2nd Grade - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2a.

In both the Shared Reading and ELA modules, some units are organized around topics to build knowledge, while others are organized around a theme; however, some units are not cohesively organized to build knowledge or do not build knowledge on the intended topics. In ELA, units often build knowledge around text structures. Text sets within each unit typically include three texts, with some units including one or two texts. Some units do not have any texts. The limited volume of texts and varying number of lessons for each text could impede students’ ability to build knowledge.

Some texts are connected by a grade-level appropriate topic. Some texts build knowledge and the ability to read and comprehend complex texts across a school year. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 1, Unit 3, students read texts about different life cycles. For example students read Tale of a Tadpole by Karen Wallace and From Tadpole to Frog by Wendy Pfeffer.

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 2, Unit 1, students read several texts about different Native American tribes. Some of these texts include The Hopi People by Theresa Shea and The Cheyenne People by Shalini Saxena. 

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans Module 3, Unit 3, students read books about famous Americans in U.S. history, including Dad, Jackie, and Me by Myron Uhlberg and The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles. 

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Unit 2, students listen to books about animals that use camouflage. Students listen to Where in the Wild: Camouflaged Creatures Concealed... and Revealed by David M. Schwartz and Camouflage: Changing to Hide by Bobbie Kalman. 

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 4, Unit 1, students read texts about our country. Texts include The Wall by Eve Bunting and The Flag we Love by Pam Munoz Ryan. 

Some texts are connected by a theme. Examples including, but are not limited to the following:

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 1, Unit 1, students read books about the theme, “New Beginnings.” Arthur’s Back to School Day by Lillian Hoban and Henry and Mudge: The First Book by Cynthia Rylant. 

• In the Shared Readng Lesson Plans, Module 1, Unit 2, students “read about the different paths that friendships might take, whether they are brand new or well established.” Students chorally read Pinky and Rex by James Howe and Ivy + Bean by Annie Barrows.

Some texts are not connected to a grade-appropriate cohesive topic or a theme. Examples include, but are not limited, to:

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 3, Unit 1, students listen to Judy Moody Saves the World! by Megan McDonald to “think critically about text events, character actions, and character decisions, to determine character growth and change over time.” As this is the only text in the unit, the materials miss opportunities to build students’ knowledge of narrative text structure and how characters can change over time.

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Unit 1, the unit topic is weather, though the first nonfiction text students read is Going Home: The Mystery of Animal Migration by Marianne Berkes. Students then read Tornado by Betsy Byars and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett, which is a fantasy text. The culminating task is a narrative fantasy weather report. The materials miss opportunities to build students’ knowledge about weather as a topic or text structures.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2b.

Students have many opportunities to analyze the key ideas and details of both fiction and nonfiction texts. In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, the lessons provide a focus for both the choral read and the partner read. The teacher models thinking about an aspect of the text, which includes craft and structure, but students do not often have the opportunity to analyze craft and structure independently with guiding questions. Throughout both Shared Reading and ELA, materials provide several opportunities that require students to analyze key ideas, details, craft, and structure; however, these opportunities do not occur by students answering coherently sequenced questions.

For most texts, students analyze key ideas and details (according to grade-level standards). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lessons 6–10, students read Henry and Mudge: The First Book by Cynthia Rylant. The first focus of choral reading is to discuss two understanding characters who do something special. Then during the partner read, students focus on how Henry feels in the first chapter and then how he feels in the second chapter. Then during the discussion, students answer the question, “Why was Henry lonely?”

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lessons 16–20, students read The Mohawk People by Ryan Magelhout. During the first read, students discuss the Mohawk traditions for family life, clothing, and language. Discussion questions include, “Let’s compare the work of Mohawk women and men. What kinds of work did each do?” and”How did Mohawk youths learn new things?”

