Kindergarten - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the expectations of Indicator 2c.

Some designated questions and tasks support students’ analysis of knowledge and ideas across a text(s). By the end of the year, integrating knowledge and ideas is embedded in students’ work (via tasks and/or culminating tasks).

Sets of questions and tasks that provide opportunities to analyze within single texts include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 2, students learn to identify and describe characters using the Mentor Read-Aloud, “The Tortoise and the Hare.” The teacher models how to use text evidence to list words that describe the Hare. Next, the teacher guides the students in describing Tortoise using details in the text and illustrations. Together, the students and teacher brainstorm a list of words to describe the character. The teacher also supports students by asking a series of text-based questions that increase in complexity. At the end of the lesson, students take turns role-playing the two characters of the story in order to show the character traits previously identified in the text.
• In Unit 7, the topic is “different holidays and celebrations around the world.” In Week 1, Day 2, during the Mentor Read 1 mini-lesson, students find the main topic and retell key details using “The Mother of Thanksgiving.” The questions help students identify key ideas and details: “Why did Sarah J. Hale write to President Lincoln? Why do some people call Sarah J. Hale the ‘mother of Thanksgiving?’”
• In Unit 9, Week 3, Day 2, the students use text evidence to describe the problem and solution in the Extended Read, Jaylen’s Juice Box. The teacher asks text-based questions about the setting, problem, and solutions on specific pages of the text. Students also work with partners to complete a Story Elements Chart to represent the problem and solution.
• In Unit 10, Week 2, students analyze Forces by Joy Brewster during multiple lessons across multiple days. On Day 2, students describe the relationship between the illustrations and the text. On Day 3, students identify supporting reasons for an opinion in a text by answering text-based questions: “What reasons or points does the author give to support the statement that ‘Friction is a force, too’?”

Examples of sets of questions and tasks that provide opportunities to analyze across multiple texts include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Week 3, students read the texts, What Do Animals Need? and What Do Plants Need?, and identify similarities and differences between two texts on the same topic. Questions to support this task include, “In What Do Plants Need?, we learned that plants need water, air, light, and space. How is that the same as what we learned animals need in What Do Animals Need? How is it different?”
• In Unit 5, Week 2, Day 5, students practice identifying similarities and differences between two texts on the same topic. The students work with the teacher to compare and contrast the Extended Read, Technology at Home & School: Past and Present, and the Mentor Read-Aloud, “Up, Up, and Away!” The teacher models the skill by thinking aloud and creating a three-column Compare and Contrast chart. During Guided Practice, students work with partners to identify at least one more similarity and difference. The Teacher Edition provides text-based questions to prompt students’ thinking as needed. During independent reading time, the students identify a similarity and a difference in two previous texts on the same topic. Students use sticky notes to mark their findings.
• In Unit 7, Week 3, Day 4, students identify the similarities and differences between two texts on the same topic. The Extended Read texts used are People we Celebrate by Margaret McNamara and In My Opinion...These Are the Best Ways to Celebrate Holidays by Erica Chen. Students work with partners to find the text features that are the same in each book. They also look for which holidays are featured in both books. Then the class creates a compare and contrast chart for the books.
• In Unit 10, Week 1, Day 5, students identify the similarities and differences between two texts on the same topic. The Mentor Read Aloud texts are “The True Story of Balto, the Sled Dog” and “Up in the Air.” Students work with partners to answer the questions: “Do these two texts discuss the same topic? How do you know? How are these two texts similar? How are these two texts different?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the expectations of Indicator 2d.

