance of reading decodable readers, but there are no decodable readers in the materials. Thus, the materials do not embed opportunities to build foundational reading skills.

Evaluation for 5.1
Materials include supports for students who demonstrate proficiency above grade-level.

The materials provide various opportunities for whole-group extensions through additional reading and writing opportunities. However, the materials include limited opportunities for differentiation for students who are performing above grade level.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The Introduction of the Grade 5 Making Meaning Teacher’s Manual includes a description of ways a teacher can extend or enhance core lessons through Writing About Reading or Extension activities. These learning opportunities provide support for students at all levels to further engage in the lesson topic through individual or group activities that include research, writing about personal connections, reading other texts written by authors read in class, or writing an alternate ending to a story. 

In Making Meaning, Unit 1, students read the focus text The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland and extend their learning by reading other works of historical fiction by Garland and other authors. Students discuss the texts, the traits of historical fiction, and act out the stories they contain.

In Making Meaning, Unit 3, a technology extension activity allows students to research answers to their questions about big cats. After reading the nonfiction text Big Cats in week 2, students’ additional questions are recorded and emailed to animal experts. 

In Making Meaning, Unit 5, students explore first- and third-person points of view in poems. Students engage in discussion to identify the point of view of the poem. As an extension, they write poems from different points of view. 

In Making Meaning, Unit 6, students engage in a technology extension as they work in pairs to conduct research and create a digital presentation on a prominent African American author. Examples of authors provided include Maya Angelou, Ralph Ellison, and Alice Walker. Discussion questions are provided, such as “What did you learn that was especially interesting to you?” 

In Making Meaning, Unit 7, the class examines an author’s use of text structure through persuasive texts. Students who are advanced may complete research on advertising directed at children. 

Making Meaning, Unit 9, involves making judgments and forming opinions about fiction and expository texts. In Week 3, as an extension, students read and discuss opinion essays that the teacher has curated by searching online for “pro/cons articles for kids.” Students use these articles as the foundation of a class debate on a topic. 

The Vocabulary Teaching Guide recommends teachers use the “Extensions” provided throughout the weeks of lessons as supplemental activities; they teach independent word-learning strategies not included in the lesson structures and other language structures or author's craft with language. For instance, in Week 3, students explore domain-specific language, such as tropics, from the focus trade book Rainforests by James Harrison. The teacher models using one page of the text then asks students questions to guide their application of this contextual meaning. During Week 18, students extend their learning, focusing on the prefix inter-. The teacher defines the prefix, and students analyze other words to discuss how the prefix affects the meaning of the word.

In the Being a Writer Skill Practice Teaching Guide, Appendix B, there is an explanation of how to use these skill practice pages to meet the needs of various learner levels. It explains that each activity is scaffolded, with the first being a review skill, the second a grade-level appropriate skill, and the third a more rigorous task. The Teaching Guide recommends teachers use these in accordance with recent observational data to determine the needs of students.

In Being A Writer, Unit 2, students read examples of personal narratives, including Never the Monkey, to inspire their own writing. Students who are performing above grade level explore the more advanced grammar by examining Spinelli’s use of past perfect tense. Furthermore, students receive extension questions to discuss with partners Spinelli’s use of hyperbole in Knots in my Yo-yo String.

At the conclusion of the poetry unit in Being a Writer, Volume 2, a technology extension in week 2 supports students in creating audio/video recordings of themselves reading their own poetry. The teacher records him or herself reading various poems to the class as well as finding examples of other poets reading their own poetry. Students record themselves and share these recordings in a classroom library.

Evaluation for 5.2
Materials include supports for students who perform below grade level to ensure they are meeting the grade-level literacy standards.

The materials do include some extensions and differentiation opportunities as well as prompts for teachers to use if a student is not demonstrating mastery. However, these planning and learning opportunities are intended for all students who are not mastering the specific skill and are not designed specifically for students who perform below grade level.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The Introduction to Making Meaning specifies that the classroom library should include a balance of genres and that 25% of texts should be one year to two years below grade level. While this acknowledges the need for texts that are below grade level, the teacher does not have specific guidance on how to ensure that students reading below grade level are accessing the appropriate texts. 

The Introduction to Making Meaning explains that each lesson contains “Helpful Lesson Features” such as “Cooperative Structure Icons,” “Suggested Vocabulary,” and “ELL Vocabulary.” While these may be helpful to the whole class, they are not specific to struggling students. The introduction explains that students have the opportunity to self-select texts at their own reading level during Individualized Daily Reading (IDR). The teacher’s role during this time is to listen and confer with readers. While students reading below grade level would be able to use this time to practice on their own level, instruction is not targeted to what these struggling students need.

