1st Grade - Gateway 1

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials provide explicit instruction to print and to practice the 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase).

Students frequently practice letter formation through a variety of sensory and multi-modal experiences. Students have opportunities to practice forming letters with a variety of materials and through large-muscle and small-muscle activities.

Teachers give consistent, specific directions on where students should begin and end their letter formation. There are directions to support the teacher in how to model and write all of the letters. However, multi-modal instruction and practice occurs primarily in center activities, which are flexible, and lesson plans do not provide the teacher with instruction on how or when to implement center activities. There are activities for students to practice printing uppercase and lowercase letters.

Materials include directions for the teacher concerning how to explain and model how to correctly form each of the 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase). Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 6-10, Whole Class Lesson, the teacher gives specific directions to students on how to write an uppercase and lowercase A.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 11-15, the teacher uses a piece of paper to help students learn how to write letters uppercase and lowercase I-O.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 16-20, teacher models forming uppercase and lowercase letters P-U.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 21 -25, the teacher models how to form uppercase and lowercase letters V-Z.

Materials include some opportunities for students to practice forming all of the 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase). Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1:
• Days 6 -10, students practice writing letters B, C, D, F, G, and H.
• Days 16-20, the students practice forming uppercase and lowercase letters P-U.
• Days 21 -25, students complete the Medium Rainbow letters activity for letters V-Z.
• In Student Activities Book, Steps 1-5, Handwriting, letters are taught as being “petal”, “root”, or “stem” letters (letters written above, below, or within the lines on a paper). Students are given pages to practice identifying and writing the letters based on where the letter is written (above, below, or within) the lines on a paper.
• In Student Activities Book, Steps 1-5, Handwriting, Handwriting Practice Sheets are provided for students to practice tracing and writing all 26 uppercase and lowercase letters.

Materials include some opportunities for students to practice forming letters using multi-modal and/or multi-sensory methods. Examples include, but are not limited to the following:

• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 11-15, the teacher calls out a letter of the alphabet and states whether the letter is to be uppercase or lowercase. Students write an invisible, large letter with their finger pointing in the air, forming the letter with correct directionality. This activity is repeated in four other lessons.
• Other multi-sensory and multi-modal activities are available in centers. However, centers are optional, so students might not have the opportunity to participate in these activities.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials provide instructional support for general concepts of print and connect learning of print concepts to books (Kindergarten-Grade 1) and provide cumulative review of print concepts, letter identification, and printing letters. (Kindergarten-early Grade 1).

There are many instructions for teachers to use when teaching certain print concepts such as ending sentences, word spacing, and directionality in reading left to right. However, the Kindergarten materials do not contain explicit instructional materials for teaching all print concepts. There are limited experiences for students to learn about print concepts with actual books. Books are provided which would allow a teacher to connect learning of print concepts to books, but there are no specific instructions for doing so. While the materials do provide some opportunity for some review of print concepts, letter identification, and letter formation, the review is not systematic or frequent.

Materials include sufficient and explicit instruction for all students about the organization of print concepts (e.g. recognize features of a sentence). Examples include but are not limited to the following:

Students have opportunities to recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (e.g., first word, capitalization, ending punctuation). For example;

• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 41-45, the teacher focuses on the distinguishing features of a sentence by directing to mark the first letter of each sentence and the end mark. This procedure is done in every Sentence Solving lesson.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 91-95, “Sentence Solving” Mini-Lesson, directions instruct teachers to have students point to the first letter in the sentence. The teacher should note that this letter is always uppercase.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 91-95, “Sentence Solving” Mini-Lesson, directions instruct teachers to have students point to the end mark, a period, which signals the end of a sentence. Students color/trace this end mark with the red crayon to mark where they STOP reading.
• In the Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 91-95, the teacher explains to students that end punctuation marks the end of the sentence. There are three marks that students will practice; question mark, exclamation point, and period. The teacher explains what each mark means.

Materials include limited lessons, tasks, and questions for all students about the organization of print concepts (e.g. recognize features of a sentence). Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 6-10, Center #2: “Book Explorers”, the teacher reminds students that every time there is a space, it means there is a new word starting.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 21-25, the students point to the first letter in the sentence. They are reminded that the first letter in the sentence is always uppercase.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 91-95, students complete the End Mark Sheets where they read the sentence and add ending punctuation based on inflection.

Materials include limited physical books (teacher-guided, such as big books) that are suitable for the teaching of print concepts. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 106-110, it references “Express Theater: Frog and Bug Sled.” The teacher provides students with a script, and students are assigned a role. Students are reminded to track along and attend to end marks.

Materials include limited instruction about the organization of print concepts (e.g., recognize features of a sentence) in the context of a book. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 1-5, contains a “Book Explorer” activity, the teacher talks about beginning book trait knowledge. This includes proper book handling, turning pages from front to back, looking at a page from top to bottom, and looking at text from left to right.

Materials consistently include limited opportunities for students to engage in authentic practice using print concepts in the context of student books. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 51-55, students track with their fingers as the teacher reads the book to them.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 66-70, students practice reading the black and white version of the book before reading the color book for practice without supports.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 41-45, students read the book, Short Vowel Ee Book. The teacher reads the books while students track with their fingers.

Materials contain periodic cumulative review opportunities during which the teacher reminds students about previously learned grade level print concepts, letter identification, and letter formation. Examples include,but are not limited to the following:

• No evidence found

Materials include limited opportunities for students’ practice of previously learned print concepts, letter identification, and letter formation. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 41-45, the teacher shows students the Flower Handwriting Displays. After discussing the three types of letter placement on handwriting lines, students write each letter into the correct box: Stem Letters, Petal Letters, and Root Letters.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 51-55, the teacher reads any book, and students are instructed to practice previous book handling skills.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials have daily opportunities for students to engage in phonological awareness activities through Kindergarten and early Grade 1.

