1st Grade - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria 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.

Grade 1 materials consist of 6 units. Some units are built around a topic and the texts that students read build knowledge and vocabulary towards learning of that topic. Other units are based on a theme and texts that students read are related to that theme. The Unit topics/themes are sometimes lacking depth and as a result the texts used in the Lesson Parts are not always strongly related to the topic/theme. The lessons do sometimes provide structured instructional tasks leading to students’ ability to complete a PROJECT that is aligned to the Unit topic/theme.

The texts within a unit are typically organized around a topic, but in some situations the texts do not relate to the given topic. For example, in Unit 2 students are learning about the topic “My Favorite Sweet!” but the texts do not relate to this topic. Some of the topics are vague, such as Unit 6, which focuses on “Our Community Celebrates!” Units that do not have a unit project do not have a guiding question or culminating task to help determine if the students are building knowledge on the given topic. The texts provided are not ample to help the students build knowledge and work towards reading complex text.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, the focus is “Story Writing.” Throughout Unit 1, students study the elements of a story (characters, setting, and plot). Some examples of these instructional tasks focused on building understanding of story elements:
• In Unit 1, Best Day Ever!, Project, students will read and analyze the author’s craft in these stories Stellaluna by Janell Cannon, “Dragons and Giants” from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel, Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming, What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page.
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Let’s Meet Stellaluna!, Part 2, students watch the BrainPop Jr. movie: Character and think about how you would describe Stellaluna.
• Unit 1, Lesson: Use Questions as a Reader and Writer, Part 2, students read the Poem “The Elephant” and think about how text and pictures work together by answering the following questions: “How would you describe elephants? How are they different from other animals? What details in the picture support these facts?”
• In Unit 2, the focus is “My Favorite Sweet!” In this unit students focus on word choice and vocabulary, with a culminating project of creating a poster of his or her favorite dessert or treat. Throughout this unit students read:
• A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech, The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill, Far From Home by Sue Pickford, and Going to School by Margaret Clyne, Rachel Griffiths, and Cynthia Benjamin.
• These texts do not build knowledge on the unit topic.
• In Unit 3, the focus is “Making Choices.” Throughout Unit 3, students are reading texts, engaging in discussion with their Learning Guide and writing about making choices. Some examples of these instructional tasks focused on building understanding of this topic are:
• In Unit 3, Lesson: The Winners Choice, Part 3, after reading The Winners Choice, students answer question in their ELA Journal: "What ideas do the teammates have about how to spend the money?"
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Things We Buy and Sell, Part 1, students fill out a Main Idea and Key Details Web after reading Goods and Services.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Supermarket and Goods, Part 2, after reading Both Goods and Services and Supermarket, students tell about how producers (the people who supply goods) and consumers (people who buy goods) are alike by using a Comparison Chart.
• In Unit 4, the unit focus is “Planting for the Future.”
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Meet the Characters of Arbor Day Square, Part 1, students read Arbor Day Square and practice retelling the story.
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Meet the Characters of Arbor Day Square, Part 4, students read the poem “Garden Tip” by George Shannon. The students use this poem to determine “What words or phrases in the poem appeal to the senses?”
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Comparing Information Between Texts, Part 4, students read How a Seed Grows. They use the text to practice asking questions about seeds and finding the answers in the text.
• In Unit 5, the focus is the “Natural World.” Throughout Unit 5, students are reading texts, engaging in discussion with their Learning Guide and writing about the natural world. Some examples of these instructional tasks focused on building understanding of this topic are:
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Message of King Kafu, Part 1, after reading King Kafu and the Moon, students will write a fairy tale about the moon.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Learn About Visiting the Moon, Part 1, the vocabulary for this lesson includes: glows, closer, valleys, smaller, orbit, possible, crescent, and astronauts.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Learning About the Sun, Part 5, to review some of the planets in the solar system that have many moons, students watch the video Exploring Our Solar System: Planets and Space for Kids.

In Unit 6, the unit focuses on “Our Community Celebrates!” Students read One Classroom, Many Cultures, A Picnic in October, Whose Is This?, and L is for Liberty.

• In Unit 6, Lesson: Reading One Classroom, Many Cultures, Part 4, students read One Classroom, Many Cultures and answer questions about how students are similar and different from one another.
• In Unit 6, Lesson: Understanding the Details of Whose Is This?, Part 2, students read Whose Is This? and start filling out a character web about two characters in the text. This text discusses different cultures and customs.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials contain a coherently sequenced set of text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts.

The questions posed throughout each unit require students to return to text selections in order to recall details, analyze various aspects of the text, and evaluate characters’ actions and motivations. Question sets are sequenced coherently within each lesson to support students in understanding the story elements, structure as well as author’s purpose, perspective, and craft. However, the focus of the questions do not consistently support students' building knowledge of a topic.

