3rd-5th Grade - Gateway 3
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Teacher & Student Supports
Gateway 3 - Meets Expectations | 94% |
|---|---|
Criterion 3.1: Teacher Supports | 13 / 14 |
Criterion 3.2: Student Supports | 4 / 4 |
Criterion 3.3: Intentional Design |
The materials meet expectations for Gateway 3. For Criterion 3.1, teacher guidance is provided at the module and lesson levels, including margin notes, pacing, safety guidance, and background science content. NGSS connections are identified across levels, while ELA and math standards are referenced at the lesson level. Materials include Family Letters in English and Spanish in most modules and provide home connection prompts. In Criterion 3.2, the materials include varied learning modalities such as simulations, modeling, and discourse. Opportunities are provided for remediation, enrichment, and student self-monitoring. Supports for multilingual learners and students in special populations include embedded strategies, sentence stems, and vocabulary glossaries. Grouping strategies and access to leveled texts are present, though supports are framed for general classroom use. In Criterion 3.3, materials include digital simulations and interactive tools with guidance for teacher facilitation. The visual design includes consistent formatting, color-coded boxes, and embedded digital resources. Digital collaboration tools are not present.
Criterion 3.1: Teacher Supports
Information on Multilingual Learner (MLL) Supports in This Criterion
For some indicators in this criterion, we also display evidence and scores for pair MLL indicators.
While MLL indicators are scored, these scores are reported separately from core content scores. MLL scores do not currently impact core content scores at any level—whether indicator, criterion, gateway, or series.
To view all MLL evidence and scores for this grade band or grade level, select the "Multilingual Learner Supports" view from the left navigation panel.
The program includes opportunities for teachers to effectively plan and utilize materials with integrity to further develop their own understanding of the content.
The materials include teacher guidance for lesson implementation through Curriculum Overviews, Module Overviews, and lesson-embedded annotations. These include notes on phenomena and problems, Series Connections, common student misconceptions, safety, and materials management. Each module includes adult-level background content related to DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs. NGSS standards are identified at the series, module, and lesson levels; ELA and math standards are identified at the lesson level through callouts and the Lesson Planner. Family Letters are available in English and Spanish in most modules and provide prompts for caregiver engagement. Instructional approaches and research-based strategies are identified in the Curriculum Overview, with citations. Assessment opportunities include formative, checkpoint, and summative tasks, each with rubrics and sample responses. Remediation guidance is included for formative and checkpoint assessments; enrichment guidance is included after formative assessments. Materials include safety guidance in module overviews and within lessons, and estimate class periods for each lesson. Materials span approximately 78–88 class periods per grade level.
Indicator 3a
Materials provide teacher guidance with useful annotations and suggestions for how to enact the student materials and ancillary materials, with specific attention to engaging students in figuring out phenomena and solving problems.
The materials reviewed for Grades 3-5 meet expectations for providing teacher guidance with useful annotations and suggestions for how to enact the student materials and ancillary materials, with specific attention to engaging students in figuring out phenomena and solving problems.
The materials include teacher guidance at the beginning of each unit in the Curriculum Overview and Module Overview as well as guidance embedded in the lessons in the form of margin notes, callout boxes, and built-in guidance.
The Curriculum Overview gives a summary of the different features of the curriculum, including the organization of the curriculum and how program design supports a storyline approach and supports present to assist all students in meeting the standards. The Curriculum Overview is present in the front matter of each module and is identical across all modules.
The Module Overview includes several sections that provide comprehensive guidance that supports implementation of the materials. These sections include: Phenomenon and Problems Storyline, Series Connections, Module Background Information, Naive Ideas, and Materials Management and Safety. These sections provide teachers with an overview of the module as related to the claimed phenomena and problems, how the module connects to the standards, how the module connects to other modules in the program, important science content information, and ideas about the science content that students may have. For example,
In Grade 3, Physical Science, How Can We Use Patterns to Predict Motion?, Module Overview, Naive Ideas section:
“Naive ideas: If an object is not moving, then there is no force acting on it (1, 2).
Explanation: This is considered an early “common sense” concept about forces and motion. Students may believe that if something is not moving, it is because no force is applied to the object.