In Making Meaning, Unit 1, students practice self-monitoring while reading independently. In Week 2, teachers circulate during independent reading and ask students to read aloud portions of their texts and answer questions about what they are reading. If students struggle to understand their text, teachers support comprehension by having students reread the class-created Thinking About My Reading chart and choose questions that will help them self-monitor. 

In Making Meaning, Unit 7, students analyze text structure to better understand expository nonfiction. In Week 1, students reread the article “Copycats: Why Clone?” by the Center for the Collaborative Classroom and highlight the pros and cons of cloning. In a sidebar “Teacher Note,” teachers support struggling students by asking questions such as, “What information did you read in this paragraph?” and “Why do you think the idea is mentioned in the ‘pro’ section of the article?” Teachers can have struggling readers pair up to read the article or reread the entire article aloud to the class.

The Being A Writer resources include limited differentiation opportunities for students performing below grade level on skills practice and spelling. The Being A Writer Skills Practice resource contains reteach opportunities for students who did not master the skill. Each week in Guided Spelling, there are student lists based on students’ current skill levels. Students who are below their expected level study from the word list marked by stars. The Being a Writer Teacher’s Manual provides guidance for using the Class Assessment Notes within the lessons. These notes occur once per week and guide teachers to observe students as they work independently or in pairs. For example, in Unit 1, Week 2, students continue to build stamina for writing during independent writing time. In a Class Assessment Note, teachers observe students as they write and take note of their writing habits. Teachers use prompts to support struggling students, such as “What are you thinking about right now?” and “What ideas have you written in your writing ideas section? Let’s pick one and talk about what you might write.” These prompts are intended for all students, not specifically for students performing below grade level.

In the “Narrative Writing Unit” of Being A Writer, students set goals and work with a partner throughout the unit. Students use talking stems to facilitate work with a partner, such as “I agree with...because….” While this sentence frame is a specific consideration for English Language Learners that may also be beneficial to struggling students, differentiation targeted specifically at struggling students is limited. 

In the “Poetry Unit” of Being A Writer, the Teacher Note provides strategies to support students struggling with rhyming patterns, such as “You might reread each poem aloud, one stanza at a time, and ask students to underline the words that rhyme. Then repeat the question.” These prompts are brief and, in general, are not targeted specifically at students who do not show mastery of grade-level concepts.

Evaluation for 5.3
Materials include supports for English Learners (EL) to meet grade-level learning expectations.

The materials provide supports for English Learners (ELs) to meet grade-level learning expectations. These supports include accommodations for linguistics, scaffolds, strategic use of students’ first language, and opportunities for connected discourse. While the teacher must differentiate the accommodations to various levels of English language proficiency, there are numerous provided strategies and ideas.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials contain multiple accommodations for English Learners (ELs). Making Meaning Volume 1 of the Teacher’s Edition includes a Special Considerations section that describes supports and scaffolds for English Learners. These English Language Development Strategies include creating a respectful, safe learning community, cooperative learning, authentic communication, vocabulary development, language-rich environment, scaffolded instruction, integrating movement and art to demonstrate understanding and critical thinking. 

There are suggestions for simplifying questions. These include “providing context clues as part of the question” and asking “who/what/where/when questions rather than how/why questions.” This section also describes the developmental stages of language acquisition under an immersion framework. These stages are defined but not specifically addressed in the lessons. 

Making Meaning contains suggestions for accommodating ELs throughout lessons. Unit 1 of Making Meaning asks students to discuss aspects of reading that they enjoy. It includes an ELL Note that encourages ELs to share books written in their primary language that they enjoy as well as books written in English. In Unit 5, Week 2, an ELL Note suggests that ELs can benefit from drawing their inferences rather than writing them. The same note suggests that ELs can dictate their journal entries to the teacher so that the teacher may write them. 

Making Meaning also uses reflection and questioning as a strategy to support ELs. For example, in Unit 8, the teacher models reading a text and periodically stopping to ask self-monitoring questions. The teacher provides a visual of these questions for students to refer back to and use while reading independently. The teacher explicitly explains the process before sending students off to read independently.

Being A Writer also provides various scaffolds and accommodations for ELs. In Unit 1, students write a poem in the style of Jack Prelutsky’s Scranimals. Students record their examples of scranimals, a combination of an animal and fruit/vegetable name. An ELL Note suggests that teachers invite EL students to create scranimals by blending the names of animals and fruits/vegetables in their primary language.

