The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 1f.

Materials include standards-aligned, text-specific and text-dependent questions, tasks, and assignments that support students in making meaning of the core understandings of the text being studied and require students to engage with the text directly. Lessons contain multiple questions that include the depth of knowledge necessary to answer the questions and the correct answer, so teachers are supported in planning and implementing the questions and tasks. The Teacher’s Resource System provides text-based questions to ask students and anchor charts to model and support student learning. Materials frequently provide sentence frames, and student tasks include options to draw or speak. 

Text-specific and text-dependent questions and tasks support students in making meaning of the core understandings of the text being studied. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Week 2, Day 5, students reread paragraph 1 of Emperor Penguin Habitat by Laura Charleston and paragraph 6 of Habitats Around the World by Thea Feldman and answer the following text-specific questions: “How is Antarctica different from the rainforest? Underline specific evidence from the texts to support your answer.” Materials include a possible student response in the Teacher’s Resource Guide. 

• In Unit 4, Week 2, Day 2, after rereading paragraph one from “Stone Soup” by Winston Ramos, students discuss the following text-specific question: “Why does the author use the phrases ‘real treat’ and ‘you will see’ in paragraph 6? How does pulling a pot from his coat ‘like a magician’ add meaning to the story?”

• In Unit 7, Week 3, Day 2, during the Extended Read Mini-Lesson, students read “A Dinosaur Named SUE” by Terri Patterson. Students engage in a Constructive Conversation with a peer group, as the teacher displays the following text-specific activity: “Reread the August 11th journal entry. Then review the map on page 20. Explain how the map supports the author’s writing. Cite specific examples from the map and words in the text to support your answer.” During the Apply Understanding portion of the lesson, students independently complete a similar text-based task during which they write 1–2 paragraphs using complete sentences. 

Teacher materials provide support for planning and implementation of text-based questions and tasks. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 3, the Teacher’s Resource Guide prompts teachers to read aloud paragraphs 1–2 of The Foolish Milkmaid by Aesop and model how to identify key details to determine the story’s central message. In the Guided Practice section, teachers reread paragraphs 3–4 and pose text-dependent questions to guide students’ thinking as they identify additional details related to the story's central message.

• In Unit 8, Week 1, Day 4, students reread the first two paragraphs of “Water’s Awesome Wonder” by Sarah Brien and work in small peer groups to answer the following text-specific question: “What is the author’s main purpose for writing about the Grand Canyon? How do you know?” Materials include a possible student response. The Reinforce and Reaffirm the Strategy section of the lesson provides teachers with If/Then strategies to support students.

• In Unit 10, Week 1, Day 4, students complete the following task: “Reread paragraph 1 of ‘Sand Sculpture.’ How is a sand sculpture different from something you might quickly create with a pail and shovel at the beach? What key details does the author provide in this paragraph to help you identify the difference?” Materials include a Possible Response section in the margin to support the teacher with implementing the task.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 1g.

Materials include regular opportunities for students to engage in text-based discussions with partners. The Speaking and Listening Protocols are embedded in the program and can also be found in the Speaking and Listening Protocols Bank, located in the Additional Materials section. The Foundations and Routines Unit introduces the protocols and provides many opportunities to practice to solidify students’ understanding of the steps in each protocol. Protocols are introduced, practiced, and applied by Unit and students engage in more complex protocols in later units. Think-Speak-Listen tools for language structures are also provided to help students support their ideas with reasons, evidence, and examples. The Teacher Resource System includes facilitation, monitoring, and instructional support for teachers, including extensive information about discussion protocols and constructive conversations.

Materials include protocols to support students’ developing speaking and listening skills across the whole year’s scope of instructional materials. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Additional Resources section includes a Speaking and Listening Protocols Bank and a Constructive Conversation protocol document. This document defines the protocols and provides information to understand the how and why of the protocol. The Protocol Complexity Table provides a visual overview showing the Protocol use in Each Unit and how protocol complexity build across the year.

• Materials also include Think-Speak-Listen protocols that go along with the Constructive Conversation materials. The protocols in the lesson plan contain sentence stems designed to support student conversation during instruction.

• The Turn and Talk Protocol is explicitly taught and used frequently throughout the materials, and the instructions are limited to, “Ask partners to share responses to the Turn and Talk questions. Remind them to take turns and listen carefully when their partner is speaking.” The teacher provides the topic or questions to the students. 

• In Unit 1, Week 3, Day 4, students engage in a Constructive Conversation. Partners look for clues and work together to create an answer to the question. The teacher observes their conversations to determine the level of support they may need. Students will use the foundational Turn and Talk protocol described in the protocol continuum table located in the Speaking and Listening Protocols Bank.

• In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 1, students engage in the extended read, A Foxy Garden by Jeffrey B. Fuerst. Students read paragraphs 1–3 and make connections between the text and personal experiences. Students discuss their answers in a small group. Students will use the foundational Turn and Talk protocol described in the protocol continuum table located in the Speaking and Listening Protocols Bank.

• In Unit 9, Week 2, Day 3, students use the Constructive Conversation protocol to discuss the text From Pine Tree to Pizza Box by Amy and Richard Hutchings. The teacher places students into groups of three to four students, and they discuss the prompt, “Reread paragraphs 1 and 2 and examine the diagram on page 12. How does the diagram contribute to your understanding of trees as an important resource? Use text evidence to support your ideas.” Students will use the foundational Turn and Talk protocol described in the protocol continuum table located in the Speaking and Listening Protocols Bank.

Speaking and listening instruction includes facilitation, monitoring, and instructional supports for teachers. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Additional Resources section includes a Speaking and Listening Protocols Bank, a Constructive Conversation protocol document, and the Foundations and Routines resource guide includes facilitation, monitoring, and instructional supports for teachers.

• In the Teacher Resource material, under the Additional Materials section for each unit, materials include a document that provides general teacher guidance on “Maximizing the Quality of Classroom Constructive Conversations.” This guidance is the same throughout all units across the year.

  • For example, the resource states, “Teachers and students can better understand how to improve conversations with the tools that accompany the Benchmark Advance program. The first tool, the ‘Conversation Blueprint,’ is a visual guide to help teachers scaffold students’ conversations. This tool shows the structure of the two main types of conversations that should happen during lessons. The tools especially designed for students are the Think-Speak-Listen Bookmarks…” These tools offer sentence systems for various skills within a conversation.”

    • The Conversational Blueprint document includes a supporting document that fits the description at the end of the Constructive Conversation guidance.

• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 3, students read the text, Smoke Jumpers by Matt Bander. The teacher reads out loud paragraphs 1 - 2 as students follow along. The teacher poses the question to students, “How do smoke jumpers and their tools get to a fire?” The teacher uses the words first, next, then, last and finally to support student learning. 

• In Unit 8, Week 2, Day 2, students read the text, Wind and Water Change Earth by Tracy Owen. The teacher facilitates a Constructive Conversation with the students. Guidance for the protocol reminds teachers to have students annotate the text, ask clarifying questions, and build on each other’s ideas. The teacher circulates and provides feedback to students and checks to ensure they have used text evidence. The Teacher’s Resource System includes a possible student response to aid teachers. To provide additional support or extend the experience, the guidance directs the teacher to reference the Reinforce or Reaffirm the Strategy.

• In Unit 10, Week 3, Day 3, the teacher engages the students in small group Constructive Conversations during the extended read, Sand Sculpture by Eleanor Hahn. Students answer the text-based question, “How does the caption on page 6 provide additional information about sand sculptures?” The left margin of the lesson plan includes a sample response to aid the teacher. Students will use the foundational Turn and Talk protocol described in the protocol continuum table located in the Speaking and Listening Protocols Bank.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 1h.

Throughout the year, students typically have the opportunity to engage in speaking and listening daily, including opportunities to speak in whole group, partner, and small group settings. In some units, students engage in whole group presentations. These opportunities include speaker and audience expectations in the form of teacher directions and anchor charts. The materials provide partner sharing and small group discussion opportunities during the majority of speaking and listening tasks. Students complete a Knowledge Blueprint graphic organizer during the unit and hold a class discussion on what they learned at the end of the unit; the Knowledge Blueprint is expanded upon throughout the unit. Materials include opportunities to implement agreed upon rules for discussions, partner and small group work, and to guide students on answering questions about a speaker. While the materials do provide opportunities for students to address all of the Speaking and Listening standards, some of the activities are optional or at the discretion of the teacher. 

Students have many opportunities over the school year to demonstrate what they are reading through varied speaking and listening opportunities. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher and students co-create an anchor chart that build students’ listening habits. This chart is reviewed throughout various lessons across the year. 

• Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

  • Un Unit 7, Week 3, Day 5, students are working on the final draft of their narrative nonfiction letters. The materials indicate, “You may wish to have students create audio recordings of their narratives or add drawings or other visual displays.” While teachers have the option to have students create audio recordings or include drawings, it is not a requirement in the core materials.

  • In Unit 8, Week 3, Day 5, students are working on the final draft of their research project. The materials indicate, “You may wish to have students create audio recordings of their research report or add drawings or other visual displays to clarify their ideas, thoughts, and feelings.” While teachers have the option to have students create audio recordings or include drawings, it is not a requirement in the core materials.

  • In the Reader’s Theater Handbook, Unit 7, Lesson 1, Discuss Staging, the materials suggest that the teache may want to audio or video record the performance: “Also consider whether to video- or audiotape the performance to post on a sharing website or add to students’ portfolios.” While teachers have the option to have students create audio recordings, it is not a requirement in the core materials.

