Shmoop World Literature English II

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

The texts are well-crafted and of publishable quality, representing the quality of content, language, and writing that is produced by experts in various disciplines. Students determine functions of narratives that cover a wide range of student interests, including the purposes of cultural myth, larger-than-life heroes, and family drama.

Examples include but are not limited to:

The materials include well-known writers, such as Aristotle, Machiavelli, and Shakespeare, and well-known texts, such as Oedipus Rex by Sophocles and All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. The materials also include ancient epic poems, such as The Epic of Gilgamesh and Homer’s The Iliad and nonfiction texts, such as Maus—a memoir of life during the Holocaust by Art Spiegelman—and Night by Elie Weisel.

In Unit 1, students read myths from Greece, Rome, Japan, North America, and Europe about creation, the apocalypse, and heroes; for example, “Genesis” from the Christian Bible, “Theogony” by Hesiod, and The Prose Edda compiled by Snorri Sturluson. They learn about different cultures and discover why each story is important to its specific culture.

In Unit 2, students explore “blockbusters of the ancient world,” including the Epic of Gilgamesh and Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad.

In Unit 4, students analyze William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, focusing on the style of the text and the similarities and differences between Sophocles’ Oedipus the King (read in Unit 3) and Hamlet.

In Unit 5, students explain rhetorical strategies and demonstrate how they show up in media by close reading multiple rhetorical and persuasive speeches and texts, both ancient and modern. For example, students explore Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford commencement speech, Rhetoric by Aristotle, and an open letter to the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran from the United States Senate Republicans.

In Unit 7, students explore the Holocaust through a variety of media, including poetry, memoirs, letters, and graphic novels. Students discover how different techniques used by authors—Art Speigelman in Maus, and Elie Wiesel in Night, for example—help them process their experiences. Students also read a selection of diary entries by Hersh Wasser, a Warsaw refugee; Moshe Flinker, an Auschwitz survivor; Yarden, a young Jewish youth; and farewell letters to his children by Chaim Prinzental, a Jew living in Luck.

In Unit 8, students read Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, which explores the colonization of Africa.

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.

The materials include a variety of text types and genres across content that meet the requirements of the TEKS for each grade level. Literary texts include epic poetry, drama, historical fiction, fantasy, and literary nonfiction, such as memoirs and essays. Informational texts include speeches and rhetorical texts. Throughout the materials, a variety of multimodal graphics and pictures as well as audio and video clips support the texts.

Examples of literary texts include but are not limited to:

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (German historical fiction)
The Epic of Gilgamesh (ancient epic poem)
Hamlet by William Shakespeare (English drama)
The Iliad by Homer (ancient Greek epic)
The Odyssey by Homer (ancient Greek epic)
Maus by Art Spiegelman (memoir)
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (German fantasy fiction)
Oedipus the King by Sophocles (ancient Greek epic)
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (African tragedy)

Examples of informational texts include but are not limited to:

Steve Jobs’ commencement speech at StanfordVarious documents and letters about the Holocaust, including:

• Select diary entries of Hersh Wasser, a Warsaw refugee
• Select diary entries of Moshe Flinker, an Auschwitz survivor
• Select diary entries of Yarden, a young Jewish youth
• Farewell letters to his children by Chaim Prinzental, a Jew living in Luck

Various news stories

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

In Unit 3, Bénigne Gagneraux’s oil painting The Blind Oedipus Commending his Children to the Gods with the caption “On the bright side, all that suffering makes for some really great photo ops” provides a visual representation of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King.

Unit 4 begins with a picture of Shakespeare sitting at a desk gazing off into the distance, captioned “Man, that Hamlet play I wrote was so good. I'm going to write another play called Dude, That Shakespeare Guy Is Awesome,” to help the reader understand the significance of Hamlet and that it is considered one of Shakespeare’s greatest works.

Unit 5 starts with a photo of a tortilla with mayo, cucumbers, and potato chips on a plate (left side) and the whole thing wrapped up on a plate (right side) with the caption “Mmm. Wisdom and rhetoric together in one sandwich at last. Don't judge!” to help students understand the unlikely pair and how they can work together better than one may think. Throughout the unit, students refer back to the unlikely combination of potato chips wrapped inside a sandwich as they investigate and explore how rhetorical techniques, such as manipulation, are used in real life.

In Unit 8, students view a photo in which a militant closely resembling Theodore Roosevelt straddles the expanse of the continent of Africa, introducing them to the idea of colonization and imperial literature.

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

The materials include texts that are at the appropriate level of complexity to support students at their grade level. The texts are at the appropriate quantitative levels and have the appropriate qualitative features for the grade level. However, the publisher does not provide a text-complexity analysis to accompany the texts.

Examples include but are not limited to:

“Theogony” by Hesiod (1280L)
The Odyssey by Homer (1050L)
The Iliad by Homer (1040L)
The Epic of Gilgamesh (1090L)
Oedipus the King by Sophocles (1070L)
Hamlet by William Shakespeare (1070L)
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (840L)
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (1340L)
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (890L)

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 materials contain questions and tasks that support students in analyzing and integrating knowledge, ideas, themes, and connections within and across texts. Most questions and tasks build conceptual knowledge, are text-specific/dependent, target complex elements of the texts, and integrate multiple TEKS. Questions and tasks require students to make connections to personal experiences, other texts, and the world around them and identify and discuss important big ideas, themes, and details. As the students work through the lessons, they are consistently given the opportunity to read/review/investigate several resources to support making connections to personal experiences, other texts, and the world around them.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 1, students use Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey, which highlights Carl Jung’s hero archetypes, along with other resources, including movies and TV shows, to analyze plots and characters in a narrative. Students research how Carl Jung’s hero archetypes appear in other media and apply their understanding of the archetypal hero in an analytical essay.

In Unit 2, students describe various heroes and investigate required texts’ themes. For example, after reading Homer’s The Iliad, students explain why it is a classic. Additionally, students analyze the characterization of Gilgamesh. Students make inferences about characters based on the text read and personal connections made. They create an illustrated timeline showing how a theme develops throughout the epic. Students examine themes such as rage, death/mortality, family, war/warfare, and pride; they do so by finding six quotes and/or passages that illustrate the theme as well as images to visually represent it.

