1st Grade - Gateway 3

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing. 

The Grade 1 curriculum is divided into twelve modules, with each module taking place over three weeks. The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook and the Teacher's Guide provide extensive information about all components of the module and specific details for each lesson component. Suggested time frames and ranges for each component of a lesson are provided. The curriculum has multiple lesson parts that are required daily, though the provided time frames will help schools find time for each part of the lesson. Time is built into the schedule each day for whole class instruction, small group instruction, independent practice, collaborative group work, and reflection. Module Inquiry and Research projects are included in the daily center rotations. 

The Guiding Principles and Strategies handbook provides information to support effective lesson structure and pacing. Three anchor texts are introduced each week. In Modules 1-10, students have a science or social studies topic, while Modules 11and 12 are genre studies. In these two modules, students use previously read texts. The specific suggested break down each day includes:

• Whole Class Instruction should be 65-105 minutes per day of reading, writing, language, and foundational skills. Specifically, it suggests 60-75 minutes for reading workshop (including whole group and small group instruction), 15-30 minutes for foundational skills, 20-30 minutes of writing workshop, and 10-15 minutes of vocabulary. 
• Small Group instruction should be 45-60 minutes per day and include independent practice, collaborative work, and teacher-led small group instruction
• A daily wrap-up should take place for five minutes a day

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that the student resources include ample review and practice resources, clear directions, and explanation, and correct labeling of reference aids (eg. visuals, maps, etc.)

 The Grade 1 student materials provide a variety of resources to practice and review skills. The resources provide clear directions and explanations for students and are all labeled to show alignment to the specific module and week. Printables, graphic organizers, and anchor charts are easily located on the digital site by sorting in accordance with the labeled heading in the Teacher's Guide as well.  Activities that are completed with teacher guidance have directions included in the Teacher's Guide. Resources that are completed independently or in small groups, without direct teacher guidance, include clear directions and explanations so that the task can be completed. 

The myBook is a write-in student book that provides clear directions and explanations. Students complete these tasks after the teacher provides instruction and guidance, which is clearly explained in the Teacher's Guide. Some examples include:

• In Module 1, Lesson 7, the directions in the myBook state, “Use details from My School Trip to answer these questions with a partner.”  On the page, it also provides a talking tip to ask a question if students are unsure about their partner’s ideas. 
• In Module 5, Lesson 8, the Teacher's Guide explains the printable that students complete for their independent reading book. Students complete a graphic organizer that lists the type of text features in their book and what the text feature helps the students understand.
• In Module 9, Lesson 14, the Teacher’s Guide gives specific instructions and options for teachers on teaching the prefix un. It states that one option, is to “write these words on the board: lucky, clip, button, helpful. Ask partners to add the prefix un to each base word. After discussing the meaning of the new words, have pairs choose one word to illustrate. “ Students can also complete page 264 in their myBook.

Throughout the program, the materials include vocabulary cards, printables, Tabletop Mini-lesson flipcharts, anchor charts, display and engage Knowledge Maps, leveled readers, rubrics, and Readers' Theater. All materials are clearly labeled and correspond to the appropriate lesson. In each lesson, there is a small picture of the lesson text and a list of materials needed for each lesson.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items.

There is a resource that shows an alignment to the Common Core State Standards by listing each standard and the lessons that correlate to the standards. Standard alignment is also located on the digital resource through the Planning Guide and Common Core State Standards link. Assessments are not labeled by CCSS, but the digital data reports have an option for the teacher to review the data based on the standard. In addition, on the digital platform, under Module Resources, there is a document titled, “State-Specific Resources,” which provides the Weekly Overview for each module with state-aligned labeling of standards. Teachers can locate the correlation by using the correlation guide. For example in Module 3, Lesson 1, students are asked, “How does the author use italics and bold text? What else does the author do to call attention in the text? What information do labels give?”. Then the teacher uses the correlation guide to know that those questions correspond to RI.1.5. The Grade 1, Take and Teach Lessons for the Rigby Leveled Library, also provide correlation between the standards and the questions asked during the guided reading session.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials contain a teacher’s edition with ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student edition and in the ancillary materials. Where applicable, materials include teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning.