Speaking and listening work requires students to utilize, apply, and incorporate evidence from texts and/or sources. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Build on others' talk in conversations by linking their comments to the remarks of others. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher presents the Essential Question, “What can we learn when we face challenges?” Students write or draw their initial responses to the question and discuss ideas as a class. After reviewing the captions on the pictures of the opening page of text, students turn and talk and share their connections to the images. The teacher reminds students to take turns and listen carefully when their partner is speaking.  The lesson plan provides teacher guidance for students to build up each other’s comments. 

  • In Unit 9, Week 2, Day 3, the teacher reviews prior learning about how irregular verbs change their spelling and their pronunciation to form the past tense. Students will build on this knowledge to identify and discuss irregular past tense verbs in the text “From Pine Trees to Pizza Box” by Amy and Rachel Hutchings. The teacher models identifying the irregular past tense verbs in the text. Students work in pairs to discuss sentences and identify the verbs, the irregular past tense verbs, and why they are irregular by describing their present tense forms. Students should take turns speaking and build on each other’s comments. After concluding the partner practice, the class reviews when to use irregular past tense verbs in sentences. The teacher asks students to reflect on what they have learned about the irregular past tense verbs and invites several students to explain how they identify irregular past tense verbs. 

• Ask for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts under discussion. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In the Research and Inquiry Project Teacher’s Guide Grade 2, Units 7-8: Step 5, the materials direct the teacher to say to students, “Listeners: After the presentation, ask questions to clarify anything you do not understand. As you discuss the research report, everyone should follow agreed-upon rules for discussion: gain the floor in a respectful way, listen carefully to others, and talk one at a time.”

• Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 1, Week 3, Day 5, after listening to the poem “The Bat” by Theodore Roethke, the teacher models identifying the features and structure of the poem. The class constructs a Features of Poetry Anchor Chart. Students work with partners to read the poem on their own and discuss the poetic features they find and the mood these features help create. As a class, students discuss the poetic features and the mood created by the features. 

  • In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 3, after listening to “The Foolish Milkmaid” by Aesop, students use the Central Message Chart to record key details of the text and what they have learned. The teacher rereads the story details. Afterwards, students form partner groups and infer a central message based on the story details. As a group, students generate a possible central message and discuss how the details support the central message.

• Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 4, the teacher introduces words from “The Heumel Egg” retold by Carlos Labbe using the Define/Example/Ask Routine. Students make connections to the text. Students use given questions to have a conversation about the story. Questions include: “Can you think of another text to text question? What is it? Can you think of another personal connection? What is it? What new information or ideas did you learn from the story?” Students discuss as a class. 

• Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In the Research and Inquiry Project Teacher’s Guide Grade 2, Unit 4, Step 5, the materials direct teacher to say to students, “It is time for you to work on Step 5 in your e-notebooks. As you tell your story, you must include relevant, descriptive details you planned for and created in steps 3 and 4 of this project. Relevant details include what your character looks like, where they live, and what happens to them. Remember to speak in complete sentences and to say each word clearly so others can understand you. Also, be prepared to answer questions others may have about your topic. Some classmates may need more clarification or explanation about parts of your folktale.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 1i.

As a part of daily instruction, students utilize the My Reading and Writing notebook for text-based, on-demand writing opportunities. Additional on-demand writing opportunities occur as students respond to text-based prompts and complete short, focused projects, such as writing an opinion piece about their favorite character from the text. Materials include opportunities for students to engage in process writing during every unit. Students learn to pre-write, draft, revise, edit and proofread, and publish or present. During the writing portion of the lesson, students complete process writing tasks spanning different genres and content, with writing tasks lasting from five days to fifteen days. Materials include some digital resources and opportunities for students to develop their final drafts. 

Materials include on-demand writing opportunities that cover a year’s worth of instruction. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 2, students gather facts and details to answer a text-based prompt, “Today, you are going to gather facts and details from a print source to use in your informative/explanatory essay.” Students review the text “Habitats Around the World” to complete a chart of facts and details that they may include in their essay. 

• In Unit 4, Week 3, Day 2, students use their notebooks or e-notebooks to write their answer to Question 1 on page 26 of The Stone Garden by Jeffrey B. Fuerst Students’ responses should contain complete sentences and be 1–2 paragraphs in length.

• In Unit 8, Week 1, Day 2, students engage in a research project. The teacher reminds students they have been looking at a research report during the week. The teacher says that she will model first in gathering facts and information, and then students will complete the task. The teacher gives students a model that includes, Topic, sources, facts, quotes, and important words. There is guidance on teacher feedback that teachers should provide students with based on what they need.

Materials include process writing opportunities that cover a year’s worth of instruction. Opportunities for students to revise and edit are provided. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 3, Weeks 1–3, students write an informative/explanatory essay. In Week 1, students read a mentor text, recall information from experiences, gather information from sources, and organize. In Week 2, students introduce their topic, develop their topic with specific details, use linking words and phrases to connect ideas, and draft a concluding statement. In Week 3, students revise to improve sentence fluency, revise to include domain-specific vocabulary, edit for correct use of verbs, edit to check capitalization, punctuation, and spelling, and publish.

• In Unit 6, Weeks 1–3, students write a narrative. In Week 1, students analyze a mentor narrative text, brainstorm, evaluate their ideas, plan, and organize their narrative fiction. In Week 2, students develop strong characters, draft, and provide closure. In Week 3, students revise their writing for use of temporal words and add sensory details, and edit for complete, compound sentences, correct use of adjectives and adverbs, and correct spelling. Then students add a title to their narrative and publish their work.

• In Unit 8, Weeks 1–3, students write a research report. In Week 1, students read a mentor text, gather information from sources, take notes from an illustration or photograph, plan, and organize their research report. In Week 2, students introduce their topic, develop their topic with specific facts and details, use linking words and phrases, and draft a conclusion. In Week 3, students revise their writing to improve sentence fluency and include domain-specific vocabulary, and edit for formal use of English and correct spelling. Afterwards, students publish and share their writing.

Materials include digital resources where appropriate. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Writer’s Universe contains various digital lessons that include videos and interactive graphic organizers that walk students through each step of the writing process. The digital resources include space for students to type their drafts and submit their work to the teacher. Afterward, the teacher unlocks the next step of the writing practice. Materials also include a mentor text and instruction and interactive practice to support writing related to that genre—opinion about a topic, opinion about a text, personal narrative, fable, informative about Science, and informative about Social Studies.

• In Unit 7, on pages 49–50 of the Build-Reflect-Write e-Notebook, students research a historical person or event. Students use digital resources to gather both primary and secondary sources.

• In Unit 10, Week 2, Day 5, students type their poems on a computer, using the decisions they made based on their answers to the three guiding questions. They include an illustration or image on the same page as their poem. Guidance suggests the teacher allow students to create audio recordings of their acrostic poems.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 1j.

Materials contain various opportunities for students to learn, practice, and apply different genres and types of writing by the standards. Materials provide opportunities for students to use both print and video sources in multiple units and include links to online material for teachers to use as they see fit to support student writing. Support includes sentence frames that the teacher can use to support students' writing. 

Materials provide multiple opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply different genres/modes/types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards. Different genres/modes/types of writing are not evenly distributed throughout the school year. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Percentage or number of opportunities for opinion writing:

  • Students have 6 out of 30 opportunities to learn, practice, and apply opinion writing across the school year. 

  • In Unit 1, there are no opportunities for opinion writing. 

  • In Unit 2, there are three opportunities for opinion writing. All writing opportunities for this unit are opinion in nature.

  • In Unit 3, there are no opportunities for opinion writing

  • In Unit 4, there are no opportunities for opinion writing. 

  • In Unit 5, there are three opportunities for opinion writing. All writing opportunities for this unit are opinion in nature.

  • In Unit 6, there are no opportunities for opinion writing.

  • In Unit 7, there are no opportunities for opinion writing

  • In Unit 8, there are no opportunities for opinion writing. 

  • In Unit 9, there are no opportunities for opinion writing. 

  • In Unit 10, there are no opportunities for opinion writing

• Percentage or number of opportunities for informative/explanatory writing:

  • Students have out 9 of 30 opportunities to learn, practice, and apply informative/explanatory writing across the school year. 

  • In Unit 1, there are three opportunities for informative/explanatory writing. All writing opportunities for this unit are informative/explanatory in nature.

  • In Unit 2, there are no opportunities for informative/explanatory writing.

  • In Unit 3, there are three opportunities for informative/explanatory writing. All writing opportunities for this unit are informative/explanatory in nature.

  • In Unit 4, there are no opportunities for informative/explanatory writing.

  • In Unit 5, there are no opportunities for informative/explanatory writing.

  • In Unit 6, there are no opportunities for informative/explanatory writing.

  • In Unit 7, there are no opportunities for informative/explanatory writing.

  • In Unit 8, there are three opportunities for informative/explanatory writing. All writing opportunities for this unit are informative/explanatory in nature.

  • In Unit 9, there are no opportunities for informative/explanatory writing.

  • In Unit 10, there are no opportunities for informative/explanatory writing.

• Percentage or number of opportunities for narrative writing:

  • Students have out 9 of 30 opportunities to learn, practice, and apply narrative writing across the school year. 

  • In Unit 1, there are no opportunities for narrative writing.

  • In Unit 2, there are no opportunities for narrative writing. 

  • In Unit 3, there are no opportunities for narrative writing.

  • In Unit 4, there are three opportunities for narrative writing. All writing opportunities for this unit are narrative in nature.

  • In Unit 5, there are no opportunities for narrative writing.

  • In Unit 6, there are three opportunities for narrative writing. All writing opportunities for this unit are narrative in nature.

  • In Unit 7, there are three opportunities for narrative writing. All writing opportunities for this unit are narrative in nature.

  • In Unit 8, there are no opportunities for narrative writing.

