2nd Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Benchmark Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials reflecting the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards at each grade level.

The materials in Benchmark reflect a balance of informational and literary reading selections. Each three week unit contains high quality shared read, short read, and extended read texts. A variety of genres are represented in each unit including poetry, folktales, fables, nonfiction, historical, scientific, and technical texts. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• “Smokejumpers” (Unit 1, Week 1, Short Read, Informational Text)
• “Our Government’s Laws” (Unit 1, Week 2, Extended Read, Informational Text)
• “Milo and The Dragon” (Unit 2, Week 1, Shared Read, Fantasy)
• “Two Men and A Bear” (Unit 2, Week 3, Shared Read, Fable)
• “News About Scorpions” (Unit 3, Week 1, Shared Read, Informational Text)
• “Lost in the Desert” (Unit 3, Week 3, Extended Read, Realistic Fiction)
• “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” (Unit 4, Week 1, Shared Read, Fable)
• “Stone Soup” (Unit 4, Week 2, Extended Read, Folktale)
• “Eletelephony” (Unit 5, Week 2, Shared Reading, Poetry)
• “Robots go to School” (Unit 5, Week 3, Extended Read, Informational Text)
• “The Size of Kindness” (Unit 6, Week 1, Shared Read, Pourquoi Tale)
• “The Lion and the Man” (Unit 6, Week 2, Shared Read, Fable)
• “A Gift to America” (Unit 7, Week 2, Shared Read, Informational Text)
• “In the British Museum” (Unit 7, Week 2, Shared Read, Poetry)
• “Beautiful Sand Dunes” (Unit 8, Week 3, Shared Read, Opinion)
• “Surf Haven Debates its Future” (Unit 8, Week 3, Extended Read, News Article)
• “Market Day” (Unit 9, Week 3, Shared Read, Realistic Fiction)
• “Bartering” (Unit 9, Week 3, Shared Read, Informational Text)
• “Soap Shapes” (Unit 10, Week 1, Shared Read, Procedural Text)
• “Old Faithful” (Unit 10, Informational Science)
• “How Mount Rushmore was Made” (Unit 10, Week 3, Extended Read, Informational Text)

The instructional materials reviewed for Benchmark Grade 2 meet the criteria for texts (including read-aloud texts and some shared reading texts used to build knowledge and vocabulary), have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade level according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and a relationship to their associated student task. Read-aloud texts at K-2 are above the complexity levels of what most students can read independently.

The anchor texts at the Grade 2 level contain quantitative and qualitative measures that are at the appropriate level of rigor/text complexity for Grade 2 and contain text components that support tasks and students’ literacy development to achieve grade level proficiency. The materials contain a variety of interactive read aloud and shared reading texts with Lexile levels of 220-600, which are at or above the complexity levels of what most Grade 2 students can read independently.

• In Unit 2, Week 1, students read the text, “Rough-Face Girl.”
  • Quantitative: Lexile 510
  • Qualitative: The meaning of the text is implicit and subtle. The meaning is revealed at the end of the text. The illustrations assist the student in understanding the text. The sentences are simple with straightforward language.
• In Unit 6, Week 3, the Extended Read is “On One Wheel” by Carly Schuna.
  • Quantitative: Lexile 460
  • Qualitative: The story has moderate complexity. The story conveys a simple theme and a chronological structure with sequential events not easily connected to the theme. Sentences are short and simple with common usage and simple vocabulary.

• In Unit 7, Week 1, students read the text, “The Oregon Trail.”
  • Quantitative: Lexile 570
  • Qualitative: The text requires inferring for the reader. The structure of the text is complex since it is diary entries. The structure requires students to make connections to unfamiliar subject matter. The vocabulary contains historical words, and there are compound and complex sentences.

• In Unit 10, Week 2, the Extended Read is “Changing Matter” by Jay Brewster.
  • Quantitative: Lexile 640
  • Qualitative: The text has moderate complexity. The purpose is simple and requires the interpretation of highly detailed information. The text is ordered logically in sections mostly presented in an easy to follow question and answer mode. Sentences are generally simple, but the conceptual difficulty is high, especially when coupled with science words such as transformed, vapor, liquids and solids.

The instructional materials reviewed for Benchmark Grade 2 meet the criteria that anchor texts and series of texts connected to them are accompanied by a text complexity analysis and rationale for purpose and placement in the grade level.

The Program Reference Guide provides rationale for the texts in the materials.

• Shared Readings connect to the unit topic and are intended to be used to model fluency.
• Mentor Read-Alouds are short reads that connect to unit topics and are used to model making meaning in complex texts.
• Texts for Close Reading selections are designed to capture students’ interest and imagination. These texts state standards for achievement.

The materials for Grade 2 contain a detailed text complexity analysis including quantitative, qualitative and reader and task information for Mentor Read-Alouds and Extended Reads throughout the year. The quantitative measure is provided in the form of a Lexile score. The qualitative measure (QM) is based on an analysis of four dimensions of qualitative text complexity. The scores for each dimension are added together to determine the overall score. The Grade Resources Section contains a Guide to Text Complexity with a rubric for the qualitative dimensions within the literary and informational texts. Examples analysis provided include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 3, Week 1, the first Mentor Read-Aloud is “The Coldest Place on Earth” which has a Lexile level of 630. The total qualitative measure is moderate complexity. The second Mentor Read-Aloud is “Postcards” which has a Lexile level of 470. The qualitative measure is moderate complexity. In Week 2, the Extended Read is “Habitats Around the World” with a Lexile level of 560. The total qualitative measure is moderate complexity. In Week 3, the Extended Read is “Lost in the Desert” with a Lexile level of 450. The total qualitative measure is moderate complexity.
• In Unit 9, Week 1, the first Mentor Read-Aloud is “Fresh from the Market” which has a Lexile level of 800. The total qualitative measure is moderate complexity. The second Mentor Read-Aloud is “Goat and Bear in Business” which has a Lexile level of 660. The qualitative measure is moderate complexity. In Week 2, the Extended Read is “From Pine Tree to Pizza Box” with a Lexile level of 630. The total qualitative measure is moderate complexity. In Week 3, the Extended Read is “The Paper Dinosaurs” with a Lexile level of 650. The total qualitative measure is substantial complexity.

The instructional materials reviewed for Benchmark Grade 2 meet the criteria that support materials for the core text(s) provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to support their reading at grade level by the end of the school year.

The materials for the Grade 2 reading program contain a 70-80 minute ELA block. The block allows time for Interactive Read-Aloud, Shared Reading, Short Reads, Extended Reads, and Small Group Reading. Each three-week unit provides two shared readings per week, two short reads per unit, two extended reading texts per unit, leveled readers to use within small group instruction and two Reader’s Theater texts per unit.

An independent reading program is available in the section Managing an Independent Reading Program within the grade resources under the additional resources, “Within Benchmark Advance, students may participate in daily independent reading during the Independent and Collaborative Activity block, while the teacher meets with small groups of students to conduct differentiated small-group reading instruction, model fluency skills through Reader's Theater, or reteach skills and strategies.”

Each unit provides students with multiple opportunities to engage with text. For example:

• The focus of Unit 10 is States of Matter. Throughout Unit 10, students engage in six shared readings, two mentor read-alouds, and two extended reads. The genres and texts in Unit 10 are: Week 1, a procedural text shared read (“Soap Shapes”); Week 1, an end-rhyme poem shared read (“It’s All Water”); Week 1, a procedural short read (“The Art of Origami”); Week 1, an informational science short read (“Sand Sculpture”); Week 2, an informational science shared read (“A Solar-Powered Solution”); Week 2, a procedural shared read (“That’s Cool!”); Week 2, an informational science extended read (“Changing Matter”); Week 3, an informational science shared read (“Old Faithful”); Week 3, an informational science shared read (“Driftwood Art”) and Week 3, an informational science extended read (“How Mount Rushmore was Made”). During small group reading, students read from eight texts such as What is Matter? and Four Faces in Rock. Students can read and participate in Reader’s Theater with The King’s New Crown and The Gift-Guessing Kid. Trade books are available in the unit such as Who’s Buying, Who’s Selling: Understanding Consumers and Producers by Jennifer S. Larson and Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst.