The Grade 1 materials include a Teacher's Guide that provides a clear outline of each module, as well as, notes and suggestions on how to present content to students. The Teacher's Guide also includes the objectives of the lesson, explanations of where to find descriptions of routines, and suggested ways to present content as well as possible questions to ask and detailed guidance for each part of the literacy block. The Teacher's Guide also includes scaffolded instruction to address learners’ needs with suggestions and ideas on how to differentiate instruction for those students in need. Within the Teacher’s Guide there are also ideas for how to structure Reading Workshop, literacy centers, vocabulary centers, digital stations, and research-informed instructional routines to support lesson planning, including active viewing, active listening, vocabulary, reading for understanding, close reading, response writing, along with additional engagement routines including choral reading, partner reading, echo reading, Turn-and-Talk, Think-Pair-Share, Solo Chair, and Collaborative Discussion. 

The Teaching Pal features specific annotations in support of instructional routines including reading for understanding, close reading, and Collaborative Discussion, along with text-dependent questions that are embedded within the text to support teachers with creating engaging text-dependent discussions during and after engaging in the reading of a complex text. The Teaching Pal provides notes for think alouds, tasks, and questions which are labeled with learning objectives . Each note is also labeled with a Domain of Knowledge for that task, question, or think aloud. 

The Teacher's Guide includes several sections that provide annotations and suggestions on how to present information to students. This includes:

• Module Opener: Provides an essential question, an explanation of the module focus, and a quick overview of the skills students will acquire and practice throughout the module
• Make a Difference: Provides suggestions on forming small groups in guided reading, English language development, setting reading goals, conferring,and skill strategy groups
• Building Knowledge Networks: Provides an image of the Knowledge Map students will use and how to display the Display and Engage for students throughout the module
• Developing Knowledge and Skills: Gives an overview of the knowledge and skills addressed throughout the module
• Inquiry and Research Project: Provides the learning objectives and weekly focus, providing teachers with detailed plans to guide students through completion of each project
• Notice and Note: Provides specific guidance of what to say, model or ask. There is also a chart that shows which lesson, within which text, and for what comprehension skill the Notice and Note signpost will appear
• Kicking off the Module: Provides guidance to teachers on how to set goals with students and make connections with families
• Week at a Glance: Provides teachers with a weekly overview that provides detailed information on what instruction includes for the week. Colors are assigned to each part as well as the use of icons and symbols. 
• Literacy Centers: Provides teachers with information on the work that students will engage in, materials needed, and progress monitoring tools. In addition, information on the use of technology and digital stations is provided and where to find printables that accompany these stations. 
• Daily Lesson Plan: Provides the teacher with detailed directions for the use of materials, guiding questions, learning objectives, collaborative strategies, learning mindset, English Learner Support, and Professional Learning. 

The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook also discusses each part of the lesson plan and describes the materials for each section and how to use each resource. This section also describes how to use the weekly ad module assessments and how to use the online digital tools and resources. 

In addition, the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook includes Accessing Online Digital Tools and Resources, which explains, with labeled screenshots, the different features of the digital platform. It shows how to access modules, resources for teaching, and data and assessments. It also provides information for suggestions on working with students with disabilities or English Language Learners.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials contain a teacher’s edition that contains full, adult-level explanations and examples of the more advanced literacy concepts so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject, as necessary.

The materials include a Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook, that provides specific research, rationales, and explanations, that will help teachers build knowledge of the content. The materials also include a Teaching Pal that accompanies the student myBook. The Teaching Pal provides guidance, notes, and instructional practices and strategies as students work through module texts. Teachers also have access to a digital professional learning module to support their understanding of each module. The Teacher's Guide also contains adult-level explanations and examples of the more advanced literary concepts. 