There are limited activities for students to engage in activities and practice of phonological awareness. While there is practice of skills such as onsets, rimes, and rhyming words, activities often involve sound cards that contain graphemes, focusing on phonics skills rather than phonemic awareness. Materials do not include a variety of activities for phonological awareness in Steps 1-5. In the Gray Space activities, students say rhyming words, they blend words, and they identify sounds in the middle of the word. Students practice these skills every day during some weeks. However, the Gray space activities are suggested to use to fill spare time, therefore, there is no assurance that students will participate in these activities.

Materials include limited activities for phonological awareness. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 106-110, the teacher says a simple word with one long or short vowel. Students clap their hands together and hold their hands together if the vowel is short. Students stretch their arms long if the vowel is long. Students then isolate and repeat just the vowel sound in unison.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 131-135, the teacher says a word with a digraph at the beginning (ch, sh, th). Students put their hand on their head if they know the beginning digraph. The teacher calls on a student to say the answer, and then the students all say the digraph together.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 156-160, the teacher says, “I can think of a word. Can you rhyme with the word you hear?” The teacher says a word and the students say a word that rhymes.

There are limited opportunities for students to practice phonological awareness. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Yellow Teacher Planner, “I am Ready” Program, Days 11-15, the teacher or student flips over a picture card, and the teacher prompts the students to produce a rhyming word. The teacher repeats this five to ten times, flipping a card and having students rhyme.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 16-20, the teacher holds up a picture card, and students put a beanbag in a bucket labelled with the corresponding vowel sound.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Step 2 and Step 3, Days 101-105, the teacher presents a word, and the students count the number of syllables in the word.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Step 2 and Step 3, Days 146-150, the teacher says a word with a digraph and tells students to change the digraph for a different one to create a new word.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials provide explicit instruction in phonological awareness through systematic modeling across the K-1 grade band.

Materials provide limited systematic and explicit instructions for phonological awareness. Materials include some instructions in blending sounds into words, syllabication, and spoken words; however, no explicit instructions are provided for rhyming, phoneme isolation, phoneme addition, or phoneme substitution. While materials include some activities for these skills, many activities are included in Gray Space Activities or given as options for the teacher to choose. Because these activities are optional, the activities may not be presented to all students. Some activities are identified as Listen and Blend where students are asked to Plisten and blend words from individual phonemes; however, the examples provided do not align with instruction and the option to blend onset/rime is also present in the materials. Sound activities also include a grapheme when students complete activities. Materials do not systematically advance students through the development of phonological awareness skills and do not include advanced phonemic awareness activities such as sound substitution and deletion.

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

• Distinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Step 2 and Step 3, Days 106-110, Gray Space Activities, the teacher says a word with either a long or short vowel. The students clap their hands together if they hear a short vowel or stretch their arms wide if they hear a long vowel.
• Orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes), including consonant blends.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 96-100, Gray Space Activities, the teacher says the word clock, students change the cl blend, for bl, and then identify what word they hear.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Step 2 and Step 3, Days 126-130, Gray Space Activities, the teacher indicates to students that a word will be spoken, that the student needs to blend the sounds together, and that the word will start with a digraph. The teacher says “/ch/-pause-/i/-pause-/p/” and calls on one student or all students to say the word orally.
• Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single-syllable words.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 51-55, Gray Space Activities, the teacher says a Consonant/Vowel/Consonant (CVC) word and instructs the students to change the middle vowel to create a new word. The instructions give detailed information on what the teacher should say, such as, “The word is pat. Change the /a/ sound to /o./ What word do you hear?” There is a note provided that suggests that the teacher can do this activity with beginning or ending sounds as well. The materials provide one example for beginning, medial, and final sounds for the teacher to use.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 76-80, Gray Space Activities, the teacher says a word with a long or short vowel, and students repeat the medial vowel sound. One long vowel and one short vowel word is provided for the teacher.
• Segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds (phonemes).
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 36-40, Mini-lesson, the teacher uses CVC clip art and models how to segment a word. The teacher models with pictures of a cat, a bug, and a mop, and says “/b/-pause-/u/-pause-/g/.” The students identify the picture. However, teacher directions also provide options for segmenting by onset/rime instead of individual sounds. Additionally, the practice provided for students includes breaking words such as, clock, plug, list, into three sounds, as opposed to individual sounds, and then into onset/rime.

Materials provide the teacher with limited examples for instruction in syllables, sounds (phonemes), and spoken words called for in grade level standards. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 36-40, Whole Class Lesson, the teacher asks students to listen carefully as the teacher verbally stretches out words that have the medial short vowel sound: (e.g. bat, nap, run, get).
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 116-120, Gray Space Activities, students work on Switch a Blend. Materials provide examples such as: clock/block, truck/cluck, frog/clog for beginning blend change. For final blend change materials provide examples including: vest/vent, best/bent, past/pant.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 131-135, Gray Space Activities, the teacher is given 16 different short i words to use as examples of words that rhyme. Words include: blip, dip, drip, flip, grip, hip, lip, nip, quip, rip, sip, strip, trip, whip, zip, ship.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 156-160, Gray Space Activities, students work on Switch a Digraph. Materials provide examples such as: rink/rich, bash/bang/bank, such/sung/sunk.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials provide practice of each newly taught sound (phoneme) and sound pattern across the K-1 band.

Materials include limited multi modal/multi sensory activities for student practice of phonological awareness. Routines for multi modal/multi sensory activities are not consistent over the course of the year. Students have some opportunities to use body actions and their senses to practice identifying skills such as long vowels, short vowels, and digraphs; however, some of these activities include letter cards or written words that include print. Many of the opportunities to practice multimodal and multisensory activities are found in the Gray Space Activities, which are optional and therefore may not be presented to all students. Materials include limited opportunities for students to isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds in spoken single-syllable words. No evidence was found for student opportunities to segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds. Limited examples are provided for the teacher, and materials often prompt the teacher to find additional examples to use in lessons.