Students may say …: The wagon is sitting still on the ground. It isn’t moving because there aren’t any forces acting on it. Nobody is pushing or pulling it.”
Individual Lessons also include embedded guidance on a variety of elements for implementing the materials. In the Guide to Module Investigations, the materials name the following types of margin notes, callout boxes, and lesson guidance: NGSS, Common Core, Naive Ideas, Plan Ahead, Digital Resources, EL Strategies, Series Connections, Teacher Tips and Tech Tips, Guiding Questions, Safety Notes, and Class Period Breaks. These embedded supports provide teachers with things like guidance on what specific elements of the NGSS are being addressed, where students may have alternative ideas about the science content, how to accommodate for multilingual learners, safety considerations, and guiding questions that will help students make connections and understand content. For example,
In Grade 5, Physical Science, How Can We Identify Materials Based on Their Properties?, Lesson 3: Mixing with Water, the Activity procedure includes a Teacher Tip callout box. It advises, “Point out the Group Work and Stop and Think boxes in the Student Activity Guide. Tell students that the boxes will help them work together as a group and think about what they are investigating.”
Indicator 3b
Materials contain explanations and examples of grade-level/course-level concepts and/or standards and how the concepts and/or standards align to other grade/course levels so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject.
The materials reviewed for Grades 3-5 meet expectations for containing explanations and examples of grade-level/course-level concepts and/or standards and how the concepts and/or standards align to other grade/course levels so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject.
Support for teachers’ understanding of science content is found in the Module Background Information section of the Module Overview at the beginning of each module. This section includes narrative information that explains the relevant DCIs in adult terms. These explanations go beyond the DCIs as written and provide additional context and content that can help teachers improve their own knowledge of the subject. This section also includes a deeper analysis of the SEPs and CCCs that are included in the module. These explanations describe the SEPs and CCCs in detail, how their scientific meaning is different from the everyday meaning of the word, and what ideas students may have about them.
Example of supports provided around grade/course-level concepts and/or standards so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject:
In Grade 4, Earth & Space Science, How Can We Stay Safe On A Changing Earth?, the Module Background Information section includes information about the DCI topics of plate tectonics, stratigraphy, and waves in water. The information provided is at an adult level and meant to support the teacher in developing background context. A science and engineering section is also present that contains information about how scientists and engineers engage with the content and to support teachers with how students also engage as scientists and engineers throughout the module. The CCC and SEP sections also contain information for teachers about the meanings behind the different concepts and practices students will engage with.
The materials also support teachers’ understanding of science content through the Series Connections section found in the Module Overview. This section discusses how the focus DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs have been previously addressed in prior modules and grade levels, supporting teachers to have an understanding of what background knowledge students may need. The materials include lesson specific callouts within the lesson materials when these connections are present.
Example of supports provided around how the concepts and/or standards align to other grade/course levels so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject:
In Grade 5, Life Science, How Can We Predict Change in Ecosystems?, the Series Connections section within the Module Overview contains information about life science DCI connections to Grade 2, physical science DCI connections to Grade 4, SEP connections to Grades 1-5, and CCC connections to Grade 4.
Indicator 3c
Materials include standards correlation information, including connections to college- and career-ready ELA and mathematics standards, that explains the role of the standards in the context of the overall series.
The materials reviewed for Grades 3-5 partially meet expectations for including standards correlation information, including connections to college- and career-ready ELA and mathematics standards, that explains the role of the standards in the context of the overall series. The materials provide many explanations of the connections and correlations to the NGSS at the series level, module level, and lesson level. However, connections to standards for ELA and mathematics are only present at the lesson level.
NGSS correlations are present in a variety of locations and explain connections at different levels. At the series level, the Curriculum Overview section provides a curriculum framework for the series that shows which performance expectations are addressed in each grade level and each module for the grade band. At the module level, the Module Overview section includes several places that explain the connection to the NGSS. The Module Alignment to NGSS provides the module objectives and the performance expectations, DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs connected to those objectives. DCI information is provided at the element level whereas SEP and CCC information lists components only. At the lesson level, the Assessment Map in the Module Overview provides the assessment objectives and associated DCI, SEP, and CCC elements for each individual lesson. The Lesson Planner at the beginning of each module provides similar information but only names the larger SEP or CCC component and not the specific element. Additionally, NGSS margin notes embedded in the lessons provide guidance on what DCIs, SEPs, or CCCs are connected to specific portions of each lesson.