The instructional materials reviewed for Benchmark Grade 2 meet the criteria that most questions, tasks, and assignments are text-based, requiring students to engage with the text directly (drawing on textual evidence to support both what is explicit as well as valid inferences from the text).

Materials provide opportunities for rich and rigorous evidence-based discussions. Questions, tasks, and assignments are mainly text-based and support students’ literacy growth over the course of the year. Throughout each Grade 2 lesson, the teacher is utilizing texts for Close Reading. Each student has a set of texts that they can annotate as they read. Focus shifts to making inferences and predictions based on the text they are reading. Teachers frame questions to help students make sense of the read texts as well as use strategies that support student understanding of the texts which align directly to the weekly essential question. Teachers utilize text-based questions and discussion, to guide students to deeply analyze and appreciate various aspects of the text, such as key vocabulary and how its meaning is shaped by context; attention to form, tone, imagery and/or rhetorical devices; the significance of word choice and syntax; and the discovery of different levels of meaning as passages are read multiple times.

The Teacher’s Manual provides support for planning and implementation of text-dependent questions that support writing and speaking activities. Text-based questions are asked during read aloud texts, shared reading texts and viewing of videos. Shared readings begin by utilizing an essential question to set the focus of listening for key details in the text. Assignments and activities require students to stay engaged with the text. Text-based questions are varied and have different levels to them starting with easier questions in the beginning units and moving toward more difficult questions as the year progresses. Teachers frame questions to help students make sense of the read texts as well as use strategies such as inferring that supports student understanding of the texts.

Text-based questions and tasks that students answer include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 2, students work with the text, “Three Billy Goats Gruff.” In the Guided Practice, students answer three questions: “According to the text, what happens when Big Billy Goat Gruff starts to cross the bridge? What does Big Billy Goat Gruff think when Troll says he will eat him up? How does the reader know? What happens at the end of the story? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.” All of these questions require students to interact with the text and look back to find the answers.
• In Unit 4, Week 3, Day 3, when the text for Shared Reading is introduced, students are asked to “predict and/or infer what the story will be about” after the title is read. This unit’s focus strategy is “making inferences and predictions.”
• In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 4, students engage with the text, “Smokejumpers” to identify the main topic. Students highlight important and key details in the text as the teacher reads the story. During Guided Practice, students answer the following question, “Do the labels and caption with the photograph repeat information from the text, or do they give new information? Show me an example of a caption providing new information.”
• In Unit 9, Week 3, Day 1, skills and strategies taught in the unit are reviewed. Part of this lesson includes a section on drawing inferences. Students are asked “to draw an inference about Goat and Bear’s appetites using text evidence from “Goat and Bear in Business” and their own knowledge.”
• In Unit 10, Week 1, Day 1, students are asked to infer what the passage might be about after having the title read to them.

The instructional materials reviewed for Benchmark Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials containing sets of high-quality sequences of text-based questions with activities that build to a culminating task which integrates skills to demonstrate understanding (as appropriate, may be drawing, dictating, writing, speaking, or a combination).

Grade 2 materials provide culminating tasks for students to demonstrate their understanding of the concepts examined throughout each unit. Essential Questions guide student learning throughout every unit within the curriculum where sequences of high-quality text-based questions, activities, and tasks are synthesized by students into an integrated production of speaking and/or writing.

• In Unit 2, the Essential Question is “What can we learn when we face problems?” In Week 1, Day 1, students demonstrate understanding the character’s problem by answering text-based questions such as: “What does Rough-Face Girl do after her sister visits the Invisible One? What does Rough-Face Girl tell the Invisible One’s sister?” In Week 2, Day 3, students collaboratively discuss and complete the Major Events/Response Chart based on “According to the text, how does Little Billy Goat Gruff respond when the troll threatens to eat him? What do his words and actions tell the reader about his character?” In Week 3, Day 5, Reflect on Unit Concepts, students rewatch the video from the first day of the unit and discuss how the video fits with the unit. In small groups, students share what they think about the Essential Question. As a whole class, students share ideas and the teacher collects the ideas for an anchor chart. At the end of Reflect on Unit Concepts, each peer group chooses a scene from one of the texts where a character solved a problem. Groups practice the scene, and the teacher helps students create a video.
• In Unit 8, the Essential Question is “How do we react to changes in nature?” In Week 1, students compare and contrast the most important points from two texts from the week (“Tornado!” and “Water’s Awesome Wonder”). In Week 2, students compare and contrast the most important points of two texts (“Earth’s Changes” and “Water’s Awesome Wonder”). In Week 3, Day 5, Reflect on Unit Concepts, students rewatch the video from the first day of the unit and recall and retell information from the selections. In small groups, students share what they think about the Essential Question. As a whole class, students share ideas and the teacher collects the ideas for an anchor chart. At the end of Reflect on Unit Concepts, the class is to create a digital scrapbook of their own reactions to changes in nature. The teacher is to help students make an audio or video recording.
• In Unit 10, the Essential Question is “How can something old become new?” In Week 1, Day 3, students identify main ideas and details based on questions such as: “What holds the slippery grains of sand together? Which details in paragraph 4 explain how the artists make their sculptures?” In Week 2, Day 4, students use information from the text to infer from the following question: “Based on the details in these paragraphs, what temperature change do you think could turn a gas back into a liquid?” In Week 3, Day 5, Reflect on Unit Concepts, students rewatch a video from the first day of the unit and discuss in a whole-group information from the texts. In small groups, students share what they think about the Essential Question. As a whole class, students share ideas and the teacher collects the ideas for an anchor chart. At the end of Reflect on Unit Concepts, each peer group choose an art form they read about and describe the materials used to create the art as well as how it is changed into something new. The teacher is to help students create an audio recording of their description.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials providing frequent opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions (small groups, peer-to-peer, whole class) that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax.

This indicator supports students’ practice and application of speaking and listening skills in concert with practice in reading for understanding. Materials provide multiple opportunities and support of protocols and implementation focused on using academic vocabulary and syntax for evidence-based discussions as well as teacher guidance across the year’s curricular materials to support students’ increasing skills. These materials are found in the Review and Routines section titled “Build Respectful Conversation Habits” and “Turn and Talk”.

Examples include but are not limited to:

• In Unit 2, Week 3, Day 4, the Collaborative Conversation section reminds students of the visualization that was done the day before and students visualize the end of the story. In the Transfer Skills to Context section: the Dialogue Genre Feature, students are given the definition of dialogue. The teacher models how to use dialogue to understand the character's point-of-view. In the Close Reading section, students compare and contrast two versions of the same story. The teacher gives the initial close reading prompt and annotation directions. The teacher uses these to model how to “think about the prompt.” Students work with a partner to discuss and complete a Compare and Contrast Chart.
• In Unit 3, Week 2, Day 3, students participate in Collaborative Conversation: Partner. Partners are to complete the Key Details and Main Ideas Chart together. The teacher is to observe students’ conversations in order to determine support students need. During Share, partners are to share the key details they noted for each section and the main ideas they formulated.
• In Unit 4, Week 1, on Day 1, students participate in Collaborative Conversation: Make Inferences and Predictions.The teacher models making an inference. Students are invited to use sentence frames to help them make inferences. “While reading, I can make an inference about …. The words...help me infer that….”
• In Unit 7, Week 2, Day 3, students begin the Shared Reading by sharing a prediction of a poem with a partner. In the Model Fix-Up Monitoring Strategies, the teacher discusses ways to monitor reading. The teacher models how to ask questions, stop and think, and the write fix-up monitoring strategy. The teacher introduces how to complete a close read using images to clarify understanding of the text. The teacher models the use of a specific close reading prompt and directions on annotating. The teacher uses a Close Reading Chart to model the process. Students are grouped to address another close reading prompt and annotation activity. Student groups assign specific jobs to each member and complete the task.
• In Unit 9, Week 3, Day 1, students participate in Collaborative Conversation: Partner. The teacher states: “When I have a conversation with a partner, I listen carefully to what they say, and I always think before I speak.” Partners are asked to discuss the key details they underlined in “The Paper Dinosaurs.” The teacher observes partner pairs and can use the following guided questions to help students: “Why do the students bring newspaper to school? What do they decide to make? Why do they watch videos of dinosaurs? What happens at night?” During Share, partner pairs share the key story events they identified.