Materials provide some opportunities for students to practice each new sound and sound pattern called for in grade level standards. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Students have opportunities to distinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 96-100, the teacher shows students two motions: holding hands out wide to the side to depict long vowels and hands clapped and held together to show short vowels. The teacher shows Couple Card pictures and students say the word and use the motions to show the vowel sound they hear in the word. Students complete Student Activity Book (pages 493 & 495) where they say the word for each picture and color the bug in the long or short vowel column to choose the correct answer.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 111-115, the teacher asks students to name the five vowels. The teacher says a word, and students clap their hands together if it is a short vowel and stretch their arms wide if it is a long vowel.
• Students have opportunities to orally produce single-syllable words by blending sounds (phonemes), including consonant blends.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 101-105, students practice blending sounds to make words. Students have one time to practice this skill in the Gray Space Activity. Sample words provided include: clock/block, truck/cluck, frog/clog, best/bent, past/pant, duck/dump.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Gray Space Activity: “Listen and Blend”, Days 111-115, the teacher tells students, “I’m going to say a word in sounds. You need to blend the sounds together to make a word. The word will start with a blend.” One word, flat, is provided as an example.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Gray Space Activity: “Listen and Blend”, Days 126-130, the teacher tells students, “I’m going to say a word in sounds. You need to blend the sounds together to make a word. The word will start with a digraph.” One word, chip, is provided as an example.
• Students have limited opportunities to isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single-syllable words.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 106-110, page 66, Gray Space Activity, the teacher says a word with either a long or short vowel, and the students clap their hands together if they hear a short vowel or stretch their arms wide if they hear a long vowel. Students isolate and repeat just the vowel sound in unison.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 126-130, page 164, students practice isolating initial, medial, and final sounds. Materials include one example, using /ch/ /i/ /p/.
• Students have no opportunities to segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds (phonemes).
• No evidence found.

Materials include limited multi modal/multi sensory activities for student practice of phonological awareness. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 136-140, students practice acting out a word with a digraph that the teacher whispers into their ears.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 161-165, page 328, students put their hands on their heads if they know the beginning digraph of the given word.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 111-115, the teacher asks students to name the five vowels. The teacher says a word, and students clap their hands together if it is a short vowel and stretch their arms wide if it is a long vowel.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 96-100, the teacher shows students two motions: holding hands out wide to the side to depict long vowels and hands clapped and held together to show short vowels.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials emphasize explicit phonics instruction through systematic and repeated modeling.

Materials introduce phonics patterns systematically by providing an instructional routine that is consistently repeated with new sounds. The materials sometimes lack explicit explanations for students to fully understand concepts. Additionally, there are limited examples for the teacher to model before beginning guided or independent practice. There is an absence of explicit instruction on common inflectional endings. While there are reading passages that include plural words, there is not corresponding instruction specifically related to the plural endings. Lessons provide teachers with limited systematic and repeated instruction for students to hear, say, encode, and read each newly taught grade level phonics pattern because there is not always explicit practice with hearing, saying, writing and reading the phonics skills for each week.

Materials contain some explicit instructions for systematic and repeated teacher modeling of all grade level phonics standards. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Know the spelling-sound correspondences for common consonant digraphs.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 126-130, the teacher displays Couple Card pictures that begin with the digraphs /ch/, /sh/, and /th/, along with the letters ch, sh, and th. Students verbally state the name of the picture and name the digraph.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 156-160, the teacher points to the digraphs /ng/ and /nk/, and students color pictures on a practice page that contains ng and nk as an ending sound.
• Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 66-70, students are given a list of CVC words to read, pretend to type, and write. The following words are included: cup, hug, mud, nut, tug, run, fun, tub, hum, and cut.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 156-160, the teacher tells students what letters to put on their word mats. The teacher leads the students through sounding out each letter sound and decoding the word together by saying sounds slowly at first and getting faster each time.
• Know final -e and common vowel team conventions for representing long vowel sounds.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 181-185, the teacher writes the five vowels and explains that long vowels say their name. The teacher has students say the long /u/ sound several times.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186-190, the teacher introduces the Sneaky “e” that turns the vowel in a word into a long vowel sound. The teacher places the letter e onto the end of short vowel words to change them into long vowel words. Then students practice reading both the short vowel word and the long vowel word. Examples to choose from include rob to robe, rid to ride, and cap to cape.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 226-230, the teacher introduces the vowel team ee. It indicates in the lesson that the order vowel teams are taught are ee, ea, ai, oa, and ui. The teacher writes ee in a visible location, and students build words with the vowel team. Examples to choose from include tree, bee, three, and need.
• Use knowledge that every syllable must have a vowel sound to determine the number of syllables in a printed word.
• In Blue Teacher Planner Steps 2 and 3, Days 166-170, the teacher explains to students that each time their chin drops down when they say a word, it is a syllable. The teacher explains that words can be long or short and that words have more than one syllable. The teacher says a word with a hand beneath their chin and models wiggling their body for the different syllables.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 166-170, the teacher explain that multi-syllabic words are words with more than one syllable, that “multi-” stands for multiple, that each syllable in multi-syllabic words has a vowel (long or short) like the word basket.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 216-220, the teacher explains that: “each syllable in multi-syllabic words has a vowel (long or short). The teacher shows and reads basket. The teacher asks students if they have heard of -et. The teacher explains that -et has a vowel, but it is not an actual word.
• Decode two-syllable words following basic patterns by breaking the words into syllables.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 171-175, Whole-Class Lesson, students are given a multi-syllabic spelling list from Express Spelling, page 185. The teacher guides the students to decode the sixteen words. The words include: rabbit, seven, insect, and wagon. Students decode the words, count the syllables, and then practice writing each word.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 216-220, the teacher writes the word napkin in a visible place. The teacher circles nap and then kin, explaining that multi-syllabic words can be read in parts, and each part has a vowel. The teacher explains that chunking words into smaller parts can help the task of decoding easier and more manageable.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, the teacher explains that chunking words into smaller parts help to make the task of decoding easier and more manageable. Students choose a word from the pile and circle all syllables in the word, separated by spaces and decode each part separately. Students combine the two decoded parts orally to make one word.
• Read words with inflectional endings.
• No evidence found