In the Expository Nonfiction unit of Being a Writer, an ELL Note in the sidebar suggests that teachers find nonfiction texts written in their English Learners’ primary language to support them as they develop background knowledge on a topic of interest. The materials do not include information on where to find these texts. 

In the Writing Process unit of Being a Writer, there is an explanation about using direct eye contact. The teacher should be sensitive to students’ cultural norms and adjust their expectations for eye contact accordingly.

In the Building a Writing Community unit of Being a Writer, the teacher provides a prompt to ELs to help them verbalize their reflection of something they have discovered or something they hear that the author in the mentor text discovered using the stem, “I found out…”.

The materials provide explicit vocabulary instruction as a part of the connected unit discourse. In Unit 1, Week 1 of Making Meaning, materials identify and define words such as scrambled and towering (with a reference to the illustration), with which English Learners may struggle. A Teacher Note suggests that these words should be defined but not discussed to “maintain the flow of the story.” 

ELL Vocabulary text boxes include phrases from the core read-aloud text that may be difficult for ELs to comprehend. For example, in Unit 2 of Making Meaning, the teacher defines phrases such as “a shaky start” and “up-and-coming.” In Making Meaning, Unit 6, the teacher explains the following words from the excerpt in Richard Wright and the Library Card: ignored, a suspicious look, cautiously. The teacher rereads the excerpt on pages 14‒17 while giving EL students time to stop and have discussions for clarity of meaning. In Being A Writer, Unit 1, students read My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother. Suggested vocabulary and phrases include ache and the idiom “getting the puckers.”

Also, the materials include a vocabulary teaching resource. This can be integrated into the Making Meaning units or used separately. Each week, the teacher reviews vocabulary terms connected with the read-aloud text and then selects word-learning strategies and resources to use with the reading lesson. For example, in Week 3, some of the word-learning strategies include recognizing antonyms, use of videos, and teaching proverbs, or using the prefix dis- to determine word meaning. These lessons incorporate social development focuses, such as working responsibly, developing the skill of explaining their thinking, or sharing someone’s thinking with others, which support ELs in their oral language development.

Making Meaning, Volume 1 of the Teacher’s Guide includes considerations for pairing ELs. Strategic pairing supports the development of vocabulary and oral language skills. For example, a recommendation states that students work with the same partner for an entire unit, though at times, random pairings may be advantageous. The materials recommend pairing a beginning English speaker with a fluent English or multilingual speaker or placing students in trios so they may have opportunities to hear fluent English spoken with the support of a similar native language speaker.

In the Making Meaning Vocabulary Teaching Guide, there is support for native Spanish speakers. There are parent letters to be sent home in Spanish, and there are notes for vocabulary words that have a Spanish cognate so that students can make the connection in the meeting. 

Evaluation for 6.1
Materials include assessment and guidance for teachers and administrators to monitor progress including how to interpret and act on data yielded.

The materials include formative and summative assessments that are aligned to the content, including guidance on scoring. However, the materials do not indicate the TEKS alignment and provide limited guidance for interpreting and responding to student performance.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide a data portal called ClassViewPro. The portal allows the teacher or administrator to review detailed reports on classes, groups, or individual students. 

The portal has a “Reading Assessment Preparation Guide.” It contains assessments, which consist of short passages with questions in a variety of formats. For example, after reading “The Erie Canal,” students answer multiple-choice questions such as, “What is the main point the author makes in paragraph 1?” and short answer questions such as, “In paragraph 5, the author states that ‘Life along the canal changed as the canal’s popularity grew.’ On the lines below, list three examples of evidence from the text that support this statement.” The materials contain a Class Assessment Record sheet where the teacher notes whether “all or most students, about half of the students, or only a few students” are successfully answering the questions and using comprehension fix-up strategies. The materials suggest that if half or fewer students are adequately answering the questions, the teacher should review a lesson such as “Self-Monitoring or Using Fix-Up Strategies” found in Appendix A of the Making Meaning Teacher Manual.