  • In Unit 9, there are no opportunities for narrative writing.

  • In Unit 10, there are no opportunities for narrative writing.

• Explicit instruction in opinion writing:

  • In Unit 2, Week 3, Day 1, the teacher shows and reads Opening Paragraph examples. The teacher models how to improve the introduction. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 2, Day 2, the teacher displays the introductory paragraph. The teacher models how to add an opinion statement.

• Explicit instruction in informative/explanatory writing:

  • In Unit 1, Week 3, Day 1, the teacher reads the writing prompt and reads the sample opening paragraph. The teacher explains why it is a strong introduction.

  • In Unit 3, Week 2, Day 1, the teacher displays the Model Opening Paragraph and models thinking aloud about why the paragraph is cohesive.

  • In Unit 8, Week 2, Day 2, the teacher explains the elements of cohesive body paragraphs. The teacher shows a planning chart from Week 1. The teacher shows and reads the modeling text and models how to write the first body paragraph.

• Explicit instruction in narrative writing:

  • In Unit 4, Week 1, Day 4, the teacher displays the Mentor Diary Entry Planning Guide. The teacher models thinking aloud using details from the chart to complete the first row of the chart.

  • In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 4, the teacher reminds students that the story's conclusion should reveal the theme, solve the problem, and show how the character changed. The teacher shows and reads aloud the modeling text. The teacher explains how they wrote the ending to provide closure.

  • In Unit 7, Week 2, Day 3, the teacher displays and reads aloud the middle paragraphs of their letter. The teacher explains how they organized that part of the letter.

Different genres/modes/types of writing are distributed throughout the school year, although the distribution is not even. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Students have opportunities to engage in opinion writing. For example:

• Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 3, students form an opinion statement about the main character in “The Foolish Milkmaid.”,

• In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 3, students use the Mentor Opinion Essay and a sample two-column chart of opinion and reasons to help them as they develop their reasons that support their opinion.   Students add sentences stating reasons that support their opinion.  

• In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 4, students write concluding sentences for their opinion writing piece.  

• Students have opportunities to engage in informative/explanatory writing. For example:

• Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.

• In Unit 1, students write an informative/explanatory essay describing how emperor penguins survive Antarctica’s harsh winters. Students plan their own informative/explanatory essays. 

• In Unit 1, Week 3, Day 1, students write introductory paragraphs for their opinion writing prompt in which they tell what their essay is about.  

• In Unit 3, Week 2, Day 1, students study a model opening paragraph about the President of the United States, then plan and write their own introductory paragraph about the unit topic of government. 

• In Unit 8, Week 2, Day 4, students write conclusions for their research reports.

• Students have opportunities to engage in narrative writing. For example: 

• Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.

• In Unit 4, Week 2, Day 3, students write a diary entry from the point of view of a villager in the story Stone Soup. Students include details such as events, thoughts, and feelings of villagers from the story Stone Soup into their diary entries.

• In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 4, students write a conclusion for their narrative writing piece.  

• In Unit 7, Week 2, Day 3, students write the body of their narrative nonfiction letter.  Students work on writing about events in the order they occur and should include the bigger moment and the smaller moments.  

Where appropriate, writing opportunities are connected to texts and/or text sets (either as prompts, models, anchors, or supports). For example: 

• In Unit 1, Week 3, Day 1, students write an informative/explanatory essay using the mentor essay on grasslands as a model. Students choose what facts and focus their informative/explanatory essay about grasslands will include. 

• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 3, students work on a 15-day informative/explanatory writing task. This lesson guides students to choose a source to find information for their essays. The sources suggested are the Texts for Close Reading, a Leveled Text from Unit 3, or books from the classroom or school library. 

• In Unit 6, Week, students study Stone Soup as a mentor text and write their own narrative fictional piece. Students note the setting, characters, and problem in Stone Soup and notice how the author develops the theme. 

• In Unit 9, Week 1, Day 1, students create a multimedia presentation. Students use the mentor multimedia presentation “My First Trip to Bear Lake” as a model and note the key features of a strong presentation.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the expectations of Indicator 1k.

The instructional materials for Benchmark Grade 2 include frequent opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply evidence-based writing. Students use their "Texts for Close Reading" book related to each unit to complete writing aligned to the Reading mini-lessons. Each week students have multiple text-dependent questions to answer, and they write 1-2 paragraph responses. Students have writing opportunities that focus on recalling information from reading closely and working with texts and sources. Using the Benchmark Writer’s Universe, students use digital materials to create writing pieces in each genre throughout the year. 

Materials provide frequent opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply writing using evidence. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 2, the teacher models how to look for relevant facts and details in the print source, “Emperor Penguin Habitat.”

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 3, after reading “The Foolish Milkmaid,” the teacher models using details in the text and from the notes to form an opinion and write their opinion. 

• In Unit 4, Week 2, Day 2, after reading “Stone Soup,” the teacher models retelling events sequentially in diary entries.  

Writing opportunities are focused around students’ recall of information to develop opinions from reading closely and working with evidence from texts and sources. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In Unit 4, Week 3, Day 2, students do a close reading of  The Stone Garden and write in response to the following question: Reread paragraphs 5–7. How is the visitor’s point of view different from the townspeople’s? Cite specific evidence to support your answer.

• In Unit 7, Week 1 students read the texts The Oregon Trail and Ranch Flyer.  In the Texts for Close Reading book, after reading the two texts, students are given the following task: “If you could read more from one of the two writers, which one would you prefer?  Why?  Use evidence from the text, including specific elements of the writing style that you liked, to support your choice.”

• In Unit 9, Week 2 students continue working on their culminating task for the unit, which is to create an advertisement for a good.  On Day 5, students complete the task of identifying the resources needed.  The task states, “Revisit the text you read this week.  Think about how resources are used to make boxes.  Then think about the product you picked to sell in your business and how it is made. What resources will you need to produce your product or good?  Where will you get the resources you need?”

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 1l. 

Grade 2 materials provide explicit instruction for all grade-level grammar and conventions standards. The materials include embedded, authentic opportunities for students to apply skills to writing. Grammar and usage are taught and practiced both in explicit, isolated lessons and in the context of read alouds, shared and independent writing, and dictation exercises. Students have opportunities to work with the whole group, with partners, as well as independently. Students engage in authentic independent writing activities daily. During each unit, a piece of independent writing is taken through the steps of the writing process. Explicit opportunities for application in context occur primarily during the editing phase of the writing process. 

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

• Use collective nouns (e.g., group).

  • In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 5, the teacher explains that collective nouns are words for groups of people, animals, or things. The teacher models with a chart, and students make a list of collective nouns to add to the chart, e.g., army, herd, hive, litter, pack, series, kit, bunch, crowd, team, band, school, pair, class, family, set. The teacher models revising an example draft. Partners work together to revise sentences using collective nouns and then share out with the class. 

  • In Unit 8, Week 1, Day 3, the teacher tells students that collective nouns refer to a group of people, animals, places, things, or ideas as a single unit. The teacher displays and reads aloud a paragraph from the day’s short read and discusses the collective noun family used in the paragraph. The teacher displays and reads another paragraph from the same text, and students identify the collective nouns series, kit, and bunch. Students reflect on how to use collective nouns and share examples of collective nouns. 

• Form and use frequently occurring irregular plural nouns (e.g., feet, children, teeth, mice, fish).

  • In Unit 8, Week 1, Day 2, the teacher uses letter cards and Elkonin boxes to build irregular plural nouns from singular nouns, such as woman/women, leaf/leaves.

  • In Unit 10, Week 3, Day 2, the teacher reminds students that irregular plural nouns do not form the plural by adding -s or -es. The teacher uses a paragraph from “Crazy Horse Memorial” and models identifying the irregular plural nouns. The teacher demonstrates and gives examples of how irregular plural nouns form their plurals: one sheep/many sheep; one leaf/many leaves. Student partners identify the irregular plural noun in a sentence and explain the difference between regular and irregular plural nouns. 

• Use reflexive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves).

  • In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 4, students explore pronouns and reflexive pronouns when writing from a first-person point of view. The teacher displays and reads aloud a list of pronouns and reflexive pronouns and creates an anchor chart to summarize pronoun and reflexive pronoun usage.  The teacher models identifying the reflexive pronoun in the mentor text. Student partners identify the pronouns and reflexive pronouns in the final paragraph of the mentor text and use them in sentences. During independent writing time, students include at least one reflexive pronoun.

  • In Unit 4, Week 1, Day 5, the teacher displays and reads a list of pronouns and reflexive pronouns. Pronouns: I, me, you, she, her, he, him, it, we, they, them, us, you; Reflexive pronouns: myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, themselves, yourselves. The teacher creates an anchor chart describing when to use pronouns and reflexive pronouns. The teacher uses a sentence containing a reflexive pronoun and models how to identify it. Partners identify pronouns and reflexive pronouns in the final paragraph of the mentor text and use them in a new sentence and then share with the class.

• Form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs (e.g., sat, hid, told).

  • In Unit 1, Week 3, Day 2, the teacher reviews the definition of past tense verbs and irregular verbs. The teacher displays the following verb sets: draw/drew, make/made, sit/sat, tell/told, bite/bit, fly/flew, go/went, hide/hid, sing/sang. The teacher models generating a pair of sentences that use both tenses of the same verb. Students generate and share sentences. The teacher displays the sentence: He took two small suitcases with him. Following a teacher think-aloud to show students how to identify the irregular past tense verb took, students identify the irregular verbs thought, was, and saw and name the present tense. 

  • In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 5, the teacher reviews regular past tense verbs and displays a regular and irregular past tense verb list, including the words hid, saw, came, told, ran, and sang. Students engage in oral practice using irregular verbs in sentences. 