Lessons provide teachers with limited systematic and repeated instruction for students to hear, say, encode, and read each newly taught grade level phonics pattern. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 106-110, students decode a word that is beneath a picture and circle the word with a crayon. As an extension, students can label the picture by writing the word next to the object in the picture.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 111-115, the teacher points to the blends of /pl/, /sl/, /st/, and /sp/ and has students repeat the sound of the blend. Students are provided a practice page where they color the pictures that begin with the identified blends. In the same five day instructional sequence, another mini-lesson occurs where students build words with the blends and read the words after they build them.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 136-140, the teacher introduces an instructional sequence taking the students from sorting picture cards by digraph sounds /ch/, /sh/, and /th/, to identifying the digraphs in orally stated words to writing the words in a spelling list. Words include: this, sloth, thick, and that.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 206-210, Missing Word, Practice Page (page 27), students circle the word they read and write that word beneath the picture it corresponds to.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 211-215, the teacher writes the words upset, backside, and escape. The teacher reminds students that each syllable in a word is a unit that contains a vowel. The teacher models by circling the vowels in the word upset. The teacher covers set with their hand and asks students to decode up. The teacher covers up with their hand and asks students to decode set.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials promote frequent opportunities for students to practice decoding phonetically regular words in a sentence.

The Grade 1 materials provide students with frequent opportunities to decode words in a sentence. There is some explicit instruction of students decoding in sentences. However, not all lessons provide clear, explicit instruction or directions on applying phonetically regular words in a sentence. The explicit, systematic practice for decoding words is limited to general instruction of helping students including the instructions of “say sounds according to letter-to-sound correlations.” Some opportunities for decoding words occur during centers, so the teacher needs to purposefully select those centers in order for students to practice decoding. The weekly phonics text allows students to practice decoding words in a sentence, but reading this text does not occur daily, so this activity does not provide substantial practice opportunities to decode words in sentences.

Materials provide explicit, systematic practice for decoding phonetically regular words in a sentence. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 106-110, Mini-Lesson, the teacher provides Silly Sentence words and models how to choose a Bug card (a noun) and a Frog card (a verb), how to decode each word, write a sentence, and draw a corresponding picture. Students draw their own cards, create a sentence, read the sentence they created, and draw a picture to match.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 126-130, the teacher facilitates the reading of the book, Chimp Gets a Check-up. The teacher tells students to look carefully at the phonics and sounds in the words on the first reading of words and to slow down. Directions prompt students to provide examples of this information to students before they read independently.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 126-130, the teacher draws a picture of a fish and writes the sentence, “The fish is in a dish.” Once the teacher has decoded and read the sentence with students, the teacher helps students to notice that the picture is missing the fish in a dish.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 131-135, the teacher creates a sentence out of the words frog and bug. The teacher models decoding each word one at a time and recognizing the word the at the beginning of the sentence.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to decode words in a sentence. Evidence includes but is not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 126-130, students read the sentence on their practice page and add to the picture to make the sentence true.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 141-145, students read the book, Chimp Camps, which has sentences and words with digraphs /ch/, /sh/, and /tch/ that students must decode.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 156-160, during the Cloze activity, “Duck Sings a Song,” students read sentences that have missing words. Then students pick which word makes sense in the sentence and reread the sentences to self-check the meaning.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials include daily practice opportunities for students to build/manipulate/spell and encode grade-level phonics, including common and newly-taught sound and sound patterns.

Materials include limited modeling in encoding, building, and manipulating words and modeling of each skill is not included in the daily lessons. Some opportunities occur only in centers, which are flexible. The materials include explicit instructions on how to find the letter, say the letter sounds, model how to blend the words, and have students track their blending. Some lessons include student practice opportunities with no or limited teacher modeling.

The materials contain some teacher-level instruction/modeling for building/manipulating/ spelling and encoding words using common and newly-taught sound and spelling patterns of phonics. Evidence includes but is not limited to the following:

• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 31-35, the teacher guides students in building the words in a Center: Wonder Words. To make the word bin on a Wonder Mat, the teacher models putting the letter b in the first spot, the letter i in the second spot, and the n in the third spot.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 41-45, the teacher guides students in building the words in a Center: Wonder Words. The teacher says, “We are going to build the word ‘wet.’ What sound do you hear at the beginning of the word w-w-w-et. Which letter makes the /w/ sound? Point to that letter.” The teacher guides students to build the word wet.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 206-210, during Center #7: Silly Sentences, students place words with a Bug (nouns) on the back into one container and a Frog (verbs) on the back in the other container. The teacher models picking one word from each bucket and decoding each word. Then the teacher models having the students write the sentence they make from the word.

