Inquiry By Design Full Curriculum, Grades 6-8
Core Code Alignment
Language Arts
Language Arts Required Core
06020000030: Language Arts 8
Language Arts Required Core
06020000030: Language Arts 8
Recommendation
Recommended Limited
Evaluation
Overview: Series of inquiry-based units - detailed lesson plans. Each unit is built around challenging, grade-appropriate texts and spiraling cycles of work marked by reading, writing, and collaborative small-group and whole-class discussion. Close reading of “only interesting” texts and formal, genre-based writing instruction.
Collaboration: teach each other through small and whole groups.
Includes: all teacher print materials, 1 year teacher subscription to the digital toolkit, all student print materials. Student materials are consumables repurchased yearly as needed.
Educators Using These Materials
No educators found.
Rubric : English Language Arts
Content
| Item | 3 - Extensive | 2 - Adequate | 1 - Inadequate | 0 - None | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alignment | The content of this resource aligns with appropriate grade level Core standards, is current, well-researched, and referenced from reliable sources. -meets all grade level standards within elementary/secondary -is explicit, systematic, and engaging -includes all 7 essential elements of literacy: phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, oral language, and writing as appropriate to grade level -includes text that meets Lexile requirements for each grade band -includes text that is the appropriate percentage of literature and informational | The content of this resource aligns with most grade level core standards but will need supplementary materials to insure coverage of all the objectives for this course. | The content of this resource aligns with a few grade level core standards for a portion of the course. | The content of this resource does not align with standards and objectives for this course. | ||
| Aligns with grade level Core Standards: Yes, current, well-researched, reliably sourced: Yes -- full explanation included in program for teachers Explicit, systemic, engaging: Yes - great variety of approaches and activities; easy to follow lesson plans and materials Phonics: No Fluency: Yes Vocabulary and reading as part of the lessons comprehension: Yes Oral language: Yes - many speaking and discussion opportunities and guidance Writing: Yes, scaffolded writing practice Text-Complexity (Lexile, etc): Lexile levels identified with each text Text-Mix (lit/non-fiction): Balanced mix. | ||||||
| Scaffolding | Scaffolding supports for these materials are complex and challenging, engage learners from various skill levels and provide assistance for all students to enhance conceptual understanding; and offer opportunities for students to share evidence and research. | Scaffolding supports for these materials engage learners from various skill levels and provides assistance for students to enhance conceptual understanding. | Scaffolding supports for these materials engage learners from various skill levels. | Scaffolding supports for these materials do not engage learners from various skill levels or provide scaffolding to enhance conceptual understanding. | ||
| Assistance for variety of Levels: Each lesson includes extension and modification ideas. Tasks are well-scaffolded for whole class instruction. Student sharing/presenting: Several opportunities. More inquiry-based than I.R.E. (Initiate, Respond, Evaluate) - “students help each other get smarter together”. Promotes independent reading with student-selected text and Close Reading | ||||||
| Navigation | This resource contains directions that are clear and understandable and are easy to navigate through. | N/A | N/A | The instructions in this resource are unclear and navigation is difficult. | ||
| Clear, easy, and understandable navigation: Yes, direct and easy navigation. Student Reader and what they are being asked to do is right alongside the Teacher Manual guide. | ||||||
Accessibility
| Item | 3 - Extensive | 2 - Adequate | 1 - Inadequate | 0 - None | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bias Free | This material is free from bias and can be used by all students regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or disability. This material is free from advertising, e-commerce or political interest, and is in compliance with the law and community standards. | N/A | This series or title has material that may be interpreted as bias or promoting a commercial or political agenda or may be considered to treat some groups unfairly. | This series or title has material that is clearly biased and favors a point of view that may be distracting to the educational experience of students. | ||
| Biases: (accessible for students regardless of background): American-centric, but includes a variety of American voices and perspectives.Commercial Free, including political interest: Units are all skill-centric rather than topic centric, making it easy for teachers to avoid sharing their biases or presenting biased information. Some texts include a specific point of view, but taken as a whole, there is no promotion of any political or institutional interest. Legal compliance: Yes | ||||||
| Adaptability | Instructional materials in this resource are easily updated and adaptable for teacher and student use in individualized or small group instructional settings and are accessible for an appropriate time period to facilitate a proper learning environment for each student. | Instructional materials in this resource have some features which are adaptable and are available for an acceptable time period. | N/A | Instructional materials in this resource are not adaptable or easily incorporated into a variety of educational settings. | ||
| Variety of Settings/situations: Works for groups of a few students to a larger class; if the teacher eliminated some of the activities, could be adapted to individual instruction.Appropriate time frame: Easily and regularly updated. | ||||||
| Technical Standards | Instructional materials in this resource are adaptable or easily incorporated into a variety of educational settings. | N/A | N/A | This curriculum is limited by specifications that may require additional materials or technical assistance, or additional hardware, software, or infrastructure. | ||
| Does this require additional materials, assistance, hardware, software, etc?: No. Both print and digital materials provided, but need to be re-purchased every year. | ||||||
Pedagogy
| Item | 3 - Extensive | 2 - Adequate | 1 - Inadequate | 0 - None | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physical Characteristics | In physical terms, this resource is durable, interactive, and provides high quality audio-visual and tactile experiences for all users if appropriate. | In physical terms, this resource is somewhat fragile in construction and provides limited tactile experiences for students. | N/A | In physical terms, this resource is designed to be disposable and temporary. | ||
| Durability and reliability: Consumable workbooks designed to last only one year. | ||||||
| Instructional Support | This curriculum provides adequate instructional support that aligns with MTSS guidelines and clear requirements for the instructor. | N/A | N/A | This curriculum does not provide adequate support for the instructor. | ||
| Instructor Support: Nicely detailed instructions for instructors. Digital Tool Kit: Text Writing, Audio Texts, Charts, Graphic Organizers, Professional Teaching Videos | ||||||
| Supplemental Resources | Provided materials reference numerous available supplemental resources including support for each learner in every level of learning. | Provided materials reference some available supplemental resources. | N/A | Provided materials do not refer to other supplemental resources. | ||
| Supplements Available: Extension and Modifications available. All materials for lessons provided. Fluency, Form, and Correctness Guide: Practices that promote good habits, Get students writing everyday, Not tied to a unit, As needed practices for what teachers see in their students reading, writing, and speaking, These practices are cross-referenced in the Teacher Manual | ||||||
| Assessments | These instructional resources contain a variety of formative and summative assessments that are aligned with core objectives, provide appropriate intervention strategies, and lead to observable performance and real-world experience. | These instructional resources contain a limited number of assessments without intervention strategies. | N/A | These instructional resources do not provide assessment materials. | ||
| Formative & Summative: Assessments are collaborative; there ARE culminating writing projects. But there are not traditional assessments, making data harder to collect.Variety of strategies: Yes - speaking and listening centric with lots of options for student choice.Informative for Instructors: Because of the project nature and collaborative nature, data would be hard to collect and compare -- not as useful for PLCs or reporting.Observable Performance/ Real-world Experience: Yes, this is the strength of these assessment types. | ||||||
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