1st Grade - Gateway 1

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the expectations for assessing grade-level content. Overall, the instructional materials do not assess content from future grades within the summative assessments provided for each chapter.

• In the planning guide there is a section titled "Getting Ready for Second Grade." Planning resources for this are described on pages 40 and 41, but these are aligned to Grade 2 CCSSM and are clearly identified. Students are not assessed on the content.
• Standards assessed are clearly identified for each assessment item in the textbox titled "Data Driven Decision Making." For example, see chapter 8, page 500A in the teacher edition.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the expectations for spending the large majority of class time on the major clusters of the grade. Overall, the instructional materials allocate a large percentage of instructional time to clusters of standards that are major work of Grade 1.

• The first five chapters focus on concepts of addition and subtraction. Chapter 8 covers two-digit addition, focusing on 1.OA.A.1, 1.OA.B.3, 1.OA.C.6 and 1.OA.D.8. The other major clusters are covered in other subsequent chapters.
• There are 12 chapters, and nine of them, or about 75%, focus on the major work.
• Nine of the 12 are centered on counting sequence, addition, subtraction, place value and measurement.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the expectations for having an amount of content designated for one grade level as viable for one school year. Overall, the amount of time needed to complete the lessons is appropriate for a school year of approximately 180 days.

• The suggested pacing for Grade 1 is 160 days according to the chapter pacing chart provided on the chapter-at-a-glance pages in each chapter. This includes assessment days in the series. Additionally, if time permits there is a unit called "Preparing for Grade 2," which has 26 days total in the unit.
• Not including days for assessment, the amount of content is viable within one school year because lessons account for a total of 125 days.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the expectations for having materials that are consistent with the progressions in CCSSM. Overall, the materials give students extensive work with grade-level problems, and grade-level concepts are explicitly related to prior knowledge from earlier grades. Also, the materials develop according to the grade-by-grade progressions, with non-grade-level content clearly identified.

• Each chapter identifies grade-level work and how it ties into previous and future grades-for example, see chapter 1, teacher's manual, page 9J.
• In chapter 3, lessons 7, 8 and 9, students use knowledge of 10 to help with addition and subtraction. Additionally, these lessons include the Common Core learning progressions.
• In chapter 5, students are asked to add and subtract within 20 and create number sentences for the operations they are using to solve the problem, which is also aligned to the progressions.
• Future content is identified and also included explicitly in the getting ready for second grade portion of the planning guide in the teacher edition.
• Materials give all students work within the grade level. RTI activities are provided for tier 1, tier 2 and tier 3 work. Differentiated instruction is clearly mapped out.
• Within chapters and lessons, there are daily routines and fluency builders that provide students with addition and subtraction practice that is on grade level, and in each lesson, there is spiral review of major work. Lastly, each lesson offers the option to reteach and enrich, which provides additional information and/or practice for students to work with the major work.
• There are 101 lessons over about 160 days. All lessons provide work with grade-level problems.
• Children are assessed on prior knowledge at the beginning of each chapter-for example, see chapter 1, teacher' manual, page 10.
• Grade-level materials make explicit connections to other grades. For instance, in chapter 2, page 65j, the curriculum provides a map of the progression of operations and algebraic thinking across Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2.
• Each chapter has a page titled "Learning Progressions and Content Standards" where the learning progressions are highlighted, as well as the standards before and after the grade level.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the expectations for having materials foster coherence through connections at a single grade. Overall, the materials include learning objectives that are visibly shaped by the CCSSM cluster headings, and the materials connect two or more clusters in a domain or two or more domains in a grade when appropriate.

• Materials include learning objectives shaped by Common Core cluster headings-for example, see chapter 5, lesson 5.2, teacher's manual, page 261A.
• For instance, chapter 1 ("Addition Concepts") connects to 1.OA.A, 1.OA.B and 1.OA.C; lesson headings include "Model Adding to" and "Modeling Putting Together." Chapter 10 (10,ND.C ["Represent Data"]) also has lessons 10.7 ("Represent Data") and 10.3 ("Read Bar Graphs").
• The beginning of each chapter clearly defines where these connections take place. A critical area is defined, along with Common Core domains. For example, in chapter 7 of the teacher's manual, numbers and operations are the critical area, in addition to operations and algebraic thinking.
• One example is chapter 3, lesson 6, where students are asked to model how they would solve the addition problem and to add and subtract within 20.
• Students are asked in lesson 3.12 to write an equation, represent the problem and add within 20.
• Chapter 8 connects operations and algebraic thinking with numbers and operations in base 10.