In Unit 4, students analyze the character of Hamlet (from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet) and identify the features of Shakespearean tragedy. Students analyze Hamlet’s interactions with Polonius and make inferences based on the characters’ actions to determine if Polonius is one of the “honest men” Hamlet talks about. Students pinpoint a specific place in this dialogue that supports their conclusion.

In Unit 5, students define rhetoric in their own words and connect it to their daily lives. For example, students read the commencement speech delivered at Stanford University by Steve Jobs and apply their own expectations and experiences to understand Jobs’ rhetorical appeal to his audience.

In Unit 6, students read the epigraph from All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque and analyze its perspective of war. Students then use print ads, commercials, video games, movies, and/or news to investigate how war is depicted. Finally, students write a four- to seven-paragraph essay on whether or not war is an adventure, citing evidence from the novel’s epigraph and the research conducted.

Throughout Unit 7, students analyze literature about the Holocaust and examine how writing about trauma helps survivors process the event. For example, after reading Maus II, Chapter 2, by Art Spiegelman, students choose and analyze quotes in which Art is talking to his therapist and determine how this helps or does not help survivors. Students must use other texts from the unit to support their arguments.

In Unit 8, students describe the concept of colonization by analyzing the various literary techniques used in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Students use the text to support their answers to several questions, analyzing the process of the coIonization of the Igbo as told through the experiences and conversations of Nwoye and his father.

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 support students’ analysis of the literary and textual elements of a text. A variety of tasks and questions require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts. Throughout the entire course, students consistently make inferences about the author’s purpose and craft and analyze literary choices to understand the text. In addition, students examine identical themes across different texts to compare and contrast authors’ choices. Students also study the author’s word choice in describing characters and determine the motivations for the characters’ actions.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 1, students infer why the author made certain choices, drawing conclusions from text. Students explain the author’s purpose in creating the poem, using ideas presented by Karen Armstrong in a previously watched interview. Students combine the information gathered from the text, the interview, and their own ideas into a short paragraph to explain the author’s message. Students also analyze how the author communicates meaning in and across texts. For example, in an activity called “Let’s Get Explicit,” students focus on what is clearly stated, and then make inferences by using implied meanings to interpret the author’s message. Students use guiding questions, such as “What does the text explicitly tell us about how creation happened? Now, based on this depiction of creation, what can we infer about what the Greeks valued? What does it tell us about how they saw the world?” to aid in the mastery of this analytical skill.

In Unit 2, students explore the grand, elaborate language of the epic through Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad. Students explore the characters and settings that show up in myths and epics. Students identify and compare the types of plots they find. After exploring plot, students analyze purpose by considering what the writer/performer/poet is trying to do—teach? Entertain? Persuade?

In Unit 3, students investigate the ways in which authors employ language styles and images to evoke emotion from the reader. While considering the style and tone, students determine which literary devices are used, such as allusion, metaphor, simile, personification, and imagery. The poems explored are “Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas, and “After Apple Picking” by Robert Frost. (These are the same poems used in English I.) Students then move on to the main text and identify the literary devices; then, they identify how all the literary devices create the writing style and tone.

In Unit 4, students complete activities that specifically address understanding the cultural context of a work. Students read about Aristotle’s idea of what makes a tragedy. Students also study the Elizabethan cultural context. Students then read Shakespeare’s Hamlet and explore his use of different poetic techniques to portray the characters in his play, including soliloquies, dialogue, and asides. They also search for videos by looking up the phrase “to be or not to be.” After watching various films and reading different texts, students compare and contrast Aristotle’s idea of a tragedy and the elements employed by Shakespeare, analyzing the differences in context, settings, costuming, and characters.

In Unit 5, students look at writings by Aristotle, with their complex and advanced language. They also analyze informational and nonfiction texts like Proverbs from the Bible and sections of the Buddhist Dhammapada to understand how the idea of wisdom differs depending on culture, religion, etc. Students explore listicles, viral videos, and open letters for similar rhetorical techniques to those used by ancient philosophers. After understanding historical texts, students move to a contemporary piece, Steve Jobs’ 2005 commencement address at Stanford, annotating it for the following rhetorical elements: the rhetorical situation, rhetorical appeals, commonplaces, and logical fallacies. After a close study, students answer the question “To what extent is the wisdom offered by Steve Jobs relevant and effectively communicated to his audience?” Students choose a position and defend that position using the evidence they have collected from the different texts and other resources studied throughout the unit.

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.

The materials provide some opportunities throughout the year for students to build their knowledge of academic vocabulary and apply their understanding in appropriate contexts. Students receive instruction in and examples of academic and content-specific vocabulary. Many of the lessons/activities include opportunities for students to demonstrate their ability to analyze context by determining the meaning of specific words identified in the text. Teachers receive some guidance on which vocabulary to consider addressing, but the materials provide few structures for developing vocabulary or scaffolding instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners.

Examples include but are not limited to:

Unit 1 begins with a lesson that provides “tricks” for students to use for understanding words in context: using context clues, looking at word parts, determining the part of speech, and using analogies.

In Unit 3, students interact with vocabulary words by self-selecting 10 words from a portion of their text, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Using an online resource, students define these words and create flash cards “for future use” with Shmoop’s Do-It-Yourself flashcard feature. Students complete this process multiple times throughout each unit. In one activity, students work on a digital presentation in which they use text-based quotes to support their argument, giving them the option to use the vocabulary collected while reading To Kill a Mockingbird in appropriate contexts.

In all “Teacher Passes,” the activity “Chew On This” appears, asking students to dive into the complexity of literary terms and associated academic vocabulary, such as parables, fables, didactic, and theme. As students determine a text’s theme, they identify how elements of the text (setting, characters, conflict, etc.) contribute to that theme. Students repeatedly work through this activity (in any and all units), focusing on creating concise presentations. “The goal here is to get students to understand that, even if something can be condensed into a short presentation, it doesn't mean it’s not complex.” Because there is repetition in the format, students focus more on the academic understanding of the topic.

In all “Teacher Passes,” the activity “Character Journal Entry” provides students with the opportunity to dive more deeply into the conflicts in literature by examining character motivations and reactions. Students learn/review associated essential vocabulary: protagonist, antagonist, antihero, conflict, anticlimax, climax, and Freytag’s pyramid.

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

The materials do not include a clearly defined plan to support and hold students accountable as they engage in independent reading. Procedures and/or protocols, along with adequate support for teachers, are not provided to foster independent reading. The materials do not provide a plan for students to self-select texts and read independently for a sustained period of time, nor is there any way for students to plan and hold themselves accountable for achieving their independent reading goals.

