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Report Overview
Summary of Alignment & Usability: Jolly Phonics | ELA
ELA K-2
NOTE: The review of this product included all materials suggested by and purchased from the publisher for the United States version of Jolly Phonics, copyright 2014. The program was reviewed based on information provided by the publisher and the CCSS alignment document available on their website. See additional review details here.
This report is for a supplementary foundational skills program intended for use alongside a comprehensive core English Language Arts program.
The instructional materials reviewed for Jolly Phonics Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 do not meet the criteria for alignment to standards and research-based practices for foundational skills instruction. The instructional materials use a synthetic approach to phonics. The materials provide instruction in letter sounds and students learn lowercase letters in Kindergarten and uppercase letters in Grade 1. Materials provide limited opportunities for students to learn general concepts of print. The materials partially meet the criteria for materials provide explicit, systematic instruction of phonological awareness (K-1) and phonics. The materials do not provide systematic, explicit instruction and practice in fluency. The Phonics Teacher’s Book and student materials do not cover the full range of foundational skills as required by the standards.
Kindergarten
View Full ReportEdReports reviews of foundational skills supplements determine if a program meets, partially meets, or does not meet expectations for alignment to research-based practices and college and career ready standards. This rating encompasses all grades covered in the program.
Alignment (Gateway 1)
Materials must meet or partially meet expectations for standards alignment in order to be reviewed for usability. This rating encompasses all grades covered in the program.
Usability (Gateway 2)
1st Grade
View Full ReportEdReports reviews of foundational skills supplements determine if a program meets, partially meets, or does not meet expectations for alignment to research-based practices and college and career ready standards. This rating encompasses all grades covered in the program.
Alignment (Gateway 1)
Materials must meet or partially meet expectations for standards alignment in order to be reviewed for usability. This rating encompasses all grades covered in the program.
Usability (Gateway 2)
2nd Grade
View Full ReportEdReports reviews of foundational skills supplements determine if a program meets, partially meets, or does not meet expectations for alignment to research-based practices and college and career ready standards. This rating encompasses all grades covered in the program.
Alignment (Gateway 1)
Materials must meet or partially meet expectations for standards alignment in order to be reviewed for usability. This rating encompasses all grades covered in the program.
Usability (Gateway 2)
Report for Kindergarten
Alignment Summary
NOTE: The review of this product included all materials suggested by and purchased from the publisher for the United States version of Jolly Phonics, copyright 2014. The program was reviewed based on information provided by the publisher and the CCSS alignment document available on their website. See additional review details here.
The instructional materials reviewed for Jolly Phonics do not meet the criteria for alignment to standards and research-based practices for foundational skills instruction. The materials provide instruction in letter sounds and students learn lowercase letters in Kindergarten. Materials provide limited opportunities for students to learn general concepts of print. The materials partially meet the criteria for materials emphasize explicit, systematic instruction of researched-based and/or evidence-based phonological awareness. Materials do not meet the criteria for materials emphasize explicit, systematic instruction of research-based and/or evidence-based phonics. The materials do not provide systematic and explicit instruction and practice in fluency by focusing on accuracy and automaticity.
Kindergarten
Alignment (Gateway 1)
Usability (Gateway 2)
Overview of Gateway 1
Alignment to Standards and Research-Based Practices for Foundational Skills Instruction
The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the criteria for alignment to standards and research-based practices for foundational skills instruction. The materials do not meet the criteria for materials and instruction provide embedded support with general concepts of print, and systematic and explicit instruction and practice for letter recognition in early Kindergarten nor do they meet the criteria for materials emphasize explicit, systematic instruction of researched-based and/or evidence-based phonics. The materials partially meet the criterion for materials emphasize explicit, systematic instruction of researched-based and/or evidence-based phonological awareness. Materials partially meet the criteria for materials explicitly teach word analysis strategies based on the requirements of the standards and provide limited practice opportunities for students to apply word analysis strategies; however, they do not meet the criterion for materials and instruction provide systematic and explicit instruction and practice in fluency by focusing on accuracy and automaticity in decoding, and rate, expression, and accuracy.
Criterion 1.1: Print Concepts and Letter Recognition (Alphabet Knowledge)
The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the criterion for materials and instruction provide embedded support with general concepts of print, and systematic and explicit instruction and practice for letter recognition in early Kindergarten. The materials do not meet the criteria for materials provide explicit instruction for letter identification of all 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase) nor do they meet the criteria for materials engage students in sufficient practice of letter identification. Materials partially meet the criteria for materials provide explicit instruction to print and practice forming the 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase). The materials partially meet the criteria for materials provide instructional support for general concepts of print and connect learning of print concepts to books and provide cumulative review of print concepts, letter identification, and printing letters.