Lessons provide students with limited opportunities to build/manipulate/spell and encode words in isolation based in common and newly-taught phonics patterns. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 101-105, Mini-Lesson, students practice building the words, band, vest, and best by using letter cards and a mat. The students first build the words, then sound them out. In this lesson, students practice substituting the first sound and changing the beginning sound in vest to make the word best.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186-190, the teacher picks a Couple Card with /a_e/. The teacher writes one of the words in a visible place and puts a rectangle around the ending rime. The teacher writes cake and explains that they can make a rhyming list by taking the ending and adding a different onset/beginning sound. Students create a list of rhyming words. Students use the rhyming picture paper and write the two beginning words on the line and then put a rectangle around the ending rime of each word.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 211-215, students practice writing u_e words for a second time on practice pages. Students choose four words from the list and write sentences using the words.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials promote application and encoding of phonics in activities and tasks. (mid Kindergarten-Grade 2)

Materials provide limited opportunities for application and encoding of phonics in activities and tasks. There is limited evidence of explicit, systematic instruction and modeling that demonstrates the use of phonics to encode sounds to letters and words in writing tasks. During lessons containing teacher modeling, the instructions give broad statements for the teacher, including statements such as, “Teachers demonstrate writing the sentences.” Teacher resources do not provide further explicit instructions on how to demonstrate encoding words when writing.

Materials include limited explicit, systematic teacher-level instruction of teacher modeling that demonstrates the use of phonics to encode sounds to letters and words in writing tasks. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 121-125, Center #7: Silly Sentences, the teacher draws words from two piles of cards to create a sentence. The teacher demonstrates writing the sentences, modeling the uppercase letter at the beginning of the sentence, correct word spacing, and ending punctuation.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 131-135, Center #7: Silly Sentences, students create Silly Sentences. The teacher uses a sample paper and teacher materials to demonstrate how to complete the activity. Teacher instructions state that the teacher should model how to decode each word one word at a time and recognize the word the.

Lessons provide students with limited activities and tasks to promote application of phonics as they encode words in sentences or in phrases based on common and newly taught phonics patterns. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 96-100, students are provided a spelling list that they received during a whole-class lesson in the five-day instructional sequence. During the whole class lesson, students practice writing the words for a second time. They choose four words and write four sentences, each sentence containing one word.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 106-110, during the “Express Sentences,” students write phonetic words in sentences. The words have /fl/ and /fr/ sounds.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 111-115, students pick a word from the Bug and Frog bucket. After they create a sentence, they write the sentence in their book.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 131-135, students reread one of the phonics books they have read from Step 3. Then they write a “Thought Report” about their opinion of the book.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 4 and Step 5, Days 186-187, during Center #7 Word Hunt a_e, students look through a book for words with a_e. Students write one word in each box of their paper and draw a picture of the word.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials include systematic instruction of high-frequency words and practice opportunities of high-frequency words to develop automaticity.

The materials include instruction for 48 Sticky Words from Step 1 through Step 5 over 175 instructional days.(Sticky Words are sight words or words that can not be decoded at a student's current reading level) Although whole group instruction matches Center activities in regard to the Sticky Words in the lesson, words are introduced by a simple, repetitive procedure where a teacher places one Sticky Word on the board and then instructs students to listen for that particular word in a book from the classroom library. The book chosen is likely to have the Sticky Word, but there is no specified number of times the students will hear it. Additionally, the materials do not ensure that the students will see any of the words as the teacher reads to consolidate the visual image of the word with the way that the word is pronounced. Students are provided opportunities in Centers to practice writing Sticky Words, but spelling of these words is not explicitly taught as students trace and copy the Sticky Words. Strategies for slapping or tapping a Sticky Word provides opportunities for a student to identify a word heard aloud, but not the opportunity to read the word independently. Furthermore, the number of Sticky Words may not be enough for students in Grade 1 depending upon where the student began instruction in the Express Readers program.

Materials include some systematic and explicit instruction of irregularly spelled words. Evidence includes but is not limited to the following:

• Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 101-105, the teacher provides students with Step 2 Sticky Word flashcards and places them on the floor. The teacher reads each word one time as students jump on or next to the word being read aloud.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, the teacher tells the students to put honey on the Sticky Words because they are Sticky. The teacher explains that a Sticky Word is a word that students can get stuck on.

Materials include some opportunities for the teacher to model the spelling and reading of irregularly spelled words in isolation. Evidence includes but is not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 96-100, the teacher displays all the Sticky Words display cards for Step 2. The teacher places the word see in the middle of the board and chooses a story from the class library to read. Students place their hands on their heads if they see or hear the word see.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 131-135, the teacher picks a Sticky Word hunt paper prior to completing Center #2. The teacher writes the words on the bottom of the page.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 136-140, the teacher lines up the words one at a time. The teacher says a word, and the students hop to that word.

Students practice identifying and reading irregularly spelled words in isolation. Evidence includes but is not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 131-155, students are given a worksheet titled, Sticky Word Hunt. Students are instructed to find three words on the page. The blank boxes at the end of the worksheet is for the teacher to write the three words students must find. The words to find are determined by the teacher. There are a total of 61 words on the worksheet, and some are Sticky Words while others are not.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 151-155, one student calls out a word, and students find it on their bingo card. Students read back each of the words if they get a Bingo.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 161-165, students have a fly swatter or another tool. When the teacher says the Sticky Word, the students slap the card.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 196-200, students are given the Sticky Word hunt paper. The students use three different colors to identify the Sticky Words". They scan and track each line to find the Sticky Words .

Materials include a limited quantity of new grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words for students to make reading progress. Evidence includes but is not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, students are introduced to the following Sticky Words: to, come, does, have, like, of, put, see, all, are, good, she, where. In the Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, students are introduced to the following Sticky Words: again, do, her, my, say, says, some, there, they, want, when and you, could, no, now, our, said, we, what, why.
• In Teacher Guidebook, "I am Ready" Program, provides a table listing all Sticky Words introduced in the phonics books. Steps 2-5, identified as corresponding to first grade, contain seven words (come, does, have, like, of, put, see) in Step 2, five words (all, are, good, she, where) in Step 3, twelve words (again, do, her, my say, says, some, there, they, want, when, you) in Step 4, eight words (could, no, now, our, said, we, what, why) in Step 5.
• In Student Activities Book, Steps 1-5, pages 29-36, materials provide flashcards for all Sticky Words in Steps 2-5.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials provide frequent practice opportunities to read and write high-frequency words in context (sentences).