Each culminating task or extended writing project incorporates texts from throughout the unit while allowing students to use outside sources as appropriate. Most culminating tasks provide students the opportunity to demonstrate comprehension and knowledge of a topic or topics. Every unit has an Inquiry and Research project and a Unit Reflection with Constructive Conversation that are centered around the Essential Question and unit topic. Students use texts and knowledge gained from the unit in all tasks including writing tasks. Each week contains texts, writing tasks, and discussions leading to the culminating tasks for the unit. Additionally, a pacing chart for the project assigns student goals with teacher support (along with project rubrics) to assess students’ work on the project. Culminating tasks are provided and they are multifaceted, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of several different standards (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) at the appropriate grade level.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, students complete a Culminating Research and Inquiry project to deepen their understanding of the unit topic, Needs of Living Things. Students choose a plant or an animal from one of the Mentor Read-Alouds, Extended Reads, and Shared Reading unit texts read throughout the three-week unit (Lessons from Mama Bear, Grow, Pumpkin, Grow!, What Do Plants Need?, and What Do Animals Need?) . Using guiding questions which address the Essential Question, Cross-Text Analysis, and Enduring Understanding, students then research more information about their plant or animal in other books, magazines, or websites. Afterwards, they create a presentation to share what they learned.
• In Unit 2, during Day 5 of Weeks 1 and 2, students practice comparing and contrasting characters from different texts. In these lessons, students demonstrate their reading, speaking, and listening skills. On Week 3, Day 5, students discuss, draw, and write their answers to the Essential Question, “How are characters different?”. In the culminating task, students demonstrated their reading, speaking, writing, and listening skills.
• In Unit 3, Week 3, the culminating task is a Constructive Conversation about the Essential Question, “Why do we have rules?”. Students rewatch and discuss the unit video. Then, students discuss the Essential Question in peer groups. Next, groups share their ideas and the class discusses how each idea answers a question the class had listed on the Sample Questions and Ideas Anchor Chart from the beginning of the unit. Groups then role-play a situation about their rule. Students then draw and write in response to two questions summarizing their learning of the unit topic and Essential Question.
• In Unit 4, students spend three weeks drafting opinion essays using the following unit texts as guides: Mentor Read Alouds “Who Did It?”, “The Spider and the Deer”, and Extended Reads Knuffle Bunny, “Wolf’s Cub Song”. At the end of Week 3, students complete a Demonstrate Knowledge through Drawing and Writing culminating task to share what they have learned throughout the unit by answering the following text-dependent questions: “How were the stories you read about similar?” (Essential Question) and “How did the author and illustrator tell about the characters you read about?” (Enduring Understanding).
• In Unit 7, the Culminating Research and Inquiry Project requires students to demonstrate mastery of several different standards while researching and presenting about the unit topic, Celebrating Holidays. Students use texts from the unit, as well as research online and/or in texts beyond the unit. Students create a symbol or ornament to use in their presentation. Their presentation should answer the following questions:
• “When did people begin celebrating the holiday that you studied, and what was their purpose for celebrating it?” (Essential Question)
• “What new information did you find in your research that helped you better understand the holiday described in the unit text(s)?”
• “When people celebrate the holiday you studied, how does it help them think about important people and events in their lives?”
• In Unit 9, Week 3, Day 5, the students practice listening, writing, and speaking in the culminating task. They also practice recalling information from texts that have already read in previous lessons. In the lesson, Reflect on Unit Concepts, students recall and retell information from the informational texts and stories they have read and listened to in the unit. The students watch the video from the first day of the unit and discuss how the video fits with the unit and the Essential Question. In small groups, students discuss their answers to the Essential Question. Students share, and the teacher records their ideas on the anchor chart created at the beginning of the unit. Next, students work in groups to create a short presentation, using digital media, that shows examples of needs and wants. Students may draw or locate pictures or use classroom objects to represent needs and wants. Then, students use drawings and writing to respond to the following questions: “Why did the characters you read about in this unit have to make choices? How did these characters make choices between needs and wants?”
• In Unit 10, students complete two one-week writing tasks. One is a sensory poem and the other is an acrostic poem. Teachers guide students through the process of writing the poems over five days, including a time to read an anchor text, write their own text, revise their own, and share their own with classmates. Each writing task incorporates speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the expectations of Indicator 2f.