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 3, Lessons 31–35, students read Jackie Robinson by Sally M. Walker and discuss why people were prejudiced against Jackie’s family during the choral read. After the partner read, students discuss what Jackie and his family did to help people forget their prejudice. Discussion questions include, “How did Jackie fit in with the kids on Pepper Street? What did Jackie’s mother do to be a good neighbor? How did Jackie react when things were unfair for Black people?” For the writing assignment, students pretend that they are a newspaper reporter and they summarize Jackie’s life by telling the most important things.

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lessons 11–20, students read Magic Tree House Fact Checker: China: Land of the Emperor’s Great Wall by Mary Pope Osbourne and Natalie Pope Boyce. Students first do a choral read and focus on how natural resources of China influence the way people live and work. Then, during the discussion, students respond to additional questions such as, “How does the size of China compare to the size of the United States? How have the Chinese people adapted the land so they can farm it? How is life sometimes hard in the Chinese countryside? How is city life different from country life in China? Why did the people of ancient China move from the northeastern area to the central area?”

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lessons 21–22, students listen to Magnets Push, Magnets Pull by Mark Weakland and the teacher models a think aloud about magnets, asking questions such as, “Could this powerful magnet lift a piece of ice that weighs 2000 pounds?” The teacher then leads a discussion to summarize what the book taught the students about magnets. The lesson does not include coherently sequenced questions that lead to this discussion.

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lessons 32–33, students listen to My Rows and Piles of Coins by Tolowlwa M. Mollel. During the read aloud, students answer questions such as, “Do you think Saruni is worried that his father will soon be too old to ride the bike to the market? How does he feel when the man says he does not have enough money for the bicycle? Why do you think it didn’t matter to Saruni that the bicycle was not new?” Then during the discussion, students respond to questions including, “How does the author tell us about Saruni? Do you think what he says or what he does tells us more?”

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 3, Lessons 1–3, students listen to Helen Keller: Break Down the Walls! by Margaret Fetty and answer questions such as, “How could Helen write with a pencil when she could not see where to put the letters? Why wasn’t she scared to be on stage in front of all those people?”

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lessons 23–25, students listen to Cracking Up: A Story about Erosion by Jacqui Bailey. During the read aloud the teacher asks questions such as, “Can erosion happen underwater?” After the read aloud, students summarize the text and construct an anchor chart with the teacher with the important facts.

For most texts, students sometimes analyze craft and structure (according to grade-level standards). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lessons 31–35, the teacher tells students that the author’s main purpose is to teach them about the life cycle of a frog. Then after the partner read of From Tadpole to Frog by Wendy Pfeffer, students discuss the author’s main purpose; however, the task does not include questions or specific guidance.

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lessons 11–15, students begin reading The Cherokee People by Sarah Machajewski. Students begin by looking at the table of contents with a partner and the teacher asks students what kinds of information they will be learning about. During the partner read, the focus question is, “Why did the author give us this information in two different ways: in text on page 8 and in a map on page 9?” Then during the discussion, students respond to additional questions about structure and craft, including, “Look at the photo map on page 7. What does the author want us to understand about the journey Native American ancestors made to get to North America so many years ago?” and “Reread the text box on page 8, and the caption on page 9. Why does the author use these text features to give us this information, instead of just including the information as part of the text on page 8?”

• In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lessons 11–20, students read Magic Tree House Fact Checker: China, Land of the Emperor’s Great Wall by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce and the focus for partner reading is “Think about why the authors include drawings in some places in the text, and photographs in others.” The lesson does not provide questions to support the analysis.

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lessons 29–32, students listen to Clang! Ernst Chlandni’s Sound Experiments by Darcy Pattison and write an answer to the question, “What was the author’s purpose in writing this text?” However, the lesson does not include questions about the author’s purpose prior to this writing task.

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lessons 1–2, students listen to Going Home: The Mystery of Animal Migration by Marianne Berkes. The teacher refers to one phrase in the text and asks, “What do you think the butterfly means by saying, ‘We rested in our family tree.’?” After the read aloud, the teacher points out that the text is told from each animal’s point of view.

