The materials provide daily instruction in phonemic awareness skills with limited systematic, explicit teacher modeling. There are limited scripts for the teacher to explicitly model different types of phonemic awareness activities. Instead, the teacher is guided to begin student practice without modeling first. Videos for each lesson provide a model of how to guide students through phonemic awareness exercises. Materials include a Corrective Feedback Guide for Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Lessons that includes information for the teacher on how to provide corrective feedback. 

Materials provide the teacher with limited systematic, explicit modeling for instruction in sounds (phonemes). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.

  • In Week 2, Day 5, the teacher tells students, “We will listen for the last sound we hear in words. The last sound comes at the end of a word. I will say a word. Say the word back to me and punch up the last sound you hear.” The teacher does not model first.

  • In Week 3, Day 4, the teacher tells students that the first sound comes at the beginning of a word and tells students to listen for the first sound in a word spoken aloud. The teacher says five words, including the CVC words sad and mad and instructs students to repeat each word and say the initial sound. The video for this lesson shows the teacher repeating the word with students and saying the initial sound with them while pointing to their lips as they say the sound. 

  • In Week 22, Day 1, the teacher tells students, “I will say a word. You will say it back to me and use the roller coaster to say the middle/vowel sound extra loud. Then you will tell me the sound you hear in the middle of the word.”  The teacher repeats this activity six times. The teacher does not model first.

  • In Week 25, Day 1, the teacher tells students, “We have been listening to the last or final sound we hear in one word. Now we will listen to two words that have the same last/final sound. I will say two words; say the words back to me and tell me the final sound you hear.” The teacher does not model first.

• Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.

  • In Week 7, Day 1, Monday Model, the teacher says, “I will say a word, you will say it back to me. We will change the first sound, and blend the two sounds together to make a new word. T: say, be S: be, T: Change /b/ to /m/ and the word is /m/-/ē/, me. Say, me. S: me.” The teacher does not model first.

  • No additional evidence found.

Materials provide the teacher with examples for instruction in sounds (phonemes). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In  Week 9, Day 3, the teacher tells the students, “I will say two parts of a word. Say the two parts back to me and blend them together to make one word.” Six examples are included in a chart listing the two parts and the whole word. Examples include r-ain/rain; p-ain/pain; wh-ale/whale; p-en/pen; t-une/tune; s-ight/sight. 

• In Week 11, Day 1, the materials indicate a “Monday Model” routine and provide a script for teachers to model how to blend phonemes using Elkonin boxes. The materials include explicit instructions for saying and blending the phonemes using the following words: see, me, we, fee, she. 

Materials include teacher guidance for corrective feedback when needed for students. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Introduction, Overview, the materials state that if students need more concrete visuals during phonological and phonemic awareness lessons, the teacher can replace hand motions with Elkonin boxes, Unifix cubes, or felt to represent the sounds or word parts. 

• Materials include a Corrective Feedback Guide for Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Lessons that provides information to the teacher on how to provide corrective feedback. For example:

  • Error: The student does not blend the words, syllables, onset-rime or phonemes into the correct word.

  • Response: Let’s try that again. Teacher repeats the parts of the word and models how to blend the parts into a whole word. Example: The 3 syllables, /hon-est-y/, can be blended together to make the word ‘honesty’. Can you repeat the syllables and the whole word? /hon-est-y/, honesty? Visual support with the hand motion, Elkonin boxes, tiles, or felt squares can be used to anchor the sounds to a visual for the learner. As the lessons transition to blending at the phoneme level, some students struggle to respond with the correct word when there are more than 2 or 3 phonemes in a word. Teacher modeling is one way to provide the support and feedback.

The materials include a clearly delineated scope and sequence with a cohesive, intentional sequence of phonics instruction that builds from simpler to more complex skills while also building towards the application of skills. However, the materials have a limited evidence-based explanation for the order of the phonics sequence. The materials are based on high-utility phonics patterns and generalizations.

Materials contain a limited evidence-based explanation for the expected sequence for teaching phonics skills. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Overview, the materials introduce Scarborough’s Reading Rope and The Simple View of Reading. The Chapter 1 video includes a visual depiction of the Reading Rope. The materials do not cite or discuss any other research, including research for phonics generalizations.

• In the Chapter 3 Overview, the video reviews the skills covered in Unit 2, Weeks 3–11 by explaining that students are “introduced to the phonemes that represent the 26 letters of the alphabet. Unit 2 begins in Week 3 and ends in Week 11. During this unit, instruction focuses on phonemes, or sounds.” The video does not make a connection between the skills taught and the research.

