1st Grade Report Overview

The From Sounds to Spelling Grade 1 materials partially meet the expectations for alignment to research-based practices and standards for foundational skills instruction.

The materials include a scope and sequence delineating the order in which phonological and phonemic awareness skills should be taught. A hierarchy of skills moves from phonological awareness to isolating, blending, and segmenting, and then to manipulation. The materials contain a phonemic awareness sequence of instruction and practice aligned to the phonics scope and sequence. Throughout the materials, there is some explicit instruction in phonemic awareness with repeated teacher modeling.

The materials do not contain elements of instruction that are based on the three-cueing system. The materials include a logical phonics scope and sequence with common phonics generalizations and high-utility patterns. The materials include systematic and explicit phonics instruction. However, the materials do not include opportunities or guidance for the teacher to give corrective feedback. The materials include opportunities to practice decoding and encoding words with common and newly taught sound and spelling patterns. The materials include decodable texts that align with the weekly phonics skill. The materials include assessment opportunities for phonics that occur during the Placement Test at the beginning and end of the year, as well as the End-of-Unit Assessments. There are no interim assessments throughout the units to regularly and systematically assess students. In addition, there is minimal evidence of guidance for the teacher on what to do with the evidence once it is collected to help students progress toward mastery in phonics.

The materials do not include explicit, systematic, evidence-based instruction in oral reading fluency or assessment opportunities for fluency.