The instructional materials reviewed for Japan Math Grade 2 partially meet expectations for supporting content enhancing focus and coherence simultaneously by engaging students in the major work of the grade. Supporting standards appear in lessons with no connections to the major work of the grade, with the exception of one example.

 Examples of supporting work not connected to major work of the grade and/or omitted connections include:

• In Unit 1, Lessons 5 and 6, students tell time (2.MD.7), but the materials do not make a connection to counting by 5s (2.NBT.2) on a clock to tell time.
• In Unit 6, Lessons 4 and 9, students work with money (2.MD.8) is not connected to place value or using place value to add and subtract (2.NBT.A,B).
• In Unit 11, students work with arrays of up to five rows and five columns (2.OA.C), but the instructional materials do not make a connection to counting by 5s (2.NBT.2).

 An example of supporting work connected to major work of the grade include:

• In Unit 3, Lessons 5 and 6, the instructional materials connect 2.MD.10 with 2.OA.1 as students add and subtract in a variety of contexts based on graphs. In Lesson 5, “Are there more pigeons or more ducks? How many more?” In Lesson 6, “How many fewer values were there for blue vs. green?” and “How many students were surveyed?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Japan Math Grade 2 partially meet the expectation for having an amount of content that is viable for one school year. 

According to the publisher, the instructional materials can be completed in 166 days as outlined in the teacher manual: one day per lesson and one day for each assessment. However, the content presented is insufficient to the instructional time allotted for each lesson, and teachers would need to make modifications to ensure content is viable for one year.

The Teacher’s Edition includes a scope and sequence of the instructional materials, noting there are 16 units with 150 lessons in total, each designed for 50 minutes. The 50 minutes for each lesson includes workbook pages for students to complete with scripted teacher directions and question prompts. Each prompt is accompanied by a suggested amount of time. In the materials, time was not identified or described for assessments, so one day was allotted per unit for assessments.

Lessons that include suggested prompt activities that take less than the 50 minutes described in the Scope and Sequence include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 3, Lesson Book page 30 and Workbook page 15 are identified as 20 minutes.
• In Unit 6, Lesson Book page 74 and Workbook page 41 are identified as 30 minutes.
• In Unit 7, Lesson Book pages 90-91 and Workbook page 49 are identified as 30 minutes.
• In Unit 7, Lesson Book page 102 and Workbook page 55 are identified as 30 minutes.
• In Unit 8, Lesson Book page 112 and Workbook page 61 are identified as 30 minutes.
• In Unit 10, Lesson Book page 155 and Workbook page 85 are identified as 30 minutes.
• In Unit 10, Lesson Book page 164 and Workbook page 90 are identified as 30 minutes.
• In Unit 10, Lesson Book page 165 and Workbook page 91 are identified as 40 minutes.
• In Unit 11, Lesson Book page 172 and Workbook page 94 are identified as 30 minutes. 
• In Unit 12. Lesson Book page 182 and Workbook page 101 are identified as 30 minutes.
• In Unit 12, Lesson Book page 183 and Workbook page 102 are identified as 20 minutes.

In addition, examples of lesson prompts that would not provide 50 minutes of instructional time include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 3, Lesson 3, “Complete the line plot”, the publisher identifies 15 minutes of time for the students and teacher to complete the line plot (adding two data points).
• In Unit 7, Lesson 1, “Discuss as a Class”, the publisher identifies 15 minutes for the students to discuss and answer the question, “How many shells are there? How did you keep track?”
• In Unit 4, Lesson 7, the publishers identify 20 minutes for students to discuss how they solved a multiplication problem. 

Teachers would need to find additional content for many lessons to meet the time frame of 50 minutes. Optional expansion workbooks can be purchased separately for more questions, however, these were not reviewed as they are not part of the core program.

The instructional materials for Japan Math Grade 2 partially meet expectations for fostering coherence through connections at a single grade, where appropriate and required by the Standards.

The materials include learning objectives that are visibly shaped by CCSSM cluster headings, and examples include:

• In Unit 2, Lesson 5, the objective, “Understand that precision is important when measuring length. Know how to use a ruler and set squares to precisely draw a line of a given length.” is shaped by 2.MD.A, Measure and estimate lengths in standard units.
• In Unit 7, Lesson 2, the objective, “Understand how three-digit numbers represent units of hundreds, tens, and ones.” is shaped by 2.NBT.A, Understand place value.
• In Unit 11, Lesson 1, the objective, “Recognize situations in which items are organized in equal groups and identify the number in each group and the number of groups.” is shaped by 2.OA.C, Work with equal groups of objects to gain foundations for multiplication.

The materials do not include problems and activities that serve to connect two or more clusters in a domain, or two or more domains in a grade, in cases where these connections are natural, and examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 3, Lesson 4, students measure the lengths of different lines and record the lengths (2.MD.A), but there is no connection to adding and subtracting within 20 (2.OA.B).
• In Units 4 and 5, students solve addition and subtraction word problems (2.OA.A) with two-digit numbers using an algorithm, but there is not a connection to using place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract (2.NBT.B).
• In Units 8 and 9, students add and subtract within 1000 (2.NBT.B), but this is not connected to representing and solving problems with addition and subtraction (2.OA.A).