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lessons 6–7, students listen to Cinderella by Marcia Brown. Prior to the interactive read aloud, the teacher tells students that they will write a diary entry from Cinderella’s point of view after the read aloud. During the read aloud, the teacher asks, “How do you think Cinderella feels about having to do the hardest chores?” Then during the discussion, the teacher asks, “Why do you think the step-mother treated Cinderella the way she did?” and students respond from the step-mother’s point of view. Finally, during the text connection, students pretend to be Cinderella and write a diary entry about the events of the evening.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2d.

While the four ELA modules include culminating tasks, at times, culminating tasks do not require students to demonstrate mastery of comprehension and knowledge of topics. Two of the modules include research projects, and while students use texts from the module, students simultaneously learn research skills. Culminating tasks do incorporate reading, writing, and speaking and listening standards, but some tasks do not require students to integrate knowledge or comprehension of the texts read or listened to during the module. 

Culminating tasks are evident, but are not varied across the year and are sometimes multifaceted, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of several different standards (reading, writing, speaking, listening) at the appropriate grade level, and comprehension and knowledge of a topic or topics through integrated skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lessons 38–45, students spend eight days on the culminating task, a collaborative research report about the frog life cycle. At the onset of the task, students learn new information about the structure and purpose of informative writing. During the second part of the task, students apply what they have learned about informative writing, informative text structure, and knowledge of frogs to collaboratively plan and write a research report about frogs. 

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lessons 20–27, the culminating task occurs during the middle of the module and is another research project. Students take what they learned during Shared Reading about various Native American tribes, and write an informative report about one of the tribes.   Students share their report with a partner.  

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 3, Lessons 26–30, students spend five days on the culminating task. Students write an opinion piece about whether it is easy or difficult to make a choice to do what is right. Students support their opinion with personal experiences and evidence from texts read in the module about injustices people, such as Ruby Bridges or Jackie Robinson, faced. 

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lessons 31–35 and Lessons 36–40, students complete two culminating tasks. During the first five-day task, students write an advertisement to share their opinion about which book from the year is their favorite and why. Students select one book and apply what they have learned about opinion text structure to complete the task. On the last day, students present their advertisement while their peers listen and offer feedback or ask questions. During the second five-day task, students use a narrative text structure to explain how they have grown and changed as a reader and writer throughout the year.  Students do not integrate any comprehension of the texts they read or listened to in the module when completing this culminating task.

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

There are minimal opportunities for students to engage in research projects throughout the year. While shared research projects exist in the ELA Lesson Plans, there is little progression of research skills. Formal research projects occur during Modules 1 and 2, which does not lend itself to a progression of research skills over the year; both research projects serve as culminating tasks. Students do not conduct research to answer a question; rather, the research task focuses on ensuring students can identify, evaluate, and apply traits of informative writing. Some skills, such as recalling information from experiences or gathering information from sources, are covered throughout the year. Students do have opportunities to gather information from the texts to answer questions throughout all four modules, but students do not practice a progression of research skills over the course of the year.

Some research projects are sequenced across a school year to include a progression of research skills that build to mastery of the grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lessons 38–45, the teacher and students co-construct a List of Informative Writing Elements anchor chart. The teacher uses a think-aloud to model how to put sentences from an informative paragraph in order. The teacher models how to use the texts, Tale of a Tadpole by Karen Wallace and From Tadpole to Frog by Wendy Pfeffer, along with the Informative Graphic Organizer to plan and write a research report on frogs.

  • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lessons 20–27, the teacher reads excerpts from The Cheyenne People by Shalini Saxena and models using the Informative Checklist to evaluate whether the excerpts are strong or weak. Then, the teacher models using the Informative Graphic Organizer along with the text to plan and write a research report about the Cheyenne people.

  • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lessons 12–16, the teacher and students co-construct a list of similarities in the Cinderella stories from Unit 2. After the students use graffiti boards to list the differences in the Cinderella stories, the teacher models using the Compare-Contrast 1 Graphic Organizer to demonstrate comparing the whole to the whole. The next day, the teacher models using the Compare-Contrast 2 Graphic Organizer to write an informative piece outlining the similarities and differences between The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin and The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo.