The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook provides in depth information about the overview of the design of the program, the research behind the design, and guidance for each part of the module in the areas of assessment and differentiation, family connections, classroom community, and teaching and learning. Within this book, the Teaching and Learning section provides explanations to assist the teacher in developing a full understanding of the content. Explanations are provided on Building Knowledge and Language, Foundational Skills, Language and Vocabulary, Reading Worksop, and Writing Workshop. The information presented provides details about best practices to help teachers improve their knowledge of the subject. The Professional Learning Module allows teachers to navigate the learning modules at their own pace. Modules are designed to provide teachers with the learning outcomes, hands-on experience, reflection, and application before teaching the module to students. The Teacher's Guide contains a Preview Lesson Texts section that explains in detailed adult level language the text complexity, connections to other curricular areas, key ideas, and language from the text or texts from the week. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials contain a teacher’s edition that explains the role of the specific ELA/literacy standards in the context of the overall curriculum. The criteria that the visual design (whether in print or digital) is not distracting or chaotic but supports students in engaging thoughtfully with the subject.

Teachers are provided a variety of materials that explain the role of specific ELA/Literacy standards. Supports can be found in the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook, Teacher's Guide, the Teaching Pal, Assessments, and the Common Core State Standards resource. 

At the beginning of each module in the Teacher's Guide, there is an overview page that lists all of the essential skills. Then, in the weekly overview section, the essential literary skills are listed for vocabulary, reading, communication, and writing for both whole group instruction and small group instruction. The Teaching Plan contains information for the teacher on think alouds, tasks, and questions for the texts in the myBook. Each is labeled with learning objectives and with the Domain of Knowledge. Common Core State Standards are listed for each lesson in an additional document. Also, assessments are provided and teachers are able to create a standards-based report to assess and monitor student progress in regards to specific ELA/literacy standards. Lastly, in the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook, there is a section called, Teaching and Learning, that has specific curriculum alignment to the Common Core State Standards.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials contain an explanation of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research based strategies.

In the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook, there is a clear explanation of the instructional approaches and the research behind the program and strategies. The materials also contain a Research Foundations: Evidence Base book that specifically details the instructional approaches and research-based strategies of Into Reading. In this book, research is provided about the instructional model, technology and blended learning, differentiated and personalized learning, foundational reading skills, language and vocabulary development, fluency and comprehension, writing, speaking and listening, social-emotional learning, family and community engagement, and assessments. This book cites over 100 research references. 

The program also includes Professional Learning Modules, which provides explanations of the instructional approaches. Modules are designed to provide teachers with the learning outcomes, hands-on experiences, reflection, and application.

Throughout the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook, there are blue boxes titled Professional Learning: Research Foundations that state the research theory behind each section. The Research Foundations: Evidence Base book, contains all of the research behind the program. It describes the research and how the program delivers the research theory. Some examples include:

• On page 8, research is provided that supports the balanced literacy approach and guided reading.
• On page 12 and 54, there is research that supports the blended learning environment of both working with students and working with technology.
• On page 15-16, research is provided for the need for differentiation.
• On page 46, the research of Dr. David Dockterman of Harvard Graduate School of Education is provided that explains the integration of mindset into lessons.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress.

Throughout the year, there are multiple opportunities to assess students in order to monitor their progress. Assessments include Daily Formative Assessments, Intervention Assessments, Guided Reading Benchmark Assessments, Weekly Assessments, and Module Assessments. The assessments are explained in detail in the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook in the Assessment and Differentiation section. Assessments are available in both the print version and digitally. When given digitally, teachers are able to use two different reports to monitor progress.

Assessments are used to monitor student progress to plan for interventions. This includes:

• Screening Assessments: Used early in the school year to obtain preliminary information about student performance, screen students for interventions, and determine groups for foundational skills instruction. An oral reading fluency assessment is also provided to assess fluency, accuracy, and rate.
• Diagnostic Assessments: Used as follow-up assessments as needed for students who scored below expectations on the screening assessments. Assessments include Letter-Sound Correspondence Assessments and Word Identification Assessments.
• Progress Monitoring Assessments: Used every two weeks to measure growth in foundational reading skills. The goal is to identify challenging areas for reteach, review, and practice, provide checks of students’ beginning reading skills, monitor the progress of students engaged in reading interventions, and help determine when students are ready to exit an intervention. These assessments take three to five minutes. 

Formative Assessments are also included and provide both Weekly and Module assessments. These measure comprehension, vocabulary, writing, and grammar skills at the end of each week and at the end of each module. There is also a culminating task at the end of each module, including an optional performance assessment that requires students to synthesize their content learning.  Data reports are provided for the online versions. The assessment report provides class scores for each assessment and analyzes student proficiency data. The standards report assesses students’ progress in standards proficiency. 

