1st Grade - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the expectations for texts organized around topics to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently. Each unit and the texts within as well as boxed text sets are organized around specific topics and guiding questions to build student knowledge around topics such as animals, family stories, plants, literary stories, and more.

Teachers can also utilize read alouds and boxed sets (Hook Books, 100 Book Challenge, thematic sets) that are labeled according to the publisher’s self-determined readability levels (IRLA) and organized by topic. Teachers can also access thematic text sets organized around topics in science, social studies and literary genres including the subjects of family, culture, school, animals, and poetry that provide differentiated reading practice.

• In Unit 1, the topic of beginning school uses the themes of individual likes and families to build a reading community, establish routines, and individual student literacy levels.

• In Unit 2, the topic of Wild and Endangered Animals uses research questions and informational writing to guide content and literacy skills learning. Students actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding. For example, Week 5, Lesson 2, page 287: Students have opportunities during the Morning Message and Interactive Read Aloud, Shared Reading/Research Reading and Research Writing (students only use the text when needed). The read-aloud collection includes both fiction and nonfiction texts such as the Magic Tree House series #19 and a common shared experience book Birds.

• In Unit 3, the topic of Family Stories is used as content for a genre study. The read-aloud collection includes both fiction and nonfiction texts such as Jamaica Tag-Along and All Families are Special. With prompting and support students use the poem, Clean Your Room Harvey Moon.

• In Unit 4, the topic of Plants uses research questions and informational writing to guide content and literacy skills learning. The read-aloud collection includes both fiction and nonfiction texts such as The Dandelion Seed and a common shared experience book Trees.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the expectations for materials containing sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts in order to make meaning and build understanding of texts and topics.

Throughout the units, students independently and in pairs complete questions and tasks that require analysis of individual texts. Examples of sets of questions found in the instructional materials include the following:

• In Unit 1, Week 6, students are asked, “Why do you think the author included __ in both books? Based on the lessons in these two stories, what might be important to the author? What information is included in one text but not the other?” and“Do any of the differences contradict each other? Where?”

• In Unit 2, Week 2, students are asked, “What is the author saying? How does this relate to RQ #__? What do you wonder about this?” and “Who learned something really important about this RQ (or our Unit)?”

• In Unit 3, students used a rubric to retell stories and were scored on plot, setting, characters etc. Each day they would work with a partner and would be asked, “Did your partner earn the first four points? Why or why not?”

• In Unit 4, Week 5, students are asked to reflect on specific Research Questions (RQ): “What is something you already know about _(RQ #4)_? Did you know that...? Why does it matter to our study of...? How does this compare to what you already knew/thought about...? What questions does it raise for you?” and “Who learned something really important about this RQ (or our Unit)?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the expectations for materials containing a coherently sequenced set of text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts. During interactive reading, students engage in analyzing parts of text(s) for class discussion, addressing any given number of questions that may include responses in the form of graphic organizers, quick writes, or quick draws that involve drawing on textual evidence to support their answers. The general format of the reading questions (Research Questions), graphic organizers, and instructional tasks are designed to be used across multiple thematic units and grade levels.

Examples include:

• In Unit 1, Week 6, “After our Independent Reading, you will compare/contrast two books that you read today. Use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast two books about _(topic)_.”

• In Unit 2, Week 2, students are asked, “What is the author saying? The text is all about ____ so far. How does this relate?” and “How does this compare to what you already know/thought about?”

• Unit 3, Week 7. “This week, we are going to compare and contrast two stories in our genre. We will think about how they are the same and different. We will form opinions about the most interesting similarities and differences we find. By the end of the day, you will be able to use a Venn diagram to compare the main characters in two stories.”

• In Unit 4, Week 2, students are asked, “What is the author saying about RQ #__? How do you know? Why does it matter to our study of ___? How does this compare to what you already knew/thought about ___?" and "How does this relate to what other authors have written about ___?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the expectations that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic through integrated skills (e.g., combination of reading, writing, speaking, and listening).

Within the materials, students have the opportunity to demonstrate comprehension and knowledge of a topic or topics through completion of culminating tasks and/or final projects. Students are asked to produce work that shows mastery of several different standards (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) at the appropriate grade level throughout their thematic units of study.