• Use adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified.

  • In Unit 4, Week 1, Day 3, the teacher reviews prior learning and displays a list of adjectives and adverbs, providing oral sentences as examples pointing out adjectives and adverbs in each. Adjectives: busy, clever, proud, angry, bored, easy, messy, smooth, great, deep, small, difficult; Adverbs: there, exactly, soon, suddenly, down, here, very, happily, simply, kindly. The teacher identifies and explains adjectives and adverbs using a sentence from “The Blind Men and the Elephant.” Partners use another sentence from a different paragraph in the same story to discuss the sentence, identify the adjectives and adverbs, and discuss why authors use them in writing.

  • In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 5, the teacher creates a two-column chart. The teacher uses the columns to generate information about and examples of adjectives and adverbs. The teacher displays a three-column chart with five sentence frames missing an adjective or an adverb, e.g., John eats ___ vegetables. The second column contains adjectives and the third lists adverbs. The teacher models how to decide whether the adjective or the adverb belongs in the frame sentence. The teacher displays four new frame sentences with a missing adjective or adverb. Students use the words from the chart to complete the sentences. 

• Produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple and compound sentences (e.g., The boy watched the movie; The little boy watched the movie; The action movie was watched by the little boy).

  • In Unit 5, Week 3, Day 2, the teacher reminds students that a sentence tells a complete thought and includes a subject and predicate. The teacher displays text from “Robots Go to School” and models how to identify complete sentences. Partners discuss groups of words from the text to determine if they are sentences. Students identify the subject and predicate in each sentence. Volunteers share sentences with the whole class. The teacher facilitates a conversation about how paying attention to an author’s use of complete simple sentences can help students as readers and writers.

  • In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 1, the teacher reminds students that a compound sentence has two complete, related thoughts that are joined with a conjunction. The teacher displays the sentence: Long ago, everything was gray and cold and ugly, and the land was empty. The teacher explains that the sentence is a compound sentence because it contains two complete sentences joined by a conjunction and shows students the comma before the conjunction. The teacher displays the following sentence: Magically, when the raindrops were caught, they didn’t disappear; and soon their baskets and bags were full. The teacher explains that a semicolon can also be used to join a compound sentence. Students identify the two complete sentences and explain the meaning of the sentence. 

• Capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names.

  • In Unit 5, Week 2, Day 5, the teacher creates a two-column chart with related common and proper nouns, including product names, geographical names, and holidays. The teacher tells students these categories of proper nouns are always capitalized. The teacher displays three sentences and models identifying the proper nouns. Students find places in their writing where they can include names of specific products, geographical locations, or holidays and add them to their writing. 

  • In Unit 7, Week 3, Day 2, during a guided shared/interactive writing, the teacher reminds students to correct capitalization in their own writing. The teacher explains that Independence Day is capitalized in the middle of the sentence because it is a holiday.

• Use commas in greetings and closings of letters.

  • In Unit 7, Week 1, Day 3, the teacher displays and reads aloud the first diary entry in “The Oregon Trail” and highlights the greeting, modeling where to place the comma. “I notice that there is a comma after “Dear Diary”. “Dear Diary” is the greeting. When we write letters, we always need to put a comma after the greeting. The comma separates the greeting from the rest of the letter.” The teacher repeats the process with the closing. Partners discuss the parts of the diary entry and where the commas are placed. Students discuss how the greeting is different from the closing. Volunteers explain where commas are used in a letter or journal entry.

  • In Unit 8, Week 3, Day 2, the teacher displays a letter to the editor from “Bonita Springs Debates its Future” and highlights the greeting, modeling where to place the commas in a letter. The teacher reads the letter and displays the closing. Partners discuss the type of closing used and determine whether the letter is friendly or formal. Students find and discuss the commas used in a second letter’s greeting and closing and discuss where they were placed. 

• Use an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently occurring possessives.

  • In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 3, the teacher displays a list of contractions with not and is, reviews definitions of contractions, and provides examples. Students generate additional sentences using the contractions can’t, don’t, isn’t, it’s, and here’s. The teacher displays a list of possessives and provides examples, explaining that possessives show ownership. The teacher provides oral sentences and asks students to generate additional sentences using the following: John’s hat, the dog’s bone, the school’s principal, the ants’ food. The teacher uses a paragraph to model how to determine whether the word can’t is a contraction or possessive. Partners identify which words with an apostrophe are contractions and which show possession and then discuss the words that make up the contractions and which letters are replaced by the apostrophe. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 3, Day 3, students revise and edit their essays focusing on capitalization and apostrophes in possessives. The teacher models the rules for apostrophes in possessives. Partners read each other’s essays looking for errors in capitalization and apostrophes in possessives, then discuss how to correct the errors. Volunteers share revisions they have made and how they knew a change was needed. During independent writing time, students continue editing their drafts, focusing on capitalization and apostrophes in possessives. Students highlight nouns and circle nouns that show ownership and check with partners to see if the apostrophes are used correctly.

• Generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words (e.g., cage → badge; boy → boil).

  • In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 4, following instruction on using common endings, letter patterns, and word parts in familiar words to decode new words while reading, students read and write groups of words and complete each word family with one or more spelling words, generating other words for each word family. 

  • In Unit 4, Week 2, Day 2, the teacher displays letter cards for the word year. The teacher guides students to change the word to gear, dear, and deer. Students practice with fear, near, hear, spear, cheer, steer, and sheer. 

• Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.

  • In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 5, the teacher models how to use singular nouns to form plural and irregular plural nouns, e.g., man/men, dog/dogs. The teacher and students create an Irregular Nouns Anchor Chart. Partners work together to write the forms of nouns on a chart. Students are provided with a dictionary and reminded they could refer to it if they are unsure of a plural form of a noun. Students write two or more sentences that include singular, plural, and irregular plural nouns during independent time.

  • In Unit 5, Week 3, Day 4, the teacher displays a text and models how to check spelling mistakes, rereading, and underlining words they are unsure of, so they remember to check the word in a dictionary. Students work with partners to review their own drafts and check spellings discussing how to revise any problems and use the dictionary to assist them with correctly spelling words. 

• Compare formal and informal uses of English

  • In Unit 8, Week 2, Day 5, the teacher tells students that formal English follows grammar rules and uses precise vocabulary and that informal English may not follow grammar rules and might use contractions or slang. The teacher displays a chart showing informal sentence examples, e.g., 1 of the coolest is Arches National Park. The teacher models how to revise the sentence into formal English. Students give input to revise the remaining three sentences. 

  • In Unit 9, Week 3, Day 2, the teacher models using sentence structure, vocabulary, and standards of language to look for clues to determine whether a passage is formal or informal English. Partners continue with the same connected text and identify sentences as formal or informal.

Materials include authentic opportunities for students to demonstrate application of skills in context, including applying grammar and convention skills to writing. For example:

• In Unit 4, Week 3, Day 4, students apply previous learning about pronouns, reflexive pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs to draft diary entries. The teacher conducts a think-aloud to highlight the effective use of pronouns, reflexive pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs. Student partners review and edit their usage of current grammar topics in their diary drafts. 

• In Unit 4, Week 3, Day 5, the teacher guides students to compare their draft writing to a rubric to evaluate and edit their draft carefully. Students make necessary changes before writing the final draft. Evaluation criteria on the rubric states: “includes a variety of sentence types and structures and uses adjectives and adverbs.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria of Indicator 1m.

Materials include a year-long vocabulary development plan, which lists all Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary words. The Year-Long Vocabulary Plan is organized by Unit and Weeks. The plan includes a key that outlines which vocabulary words are explicitly taught in the unit and which week the words repeat in. If the vocabulary words were previously taught, the key also notes where in the previous unit the words were taught. Vocabulary words are underlined in the daily lesson guide for teachers. Materials include defined routines for teachers to follow and multiple graphic organizers for students to record vocabulary words in various ways. Students read, write, illustrate, manipulate, and complete fill-in-the-blank prompts for practice to gain competency with vocabulary words throughout each unit. 

Materials provide teacher guidance outlining a cohesive year-long vocabulary development component. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Materials include a Define/Example/Ask routine to introduce new vocabulary words for each unit. The teacher provides the definition of the word and an example of the word used in a sentence within the context of the unit. Then students complete a Turn and Talk for each word to answer a question that uses the vocabulary word. 

• In the Program Support Guide, Building Knowledge and Vocabulary, materials include Building Vocabulary Year-long Plans that address Tier 2 General Academic and Tier 3 Domain-Specific Vocabulary for Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing for Grade 2. The list includes 12 words per unit and 120 vocabulary words over the course of the school year. 

• In the Whole Group Teacher Resources section, materials include a Vocabulary Development Tools document. The resource contains five different graphic organizers, such as Frayer Model, Concept Map, and Analogy, that can introduce new vocabulary in different ways.

Vocabulary is repeated in contexts (before texts, in texts) and across multiple texts. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 1, when previewing the fable, The Foolish Milkmaid by Aesop, students learn about the vocabulary word foolish. Students encounter the word again in Unit 7  when reading the poem, “Crazy Boys” by Beverly McLoughland.

• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher introduces students to the Knowledge-Building Vocabulary words services, community, symbols, and protect using the Define/Example/Ask Routine to introduce the vocabulary. Students encounter the word community again when reading the e-book, Being a Good Citizen by Katie Sharp. 

• In Unit 7, Week 1, Day 1, while previewing the Short Read “The Oregon Trail” (author not cited), the teacher introduces the vocabulary words exhausted and supplies using the Define/Example/Ask routine. Students revisit the word supply during the Unit 9 Extended Read, “Cherokee Art Fair” by Traci Sorell. 