Materials include a year’s worth of writing instruction aligned to the standards for the grade level that provide both depth and breadth of writing instruction and practice. The materials include well-designed lesson plans covering a variety of genres, both process and on-demand writing, and teacher and student protocols. Students receive explicit instruction that guides them through the writing process in Writing Workshops lessons. Lessons also include mentor texts, shared readings, poetry, and short reads that provide students with opportunities to examine the text features of a specific genre and the styles and techniques of authors. The materials include a writing development guide for the grade level as well as writing rubrics. The materials also include many graphic organizers—Venn diagram, T-Chart, compare/contrast—and rubrics that address content, presentation, and effort and collaboration during Inquiry and Research Projects.

In the beginning of the year, students learn and practice identifying letters and using pre-writing strokes to draw and write about texts. The lessons support students with modeling, guided shared writing, and independent practice. Lessons also include specific protocols for writing, such as the “Three-Step Writing Strategy.” In the middle of the year, students practice responding to texts through drawing and writing words. Lessons continue to use modeling, guided shared writing, and independent practice, as well as other supports, such as sentence frames. At the end of the year, students work with partners to write and illustrate research reports using facts from multiple sources. Writing lessons use the Gradual Release Model, as well as Shared Writing opportunities, to give students practice with the research report writing process. Students have opportunities to practice brainstorming, taking notes, planning, drafting, writing, revising, editing, and publishing. Writing instruction supports students’ growth in writing skills over the course of the school year.

Beginning of the year examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 3, students practice writing letters they know during the “I Write” portion of their phonics mini-lesson. First, students practice identifying the letters K, L, M, N, and O using Frieze Cards and labels around the room. Students use letters in their name or letters they see on classroom labels.
• In Unit 2, Week 1, Shared Narrative Writing, the expectation for writing each day is that students draw an illustration and one sentence to retell one event from the story. There is extensive teacher modeling. Although students use the same story for writing over several days, the writing tasks for Week 1 are separate tasks.
• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 1, during the Oral Rehearsal for Independent Writing portion of the Writing lesson, the teacher uses a sentence frame to support student thinking/speaking/writing. “When you play a sport, you should ________ because _______.”

Middle of the year examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 4, Week 4, Day 2, students practice drawing and writing their opinions of the Extended Read, Knuffle Bunny. During Guided Writing, the teacher models how to state an opinion and give a reason to support it with one reason. The teacher uses the shared writing process to write a model sentence with the students. Students say the sentence aloud with the teacher and dictate what words to write. The teacher asks students for help, repeating the sentence as needed. The teacher models how to use knowledge of high-frequency words in order to write the words. Students also call out the letters of the text’s title in order to help the teacher write. During Independent Writing time, students draw and write their own opinions and reasons about the text.
• In Unit 5, Week 1, instruction emphasizes informative/explanatory writing over the entire week, as students work to produce one piece of writing. Students learn process writing by Unit 5, including how to revise the order of sentences and add titles.
• In Unit 7, students engage in process writing of narrative stories, using the unit video, unit readings—The Legend of the Coqui by Georgina Lazaro, People We Celebrate by Margaret McNamara—and personal experiences. Students plan, draft, revise, edit, and share their stories throughout the three-week unit.

End of the year examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 8, Week 2, Day 2, students learn how to add a title and a conclusion to their shared research reports. During Guided Shared Writing, the teacher models how to add a title to tell what the report is about. Next, the teacher and students reread the draft together. The teacher models how to write a conclusion that summarizes the key ideas of the report. Then, students work with partners to practice thinking of titles and conclusions for their shared reports. Partners practice saying the title and conclusions aloud. During Independent Writing, students work with their partners to add the title and conclusion to their reports.
• In Unit 9, the focus is process opinion writing, spanning three weeks and resulting in one finished piece. Although there is still teacher modeling, there is an increase in expectations. The expectation is for students to produce at least four organized sentences stating an opinion and reasons.
• In Unit 9, Week 1, Day 1, during the Model section of the Writing lesson, the teacher models using a Brainstorming Chart. Students use the brainstorming chart during independent/collaborative time to gather ideas regarding their favorite food.
• In Unit 10, Week 3, Day 1, students review their completed narrative writing from the year and evaluate their own writing with a rubric. They pick the narrative piece they think is the best and write reflections on their writing.