There are multiple opportunities for students to read high-frequency words through the use of decodable books and sentence solving activities; however, materials lack opportunities for students to write high-frequency words in sentences. Students are provided opportunities to write sentences as they complete sentence starters; however, the completed sentences may or may not contain high-frequency words.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to read grade level irregularly spelled words in a sentence. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 101-105, students read the decodable book, Duck has a Nest. The Sticky Words in the book are for, he, the, and too. Students are told to “find the Sticky Words and color the words with a yellow crayon. Students read the book with a partner and then reread sentences if they need to slow down to decode or identify words.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 126-130, the students go through the book, Chimp Gets a Check-Up. They locate each Sticky Word and highlight it. Once they have located the Sticky Words, they read the book.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 146-150, students first read every Sticky Word at the top of the page in the practice page activity. Students read each sentence, pausing where the word is missing. Students decide which Sticky Word is missing and write it in that space. Students go back and read the sentence again to see if that word makes sense.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 166-170, students scan and find a specific Sticky Word. The students count how many times they found the Sticky Words and write it on the bottom of the book.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186-190, the students read the decodable book Snake 1 and Snake 2. The listed Sticky Words include they, do, are, like have, the, to, and be. Students are told to find the Sticky Words and color the words with a yellow crayon. Students read the book with a partner and then reread sentences if they need to slow down to decode or identify words.

Lessons provide students with limited opportunities to write grade level irregularly spelled words in tasks such as sentences) in order to promote automaticity in writing grade level irregularly spelled words. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, the students trace the Sticky Words where and are. They practice writing them on the line.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186-190, Center 1, the students are given Spelling List #1, which contains 16 words. Two of the 16 words are Sticky Words. Students are instructed to choose four words from the spelling list and write sentences using those words.
• In Student Activities Book, Steps 1-5, Sticky Words Tab, there are worksheets for practice writing Sticky Words include tracing the word, practice writing pages,and Sticky Words books. These activities are used in centers.
• In Express Spelling, Steps 1-5, students are given a packet of spelling activities which includes a page for students to write a sentence for four of the spelling words and a page for writing all of the words two times each. Students get to pick which four spelling words they write in sentences.

Materials provide limited instruction in how to use student friendly reference materials and resources and reading irregularly spelled words (e.g., word cards, word lists, word ladders, student dictionaries). Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 51-55, the directions state, “Teachers give each student a copy of the Sticky Words Flash Cards to cut and keep in the desk/at their table for activities or to take home for practice.”
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 126-130, during the activity, the teacher displays the Sticky Word Display Cards.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials explicitly teach word analysis strategies (e.g.,phoneme/grapheme recognition, syllabication, morpheme analysis) based on the requirements of the standards and provide frequent practice opportunities for students to apply word analysis strategies.

Materials provide explicit instruction in syllabication through defining the term and modeling segmenting spoken words into syllables. Students are taught to identify blends by coloring them in a decodable book in order to draw attention to the blend while reading. Additionally, students are provided opportunities to blend onset/rimes to read new words, and the teacher explicitly explains that the new word is made by changing the onset, or beginning sound. There is a lack of explicit instruction in decoding unfamiliar words. There is limited explicit instruction of phoneme and grapheme recognition and morpheme analysis. Additionally, there is limited evidence that indicates multiple and varied opportunities being provided over the course of the year for students to learn, practice, and apply word analysis strategies.

Materials contain limited explicit instruction of word analysis strategies (e.g. phoneme/grapheme recognition, syllabication, morpheme analysis). Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 191-195, the teacher explains that words can be long or short. The teacher further explains that a syllable is one unit of sound and has a vowel. The teacher explains that every time your chin drops, you are saying a vowel.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 211-215, the teacher says a letter name and asks the students to put their finger on the letter. The teacher says another letter, blend, or digraph and asks students to put their finger on the card that makes that sound. The teacher repeats the letter, blend, or digraph while having the students repeat it.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 226-230, the teacher explains, “When two vowels team up, they should say the first one"s name.” The teacher displays the vowel team and asks students to repeat the sound. The teacher builds words using the spelling pattern, and students decode these words as a group. The teacher states a word with the vowel team, and students find the correct letter cards to build the word.

Materials contain limited explicit instruction of word solving strategies to decode unfamiliar words. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 116-120, students practice the book Duck and the Mess, and students color the blends throughout the book. The teacher helps students make corrections by prompting the students to identify whether the words are decodable or not and by looking back at the letters and slowly saying each sound in order.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186-190, the teacher chooses a card with a /a_e/ pattern and writes the word in a visible place. The teacher explains that students can make a rhyming list by taking this ending and adding a different onset or beginning sound. Students write a word list with the same rime.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 216-220, the teacher helps students to chunk words that have multiple syllables when they are reading the book, Cat Gets a Scare.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 236-240, the teacher helps the students to locate the “Slow Down Sounds” /ea/ and /ee/ in the book and draw a box around the two-syllable words.

Limited varied opportunities are provided over the course of the year for students to learn, practice, and apply word analysis strategies. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186-190, students build new words. They start with the word flake. The teacher explains that there is one sound difference between make and flake. Students are asked what sound they hear that is different. The students put the sounds together and build the word on their mats.
• In Orange Teacher Planner Steps 4 and 5, Days 211-215, the teacher helps students find the two-syllable words mentioned in the Slow Down Sounds, and students draw a box around the words.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 2 and Step 3, Days 246-250, students read the decodable book, Fish Gets Clean, and color the vowel teams throughout the book. The teacher helps students chunk two-syllable words.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials provide opportunities for students to engage in decoding practice focused on accuracy and automaticity in Kindergarten and Grade 1.