Examples include but are not limited to:

Students read texts assigned throughout the units independently. Shmoop provides literature guides as additional resources, such as videos and historical analyses. This fosters independent reading as it allows students to access content-relevant text. For instance, in Unit 4, as students read Hamlet by William Shakespeare, links connect them to documents or sites for each of the following: the Globe Theater, Richard III, and Katniss Everdeen. However, there is no clear plan that details the implementation of independent reading; students are not self-selecting reading materials, nor are they setting independent reading goals.

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

The materials provide support to develop students’ writing skills across multiple text types and for a variety of purposes and audiences. Students write a variety of literary texts to express their ideas and feelings about real or imagined people, events, and ideas. They also have opportunities to write informational texts to communicate ideas and information to specific audiences, argumentative texts to influence the attitudes of specific audiences on specific issues, and correspondence in a professional or friendly structure.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 1, students read an excerpt of a blog post titled “The Heroine's Journey: How Campbell's Model Doesn’t Fit” by B.J. Priester, an editor of the FANgirl blog, which asserts that Joseph Campbell’s ideas of a hero as presented in Hero’s Journey only apply to males and proposes that there is a need for a heroine model as well. They also read an excerpt of a blog post titled “Why I Don't Like Joseph Campbell” by André Solo, which challenges Campbell’s hero philosophy. Students write a separate 200- to 300-word paragraph explaining whether they agree or disagree with the ideas presented in the blog posts. Students use examples from blog posts to support their response, upload their response to the discussion board, and read and respond to the paragraphs of classmates.

In Unit 3, students choose a theme from Sophocles’ Oedipus the King and write a mini-essay, making a clear claim about the theme chosen and using well-supported quotations from the text. Students explain the quotes they have chosen and close the essay with “a hint about the larger implications of [their] argument.”

In Unit 4, students write a persuasive essay discussing what they think Shakespeare wants the reader to think about the nature of power, using quotations from Hamlet and other texts previously read, including The Prince by Niccoló Machiavelli. To formulate their arguments, students use questions such as “Who and what is corrupt in Hamlet? Does power itself generate corruption? Or is corruption a result of a bad moral character? How does Shakespeare play off of themes that we see in Machiavelli?”

In Unit 5, students view the Apple holiday TV commercial “Misunderstood” and read a sample analytical response essay. They then choose a viral video and write a rhetorical analysis focusing on audience, purpose, rhetorical devices, situations, commonplaces, and logical fallacies.

In Unit 7, students create an “informational webpage that could be found on a Holocaust museum website” examining either family, religion, or identity as depicted in the two texts studied in the unit (Night by Elie Wiesel and Maus by Art Spiegelman) and one other self-selected text for a “non-expert audience.” Students must include text that “informs and captivates” their audience.

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.

Written tasks throughout the materials 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. The materials provide opportunities for students to use evidence from texts to support their opinions and demonstrate in writing what they have learned through reading and listening to texts.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 2, students examine an original story they wrote in Unit 1 and adapt it into an epic-style text. In the steps of the activity, students adapt the characters and language and add to the plot (and/or add additional plots), mimicking the epics they have read throughout the unit (The Iliad and The Odyssey, both by Homer).

In Unit 3, students choose a theme, such as fate and free will, power, knowledge and wisdom, or determination, from a provided list. Next, they complete a graphic organizer, using text evidence from Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Poetics by Aristotle, and Greeks and the Irrational by Dodd to be used for their three-page analytical writing task in which they discuss the development of their chosen theme over the course of the core text, Oedipus the King. Students continue working on their literary analysis by writing the thesis statement and outline, then writing a draft, revising, and editing.

In Unit 4, students work on writing a persuasive essay applying everything they have learned about power and corruption to Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. They answer the guiding question: “What do we know about power based on our three readings and Hamlet?” (The three readings are an article from The Atlantic, “How Power Corrupts the Mind”; an article from Smithsonian Magazine, “Why Power Corrupts”; and an excerpt from The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli.) Students gather evidence from the four texts; using the evidence gathered to support their claim, they decide whether or not Hamlet is a tragic hero.

In Unit 5, students “write an effectively organized rhetorical analysis after close reading ancient and modern texts” such as Rhetoric by Aristotle, Encomium of Helen by Gorgias, the transcript of Barry Schwartz’s TED talk on how to use practical wisdom, and an open letter to the leaders of Iran from the United States Republican Senators. Using their informed understanding of government, technology, and privacy, students write their personal opinion on the issue of the government’s role in and citizens’ need for privacy in the face of technological advances.

In Unit 6, students write a mini-essay answering the question “How does Remarque use characterization and plot structure to evoke sympathy in the audience for the characters and their situation?” The students refer to two episodes from the plot of Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, explaining how its structure evokes sympathy. Students also pull phrases from the text to analyze how the two characters evoke sympathy through their actions, their reactions, their words, etc.

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

The materials facilitate students’ coherent use of the elements of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) to compose text, and they provide opportunities for students to apply the conventions of academic language when editing their compositions. However, the materials do not teach grammar, punctuation, and usage systematically, and the lessons on conventions that are included do not grow in depth and complexity within and across units.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 1, students prepare for the final writing project by first reading several excerpts of texts written in first, second, and third person such as Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney, and Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. They write three short scenes from all three perspectives, featuring a character created in a previous lesson. Next, students work through the writing process, step by step, to compose an original myth in which their protagonist follows the 12 steps of The Hero’s Journey by John Campbell.

In Unit 3, students analyze Sophocles’ Oedipus the King to determine the extent to which it was influenced by Aristotle’s ideal tragic plot structure. Then, students write a mini-essay, starting with a graphic organizer to outline their thoughts; they continue to work through the writing process.

In Unit 5, students revisit the usage of semicolons and colons. They watch a video presenting comma splices and correcting them. As students write a 250- to 500-word philosophical essay comparing and contrasting their personal definitions of wisdom and argument formulated based on readings from the unit, they must incorporate two semicolons and one colon.

In the final three lessons in Unit 5, students work through the entire writing process (brainstorming and planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) to compose a rhetorical analysis of Steve Jobs’ 2005 commencement address at Stanford. The essay answers the question “To what extent is the wisdom offered by Steve Jobs relevant and effectively communicated to his audience?”