Instructional materials include well-designed lesson plans, models, and protocols for teachers to implement and monitor students’ writing development. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Kindergarten writing exemplars for the three types of writing—opinion, narrative, informative/explanatory—are available in the Benchmark Online Platform.
• Each lesson has an accompanying Anchor chart and/or Sample Shared writing as well as a picture of the text to which the writing refers.
• Writing lessons always have these components: Engage Thinking, Guide Shared/Interactive Writing, Oral Rehearsal for Independent Writing, Independent and Small Group Writing and Conferring, and Share and Reflect.
• In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 2, students learn how to use pre-writing strokes to draw a picture representing a message. The Teacher Edition provides guidance on modeling three specific pre-writing strokes. The lesson also provides examples for how to think aloud when using these strokes to create a picture that shows an idea from the Mentor Read-Aloud, “Lessons from Mama Bear.” The Teacher Edition includes a sample Anchor Chart that shows the five pre-writing strokes taught during Week 1 of this unit. These pre-writing strokes include: “up and around,” “touch, pull down,” “touch, push over,” “slant right,” and “slant left.”
• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 1, the writing lesson is based on “Let’s Play by the Rules.” The teacher models how to choose a topic, talks through how they will draw their picture to represent their idea, and rehearses their writing with the students. “Use gear that will keep you safe.” Then the teacher models writing the sentence while discussing sounds of letters and spelling strokes. Next the teacher rereads the text with the students, before releasing the students to talk together and complete their own writing from the text.
• In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 1, the Writing lesson is based on “All Together Now.” The teacher models how to create a Brainstorming List, but is not guided to specify how to make strokes of letters, how to draw a picture, or to use a sentence frame for the whole-group lesson.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the expectations of Indicator 2g.

Research projects are sequenced across a school year to include a progression of research skills. Inquiry and research projects tasks are similar throughout the year, but the texts used for research increase in complexity. Materials support teachers in employing projects that develop students’ knowledge on a topic via provided resources. The Teacher Edition contains a resource that outlines the information for the Research and Inquiry Projects. It describes the project’s parameters, guiding questions, student expectations, recommendations for modeling research skills, and a detailed pacing guide. The materials also contain separate student and teacher rubrics to guide the projects. Teachers guide students through various writing tasks and culminating tasks that are heavily based on unit materials, with opportunities for students to bring in outside sources and experiences as appropriate. Students complete Inquiry and Research projects for every unit. Students use graphic organizers and find key details from unit texts. Materials provide many opportunities for students to apply Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language skills to synthesize and analyze per their grade-level readings. All Inquiry and Research projects and writing research tasks contain reading or listening to a text, discussing texts, a writing component, and speaking through discussions and presentations. It should be noted that while there are various graphic organizers used from project to project, there is not a clear progression of increased expectations of research skills throughout the year.

Examples of student opportunities to engage in short (1–2 days) projects across grades and grade bands include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Days 4–5, students engage with the Mentor Read-Aloud “Grow, Pumpkin, Grow!” Over the course of two days, students use drawings to help readers communicate ideas about the texts. During the Writer's Workshop, students use their pre-writing strokes and sentence frames to draw another idea they had while listening to “Grow, Pumpkin, Grow!” (e.g., “I __. I learned that pumpkins ___. I drew a picture of ___ to show that when we plant ____, they ___.”) Students then present their drawings and share their messages with a partner during Share and Reflect time.
• In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 5, students compare and contrast the experiences of the characters in “All Together Now!” and “A House for Max” using a Venn Diagram.
• In Unit 7, Week 1, Day 1, for the Writing lesson, teachers guide students through the brainstorming step for writing a narrative text. The teacher guides students through coming up with ideas from The Legend of the Coqui or outside of the text to use in their narrative writing. This is part of a one-week writing project.
• In Unit 9, Week 3, Day 5, the Teacher Edition includes an additional shared research project detailed in the sidebar titled “Community Connection.” Directions for the task state: “Create a T-chart and have students mention several things they need. Record students’ ideas on the left side of the chart under the heading ‘Needs.’ After students share, have them discuss how they need air, food, water, shelter, and clothing. They also have wants. Add a list of students’ wants on the right side of the chart under the heading ‘Wants.’ Talk about how all people need air, food, water, and shelter. For some people, education, electricity, and running water are considered necessities. Do research with students about communities around the world and what their needs might be, and then compare and contrast with the student T-chart.”