There is also a Benchmark Assessment Kit that is used to determine students’ guided reading levels and make instructional decisions. These assessments include both fiction and nonfiction leveled readers.  Rubrics are also provided to assess students’ writing and research projects. There are rubrics for narrative writing, informational writing, poetry writing, correspondence writing, argumentative writing, Collaborative Discussions, response writing, and the Inquiry and Research Projects. The writing rubrics assess students in the areas of organization and presentation, development of ideas, and use of language and conventions. The rubric for the inquiry and research project assesses students in collaboration, research and text evidence, content, and  presentation.

The program also includes Reading Surveys to gather information at the beginning and middle of the year and to gather information about reading interests, attitudes, and preferences. The surveys are used to inform instructional planning and support students with self-selected reading, and recommend books. The program also suggests that teachers keep observation notes and take notes during individual conferences, guided reading groups, small-group instruction, and independent reading and writing.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet  the criteria that assessments clearly denote which standards are being emphasized.

Module and Weekly Assessments provide standards alignment. In the print version of the assessments, the answer key provides both the Common Core State Standards and the Depth of Knowledge for each question. In the digital version of the assessments, teachers can access the standards report, which shows students’ progress in standards proficiency. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that assessments provide sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow up.

The assessments provide sufficient guidance for interpreting student performance and they provide suggestions for follow-up. The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook explains the types of assessments, the students to administer them to and the timeline to issue them. It also provides suggestions to teachers on supporting students based on the results gained from the assessments. The Teacher’s Edition also provides differentiation guidance for each lesson based on assessment data. This gives teachers information on how to follow-up after assessments for both reteaching and interventions. The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook also includes information on procedures to administer and score the screening, diagnostic, and progress-monitoring assessments.  It also explains how to use writing rubrics to monitor growth in writing and how to use data to implement a multi-tiered system of supports. 

The Differentiated Support and Intervention section of the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook provides information on guided reading groups, reading skill and strategy support groups, foundational skills support groups, and best practices for intervention support.  Teachers use Formative Assessments, Progress Monitoring Assessments, and Benchmark Assessments to plan for these different groups. In the Reading Skill and Strategy Support group, teachers reteach a skill or strategy that has not yet been mastered by a group of students and in the foundational skills group, the teacher provides reinforcement of daily foundational skills lessons during either small-group or one-on-one time. For students who need reinforcement with genres or skills, there are Tabletop Mini-Lessons, which provide teachers with guidance on how to address and reteach students who do not perform well on assessments. 

Data reports are available after students take Weekly and Module Assessments, which provide teachers with data to analyze gaps and gains, to form groups for differentiated instruction, and to locate resources to target students’ needs. The program recommends that teachers use the data reports to determine if students have met the learning objectives for the week or module, look for patterns in students’ errors to choose concepts and skills for reteaching, and decide if students are ready to advance to the next week or module of instruction. 

In addition, for the Weekly Assessments and the Module Assessments, there is information on how to interpret the data. Teachers use the scores and additional classroom information to determine whether students are ready to advance to the next module or may require reteaching of some concepts and skills. It is suggested that for struggling students, the teacher duplicates the answer key, circles the question numbers answered incorrectly for each assessment, and compare the corresponding skills indicated. The teacher then looks for patterns among errors to determine which skills need more reteaching and practice more. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials should include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress.

The materials contain guidance and routines to monitor student progress. The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook outlines how teachers can use assessment tools to gather data and gain a more complete picture of students’ growth and instructional needs. There are opportunities to monitor progress via Formative Weekly and Module Assessments, screeners, progress monitoring, and Oral Reading Fluency Assessments. Routines and guidance to help monitor progress include portfolios, reading surveys, and observation notes. 