Materials support teachers in employing projects that develop students’ knowledge on a topic. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lessons 38–45, students complete a research report on frogs. Teacher materials include a frog research report rubric, an informative graphic organizer, and text examples.

• In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lessons 20–27, teacher materials include a specific rubric for the Native American research report.

Materials include few shared research projects to help develop students’ research skills. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lessons 38–45, during the culminating task, students write a research report on frogs. To write the research report, students use information from two Module 1 Shared Reading texts, Tale of a Tadpole by Karen Wallace and From Tadpole to Frog by Wendy Pfeffer.

  • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lessons 20–27, during the culminating task, students write a research report about a Native American tribe. Students use information from the four informational texts about the Hopi, Cheyenne, Cherokee, and Mohawk tribes they choral read during Shared Reading. Students use their research report along with clipart to create a tri-fold brochure.

  • In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lessons 12–16, the teacher and students engage in multiple shared writing projects in which they compare versions of the fairytale, Cinderella. Students use information from the three Cinderella read alouds— Cinderella by Marcia Brown, The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin and The Egyptian Cinderella Shirley Climo—to co-create a list of similarities in the stories and rotate to three stations to create graffiti boards of differences in the stories. After learning about two compare and contrast text structures, whole/whole and similarities/differences, students select one structure and independently write a compare and contrast piece using Cinderella and The Rough-Face Girl. Students share their completed work with a partner.

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

Instruction throughout the materials focuses on content that mostly falls within grade-level aligned standards; however, not all grade-level standards are found throughout the program. Most writing standards encompass explicit instruction, tasks, and assessed skills; however, speaking and listening opportunities are limited. Reading standards are addressed through instruction and questions and tasks but are not always addressed through assessments. Some standards are explicitly taught, while others have questions and tasks but no explicit instruction. Each lesson in Shared Reading and ELA has multiple standards tagged, making it difficult for schools and teachers to know what the priority or focus standard might be, leaving it up to educators to determine which standard is aligned to which instruction, question, task, and assessment item. Some lessons have standards tagged, but the instruction and question and tasks do not align to the given standard(s). In addition, outside of the writing rubrics that accompany the culminating tasks in ELA and smaller writing assignments in Shared Reading, there is no mechanism for teachers to determine whether a student has mastered a standard. However, the materials do include a standards coverage document in the Appendix of the Teacher Manual, which allows the teacher to see how standards repeat across lessons, units, and modules.

Over the course of each unit, instruction is mostly aligned to grade-level standards; however, not all standards are explicitly taught. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Appendix of the Bookworms 2-5 Teacher Manual, the materials provide the standards by lesson for both the Shared Reading and ELA lessons, but it is unclear which standards listed are the priority and to which part of the instruction they align.

• Shared Reading and ELA Lesson Plans lack evidence of explicit instruction on RL.2.3. 

• Materials include explicit instruction on RI.2.3 in Module 1 of Shared Reading and minimal explicit instruction in Modules 2 and 4 of Shared Reading. For example, in the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 36, while reading From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Laura Mash with a partner, the teacher reminds students what a cycle is and how we use it to keep track of facts about animals. The teacher then creates a butterfly life cycle anchor chart and adds details to it daily. RI.2.3 is not directly taught in ELA. 

• Materials include explicit instruction on RL.2.6 in Shared Reading and in all four modules of ELA, mostly through co-written responses to texts and writing from a character’s point of view. For example, in the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 3, Lesson 46, students listen to Poppy by Avi. Afterwards, the teacher co-writes a diary entry from the perspective of Poppy with the students. The teacher states, “Let’s write a diary entry showing Poppy’s thoughts on seeing a real person for the first time. We need to remember to write from Poppy’s point of view.” 