Materials clearly delineate a scope and sequence with a cohesive, intentional sequence of phonics instruction, from simpler to more complex skills, and practice to build toward the application of skills. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Scope and Sequence follows an intentional sequence of phonics instruction from simpler to complex skills. Units 1-2 focus on the Alphabet Introductions: Vowels and Consonants, beginning with single letter sounds and letter names. Units 3-4 focus on a review of alphabet concepts and then progress to more advanced skills such as Qq, -ck, suffix -s, doubling rule, and digraphs. 

  • Unit 1: Alphabet Introductions:  Consonants & Vowels

  • Unit 2:  Letter Sounds

  • Unit 3: Letter Names & Letter Sounds

  • Unif 4:  -ll, -ss, -ff, -zz, Consonant Digraphs sh, ch, th

  • Unit 5: Consonant blends: l, r, s blends

  • Unit 6: Long Vowels (CVCe, CCVCe)

Phonics instruction is based in high utility patterns and/or specific phonics generalizations. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Weeks 1–19, the Scope and Sequence indicates instruction on consonants and vowels, thus providing students with skills to read CVC words with short vowel sounds. In Weeks 20–31, instruction focuses on the most common spelling rules, the doubling rule, digraphs, blends, and CVCe words.

• In Week 17, Day 3, the teacher introduces digraph -ck, telling students that the letters -ck together stand for the /k/ sound at the end of a word.

• In Week 27, Day 1, the teacher introduces consonant r blends, telling students that when consonants b and r are next to each at the beginning of a word, we will hear both consonant sounds with no vowel in between.

The materials contain explicit instructions for systematic and repeated teacher modeling of phonics skills. The materials include a structured, consistent blending routine with teacher modeling, specifically the Finger-Blending Strategy. The materials include instruction for dictation of words and sentences. A Phonics Instruction Corrective Feedback Guide is included for each unit, providing limited guidance on corrective feedback.

Materials contain explicit instructions for systematic and repeated teacher modeling of newly-taught phonics patterns. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant.

  • In Week 3, Day 2, the materials provide explicit instruction for teacher modeling of the /s/ sound while also explaining that it is a consonant sound and a continuous sound. The teacher uses the Sound Wall Card to help identify pictures that start with the /s/ sound. The teacher then uses the S Sound Poster to point to the uppercase and lowercase Ss.

  • In Week 4, Day 1, the materials provide explicit instruction for teacher modeling of the consonant phoneme /n/. The teacher says, “The sound /n/ is a consonant sound, and /n/ is a sound that can go on and on. We call it a continuous sound. Listen /nnn/, nice.” The materials provide teacher guidance on placement, manner, and voice.

  • In Week 22, Day 1, the materials provide explicit instruction using the Consonant Digraph Poster when asking students to identify the /sh/ sound within the story presented. The teacher says, “What other words did you hear or what pictures do you see that begin with the sound /sh/?” The teacher presents the /sh/ Sound Card and tells the students, “The letters s and h together stand for one sound, /sh/. Let’s practice saying the /sh/ sound.” 

• Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.

  • In Week 5, Day 3, the teacher says, “Today we will learn about the /ĭ/ sound. The sound /ĭ/ is a vowel sound. We will practice making the /ĭ/ sound, and we’ll say some words that have the /ĭ/ sound.” The teacher shows the Sound Wall Card /i/ and says, “The first sound in itch is /ĭ/. I can say: /ĭĭĭ/, itch. We see the letter Ii on this card because the letter Ii stands for the /ĭ/ sound. This sound is the short vowel sound for the letter Ii.” The materials provide teacher guidance on placement, manner, and voice.

  • In Week 13, Day 3, the teacher uses Word Construction Cards to build short /a/ words for students to read using the Construct and Read Words Strategy. The teacher models building words while the students follow along on their Spell Tabs. The teacher says, “Listen to me say each sound. Then I will blend the sounds to make a word: /mmm//a//t/, mat.” The teacher guides students to use the Finger-Blending Strategy to practice reading words mat, mats, pan, pans.

  • In Week 30, Day 1, the teacher uses the Sound Wall Cards for long a, i, o, u, explaining that each vowel stands for a long and a short sound, and when a silent e is added to the end of the word the vowel says its name. The teacher uses the Word Construction Card e, o, c, d to model how to build the word cod and how the o is short. The teacher then adds the letter e to the end of the word, making the word code and explaining that when the silent e is added to the end of the word, the o is long.

• Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.

  • In Week 12, Day 2, the teacher introduces two new Red Words, some and come. The teacher tells students the word has three sounds and models tapping and saying each sound. The teacher reads the word, sweeping a finger under the word. The teacher models matching letters to the sounds in the word, reminding students that the letter e is silent. The teacher repeats the process with the word come, saying, “Now we are going to learn another word that sounds very similar to the word some. We will change the /s/ sound to the /k/ sound.”

  • In Week 22, Day 2, the teacher uses Word Construction cards i, u, d, f, h, r, w, sh, Finger-Blending Strategy, and Spell Tabs to build the word wish. Students then change the /w/ to /f/ to create the new word, fish.

  • In Week 31, Day 2, the teacher uses Word Construction Cards y, b, c, d, m, k, r, s and the Finger-Blending Strategy to model reading the two letters and two sounds in the word by. The teacher then models changing the first letter to the letter m to make my and reads the word.

Lessons include blending and segmenting practice using structured, consistent blending routines with teacher modeling. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Introduction, Instructional Strategies, the materials explain the instructional routine for the Finger Blending Strategy. This strategy is used daily in conjunction with Word Construction Cards in the We Do portion of each lesson. The teacher builds and displays a word with the phonics pattern. Students say each sound while holding up one finger for each of the sounds. Then, students close their fist when they say the word aloud.

• In Week 14, Day 2, the teacher uses the Word Construction Cards a, c, n, p, t  to model constructing words using the Construct and Read Words Strategy. The teacher distributes Spell Tabs of the same letter for children to follow along. The teacher displays the Word Construction Cards c, a, p, and models how to blend each sound /k/, /ă/, /p/, cap using the Finger-Blending Strategy. This is repeated with the words cat and can.

• In Week 15, Day 3, the teacher displays the Word Construction Cards showing: a, i, b, h, m, n, p, r, s. The teacher tells the students they have learned how to build and read words that begin with h and r, using vowel letters a and i. The teacher models building and blending the words has, his, him, ham, rip, rib, ran using the Finger-Blending Strategy.

• In Week 30, Day 1, the teacher uses Word Construction Cards to build the word slid. The teacher says each sound and then models blending the sounds to read the word. The teacher tells students that there are four letters and four sounds in the word slid and tells students they will match the sounds to the letters they see. The teacher says each letter name and the sound for which it stands. 

Lessons include dictation of words and sentences using the newly taught phonics pattern(s). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Week 12, Day 5, students write the dictated sentence: I see a map.

• In Week 22, Day 4, the teacher models using Spell Tabs for the letters e, o, u, d, t, ck, sh to spell the dictated words shed, shock, shut. 

• In Week 30, Day 5, students write the dictated sentence: They gave me a white robe.

Materials include limited teacher guidance for corrective feedback when needed for students. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Materials include a Phonics Instruction Corrective Feedback Guide that provides limited information for guidance on providing corrective feedback. For example:

  • The Unit 2 Phonics Instruction Corrective Feedback Guide states:

    • Reteaching Letter Formation: Use the Parent Newsletters for at-home practice with uppercase and lowercase letter formation. Encourage children to practice letter formation using pages 120-123 in READ Book 2 or page 20 in READ Book 1.

The materials include decodable texts aligned to the phonics scope and sequence. Decodable passages are included in the READ book for each week. The lesson plans include opportunities for two reads of each passage, but lesson plans to support repeated reading lack detail beyond brief teacher reminders of the week’s phonics focus and Red Words. The program also includes a Decodables Library. While these texts are briefly mentioned in the lesson plans, there are no lesson plans for these texts; the materials indicate that these texts are intended to support small group or independent reading practice without clear guidance for use and implementation. 

Decodable texts contain grade-level phonics skills aligned to the program’s scope and sequence. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In Week 13, the Scope and Sequence indicates a phonics focus on the letters m, s, p, short a, t, n, and plural ending s. The week’s READ book includes the decodable text Sam and Nan Play, which includes the following short a words: Sam, sat, mat, had, pan, tap, taps, Nan, can. 

• In Week 19, the Scope and Sequence indicates a phonics focus on the letters w, z, v, short e, x, and y. The week’s READ book includes the decodable text Fox’s Box, which includes the following CVC words using x: Fox, Box, Ox, Fix.