Attention is paid to vocabulary essential to understanding the text and to high-value academic words. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher introduces the vocabulary words invention, engineer, problem, solution, and solve using the Define/Example/Ask routine. These words are essential to understanding the text Solving Problems Through Technology.

• In Unit 6, Week 3, Day 1, the teacher introduces the vocabulary words scrumptious, concealed, floated, and angry using the Define/Example/Ask routine.  These words are essential to understanding the text Why the Sky is Far Away retold by Eileen Robinson.

• In Unit 9, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher displays and introduces words from the unit, Buyers and Sellers. During the Define/Example/Ask, students learn about the vocabulary words produce, producer, goods, resources, and choice. These words are essential to understanding the unit’s content.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 1n.i.

The Grade 2 materials contain explicit instructions for systematic and repeated teacher modeling of most grade-level phonics standards, including knowing spelling-sound correspondence for common vowel teams, decoding regularly spelled two-syllable words, and decoding words with prefixes and suffixes. The materials support teachers with explicit examples for modeling and with examples to use for further student practice. The materials provide the teacher with words for each sound-spelling pattern as well as the proper way to break words into sounds and syllables. The materials contain frequent opportunities for students to hear, say, encode, and read each newly taught grade-level phonics pattern in context. The materials include opportunities for students to distinguish between short and long vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words.

Materials include a review of previously taught phonological awareness skills. For example:

• Short and long vowels are explicitly reviewed in the first six weeks and instruction includes opportunities to contrast short and long vowel sounds, reinforcing instruction from Grade K and 1.

  • In Unit 1, Week 2, Day 1, the teacher reviews that each vowel has a short and long sound. The teacher states each sound (long and short), then students repeat. For example, the short sound of a is /ă/; the long sound of a is /ā/.

  • In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 1, the teacher asks students to listen for the long e sound in words. The teacher models the short and long sound, has students repeat, points to the letters in random order, and asks students to provide the short and long vowel sound for each one. 

Materials contain explicit instructions for systematic and repeated teacher modeling of all grade-level phonics standards. For example:

• Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words:

  • In Unit 1, Week 3, Day 1, the teacher introduces the long a sound-spelling card and specifically mentions the long a spellings a, ai, ay, a_e. The teacher models building and sounding out the word pan and adding the vowel i to make the word pain. The teacher repeats the routine with the words man, main; plan, plain. 

  • In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher displays letter cards for the word cut and models blending the sounds. The teacher adds a final -e to change the word to cute and models blending the new word with the following script: “I can add an i to the end to make the final e vowel spelling u_e. The vowel spelling u_e can stand for the long u sound. Listen as I blend the new word: /cūūūt/. Say the word with me: cute.” The teacher uses the script to repeat instruction with the following word pairs: us/use, hug/huge.

• Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams:

  • In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 2, the teacher writes and displays words on index cards: broke, both, grow, globe, toe, bowl, float, throw, roast, going. Students read and spell each word chorally. The teacher makes four columns by placing words at the top: roast, both, grow, broke. The teacher guides students to sort the remaining words into the columns. When complete, students chorally read and spell the words in each column.

  • In Unit 5, Week 2, Day 1, the teacher introduces the vowel team /oi/ with the Sound-Spelling card and provides words with the /oi/ sound. The teacher blends and builds words with /oi/, having students provide the new words when adding a letter. 

• Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels:

  • In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 4, the teacher explains, “when a vowel team such as ee, ea, ey, or ie appears in a long word, the vowel team remains in the same syllable.” The teacher models reading the word peanut. The teacher follows a read, build, write routine for treetop, seashell, keyhole, cornfield, seatbelt, beehive.

  • In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 4, the teacher explains that when a vowel team such as oo, ui, ew, ue, ou, or oe appears in a long word, the letters in the vowel team remain together in the same syllable because the two letters go together to make one sound. The teacher models reading the word rooftop by writing the word and pointing out the vowel team /oo/ spelling oo. The teacher adds top and explains that it is a closed syllable. The teacher circles the vowel spellings oo and o and tells students that each syllable has one vowel sound and to divide the word between the two consonants in the middle: roof/top. The teacher models blending syllables to read the word. 

• Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes:

  • In Unit 8, Week 2, Day 1, the teacher introduces the words player and illustrator and explains that adding -er or -or to a verb can change the verb into a noun: teach, teacher. The teacher continues modeling with a list of words and asks students to write and underline the -er and -or, pointing out the base word and discussing how adding the ending changes the meaning of the word. The teacher blends and builds words with the letter cards: baker: sleeper, runner, skater, visitor, doctor, author. 

  • In Unit 10, Week 2, Day 1, the teacher tells students, “A prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a word. Adding a prefix makes a new word with a different pronunciation and meaning.” The teacher explains the meaning of the prefixes un-, re-, and dis- and models building and reading the words unpack, reread, and disbelieve.

• Identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences:

  • In Unit 5, Week 2, Day 2, the teacher writes and displays the words boy, toy, boil, coin, join, enjoy, joyful, point, noise, voice on index cards. Students chorally read and spell each word. The teacher makes a two-column chart with the word coin on top of one and boy on the other. The students sort the cards by their spelling, oi or oy. When the columns are finished, students chorally read and spell the words in each column. The teacher points out that oi is in the middle of words and oy at the end of words.

  • In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 1, the teacher displays “the complex vowel /oo/ spelling” along with a picture of a book and the spellings oo, u displayed underneath. The teacher says the vowel team and writes the words hood, foot, bush, and underlines the spelling. The materials call for the teacher to display the word could and compare the vowel sound. The teacher connects “could to would and should to highlight the common spelling pattern.”

Lessons provide teachers with systematic and repeated instruction for students to hear, say, encode, and read each newly taught grade-level phonics pattern. For example:

• In Unit 4, Week 1, Day 2, the teacher reviews r-controlled vowels and uses an e-pocket chart to build words, e.g., tore, torn, worn, wore. Students blend and read each word. The teacher asks students to sort spelling words into their spelling pattern; words include fork, born, oars, roar, wore, more. The teacher gives students letter cards and asks students to build additional words, e.g., fort, short, shore.

• In Unit 8, Week 3, Day 2, students practice r-controlled vowel patterns through blending multisyllabic words with suffixes after teaching modeling, blending, and building words with suffixes -er and -est, and whisper reading and choral reading connected text containing multisyllabic words with suffixes.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 1n.iii.

The Grade 2 materials include research foundations to explain guiding principles for phonics instruction and practice. The skills follow a cohesive, research-based scope and sequence that introduces letters and sounds based on utility and increasing complexity. The Scope and Sequence delineates primary, secondary, and spiral review patterns for each unit. There are opportunities for students to apply new phonics skills as well as previously taught phonics skills. Students have various ways to manipulate individual phonemes and spell words using new spelling patterns as well as many opportunities to apply these skills to context, e.g., decodable readers. Phonics skills are taught and practiced both in isolation and in the context of decoding and encoding words, sentences, and texts. 

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to decode (phonemes, onset and rime, and/or syllables) phonetically spelled words. For example:

• Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels.

  • In Unit 1, Week 3, Day 4, the teacher explains that when a vowel team like ai or ay appears in a long word, the vowel team sticks together in the same syllable because the two letters stand for one vowel sound. Following teacher modeling, students use letter cards to build and then write the words painting, railway, remain, subway, today, pregame. 

  • In Unit 4, Week 1, Day 4, students practice reading multisyllabic words with long u spelling patterns: use, useless. The teacher models decoding by analogy using words: few and nephew. Students practice with confuse and curfew. Students read “Vote for Lulu” to transfer skills to a text.

• Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes.

  • In Unit 9, Week 1, Day 2, the teacher displays the following words on index cards. Students read, chorally spell, and sort the words according to the suffix: shiny, slowly, lucky, neatly, sunny, likely, messy, quickly, rainy, friendly. 

  • In Unit 10, Week 2, Day 1, the teacher models naming a base word and underlining the prefix un-. Students write and read the words unclear, uneasy, replace, refill, disklike, disobey and identify the prefix and base word. During Reading Big Words, students practice reading the words unlucky, dishonestly, uncaringly. During Word Study, students build and read the words unclog, unlatched, reopen, reheat, disagree, dishonest.

• Identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences.

  • In Unit 4, Week 3, Day 1, students practice reading words with r-controlled vowels air, are, ear, ere.

  • In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 1, students blend and build words with /oo/ sounds. The words include suit, flew, clue, Ruth, soup, shoes, tune.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to read complete words by saying the entire word as a unit using newly taught phonics skills. For example:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher displays the sound-spelling for long /o/. The teacher writes words and asks students to read the words coat, gold, blown, toe, home. Students also chorally read mulit-syllabic compound words containing the previously mentioned long o words.

• In Unit 4, Week 2, Day 2, students build and read words with r-Controlled vowels ear, eer, ere. The teacher builds the word year and models blending then saying the word. Students practice blending and reading words: fear, near, hear, spear, cheer, steer, sheer.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to decode words in a sentence. For example:

• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 2, students whisper read the decodable text Rules and Laws. The teacher models blending decodable words. Students engage in a choral reading of the text. 

• In Unit 4, Week 1, Day 3, students practice decoding r-Controlled vowels or, oar, ore in the text “Fox Makes Friends” from Texts for Close Reading.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to build/manipulate/spell and encode words using common and newly-taught sound and spelling patterns phonics. For example:

• In Unit 4, Week 1, Day 2, the teacher displays the word cards: fork, oars, more, store, born, roar, before, horn, sports, wore. Students read and chorally spell each word, then sort the words under the headings fork, oars, and more. Students choral read and spell the words in each column. 