Indicator 1A
Indicator 1A.i
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the criteria for materials provide explicit instruction for letter identification of all 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase). (K)
The Jolly Phonics Kindergarten materials focus on sound identification in the early stages and do not address letter naming and identification. Students have regular opportunities to recite the alphabet. The materials lack teacher guidance in regards to time allocation for challenging letters and for varied and diverse activities of letter naming. The capital letters are presented visually, however, they are not taught explicitly until Phonics Student Books 2 and 3.
Materials do not contain isolated, systematic and explicit instruction for all 26 letters (recognize and name uppercase and lowercase). Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Students do not have opportunities to recognize and name all upper- and lower-case letters of the alphabet.
- The Phonics Handbook, page 8, states: “In Phonics Student Book 1, the emphasis should be on the lower-case letters. The capital letters, although shown in the book, need only be referred to incidentally. Capital letters are dealt with in more depth in Phonics Student Books 2 and 3. In the very early stages, it is important that all letters are introduced by their sounds and not by their names. In this case, say /sssss/ and /ess/ when introducing the /s/ sound.”
- The Phonics Handbook, page 10, states: “When letter names are introduced at the same time as the letter sounds, many students become confused. For this reason, it is recommended that the teaching of letter names is left until Phonics Student Books 2 and 3.”
There is not a defined sequence for letter instruction to be completed in a reasonable time frame over the school year.
- The Phonics Handbook, page 10, “When letter names are introduced at the same time as the letter sounds, many students become confused. For this reason, it is recommended that the teaching of letter names is left until Phonics Student Books 2 and 3.”
Indicator 1A.ii
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the criteria for materials engage students in sufficient practice of letter identification.
The Jolly Phonics Kindergarten materials provide routine practice of student activities regarding letter identification; however, letter naming does not start until Phonics Student Book 2, which is part of the Grade 1 materials. There are no opportunities for students to engage in activities where they practice locating the 26 letters, both upper- and lowercase.
Materials do not provide students with frequent opportunities to engage in practice identifying all 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase). Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Jolly Phonics introduces letter identification in Book 2 (Grade 1). Letter sounds are the focus of Book 1.
Materials do not provide opportunities to engage in practice locating all 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase).
- Jolly Phonics introduces letter identification in Book 2 (Grade 1). Letter sounds are the focus of Book 1.
Materials do not provide opportunities to engage in naming all 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase)
- Jolly Phonics introduces letter identification in Book 2 (Grade 1). Letter sounds are the focus of Book 1.
Indicator 1A.iii
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the criteria for materials embed letter identification practice in meaningful print use.
The Jolly Phonics Kindergarten materials provide opportunities for letter identification activities that are taught in isolation, corresponded with handwriting practice or reading the alphabet aloud as the teacher points to the letters. Students are introduced to a letter visually and learn the letter sound, not the letter name. Students learn to write lowercase letters in Jolly Phonics Book 1 (Kindergarten) and uppercase letters in Jolly Phonics Book 2 (Grade 1). After three letter sounds are taught, students begin to decode words (in isolation) that contain those letter sounds. Students are not introduced to books until after all letter sounds are taught.
Materials do not contain a variety of tasks and activities that apply letter identification and naming of all 26 uppercase letters to meaningful print use (e.g., initial letter of a child’s name, environmental print, letter assortments, alphabet books, shared writing). Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Jolly Phonics introduces uppercase letters in Book 2 (Grade 1).
Materials do not contain a variety of tasks/activities that apply letter identification and naming of all 26 lowercase letters to meaningful print use (e.g., initial letter of a child’s name, environmental print, letter assortments, alphabet books, shared writing).
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 38, the teacher explains how the letter sound for t is written. The students write over the dotted lines in their books. The teacher calls out the sounds /t/, /a/, and /s/ for students to write.
Indicator 1A.iv
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for materials provide explicit instruction to print and practice forming the 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase).
Kindergarten materials provide opportunities for students to learn each letter sound while learning how to write the corresponding letter. Uppercase letters are not taught until Phonics Student Book 2 (Grade 1); therefore, there is a missed opportunity for Kindergarten students to learn to print uppercase letters. Materials include sample letters that contains arrows and where to start the letter. This provides some direction for the students. Also included are sample dotted line letters for the student to trace. Students are given opportunities to paper-write and air-write. The teacher models how to correctly air write the letter.