The Making Meaning Assessment Resource Book supports teachers in making informed, instructional decisions about the comprehension and social skills taught throughout the units of instruction. The assessments allow teachers to track and evaluate vocabulary knowledge. Formative assessments include Class Observation Assessments, Individualized Daily Reading (IDR) Conferences, and Student Reading Goals and Interests Survey. The Class Observations help the teacher assess the needs of the entire class. For example, a question from Unit 3, Week 2, Day 3, is “Are the students using their questions to guide their thinking about the text?” Summative assessments include a Social Skills Assessment, conducted three times per year, as well as Individual Comprehension Assessments, which assess strategy use and comprehension. This assessment aligns with the strategy taught during the unit and is administered once per unit. 

Lessons within the Making Meaning core units include an icon that alerts teachers when an assessment is suggested. For example, in Unit 3 of Making Meaning, students learn the comprehension strategy of Questioning. The Individual Comprehension Assessment that correlates with this lesson includes assessing the students’ response activity of “Stop and Ask Questions About Big Cats.” There is a scoring sheet, as are sample scored examples and teacher commentary. 

While there are suggestions on how to support struggling students, they are limited. During the formative Class Observation on Unit 2, Week 2, Day 2, the Class Assessment Record (included in the Assessment Resource Book) provides suggestions for teachers such as, “If all or most students are noticing text features and seem to understand what information they provide, proceed with the lesson and then continue on to Day 3.” Suggestions on how to proceed if half or only a few of the students notice text features include reteaching Days 1 and 2 using an alternative article. There is a list of alternative texts in the online CCC Learning Hub. While there are suggestions for reteach, they frequently suggest that teachers repeat or reinforce the skill in the same way it has already been taught rather than providing a different approach.

The materials provide formative assessment opportunities through daily conferences. Both Making Meaning and Being a Writer have daily independent practice time. During IDR in Making Meaning, Unit 3, students read silently while the teacher confers and makes notes on whether the student can read most of the text accurately and is able to comprehend the text. During writing in Being a Writer, Expository Nonfiction Unit, students write independently while the teacher confers and makes notes on the Class Assessment Record sheet on things such as “Are the students able to write about things they have learned or are curious about?” 

In Being A Writer, students complete a summative assessment at the end of each unit. The materials provide guidance on scoring by including examples of scored passages. There is a section called “Commentary” for each writing piece. This section contains a detailed explanation of the scored example to guide teachers through the rationale behind scoring. There is a section called “Student Writing Samples.” Teachers find a collection of student writing tied to each unit to show as exemplars to students. While these assessment materials are aligned to the unit, there is no TEKS correlation.

Evaluation for 6.2
Materials include year-long plans and supports for teachers to identify needs of students and provide differentiated instruction to meet the needs of a range of learners to ensure grade-level success.

They include guidance on engaging students in multiple grouping structures throughout the year. The teacher edition provides various types of annotations and supports to engage students, including differentiated instruction to meet the needs of a range of learners.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

At the beginning of each unit and week, an overview outlines the instructional materials needed, the objectives for students, and any additional resources (e.g., online resources, technology extensions, assessments to administer during the week). It also states the resources the teacher may need to print or create before teaching the lesson.

The scope and sequence documents and the teacher’s manuals both provide information about the ancillary resource lessons teachers can use. For example, in Being a Writer, Unit 2, the teacher uses Lesson 1: Identify complete sentences and Lesson 2: Identify compound skills from the Skills Practice Guide. 

Students work in pairs and small groups to listen and discuss texts and apply comprehension strategies. Students are randomly paired at the beginning of each unit, and these pairs stay together throughout the entire unit. The Making Meaning Teacher’s Manual explains how to randomly pair students, such as by distributing pairs of playing cards or matching magazine pictures that have been cut in half. In Making Meaning, Unit 3, the teacher asks questions such as,  “How can you show respect for your partner’s thinking?” to engage students in thinking about how to best work with their partner. Students remain with the same partner throughout the unit to build rapport and develop comprehension. 

In the “Introduction” to Making Meaning and Being a Writer, there is a list of the helpful lesson features or annotations appearing in the lessons. These annotations include “Vocabulary Notes,” “Topic Notes,” “Teacher Notes,” “ELL Notes,” “Facilitation Tips,” “Cooperative Structure Icons,” “Suggested Vocabulary,” “ELL Vocabulary,” “Students Might Say,” “You Might Say,” “Chart Diagrams,” “Technology Tips,” “2D Barcodes,” “IDR Conference Notes,” and “End-of-Unit Considerations.” For example, there is a “Students Might Say” section to help support students who struggle with responding to a question. Teacher Notes in the sidebar provide teachers with purposes for different activities, materials that are to be collected and/or saved, ways of managing a lesson, or references to ancillary materials that may be utilized with students. For example, in Unit 3, Week 4 of Making Meaning, a Teacher Note alerts teachers that the work students are doing in their Student Response Books during the lesson is analyzed as part of the unit’s Individual Comprehension Assessment.

