Attend Newsela pilot training. Designed to introduce educators to the essential elements of the Threads & Themes curriculum.

Familiarize yourself with the Course Level Teacher Resources. Highlights include: Scope and Sequence, ELA Routines Guide, Strategic Reading, and Differentiation Playbook.
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Review the Pilot Unit Resources. Explore the Overview, Lessons, Assessments and Additional Resources (Unit level tabs).

Use the Lessons tab to explore the different types of Threads and Themes lessons. While lessons are integrated in nature (students are reading, writing, speaking and listening every day) the lesson type provides a focus for the day’s learning.
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Read the anchor text and short-form texts associated with your pilot unit. The anchor text (novel, play, or narrative nonfiction) drives instruction throughout the unit and the text set provides additional texts aligned by theme or topic.

Confirm all students have access to print and/or digital curriculum before the start date. Students need access to the anchor text (physical book or passages) and platform access for short-form texts and assessments.

Launch with Spark lessons. Spark lessons build background knowledge and activate curiosity before students encounter the anchor text. Use the provided visual texts, video clip recommendations and discussion protocols to prime students for the unit.

Focus on lesson objectives. Every lesson includes both a content and language objective. Many include a third objective focused on foundational skills. Share these with students to provide focus for the day.
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Introduce the unit's essential question and central vocabulary. Post the essential questions visibly and return to them throughout the unit. The vocabulary introduced now will recur — early exposure lowers the barrier to comprehension later.
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Introduce the Performance Task prompt and the unit's writing genre. Students begin building toward their culminating writing task in Investigation 1. Introducing the prompt early gives every writing lesson a clear purpose.

Administer the Quick Write and keep a copy of it. In Grade 6 Unit 2 and Grade 7 Unit 2 the first Quick Write falls in Lesson 2 In Grade 8 Unit 3 the first Quick Write falls in Lesson 1. This is an informal writing sample rather than a Performance Task pre-assessment, but it gives you an early piece of each student's writing to compare against later work.
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Facilitate lessons using the 4 L Lesson Structure. Launch (activates prior knowledge), Literacy Lab (explicit instruction), Learning in Action (students apply new skill) and Look Back for reflection and formative assessment.
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Begin close reading of the anchor text and corresponding text set. Use reading focused lessons to model active engagement with the texts rather than reading passively.

Conduct daily Checks for Understanding (Pulse Checks, Reflections, Quick Writes). These 2–5 minute formative tools tell you which students are progressing through the learning and which need support before Flex Days arrive.
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Facilitate Academic Discussion lessons using structured protocols. Discussion is a core instructional method designed to engage students in deep, student-driven inquiry.
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Apply I-ELD supports embedded in each lesson for multilingual learners. Look for the I-ELD dropdown or margin annotations in your lesson. Prioritize differentiated sentence frames and scaffolds for Emerging, Expanding and Bridging learners.
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Administer the End-of-Investigation 1 Assessment. This multiple-choice and technology-enhanced assessment identifies which students are ready to move on and which need targeted reteaching. Analyze results to form data-based student groups for Flex Days.

Plan and run Targeted Instruction Huddles on a Flex Day (whole-class or small-group). In the lessons these are titled Skill-Based Huddles, and each Huddle is named for the standard it targets, for example Huddle 1 (RL.7.2). Choose the standard that matches your students' current data-identified needs.
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Advance reading and analysis — shift from comprehension to deeper analytical skills. Investigation 2 moves students beyond what the text says to how and why the author crafted it.

Move the writing process from drafting to revision using Peer Review Protocols. Investigation 2 writing lessons focus on revision. Use it to build a classroom culture of constructive, specific feedback. Review protocols appear most often in the Showcase arc, where students revise against the Performance Task rubric, and also in Investigation 1 and Investigation 2 writing, research and presentation lessons.
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Draw explicit connections between Investigation 1 and Investigation 2 texts The unit is designed for these texts to speak to each other. Name the connections explicitly rather than treating each Investigation as a separate.

Administer the End-of-Investigation 2 Assessment. Use results alongside your ongoing formative records to assess readiness for the Showcase phase and plan final targeted instruction.

Run a second round of Targeted Instruction Huddles based on updated data. Groupings should shift. A student who needed support with a reading standard after Investigation 1 may now need support with a writing or language standard instead.

Introduce Showcase expectations and co-review the Performance Task rubric with students. Students should review the rubric before drafting begins and use it as a self-check throughout revision. Build this in as a structured step, not an afterthought.
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Guide students through the full Plan → Draft → Revise → Publish sequence. The Showcase arc includes dedicated lessons for each phase.
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Use the task-specific analytic rubric to guide your feedback during revision conferences. Each rubric row maps directly to a CCSS standard.

Facilitate Presentation lessons - if your unit includes an oral or multimedia component. Presentation lessons teach delivery, audience awareness, visual aid use, and formal register.