Materials include limited clear directions for the teacher concerning how to explain and model how to make each of the 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase). Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, pages 13-15, information is provided for the teacher on pencil grip, letter formation, capital letters, joined-up writing, and supplementary work.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 14, information is provided for the teacher to instruct the students that there are a series of lowercase letters that are written beginning with the same hand motion: c, a, d, o, g, and q.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 36, when forming the letter s, the teacher directions read, “Explain how the letter s is written. The students write over the dotted letters in their books.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 38, “Explain how the letter t is written. It is a tall letter and starts slightly higher up than the letters s and a.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 40, “Explain how the letter p is written. It has a stick that goes down under the line.”
Materials include limited opportunities for students to practice forming all of the 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase). Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 39, students write over the dotted letters for the sounds i, s, a, and t. The teacher calls out the sound /i/ and the other sounds already covered for students to write.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 49, students write over the dotted letters for the sounds c, h, r, m, d, and g. The teacher calls out the sound /o/ and some other sounds already covered for students to write.
Students have limited opportunities to print many upper- and lowercase letters. Opportunities are missed for students to learn to print uppercase letters.
- Handwriting practice occurs frequently. In Book 1, students practice writing the corresponding lowercase letters each day a sound is taught.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 42, students first practice letter sounds already introduced (i.e., s, a, t, i, p, and n). Then a story is told by the teacher to introduce the letter sounds /c/ and /k/. Students perform a body action to represent the sound. Then the teacher models how the letters are written. Students write the letters over the dotted lines in their Phonics Student Book 1. At the end of the lesson, the students have practice opportunities to write the introduced letters in isolation.
Materials include limited opportunities for students to practice forming letters using multimodal and/or multisensory methods. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Jolly Phonics DVD, A Fright in the Woods, 1:50, the characters learn how to write the letters c and k. Instructions are provided. For example, for k, “All the way down, bounce a little way, then put the kicking leg on.”
- Jolly Phonics DVD, A Rainy Day, 4:18, the shape of the letter b is compared to the shape of a bat and ball sitting next to each other.
- In White Board Lessons, students are shown how each letter is formed on the White Board, and teachers are provided with instructions on letter formation to read to students. For example, in the lesson on ck, the letter formation instructions for the letter c read, “You write a caterpillar /c/ like this. Start near the top, go back, over around and up.”
Indicator 1B
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for materials provide instructional support for general concepts of print and connect learning of print concepts to books (K-1) and provide cumulative review of print concepts, letter identification, and printing letters. (K-early Grade 1).
The Jolly Phonics Kindergarten materials provide limited opportunities for explicit, adequate instruction in print concepts. The materials lack explicit instruction and review of print concepts, such as follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.
Materials include limited instruction for all students about the organization of print concepts (e.g., follow words left to right, spoken words correlate sequences of letters, letter spacing).
- Students have opportunities to follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.
- No evidence found
- Students have limited opportunities to recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.
- In Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 38, Letter Sound /t/, the students experience their first instance of recognizing that spoken words are represented by sequences of letters in print. Students are asked to point to the dot underneath each sound as they say sat.
- Students have limited opportunities to understand that words are separated by spaces in print.
- In Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 14, the program authors state, “The students are told that the letters in a word are written close together, but without bumping. They are also told to leave a space between words.”
Materials include limited opportunities for frequent and adequate lessons, tasks, and questions for all students about the organization of print concepts (e.g., follow words left to right, spoken words correlate sequences of letters, letter spacing). Examples include, but are not limited to:
- In Jolly Phonics DVD, The Birthday Party, 7:00, characters look at examples of capital letters and compare these to their lower case letters: C, E, D, R and c, e, d, r. The characters also look at the corresponding capital letter page in Finger Phonics Book 3. This page has the capital letters E, D, R, C, N, T, B, I, F, A, H, G, K.
- In Jolly Phonics DVD, The Birthday Party - 8:05, one of the characters asks “What are sentences?” The characters then go on to discuss examples of complete sentences, such as, “Bees like to live in a hive.” The characters also look at the sentence “The hen sits on the nest,” and discuss the capital at the beginning of the sentence and the period at the end. They also read the sentence “Is the sun hot?”
Materials lack a variety of physical books (teacher-guided, such as big books) that are suitable for the teaching of print concepts. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Jolly Readers include four levels. These decodable readers include: Mud (Level 1), Shells (Level 2), Sharks (Level 3), Teeth (Level 4).
- The Finger Phonics Big Books have a storyline, but only isolated words are presented in a typeface big enough to teach left to right. The storyline does not continue from page to page.