In the Guided Principles and Strategies book, there is a map that shows the suggested timeline to plan instruction and administer assessments throughout the year. This plan includes times to administer the Intervention Assessments, Guided Reading Benchmark Assessment Kit, Weekly Assessments, Module Assessments, and Daily Formative assessments.  The program suggests that Daily Formative Assessments are used along with selection quizzes to provide data for small group instruction. The intervention assessments are used at the beginning of the year with follow-up diagnostic assessments used for select students and progress-monitoring assessments used every two weeks as needed. The Guided Reading Benchmark Assessment kit is used on an ongoing basis to assess students' reading skills.  In addition, the Module Inventories are administered one-on-one to assess foundational skills more in depth as needed. Teachers use some or all parts of the inventory depending on children’s needs. Areas for assessment include phonological awareness, high-frequency words, decoding, and print concepts. 

Portfolios are set up at the beginning of the year for each student and contain:

• Formal and informal assessments including the Weekly and Module Assessments, Screening and Diagnostic Assessments, Observation Notes, and Project Rubrics
• Work samples that include work from myBook, completed graphic organizers, writing samples, and photos of inquiry and research projects
• Reading surveys to show reading interests, attitudes, and preferences
• Observation Notes taken during conferences, guided reading groups, small - group instruction, and independent reading and writing 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials provide teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of range of learners so the content is accessible to all learners and supports them in meeting or exceeding the grade-level standards.

Throughout the program there are opportunities for the teacher to meet a range of learners due to the fact that the content is accessible to all learners and helps them meet or exceed the grade-level standards. The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook has a section called Assessment and Differentiation and within differentiation, there is a section about meeting the needs of special populations. This section outlines different populations of students and provides the teacher with several instructional focus strategies that can be used to support students with particular needs. 

There are ways built into the program to meet the needs of all students. This includes guided reading groups, reading skill and strategy groups for students who have not yet mastered the whole-group objective, and foundational skills support to teach prerequisite foundational skills or reinforce daily foundational skills lessons. The materials also provide Tabletop Minilessons for students who need additional support with skills taught in the whole group. These lessons involve student-face anchor charts on stand-up charts with the teacher support on the back. It is differentiated skills instruction that can be used with any text. 

In Meeting the Needs of Special Populations section of the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook, there are strategies for various types of learners. Some of these include:

• If the challenge is concept knowledge and oral language, some supports include building background knowledge, teaching academic vocabulary directly, and providing scaffolds. 
• If the challenge is Dyslexia or word-reading skills, some supports include daily instruction in phonemic awareness, building automaticity of high-frequency words, and daily reading of connected texts.
• If the challenge is visual, hearing, physical, or cognitive disabilities, some supports include options for expressing understanding and ideas, provide ways for digital content to be accessible to students, and allow variations in the pace of the lesson. The materials have a section called Using Digital Features for Accessibility with information on how to access digital features to assist teachers and work with students who would benefit from digital materials.
• If the challenge is engagement in learning, some supports include exploring topics and texts that are suited to students’ skills and interests, providing clear and specific feedback, and promoting choice to build automaticity.

There is also a section called Supporting English Learners, which helps build teacher understanding of students’ first language and the stages of second language acquisition that can help teachers determine appropriate levels of scaffolding and targeted language support.  There is also a section called Meeting the Needs of Accelerated Learners that provides support for students who are exceeding grade-level expectations.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level, or in a language other than English, with extensive opportunities to work with grade-level text and meet or exceed grade-level standards.

The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook contains an entire section called Supporting English Learners. This section outlines different strategies to support the learning of English Learner students. Teachers are also provided with background information on English Language Learners in order to better understand the stages of language acquisition. English Learner Support tips are embedded in lessons as well. 

The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook provides information on the stages of language acquisition, strategies to support English Language Learners with this curriculum, and evidence-based strategies and practices to support students whose first language is other than English. Specific examples of this includes:

• There is an overview of the stages of acquiring the English Language. These stages are pre-production, early production, speech emergence, intermediate fluency, and advanced fluency.
• The curriculum has Tabletop Mini-lessons that introduce, review, and practice a particular language function. These lessons can be used with any text in the program and are meant to support English Language Learners.
• Evidence-based strategies are provided that can be used in any lesson. Some of the evidence-based strategies including building knowledge by showing videos on module topics, making learning visual by having images on vocabulary cards and anchor charts, and providing sentence frames for both verbal and written responses. 
• In the Teacher's Guide for each lesson, there are English Learner Supports provided. Supports are broken down into light support such as having students use instructional vocabulary to point out and discuss facts and opinions in the text, moderate support such as having students identify facts and opinions in the text, and substantial support such as the teacher pointing out facts and opinions in the text and having students say fact or opinion.
• A Language Difference resource chart is included to help teachers understand the differences between students’ first language and English. This is an online resource that includes languages such as Spanish, Mandarin, and Korean.
• There is also an entire section called Arriba la Lectura, which is a Spanish reading program that is to be used in conjunction with this curriculum. This program has a Dual Language Implementation Guide and a section of the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook is dedicated to this Spanish reading program. 

The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook provides additional support for all students to help them access grade-level texts, which benefits students who are learning English as well. Information is provided on how to use data to form small groups in foundational skills, strategic interventions, small group instruction, small group weekly instruction, and other customized groups.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials regularly include extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade level.

The curriculum provides extensions or more advanced opportunities for students who perform above grade level. In the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook, there is a section titled Meeting Accelerated Learners, which provides teachers with information and strategies to support accelerated learners. The section provides teachers with information and a description of an accelerated learner, parts of the curriculum that support accelerated learners, and strategies for supporting accelerated learners in the classroom and throughout the lessons. Lessons also provide extension work for students who are accelerated or finish early. 

The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook has an entire section on supporting accelerated learners. The program defines accelerated learners as students whose skills are above grade level and are ready for more accelerated learning experiences, such as more challenging books, more writing opportunities, or leadership roles. Some specifics from the program include:

• Throughout the program, there are sections labeled Ready for More which are daily opportunities in small group lessons to extend a skill or strategy.
• Guided Reading Groups and Rigby Leveled Readers provide texts that are above grade level.
• The Tabletop Mini-lessons provide support as students apply comprehension skills to higher-level texts that they read independently.

Strategies are provided for teachers to consider while planning individual lessons and the culture of the classroom. These include:

• Provide classroom libraries that represent a range of text levels.
• Provide more challenging versions of the activities instead of requiring students to just do more work.
• Utilize flexible groups and change groups frequently because students may be above level for one skill, but not for another skill.
• Provide opportunities for students to make their own decisions. Accelerated students should take on leadership roles and assist classmates when appropriate.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials provide opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies.

The materials provide suggestions and descriptions for a variety of grouping strategies throughout the program. The Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook gives an overview of how these group strategies work, and the Teacher's Guide uses labels throughout the program to show teachers when the grouping strategy should be used during the lessons. Strategies for groups include small groups, targeted skill groups, and whole class. Groups can be composed for Guided Reading, English Language Support, Skills and Strategies, or Foundational Skills. Teachers use data to form these groups and to change groups throughout the year. 

In the Guiding Principles and Strategies Handbook there is an overview of recommendations for groupings and various strategies to use to form these groups in a section called Forming Flexible Groups. This section helps teachers make the most of small group time by using data to thoughtfully form groups that will optimize student growth. Flexible groups are formed to teach skills that a cohort of students need to learn or review. In addition, Strategic Interventions for Tier 2 and Tier 3 can be implemented using data from multiple measures. More information on these groups include:

• Guided reading groups are formed based on the Guiding Reading Benchmark Assessment Kit, Oral Reading Records, and Leveled Reader Quizzes. The program includes the Rigby Leveled Readers, Take and Teach Lessons, and Tabletop Mini-lessons for reading to teach these groups.
• English Language Support groups are formed based on the state English Language Development assessments. The curriculum includes Tabletop Mini-lessons for English Language Development, English Language Support lessons, and language graphic organizers.
• Skills and Strategies groups are formed based on daily formative assessments and weekly assessments. The materials include Tabletop Mini-lessons, reinforcement skills and strategies lessons, and graphic organizers for reading.
• Foundational skills groups are formed by informal assessments. Foundational skills lessons and Word Study Studio are available resources for using in these groups.

In addition to these groups, teachers are also instructed during whole-group lessons to have students participate in Collaborative Discussions, Turn-and-Talks, Think-Pair-Shares, and Partner Reads. In addition, there are opportunities for students to echo read and choral read.