Materials do not include detailed lesson plans for repeated readings of decodable texts to address acquisition of phonics skills. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In Week 21, Day 5, students reread the story Jill’s Big Mess. The teacher reminds students that when they see a double consonant, they will say only one sound. 

• In Week 24, Days 4 and 5, students read and reread the decodable text The Big Dog Gets a Bath. The teacher reminds students on both days: “When you see a digraph or a double consonant, you will say only one sound.”

Reading practice occurs in decodable texts (i.e., an absence of predictable texts) until students can accurately decode single syllable words. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Introduction, Getting Started, the materials state, “On Day 5 in the last week of each unit, the Decodable Books that reinforce the sound-spelling relationships and Red Words learned throughout the unit are listed. Teachers can use these Decodable Books during or after the unit of instruction is taught for small group instruction or independent practice.”  

• In Week 20, Days 4 and 5, students read the decodable text, The Ducks Are Up. The phonics focus of the week is on qu, short u, -ck, and -s. The decodable text includes the following words that connect to the phonics focus: sun, ducks, quack, quick, rub, dogs, pigs. This text includes the following Red Words: comes, we, the, has, me, he, be.

• In Week 31, Days 4 and 5, students read the decodable text I Spy. The text includes decodable words and previously taught Red Words without picture cues or predictable text.

The materials include weekly formative assessments in the form of Weekly Checks. These checks include phonetic encoding beginning in Week 12; however, assessments do not include decoding tasks where the students decode words themselves. The Weekly Checks include a document titled, Guidelines for Interpretation of Assessment Data, that provides general guidance for whole group and small group reteaching based on assessment data. Materials also include a document titled, Weekly Check Scoring Guidelines, which provides information for instructional next steps based on assessment data. The materials also include a beginning, middle, and end-of-the-year phonics assessment, which assesses students’ encoding skills. This assessment lacks information about students’ current levels but does provide teachers with instructional next steps based on assessment data. 

Materials regularly and systematically provide a variety of assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence in phonics; however, materials do not include decoding tasks. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Introduction, Downloadable Resources, the materials include a Kindergarten Beginning of the Year and Middle of the Year Phonics Assessments. Teachers can give this assessment to students as a whole group or in small groups. The Middle of the Year Phonics Assessment asks students to spell eight CVC words (tag, rock, jet, wish, sun, bell, not, miss). After the assessment is administered, each student’s spelling can be scored using the Student Scoring guide, with observations noted. The End of the Year Assessment is currently missing from the materials. 

• In the Introduction, Assessment-Weekly Check, the materials state that “on Day 5 of instruction each week, children will participate in a Weekly Check.” The materials provide the teacher with an overview of the weekly word check used to assess students’ progress in phonics. Teachers use the weekly assessments to monitor a student’s ability to apply phonemic awareness and phonics knowledge to spell words using the sound-spelling relationships and Red Words from the weekly lesson. 

• In Week 29, Day 5, the focus of the weekly lesson is on the following pattern CVCe with the long o or long u sound: /o/, /u/, /oo/. During the Weekly Word Check, students listen and spell the following words in isolation: bone, cube, smoke, home, mute, use. Students write both Red words and words using the spelling pattern in the context of a sentence: Her note was cute! and I rode on a mule.

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of phonics. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Introduction, Downloadable Resources, the materials include an optional Weekly Word Check Recording Sheet. This sheet includes columns for each student with the headings Target Skill Application, Red Words Application, Sentence Conventions (when applicable), and Next Steps for Instruction. The materials do not provide guidance for the use of this form aside from general directions to use the form to gather data and track student progress, then use the data they have gathered to inform small-group instruction or reteaching. 

• In the Introduction, Downloadable Resources, the materials provide teachers with a Weekly Word Check Recording Sheet. This document tells teachers it is an optional recording sheet to track assessment data and student progress with taught skills and Red words. These materials do not provide teachers with a way to determine their students’ progress relative to either a criterion cut score or normative benchmark for target skills. 

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of phonics. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Introduction, Downloadable Resources, the materials include an optional Weekly Word Check Recording Sheet. This sheet includes columns for each student with the headings Target Skill Application, Red Words Application, Sentence Conventions (when applicable), and Next Steps for Instruction.

Materials support teachers with instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in phonics. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Introduction, Downloadable Resources, the Kindergarten Beginning of the Year Phonics Assessment includes instructional support and next steps for teachers to use if they make any of the following observations of students’ encoding: difficulty writing initial sounds in VC and CVC words, writing initial sounds correctly, writing initial and final sounds correctly, writing complete words correctly. Supports include kinesthetic elements, manipulatives, modeling strategies, specific strategies to encourage student sound awareness, and the use of differentiation supports within the lesson plans. 