In Unit 6, students write a research paper explaining why Remarque wrote All Quiet on the Western Front, by answering the following questions: “What is his goal in writing this? How does the structure of the novel support his goals?” They complete the writing process, lesson by lesson, including developing a thesis statement, researching and outlining the content, drafting the essay, revising and editing, and publishing.

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

The materials provide speaking and listening opportunities that focus on the text being studied in class, allowing students to demonstrate comprehension. 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.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 2, students interact with The Iliad by Homer and The Epic of Gilgamesh. They investigate themes, analyzing how elements of the plot contribute to the theme, by exploring the text and by listening to an analysis given by Shmoop creators. Students create thematic statements, find support from the text to defend the theme, and share in peer groups. Later in the unit, students work in groups to identify Gilgamesh’s mistakes in the text, then create a four- to five-minute-long speech for Gilgamesh, in which he addresses the populace. One of the group members delivers the apologetic speech to the class, giving some students the opportunity to practice oral delivery. Other students provide feedback, questions, and comments on the speech, incorporating textual evidence and demonstrating students’ understanding of authorial intention. When reading The Epic of Gilgamesh, students debate (in groups or in pairs) whether Gilgamesh’s infractions warrant divine punishments.

In Unit 3, as students read Oedipus the King by Sophocles, they discuss the importance of the Greek theater’s chorus; then, they choose one choral section, paraphrase it into modern English, and create a music video to go along with it. Through this collaborative project, students explore the dramatic functions the chorus played and paraphrase classic literary language into modern, informal language. They reason through their own interpretation of the chosen chorus, write a song to go with their rendition, and create a video, fostering oral and listening skills while focusing on comprehension.

In an activity in Unit 4, in the “Teacher Pass” for Shakespeare’s Hamlet, students listen to an audio podcast debating Hamlet’s sanity. Then, in groups, students gather evidence from the play to debate whether Hamlet is truly mad and not responsible for his actions or if he is just a cold-blooded killer. They find evidence to support their position and refute the opposing position. The students participate in a debate using the evidence collected. In another activity in this Teacher Pass, students read Gertrude's account of Ophelia's death in Act 4, Scene 7 of Hamlet and view John Everett Millais's painting Ophelia; then, they analyze the depiction of Ophelia’s death in the painting by discussing, “Is Millais’s illustration of Ophelia’s death true to Shakespeare’s description in Act 4, Scene 7 of Hamlet? How does Millais’s interpretation of Ophelia’s death compare to your own understanding of who Ophelia is and how she dies? Does Millais’s painting offer any insights into Ophelia’s character that you might not have thought about?”

In Unit 6, students listen to a summary of Franz Kafka’s The Trial, “a novel about a trial with no clear crime committed.” They discuss, as a class, the behavior of the characters in Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, answering questions in order to decide which character they will put on trial and for what crime: “Who, in the novella, could be accused of a crime? Does Gregor act without regard to his family’s needs or comfort?” Once those decisions have been made, students split into groups of four, choose one of the roles to play in the mock trial (prosecuting attorney, defending attorney, defendant, or various witnesses), compose scripts for their respective parts, and stage the mock trial in class.

In Unit 7, after watching an interview with Elie Wiesel, author of Night, students discuss with their classmates why they think he puts so much emphasis on silence. Later, during the same activity, students pair up, search for quotes from the text that help explain why Wiesel thought it was important to share his story, then share their findings with the class as they prepare to write a paragraph answering two questions: “Why was Wiesel silent for so long? Why did he come to believe his experience should be shared?”

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

Materials engage students in productive teamwork and student-led discussions, in both formal and informal settings, and provide guidance and practice with grade-level protocols for discussion to express their own thinking. The opportunities found in the “Teacher Pass” help students give organized presentations/performances and speak in a clear and concise manner using conventions of language.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 2, with the focal text The Iliad by Homer, students investigate themes and analyze how elements of the plot contribute to it. They listen to an analysis given by Shmoop creators and create thesis statements, support them with evidence, and find a way to share the written message in groups with their peers. Also in Unit 2, students engage in a debate on whether Gilgamesh (from The Epic of Gilgamesh) deserves to be punished. First as a group, then in a think-pair-share, then returning to the group to draft a list of agendas, students build and deliver arguments.

In Unit 4, for Hamlet by William Shakespeare, students write a dramatic monologue for a minor character in the play, read it aloud to the class, then participate in a discussion, answering a set of questions after each classmate’s monologue is presented.

In Unit 6, as students read All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, they create a Know-Want to Know-Learned (KWL) chart in their journals about “why the Christmas truce was ironic.” Students participate in a class discussion, helping each other complete the first two columns of the chart. Later in the unit, students present their work to their classmates, displaying a final project (hard copy or digital) and explaining their work in front of the class or a small group.

In Unit 7, students watch an interview conducted by Oprah Winfrey with Elie Wiesel, the author of Night, and ponder the question “Why does Wiesel put so much emphasis on silence?” Students write their response to the question and then discuss their thinking as an entire class.  On a post-it note, they write an experience that has caused them to be silent, display the post-it notes, and complete a gallery walk to see what experiences have caused others to be silent. Following the gallery walk, students participate in a whole-class discussion about why they feel Wiesel chose to break his silence. Next, they work with a partner to find quotes from the text to help explain their reasoning. Finally, the pairs discuss their thoughts with the whole class.

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 engage students in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes to confront and analyze various aspects of a topic, using evidence from relevant sources with proper attribution. The materials support identification and summary of high-quality, credible primary and secondary sources. They also provide students with opportunities to practice organizing and presenting their ideas and information in accordance with the purpose of the research.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 3, students read texts from Greece and have several opportunities to conduct supplemental research and respond in writing to questions about ancient Greece, including how the government was unique and what made it function well, how the theater worked and what role it played in the culture, and what conclusions can be drawn about the relationship between politics and theater in ancient Greece. Students explore and summarize primary and secondary sources and post their conclusions about the relationship between politics and theater to a discussion board.

In Unit 6, students read All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque and research information to craft a five-paragraph essay that answers these questions: “Why did Remarque write All Quiet on the Western Front? Explain the context in which he writes. What is his goal in writing this? How does the structure of the novel support his goals?” Students start the process by looking for five articles from “three solid, reputable, reliable sources” and use the information gathered and text evidence from All Quiet on the Western Front to create a thesis statement, outline, and essay structure.