Example of a Lesson-Level Connection to the NGSS:
In Grade 5, Engineering Design, How Can We Protect and Clean Earth’s Water?, Lesson 1: A Plastic Problem, the NGSS margin note states, “ESS2.A ESS3.C Systems and system models Students explain how components of natural or designed systems may contribute to the problem or to a solution. Developing and using models Students develop an initial model to explain a problem related to plastic pollution in the ocean. Designing solutions Students propose an initial idea for a solution to the problem of plastic pollution in the ocean. Engineering, technology, and applications of science Students record what they have heard about existing solutions to the problem of plastic pollution in the ocean so they can think of ways to improve these solutions or develop new ones.”
Lesson-level connections to ELA and mathematics are located in the Lesson Planner for each module and as embedded guidance in the lessons. The Lesson Planner includes an ELA and Math Connections column that cites the Common Core standard connected to each lesson (e.g., “Reading: Informational text Key ideas and details (RI.5.1, RI.5.2, RI.5.3)”), where applicable. Individual lessons also include Common Core margin notes, with different icons, that connect specific portions of a lesson to components in the Common Core (e.g., Comprehension and collaboration, Presentation of knowledge and ideas). Series-level connections to standards in ELA or mathematics are not present in the program.
Example of a Lesson-Level Connection to ELA and Mathematics:
In Grade 3, Earth & Space Science, How Do Weather and Climate Affect Our Lives?, Lesson 8: Where Can It Snow in July?, step 7 of the Activity procedure “Give students time to prepare their poster, choose a speaker, and help the speaker prepare to present the data on the poster. Circulate around the classroom and listen to students practice their presentations.”, is accompanied by the margin notes, “Represent and interpret data” and “Production and distribution of writing”, along with the respective icons to indicate a connection to the Common Core State Standards in Literacy and Mathematics.
Indicator 3d
Materials provide strategies for informing all stakeholders, including students, parents, or caregivers about the program and suggestions for how they can help support student progress and achievement.
Indicator 3e
Materials provide explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research-based strategies.
The materials reviewed for Grades 3-5 meet expectations for providing explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research-based strategies.
The beginning of each Module includes the same Curriculum Overview that describes and explains the instructional approaches of the program. This includes sections titled: Curriculum Framework, Designed for the NGSS, A Coherent Storyline, Centered on Student Ideas, Group Work, Digital Integration, Literacy Integration, Support for All Students, Assessment, Home Connections, and Support for Implementation. Each section describes how that component contributes to the program’s instructional approach. For instance, the section titled A Coherent Storyline explains that the program was developed using backward design and started with bundles of performance expectations as the goal. The Curriculum Overview also includes a References section and cites the relevant research throughout all sections of the Curriculum Overview.
Examples of how the materials identify research-based strategies that are used in the design:
In the Curriculum Overview, the Literacy Integration section states, “Through the use of a science notebook, students will engage in the writing process…and write for a variety of purposes,” and cites Graham et al., 2012, Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers: A Practice Guide.
In the Curriculum Overview, the A Coherent Storyline section states, “Multiple phenomena and problems are usually needed to fully cover the PEs in the bundle. Multiple phenomena and problems also spark the curiosity of a diverse group of students,” and cites Penuel, et al., 2017, Developing NGSS-Aligned Curriculum that Connects to Students' Interests and Experiences: Lessons Learned from a Co-design Partnership.
In the Curriculum overview, the Group Work section states, “[Group work] can lessen individual competitiveness and develop problem solving skills,” and cites Lin, 2006, Cooperative Learning in the Science Classroom.
Indicator 3e.MLL
Materials provide explanations of the instructional approaches of the program for MLLs and identification of the research-based strategies.
The instructional materials for Grades 3-5 meet expectations for providing explanations of the instructional approaches of the program for MLLs and identification of the research-based strategies.