The instructional materials reviewed for Benchmark Grade 2 meets the criteria for materials including a mix of on-demand and process writing grade-appropriate writing (e.g. grade-appropriate revision and editing) and short, focused projects, incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

During each three week unit, the Grade 2 materials support students engaging in writing across the whole school year. This includes a mix of on-demand writing, in which students respond to a text. Students complete short and focused projects such writing a letter and utilizing details from the text. The materials also contain process writing activities (e.g. shared writing, multiple drafts, revision processes, protocols, and review). The Response and Process Writing section includes skill introduction, practice, application, and refinement with teacher support and guidance over shorter periods of time with shared writing activities and extended periods of time where students learn the complete writing process including planning, revising, editing, publishing, and sharing. Each three week unit also contains a Writing and Vocabulary section that explains types of writing including narrative, informative, and opinion and includes a mini-lesson. Examples of the mix of on-demand and process writing include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 5, students complete a quick write during class adding an adverb to the words, “I walk.” Once students have written a sentence, students check and revise narrative drafts from earlier in the week to check for adverbs. Students focus on a narrative draft where the focus is on a personal life experience.
• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 4, students evaluate the purpose of different sources to get information about penguins. Students work in groups to practice taking notes from a variety of media sources. Students are prompted to use voice when writing. Students also practice and identify key details from the narrator. Students do a quick write answering the question, “Why it is important to watch and listen carefully to media sources?”
• In Unit 4, Week 1, Day 1, students read the text “The Blind Men and the Elephant” and identify and underline story events such as key details. The teacher models this strategy using paragraphs 1-3 and students independently practice using paragraphs 5-9. The key details and events are recorded on a story events chart. Students utilize the text and the chart to write a summary.
• In Unit 6, students go through the writing process to write a diary entry. Students analyze a Mentor Fictional Diary Entry and reread it for identifying sequence of events. Then students reread for finding supporting details. Students use the details to develop the character. In Week 2, students reread to find details about action, thoughts, and feelings, so student can include those ideas in their diary. Students plan their diary in Week 2. In Week 3, students describe actions, thoughts, and feelings and provide a sense of closure in the writing.
• In Unit 8 students are guided through the writing process. In Week 1, teachers guide students through an analysis of an Informative Mentor Essay. In Week 2, teachers guide students to read and analyze a new prompt based on Texts for Close Reading. Students plan and organize writing in response to this prompt. In Week 3, teachers guide students to draft, revise, and edit responses to the writing prompt.

The instructional materials reviewed for Benchmark Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials providing opportunities for students to address different text types of writing (year long) that reflect the distribution required by the standards.

During each of the three week units, the Grade 2 materials support authentic integration of writing with reading with teacher guidance and support. Writing is embedded across the school year with attention given to three different text types and purposes including narrative, informative/explanatory and opinion/persuasive. The Teacher Resources include well-designed lesson plans, models/exemplars and protocols to support student writing.

Students utilize literature, informational texts, poetry, and non-print sources such as videos to complete writing assignments. Student choice is encouraged with activities that come from the learning such as choosing the characters to write about in response to a prompt in the text. Materials support teachers in planning writing development and provide opportunities for monitoring progress. Writing tasks increase in rigor throughout the school year and sufficient instructional time is dedicated to teaching, practicing, applying, and presenting new writing skills. Examples of writing throughout the year include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Week 2, Day 3, the teacher models how to complete a performance task by showing students that at least one sentence should directly answer the question, and at least one sentence should present supporting evidence or details from the text. The teacher introduces and explains how the rubric will be used to evaluate students’ writing. Students read Amelia’s Day and complete a performance task responding to the question, “What does Amelia’s father help her understand?” Students use details from the text and write 2-3 sentences to respond to the prompt.
• In Unit 3, Week 2, Day 1, students write an informative piece about penguins and work with a group to evaluate peers’ writing using a checklist which includes information such as proper grammar and punctuation.
• In Unit 5, Weeks 1-3, the focus is writing an opinion essay. In Week 1, the teacher guides students to read and analyze a Mentor Opinion Essay. In Week 3, students draft their opinion essay. In Week 3, students revise, edit and publish their opinion essay. In Week 3, Day 1, students learn how to improve sentence fluency by expanding their sentences.
• In Unit 7, Weeks 1-3, the focus is writing an informative report. In Week 1, the teacher guides students through an analysis of an Mentor Informative Report and how to apply that analysis to student writing. In Week 2, teachers guide students to collect facts and details and draft an engaging introduction. In Week 3, students revise and edit their informational report. In Week 3, Day 2, students work on revising to maintain a formal voice. The teacher models for students how to evaluate and revise work to ensure that there is a consistent formal voice throughout the writing. Students continue with the comparison of the two paragraphs provided by the teacher. During independent writing, students continue to revise informative reports independently, focusing on sentence fluency and maintaining a formal voice. The teacher confers and monitors as students are engaged in the writing process.
• In Unit 9, Weeks 1-3, the focus is writing a multimedia presentation. In Week 1, the teacher guides students through an analysis of a Mentor Multimedia Presentation. Students make a storyboard to plan their presentation. In Week 2, students draft their presentation focusing on an introduction, sequence of events, and a conclusion. In Week 3, students revise, edit, and present their writing. In Week 3, Day 2, students revise and create a visual display for their presentation.
• In Unit 10, Week 3, Day 5, students choose a favorite piece of writing. Over the course of the year, students have written the following narratives: “stories, folktales, new story endings, dialogues, plays, journal entries, notes, first person character narratives, and personal narratives.” Students share the piece of writing with the class. Students write an opinion about why the student selected this piece of writing.

The instructional materials reviewed for Benchmark Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials including regular opportunities for evidence-based writing to support recall of information, opinions with reasons, and relevant information appropriate for the grade level.

During each three week unit, the Grade 2 materials provide frequent opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice and apply writing with evidence. Lesson plans are well-designed and include guidance to support student writing. Many daily writing opportunities are focused around students’ recall of information from reading closely and working with evidence from texts and sources.

Materials in the sections titled “Unit Writing and Vocabulary” and “Unit Strategies and Skills” support teachers in guiding students’ understanding of recalling information, claiming opinions with reasons, and using relevant information. Examples of opportunities for evidence-based writing include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 1, after reading “Rough-Face Girl,” students write a list in the margins of the text of the story events. Students number the events to show the sequence of events.
• In Unit 3, Week 2, students write an informative report based on the prompt, “ Describe grasslands and the plants and animals that live in them. Support your ideas with facts and definitions from ‘Habitats Around the World’ and information from ‘Plant Life of the Australian Savanna.’” Students plan and organize writing in response to the prompt.
• In Unit 4, Week 1, students write an opinion responding to the prompt, “Is “The Blind Men and the Elephant” a story you would recommend to your friends? Why or why not? State your opinion in an essay. Supply reasons, based on details from the story, to support your opinion.”
• In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 1, after reading “A Woman with a Vision,” students write a brief paragraph that tells what they learned about Mary Anderson’s life and what she accomplished.
• In Unit 7, Week 1, Day 2, students write an informative text report about the story, “The Oregon Trail.” The informative text should include a topic sentence that opens the paragraph about the story and uses a sentence that catches the reader's attention. Students not only cover what should be in an informative text but, practice editing a peer’s text to highlight key areas where informative text requirements have been used.