In Unit 7, students complete an activity about primary and secondary sources titled “Oh Where, Oh Where Can Your Third Text Be?” Students have to find at least five primary or secondary sources of similar depth and complexity as other provided secondary sources and then write two to three sentences discussing the pros and cons of using each source. Students decide on the two best sources to include in a mock webpage on the Holocaust, which “will examine how one of the themes—family, religion, or identity—is depicted in two texts from the unit and then one text of your choosing, which [students] find on [their] own and that can be a speech, memoir, cartoon, oral history, letter or diary entry.” Students then create a multimedia presentation about their webpage topic to share orally with their class. Students give general information about their topic and connect relevant illustrations to each idea in a PowerPointTM.  Materials provide MLA and APA style samples for use with in-text citation and works cited documentation on a works cited (or bibliography) slide. Students practice oral presentations, record voice-overs with the PowerPointTM, and upload their viewable project for classmates to review. 

In Unit 8, students read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and compose a research paper about an element of Igbo culture or history that plays a major role in the novel and how it supports readers’ understanding of the text’s themes, characters, or structure. Materials direct students to find seven or eight credible sources and provide a sentence or two about each source, explaining how the source helps them better understand their topic. Activities within the unit provide plagiarism information and citation support that students can consult while writing.

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

The materials reviewed contain interconnected tasks, offering students multiple opportunities to build and apply knowledge and skills as well as develop independence. Materials contain coherently sequenced, high-quality questions and tasks that integrate reading, writing, speaking, listening, thinking, and language skills. Students answer text-dependent questions and complete tasks within individual texts as well as across multiple texts.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 2, students read The Iliad by Homer. Students examine the epic poem for portions that rely heavily on description and choose a passage that helps them “truly see the poem.” Students reread the selected passage, exploring the descriptors, making notes, and sketching what they visualize as they read. Students then research artifacts, geography, and ancient Greek cities or temples to help “bring the Iliad to life.” Students create plans and rough sketches of their ideas to share with their classmates and teacher. They discuss the choices they have made and take notes as they receive feedback/suggestions. Finally, students present their final visual representation to the class, read the passage chosen as the inspiration for the project, and explain their artistic process, including what materials were used, what image was most influential in helping them create the piece, and how that influence is represented.

In Unit 7, students analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas within individual texts as well as across multiple texts. In the activity “Survivors Unite,” students analyze a direct quote from the novel Night by Elie Wiesel, and then answer the question “How does this represent the theme of faith in the book? Of truth?” The students read an additional text titled “Religion in Night” to help contextualize the question. Next, students read through a TED page for Viktor Frankl and respond to questions, including “What is logotherapy?” Students write an essay that explains how Wiesel survives the Holocaust by applying Frankl’s search for meaning, using text evidence from the book to support their claims. Finally, students compare Wiesel’s search for truth to their own.

In Unit 8, students watch the famous opening scene, “Tradition!” from the classic movie version of Fiddler on the Roof. They discuss, as a class, the similarities and differences of how tradition is depicted in the movie and in the focus text for the unit, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Next, they discuss and analyze the traditions they have in their own lives, answering questions like “Have you continued to practice these traditions, or have you discarded some? Why?” and “How should people decide which traditions should be upheld and which should be replaced or discarded?” After sharing ideas orally, students write an essay based on these discussions and address specific points, such as the role of traditions in their upbringing and how their experiences are similar to or different from what they read in Things Fall Apart.

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

The materials provide spiraling and scaffolded practice by supporting distributed practice over the course of the year. The materials include scaffolds for students to demonstrate integration of literacy skills that spiral over the school year.

Examples include but are not limited to:

Students complete sequential lessons that spiral the skills being learned. This world literature curriculum “focuses on the basics of literary analysis, using textual evidence to explicate literary and informational texts, putting together short argument essays, and writing short narratives.” Using various texts, students study skills that grow in complexity, identifying elements of John Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey, investigating cultural influence, and identifying major themes like “war, heroism, mortality, and power.” They then apply close-reading strategies and complete text-analysis activities with modern texts, speeches, and forms of rhetoric. Students’ thinking shifts from a basic understanding of stories and writings to an understanding of their value and purpose. In addition, supplementary “Essay Labs” guide students through numerous types of essays, including argumentative, analysis, informative, and persuasive. Essay Labs offer scaffolds to support the entire writing process: prepare (focus on prompt to create title), plan (develop thesis and gather text evidence), write (draft with organization), and finish (revise and edit).

In Unit 1, students begin by exploring myths about creation, the apocalypse, and heroes from various parts of the world including Greece, Japan, and Europe. They analyze the narrative patterns of the stories in an effort to determine their importance to their cultures and to learn more about each culture and its values. Also, students begin practicing “the basics of creating writing.”

In Unit 2, students focus on “the biggies of literary analysis: characterization, theme, and figurative language,” using epics such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, The Odyssey, and The Iliad. They also “continue to master [the] narrative writing technique.”

In Unit 3, students continue to hone their analysis skills on literary and informational texts through close readings of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King; they also learn to write literary argumentative papers.

In Unit 4, students read Hamlet by William Shakespeare, analyze Shakespeare’s style, and read different outside texts about the play as preparation to compare and contrast Shakespearean and Sophoclean (Aristotelian) tragedy.

Unit 5 staggers well-known speeches and lectures to encourage students to apply their rhetorical analysis skills; Steve Jobs’ commencement speech is paired with Barry Schwartz’s TED talk, “Using Our Practical Wisdom.” The materials interweave and integrate informational texts, academic texts, and literary texts, so students synthesize information and perspectives. Students compare Plato’s “The Apology of Socrates” to Scott LaFee’s “Words to the Wise: Experts Define Wisdom.” With these paired texts, students practice close reading “rhetorical and persuasive speeches and texts, both ancient and modern,” mastering speech analysis, explaining the rhetorical strategies used, and understanding what rhetoric and argument look like in modern media.

In Unit 6, students explore how Erich Maria Remarque structures his masterpiece All Quiet on the Western Front to portray a realistic view of war and conduct a short research project on his life.” Students complete a character chart that includes the character name, information about how students know the character, and proof from the text to support that information. This character chart gets filled in throughout the entire novel, and this activity is found for each novel the students read.