Specifically, in the Curriculum Overview, Supports for All Learners section, the publisher states, “While we recognize that ELs are a highly diverse group themselves, research has pinpointed some best practices that are broadly useful. Throughout each module, relevant research-based EL strategies are embedded at pertinent point-of-use moments." These point-of-use moments are embedded in the Teacher Guide materials for each lesson, as applicable, in callout boxes labeled EL Strategies. Each EL Strategy is assigned a citation number at the end, serving as a reference to the research-based strategy list provided. These same EL Strategies are highlighted throughout the program, as they align with the content and approach for each lesson.
Further, for each module, in the Resources tab within the digital resources, the Supports for English Learners document, states the following:
“The Smithsonian Science for the Classroom series was developed to support all students, including English Learners, to meet the Next Generation Science Standards. In alignment with WIDA’s 2019 Principles of Language Development, the Smithsonian Science for the Classroom series is developed to:
1. Leverage students’ language, cultural, and intellectual resources
2. Develop language through multiple modalities
3. Support language development through collaboration and discussions
4. Support language development through reading and vocabulary acquisition
5. Support language development through writing.”
The document further provides examples of MLL strategies and highlights a corresponding reference number to establish the connection.
For example: “Providing sentence frames helps EL students develop fluency and communicate concepts without getting overburdened with grammar rules (1). This will allow them to construct well-formed sentences to communicate their understanding, both written and orally (9).”
Finally, a list of references is available, stating the sources used to inform the development of the various lessons, including pedagogy, content, and scaffolds, as well as citations for photo credits and videos.
The program provides instructional approaches for MLLs and identifies research-based strategies. Research-based EL strategies are embedded throughout the Teacher Guide in callout boxes labeled “EL Strategies,” each linked to citations listed in the Framework. Additionally, there is a Support for English Learners document that discusses their approach toward meeting WIDA's 2019 Principles of Language Development.
Indicator 3f
Materials provide a comprehensive list of supplies needed to support instructional activities.
The materials reviewed for Grades 3-5 meet expectations for including a comprehensive list of supplies needed to support the instructional activities.
The Materials Management and Safety section within the Module Overview contains a list of all the materials needed for the entire module, based on a class of 32 students, noting the quantity of each item needed per lesson. A second materials list includes items not supplied in pre-packaged module kits (e.g. chart paper, tape, computers, water, etc.) and in which lesson they are used. There are instructions for reordering materials, material management, safety information, and a "Stay Safe" contract for students and parents to sign. These are available in both digital and print formats.
In addition, each lesson includes a Materials section that includes a list of materials needed for the lesson, with a reminder for materials that need advance preparation if needed (e.g., letting clay dry overnight). Materials are listed as needed by the teacher, students, and/or groups of students.
Indicator 3g
The assessment system provides consistent opportunities to determine student learning throughout the school year. The assessment system provides sufficient teacher guidance for evaluating student performance and determining instructional next steps.
The materials reviewed for Grades 3-5 meet expectations for providing an assessment system with opportunities to determine student learning throughout the school year and sufficient teacher guidance for evaluating student performance and determining instructional next steps.
The materials provide multiple assessment opportunities per module to assess student progression towards mastering the module objective. The assessment system includes four types of assessments: pre-assessments, checkpoint assessments, formative assessments, and summative assessments. Summative assessments exist as written and performance summative assessments. Each lesson has at least one assigned assessment along with embedded student self assessments. Pre-assessment opportunities are provided for the beginning of a module and/or at the beginning of a set of lessons connected to the same content, phenomenon, or problem. Formative assessments include tasks that require students to use their skills and knowledge in complex ways and the tasks involved incorporate at least two and most often three of the NGSS dimensions. Checkpoint assessments are usually located in the last lesson of a set of lessons that are centered around the same content, phenomenon, or problem. These assessments require students to use all three NGSS dimensions. At the end of the module, students complete a summative assessment associated with the last set of lessons that are connected to a science or design challenge.
Each assessment, except the pre-assessment, includes supports for evaluating student performance. Formative and checkpoint assessments provide a rubric with “indicators of success” and “indicators of difficulty”. Summative assessments come with a three point rubric for scoring. Both types of rubrics support teachers in evaluating student performance with individual DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs. Within the lessons, the materials also provide sample student work to assist teachers’ evaluations. This includes examples of completed worksheets and possible responses to discussion questions.