Materials provide opportunities for students to practice decoding after the teacher has modeled decoding by pointing to sounds and blending the sounds together to read a CVC word. The teacher provides students with reminders regarding the components of accuracy. Instruction lacks systematic and explicit routines focusing on accuracy and automaticity.

Materials provide some systematic and explicit instruction and practice in fluency by focusing on accuracy and automaticity in decoding. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 96-100, students read the book Duck and His Mom. Students engage in simultaneous reading with the teacher. Instructions state, ”Teachers help students to self-correct when making mistakes.”
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 111-115, when students read the book Frog Hunts For a Pal, there is a fluency practice protocol that goes along with the book. The teacher focuses on reading for punctuation, taking breaths while reading, and reading with a pace that is not too slow or too fast.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 121-125, the lesson objectives state that students should practice decoding phonetically regular words in a sentence and practice self-correcting mistakes made in decoding. Students are given the book, Frog And The Plant. Students read the book first independently either silently or out loud and then with a partner. The teacher instructs students to decode each word, to look back at words that might not make sense in the sentence, and to decode again.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 126-130, the teacher explains that it is acceptable to read slowly and carefully. The teacher explains that reading slowly is a wonderful way to discover the words and avoid making mistakes, but we often need to reread text in order to understand and to make the story come alive.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 141-145, the teacher materials state that Step 3 books are to be read with more expression, while still emphasizing competency in accuracy, pace, and rhythm.

Materials provide some opportunities for students in Kindergarten and Grade 1 to engage in decoding practice focused on accuracy and automaticity. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 146-150, students read the text Pig Has a Bath. The teacher instructs students to decode each word and look back at words that might not make sense in the sentences to decode again. Students then read the short story independently or with a partner.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 151-155, the students get their favorite book from the Express Readers phonics books and get a copy of the coloring book. The teacher partners students with another student to read the book. The teacher reminds students to read for punctuation, read with expression and read slowly and carefully.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 161-165, students practice rereading the Express Theater with their partner or a small group. The teacher models fluency and expression. Students complete this by choosing their favorite of the three scripts and work with the students.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that instructional opportunities are built into the materials for systematic, evidence-based, explicit instruction in fluency (Grades 1-2).

Materials provide opportunities for explicit, systematic instruction in fluency elements. There is explicit fluency instruction where students listen to text being read aloud by a model reader. There are fluency protocols in place to guide fluency instruction. However, students primarily read phonics decodables and do not have explicit interaction with a variety of texts. Students are paired with classmates for readings or rereadings of decodable phonics books, but it is not specified as to whether the partner is a fluent reader who can model accurate reading. The instructions for teachers include modeling examples and non-examples for fluent reading. There is a lack of evidence regarding explicit instructions in fluency beyond the initial modeling by the teacher.

Materials include frequent opportunities for explicit, systematic instruction in fluency elements using grade-level text. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 106-110, students read the phonics decodable text, Frog and His Sled. The teacher explains that it is acceptable to read slowly and carefully. The teacher tells students that it is acceptable to reread in order to consolidate understanding. Students are instructed to use intonation, to read for punctuation, and to read with a rhythm and consistent pace.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 121-125, the teacher materials state that reading a text multiple times increases accuracy and automaticity. The teacher tells students to look for the punctuation marks and to take a breath or pause between sentences while reading Duck Up a Hill.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 196-200, in the Express Theater section, Duck and The Cub Bake a Cake, the teacher models the effect of fluency, reading smoothly, with proper rate and breath-taking when reading. The teacher reminds students of the purpose of end marks.

Materials provide opportunities for students to hear fluent reading of grade-level text by a model reader. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 131-135, the teacher models reading the book, Dog and the Gift. There are general fluency protocols that the teacher follows while the teacher models reading the text.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 141-145, the teacher models reading the book with students. The teacher materials state that the specific focus for Step 3 books is for students to read with more expression and with accuracy, pace, and rhythm.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 111-115, students read the book Frog Hunts For a Pal. Students first read the book as a whole group and then practice with a partner, switching off reading sentences in the book out loud.

Materials include some resources for explicit instruction in fluency. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 106-110, students read the play: Frog and Bug Sled. Teacher instructions include a focus on fluency.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 121-125, students read the phonics story, Duck Up a Hill. The lesson contains a fluency practice protocol that the teacher explains to students. This protocol includes that readers take a breath when there is punctuation and that they read the text slowly at first to avoid making mistakes, then reread the text to build understanding. There is also a specific focus statement in the planner that says, “The focus for Step 2 books is to read with more accuracy and practice the book in order to read with proper pace and rhythm.”
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 151-155, the students read their favorite Express Readers phonics book. The teacher makes sure that every student has a different book. The teacher walks the room and listens for students reading with automaticity and fluency. The teacher reminds students to read with punctuation, expression, and appropriate rate

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that varied and frequent opportunities are built into the materials for students to engage in supported practice to gain oral reading fluency beginning in mid-Grade 1 and through Grade 2 (once accuracy is secure).

Students have an opportunity to reread a decodable book introduced during the whole-class lesson, after it has been read once with the teacher and used in a center activity. One center consistently focuses on rereading texts after whole-class lessons; however, Centers are supplemental and not required to be completed, so there is not a guarantee that each student will have the opportunity to participate in the center. Feedback and guidance from the teacher is limited to general reminders about slowing down, thinking if the word makes sense, or trying to read again. There is a lack of evidence regarding specific feedback suggestions. There are frequent opportunities for students to read short stories and phonics books to practice fluency. There is opportunity for self-correction procedure that is used to help students build automaticity and fluency.