Unit 7 asks students to add an audio clip or a video to a PowerPoint™. This lesson helps students recall and apply the knowledge of informational texts and informal diction that they acquired in Unit 5. At the end of this unit, students focus on how survivors process the trauma of the event through writing different types of media (speeches, oral histories, memoirs, letters); then, students exhibit new learning by creating and giving a multimedia oral presentation.

Finally, at the end of Unit 8, after reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, students compose a literary analysis paper. Students focus on literary techniques, including “how [the novel] uses characterization and plot structure to draw out its major themes” and researching how the “work is a response to imperial literature.”

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

The materials include supports for students who demonstrate proficiency above grade level. Clear, intentional learning extensions and challenges for students demonstrating literacy skills above grade level are found in the “Teacher Notes” provided with each unit activity.

Examples include but are not limited to:

In Unit 2, students revisit earlier readings about the world of Homeric Greece and write a journal entry about a day living there, answering questions such as “What would you eat? What would you do to buy things? Would you have to fight anyone?” Answers must include “sensory language and vivid details.” The extensions suggest students performing above grade level write multiple entries covering several topics such as “What do you value? What are you concerned with? What are your views of the gods?” They also can turn one of the myths “that [precedes] the action of the Homeric epics...into a full-fledged story.”

In Unit 3, students explore the word catharsis and its relationship to tragedies. They think of a “real world” example of tragedy and write a short analysis about what makes the story cathartic and what that says about the nature of catharsis. “Teacher Notes” include an extension for students performing above grade level to compare modern-day figures considered tragic to the figures in classical literature, such as Oedipus in Sophocles’ Oedipus, to answer the question “How do tragic protagonists reflect the values and concerns of particular historical moments?” Also in Unit 3, “A Whole Song and Dance” delves into the efficacy of the chorus in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. Students consider and synthesize the complex aspects of the chorus, such as its literary value, thematic emphasis, and characterization. Teachers can extend this activity by asking students to research other classical playwrights and analyze their use of the chorus.

In Unit 4, students write a persuasive argument about the theme of power in Hamlet by William Shakespeare, answering the question “What do you think Shakespeare is trying to say about those who rule?” To extend this activity, students performing above grade level can also examine how the theme of corruption is developed in the play and how it drives the plot. In another activity, students analyze the linguistic and literary features that render Hamlet’s encounter with the gravediggers engaging and absurdly funny. Afterwards, teachers can offer extensions by having students read and analyze the humor in the porter’s scene in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

In Unit 7, students complete five text-based, reflective commentaries on the expository chapters of Maus: Book 1 by Art Spiegelman. Once students have their written commentaries, they can participate in discussion-board activities, extending engagement in literary and historical reflection. Students then write a 300-word response essay exploring the advantages and disadvantages of animal allegories and examining the underlying ethnic stereotypes Spiegelman employs. To further students’ interpretative engagement, the Teacher Notes challenge students performing above grade level to research other allegorical stories using an animal analogy and then write their own.

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 provide extensions and differentiation, including planning and learning opportunities, for students who perform below grade level to ensure they are meeting grade-level literacy standards. 

Examples include but are not limited to:

At the end of most activities, the “Teacher Notes” provide instructions on ways to differentiate for students who perform below grade level to assist in their learning.

In Unit 2, students revisit earlier readings on the world of Homeric Greece and write a journal entry with “sensory language and vivid details” about a day living in Homer’s world. Students answer the following questions: “What would you eat? What would you do to buy things? Would you have to fight anyone?” Differentiation for students performing below grade level include creating either a blog, vlog, or podcast instead of writing the journal entry.

In Unit 3, students explore the word catharsis and its relationship to tragedies. They think of a “real world” example of tragedy and write a short analysis about what makes the story cathartic and what that says about the nature of catharsis. Students performing below grade level focus on a given story or article and describe “the ways in which it appeals to the reader’s need for catharsis.”

Unit 4 focuses on William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where students practice close reading the sonnet and analyzing figurative language and iambic pentameter. In order to support students struggling with the skill or students performing below grade level, teachers can go over the sonnet line by line before a scavenger hunt. Teachers can also provide students with the Shmoop notes on this sonnet. In addition, students can opt to write a line-by-line paraphrase of this Shakespearean sonnet in modern English, or they can label literary devices and highlight key concepts and diction on the hard copy of the poem. At the end of Unit 4, students work through the writing process to compose a 1000-word essay answering the following prompt: “Compare and contrast Aristotle and Shakespeare’s ideas of tragedy as exemplified by Hamlet and Oedipus the King. Is Hamlet a tragic hero in the same way that Aristotle thought that Oedipus was? Is Hamlet really a tragedy… or is it more focused on revenge? What effect is each play supposed to have on its audience? Support your ideas with evidence from Hamlet, Oedipus the King, and Aristotle’s Poetics.” Students performing below grade level “chunk” the task, turning in the draft paragraph by paragraph and receiving feedback throughout the entire process.

In Unit 7, students write a 200-word opinion piece about how the narrative structure of Maus by Art Spiegelman affects the overall themes present in imagery and text. Differentiation for students performing below grade level includes participating in a class-wide discussion on the question, using pieces such as The Princess Bride by William Goldman, The Never-Ending Story by Michael Ende, or A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare as models for the task. Also in Unit 7, students complete five written responses on the first two chapters of Maus, Book 1. Students need to read not only the written text but also the visual text, such as images, symbols, and panel layout, before they present text-based, reflective commentaries. The Teacher Guide suggests teachers assign a reduced workload to students who need support in identifying textual evidence and provide one-on-one support for verbalizing students’ understanding. The teacher can also replace a writing assignment with a graphic organizer activity, as long as it scaffolds the final project of the unit.

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

The materials include some support for English Learners (ELs) to meet grade-level learning expectations, such as summaries, pictures, realia, and glossaries; also, there are opportunities for students to learn and use new vocabulary in the context of connected discourse. The materials provide limited accommodations for linguistics (communicated, sequenced, and scaffolded) at various levels of English language proficiency as defined by the ELPS. The materials do not encourage strategic use of students’ first language as a means to linguistic, affective, cognitive, and academic development in English.

Examples include but are not limited to:

The materials provide opportunities for all students to study language, but the activities are not intentionally designed or scaffolded for ELs. The lessons and activities throughout the materials suggest instructional supports for students; however, the materials provide very few supports designed specifically for EL students to meet grade-level learning expectations.