All Checkpoint and formative assessments include suggestions for remediation following the rubrics. The lesson procedures include the guidance, “Use the remediation strategy at the end of the lesson to provide additional support for students.” The remediation guidance provides specific ways to support students who struggled with the assessments. Enrichment strategies are also present but there is no specific lesson guidance around when to use them. Remediation and follow-up guidance is not provided for summative assessments.
Example of Remediation Guidance:
In Grade 4, Physical Science, How Does Energy Move From One Object to Another?, Lesson 10: Safe Landing, the remediation strategy is, “If students continue to have a difficult time understanding that some of Space Shuttle Discovery’s energy was transferred to the air during its descent, ask students to think about a time they put their hand outside a car window as it was moving. Encourage them to describe what they felt. How did the sensation change as they moved their hand? Invite students to connect that experience to the phenomenon of the Space Shuttle Discovery landing.”
Indicator 3h
Materials provide clear science safety guidelines for teachers and students across the instructional materials.
The materials reviewed for Grades 3-5 meet expectations for embedding clear science safety guidelines for teachers and students across the instructional materials.
At the beginning of each module, the Module Overview includes a Materials Management and Safety section that includes general guidelines for safety along with module specific considerations such as handling sharp objects, chemical information (with a QR code link to MSDS sheets), and a reproducible “Stay Safe! Contract” for students and parents to sign, committing to safe investigations.
When applicable, specific safety instructions are included at the lesson level within activity instructions in the teacher’s guide (print and digital). These are in the form of a red call-out section labeled with a red exclamation bubble and “Safety”. Student activity guides also contain safety considerations, as applicable, in the form of a red text box and “Stay Safe!”.
Examples of lesson-level Safety notes:
In Grade 4, Engineering Design, How Can We Provide Energy to Meet Diverse Needs?, Lesson 3: Light the Bulb, the student activity guide safety callout states, “Do not remove the coating from wires. Check with your teacher before changing the wire pieces in any way. Do not stick wires into outlets. Do not do this investigation near water or other liquids. Only use the materials as described here. Masking tape contains latex. Be careful when it is in use if you have a latex allergy.”
In Grade 5, Engineering Design, How Can We Protect and Clean Earth’s Water?, Lesson 3: Macroplastics on the Move, the teacher guide safety callout states, “Review classroom safety rules about working with water and small objects. Have students clean up dropped materials and water spills as they happen and inform you of any excessive spills.”
It is important to note that teachers should always locate and adhere to local policies and regulations related to science safety in the classroom.
Indicator 3i
Materials designated for each grade are feasible and flexible for one school year.
Criterion 3.2: Student Supports
Information on Multilingual Learner (MLL) Supports in This Criterion
For some indicators in this criterion, we also display evidence and scores for pair MLL indicators.
While MLL indicators are scored, these scores are reported separately from core content scores. MLL scores do not currently impact core content scores at any level—whether indicator, criterion, gateway, or series.
To view all MLL evidence and scores for this grade band or grade level, select the "Multilingual Learner Supports" view from the left navigation panel.
The program includes materials designed for each child’s regular and active participation in grade-level/grade-band/series content.
The materials include strategies and supports for students in special populations, including remediation guidance after formative and checkpoint assessments, naive idea callouts, and UDL-aligned features such as large print and text-to-speech options. Enrichment and extension activities are provided at the end of lessons and in association with some assessments. Materials include varied modalities for instruction, including reading, simulations, modeling, and discourse. Students demonstrate learning through written work, skits, oral presentations, visual models, and prototypes. Grouping formats include pairs, small groups, and whole-class discussions. EL Strategy callouts, Family Letters, and prompts referencing students’ cultural experiences are embedded. Texts include Lexile levels and are available at or below grade level, in English and Spanish, with glossary support and teacher-facing reading strategies. Assessment accommodations include sentence stems, oral prompts, and visual scaffolds; specific accommodations for students with disabilities or multilingual learners beyond Spanish are not included.