Both Making Meaning and Being a Writer include helpful technology features that support student learning and provide assistance to teachers. Two such features in the sidebar of the materials are Technology Tips and 2D Barcodes (QR codes). The Technology Tips assist teachers as they integrate technology into a lesson. The 2D codes are scanned and provide teachers with instant access to instructional media or professional development that is helpful for a particular portion of a lesson. For example, during the Personal Narrative Unit of Being a Writer, students learn how to “Share One Sentence and Reflect” after they have completed their writing for the day. A 2D code in the sidebar takes the viewer to a two-minute video example of the strategy.

There are Cooperative Structures, such as Turn to Your Partner, Think-Pair-Share, Think-Pair-Write, Heads Together, and Group Brainstorming, throughout both Making Meaning and Being a Writer. These structures allow students to talk about their thinking and hear from others. They promote accountability and participation and are called out within the materials using a double speech bubble icon.

Lastly, the student response books in Making Meaning provide students with a guide to reflect on what they have read and to show what they are learning. They also provide the teacher with information on how students are progressing through the material and skills. 

Evaluation for 6.3
Materials include implementation support for teachers and administrators.

The materials provide various resources to support teachers and administrators with the implementation of the curriculum. These supports include modules and slide decks that build a conceptual understanding of materials as well as supports for individual lessons. The materials include a school year’s worth of literacy instruction, including realistic pacing. There is also a scope and sequence that includes the essential knowledge and skills taught in the program.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include a scope and sequence that outlines the units of study. The scope and sequence for both Making Meaning and Being a Writer detail the unit title, length of the unit, core titles, vertical alignment of objectives across grade levels, and the purpose of the unit. The “Purpose” section summarizes the unit understandings and any spiraling review of comprehension or self-monitoring strategies. Furthermore, it explains the lesson foci for whole group, small group, independent, and social skills development lessons. There is a whole-class “Vocabulary” section that identifies the words to be taught during the unit. In Being A Writer, the Scope and Sequence also includes what students will do and learn as part of “Writing Craft and Genre,” “Skills and Conventions,” and “Independent Practice.” 

While the scope and sequence does not include specific TEKS for each unit, the Learning Portal includes a correlations tab. This resource provides the standards addressed in each lesson of Making Meaning and Being a Writer.

The materials include additional supports for teachers. They include a digital teacher set that contains the teacher’s manuals, the Assessment Resource Book, Skill Practice Teaching Guide, and Writing Performance Task Preparation Guide. The materials also include access to the “Learning Portal,” where teachers can access interactive activities, tutorials, professional development videos, and student materials. Furthermore, the materials include 4.5 hours of online course modules to support teachers in understanding and planning for program structures. For instance, the course modules for Making Meaning include “Introduction,” “Understanding Program Structure,” “Vocabulary Acquisition and Use,” “Lesson Facilitation,” “Individualized Daily Reading,” “Assessment,” and “Reading Assessment Preparation Guide.” 

Each of the teacher materials contains an introduction section that describes how the materials are used in conjunction with the other resources, a suggested timeline across the year, and any student resources that support instruction. For example, the “Introduction” to the Vocabulary Teaching Guide, Volume I, explains the importance of vocabulary instruction, how to use the vocabulary lessons, provides a suggested lesson length, and gives an overview of the instructional design: “The lessons combine direct instruction in word meaning with activities that require the students to think deeply about the words and use them as they talk with their partners and the class.”

There are also supports for teachers in the margins of the teacher editions. These supports are indicated with specific symbols and include teacher notes, cooperative structure icons, ELL support, suggested vocabulary, 2D barcodes to gain access to instant professional development and instructional media, and assessment notes. Administrators can also use these notes to support teachers with implementation.

The materials include materials specific to administrators to support teachers in implementation. The Making Meaning materials include a “Facilitator’s Guide for Professional Learning Support.” The Facilitator’s Guide has detailed explanations to support on-site professional development. The supports include publisher-created slideshow presentations with the presenter’s notes attached to each slide. There are session agendas, participant activities, facilitator/participant materials, and estimated timestamps within the facilitator guide. The guide includes material for seven professional development sessions and various school site reflection tools.