All vocabulary words have optional hyperlinks, allowing each student to “dig deeper” into the meaning of the academic vocabulary referenced. The lessons build from a literal level to an interpretive level as students progress in their learning. Students connect these terms to their personal experiences, use them in examples, understand the vocabulary in text, and extend this learning when creating their own responses.

In Unit 1, students can learn about Heracles by watching a video with closed captioning that introduces and summarizes his life story, which provides background knowledge in preparation for the deeper study and analysis of myths, heroes, and social power. Students can practice speaking the language with others by sharing information in cooperative learning environments such as whole-class and small-group discussions.

In Unit 3, as students prepare to read Oedipus the King by Sophocles, they read an introduction to the tragedy, which contains a hyperlink to a video summary of the story and some additional reading about the tragedy. The video and the text selection contain high-level vocabulary, so while the pictures may serve as a support, the audio and text explanation may not serve as comprehensible input. The reading also includes several small “WTF?” links at the end, which, if clicked on, say “Why’s This Funny?” They contain a brief explanation of why something in the previous text was funny, though these explanations do not contain any pictures or translations. The explanations contain some hyperlinks to websites with additional information. Also in Unit 3, students read through selected “difficult” passages from Oedipus the King and define terms within the selected passages using context, parts of speech, and dictionaries.

In Unit 4, after watching different versions of the “to be or not to be” speech from Hamlet by William Shakespeare, students participate in a “Think-Pair-Share” to generate ideas they will use to compare the versions they watched; they use these guiding questions: “What about the context of each speech is different? Is the mood different? How does the context affect how you interpret the scene?” 

In Unit 5, students dive into linguistics in a more complex manner as the learning is centered on rhetoric and the effective use of language. In the lesson, sequenced steps explain the basic elements of rhetoric and what each element is. Materials provide scaffolding for students to first practice applying rhetoric to daily situations that they encounter. As students progress, they use this language to communicate claims regarding their thinking. They explore rhetorical devices such as ethos, logos, and pathos by watching an embedded video provided to build their analysis skills.                       

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 assessments for teachers and administrators to monitor progress but do not include guidance on how to interpret and act on data yielded. The formative and summative assessments are aligned in purpose, intended use, and TEKS emphasis. The assessments and scoring information do not provide sufficient guidance for interpreting and responding to student performance. The assessments are connected to the regular content to support student learning throughout the materials.

Examples include but are not limited to:

The “Teacher Introduction” to the materials includes a downloadable “Curriculum Map” with an interactive year-long syllabus and an alignment chart between the units/lessons and the TEKS, titled “Proclamation 2020 Breakout—English II.”

The unit introductions outline numerous opportunities for formative assessments, such as reading-comprehension quizzes, participation/completion activities, and discussion board activities. In addition, teachers can click on “View Gradebook” and customize the class roster, assignment, discussion board, and emailing. This ancillary link allows teachers to scaffold students’ mastery of content or mandate the completion of a lesson before students can gain access to the subsequent course material. Teachers can also individualize students’ access to the formative and summative tests by locking or unlocking tests. These multiple-choice quizzes and tests provide immediate feedback to students and may serve as formative-assessment tools for teachers. Some activities and lessons are only for participation/completion grades. There are also multi-layered, lengthy projects, used as summative assessments, with explicit and intentional TEKS alignments. 

The materials include a grading-rubric template on each page containing a written activity or assignment. For example, an activity in Unit 6 includes scoring criteria as follows: “Evidence/ Support” (10 points); “Content Understanding” (10 points); and “Style” (5 points). A breakdown for the expectations with corresponding points values is provided.  

The assessments contain scoring information that provides guidance for interpreting student work, but the materials do not contain sufficient guidance for how to respond to students’ performance. For example, once the students upload their completed handouts and written responses to questions, teachers have a rubric to score the writing. The rubric is clear about what score to give students based on their work, but there are no notes for teachers to use to understand what to do with the students’ scores, how to support student growth, how to group students during a re-teach, or what a re-teach might include. As such, teachers are enabled to interpret the work, but materials do not give tools to know what to do with the interpretations of the work.

In Unit 2, students complete the first assessment, a handout requiring students to think about the characters found in myths and those found in epics and compare the two forms to determine what the relationship is between them. They complete and upload this handout for the teacher to score. After students read The Epic of Gilgamesh, they compose a letter and discuss details such as the reign of Gilgamesh, what happened over the past few days, and what day-to-day life is like. Future assessments continue to build upon the learning of the unit and connect to the TEKS.

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.

The materials include overarching year-long plans and supports for teachers to identify students’ needs and provide differentiated instruction to meet the needs of a range of learners for grade-level success. Teacher materials include annotations and support for engaging students in the materials as well as support for implementing ancillary and resource materials. Teachers are able to monitor the progress of students via the gradebook component. Annotations and ancillary materials attend to differentiation to support a wide range of student learning and assistance for teachers.

Examples include but are not limited to:

The course is divided into eight units; the units are divided into lessons; and the lessons are divided into three parts: introductions, readings, and activities. At the end of most activities, the materials provide a grading rubric detailing the elements needed to meet the requirements for mastering the skills practiced. In addition, teachers can find options for differentiating instruction for a variety of learners. Many of the content-based activities are on the discussion board; an ancillary link provided by Shmoop helps teachers facilitate and track students’ activities.

The materials provide a “Teacher Pass” for the core texts, which includes lessons corresponding to the text, general activities that can be used with any text, essay/discussion questions, reading quizzes, background information about the texts, and challenges/extensions. Additional materials include “Literature Guides” (summaries of required texts); a “Literature Glossary” (definitions of literary terms); “ShmoopTube” (videos on various topics); “Learning Guides” (resources that help students “whenever [they] come across a text that’s giving [them] some trouble” and when they need help with “How to Read a Poem”); biographies (information about the authors); “Essay Lab” (“sites for writing every. Type. Of. Essay. Ever. (Well, almost.)”); worksheets/templates for note-taking; and a live link to Purdue University’s “Online Writing Lab” (OWL) for any support not found in Shmoop’s materials.

The materials also provide teachers with comprehensive plans that contain suggestions for differentiation and extension in the “Teacher Notes” for each unit. This tool, at the bottom of each activity, suggests ways to introduce the activity, ways to score student work, and ways to differentiate for students performing below or above their grade level. Here, for each activity in each unit, teachers can find two ways to introduce the activity, whether in person or online via an online classroom. Suggested extensions offer students opportunities to interact with others by posting their work to various sites such as Goodreads. The discussion boards allow teachers to engage students in virtual classroom discussions with each other, whether in responding to a question, commenting on work that has been posted, discussing texts read or videos watched, and so on.