Examples of student opportunities to engage in long (3 + days) projects across grades and grade bands include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, students complete a Culminating Research and Inquiry project to deepen their understanding of the unit topic, Needs of Living Things. Students choose a plant or an animal from one of the unit texts and use guiding questions to research more information about their plant or animal in other books, magazines, or websites. Afterward, they create a presentation to share what they learned.
• In Unit 2, students engage in a three-week Research and Inquiry Project to deepen their understanding of the unit topic, “Every Story has Characters” and the Essential Question, “How are characters different?” The research task is as follows: “For your research project, you will pick one of the characters from a story in this unit. Then you will do some research to find a character in another story that is similar in some way or that has a similar problem. You will study how these characters are the same and how they are different. Then you will create a presentation to share what you have learned, using details from the unit text we read together and details from the other story you found to describe the characters.” The Teacher Edition offers suggestions and a pacing guide that outlines how to support students.
• In Unit 3, the Inquiry and Research Project is three weeks long. Students create a comic strip about rules using the unit texts and other sources. In Week 1, the teacher reads unit texts about rules. Students select rules for the research project and look for information from unit texts about their rules. With teacher guidance, students also find additional sources. In Week 2, students research and take notes using their sources. Students also begin planning their comic strip and presentation. In Week 3, students complete their comic strip and present it to the class.
• In Unit 6, the Inquiry and Research Project is three weeks long. Students compare and contrast messages of folktales using the unit texts and other sources. In Week 1, the teacher reads unit folktales. Students work with partners or in small groups to select folktales for the research project and look for the lesson of their folktales. In Week 2, students find additional folktales with the same lesson. Students also plan their presentation display to compare and contrast 2 folktales with the same message. In Week 3, students complete their display and present it to the class.
• In Unit 7, Weeks 2–3, students work on a two-week narrative writing task. During Day 1 of the project, students brainstorm using a different brainstorming chart with less scaffolding than Week 1 when they did a narrative writing task. They gather topics on the chart instead of characters and character actions. Students can use ideas from the unit texts, their own experiences, or other sources. There is an “Integrated ELD’”section in the margin of the TRS on Day 1 of both Weeks 1 and 2 that provides light, moderate, and heavy support for the teacher to use with students as needed, including brainstorming support, visuals, and sentence frames.
• In Unit 8, students complete a Culminating Research and Inquiry project to deepen their understanding of the unit topic, Weather and the Seasons. Students choose a type of weather that is described in one or more of the unit texts and use guiding questions to research to find out more about how this weather affects people, animals, and plants. Afterward, they create a poster and deliver a presentation that shows what they have learned to the class.
• In Unit 10, the Research and Inquiry Project is a three-week project about the unit theme, Investigating Motion. During Week 1, students read and discuss information from unit texts, identify outside sources, and begin researching and recording information. During Week, 2 students continue to gather information, start planning their presentation, and start creating their craft or symbol for their presentation. During Week 3, students finish their project and symbol and present their research to the class. Teachers provide “a variety of digital tools” to assist in the research, planning, and presentation of the project. These are the same procedures, guidance, and support that are provided in the Pacing Chart in Unit 7.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the expectations of Indicator 2h.