Materials lack sufficient and explicit instruction about the organization of print concepts (e.g., follow words left to right, spoken words correlate sequences of letters, letter spacing) in the context of a book. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Jolly Phonics Readers, Red Decodable Reader Snake, a text box inside the front cover reads, “Before tackling these Red Level Readers, a child will need to be able to: Recognize the basic 42 letter sounds shown at the bottom of this page. Read (blend) regular words containing these letter sounds. Recognize the eleven tricky words shown in the flowers below. Recognize the names of the three main characters: Inky, Snake, and Bee.”
- In the back of each Jolly Phonics Reader, the teacher is provided with comprehension questions to ask. For example, in the text The Pond, the comprehension questions include, “How many ducks are on the pond? What is the frog sitting on? Where does the frog jump? Why do the ducks all fly away? Does the frog like having the pond to himself?”
Materials do not include opportunities for students to engage in authentic practice using print concepts in the context of student books. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 19, states: “Storybooks intended for students to read themselves are best introduced once the student can work out simple regular words independently, and after Phonics Student Book 1 has been completed. Ideally, decodable readers, such as the Jolly Phonics Readers, should be used initially.”
Materials contain minimal periodic cumulative review opportunities during which the teacher reminds students about previously learned grade level print concepts, letter identification, and letter formation. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 56, when learning how to write the letters oa for the /oa/ sound, students also practice writing the previously learned letters u, l, f, b, ai, and j.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 59, when learning how to write the letter z, students also practice writing the previously taught letters oa, ie, ee and or.
Materials include minimal student practice of previously learned print concepts, letter identification, and letter formation. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 47, the teacher calls out the sound /d/, as well as some other sounds already covered, for students to write.
Criterion 1.2: Phonological Awareness
Materials emphasize explicit, systematic instruction of research-based and/or evidence-based phonological awareness.
The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criterion for materials emphasize explicit, systematic instruction of researched-based and/or evidence-based phonological awareness. The materials partially meet the criteria for materials have frequent opportunities for students to engage in oral language activities to practice phonological awareness, as well as the criteria for materials provide explicit instruction in phonological awareness through systematic modeling. The materials partially meet the criteria for materials provide practice of each newly taught sound (phoneme) and sound pattern.
Indicator 1C
Materials have frequent opportunities for students to engage in phonological awareness activities during Kindergarten and early Grade 1.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for materials have frequent opportunities for students to engage in oral language activities to practice phonological awareness through Kindergarten and early 1st grade.
Kindergarten materials provide limited oral phonological awareness activities. Rhyming, sentence segmenting, syllable segmenting and blending, onset and rime segmenting and blending and phoneme manipulation activities are not included in the materials.
Materials include a limited variety of activities for phonological awareness. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 23, states: “From the beginning, the students are taught how to write the letter sounds as they are introduced to them.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 35, states: “There are words for the students to blend in the colored panels on each page and a number of extra words for blending practice provided in a daily Word Bank. All the blending words use only the letter sounds that have been covered at that point.”
- Phonics Student Book 1, Page 2, students orally make the /s/ sound and blend the sounds in the word /sun/, after the teacher orally segments the sounds in /sun/.
- Jolly Phonics DVD, The Birthday Party, 12:30, the characters play a game called Listen for the Hidden Word. The game is played by hearing a word and then taking off the first sound. The characters play by hearing the word snap and saying nap. The game continues with bend to end and pink to ink. Opportunities are missed in the Teacher’s Book, however, to reference this game for students to play.
- Jolly Phonics DVD, The Birthday Party 4:52, the characters model rhyming the words top and pop and then demonstrate the activity in Finger Phonics Book 3, where students match words to a picture that rhymes. (e.g., matching a picture of a sun to the word fun.)
There are limited opportunities for students to practice phonological awareness. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 36, “Sounding: Say the words corresponding to the pictures on the page: sun, snail, spider, flower. The students listen for the word without the /s/ sound (flower), and cross out its picture.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 41, “Action: The students put their arms out and pretend to be a ‘nasty, noisy airplane,’ making a continuous /nnnnnnnnnnnnnn/ sound.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 47, “Flash Cards: Practice some of the sounds already learned: /s/, /a/, /t/, /i/, /p/, /n/, /c/, /k/, /e/, /h/, /r/, /m/.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 51, students practice blending the words leg, lips, help, and plan. Students also complete a sounding activity where the teacher reads aloud words that match pictures and the students must cross out the picture that does not have the /l/ sound. In this activity the teacher reads aloud lemon, grapes, leaf, and log and students cross out the picture of the grapes.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 61, students blend the words sang, king, long, and lung. The teacher reads aloud four words (with corresponding pictures) and students cross out the one without the ng sound. The words are king, zebra, kangaroo, and swing.
