Kindergarten - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the expectation that texts are organized around a topic/topics to build students knowledge and vocabulary which will over time support and help grow students’ ability to comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently. Read aloud texts are organized around common topics and themes. For example,

• First Nine Weeks: The Full Belly Bowl by Jim Aylesworth, and The Egg by M. P. Robertson, are texts in the fantasy genre. Educators are able to develop or activate background knowledge through referencing this fact (e.g., “Today’s book is called The Full Belly Bowl. It was written by Jim Aylesworth and illustrated Wendy Anderson Halperin. It tells the story of a very old man and a wee small man. Some parts of the story could have really happened, but other parts could not have happened. So this book is a fantasy, just like The Egg.”)
• Second Nine Weeks: The quarter is organized around the topic of Thanksgiving and includesThe Story of Pocahontas by Caryn Jenner and Thanksgiving on Plymouth Island by Diane Stanley- texts that outline traditions that have carried on to present-day in American culture and build content knowledge about events in American history.
• Third Nine Weeks: The topic of life cycles is covered by the text, In a Nutshell by Joseph Anthony and A Log’s Life by Wendy Pfeffer. Other texts are included during the Third Nine weeks not connected to the topic of life cycles, but instead added to enhance special days during that time frame, are Chrysanthemum, George Washington, and Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of School.
• Fourth Nine Weeks: Texts include Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey and Giggle, Giggle, Quack, Quack by Doreen Cronin that provide an opportunity to compare and contrast a fictional and a true account of ducks. However, texts like Grandfather’s Wrinkles and Tiki Tiki Tembo are included during this time frame, but are not connected to the topic.
• Students consistently work with nursery rhymes throughout the materials. Nursery rhymes provide students with the background and knowledge that they will need to access future texts.

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

Read-aloud lesson plans include tasking students with analyzing words/phrases and or author’s word choice. According to the Kindergarten Teacher's Manual, “Our other goal for big book reading is vocabulary instruction for four specific words in the book. The strategy for teaching them is called Word Walk (Blamey & Beauchat, 2011). This will help you and your children to review the word meanings, especially when you encounter them in another book” (pg. 8).”

• For example, in the First Nine Weeks, teachers and students read Charlie Needs A Cloak by Tomie dePaolo. Words studied with this text are dye and strand. The other two of the nine texts preview vocabulary using graphic organizers to support language development.
• By the Fourth Nine Weeks, students' analysis of words, supported by the teacher, continues to follow the routines set forth in the First Nine Weeks. However, more of the texts are nonfiction (six out of nine) that include a preview of vocabulary using tables and/or Venn Diagrams as graphic organizers to introduce students to new vocabulary.

As an example, students and teacher preview a table with technical words included in the text, Building With Dad by Carol Nevus. The words include bulldozer driver, dump truck, backhoe, earthmover, grader, steamroller, crane, and bucket truck.

The other three of nine texts look at vocabulary words such as, crumple, crease, trace, instructions, and sentences.

For most read-aloud texts, students and teacher analyze key ideas and details, structure and craft.

• For example, in the Second Nine Weeks, the text, Nothing Sticks Like A Shadow by Ann Tompert provides an opportunity to bring out key ideas and details of the story. During the discussion segment of the lesson, the teacher states, “Let’s review all the ideas that Rabbit has tried. Now, count them with me. What is the one thing you need to have a shadow? Now let’s map our story.” Through the details of the story, students can be guided to come to the conclusion that is the main idea.
• Additionally, in the Third Nine Weeks, students analyze the structure of the text, George Washington, by Garnett Jackson, “When we read the story of someone’s life, the author usually starts by telling when the person was born. After that, it is just like a story. So if the story starts with the person being born, where does it end?" Each lesson of the read-aloud texts includes analysis of either key ideas and details, structure, or craft.

By the end of the year, language, word choice, key ideas, details, structure, and craft are embedded in students’ work rather than taught directly. Well-composed writing prompts support teachers to extract these components in the Fourth Nine Weeks unit. For example, after two days of interacting with Grandfather’s Wrinkles by Katherine England, students are prompted to “Draw a picture of yourself now, and beside it draw a picture of what you might look like when you are very old. Write about each picture.” Students demonstrate their understanding of key ideas and details of the text. Additionally, after interacting for two days with Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, students are prompted to “Draw a picture of what you think will happen next. Write about your picture.” Students demonstrate their understanding of craft and structure of the text by making an inference about what happens next.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet expectations that materials contain coherently sequenced set of text-based questions and tasks that require students to build knowledge and integrate ideas across both individual and multiple texts.

