Cold-Read Assessment Task: Students are asked to read a text or texts independently and answer a series of multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. While the text(s) relate to the unit focus, the text(s) have been taught during the unit. Texts may also be multimedia texts, e.g., videos, interactive graphics, etc. The cold-read assessments offer a range of text types (fiction, nonfiction, and multimedia) and complexity (readily accessible, moderately complex, very complex) throughout the unit, but teachers and districts may choose to offer additional opportunities for student practice with new texts during small-group instructional time, tutoring, remediation, etc. to monitor student progress toward end-of-year goals. Additional resources, including EAGLE, PARCC sample items, and other sites, are available for teachers in the .12 With both sets of assessments (with known texts and with new texts), teachers may choose to omit, add, or adjust tasks.
Grade 7 Unit Overview Anchor Text Unit Focus Text Complexity* Content and Standards Recommended Time of Year The Giver, Lois Lowry ) Developing different perspectives Readily accessible Characters, point of view, conflict, theme, and comparing and contrasting different texts Beginning of year Written in Bone, Sally M. Walker The interdisciplinary nature of learning about the past and how fiction authors use and alter history Moderately complex Identify and examine central ideas, compare and present unique historical perspectives through writing Beginning or middle of year (to coordinate with social studies) “How to Write a Memoir,” William Zinsser Coming-of-age stories Moderately complex Read, comprehend, evaluate, and write memoirs Middle of year or end of year (based on unit focus) A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens Self-reflection and selflessness Very complex Character point of view/perspective and development, influence of setting and characters on theme, influence of text on society Middle of year (to coordinate with Christmas) Excerpts from Behind the Scenes, Elizabeth Keckley Pre‒ and post‒ Civil War America Very complex Point of view given historical perspective, comparing nonfiction and fiction to understand historical settings and events, comprehending firsthand accounts and primary sources of historical events End of year
Grade 8 Unit Overview Anchor Text Unit Focus Text Complexity* Content and Standards Recommended Time of Year Call of the Wild, Jack London Human interaction with animals and nature Moderately complex Compare and contrast character perspective, read and apply nonfiction research to fictional stories, present claims based on research Beginning of year Sugar Changed the World, Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos Sugar production’s influence on society Moderately complex Determine text credibility, comprehend texts for research, compare and contrast texts to build historical knowledge, use nonfiction and fiction texts to consider the social impact of historical events Middle of year “Flowers for Algernon,” Daniel Keyes The nature of knowledge Readily accessible to very complex Analyze plot and character development, write argumentative essays using claims from text, compare facts and opinions from multiple sources Middle of year “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Edgar Allan Poe Perception versus reality Very complex Comprehend, analyze, and use narrative voice, read and evaluate the reliability and impact of media sources End of year “Conservation as a National Duty,” Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Very complex Read and evaluate multiple nonfiction texts, use multiple sources to build an argument, and evaluate ho texts and language influence individuals End of year * Readily accessible text: The language (words, sentence structure) might be at or below grade level but the content is complex and suitable for the grade level, or the language is at grade level and the content is less complex. Moderately complex text: The language is at grade level, and the content is suitable for the grade level. Very complex text: The language is at or slightly above grade level, and the content is significantly complex.
A Christmas Carol erview 1 Unit Focus Topic: Self-reflection and selflessness 2 3 Summative Unit Ass A culminating writing task 4 7 Daily Task Daily instruction helps students read and understand text and express that understanding. Themes: Explore how characters teach life lessons and achieve redemption through selflessness and valuing people over material possessions Text Use: Character point of view/perspective and development, influence of setting and characters on theme, influence of text on society How authors develop contrasting points of view/perspectives The influences of characters and setting on theme 5 A cold-read assessment Reading and understanding grade- level texts Comparing and contrasting how texts approach similar topics Understanding academic vocabulary Lesson 1: Stave I of A Christmas Carol (sample tasks) Lesson 2: “The Treasure of Lemon Brown” (sample tasks) Lesson 3: “History of Christmas,” Stave II and Stave III of A Christmas Carol (sample tasks) Lesson 4: Stave IV of A Christmas Carol (sample tasks) Lesson 5: “Study: Experiences Make Us Happier Than Possessions” and “Do Experiences or Material Goods Make Us Happier?” Lesson 6: Stave V of A Christmas Carol and “The Gift of the Magi” Lesson 7: Reader’s Theater Play of A Christmas Carol from 6 An extension task SCOPE Magazine and A Christmas Carol Lesson 8: “The Eighth Tuesday We Talk About Money” Influence of text on other texts, social traditions, and language from Tuesdays with Morrie (cold-read assessment) Lesson 9: Original manuscript of A Christmas Carol with Dickens’s revisions (sample tasks and culminating writing task) Lesson 10: “Charles Dickens: Six Things He Gave the Modern World” (extension task) All units have a unit focus, summative unit assessments, and daily tasks. The unit focus answers the question: “What do I want my students to learn from texts?” The summative unit assessments answer the question: “How will I determine if my students can read grade-level texts and meet standards?” The culminating writing task ask students to write in response to a text. The cold-read assessment measures students’ ability to read and understand sufficiently complex texts. The extension task incorporates research about related unit topics. The daily tasks answer the question: “How will I help students read and understand texts and express their understanding?”