The materials reviewed for Benchmark Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials including explicit instruction of the grammar and conventions standards for grade level as applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts, with opportunities for application both in and out of context.

Grammar and conventions lessons are primarily addressed during the Shared Writing Mini-lesson portion of the Whole Group Materials. Lessons are also often tied to Model Texts or Shared Read Alouds, giving the students a cohesive way to apply their foundational skills knowledge. In each unit, during the writing and language mini-lessons, there is a portion of the mini-lesson called Build Language, that focuses on grade-level grammar and conventions standards. All grammar and conventions standards are covered over the course of the year and most standards are revisited throughout the year in increasing complexity such as application to the text. Each grammar and convention lesson is similarly structured with teacher modeling, partner share, graphic organizer/chart, and oral language practice. Students have opportunities to practice these skills in isolation during whole group instruction and then practice applying these skills with a partner during Oral Language Practice.

Materials include explicit instruction of all grammar and conventions standards for the grade level.

• Students have the opportunity to use collective nouns. For example:
  • In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 5, Writing to Sources, students learn nouns.. Students are reminded that common nouns name general things and are not capitalized (teacher, boy, street, school, kindness), while proper nouns name a specific person, place, or thing and always start with a capital letter (Mrs. Castro, Sam, Parker Street, Winston Elementary School). Students are reminded of possessive nouns, usually formed by adding ‘s to the singular common or proper noun (Mrs. Castro’s desk, Sam’s jacket, the girl’s book), or an apostrophe s to a singular proper noun ending in s (Jess’s dog), or an apostrophe after the final s to a plural proper noun ending in s (the Smiths’ house).
• Students have the opportunity to form and use frequently occurring irregular plural nouns. For example:
  • In Unit 8, Week 1, Day 5, Process Writing, the teacher writes the words storm and tornado on the board. The teacher reviews add -s or -es to the end of a singular noun to make it plural. Then the teacher writes the plural forms of storm and tornadoes on the board: storms, tornadoes and explains that some nouns, called irregular plural nouns, do not follow these rules. “We have to remember these nouns and how they are spelled. We can do this by using a dictionary to check their spelling and creating an Irregular Plural Nouns Spelling List to refer to.”
• Students have the opportunity to use reflexive pronouns. For example:
  • In Unit 2, Week 3, Day 4, Process Writing, students summarize what they learned in yesterday’s lesson and to talk about how using past tense verbs correctly helped them improve their personal narratives. Reflexive pronouns are reviewed and explained to students.The teacher models reflexive pronouns with: “The cat washed itself with its tongue. I helped myself to some pizza. In the first sentence, itself refers to the cat. In the second sentence myself refers to me.”
  • In Unit 8, Week 1, Day 5, there is a lesson on reflexive pronouns and irregular plural nouns. The teacher explains what a reflexive pronoun is to students, “Sample think-aloud: I know that is a reflexive pronoun. It always goes with the subject I. There is only one I or me, so the reflexive pronoun should be singular: myself not myselves.When I check in the dictionary, I see that myselves in not even a word. I’ll circle myself.” Afterwards, students practice circling the correct form of reflexive pronouns and irregular plural nouns in a modeling text.
• Students have the opportunity to form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs. For example:
  • In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 5, Process Writing, Model Display the Irregular Past Tense Verbs Chart. The teacher writes the following present tense verbs in the first column: do, make, know, and sit and models how to form the past tense verbs. Sample think-aloud: “I want to use the verb do in the past tense. I’ll add -ed to do and use it in a sentence: Yesterday, I doed my homework. That doesn’t sound right at all. The past tense form of do is definitely irregular. Let me try the sentence again with the past tense verb did: Yesterday I did my homework. That sounds right. I’ll check the dictionary, though, to make sure I’m using and spelling this past tense verb correctly.”
  • In Unit 2, Week 3, Day 1, students review regular and irregular past tense verbs as they relate to writing the students are working on. “Sample modeling: In my draft Personal Narrative Draft, from Day 2, the verbs got and went don’t give much of a description about my actions. In my Personal Narrative Draft, from Day 3, I replaced got with jumped. This verb shows that I was excited about getting on my bike. I replaced the verb went with two verbs to better show what happened. I wobbled and fell. I think this revision will really help readers picture what happened. It sounds better, too. I wrote fell instead of falled because fall is an irregular verb, which means its past tense has to be memorized.” Students then practice changing verbs in their own writing to be more specific.
• Students have the opportunity to use adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified. For example:
  • In Unit 8, Week 1, Day 5, Shared Reading, students learn that adjectives are words that describe nouns, or naming words. Students also learn that adjectives can describe other adjectives. The teacher points out the adjectives large and rocky in paragraph 1 and hot in paragraph 3 and asks students to use these adjectives in original sentences that describe Earth’s mantle or the characteristics of a volcano. “What are some other adjectives you could use to describe parts of a volcano or a volcano itself?”
  • In Unit 2, Week 3, Day 2, the teacher reviews adverbs with students. “Adverbs show the action you’re describing more clearly to readers. Adverbs can help readers visualize any actions that you’re describing in your personal narrative more clearly.” Students then work with a partner to come up with adverbs that could be added to the sentence, “I rode my bike.”
• Students have the opportunity to produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple and compound sentences. For example:
  • In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 5, there is a lesson on expanding simple sentences and combining two sentences to form a compound sentence. After teacher modeling on both skills, students have the opportunity to practice with a partner. “Redistribute the Mentor Opinion Text, and invite partners to experiment with ways to expand upon sentences in the text. Remind them that they can expand sentences by adding descriptive details that give more information about the five w’s who, what, where, when, why and by combining shorter simple sentences into longer compound sentences.”
  • In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 5, Writing to Sources, the teacher explains that a sentence states a complete thought and has two parts: a subject and a verb. Then the teacher explains a conjunction as a word, such as and, or, but, so, or because is used to join the two thoughts.
• Students have the opportunity to capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names. For example:
  • In Unit 3, Week 3, Day 4, Writing to Sources, students are reminded that in this unit they have learned some new capitalization rules. They have learned that the names of holidays, product names, and geographical names must be capitalized. The teacher shows them how to edit their writing for the specific purpose of checking that they have capitalized correctly.
• Students have the opportunity to use commas in greetings and closings of letters. For example:
  • In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 4, Writing to Sources, students view the Personal Letter Checklist. The checklist is read aloud with students. Students will use this and the Personal Letter Planning Guide from Day 3 to help them include all the parts of a personal letter in their draft. The teacher uses think-alouds to model how to do this. Sample think-aloud (heading): “First I needed a heading. The Personal Letter Anchor Chart showed me that it should include the return address (the letter writer’s address) and the date the letter was written. Sample think-aloud (greeting): In the greeting, I wrote “Dear _____,” (notice it is followed by a comma). I looked at the “Who is my audience” on the Personal Letter Planning Guide to see whose name to write here. For the rest of the letter, I imagined that I was writing to this person.”
• Students have the opportunity to use an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently occurring possessives. For example:
  • In Unit 8, Week 2, Day 5, Process Writing, the teacher explains that possessive nouns are usually formed by adding an apostrophe and an s to the end of the noun.The teacher displays the Possessive Nouns Modeling Text and reads aloud the sentence 1. The teacher thinks aloud to demonstrate how to identify the correct possessive.

• Students have the opportunity to generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words. For example:
  • In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 3, Phonics and Word Study. The teacher writes the definitions of the week’s spelling words on the board. Students copy the definitions and then write the spelling words that go with them.

• Students have the opportunity to determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on Grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies. For example:
  • In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 5, Process Writing, students learn about how to use adverbs. Students learn to use adverbs to make their writing more descriptive and entertaining.

Over the course of the year’s worth of materials, grammar/convention instruction is provided in increasingly sophisticated contexts.