• Materials include explicit instruction on RI.2.6 in Modules 1, 3, and 4 of ELA. For example in the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 29, after reading aloud Clang! Ernst Chladni’s Sound Experiments by Darcy Patterson, the teacher and students co-write a response about the author’s purpose. The teacher states that the author’s purpose of the previous text Sounds All Around “was to help us understand how sound is made, how sound travels, how sound is used to communicate, and how sound is measured.” Then the teacher works with students to write about the author’s purpose of this text. 

• The teacher models how to write opinion pieces in ELA, which aligns to W.2.1. For example, in the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lesson 45, students write a book review of Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. The teacher begins the lesson by modeling how to use the Opinion Writing Organizer, which is a frame used to complete the book review. 

• The teacher models how to write informative writing pieces in ELA, which aligns to W.2.2. For example, in the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lessons 34–35, the teacher models how to use the Informative Graphic Organizer to plan the topic and the three big ideas. 

• All four ELA modules include explicit instruction on how to revise and edit their writing, which aligns to W.2.5. For example, in the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 44, the teacher introduces the terms editing and revising and models revising and editing a paragraph that was drafted the previous day. 

• Materials provide explicit instruction on shared research aligned to W.2.7 in Modules 1, 2, and 4 of ELA. For example, in the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lesson 13, students compare and contrast different versions of Cinderella. The teacher models comparing Cinderella by Marcia Brown to The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo using a graphic organizer. The teacher then models writing a draft based on the graphic organizer. 

• Shared Reading and ELA Lesson Plans  lack evidence of explicit instruction on SL.2.4 and SL.2.5. 

Over the course of each unit, some questions and tasks are aligned to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Throughout all four modules of Shared Reading, students have opportunities to answer questions and complete tasks that align to RL.2.3 For example, in the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 3, Lessons 12–30, while reading Abraham Lincoln: The Great Emancipator by Augustua Stevenson, students respond to questions in almost each lesson that align to the standard. In Lesson 20, questions include, “Why was Abe sad about Austin?” and “Why was Mrs. Lincoln worried about school? Why does Mrs. Lincoln wants to move again?” in Lesson 21. It is important to note that some questions and tasks in Shared Reading align to Grade 3 standards that address character traits. For example, in the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lessons 16–25, students read Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows and respond to questions such as, “What positive character traits can we use to describe Bean now?” Students also answer questions and complete tasks in ELA regarding this standard. For example, in the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lessons 32–33, students listen to My Rows and Piles of Coins by Tololwa M. Mollet, and answer questions such as, “Do you think Saruni is worried that her father will soon be too old to ride the bike to the marker?” and “How does he feel when the man says he does not have enough money for the bicycle?” 

• Students respond to some questions and complete some tasks that align to RI.2.3 in Shared Reading; this largely occurs in Module 1. For example, in the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 36, after listening to From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Heiligman, students draw a diagram of the butterfly life cycle. Similarly in ELA, students answer questions and complete tasks in Module 1 and Module 4 that align to the standard. For example, in the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lesson 23, students listen to Cracking Up: A Story about Erosion by Jacqui Bailey. Students make an anchor chart with the teacher that has a timeline for how erosion happens. 

• Students have some opportunities throughout Shared Reading and ELA to answer questions and complete tasks that align to RL.2.6. For example, in the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 3, Lessons 12–30, after listening to Abraham Lincoln: The Great Emancipator by Augusta Steveson, students respond to questions such as, “Why did Mr. Lincoln and Mrs. Lincoln have different feelings about Abe’s school?” In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lessons 3–9, students listen to Tornado by Betsy Byars. While reading the text, the teacher asks questions about point of view such as, “How does Pete feel now? How do you think the little girl must feel?” 

• Students have some opportunities to complete tasks that align to RI.2.6 in Shared Reading during partner discussion and in ELA during co-constructed written responses. In the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 26, while reading Tale of a Tadpole by Karen Wallace, students “think about the author’s main purpose” and how it is to teach about the life cycle of a frog. However, there are no specific questions to answer. In the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 3, Lesson 25, after listening to My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by Christine King Farris, the teacher and students co-write a response where they write the main lesson that the book teaches them and explains why the author would have written the text for someone to read.