Examples include:

• Unit 1, Week 2. “Today, we will write about the books we are reading. Today, each of you will: • Draw and write for 15 minutes. • Use everything you know to help you write. • Write at least one question about something you’ve read/listened to.” The teacher is then guided to underwrite the student work with, “The primary goal of beginning writing is that students learn to represent their own speech in print.”

• Unit 2: Students complete a set of seven text-dependent research questions and graphic organizers. Students use both verbal and written responses to demonstrate learning throughout the unit. The culminating task: publishing an informational piece focused on an animal and presenting the findings.

• Unit 3, Week 9. Students put together all the stories they have written, illustrated, revised, and edited to create a short story collection. "By the end of today, you will have a published collection.” Presentations can be as simple as sharing with partners or as formal as organizing an event to which parents and/or community members are invited as the audience.

• Unit 4, Week 3. “Have students demonstrate mastery of Research Question #2 Science/Social Studies key concepts through a variety of exit tickets, graphic organizers, and/or writing prompts as appropriate to students’ current writing abilities.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet expectations for including a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts. Opportunities to build vocabulary are found throughout the instructional materials. The established Literacy Lab routines state, “Teacher uses daily Read Aloud as an opportunity to increase students’ academic vocabulary, background knowledge, and speaking & listening skills.” Each lesson has Interactive Read Alouds to bolster students’ receptive vocabulary, and strategies quickly teach/clarify the meaning of a few unknown words. Vocabulary instruction calls for students to think about the meaning of words. Definitions are provided in student-friendly language, and word meanings are taught with examples related to the text as well as examples from other, more familiar contexts.

• In Unit 1, Week 1, during the first read of the connected text, the teacher’s guide states: “Use the ‘drop-in’ vocabulary strategy to quickly teach/clarify the meaning of a few unknown words.

• Unit 2, Week 1. “The primary goal of today is to use the Research Library to capture and engage students in studying this Unit. As you do this, students will also begin to notice academic and technical vocabulary related to the Unit.”

• Unit 3, Week 1. “As we research, we will encounter new vocabulary words. Words that are specific to our Unit and help us become experts on our Unit are called technical vocabulary words. You will each be responsible for being able to define and correctly use these terms. Today, as we read, I noticed the word _____. I think this word is important in understanding __(Unit)__. I’m going to add this word to our Class Glossary.”

• Unit 4, Week 6. “Highlight and discuss high-leverage terms (e.g., important Unit vocabulary, words that indicate an opinion, function words [e.g., transition words]).”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the expectation for materials supporting students’ increasing writing skills over the course of the school year, building students’ writing ability to demonstrate proficiency at grade level at the end of the school year. Students are supported through the writing process, and various activities are placed throughout units to ensure students' writing skills are increasing throughout the year.

Students are encouraged to develop stamina and a positive attitude towards writing by writing daily and for various purposes, which include composing opinion pieces, informational/explanatory texts, and simple narratives. Each lesson contains protocols for students to share their writing and receive feedback from both the teacher and his/her peers. Students engage in activities that include reading and discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write, examine, and identify a range of text structures, and they are guided to assess the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing. At the end of each unit, students produce, present, and publish writing pieces as part of a final project.

• Unit 1, Week 2. “We are going to continue drawing and writing every day. Today, we will write about the books we are reading. Each of you will: • Draw and write for 15 minutes. • Use everything you know to help you write. • Write at least one question about something you’ve read/listened to.”

• In Unit 2, Week 3, students use the Problem/Solution graphic organizer to think about how their characters might respond to the problem(s) they’ve created. "Think about what kinds of responses would be fun to read/write about. Decide how your problem will be solved. Focus 2: Write or finish a story that includes a problem and a solution. Make sure you describe how at least one character responds to this problem."

• In Unit 3, Week 4, the 20-40 minute Writer’s Workshop focus is retelling a favorite story as if the students were the authors. The teacher models a think aloud for planning writing, drawing and writing before students begin.

• In Unit 4, Week 1, students select a plant to become an expert on. During the 20-40 minute research writing block, students write one “Wow” fact about their topic. The teacher models planning their writing, drawing, and writing using a think aloud. Writing samples are collected as evidence of students’ learning. Students work individually or in pairs to edit their papers for mechanics, usage, and structure.