• In Unit 8, Week 3, Day 5, the teacher checks students’ spelling of weekly words by saying each spelling word and using it in a sentence. Students write the word: faster, fastest, slower, slowest, newer, newest, colder, coldest, taller, tallest.

Materials contain a variety of methods to promote students’ practice of previously taught grade level phonics. For example:

• In Unit 3, Week 3, Day 2, students practice blending and building words. Words are listed for Spiral Review: car, cart, card, hard, harm, farm, farmer.

• In Unit 5, Week 3, Day 2, students practice blending and building words. Words are listed for Spiral Review: toy, boy, boil, broil.

Materials clearly delineate a scope and sequence with a cohesive, intentional sequence of phonics instruction and practice to build toward application of skills. For example:

• In the Program Support Guide, the Scope and Sequence outlines a sequence of phonics instruction that moves from simple to complex, moving from short vowels to closed and open syllable patterns, then vowel team and r-controlled vowel syllable patterns, then compound words, inflectional endings, and prefixes and suffixes. 

• In the Program Support Guide, the Scope and Sequence delineates primary, secondary, and spiral review patterns for each unit. The spiral review covers phonics patterns from previous units. 

Materials have a clear research-based explanation for the order of the phonics sequence. For example:

• In the Program Support Guide, the Phonics Overview document uses Scarborough’s Reading Rope and A Fresh Look at Phonics by Wiley Blevins to explain how the “12 Elements of Phonics Success” are built into the program. 

• In the Program Support Guide, Wiley Blevins’ Phonics and the Way to Meaning document provides research-based support for the materials’ phonics approach, emphasizing blending sounds to sound out words rather than memorizing sight words and story patterns. 

• In the Program Support Guide, Phonics/Word Study Research Foundations & Scope and Sequences, the explanation includes guiding principles including teaching short-vowel sounds before long-vowel sounds, teaching consonants and short vowels in combination, and teaching higher-utility letters early in order for more words to be made, read, and spelled.

Materials provide sufficient opportunities for students to develop orthographic and phonological processing. For example:

• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 4, students practice decoding the words few nephew, confuse, curfew. Students practice writing spelling words including huge, rescue, few.

• In Unit 5, Week 3, Day 1, the teacher displays the Sound-Spelling Card for the diphthong /ou/ and tells students, “This is a picture of a cow. The vowel sound in cow is /ou/. The sound /ou/ is spelled two ways: ou and ow. In the word cow /ou/ is spelled with ow.” The teacher provides an example for both spellings and models blending the words. The teacher says the following words, and students listen for the /ou/ sound, write the word, and underline the spelling for /ou/: proud, out, town, vow. 

• In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher displays the Sound-Spelling Card for the vowel team /oo/ and tells students, “This is a picture of a spoon. The vowel sound in spoon is /ōō/. The sound /ōō/ is spelled many ways: oo, u_e, u, ew, ue, ou, ui, oe. In the word spoon /ōō/ is spelled with oo.” The teacher provides an example for all spellings and models blending the words. The teacher says the following words, and students listen for the /ōō/ sound, write the word, and underline the spelling for /ōō/: soon, suit, grew, glue, duty, group, prune.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 1.n.iv.

The Grade 2 materials provide consistent guidance and opportunities for students to practice, review, decode, and encode common and additional vowel teams both in the context of connected text and in isolation. Students have ample opportunities to read and reread multiple decodable texts to practice their phonics skills. Materials include practice opportunities throughout the week in accountable/decodable texts, anchor texts, vocabulary practice texts, poetry selections, and other book collections. 

Materials include ample opportunities over the course of the year for students to decode and encode common vowel teams. For example:

• Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words.

  • In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 1, Lesson 2 the teacher displays letters cards for the word got and models blending the sounds. The teacher adds an a to change the word to goat and models blending the new word. The teacher repeats instruction with the following word pairs: cop/cope, log/low, top/toe. Students practice decoding the words boat, toast, cold, hold, Joe, toe, bowl, snow, grow, note, and mode. 

  • In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 1, the teacher introduces the long e sound-spelling card with the ee, e, y, ey, ie, and e_e spellings for long e. The teacher models building and blending the word bed and adds the letter a to make the word bead. Students read each word and repeat the routine for the word sets: set, seat; fed, feed. Students practice reading long e words such as she, me, keep, meet.

  • In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 2, Lesson 5, the teacher displays letter cards for the word too and models blending the sounds. The teacher adds on th to the end and models blending the new word tooth. The teacher repeats instruction with the words booth and boot.

Materials include multiple opportunities over the course of the year for students to decode and encode additional vowel teams. For example:

• Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams.

  • In Unit 1, Week 3, Day 1, students practice blending and building words by building a word with a short vowel sound, then adding a letter to create a long vowel team/sound such as pan/pain. The teacher writes words, and students chorally blend the sounds to read them: hazy, basic, brain, break, chain, day, gray, great, snail, snake, shade.

  • In Unit 6, Week 3, Day 1, the teacher introduces the sound-spelling card for the complex vowel /o/ spelled aw, au, ai, (w)a. The teacher writes the words talk, draw, hand, wash, and underlines the spellings. The teacher asks students to write the words flaw, Paul, walk, wasp and underlines the spelling. The teacher writes the words claw, jaw, sauce, taught, call, malt, talk, chalk, and students chorally blend each word. During small group instruction, the teacher gives students letter cards, and students blend and build the words mall, vault, wash. Students practice writing spelling words, including the words tall, talk, draw, fault.

Materials include multiple opportunities for students to review previously learned common and additional vowel teams. For example:

• In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 1, spelling practice includes a spiral review of the words: due, pound, gown, pointed, boyhood.

• The Word Study Resources materials provide “Build Automaticity” pages that review previously learned vowel teams. Students read each word with the teacher, underline the vowel pattern, read each word independently, then time their word reading with a partner for one minute.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 1o.

The Grade 2 materials contain frequent and adequate opportunities for students to identify text structures and text features and apply these skills. The materials provide instruction and practice identifying and using text features, including title, headings, table of contents, and graphics. The teacher models using text features, and students have frequent opportunities to explain how to use the text features to build an understanding of the text. 

Students have frequent 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 6, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher explains the structure of good narrative fiction. The teacher explains that good narrative fiction has a beginning that introduces the characters, setting, and problem, a middle where the characters try to solve the problem, and an end where the problem is solved. The teacher uses "Stone Soup" as an example of a good narrative text structure.

• In Unit 10, Week 1, Day 1, during Short Read One, the teacher displays the text, “The Art of Origami,” and asks students to preview the text and notice the text structure and graphic features and the metacognitive anchor charts, reminding students that there are many strategies for making meaning with new text. 

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

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher guides students to text features “such as the title, author’s name, and illustrations.” The teacher asks students how illustrations help infer information about the character in the story.

• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher models using the title “to identify important information.”

• In Unit 7, Week 1, Day 3, the teacher displays the text, “The Oregon Trail” and explains that text features are parts of the text that help readers find information more easily and give more information about the topic, pointing out a subheading. The teacher models how the author uses journal entries to divide the text and how to use the subheadings to find key facts about the events. Students work with a group to use subheadings to help locate key information, pointing out that dates are arranged chronologically. Students use the subheadings to answer various comprehension questions. 

• In Unit 8, Week 1, Day 3, the teacher tells students that many texts contain graphics, such as illustrations, photographs, and maps, that give information about a topic. The teacher displays a map from the mentor text “Wind and Water Shape Arches National Park.” The teacher models getting information from the map and adding that information to research notes. Students choose a text from their independent research and identify information provided through a graphic. 

• In Unit 10, Week 1, Day 5, the teacher displays the text, “Sand Sculpture” and reviews and defines text features, and poses text evidence questions for small groups to focus on for discussion. The teacher models and reviews that text features are elements of a text that are not in the main body, such as subheadings, bold print, sidebars, glossaries, indexes, table of contents, electronic menus, icons, and captions. Students work in small groups to use text features to answer comprehension questions and locate information. Students share out specifically how they used the text features, especially captions, to locate information and understand the text. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 1p.

The Grade 2 materials include frequent opportunities for students to gain automaticity in decoding and recognition of high-frequency words. Each week, students engage in repeated readings of grade-level texts, and the materials link decoding of these texts to comprehension. Materials include weekly explicit instruction and practice recognizing high-frequency words, introducing 300 words throughout ten units. Materials contain consistent weekly lessons indicating the teacher models fluent reading of text. The materials provide students frequent opportunities to hear fluent reading of shared and mentor texts and to practice fluent reading of grade-level texts. The materials include explicit instructional routines for all areas of reading fluency, and the materials directly refer the teacher to these routines for instruction, modeling, and student practice. 

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

• Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

  • In Unit 5, Components at a Glance, students read one word study text each week: “A Cool Solution,” “Satellites,” “Music for Joy”), two short reads each week: “A Woman with a Vision,” “A Lucky Accident”, and two extended reads each week: “Two Famous Inventors,” “Robots Go to School”. The unit also includes texts for small-group reading at a range of second-grade levels and vocabulary practice e-books. The text has a Connect Phonics to Comprehension exercise. The teacher asks comprehension questions, and students use the text and pictures to answer the questions.

  • In Unit 10, Week 1, Day 3, students read Texts for Close Reading “Up, Up, and Away” and connect phonics to comprehension through discussion questions.

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:

• Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.

  • In Unit 1, Additional Resources, Instructional Routines and Strategies, the materials provide instructional routines in areas of fluency: Inflection/Intonation - Pitch, Volume, Stress; Speed/Pacing - Slow, Varied, Fast; Dramatic Expression - Characterization/Feelings, Anticipation/Mood; Phrasing - Units of Meaning in Complex Sentences, Dependent Clauses; Confirm or Correct Word Recognition and Understanding; Short Pauses; Full Stops; High-Frequency Word Phrases. Each routine includes teacher modeling along with explicit instruction and student practice. 

