Kindergarten Report Overview

The materials for Kindergarten partially meet the expectations for alignment to research-based practices and standards for foundational skills instruction. 

The materials include a defined scope and sequence for letter recognition. Weekly lessons provide systematic and explicit instruction in letter-sound correspondence and upper- and lowercase letter identification. The materials also provide instructions on explicit letter formation and include opportunities to assess letter formation throughout the year. 

The materials include a scope and sequence hyperlinked to the lessons within the Teacher Planner. On the Teacher’s Platform, Steps 1-5, Phonological Awareness, there is a Phonological/Phonemic Awareness Map containing a phonological awareness scope and sequence for the Daily Dos. The Phonemic Awareness Map provides a breakdown of each phonological/phonemic awareness skill during the allotted weeks of instruction. Materials do not contain a clear, evidence-based explanation for the expected sequence of phonemic awareness skills. The materials do not contain a phonemic awareness sequence of instruction and practice related to the phonics scope and sequence, and phonemic awareness skills do not align consistently with the phonics focus for the week. While there is no complete sequence of phonemic awareness tied to the phonics scope and sequence, phonics lessons generally begin with phoneme instruction and link the grapheme. The materials include limited systematic and explicit instruction in phonemic awareness. Most lessons include some instruction but primarily student practice with limited explicit instruction. Materials include daily opportunities for students to practice phonological awareness skills through Daily Dos activities, not specifically phonemic awareness. The materials provide articulation instruction for phonemes. The materials provide regular and systematic assessment opportunities over the course of the year in phonemic awareness, providing check-ups, formal assessments, and sound fluency assessments. A variety of assessments are provided to assess students’ mastery of phonemic awareness skills.

The materials do not contain elements of instruction that are based on the three-cueing system for teaching decoding. The materials include a scope and sequence that includes high-utility patterns and/or common generalizations; however, materials do not contain a clear evidence-based explanation for the sequence of phonics instruction. The materials contain opportunities for systematic teaching of phonics; however, the lessons do not consistently provide explicit instruction. The use of dictation is inconsistent across materials and there is no consistent routine explicitly modeled. Materials provide guidance in the modification section of the lesson plan but do not provide guidance for corrective feedback. Materials include decodable texts aligned to the phonics focus of each week of instruction. The materials include formal assessments, Check-Ups, and Practice Pages for teachers to collect ongoing data about students’ progress in phonics. Teachers are provided with information on how to analyze the results of assessments; however, limited information is provided to teachers to respond with follow-up phonics instruction or instructional adjustments to address phonics skills.  

The materials include systematic and explicit instruction of high-frequency words within the SOS lessons, including Sticky Words and See-Me-Say-Me words. Lessons include teacher modeling of the spelling and reading of high-frequency words, which includes connecting phonemes to graphemes. The materials include student practice for identifying and reading high-frequency words in isolation and context; however, students have limited opportunities to write high-frequency words in tasks to promote automaticity and fluency. The materials include some evidence of syllable-type activities; however, there are missed opportunities for explicit instruction in syllabication and morpheme analysis. The materials have regular and systematic assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence of word recognition, but not word analysis. Assessments provide limited guidance on student skill levels and recommendations for assessment-based steps to help students progress toward mastery in word recognition.