Celebrate student work through the Showcase culminating activity (Author's Chair, Community Circle, or exhibit). The Showcase is designed as a celebration of learning. Honor student work publicly — this closes the unit with purpose and dignity.

Review Checks for Understanding embedded in daily lessons and adjust based on what you find. Formative data should change what you do tomorrow. If most students couldn't complete the Reflection at the target level, revisit before advancing.

Track student participation in Academic Discussion across the pilot. Note which students are using academic language confidently, who is minimally participating, and who has shifted over time. This is evidence of language development.

Review Quick Writes and Look Back writing samples throughout the pilot to track growth toward the Performance Task. Compare early Quick Writes to later ones. Growth in academic language complexity, claim specificity, and text evidence use is evidence that the pilot is working.

Collect Student Feedback on the curriculum. Student voice is an important part of the pilot evaluation.

Meet with your Newsela Customer Success Manager to align on pilot goals and success metrics. Share this information with all pilot participants.

Schedule and confirm pilot teacher participation in Newsela training — attend yourself. All piloting teachers, co-teachers, and coaches should engage in professional learning.

Confirm digital platform access and rostering for all pilot classrooms. Students must be rostered in the Threads & Themes platform before Day 1. A Newsela Integration Specialist will reach out via email to confirm setup, configuration, and answer any questions you may have. Coordinate with your IT or LMS administrator well in advance.

Confirm print anchor texts are ordered and delivered to pilot classrooms. Verify quantities match class rosters. Physical books take time to arrive — this should be done at least two weeks before launch.

Establish a regular check-in cadence with pilot teachers. Brief, predictable touchpoints surface implementation questions before they become problems.

Confirm all students can access the digital curriculum. Coordinate with IT to resolve login or rostering problems.

Conduct an initial walkthrough. An early visit helps you see how teachers are using lesson objectives and implementing the Four-L-phase lesson structure and identify early support needs.

Check in with pilot teachers at the end of the week. Week 1 always surfaces logistical surprises. A brief check-in keeps small problems from becoming obstacles.

Conduct a walkthrough during Investigation 1 using the Pilot Classroom Observation Guide. This guide provides specific look-fors: four-phase lesson structure, protocols, and supports.
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Attend or facilitate a Professional Learning Community (PLC)/grade-level meeting focused on the Investigation 1 experience. Teachers need space to compare notes on pacing and student response. Facilitate conversation that surfaces patterns across classrooms.

Review student formative data with teachers when possible Looking at Checks for Understanding data together helps teachers practice data-driven decision-making before Flex Days arrive. For support, see the ELA Assessment Reporting Toolkit and the Assessment Playbook.

Observe Flex Day Huddles during your walkthrough. Look for: data-driven groupings, huddle facilitation that targets identified skills, and students engaged in activities during Huddle time.
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Debrief Flex Day design with teachers: Coaches can help teachers distinguish between Huddle types and identify which one best matches current student data. This is a high-leverage coaching conversation.

Share mid-pilot observations with your Newsela Sales Consultant. Your Sales Consultant can connect you with additional support resources.

Facilitate a mid-pilot check-in with all pilot teachers. This is the natural midpoint of the pilot. Gather qualitative feedback: What's working? What's challenging? What adjustments have teachers already made?

Conduct a second walkthrough during Investigation 2. Compare this observation to your Investigation 1 notes. Look for growth in implementation quality, discussion depth, and student independence with routines.

Observe the second Flex Day cycle and compare it to your previous Flex Day observation. Are teachers' groupings more targeted? Are the standards they are huddling on better matched to the data? Is student engagement during Independent Choice Work stronger? Surface these patterns in conversations with teachers.

Conduct a final walkthrough during Showcase to observe Performance Task implementation. Look for: students revising using the rubric, structured peer feedback, the teacher using rubric language in writing conferences, and a culminating celebration of student work.
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Administer the end-of-pilot teacher feedback survey or structured debrief. Focus on: implementation fidelity, student engagement, perceived student growth, what worked, and what support would be needed for full implementation.

Use the Pilot Observation Guide during walkthroughs. The checklist identifies critical components of each routine. Discuss observations with teachers to align on implementation progress.

Monitor Multilingual Learner engagement and I-ELD implementation, specifically during walkthroughs. During observations, look for: sentence frames in use at the appropriate proficiency level, teacher differentiation by ELD level, and multilingual learner participation in Academic Discussion.
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Analyze End-of-Investigation Assessment data across classrooms to identify patterns. If multiple classrooms show the same gap — such as students across the grade struggling with a specific standard — this is a discussion point to surface with teachers.

Publicly celebrate teacher implementation wins and share promising practices across the pilot cohort. Naming what strong implementation looks like — with teacher permission — encourages all pilot teachers and builds collective expertise before a potential full rollout.