Some examples illustrating the sequences of questions and tasks include the following:

• In Unit 1, students read Stellaluna by Janell Cannon and discuss the characters, setting, and plot. After several reads they retell the story to their Learning Guide. This activity will help prepare students for writing their own narrative, but does not promote building knowledge.
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Reading to Find Out How How Animals Sleep, Part 1, students read Time to Sleep, focusing on text features and answer the following questions: “What information do the pictures and headings tell you? How do the pictures and headings help you understand the text?” In Part 2, students reread Time to Sleep and answer the following questions: “How do the text features help you find information quickly? What kind of information do you find?” In Part 3, students reread Time to Sleep and answer the following questions: “What kinds of details are in the book? What do they all have in common?” These questions are coherently sequenced, but focus on reading strategies instead of on topical content development.
• In Unit 4, Lesson: Characters of Arbor Day, Part 3, LEARN Card, students talk about the follwing questions with the Learning Guide and use examples from the story to support their answers: “Look at the last sentence on page 9. How is the heavy basket related to Mr. Klein placing an order? How did you figure this out? Point to the details in the text that helped you. Look at the first sentence on page 13. What comes on the train? How did you figure this out?” The focus of these questions are again on reading strategies instead of on knowledge building.

Some sequences of questions and tasks provide some exposure to building knowledge, although the teacher may need to supplement to assure that focus is held for students. Some examples include: 

• In Unit 4, Lesson: Information Between Texts, Part 4, LEARN Card, students write the answer to the following question in their ELA Journal: “What does a seed need to grow?” Students look in both The Life Cycle of an Apple Tree and How a Seed Grows for information. In this example, students are directed to not only comprehend the text,  but also to understand the larger topic. 
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Texts About the Moon, Part 2, students reread portions of both King Kafu and the Moon and Let’s Visit the Moon and answer the following questions: “How can I tell which one is a story? How can I tell which one is an informational text? How are the story and the informational texts alike? Think about what you learned in Let’s Visit the Moon. Read page 7 of King Kafu and the Moon. What can you figure out about why the moon looks big and bright and round? What details did the authors of King Kafu and the Moon and Let’s Visit the Moon give about what the moon can look like?” In this example, the texts read and some questions include support of building knowledge, but the teacher may need to supplement to assure that consistency.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts.

The Grade 1 Language Arts curriculum materials offer some opportunities for students to interact with and build academic vocabulary words in and across texts. Vocabulary is introduced at the start of almost every lesson in some units, but rarely referred back to during the instruction across the Lesson Parts. Word-learning strategies are the focus of the Benchmark Vocabulary lessons throughout some units to increase student independence when coming to unknown words in text. The Calvert Grade 1 instructional materials do not provide guidance for the Learning Guide that outlines a cohesive year-long vocabulary development component and there are limited opportunities for students to learn, practice, apply, and transfer words into familiar and new contexts. Examples of vocabulary outlined include:

• Vocabulary Lists:
• In Unit 1, Lesson: Reading to Find Out How Animals Sleep, Part 1 students are given a list of vocabulary words found in the text. The students and the Learning Guide are not given any instructions about these vocabulary words at this point in the lesson. In Unit 1, Reading to Find Out How Animals Sleep, Part 3 students choose from the words sleep, animals, and sort. They are then asked, “Draw a picture of it in your ELA Journal or textbook. Then write a sentence using the word.” These are three of the four words listed in Part 1 of this lesson.
• Unit 2, Lesson: Finding the Central Message Of A Fine, Fine School, Part 1 Vocabulary List: office, worried, younger, enormous, and cheer.
• Unit 4, Lesson: Meet the Characters of Arbor Day Square, Part 1 Vocabulary List: logs, lumber, neighbors, parade, prairie, sapling, shade, skips, soil, town, and unload.
• In Unit 5, Lesson: Read to Learn About Visiting the Moon, Part 3 students are given a list of vocabulary words for the text, but there are not instructions given regarding those words in that part of the lesson. Then, in Unit 5, Read to Learn About Visiting the Moon, Part 4 students are given questions to discuss with their Learning Guide and write in their ELA notebook. The Teaching Notes provide sample answers. The sample answers contain two vocabulary words, closer and orbit, and are placed in bold within the Teaching Notes. Other than bolding the words, there are no directions for the Learning Guide on how or if they should instruct students to use vocabulary words in their responses.
• High Frequency Words:
• Unit 6, Reading One Classroom, Many Cultures, Part 2 High Frequency Words: Student instructions state, “You can use what you know about sounds and letters to read some words. Some words you have to read by remembering the letters in them. Look at the words on the cards your Learning Guide shows you. Work with your Learning Guide to read the words on the cards”.
• Unit 6, Lesson: A Picnic in October, Part 3 High Frequency Words: Student instructions state, “You can use what you know about sounds and letters to sound and spell out some words. You must learn to spell some words by remembering the letters in them.Look at these words: the, never, one, others, looks, people, a, behind, ears, and into.Go over how to say these words with your Learning Guide. When you are finished, choose one of the words and write a sentence using it in your ELA Journal.
• Benchmark Vocabulary:
• Unit 2, Lesson: Discovering the Words of The Recess Queen, Part 2: Students are provided the following instructions when they come across a word they don’t know, “The words around a word you don’t know can give you clues. They help you figure out the meaning of the word you don’t yet know. There are also clues in the illustrations. Complete the Context Clues Chart. Look at page 33 in the story. The author uses the word swung. What does swung mean? You can find out by looking at the other words around the word swung. Write the word swung in the chart under Unknown Word. Then, write words you see nearby that help you figure out the meaning”.
• Unit 4, Lesson: Reading to Learn How Seeds Grow, Part 1: Students are instructed to do the following when they encounter an unknown word, “When you read, sometimes you find words that you don’t know. You can use the pictures and clues in the text to help you figure out the meanings of these words. Let’s use a Word Meaning Chart to figure out the meaning of the word seed on page 44. Look at page 44. The text says, “You can find apple seeds inside apples.” You know what an apple is. You know what inside means. Look at the picture on p. 45. You can see the inside of an apple. The little brown things inside the apple must be seeds.
• Unit 4, Lesson: Meet the Characters of Arbor Day Square, Part 1 Benchmark Vocabulary: Student instructions state, “Unit 4, Meet the Characters of Arbor Day Square, Part 1 Vocabulary List: logs, lumber, neighbors, parade, prairie, sapling, shade, skips, soil, town, and unload”.
• Unit 6, Lesson: Reading One Classroom, Many Cultures, Part 5 Benchmark Vocabulary: Student instructions state, “When you read, you will find words you do not know. Let’s look at some ways you can find the meaning of words you do not know. The first step when you see a word you do not know is to look for clues in the sentence. Do you know the other words? Do any of the words you know give clues about the meaning of the word you do not know? Next, see if you can break the word into parts. Is there a suffix on the word? Is it a compound word? Do you know the meaning of any of the word parts? You can always look in a dictionary if you cannot figure out the meaning of a word. The dictionary might give more than one definition. You have to find the definition that makes the most sense in the sentence where you found the word. Sometimes, you might have to use more than one step to find the meaning of a word. Let’s look at a word from One Classroom, Many Cultures. Read these sentences from page 3: Peek inside a store. Take a look at a park. Look at the word peek. Say the word with your Learning Guide. Are there clues in the sentence that can tell us what peek means? This word is a verb, which means it tells an action. Are there any other clues about the word’s meaning? Find the words prepare and design on page 8. Do you know the meanings of these words? If not, follow the steps above to find their meanings. If you know these words, find one word you do not know in the story. Find its meaning, and write a sentence using the word. Show your sentence to your Learning Guide”.
• Application of Vocabulary Activities:
• Unit 4, Lesson: Learn How Seeds Grow, Part 1 – Learn Card: Students use a Word Meanings Chart to figure out the meaning of the word seed on page 44.
• Unit 6, Lesson: Reading One Classroom, Many Cultures, Part 3: Students are instructed to do the following when they encounter unknown words, “Readers can figure out the meaning of words and phrases in a text by looking for clues in the words and pictures. They can then use the words and phrases to tell about what they have learned. With your Learning Guide, you will learn to find the meaning of a phrase that you do not know. Now, complete the Word Web with your Learning Guide. Look at the phrase “takes part in a fiesta” on page 12. Put this phrase in the middle of your Word Web. Look for clues in the words and pictures that tell you the meaning of the phrase. Write the clues in the bubbles on your Word Web”.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials include a progression of focused research projects to encourage students to develop knowledge in a given area by confronting and analyzing different aspects of a topic using multiple texts and source materials.

Units include some projects that incorporate research skills. Texts read throughout the given unit are at times, used to complete projects. Students complete projects that encourage them to utilize skills learned and develop knowledge of some texts and some sources. While opportunities for students to develop research skills are present, students do not necessarily need to analyze a topic in order to complete the project. There are opportunities for students to engage with print and digital materials through the LEARN Cards to increase their skills in order to pursue answers to questions related to the content.

• In Unit 1, Lesson: Use Questions as a Reader and Writer, Part 4, students complete work for their unit long project. In order to complete their narrative on the best day ever, students determine main events and details. The prompt states, “Now, you will choose the events that you are going to write about. You will only write about two or three events. The events you choose should be the most important ones. Then, you will think about the smaller details that will tell about these events.”
• In the Unit 2 Project, My Favorite Sweets, students create a poster of their favorite dessert or candy. This poster is created independently. While it is opinion based, students will need to research their candy to answer the following questions: "What is its history? How is it made? Why is it famous?" Students can complete this project without using information from the unit.
• In Unit 3, Lesson: Comparing Supermarket and Goods and Services, Part 5, students complete a short research project. The prompt states, “You will make connections about the people who get things ready to sell and the people who save money to buy things. You will find connections between producers and consumers. Think about the following questions as you read: What do the details of this text tell about producers? What do the details of this text tell about consumers?”