Indicator 3j
Materials provide strategies and supports for students in special populations to support their regular and active participation in learning grade-level/band science and engineering.
The materials reviewed for Grades 3-5 meet expectations for providing strategies and supports for students in special populations to support their regular and active participation in learning grade-level/grade-band science and engineering.
The materials include two main supports for students from special populations – suggestions for remediation after some assessments and naive student ideas. Each formative and checkpoint assessment includes a suggestion for supporting students who struggle with the assessment. Each module also includes a table of Common Student Naive Ideas in the Module Overview, split by Disciplinary Concepts and Practices, that lists possible misconceptions and things students may say that will help teachers identify the naive ideas. Naive ideas are also presented in the Lesson Planner at the beginning of each module, and embedded in individual lessons in Good Thinking callout boxes.
The materials also employ several strategies of universal design for learning to accommodate students’ individual needs, most typically for visually impaired students. This includes accommodations such as large, clear font and text-to-voice options for digital texts. There are also occasional Teacher tip callout boxes that provide additional supports. And, while support for different grouping strategies exists (see Indicator 3m), guidance is not provided about needs-based pairing or grouping, or to offer adaptations for different student needs.
Examples of embedded support for students:
In Grade 3, Engineering Design, How Can We Protect Animals When Their Habitat Changes?, Lesson 11: Camera Trap, a Teacher tip states, “If class time allows read the “The eMammal Project” section of Smithsonian Science Stories Literacy Series: Changing Habitats story “Anyone Can Be a Scientist.”
In Grade 4, Life Science, How Can Animals Use Their Senses to Communicate?, The Naive Ideas table in the Module Overview lists a Naive Idea as “The brain is used only for thinking (1, 2).” The Explanation part of the table states, “Students may think of the brain as used only for cognitive functions such as thinking and remembering and not for seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, or moving.” And the Students may say…column states, “You don’t use your brain to walk or run.”
In Grade 5, Earth & Space Science, How Can We Use the Sky to Navigate?, Lesson 7: What’s Your Perspective?, the formative assessment remediation guidance states, “Students may not know that Pluto is much farther from the Sun compared to Earth to the Sun. Help them make that inference based on the evidence they have collected in Lessons 6 and 7. Encourage students to review their Lesson 6 Notebook Sheets B and C.”
In Grade 5, Earth & Space Science, How Can We Use the Sky to Navigate?, Lesson 10: Missing Constellation, a Teacher tip states, “Partner students who are visually impaired with a student who will be comfortable verbally sharing what they observe.”
Indicator 3k
Materials provide extensions and/or opportunities for students to engage in learning grade-level/band science and engineering at greater depth.
The materials reviewed for Grades 3-5 meet expectations for providing extensions and/or opportunities for students to engage in learning grade-level science and engineering at greater depth.
Formative and Checkpoint assessments are followed by suggested Remediation and Enrichment activities for teachers to implement based on students’ performance. Pre-assessment and Summative assessments do not contain these supports. The enrichment activities typically require students to apply DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs in novel situations and engage students in new or more complex thinking related to the lesson content. None of the enrichment activities simply add on additional work for advanced students.
The materials also provide Extension activities at the end of each lesson that connect lesson content to new contexts, such as math, arts, or ELA. These extension activities do not always require more complex science. However, they are not limited to advanced students but provide all students with extension opportunities at the teacher’s discretion.
Examples of extensions and/or opportunities for students to engage in learning grade-level/grade-band science and engineering at greater depth:
In Grade 3, Life Science, What Explains Similarities and Differences Between Organisms?, Lesson 7: Comparing Climates, after students complete a lesson comparing climates in different parts of the country, the materials include an Enrichment activity: “Invite the class to select cities on the Köppen map where they think the maple seedling will do well. Encourage students to use evidence from their data and the map to support their ideas.”
In Grade 5, Earth & Space Science, How Can We Use the Sky to Navigate?, Lesson 6: Distances Can Be Deceiving, after students complete a lesson about why the Sun appears small and like a star, the materials include an Extension activity: “Literacy and Home and Community: Star Gazing…Procedure: Have students finish reading “Star Gazing.” Have students use the map of the United States at night to predict if they will be able to see the Milky Way from where they live.”