Most texts are organized with built-in supports and scaffolds to foster independence. Kindergarten spends a lot of time on phonics with students reading the same text multiple times. Materials provide support for struggling readers through E-books and partner grouping. Materials often repeat skills practice during independent reading time after the skills have been modeled by the teacher. There is sufficient teacher guidance to foster independence for all readers.

The Foundations and Routines book gives guidance for independent reading during Reading Workshop. The "Managing Your Independent Reading Program” document contains substantial support for teachers to set up and run an effective independent reading program. There is a proposed schedule for independent reading. The “Comprehensive Literacy Planner” document gives 30–60 minutes per day for “Small Group, Independent Reading, and Conferring.” There is a tracking system to track independent reading. Student reading logs can be found in the “Managing your Independent Reading Program” document, along with Leveled Reading Response forms for students to use after independent reading. Student reading materials span a wide volume of texts at grade levels. The read alouds, shared reading, small group reading, and reader’s theater texts provide a great volume of reading to students around various topics and themes, both literary and informational. There is an appropriate balance of reading in and outside of class. Guidance within the “Managing Your Independent Reading Program” document requires students to read at home for 20 minutes daily. This is in addition to the wide variety of texts that students read throughout the day and week in class.

Examples of materials that provide a design and accountability for how students will regularly engage in independent reading include, but are not limited to:

• The Teacher Edition includes an independent reading support material titled “Managing Your Independent Reading Program.” The materials indicate that students have time for independent reading during their Language Arts block at school as well as at home. The materials state that, at school, “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 instruction, model fluency, skills through reader’s theater, or reteach skills and strategies.”
• The Managing an Independent Reading Program document contains the following information:
• Additional Resources states: “Within Benchmark Advance, students may participate in daily independent reading during the Independent and Collaborative Activity block, while the teacher meets with small groups…In addition, a list of recommended, award-winning trade books is provided for every unit in Benchmark Advance (at the end of this section), with titles that expand on the unit concepts and essential questions.” However, these books are not part of the core curriculum purchase.
• Program Support states, “Students should also be encouraged to develop a routine of reading daily at home for a minimum of 20 minutes, either independently or with a parent. During independent reading, students keep reading logs and reading response journals. The teacher is required to review these logs and journals and to conference regularly with individual students to monitor their progress.” The document also states “the teacher should conduct reading conference with each student as often as possible.”
• Resources contain the following documents to support Independent Reading: Conference Form, Reading Log, Reading Response forms (three different level responses), and Individual Reading Program Checklist.
• Benchmark Advance offers a list of 23 ideas for mini-lesson topics for the teacher to use in order to establish independent reading routines. Examples include, “Selecting Books and Enjoying Independent Reading,” “Seeking Help During Independent Reading Time,” “Making Good Book Choices,” and “Abandoning Books.”
• The independent reading support materials offer guidance on how teachers can help students choose books on their independent reading levels. For example, one suggestion is a scaffolded protocol, the Three-Finger Method for emergent and early readers and the Five-Finger Method for fluent readers. The protocols direct students to count the number of words they either can’t pronounce or don’t understand. The protocol indicates that books are too difficult for early and emergent readers when they make three mistakes on a given page and are too difficult for fluent readers when they make five mistakes on a given page.
• In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 1, Independent Reading/Small Group Reading/Conferring time is spent fully engaged with a small group book, applying the learning target, and showing evidence of comprehension with sticky notes in the text.
• “Apply Understanding: Tell students that during independent reading time, you would like them to look for connections in a previously read leveled text. Ask students to place a self-stick note beside the text or illustration where they make a connection to their own lives. Students should be ready to share their connections during small-group or conferring time.”
• In Unit 10, Week 2, Day 1, Independent Reading/Small Group Reading/Conferring time is spent fully engaged with a small group book, applying the learning target, and showing evidence of comprehension with sticky notes in the text.
• “Tell students that during independent reading time, you would like them to apply at least two reading strategies as they reread a leveled text. Ask students to place a self-stick note on each page where they apply a strategy and be prepared to share their strategies during a small-group or conferring time.”