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 5, at the beginning of the year students, work on basic collective noun identification. Students learn to identify collective nouns such as, “flock, bunch, crowd, herd and school.” By the end of the school year in Unit 8, Week 2, Day 5, students work on applying their knowledge of collective nouns as they relate to possessive nouns. “Sample think-aloud: The word family is a collective noun because it describes a group of people. That also means that family is a singular noun. I know the sentence is about one family because of the word my and the singular noun home. I also know that should be a possessive noun. I can ask, “To whom does the home belong?” The answer is, “My family.” I need to show that the one family owns, or possesses, the home. The correct form adds an apostrophe and an s to the noun: family’s.”
• In Unit 2, Week 3, Day 4, students review reflexive pronouns such as: myself, yourself, herself, himself, ourselves, themselves, itself, yourselves. Afterwards, students edit their personal narrative for correct reflexive pronoun usage. Later in the school year, students work on reflexive pronouns and irregular plural nouns in conjunction with one another. Students also work more on the correct spelling of these as the year progresses. Then in Unit 8, Week 3, Day 3, students review irregular plural nouns and reflexive pronouns and practice editing the following paragraph for the correct usage of each. “Some people/peoples/persons complain that recycling is too much work and messy. I decided to volunteer at the local recycling center, where paper, plastic, glass, and cans are sorted, to see for meself/myselve/myself. The volunteers at the center make it so easy and even fun to recycle that both grown ups and childs/children/childrens really enjoy doing it. If we all work together to make recycling easy, then more people in the community will do it.” Students also apply what they have learned to their informative essays they are in the process of editing.

The materials reviewed for Benchmark Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks directly teach foundational skills to build reading acquisition by providing systematic and explicit instruction in the alphabetic principle, letter-sound relationships, phonemic awareness, phonological awareness (K-1), and phonics (K-2) that demonstrate a transparent and research-based progression for application both in and out of context.

The materials at Grade 2 provide students numerous opportunities to practice phonics skills. These skills are primarily addressed during daily phonics lessons. Daily phonics lessons focus on a skill, provide either new/review high frequency word practice and a weekly spelling list that was tied into the phonics skill students were focused on for the week. While skills were often taught out of context, opportunities were provided in lessons for students to practice the skills in context. For example, in Unit 8, Week 3 when students are learning about the -est and -er, students have the opportunity to practice this skill on Day 3 in the context of the text “Zoos: Yes or No?”

Lessons and activities provide students opportunities to learn grade-level phonics skills while decoding words. For example:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 1, Phonics & Word Study, students learn and practice blending long and short /o/ words. “This is the letter g. It stands for /g/. This is the letter o. It stands for /o/. Listen as I blend these sounds together: /gooo/. This is the letter t. It stands for /t/. Now listen as I blend all three sounds together: /gooot/, got. Say it with me: got.” Then the teacher models adding an a to make the word goat “I can add an a to the o to make the vowel team oa. The vowel team oa stands for the long o sound. Listen as I blend the word: /gooot/. Say the word with me: goat.” The teacher continues modeling the words and changing out letters to make different words.
• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 5, Phonics & Word Study, students practice decoding multisyllabic words with long vowels. “Write the word coat and ask students to identify the vowels and the vowel sound. Point out that the letters oa are a vowel team, which means they stand for one sound and must stay together in the same syllable. Write the word coating. Model how to read the longer word. Point out the added syllable (ing) is a suffix.” Students practice reading go, going; gold, goldfish; hold, holding; snow, snowball.
• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 3, after the shared reading of “News About Scorpions” and “All the Penguins”, the teacher reviews suffixes with students, using one of the words from the stories - playfully. The teacher explains to students that they can use root words to figure out the meaning of a longer word. The teacher points out the word playfully in the fourth line of the poem and talks about how this word is made up of three parts: a root word, a suffix, and another suffix. The teacher underlines the root word play in playfully, and explains that looking for root words will help students read and understand longer words.
• In Unit 5, Week 3, Day 1, Phonics & Word Study, when learning the two spelling patterns for the /ow/ (ow and ou), students are introduced to the new spelling pattern. The teacher points to each spelling on the card and provides a sample word: ou as in loud, ow as in down. “Look at the first word I wrote: l-o-u-d. I see /ou/ spelled ou. Listen and watch as I sound out the word: /loud/, loud. Run your hand under the word as you sound it out.” Students then practice blending words with /ow/ such as cloud, clown, town and found.
• In Unit 7, Week 3, Day 1, Phonics & Word Study, there is a lesson on related root words, focusing on the prefix re-. The teacher writes the words reader and reread. “Many words are related because they come from the same root word, like reader and reread. You can use a known root word as a clue to figure out the meaning of an unknown word with the same root.” The teacher points to each word and explains the these two words have something in common. “Look at the first word I wrote: I see the root word. I also know that the -er ending on a noun usually means ‘someone who.’ So a reader is “someone who reads.” Identifying the root word in the longer word helped me pronounce the word and figure out its meaning.” The teacher continues by modeling with the word reread and points out that the prefix re- means “again.”

Materials have a cohesive sequence of phonics instruction to build toward application. Over the course of the school year, all phonics skills were taught in second grade. These skills were taught in a logical progression that increased in difficulty as the school year progressed. At the beginning of the school year, students work on more basic phonics skills in Unit 1 such as short vowels, initial blends, and long a spelling patterns, midway through the year students have moved on to more complex vowel patterns in Unit 5 such as /oi/ spelled oy and oi and /ou/ spelled ou and ow, by the end of the school year students are working on using possessives, prefixes and suffixes. For example:

• In Unit 1, the phonics focus is short vowels, initial blends, final blends and consonant digraphs (ch, sh, tch, dge, th, wh, ph), closed and open syllables, and long a (ai, a, ea, ay).
• In Unit 2, the phonics focus includes long o (oa, o, oe, ow), long e (ee, ea, e, e_e, y, ey, ie), and long i (ie, i, y, igh).
• In Unit 3, the phonics focus includes long u (ew, ue, u, u_e), and r-controlled vowels (ar, er, ir, ur).
• In Unit 4, the phonics focus includes r-controlled vowels (or, oar, ore, ear, eer, ere, air, are, ear, ere).
• In Unit 5, the phonics focus includes vowel consonant e, consonant -le syllables, and vowel teams /oi/ (oi oy), /ou/ (ou, ow).
• In Unit 6, the phonics focus includes vowel teams /oo/ (oo, ou), al, aw, au.
• In Unit 7, the phonics focus includes compound words, inflectional endings with spelling changes and related root words.
• In Unit 8, the phonics focus includes irregular plural nouns, words with -er, -or endings and comparatives (-er, -est)
• In Unit 9, the phonics focus includes words with -y or -ly, schwa, and silent letters.
• In Unit 10, the phonics focus includes possessives, prefixes (un, re, dis) and suffixes (ful, less).

The materials reviewed for Benchmark Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks provide explicit instruction for and regular practice to address the acquisition of print concepts, including alphabetic knowledge, directionality, and function (K-1), structures, and features of text (1-2).

Text structures are taught in the Grade 2 materials. Through the use of Story Maps, students frequently had the opportunity to identify characters, setting, key events and the problem and solution in a story. Students also frequently compared and contrasted two different texts they had read over the course of the week. While text features were minimally taught in whole group lessons, these text features did come up more frequently in the Small Group reading texts as evidenced below.