Opportunities are provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to gain oral reading fluency. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Days 96-105 includes a phonics book, and Days 106-121 includes a short story and a phonics book that students read. Days 126-135 has a phonics book, and Days 136-145 have a short story and a phonics book. Days 146-150 have a short story, and Days 151-155 includes a phonics book share. Days 156-160 and 166-170 have a phonics book that students read during the lesson.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 126-130, students read Chimp Gets a Check-Up simultaneously with the teacher and then reread the book with a partner.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 131-135, students read Dog And The Gift simultaneously with the teacher and then reread the book with a partner.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 136-140, students read Fish Had a Wish during the whole-group lesson.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 141-145, students read the story Chimp Champs during the whole group lesson.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 201-205, students read Pig Hikes simultaneously with the teacher and then reread the book with a partner.

Materials contain some opportunities for students to participate in repeated readings of a grade-level text to practice oral reading fluency. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 116-120, students reread Duck and the Mess, which was introduced in a whole-class lesson during the five-day instructional sequence. Students reread with the teacher, a stuffed animal, or a classmate, and then the teacher facilitates an additional reread.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 126-130, students read Chimp Gets a Check-Up reader’s theater script multiple times, as a group, or independently, asking the teacher for clarification if there are words or sounds that are difficult to identify.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 131-135, students reread Dog And The Gift, which was introduced in a whole-class lesson during the five-day instructional sequence. Students reread with the teacher, a stuffed animal, or a classmate, and then the teacher facilitates an additional reread.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 216-220, students reread Cat Gets a Scare, which was introduced in a whole-class lesson during the five-day instructional sequence. Students reread with the teacher, a stuffed animal, or a classmate, and then the teacher facilitates an additional reread.

Materials include guidance and feedback suggestions to the teacher for supporting students’ gains in oral reading fluency. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 96-100, there is a self-correct procedure where the teacher helps students to self-correct when making mistakes. The students identify whether the word is decodable or not, look back at the letters, slowly say each sound in order, and think about whether the word makes sense in the sentence.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 96-100, the teacher explains to students to read punctuation. The teacher gives an example by ignoring punctuation for two or three sentences, blurring the sentences, and not pausing or taking breaths.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 126-130, while reading the book Chimp Gets a Check-Up, the teacher helps with self-correcting by reminding students to think about the sentence as a whole and whether the words make sense in context, to look carefully at the phonics and sounds in the words on the first reading of words, to slow down when reading, and to identify whether the word is a Sticky Word or decodable.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 131-135, while reading the Express Theater book Dog and the Gift, if students make an error in a sentence, they are encouraged to try the entire sentence again in order to allow others to understand the content by hearing the sentence as a whole.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 206-210, while reading the book The Snakes Race, the teacher helps students to self-correct when making mistakes by identifying whether the word is decodable, looking back at the letters and saying each sound in order, and thinking about whether the word they read makes sense.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that materials provide teacher guidance to support students as they confirm or self-correct errors and emphasize reading for purpose and understanding.

Materials include strategies for how the teacher can help students self-correct errors. Although the teacher is prompted to give reminders about using looking carefully at the sounds in words, there is a lack of specific instructions on how to confirm students' use of the strategies and how to make students aware if they chose the correct strategy based on the error they made. The materials contain learning objectives and teacher discussion questions for students to understand the decodable texts; however, the materials do not give an opportunity for the teacher to state the purpose for reading or provide a think-aloud during reading to guide students’ understanding.

Materials provide explicit lessons for the teacher in confirming and self-correcting errors in fluency. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 61-65, for the text, Bug has a Hut, the teacher is to help students self-correct when making mistakes by identifying whether the word is decodable or not, looking back a the letters and slowly saying each sound in order, and thinking about whether the word they read makes sense in the context of the sentence and the picture on the page in order to self-check accuracy.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 111-115, for the text, Frog Hunts for a Pal, the teacher is to help students self-correct when making mistakes by identifying whether the word is decodable or not, looking back a the letters and slowly saying each sound in order, and thinking about whether the word they read makes sense in the context of the sentence and the picture on the page in order to self-check accuracy.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 206-210, for the text, The Snakes Race, the teacher is to help students self-correct when making mistakes by identifying whether the word is decodable or not, looking back a the letters and slowly saying each sound in order, and thinking about whether the word they read makes sense in the context of the sentence and the picture on the page in order to self-check accuracy.

Materials do not provide opportunities for students to practice using confirmation or self-correction of errors.

Multiple opportunities are provided over the course of the year for students to read on-level texts (Grades 1-2) for purpose and understanding. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 101-105, the teacher provides students with the text, Duck Has a Nest. The teacher is provided with example questions to ask students such as, “What does ‘risk’ mean?” and “Why would it be a ‘risk’ to have a nest on top of a bus?”
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Step 3, Days 116-120, the teacher asks students to predict what the book Duck and the Mess is about by looking at the picture on the cover. Suggested questions are also provided for the teacher to ask after reading the story.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 236-240, the teacher provides students with the text, Dog’s Feast. The teacher is provided with example questions to ask students, such as, “What happens because of Dog’s fall?” and “How is the problem solved at the end of the story?”

Materials contain limited explicit directions and/or think-alouds for the teacher to model how to engage with a text to emphasize reading for purpose and understanding. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, Days 101-105, the teacher provides students with the book Duck Has a Nest. The objectives include, “to engage students in oral language and discussion of text being read.” The teacher is provided with example questions to ask students, such as, “What does ‘risk’ mean?” and “Why would it be a ‘risk’ to have a nest on top of a bus?”
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 236-240, the teacher provides students with the text, Dog’s Feast. The objectives include, “to engage students in oral language and discussion of text being read.” The teacher is provided with example questions to ask students, such as, “What happens because of Dog’s fall?” and “How is the problem solved at the end of the story?”