The materials include a school year’s worth of instruction and provide guidance for developing a scope and sequence. The Implementation Guide includes a “Sample Year Long Calendar” that outlines 30 weeks of instruction for Reading, Writing, Skills and Conventions, Vocabulary, and Spelling. Each week includes five days of lessons. According to the Implementation Guide, each instructional block is a recommended 120 minutes. The resource includes strategies to extend the learning if needed, such as “Teach Writing about Reading activities, Extensions, and/ or Technology Extensions.”

Evaluation for 6.4
The visual design of the student edition (whether in print or digital) is neither distracting nor chaotic.

The materials use an appropriate amount of white space and design that does not divert students’ attention; the pictures and graphics are supportive of student learning and engagement without distraction.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Materials include consistent use of font and color, including pictures and graphics, which support student learning and engagement, for Making Meaning and Being a Writer. Color is used sparingly, as all text is in green lettering with a white background. The student-facing materials provide adequate white space. For example, the Guided Spelling Student Book provides simple practice spaces that only contain the words in white and green and do not distract from the student-learning objectives.

The Student Writing Handbook for Being a Writer includes a functional writing unit that contains excerpts from mentor texts, articles, essays, and poetry examples. Each text has its page with ample white space and large margins. The design of the Student Writing Handbook supports student learning with pages that are clearly labeled and numbered.

The Student Response Book for Making Meaning includes graphic organizers and articles with pictures that are supportive of student learning. The majority of the Student Response Book includes ample white space that supports students as they engage in activities and journal their reading. Images within articles are appropriate for use in grade 5, and although monotone, there is enough color contrast to distinguish the image from the background and do not distract from the reading. This includes excerpts from read-aloud texts, writing activities, reading logs, and a reading journal. This resource is written in grade-appropriate font and size and contains appropriate white space for students to write in and take notes. The design of the Student Response Book supports student autonomy with pages that are labeled and organized in a logical progression. For example, there are two excerpts from Big Cats by Seymour Simon on two separate pages of the resource book with a text box that states “Excerpt.” A response page asks students to “Stop and Ask Questions” about the first excerpt is strategically placed to support students’ understanding and promote independence.

In Unit 2, while reading Egyptian Burial by Rebecca Harlow, the student materials contain the article and several engaging graphic features, including a photograph of the pyramids and a diagram on how to make a mummy. The features are simple and engaging without being overwhelming. 

In Unit 7, Functional Writing, examples of graphics include a calendar of events for a baseball park, a train schedule, and a flyer describing the opening of a new roller coaster at an amusement park. All graphics are clear, have easy to read fonts, and include visuals, such as a graphic of a train, to support language learners. 

While working in Unit 9, there is the text 12 Seconds From Death by Paul Dowswell and then a graphic organizer to note opinions and evidence from the text. 

Evaluation for 6.5
If present, technology components included are appropriate for grade level students and provide support for learning.

The materials include technology components that are grade-level appropriate and support learning. The supports enhance learning, and there is appropriate teacher guidance. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In the teacher volume of Making Meaning and Being a Writer, there are technology resources in the introduction section of Teacher’s volume I. It states: “The Making Meaning Digital Teacher’s set includes electronic versions of the Teacher’s Manual, Assessment Resource Book, Vocabulary Teaching Guide, and Reading Assessment Preparation Guide (grades 3‒6) for use on a tablet device or computer.” This section lists technology tutorials that may support teacher’s implementation of the programs’ s technology features and how to use widely available technology referenced in the lessons, such as presentation tools. Tutorials include topics like “Using Web-based Maps and Related Tools,” “Using Blogs in the Classroom,” and “Creating Digital Stories.” 

There are technology extensions for some lessons. In both Making Meaning and Being a Writer, Technology Extensions are optional activities that extend the learning for a particular lesson or topic and support students in a variety of topics. Examples include Navigating Safely Online, Choosing Effective Search Terms, and Understanding Search Results. Technology tips, extensions, and lessons are called out within the Teacher Manual with a specific “clicking finger” icon. They include things such as listening to and discussing an online interview with an author or publishing their writing in an online format such as a class blog, visiting a website to investigate a topic, or listening to an audio version of a book heard in a lesson. For example, in Unit 7, Week 1 of Making Meaning, the Technology Extension at the end of day 2 has students learn more about cloning, the topic of the texts they are reading. In the extension, Research and Create Presentations About Cloning, students research articles about cloning to form their own opinions and support their ideas with details from their research. There is a Technology Tip in the sidebar to guide teachers with age-appropriate research strategies and tutorials for using presentation tools.