Students have frequent and adequate opportunities to identify text structures (e.g. main idea and details, sequence of events, problem and solution, compare and contrast, cause and effect). For example:

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 4, Shared Reading, the class completes a sequence of events chart on the story, “Can You Sew a Flag, Betsy Ross?” The setting, characters and problem in the story are also identified. The class also reflects together on why it is important to understand the structure of a text, “How does knowing about story structure help you know what to look for in a story? How does identifying the sequence of events in a story help readers?”
• In Unit 1, Week 2, Day 1, Shared Reading, after reading the story, “Our Government’s Laws,” students identify key details of the selection and the main topic. “Now I’ll review the key details I underlined to determine the main topic of the section. Key details from paragraph 1 tell me what government is. Key details from paragraph 2 introduce the kinds of government in the United States. So, the main topic of this section is what government is and what kinds of government are in the United States.” Students are also assigned the task of identifying key details and main idea for two more paragraphs of the selection during independent time.
• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 5, students compare and contrast the “Rough-Face Girl” and “Yeh-Shen.” The teacher models using a Venn Diagram to document details about the two stories. Through the use of questioning during guided practice, the teacher assists students in filling in more of the chart. “Rough-Face Girl” is a fairy tale. What kind of text is “Yeh-Shen?” “Rough-Face Girl” and “Yeh-Shen” are both versions of the Cinderella story. What evidence in each story supports this?” The class also reflects on why using compare and contrast is a useful strategy. During independent time, students are assigned the task of writing one compare and one contrast sentence about the two stories.
• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 4, students participate in a lesson on the story structure of the text, “Postcards from Alex.” During the lesson, the teacher displays a story map to guide students in analyzing the story structure. As part of the map, students discuss, the setting, characters, problem, key events, and how the problem is solved.

Materials include frequent and adequate lessons and activities about text features (e.g. title, byline, headings, table of contents, glossary, pictures, illustrations). For example:

• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 1, Short Read 1 Mini-Lesson, “Before I read a text, I preview it. I read and think about the title. I look at the illustrations. Sometimes I skim the text, and I make predictions. I also determine text importance by noticing captions, labels, and bullets. I see a map and a photograph on page 6. There is a caption, and I think it probably explains the map and photograph. I think that is pretty important to understanding the text.”
• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 2, Shared Reading, students participate in a lesson on How Images Contribute to and Clarify a Text. Students discuss how the captions, photographs, and information in the text are all related. “The text describes the emperor penguin’s body. How does the photograph on page 7 help you understand that information? Read about what the father penguins do. What does the photograph on page 8 show? What additional fact is in the caption?”
• In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 4, Extended Read 1 Mini-Lesson, students use illustrations to help demonstrate understanding of characters, setting or plot. Students are reminded that they have used illustrations and other images in the unit to preview the text and make inferences. The teacher explains that in this lesson, students will be shown how to use information from illustrations and words to understand the characters, setting, and plot in a text.

The materials reviewed for Benchmark Grade 2 meet the criteria for instructional opportunities are frequently built into the materials for students to practice and gain decoding automaticity and sight-based recognition of high frequency words. This includes reading fluency in oral reading beginning in mid Grade 1 and through Grade 2.

Over the course of the year, students are provided with multiple opportunities to read on-level texts in the Shared Reading and Phonics & Word Study portions of the whole group materials. Students practice reading accuracy, rate, and expression through multiple reads of the shared reading text with partners. Each unit has Reader’s Theater texts that provide students the opportunity to read grade level texts with fluency. Students also have multiple opportunities to practice fix-up strategies of rereading, self-correction, and context clues during the Fluency portion of the shared reading text. Daily high-frequency word instruction provides students with ample opportunities to read irregularly spelled high-frequency words.

Multiple opportunities are provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to purposefully read on-level text. For example:

• In Unit 1, Week 3, Day 2, Shared Reading, students read the shared reading text, “Ring the Bell.” The lesson’s purpose is stated in the student objectives. “I will be able to: Read a story about government with expression. Identify important events in a story. Name words with long a vowel teams.”
• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 2, Shared Reading, students practice partner reading the shared reading text, “Milo and Dragon.” Students read with the purpose to practice paying close attention to the commas and periods. Students pause briefly after a comma and pause longer after a period.
• In Unit 8, Week 1, Day 3, Shared Reading, students read the shared reading text, “Volcano!” with the following purpose:
  • “Read a poem orally at an appropriate rate to convey meaning. Identify and annotate rhyming words in a poem.”
• In Small Group E-book, students read the emergent text A Bowl of Dust (J/18). Partners read the text to each other with the focus on reading expression.

Multiple opportunities are provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to demonstrate sufficient accuracy, rate, and expression in oral reading with on-level text and grade level decodable words. For example:

• In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 3, Shared Reading, “Since Hanna Moved Away,” the teacher reads the text aloud to demonstrate fluency. For the second reading, students read the poem with the teacher, working on their expression as they read.
• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 2, Shared Reading, students practice rereading the shared reading text, “News About Scorpions” to each other. Students are reminded to read at a rate that sounds like natural speech, and students are to be mindful of punctuation marks that signal when to pause or stop briefly as they read.”
• In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 1, Shared Reading, students read the “The Best Idea” to practice fluency and pacing after the teacher models. “Read aloud the text fluently and expressively, with appropriate pacing. Point out that the end marks period, exclamation point, and question mark are helping you decide where to pause as you read.”
• In Unit 9, Week 1, Day 2, Shared Reading, students practice rereading the “From Tree to Baseball Bat” with a partner for rate.

Materials support reading of texts with attention to reading strategies such as rereading, self-correction, and the use of context clues. For example:

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 2, Short Read 1 Mini-Lesson, students practice using context clues to determine the meaning of unknown vocabulary. Students are reminded about using context clues with the text “Smokejumpers.” Students identify clues that help show the meaning of “gear” in paragraph 4.
• In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 2, Shared Reading, students reread “Crow Learns a Lesson” with partners. Students work on rereading the story and are reminded to use context clues to help with decoding as they are reading.
• In Unit 3, Week 2, Day 3, Shared Reading, students practice rereading “A City Park Habitat” for fluency and accuracy. Students work specifically on rereading to self-correct and are told to listen for any words that don’t seem to fit in the context and go back and check the words and then reread so that the sentences make sense.

Students have opportunities to practice and read irregularly spelled words. For example:

• In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 1, Phonics & Word Study, students read and write high-frequency words (answer, brown, country, start, then, there, wash, went who your) which appear in the Shared Reading text. “Display the high-frequency word “cards. Say each word and have students repeat the word aloud together and spell it. Place letter cards, in random order, for one of the words in a pocket chart. Have a volunteer beat the clock to form the word. Allow 15 seconds. Then have the rest of the class check the spelling and give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Next, have students turn to a partner and say a sentence using the word. Call on volunteers to check their sentences.”
• In Unit 8, Week 1, Day 5 during the Phonics and Word Study mini-lesson, students read and write high-frequency words (against, certain, door, early, field, heard, knew, listen, morning, several) which appear in the Shared Reading text.
• In Unit 7, Week 1, Day 2, students read the high-frequency words air, along, begin, students, important, letter, open, own, sound, talk. Students read and spell each word. The words are compared to previously high-frequency words.

The instructional materials reviewed for Benchmark Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks providing systematic and explicit instruction in and practice of word recognition and analysis skills in a research-based progression in connected text and tasks.

Throughout the Grade 2 series, students have the opportunity to apply word analysis and word recognition skills to connected texts through the use of shared reading lessons and small group reading lessons. Over the course of the year, students have multiple opportunities to read irregularly spelled words in connected text as part of the Phonics and Word Recognition portion of the whole group materials. Students practice applying knowledge of grade level word recognition and word analysis to read the shared reading text and write sentences using high-frequency words and phonics skills learned from the shared reading text. Word work tasks incorporate some encoding skills, which consist mainly of making word lists and writing one or two sentences.

Materials support students’ development to learn grade-level word recognition and analysis skills in connected text and tasks. For example:

• Unit 1, Week 1, Day 2, Shared Reading, with the text “City Park,” students work on identifying words with short vowel sounds within the text. Words students identify include city, if, can, cut, grass, trim, pick, litter.
• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 2, Shared Reading, with the text “Milo and the Dragon,” students apply their knowledge of long o vowel teams by circling the letters within words in the story that create the long o sound. Some of these words include Milo, roamed, showed, boldly, tiptoed, over, moment.
• In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 3, Phonics & Word Study, students read the informational article, “Kid Inventors,” which contains two-syllable words: mistake, always, able, amaze, bacon, baseball, Franklin, birthday, celebrate, invite, notebook. The teacher notes if students are able to blend and read words with vowel-consonant-e and consonant-le syllable patterns in the text and to read new high-frequency words with automaticity.
• In Unit 9, Week 2, Day 2, Phonics & Word Study, the teacher displays the schwa frieze card and the sound is pronounced. Students are taught that a, e, i, o, or u in a multisyllabic word can spell the schwa sound. Students build words with the schwa sound using letter cards.
• In Unit 10 Week 3, Day 4, Phonics & Word Study, suffixes -ful and -less are taught. Students add -ful and -less to the words care, use, help, pain, fear, spot, color, speech, price and determine if a real word has been formed. If so, students turn to a partner and use the word in an oral sentence.