Indicator 3l
Materials provide varied approaches to learning tasks over time and variety in how students are expected to demonstrate their learning with opportunities for students to monitor their learning.
Indicator 3m
Materials provide opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies.
Indicator 3m.MLL
Materials include guidance for intentional and flexible grouping structures for MLLs to ensure equitable participation.
The instructional materials for Grades 3-5 partially meet expectations for including guidance for intentional and flexible grouping structures for MLLs to ensure equitable participation. While students are frequently asked to work in pairs, small groups, and whole-class discussions, the guidance does not consistently ensure equitable participation or include guidance specific to English proficiency levels.
The example below promotes oral language use, but there is no direction for intentional grouping by need or English proficiency levels to ensure equitable participation.
In Grade 5, Physical Science, How Can We Predict Change in Ecosystems?, Lesson 1: From Seed to Plant, teachers are instructed to pair students and have them develop investigation questions. The guidance states, “Organize students into pairs and hand out a copy of Lesson 1 Notebook Sheet F to each student. Explain to the students that they will work in their pairs to develop questions that they can investigate to figure out where the radish plants in the containers that don’t have soil get most of the matter they use to live and grow. Have pairs work together to complete the notebook sheets by discussing and recording what questions they think are most useful in investigating. Remind them to use the Plant Growth spidergram as a source of possible factors.”
Some EL Strategy callouts include guidance on intentional grouping to support MLLs, but this support is applied inconsistently across the program.
In Grade 4, Earth and Space Science, How Can We Stay Safe on a Changing Earth?, Lesson 8: A Ship on the Ocean, the EL Strategy box advises teachers to pair bilingual students with students who have very limited English, or to group students by a shared primary language, stating, “For this activity, pair bilingual students with students with very limited English if possible (17), or group students with a common primary language to facilitate support. This will allow students to first discuss the activity in their primary language and then, together or individually, express their thoughts in English (19).”
Overall, while the materials occasionally demonstrate intentional pairings of MLL students, the absence of consistent guidance for flexible grouping fails to ensure equitable participation for MLLs in group work and, consequently, limits opportunities for them to interact with peers and develop disciplinary language meaningfully.
Indicator 3n
Assessments offer accommodations that allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills without changing the content of the assessment.
Indicator 3n.MLL
Assessments offer accommodations that allow MLLs to demonstrate their knowledge and skills without changing the content of the assessment.
The instructional materials for Grades 3-5 do not meet expectations for offering accommodations for MLLs. The assessment tables for both Summative Assessments and Checkpoint Assessments guide teachers in assessing student performance using a rubric with indicators for success and indicators of difficulty. While the rubric indicates a connection to the NGSS dimensions, it does not provide teacher guidance to support language development for MLLs.
Indicator 3o
Materials provide a range of representation of people and include detailed instructions and support for educators to effectively incorporate and draw upon students’ different cultural, social, and community backgrounds to enrich learning experiences.
Indicator 3p
Materials provide supports for different reading levels to ensure accessibility for students.
Indicator 3q
This is not an assessed indicator in Science.
Criterion 3.3: Intentional Design
The program includes a visual design that is engaging and references or integrates digital technology, when applicable, with guidance for teachers.
The materials include digital simulations, videos, and games embedded in lessons to support engagement with scientific phenomena and problem-solving. Technology is used for content exploration but not for collaboration between teachers or students. Each lesson includes a preparation section with teacher guidance on how to implement digital resources, including timing, group configuration, and discussion facilitation. Materials include a consistent visual structure, color-coded icons for margin notes, and clearly organized student handouts and activity guides. Visuals and formatting are used to distinguish safety guidance, misconceptions, and EL strategies. Student resources are linked within lessons and available in a separate Digital Resources section.
Indicator 3r
Materials integrate interactive tools and/or dynamic software in ways that support student engagement in the three dimensions, when applicable.
Indicator 3s
Materials include or reference digital technology that provides opportunities for teachers and/or students to collaborate with each other, when applicable.
Indicator 3t
The visual design (whether in print or digital) supports students in engaging thoughtfully with the subject, and is neither distracting nor chaotic.
Indicator 3u
Materials provide teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning, when applicable.