  • In Unit 4, Week 2, Day 1, during Extended Read One, the teacher explains that fluent reading requires readers to adjust their speed, reading at a slower pace to make sure they read all the words correctly and understand the text. The teacher follows the fluency routine to model reading at a slower pace and provides guided practice using paragraphs 1 and 2 of “Stone Soup.” Students partner-read for additional practice.

  • In Unit 9, Week 1, Day 4, the teacher may “wish to conduct a rereading of ‘Trading This for That’ or ‘A Baker’s Dozen’ or another text in your classroom collection for additional practice with accountable text.”

  • In Reader’s Theater, Unit 6, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Lesson 2, the teacher models reading with expression and how to “alter your voice to convey the character’s emotion.” Students chorally read and then echo read the script. 

Materials provide opportunities for students to hear fluent reading of grade-level text by a model reader. For example:

• In Unit 3, Week 2, Day 1, the teacher explains that fluent reading requires readers to read with phrasing. The teacher uses the “Phrasing - Units of Meaning in Complex Sentences” instructional routine to model reading paragraph two of “Our Government’s Laws” by Nya Brown. 

• In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 1, the teacher explains that fluent reading requires reading with dramatic expression. The teacher uses the “Expression - Dramatic Expression” instructional routine to model reading paragraphs 11-12 of “A Foxy Garden” by Jeffrey B. Fuerst. 

Materials include systematic and explicit instruction of irregularly spelled words. For example:

• In Unit 4, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher uses the Read, Spell, Write, Apply routine to introduce high-frequency words: long, now, our, some, them, through, upon, was, when, work. The teacher displays the word card, says the word, and has students repeat it. The teacher points out the sounds and spellings. The teacher points to each letter and spells the word. The students repeat. Students write the word. Partners take turns using the word in an oral sentence. The routine is repeated for each high-frequency word.

• In Unit 9, Week 1, Day 3, the teacher displays high-frequency words. The teacher asks students to read and spell each word chorally. The teacher dictates “each word without showing it,” and students write the word, self-correcting spelling after the word is displayed. Words displayed include before, done, about, even. The teacher asks students to practice high-frequency words with a Read, Build, Write routine. Students build each word with letter cards and use the word in a sentence. Words include before, done, about, even, every, near, school, earth.

• In Unit 10, Week 2, Day 1, the teacher uses the Read, Spell, Write, Apply routine to introduce the words built, correct, inside, island, language, oh, person, street, system, and warm. The teacher displays the word cards and points to and reads the word. Students repeat the word. The teacher points out the sounds and spellings in each word. The teacher points to each letter and spells the word. Students read and spell the word. Students write the word as they spell it out loud. Partners use each word in an oral sentence. 

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

• Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.

  • In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 3, the teacher displays high-frequency words, asks students to read and spell each word, and write each word chorally. Words displayed include come, here, to, of. 

  • In Unit 4, Week 2, Day 3, the teacher draws a ladder with ten rungs and writes a high-frequency word on each rung. Students take turns “climbing the ladder” by reading the words: always, any, blue, buy, city, draw, four, great, how, live.

Materials include a sufficient quantity of new grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words for students to make reading progress. For example:

• In the Scope and Sequence, materials list High-Frequency Words that are introduced across the ten units at a rate of 10 words per week for a total of 300 words.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 1q. 

Grade 2 materials provide some opportunities for students to practice word recognition and analysis skills in connected reading and writing tasks. A scope and sequence delineate when phonics skills and high-frequency words occur over the course of the year. The materials include a variety of decodable texts and interactive texts that have newly taught phonics skills and high-frequency words. Students engage in authentic writing experiences daily and receive explicit instruction on how to transfer their growing phonics skills into writing. Materials include instruction on applying phonics skills to writing and applying word analysis to connected writing tasks. 

Materials support students’ development to learn grade-level word recognition and analysis skills (e.g., apply spelling-sound relationship on common words, decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels, decode words with common prefixes and suffixes) in connected text and tasks. For example:

• Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words.

  • In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 2, the teacher models with the words tap, tape, guiding students to change the middle sound from short /a/ to long /a/ in tape. The teacher repeats the routine, substituting the medial sound with the words hop/hope; set/seat; bit/bite; cut/cute. The teacher displays the letter cards for rip and models blending the sounds and reading the word. The teacher models how to replace consonants and vowels to make new words: rip, dip, drip, drop, crop, lip, slip, flip; top, stop, step; hop, chop, shop; hat, chat, that; run, sun, spun. 

  • In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher displays the letter cards for cut and models how to blend and read the sounds together, running a hand under each letter. The teacher adds an -e to the end of the word and continues to model how to blend and read the word, explaining that by adding the -e now the vowel is a long vowel (cute). The teacher continues modeling with the following words: us, use, hug, huge. 

• Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams.

  • In Unit 1, Week 3, Day 2, students read the accountable text, “All About Squirrels,” containing words with long a vowel teams. 

  • In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 3, students decode words with long e spellings in the story “Bee and Daisy” from Texts for Close Reading page 17: ee, ea, e, y, ey, ie, e_e.

  • In Unit 5, Week 2, Day 3, students decode words with vowel teams /oi/: oi, oy in “Satellites” from Texts for Close Reading page 17.

• Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels.

  • In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 2, students read the interactive text, “Found,” which includes two-syllables long and short vowel words with -le endings. 

  • In Unit 7, Week 1, Day 3, students read the decodable text “The Baseball” by Lonnie Smith, including compound words with long vowels: baseball, handmade, newspaper, childhood. 

• Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes.

  • In Unit 10, Week 1, Day 2, students practice decoding words with prefixes tri- and un- and suffix -ed in States of Matter, “The Art of Origami.”

  • In Unit 10, Week 2, Day 4, students practice decoding by analogy with prefixes un- re- dis-.

  • In Unit 10, Week 3, Day 3, students focus on suffixes -ful and -less: helpful, colorful, painless, fearless. The teacher reads the text’s title, “New Planets,” and points out words with suffixes -ful and -less, such as beautiful and wonderful in the first paragraph and useless in the third paragraph. Students whisper-read the text as the teacher circulates and gives corrective feedback and modeling how to blend decodable and read high-frequency words that students struggle with.

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

• Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.

  • In Unit 2, Week 3, Day 3, students read, “Firefly Tricks Spider” from Texts for Close Reading, practicing high-frequency words: good, many, near, off, people, right, that, two, under, very.

  • In Unit 3, Week 3, Day 5, students practice reading high-frequency words: all, away, better, by, change, done, even, found, learn, in Texts for Close Reading, “The President’s House.”

  • In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 3, students read the decodable text, “A Cool Solution” by Jasmine Gomez. The teacher tells students that the word have is irregular and is not a VCe syllable. 

  • In Unit 7, Week 1, Day 2, students read the interactive text ,“The Wright Brothers Take Off!” containing words with silent letters. 

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

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 3, students read the decodable text, “Meet Ranger Diaz.” The teacher models blending decodable words and reading high-frequency words, and students practice. 

• In Unit 2, Week 2, Day 5, during Spelling Patterns and Dictation, students write the following spelling words: pie, tie, child, kind, sky, dry, high, lime, light, bright during a spelling assessment. The teacher states the word and uses each word in a sentence. The teacher can have students write the word or the sentence. Encoding during Spelling Patterns and Dictation is limited to the assessment.

Materials include decodable texts that contain grade-level phonics skills aligned to the program’s scope and sequence. For example:

• In Unit 3, Week 3, Day 2, the teacher guides students through a reading of Interactive Text, “The New Guy” focusing on r-controlled vowel /ur/.

• In Unit 4, Week 3, Day 2, students decode r-controlled vowels air and are in “Pecos Bill” from Word Study Resources.

• In Unit 8, Week 2, Day 2, students read the interactive text “Our Sandcastles,” which contains words that end in -or or -er. 

Materials include decodable texts that contain grade-level high-frequency/irregularly spelled words aligned to the program’s scope and sequence.

• The Scope and Sequence lists high-frequency words: point, second, think, until, white, river, song, three, watch, young for Unit 6, Week 1. The words are introduced on Day 1, practiced on Day 2, read in Texts for Close Reading “Hansel and Gretel” on Day 3.

• In Unit 9, Week 2, Day 3, students read the decodable text, “Zollipops” by Juan Pablo Nobrega. The teacher models how to read the passage’s high-frequency words, and students practice. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 1r.

Grade 2 materials provide multiple foundational skills assessments. The materials include formal and informal assessments, weekly and unit assessments, interim assessments, Quick Checks, and foundational skills screeners. Weekly and unit assessments include both comprehension and foundational skills items. Unit assessments include student-read passages; however, the unit assessment passages are designed to measure comprehension. The materials include a guide to planning yearly assessments that includes an overview of the different assessments and guidelines for the timing and frequency of use. Materials include information for teachers to use scores to determine current levels of student proficiency. Materials include resources to directly match assessment results to intervention or extension resources as needed. While all necessary assessment components are present, navigation of the multitude of related but separate assessment pieces is not streamlined. 

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. For example:

• Materials include assessment opportunities that measure student progress of phonics and decoding. 

  • In Informal Assessments Grades K-6, Supporting Reading Development, an Individual Reading Observation Checklist includes: searches through the difficult word and blends sounds together, takes apart words using large units or syllables.