There is also an ancillary portal called the “Let’s Conquer ELA Dashboard,” which offers content-based, text-based practice questions, videos to watch, and review questions for students to master to conquer ELA contents. These series of tasks function like a game; students get a star for every correct answer, level up by getting three stars in a row, and level down if they answer wrong. Teachers can open different testing windows and single out individual students for customized test-taking. Teachers can also customize the test-taking environment in the “Gradebook” by prescribing different due dates and creating different student groups for customized test-taking settings. 

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

The materials include implementation support for teachers, including time frames provided for each unit and essential knowledge and skills taught in the program. However, materials do not include a TEKS-aligned scope and sequence, and no supports are available for administrators to support teachers with implementation. The materials do not give guidance specifically for 180- or 220-day schedules.

Examples include but are not limited to:

The syllabus for English II includes an introduction with a unit breakdown and the standards covered throughout the units. There is a link to a scope and sequence outlining the essential knowledge and skills that are taught in the program and the order in which they are presented, but the scope and sequence is not TEKS-aligned and does not clearly define how the knowledge and skills build across content and grade levels. The materials do provide a document titled “Proclamation 2020 Breakout—English II,” which includes information about alignment with the TEKS; it is ordered by TEKS instead of by the order in which the standards are addressed in the units in the materials.

The English II overview includes tabs with information about the course for both students and teachers; however, there is no tab with information for administrators. The teacher resources include a video with instructions on how to use a Shmoop course, including a demonstration of how to navigate the course, set up classes, assign activities, and maintain a gradebook with live data. There are also curriculum maps that give teachers a daily map of the lessons, readings, assigned activities, and corresponding aligned standards. The materials provide teaching guides for some novel studies, including a breakdown of addressed standards.

English II includes eight units of instruction during the school year, with annual and semester-length syllabi and curriculum maps that detail the number of lessons and hours for each unit. For example, the Unit on “Myth, Heroes, and Social Power” has 13 lessons taking approximately 18 hours. However, there is no pacing guide for a 180- or 220-day annual schedule.

Teachers have access to technical support via email as well as a link to frequently asked questions, such as “How do I set a due date for an exam?” “How do I grade an activity?” and “How do I customize my course content?” Answers include step-by-step instructions, including screenshots when appropriate.

In the teacher-facing introduction for each unit, the materials include links to “Texts and Topics” for the unit, “Background and Context” about texts within the unit, “Worksheets and Templates,” essay labs, and descriptions of major assessments within the unit. Linked resources include guidance on how to implement activities, differentiation and extension scaffolding suggestions, and rubrics to support scoring students’ work.

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

The visual design of the digital student edition is neither distracting nor chaotic. The materials include appropriate use of white space and design that supports and does not distract from student learning, and the pictures and graphics present within the student edition are supportive of student learning and engagement without being visually distracting.

Examples include but are not limited to:

The student edition’s content and its display have been optimized on three quarters of the screen and allow enough white space for visual ease while streamlining navigation between lessons. The background color of the pages is white; on the pages that have a great deal of text to read, font is appropriately sized, and there are no other colors or images on the page to distract from the reading. On other pages, there are videos students can click on that support what they are learning or reading on that page; hyperlinked words appear in light blue and offer links to resources to support student learning for that page—like definitions, links to context on the reading, images, videos, etc.

Every time students log onto the platform, they are asked, “Where would you like to go?” and can choose one of the following options: “Take me to the last page I was on. Take me to my next activity. Let me choose.” The materials are easy to navigate and promote student engagement and curiosity.

Pictures and graphics on the platform align with the intended objective of the unit. Some images are thumbnail sized and others are larger; however, the larger images enable easy reading and do not visually clutter the page. Pictures and graphics are supportive of student learning and engagement. For example, in Unit 6, on one activity page, there is a picture of a rat in the top left corner of the page that supports what students are reading; students read that there is a gang of giant rats that kill and eat two cats and a dog. The picture is positioned in a way that does not distract, interrupt, or take away from it. There is a video at the bottom of the page that, if clicked on, plays a Shmoop-created introduction to the text that will be read in the unit, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. This optional video supports the learning students will be doing in the unit. The next page students see, once they select the link to move to the next page, is a lesson where they must read quite a bit of text; there are no pictures or graphics on the page, but there are some words that are light blue, indicating embedded hyperlinks. Students can choose to select these or not; if they do, they are taken to places such as the Shmoop “Literature Glossary,” websites that give more information on the word selected, dictionaries that define the term selected, videos that give more information or exemplify the term selected, etc.

Students can move to the next page, or to the next part of the assignment, by clicking on a link that is available at both the top and bottom of the page. If the page does not contain an activity that must be turned in, the student can move on by selecting a box that states “I’m done with this page,” in order to enable the link to move on to the next page in the materials. If there is an assignment due, students must upload it before the link is enabled. The materials are easy to navigate and filled with extras that support students and do not take away from content being presented.

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

Not scored

Technology components included are appropriate for grade-level students and provide support for learning. Technology supports and enhances student learning as opposed to distracting from it, and includes appropriate teacher guidance.

Examples include but are not limited to:

Shmoop contains an online platform that provides technology-based learning, which essentially provides a virtual classroom experience for students. Students read instructions; access materials such as graphic organizers, note-taking templates, videos, glossaries, and dictionaries; write responses/essays; submit assignments; and complete quizzes and exams.

Courses are designed by unit, with engaging lessons that utilize many media sources, giving students opportunities to complete and submit activities online. Additionally, online assignments allow for students to respond on a blackboard, which facilitates student discourse.  Media sources and images are age-appropriate, providing extensions to the learning. Each lesson within the unit is a progression of the objective and chunks learning in a manner that guides the teacher through the complete gradual release of learning.

There are several resources attached to the lessons and reading via hyperlinks, such as a “Literature Glossary,” “Shmoop Text Introductions” (summaries of texts read, with hyperlinked terms that lead students to materials to exemplify and define the linked terms), external websites, videos, etc. There are embedded videos in the lessons; students can watch these while they are on the pages of the lessons. There are “Teacher Notes” that guide teachers and support them with the use of the technology, including when to use certain features, like the “Discussion Board.”