• Students have opportunities in ELA to complete opinion writing tasks that align to W.2.1. For example, in the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lessons 9–10, students write a class book review of Arthur’s Back to School Day by Lilian Hoban. 

• Students write informative pieces in Modules 1, 2, and 4 of ELA, which aligns to W.2.2. For example, in the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lessons 20–27, students write a Native American research report. 

• Students have opportunities throughout all four modules of ELA to complete tasks that align to W.2.5. For example, in the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 3, Lesson 16, students have the opportunity to revise and edit independently, as well as revise and edit with a peer. 

• Students complete shared research projects in Modules 1, 2, and 4 of ELA. For example, in the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lessons 12–16, students compare and contrast The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin to The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo. The teacher models using a graphic organizer and begins drafting. Then students work with partners to write a few more sentences that they could add to the teacher’s model draft. 

• Shared Reading materials lack evidence of questions and tasks aligned to SL.2.4. Students do have the opportunity to tell stories in order to revise their work with a partner during ELA Modules 2, 3, and 4. For example, in the ELA Lesson Plans, Module 2, Lessons 36–42, students tell their story to a partner in order to get feedback.

• Shared Reading and ELA materials lack evidence of questions and tasks aligned to SL.2.5. 

Over the course of each unit, some assessment questions are aligned to grade-level standards. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Materials provide minimal assessment opportunities for RL.2.3. Assessment opportunities occur during writing prompts that are scored with a written response rubric that measures accuracy and evidence. For example, in the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 4, Lesson 25, after reading Time Warp Trio: It’s All Greek to Me by Jon  Scieszka, students write about why they think the boys thought they needed to perform an impossible trick for the gods and goddesses. Materials also include assessment opportunities that align to Grade 3 standards. For example, in the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 20, after reading Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows, where students “describe what the detail tells them about Ivy as a character.” ELA materials lack evidence of assessment items aligned to RL.2.3. 

• Materials provide minimal assessment opportunities for RI.2.3. Assessment opportunities occur during writing prompts in Shared Reading. For example, in the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 35, after reading choral reading books about frogs, students write about the two frog books. Students explain how they are similar and how they are different. ELA materials lack evidence of assessment items aligned to RI.2.3. 

• ELA Lesson Plans lack evidence of assessment items aligned to RL.2.6 and RI.2.6. 

• Materials include rubrics for Narrative Writing (W.2.3) and Opinion Writing (W.2.1). These rubrics are used to assess applicable writing tasks in ELA. 

• In Shared Reading, eight of the formal Written Response prompts measure W.2.2. For example, in the Shared Reading Lesson Plans, Module 1, Lesson 45, students use the butterfly cycle map to write a paragraph about the migration of a monarch butterfly. The Informative Writing rubric found in ELA Modules 1, 2, and 4 also assesses W.2.2. 

• Materials provide an editing and revision rubric, which measures capitalization, punctuation, grammar, spelling,and word choice. The teacher uses this rubric which aligns to W.2.5 for each major writing task in ELA in all four modules.

• Materials lack evidence of assessment opportunities for SL.2.4 and SL.2.5; however, there is a speaking and listening rubric that is used to measure all speaking and listening standards holistically. 

By the end of the academic year, some standards are repeatedly addressed within and across units to ensure students master the full intent of the standard. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Students have some opportunities throughout Shared Reading to address standard RL.2.3. Materials provide opportunities for students to answer questions in each module; however, there is no evidence of direct instruction and some questions are more aligned to Grade 3 standards. In ELA, students have opportunities to answer questions and complete tasks aligned to RL.2.3 in all four modules, but there are no opportunities for instruction or assessment. 