• In the Introduction, Downloadable Resources, the materials provide teachers with a Weekly Word Check Recording Sheet. This document tells teachers it is an optional recording sheet to track assessment data and student progress with taught skills and Red words. This document tells teachers to use the data gathered to inform small group instruction or reteaching.

• In the Weekly Checks, materials include a downloadable pdf titled, Weekly Check Scoring Guidelines, which provides information about instructional next steps with specific information for reteaching in small groups. 

• In the Weekly Checks, materials include a downloadable pdf titled, Guidelines for Interpretation of Assessment Data. This document provides general guidance for whole-group and small-group reteaching based on assessment data.

The materials provide consistent opportunities for students to engage in practice reading high-frequency words in isolation and in the context of sentences and decodable passages. Opportunities to write high-frequency words in tasks are inconsistent. The READ book offers opportunities to trace Red Words weekly, but weekly practice does not consistently include encoding Red Words outside of the Day 5 Weekly Check. 

Students practice decoding high-frequency words in isolation. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In Week 11, Day 2, students practice with the Red Words you and of in their READ books. The materials indicate that students should tap and say the sounds in each word. 

• In Week 16, Day 5, students read aloud the Red Word Cards had, on, not, got, help, her, and my.  

• In Week 13, Day 3, students use their Read Books to practice writing the Red Word play in isolation first, then reading the word in the following sentence: “I play.” The materials indicate that students should tap and say the sounds in the word play. 

• In Week 26, Day 4, students read aloud Red Word Cards how, now, down, find, just, they, there, and what. 

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to read high-frequency words in context. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In Week 12, Day 5, students reread At the Zoo in their READ book. The Red Words taught this week come and some are included in this story. Week 12 is the first week where students read Red Words in contact. 

• In Week 19, Day 2, students use the Read Book to read the Red Words  have, has in the context of the sentences, “I have a box,” and “He has a job.” 

• In Week 24, Day 3, students read a three-sentence decodable passage. The passage contains the week’s Red Words, they and there, as well as the previously learned Red Words the, to, do, you, come, by, and like. 

Lessons provide students with limited opportunities to encode high-frequency words in tasks, such as sentences, in order to promote automaticity of high-frequency words. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Encoding high-frequency words in tasks only occurs within Weeks 28-34. 

  • In Week 28, Day 2, students practice the Red Word your, writing the sentence, “What is your name?” in their READ books. 

  • In Week 34, Day 2, students write three sentences containing the Red Words there, from, they, what, you, and find in their READ books.

The materials include a Weekly Check that sometimes recognizes the week’s Red Words. A downloadable pdf titled Weekly Check Scoring Guidelines has been added to the materials, providing some information about instructional next steps for Red Words. In the Weekly Checks, materials also newly added include a downloadable pdf titled, Guidelines for Interpretation of Assessment Data. This document provides general guidance for whole-group and small-group reteaching based on assessment data; however, the focus is primarily on phonics instruction and not Red Words or Word Analysis. 

Materials provide a limited variety of assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence of word recognition and analysis. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Introduction, Downloadable Materials, the materials include a Kindergarten Red Words List. This list includes all of the year’s Red Words and includes a space to record “___/55.” The materials include no instructions for using this document as an assessment. 

• In Week 15, Day 3, Weekly Check, the teacher says the words my and by, and students circle the correct word from the word pairs my/me and bat/by. 

Assessment materials do not provide the teacher and students with information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of word recognition and word analysis. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Introduction, Downloadable Resources, the materials include an optional Weekly Word Check Recording Sheet. This sheet includes columns for each student with the headings Target Skill Application, Red Words Application, Sentence Conventions (when applicable), and Next Steps for Instruction. The materials do not provide guidance for the use of this form aside from general directions to use the form to gather data and track student progress, then use the data they have gathered to inform small-group instruction or reteaching. 

Materials support the teacher with instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in word recognition and word analysis. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In the Weekly Checks, materials include a downloadable pdf titled, Weekly Check Scoring Guidelines, which provides information about instructional next steps with specific information for reteaching in small groups. 

• In the Weekly Checks, materials include a downloadable pdf titled, Guidelines for Interpretation of Assessment Data. This document provides general guidance for whole-group and small-group reteaching based on assessment data; however the focus is primarily on phonics instruction and not Red Words or Word Analysis.