Materials provide frequent opportunities to read irregularly spelled words in connected text and tasks. For example:

• In Unit 2, Week 3, Day 5, Phonics & Word Study, students read and spell high-frequency words that are found in connected text. The teacher shows the high-frequency word cards and states each word. Students repeat the word aloud and spell it. The teacher places letter cards into a pocket chart, in random order, for one of the words. Students try to beat the clock to form the word. Next, students say a sentence using the word. The words can be found in the Shared Reading texts, “Why Sun and Moon Live in the Sky.”
• In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 4, Phonics & Word Study, students use high-frequency word cards to practice reading and using the word in a sentence. The teacher shows high-frequency word cards and reads each word. Students sit in a circle and pass the cards. Each student reads the word and uses it in a sentence before passing the card.
• In Unit 9, Week 1, Day 2, Shared Reading, students practice reading and identifying previously learned high-frequency words in the shared reading text. “Tell students that this text contains some words that they have learned. Point to the previously taught words (carefully, facts) and ask students to turn and tell their partner the words. Remind students to look for words they know when they read a new text.”

Lessons and activities provide students many opportunities to learn grade-level word recognition and analysis skills while encoding in context and decoding words in connected text and tasks. For example:

• In Unit 2, Week 2, Small Group, students complete the following word work activity, “Have partners locate one-syllable words with a CVCe pattern in the book. Write the words on the board. Ask students to make up sentences using each word.”
• In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 1, Phonics & Word Study, students practice writing sentences using high-frequency words such as answer, brown, country, start, then, there, wash, went, who, your. The teacher uses the following routine: “Write simple sentences using each high-frequency word. Underline the word and discuss important features about it. Say the word and have students repeat. Then spell the word with students as you point to each letter. Finally, have students write the word as they spell it aloud.”
• In Unit 9, Week 1, Day 1, Phonics & Word Study, students practice writing sentences using the high-frequency words (able, behind, carefully, common, easy, fact, remember, sure, vowel, whole) from the shared reading text.

The instructional materials reviewed for Benchmark Grade 2 meet the criteria for materials supporting ongoing and frequent assessment to determine student mastery and inform meaningful differentiation of foundational skills, including a clear and specific protocol as to how students performing below standard on these assessments will be supported.

Materials provide students with multiple assessment opportunities over the course of the year that allow students to demonstrate progress towards mastery as well as provide teachers with feedback for instructional adjustments. Teachers are provided with a resource map they can use based on how students perform on the quick checks. The map directs teachers to specific lessons to use with students who struggled to pass a given quick check. Teachers are provided with informal and formal assessment materials within the core reading program. Assessments include a pre- and post- assessments, foundational skills screeners, weekly assessments, unit assessments, interim assessments, and weekly informal assessments of foundational skills taught within that week.

Weekly informal and formal assessment opportunities directly correlate with the standard focus for that week. Many of these are observational in Kindergarten and the program provides checklists to support this. The checklists show a student’s strengths and needs. Each week there is a chart to reference specific re-teaching lessons to support foundational skills included as a link in the Mini-Lessons at a Glance. These Lessons are labeled Reteaching/Intervention Lessons. These lessons give guidance to teachers to support students performing below grade-level standard for the week’s Shared Reading Mini-Lessons as well as the Phonological Awareness and Phonics Mini-Lessons. Unit assessments provide additional opportunities for teachers to monitor student progress towards mastery of the foundational skills taught within the given unit and directly correlate to the standards taught over the course of the unit. There are Language Development Assessment materials that help teachers to determine the language proficiency level of their students in different domains. There are instructional suggestions in the units that address how to differentiate for students within these levels.Multiple assessment opportunities are provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence of foundational skills.

• Weekly assessments of foundational skills are provided in the Assessments portion of the Core Materials. Examples include:
  • In Unit 1, Week 1, students complete a foundational skills assessment on ending, beginning, and vowel sounds. “Which word has the same vowel sound as jump? Which word has the same ending sound as fast? Which word has the same ending sound as rush? Which word begins with the same sounds as floor? Which word has the same vowel sound as kept?”
  • In Unit 4, Week 2, students complete a foundational skills assessment on vowel sounds. “The eer in peering has the same vowel sound as which word?”
  • In Unit 5, Week 2, students complete a foundational skills assessment middle sounds. “The oi in boiled is pronounced with the same vowel sound as which word?”
• Each Unit contains an End of Unit assessment that assesses the foundational skills taught within the unit. Examples include:
  • Unit 1 End of Unit Assessment: Students complete foundational skills questions from the skills taught within that unit. “Which word has the same vowel sound as had? The ai in Maine is pronounced like the a in which word? Which word has the same beginning sound as thought? Which word has the same ending sound as best? The o in college is pronounced like the o in which word.”
  • Unit 6 End of Unit Assessment: Students complete foundational skills questions from the skills taught within that unit. “Your teacher will read questions 15–17 aloud. Listen to each word. Then choose the word that has the same vowel sound.”
• Teachers are also provided with Quick Check assessments to use with students in the areas of fluency, language, phonics and word recognition, phonological awareness, print concepts and reading.
• In addition to the weekly assessments, unit assessments, and quick check assessments, teachers are also provided with Foundational Skills Screeners. These tests are designed to catch when a student is struggling with a foundational skill early on. The teacher reads the questions aloud to students as the student bubbles in their answer on their answer sheet.

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information of students’ current skills/level of understanding.

• Teachers are provided with a weekly outline to record observations of students progress towards mastery on the foundational skill and frequency words taught that week and record any additional notes.
• In the Informal Assessments portion of the Core Reading materials, teachers are provided with checklists to help observe student growth throughout the year. “Use these assessment tools periodically throughout the year to record observations and notations of student growth.”
• Teachers are provided with Foundational Skills Screeners to monitor students’ proficiency. “The Foundational Skills Screeners give you a quick way to assess any student’s general proficiency and provide with you data you can use to tackle challenging and developing skill areas before they become serious problems.” An example includes:
  • Foundational Skill Screener C Question 1, “Which word has the same beginning sound as yarn...yarn?” The student must then choose on their answer sheet whether to bubble in “a. wet b. yet c. vet”
• The Individual Reading Retelling Rubric provides the teacher with information of what the students instructional needs are to provide an oral or written retelling of what has been read.
• Anecdotal notes are the observations teachers made. On page 3 of Grade K-6 Informal Assessments, it is suggested teachers analyze these to inform instructional moves.
• There are five, Skill-Area Specific Quick Checks- Phonological Awareness, Print Concepts, Fluency, Phonics, and Word Recognition. These skill based assessments assist teachers in evaluating student proficiency in key skill and knowledge areas. This data is used to inform decisions on implementing intervention steps.