• Shared Reading Lesson Plans address RI.2.3 throughout the year; however, the standard is heavily modeled for students rather than students practicing the standard on their own. All four modules include questions and tasks that align to RI.2.3, but materials lack evidence of explicit instruction and assessment items aligned to RI.2.3. 

• Modules 2, 3, and 4 of ELA address RL.2.6. All four Shared Reading modules address RL.2.6, with the focus being mostly on aligned questions and tasks and not aligned explicit instruction and assessment items. 

• Modules 1, 3, and 4  of ELA address RI.2.6, with the majority of time being spent on aligned questions and tasks. All four units of Shared Reading address RI.2.6. 

• Instruction aligned to W.2.1 primarily appears in Modules 1 and 3 of ELA. 

• Materials provide explicit instruction on W.2.2, and students complete tasks that align to the standard. In addition, both Shared Reading and ELA include assessment aligned to W.2.1. 

• The beginning of Module 1 in ELA includes explicit instruction aligned to W.2.5, and the teacher continues to model instruction of this standard through the year. Students also have the opportunity to edit and revise their own writing in each writing task. Teacher modeling increases in rigor and includes revising specifically for word choice and how to give constructive feedback when peer revising. By the end of Module 2, students evaluate their writing using the editing and revising checklist. 

• Students engage in Shared Research aligned to W.2.7 in Modules 1 and 4 of ELA. 

• Shared Reading Lesson Plans lack evidence of SL.2.4. ELA materials include four tasks aligned to SL.2.4.

• Shared Reading and ELA Lesson Plans lack evidence of SL.2.5.  

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

The Program Guide includes a suggested implementation schedule, which includes 2 hours and 15 minutes of instruction daily. In order to complete the lessons, one must spend 45 minutes per instructional block, Shared Reading, ELA, and Differentiated Instruction, each day. Materials include 180 lessons in ELA and 180 lessons in Shared Reading. While this could conceivably be completed in a school year, there is no time allotted for interruptions to the school year or reteaching. Core learning takes place during the Shared Reading and ELA blocks, for a total of 90 minutes a day, but some tasks from those blocks must be finished during the Differentiated Instruction block. The materials also provide flexible schedule documentation, though it is unclear whether students would master all standards if lessons were omitted. 

Suggested implementation schedules and alternative implementation schedules align to core learning and objectives. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The program allots 45 minutes for Shared Reading, 45 minutes for ELA, and 45 minutes for Differentiated Instruction. The Bookworms 2–5 Teacher Manual states that the blocks have to be 45 minutes each in order to get the entire lesson in.

• Materials provide a sample schedule for a 9–3 school day. The schedule includes time for Shared Reading, ELA, and Differentiated Instruction as well as math, a daily special, and either social studies or science.

• In the Bookworms 2-5 Teacher Manual, Planning for Success, the materials provide various flexible schedules for schools with fewer days or planned interruptions. These schedules can reduce the curriculum by either 10 or 20 days, though the impact on students’ mastery of the standards is not addressed.

Suggested implementation schedules cannot be reasonably completed in the time allotted. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Shared Reading and ELA instructional blocks include 180 days of lessons. This cannot be reasonably completed in a school year, as the implementation schedule does not factor in interruptions to instruction, such as early release days, special events, field trips, testing, and celebrations, or time for reteaching and reassessing learning.  

• The Bookworms 2–5 Teacher Manual states, “Each of the 3 blocks of time that we planned for in Bookworms must be 45 minutes long. It will not be possible for teachers to shorten any of them. Leaders who schedule the day without keeping those minutes protected are likely to frustrate teachers working on something very new and scuttle the potential effects of the design on student achievement.”

• The Shared Reading Lesson Plans include seven components and the ELA Lesson Plans include nine components; however, materials do not provide a recommended time frame for each part of the lesson to help the teacher stay within the 45 minute lesson structure.

Optional materials and tasks do not distract from core learning. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• No evidence of optional materials found.

Optional materials and tasks are meaningful and enhance core instruction. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• No evidence of optional materials found.