The daily literacy block includes a 20-60 minute writing segment. The teacher models how the day’s focus will be applied to writing. Students are provided time to practice while the teacher confers with students in one-to-one conferences or small groups to provide coaching and feedback. By the end of each unit, students will have practiced writing in a variety of genres, both in and out of context, and will have produced at least twenty unique pieces of writing per unit within that range of genres. Students will bring a piece to final publication by the end of the week as well as at the end of the unit, with final presentations of the entirety of the work done during each unit.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the expectations that materials include a progression of focused research projects to encourage students to develop knowledge in a given area by confronting and analyzing different aspects of a topic using multiple texts and source materials.
Units are designed for students to act as researchers and gather details or ideas from texts throughout the unit to to complete a culminating writing task in each lesson. Writing tasks ask students to interpret, analyze, and/or synthesize information from above grade-level interactive read alouds and texts from independent leveled libraries from a range of sub-topics within the larger context of a literary or scientific field of research. Students are provided with daily independent reading, research, and discussion times of about 20 to 40 minutes. Additionally, students engage in research writing daily for about 20 to 40 minutes and write about what they are reading.

• In Unit 1, Week 6, students will, “Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure."

• In Unit 2, in the Research Labs, students "will become an expert on one wild animal and be able to stand in front of the class and say, 'Ask me ANYthing about my animal.' Then, they take a final written product through the entire writing process from note-making to publication."

• Unit 3, Week 1. “We are going to read lots of great stories in __(genre)__ together and on our own. We will read, analyze, and write __(genre)__ stories every day. You will learn to compare two __(genre)__ stories. You will write and publish your very own short story collection.”

• Unit 4, Week 1. “We are going to spend the next 9 weeks reading, writing, and arguing about the big ideas in __(Unit)___. Each of you will pick one topic on which to become an expert. You will research this topic and write research-based opinion pieces about it. By the end of this Unit, you will: 1. Be an expert on __(Unit)__. 2. Be an expert on your research topic. 3. Be able to write great opinion pieces.” An organizer is used for research writing today as students compile “WOW” facts about their topic.

The instructional materials for Grade 1 meet the expectations that materials provide a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class. Texts are of publishable quality and worthy of close reading. There is a wide variety and volume of motivating content and Lexile levels from which students can select. Students can use text features and visual cues within the books to help him/her read and understand. Sufficient teacher guidance/support from the teacher includes modeling the thought process, guided practice, using mnemonic devices/chant, and when students are proficient, there are opportunities for them to help other students.

Procedures are organized for independent reading using the Independent Reading Level Assessment (IRLA) and the teacher’s guide. There is scheduled independent reading time daily. The 100 Book Challenge is an instructional system that addresses independent reading done in and out of school. Students select from a library of leveled readers and select texts of their choice in school to read daily (“eye on the page” independent reading) for fifteen to thirty minutes; any book counts for the 100 Book Challenge. The goal of the 100 Book Challenge is for every student to have 800 steps a year: 60 minutes a day/200 days a year (1 step is equal to 15 minutes of reading). A Home Coach is provided (a parent, guardian, or older sibling) to monitor reading done at home. Additionally, skill cards are provided to the Home Coach to support students. Each unit also provides students with reading logs to record their in class and independent reading as well as track their reading levels and growth.

• Unit 1, Week 2. Daily Framework, Independent Reading uses structures described in Readers’ Workshop to ensure every student reads for as close to 30 minutes as possible, in as many short reading periods as needed. Every student will be expected to complete 30 minutes of in-school Independent Reading every day by the end of Week 3.

• Unit 1, Week 3, Day 1. The 100 Book Challenge begins. Directions, log sheets and online SchoolPace instructions are found here. Suggestions for engaging families as Home Coaches is found here. Steps build gradually. For example, Week 3 begins with 1 step a day instead of 2, Week 4 increases to 2 steps a day, Week 5, 3 steps a day- 2 in school, 1 at home, and Week 6, 4 steps a day- 2 in school and 2 at home. This will continue the rest of the school year.

• Units 2 and 4. In the research units, a Resources Check Sheet is provided for students to record the number of good books they find in each color level.

• Unit 3, Week 1, Day 1. Independent Reading. Students read for 15–30 minutes from self-selected books in the genre.

• In Unit 4, the Research Lab Daily Structure provides a guide and description of daily reading activities which include: Interactive Read Aloud, where teachers model and provide guided practice; Shared Reading, where teacher model and support student practice; and Research Reading, where students read for 15–30 minutes from self-selected Research Lab books.