Materials support teachers with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in foundational skills. For example:

• Teachers are provided with Interim Assessments to help make instructional adjustments, including a pre and post test. Examples include:
  • Interim Assessment 1: Teachers are provided with 15 questions to assess foundational skills. “Which word has the same vowel sound as noon?”
  • Interim Assessment 2: Teachers are provided with 15 questions to assess foundational skills. “Which word has the same beginning sounds as brave?”
• If a student scores below a 66% on the quick check the teacher is directed to, “Use additional resources shown in the Resource Map to provide the student with opportunities to remediate skills.” An example includes:
  • On the Phonological Awareness Quick Check Resource Map if a student struggles with Phoneme Addition (Quick Check 29 and 30) the teacher is directed for Grade 2 to use, “Lesson 19: Produce a Spoken Word When Sounds are Added or Substituted.” In Lesson 19 of the Phonological Intervention teacher’s manual, the teacher introduces the skill and then has students practice changing sounds in words such as “oar-boar, cake-rake, hand-band.” The teacher is then provided with a formative assessment box with four questions she can ask about the lesson and additional interventions she can try with students. One example is, “Did the student add the first sound to the first word?” If the answer is no, the teacher is given the suggestion to, “Say the first sound, then the word. Blend the sounds until the student can repeat the sounds together to make the word.”
• Teachers are also given specific instructions for how to score different assessments, and for unit assessments are given the following criteria, “A score of 90–100 percent correct is excellent; 80–89 percent is good; 70–79 percent is proficient. Anything below 70 percent would merit further analysis, which could indicate a need for additional instruction in the following week or in following units. A score below 50 percent could indicate a need for reteaching before the student moves to the next week or unit.”

In Unit 4, Week 1, Phonics Mini-Lessons include r-Controlled Vowels or, oar, ore and High-Frequency words long, now, our, some, them, through, upon, was, when work. The Reteaching/Intervention lessons for the week include:

• r-Controlled Vowels or, oar, ore: PWR QC #101-102, pp. 102-103
• Rate: Pacing; FL lesson 2b, pp. 10; FL QC #17, pp. 34-35; FL QC # 19, pp. 38-39; FL QC #20, pp. 40-41; FL QC #21, pp. 42-43

In Unit 6, Week 2, Phonics Mini-Lessons include Vowel Teams /o˘o/: oo, ou and the high-frequency words: add, between, close, example, food, group, hear, home, left, mountain. Also spelling words are: book, look, cook, foot, stood, good, shook, could, would, should. The Reteaching/Intervention lessons for the week include:

• Vowel Teams /oo/: oo, ou: PWR QC #115, p.116-117, PWR lessons 68, pp. 136

In Unit 10, Week 3, Phonics Mini-Lessons include Suffixes -ful, -less, High-Frequency Words: dark, clear, explain, force, minutes, object, plane, power, produce, surface. Weekly Spelling Words: careful, useful, helpful, painless, fearless, spotless, colorful, speechless, priceless. The Reteaching/Intervention lessons for the week include:

• Suffixes -ful, -less: PWR QC #159-160, pp. 160-161 PWR lessons 32, pp. 64
• Prosody/Intonation: FL lesson 2a, pp. 8FL QC #17, pp. 34-35FL QC # 19, pp. 38-39FL QC #20, pp. 40-41FL QC #21, pp. 42-43

The materials reviewed for Benchmark Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks providing high-quality lessons and activities that allow for differentiation of foundational skills.

For each unit, there are different leveled texts used for small group lessons. These texts include foundational skills lessons, so that all students can practice foundational skills in context. For each unit, there are Reader’s Theater activities that allow students at different levels to have access to the high-frequency words and the opportunity to read text for a purpose. There are intervention lessons for fluency, phonics and word recognition, phonological awareness, and print concepts to support all students in mastery of foundational skills.

The materials do provide high-quality learning lessons and activities for students to reach mastery of foundational skills. For example:

• In Unit 7, Week 3, Day 4, Phonics & Word Study, teachers use high-frequency word cards to teach high-frequency words. “Review: across, become, complete, during, happened, hundred, problem, toward, study, wind -Display the high-frequency word cards. Read each word and have students repeat the word and spell it aloud together. Have students sit in a circle. Pass the cards, one at a time. Each student reads the word and uses it in a sentence before passing the card.”
• Teacher instructions during lessons are explicit and important concepts/skills are often written in bold so a teacher can easily find the important information/skills they need to go over with students. An example includes:
  • In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 1, when introducing the Long O sound, the teacher is provided with very explicit directions, “Say: This sound is /o/. The /o/ sound is spelled many ways: oa, o, oe, o. Model: oa, o, oe, ow. Point to each spelling on the card and provide a sample word: oa as in float, o as in gold, oe as in doe,ow as in crow. Write each sample word and underline the long o spelling. Say: Look at the first word I wrote: f-l-o-a-t. I see long o spelled oa. Listen and watch as I sound out the word: flooot, float.”

Materials provide guidance to teachers for scaffolding and adapting lessons and activities to support each student’s needs.

• Materials include a sidebar with recommended support and cues for observations during the lesson and application of foundational skills. An example includes:
  • In Unit 9, Week 3, Day 3, Phonics & Word Study, teachers are provided with information to support students in mastering lesson objectives. “Monitor Student Reading of Word Study (Decodable) Text-As students read the word study (decodable) text and answer questions, ask yourself these questions: Are students able to… blend and read words with silent letters in the text? read new high-frequency words with automaticity? demonstrate comprehension of the text by answering text-based questions? Based on your observations, you may wish to support students’ fluency, automaticity, and comprehension with additional word study reading practice during intervention time.”

• Materials provide additional support for ELL students in the teacher sidebar “Integrated ELD” with information on light, moderate, and substantial support. An example includes:
  • In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 1, when students are learning about vowel teams - oo, ui, ew, ue, u, ou and oe, teachers are provided with the following instructions for light support for their ELD students. “Write ew, ui, ue, u, ou, oe, and oo across the top of the board. Students add nouns with /o¯o/ to each category. Have partners take turns using /o¯o/ words in sentences, and identifying the /o¯o/word and what letters make the /o¯o/ sound.”

• Over the course of the year, teachers are provided with a Differentiated Instruction Planner for all 10 units that provide Unit-Specific Leveled Text, Reader’s Theater, English Language Development, and Intervention materials with guidance on how to use the materials. “Group students by instructional level to support their reading development. Use the lesson-specific Teacher’s Guide and Text Evidence Question Card for each title.” Examples include:
  • Unit-Specific Leveled Texts for Differentiated Instruction - “Group students by instructional level to support their reading development. Use the lesson-specific Teacher’s Guide and Text Evidence Question Card for each title.” (For Unit 2, teachers are provided with 2 level H titles, 1 level I title, 2 level J titles and 2 level K titles.)
  • Reader’s Theater - “Group students heterogeneously for multi-leveled reader’s theater experience that build fluency and comprehension.” Teachers are provided with 2 reader’s theater titles for this unit.

• Teachers are also at times provided with helpful If…. Then… boxes with ideas to help students out during lessons. An example includes:
  • In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 1, during a lesson on recounting events from the story “A Foxy Garden,” teachers are provided with a box titled “Ways to Scaffold the First Reading.” Teachers are provided with ideas for scaffolding the lesson if “students are struggling readers who may decode with little comprehension” and “students need some support to read unfamiliar texts with comprehension.”

Students have multiple practice opportunities with each grade level foundational skill component in order to reach mastery.

• Over the course of the year, foundational skills are taught primarily in the Shared Reading & Phonics & Word Study portion of the whole group materials. Each week addresses a new foundational skill with opportunities to apply to context and review and assess. Skills are taught daily and reviewed in and out of context. Lessons include a focus skill and student objectives. Students also review and apply words from the decodable reader each week. An example includes:
  • In Unit 10, Week 2, students focus on learning the prefixes un-, re- and dis-. This skill is introduced on Day 1 and practiced throughout the week with a review and assessment opportunity on Friday. Weekly spelling words also follow the phonics pattern for the week. For example, in this week, some of the spelling words include unsafe, unlock, reheat, reuse and unhappy.
• High-Frequency words are also taught on a daily basis over the course of the school year. Words are reviewed and/or introduced each day. An example includes:
  • In Unit 9, Week 1, Day 1, students are introduced to the high-frequency words able, behind, carefully, common, easy, fact, remember, sure, vowel and whole. Students also review the previously taught words covered, cried, figure, horse, money, products, questions, since, usually and voice.