  • In Informal Assessments, Grades K-6, Supporting Reading Development, an Individual Reading Observation Checklist includes: decodes text using knowledge of the structure of words such as endings, prefixes, suffixes, compound words, contractions, and root words. Identifies variant sounds of consonants and vowels, integrates meaning, structure, and visual cues to decode and comprehend text.

  • In Assessments, Phonics and Word Recognition, the Skills Quick Checks Grades K-2 include subtests to measure students’ ability to identify sounds and decode and encode words. The subtests include the following: initial and final consonants, consonant blends and digraphs, silent letters, short and long vowels, r-controlled vowels, vowel teams, contractions, compound words, plural nouns, inflectional endings, prefixes, suffixes. 

  • In Assessments, Weekly and Unit Assessments, materials provide weekly assessments and end of unit assessments that measure student progress on recently-taught skills. These assessments include opportunities to identify and match sounds and to decode words in passages. 

  • In Assessment, Weekly & Unit Assessments, Unit 3, Week 1, the teacher asks students to choose a word with the same vowel sound as blue; multiple choice selections include the words drum, tune, luck. 

• Materials include assessment opportunities that measure student progress of word recognition and analysis. For example:

  • In Informal Assessments, Grades K-6, Supporting Reading Development, an Individual Reading Observation Checklist includes: decodes text using knowledge of common letter-sound correspondences, including blends, digraphs, consonant variants, r-controlled vowels, Decodes text using knowledge of the structure of words such as endings, prefixes, suffixes, compound words, contractions, and root words.

  • In Assessments, Phonics and Word Recognition, the Skills Quick Checks Grades K -2 include ten subtests to measure students’ ability to read high-frequency words. The subtests follow the sequence of high-frequency word instruction. 

  • In Assessments, Weekly and Unit Assessments, the materials provide weekly assessments and end of unit assessments that measure student progress in recently-taught skills. These assessments include opportunities to identify recently-taught high-frequency words in a passage. 

• Materials include assessment opportunities that measure student progress of fluency. For example:

  • In Informal Assessments Grades. K-6, Supporting Reading Development, an Individual Reading Observation Checklist includes: Reads fluently, reads longer texts with greater accuracy, reads high-frequency words fluently.

  • In Assessments, Fluency Quick Checks, the materials include 10 Grade 2 assessment passages that can be used to assess oral reading accuracy, reading rate, and fluency (phrasing, intonation, and expression). The passages are identified at Lexile levels of 100L-230L, 230L-380L, and 360L-530L The teacher selects the “right” passages from the various ranges. Students read passages at their instructional reading level defined as 95-98% accuracy while the teacher records running record data, calculating Oral Reading Accuracy (%), Reading Rate, Comprehension # Correct, Fluency Rating of 1-4.

  • In Assessments, Fluency Quick Checks, the Additional Teacher Resources section contains alternate fluency assessments, including fluency rubrics, fluency self assessments, reader’s theater self-assessments and performance assessments, and oral presentation assessments. 

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

• In Assessments, Foundational Skills Screeners, the Introduction indicates how to use screener assessment data to determine current levels. The materials indicate that if students score between 81-100% overall, those students are at or above grade level. If students score between 65-80%, those students are meeting grade level expectations. If students score under 65%, those students are below grade-level expectations. 

• In Assessments, Weekly and Unit Assessments, Answer Keys and Item Rationales, the materials provide correlated standards to each multiple choice question for each weekly and each unit assessment. The materials provide rationales for each correct and incorrect answer as well as a scoring rubric for written assessment tasks. 

• In Assessments, Weekly and Unit Assessments, the Overview explains that the Benchmark Education online platform organizes student scores on unit assessments into the following percentage bands to help teachers evaluate how well students understand recently-taught skills: 0-39%, 40-59%, 60-79%, 80-100%. The Answer Key and Rationales provide more detailed analyses of student scores, as each assessment item indicated the tested standard or skill. 

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

• In Assessments, Phonics and Word Recognition Quick Check to Intervention Resource Map, the materials provide a resource map that identifies intervention lessons for the following phonics skills: initial and final consonants, consonant blends and digraphs, silent letters, short and long vowels, r-controlled vowels, vowel teams, contractions, compound words, plural nouns, inflectional endings, prefixes, suffixes. The map provides teachers with the page numbers of intervention lessons directly matched to Quick Check assessment items. 

• In Assessments, Fluency, the Fluency Quick Check Resource Map provides a map of fluency intervention lessons that match each fluency skill and quick check. The directions for assessment outline how to assess each skill and determine whether a student is in need of intervention lessons. 

• In Assessments, Weekly and Unit Assessments, materials provide two assessments per unit in Weeks 1 and 2. The directions indicate if a student is not making progress, “that may indicate a need for further observation or individualized help.”

• In Unit 9, Intervention and Reteaching Resources, a correlation chart provides reteaching lessons and practice activities for the unit's phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency skills. The materials indicate that the reteaching and practice activities should be based on weekly and unit assessment results and observations. The chart indicates which Quick Check assessment(s) teachers should use to monitor student progress.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 1s.

Grade 2 materials include foundational skills supports for English language learners, students in special populations, and above-grade-level students. Materials include a master program support document “Supports for Exceptional Learners” that outlines the variety of supports built into the program for all three groups of students. While the chart provides suggestions, the suggestions are general and offer strategies rather than providing access to specific activities to further skills in individual standards. The chart provides strategies for each component in the program and contains the same general recommendations for Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2. Intervention supports for students in special populations are both embedded in small-group lessons and included in separate, comprehensive intervention materials. ELL and above-grade level supports are built into whole-group and small-group lessons. The materials provide extensions or advanced opportunities to apply foundational skills through knowledge-based writing and challenge word study. The Above-Level Student Supports for Phonics: 30-Week Plan provides guidance on extensions and/or advanced opportunities to engage with foundational skills at greater depth for students who read, write, speak, and/or listen above grade level.

Materials provide general strategies and supports for students who read, write, and/or speak in a language other than English to meet or exceed grade-level standards. For example:

• In the Program Support Guide, Supports for Exceptional Learners outline the variety of supports built into the program for English learners, including “Language Transfer Support” in phonics lessons and grammar in context lessons, ways to scaffold the first reading, and Contrastive Analysis of Nine World Languages. 

• In the Whole Group Teacher Resources, Multilingual Glossary, the materials provide definitions, a photograph, the spoken English word, and the corresponding written word in ten languages.

• In Unit 7, Week 2, Day 3, there is English Language Development for light, moderate, and substantial support. For light support, students are to write words on the board that end with a single consonant. The teacher asks how to add -ing or -ed to each word. Volunteers change the words on the board. Students use the words in sentences. For moderate support, students review the instructional rules, write the words on cards, sort the words, and write the words on the board by adding inflectional endings. Students use the words in sentences. The teacher provides sentence starters as needed. For substantial support, the teacher prepares word cards and inflectional ending cards. Students manipulate cards to create new words.

• In Unit 8, Week 3, Day 1, the materials include Language Transfer Support for the lesson’s target inflectional endings. The materials indicate that comparative adjectives do not change form in Hmong and Korean. If students use more and most incorrectly, the teacher writes the sentences and edits them with students. Students practice saying the sentences correctly. 

Materials provide general strategies and supports for students in special populations to work with grade-level foundational skills and to meet or exceed grade-level standards. For example:

• In the Program Support Guide, Supports for Exceptional Learners outline the variety of supports built into the program for students with special needs that includes intervention and reteaching resources, blend and build words spiral review, access features in reading and writing lessons, phonics manipulative and e-pocket chart, ways to scaffold the first reading, and interactive audio-assisted e-books. 

• In the Intervention Materials, the materials include sets of intervention lessons for fluency (12 lessons), phonics and word recognition (122 lessons), phonological awareness (20 lessons), and print concepts (10 lessons). 

• In Intervention, Phonics and Word Recognition, Lesson 121, the teacher displays the frieze cards for long and short o and reviews the sounds. The teacher uses the words drop/drove, stop/smoke, and pond/close to teach patterns that make short and long vowel sounds. Students practice spelling words with long and short vowel sounds. The lesson includes a formative assessment and follow-up interventions to use in response to specific student misconceptions. 

• In Additional Resources, Access and Equity, the materials recommend getting to know the students, utilizing the IEP or 504 plan, and working collaboratively with the special education teachers. Materials also provide research-based suggestions for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and a chart outlining the program components alongside suggestions, if applicable, regarding modifying lesson components to support students with challenges in oral language, decoding, comprehension, and written language. 

• In Unit 3, Week 2, Day 1, the materials include a note about remediation, “for students below grade-level expectations, continue to teach previously taught skills they have not yet mastered. Focus on blending, dictation, word building, and reading and writing about decodable texts.”

Materials provide extensions and/or advanced opportunities to engage with foundational skills at greater depth for students who read, write, speak, and/or listen above grade level. For example:

• The Above-Level Student Supports for Phonics: 30-Week Plan provides guidance on acceleration and enrichment and daily skill-specific extension activities for

each week of the explicit, systematic Grade 2 phonics instruction. Activities include blending, spelling/dictation, blending and building words, word sorts, and writing extensions.

• The Program Support Guide, Supports for Exceptional Learners outlines the variety of foundational skills supports built into the program for high-ability learners, including blend and build words challenge practice, small-group acceleration prompts, and classroom book clubs. 

• In Additional Resources, Access and Equity, Phonics, Page AR62, suggestions for accommodations include, “provide more complex words and sound combinations”

• In Unit 3, Week 2, Day 1, the small-group acceleration instructions indicate that the teacher should teach a skill further along in the phonics scope and sequence during small-group time. 

• In Unit 8, Week 1, Day 1, includes a note about acceleration “for students above grade-level expectations, continue to teach a skill further in the phonetics scope and sequence during small group time.”