Most sets of coherent questions and tasks support students’ analysis of knowledge and ideas. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Questions and commentary from the text, Thanksgiving On Plymouth Plantation by Diane Stanley consists of the following excerpt, “As I read, pay special attention to the three different characters. Later, I’ll ask you to write about them. [She takes us traveling through time.] I have to stop here because I think that it doesn’t make sense that the grandmother can take them traveling through time. You can travel through a town, you can travel through a forest, but you can’t travel through time. But now I remember that this is like The Magic School Bus. It couldn’t really happen. [We’d rather stay home with Grandma.] Why do you think the kids wanted to stay? Tell your partner. [After speech bubbles on page ending, “If you don’t, they will think you’re really strange."] I can make a connection here. We know that the kids are changing clothes to go back in time to see the Pilgrims. I know that in the old days people wore clothes that were not so comfortable as our clothes. So I think that they are going to be a little bit uncomfortable.”
• During the Second Nine Weeks, following the read aloud and daily routine activities, students respond to the prompt, “Draw a picture of our three characters. Write about your picture.” Because the focus for the reading is established and commentary accompanying the read aloud plays into that focus, students have a greater chance of successfully analyzing the ideas presented from the reading.
• During the Third Nine Weeks, the writing prompt accompanying the reading on Day 2 is,"Draw the same face with two different looks and write about what happened to make them look the way they do.” Questions and commentary include, “Why do you think that Chrysanthemum walked to school slowly?” “ Dessert, hugs, and kisses made her feel better. But I can make a connection here. These things always make me feel better too. What helps make you feel better when you’re sad? Tell your partner one thing.” “Why do you think the girls picked new names for themselves?” This series of questions and comments helps to bring students' attention to the underlying feeling the characters may have experienced as the text is read. It makes the connection between the pictures drawn by the illustrator and the words written by the author.
• In the Fourth Nine Weeks, after reading Tiki Tiki Tembo by Arlene Mosel, students respond to a writing prompt asking them to, “Draw a picture of your favorite thing that happened in this book. Write about your picture.” Students must take what they have read to formulate a rudimentary opinion regarding events in the book.

Sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities for students to analyze across multiple texts as well as within single texts. For example, in the Third Nine Weeks, after interacting with In A Nutshell by Joseph Anthony, students are prompted to “Draw a picture of an oak tree next to a cherry tree. Be sure to draw cherries and acorns. Those are details that make the two trees different. Write about the two trees and tell how they are alike and how they are different.” Students must compare and contrast two different trees. The prompt gives students an opportunity to bring in information from George Washington, which is the read-aloud text prior to In A Nutshell. What students learn from the life of George Washington can be brought into students’ knowledge of plant structures as explored in both readings. Similarly, in the Fourth Nine Weeks, students and teacher read Make Way For Duckling by Robert McCloskey and Giggle, Giggle, Quack, Quack by Doreen Cronin. In a whole group setting, students and teacher compose a Venn Diagram comparing details from the fictional and informational texts about ducks. Then, students are prompted to “... draw two new circles today. Write the word Cats next to the left circle and the word Dogs next to the right circle. Like this. Then write all the characteristics you can think of that describe dogs and cats. Write each one where it belongs. I will get us started. How many legs does a dog have? How many legs does a cat have? So where should I write ‘4 legs’?” In both examples, questions leading up to the culminating task lead students to be successful with their final products. However, it should be noted that students would need more extensive background knowledge of cherry trees to be able to authentically depict one in their comparison prompt from In A Nutshell.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the expectations of materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts.

• Vocabulary is taught with each text, and students learn many Tier 2 words. For example, the First Nine Weeks unit consists of readings from Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina, Charlie Needs A Cloak by Tomie DePaolo, Frederick by Leo Lionni, and The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins. Vocabulary from these selections range from words like ordinary, disturb, dye, strand, abandoned, anxiously, stared and enormous.
• Materials provide some support for teachers with guidance to build students’ academic vocabulary, and include a year-long structure. Information in the Teacher's Manual states, “We adhere to a few basic approaches of established effectiveness, and these approaches are different for fiction and information books." Additionally, the materials recommend neither pretesting nor preteaching words in advance for fictional texts. According to the authors, "Pretesting wastes valuable time given the fact that students can be expected to benefit from attention to words even if they already possess a working knowledge of their meanings.” They further add, “ For information books, on the contrary, it is important to preview key vocabulary either just prior to the read-aloud or at the point the words are encountered during the read-aloud. Previewing does not mean teaching the words to mastery. It amounts to an introduction, a method of exposing children to their meanings and how they are related." Guidance for supporting students’ academic vocabulary can be found within the “Vocabulary” section of the teacher’s manual and in Chapter 6 of How To Plan Differentiated Reading Instruction by Sharon Walpole and Michael McKenna.
• Students do engage with vocabulary instruction in the context of reading and/or writing tasks. The previewing of key vocabulary prior to the read aloud, discussion, and questions to support comprehension during the reading, connects the previewed words to the text, providing students with the opportunity to hear the vocabulary used in context. Additionally, many of the informational vocabulary words also appear, and students are encouraged to use them in their writing prompt activities. For example, teachers preview technical vocabulary like the names of people in the text, Pocahontas by Caryn Jenner. The focus for students is to pay attention to the details of Pocahontas’ life. Appropriately, the writing prompt for the day’s reading asks students to draw a picture of John Smith teaching Pocahontas.
• In the Second Nine Weeks unit, The Pain and The Great One by Judy Blume highlights two vocabulary words, ordinary and disgusting. There is a missed opportunity for the materials to prompt the teacher to encourage students to include the selection vocabulary, ordinary and disgusting, into their writing.

Students are exposed to vocabulary words through a routine, and there is a year long vocabulary plan within Bookworms materials. The students are exposed to vocabulary words during a short time frame for the study of a text. If a teacher builds an anchor chart and examples of anchor charts are in the Classroom Powerpoint, students will be able to see academic vocabulary from the texts on the charts over multiple exposures.