- Jolly Songs, page 8, students sing the U song and within the song students practice saying the isolated sound /u/: “/u/, /u/, up go umbrellas…(repeats twice)…when it starts to rain!” The Jolly Songs DVD contains a song for each sound. “Young students may also enjoy singing the songs linked to each letter sound (Phonics Teacher’s Book, Page 8).”
Indicator 1D
Materials provide explicit instruction in phonological awareness through systematic modeling across the K-1 grade band.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for materials provide explicit instruction in phonological awareness through systematic modeling across the K-1 grade band.
Kindergarten materials provide opportunities to practice phonemes with each sound introduced in a variety of ways, including a story, an action, writing practice, sounding activities, and dictation practice. Multisensory practice, such as listening to a song or doing an action or craft/activity is also provided for students. Opportunities for blending words are also provided; however, opportunities are missed for students to practice manipulating phonemes.
Materials provide the teacher with limited systematic, explicit modeling for instruction in syllables, sounds (phonemes), and spoken words.
- Students do not have opportunities to recognize and produce rhyming words.
- No evidence found
- Students have limited opportunities to count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 18, provides teachers with an explanation for how blending is to be used throughout Jolly Phonics, as well as some tips to help students. For example, “Another simple way to help students learn to blend sounds in their heads is as follows: The teacher writes letters randomly on the board and then points to one letter after another, spelling out a word. The students watch this and try to put the sounds together in their head to identify the word.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, page 20, the teacher is provided with a list of Helpful Hints for Blending to use with students. There are five hints total, some of which include, “When two vowels go walking, the first does the talking,” and “If the short vowel doesn’t work, try the long one.” Detailed explanations are also provided with each hint.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 44, states: “Blend the words hen, hat, hip, and hiss. Say the sounds with the students. Then blend the sounds together and read the words. Encourage the students to point to the dot underneath each sound as they say it. Say /h-i-s/ and not /h-i-s-s/, when blending the word hiss with the students. Explain to the students that, when two letters making the same sound are next to each other, the sound is only said once.
- Phonics Handbook, Reproducible Section 2, page 80, the instructions for blending read, “The students blend the words on the Sound Sheet, pointing to the dot underneath each sound as they say it.” On this particular page, students blend the words tie, lied, tied, and magpie.
- Students do not have opportunities to blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words.
- No evidence found
- Students have limited opportunities to isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words. (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 40, the teacher is instructed to “Practice some of the sounds already learned: /s/, /a/, /t/, and /i/.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 45, students learn the /r/ sound. As part of the lesson, a story is used to introduce the sound. Students learn an action that goes with the sound, learn how to write the letter r, blend words that contain the /r/ sound, and complete a sounding activity where they listen for words with the r sound. A word bank is provided of words that contain /r/ and students practice writing words with the r sound through dictation practice.
- Students do not have opportunities to add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.
- No evidence found
Materials do not provide the teacher with examples for instruction in syllables, sounds (phonemes), and spoken words called for in grade level standards.
- No evidence found
Indicator 1E
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for materials provide practice of each newly taught sound (phoneme) and sound pattern across the K-1 band.
Kindergarten materials provide limited practice of each newly taught sound and sound pattern; however, the materials do not address all skills. Rhyming, sentence segmenting, syllable segmenting and blending, onset and rime segmenting and blending, and phoneme manipulation activities are not included in the materials.
Materials provide limited opportunities for students to practice each new sound and sound pattern called for in grade level standards.
- Students have opportunities to recognize and produce rhyming words.
- No evidence found
- Students have opportunities to count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 59, students blend the words zap, buzz, fizz, and zigzag. The teacher also reads aloud four words (with corresponding pictures) and students cross out the one without the z sound. The words are zebra, wool, zigzag, and zoo.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 61, students blend the words sang, king, long, and lung. The teacher reads aloud four words (with corresponding pictures) and students cross out the one without the ng sound. The words are king, zebra, kangaroo, and swing.
- Jolly Phonics DVD, The Birthday Party, 4:52, the characters model rhyming the word top and pop and then demonstrate the activity in Finger Phonics Book 3, where students match words to a picture that rhymes, such as a picture of a sun to the word fun.
- Students have opportunities to blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable spoken words.
- No evidence found
- Students have limited opportunities to isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words. (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 36, “Sounding: Say the words corresponding to the pictures on the page: sun, snail, spider, flower. The students listen for the word without the /s/ sound (flower), and cross out its picture.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 41, “Action: The students put their arms out and pretend to be a ‘nasty, noisy airplane,’ making a continuous /nnnnnnnnnnnnnn/ sound.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 47, “Flash Cards: Practice some of the sounds already learned: /s/, /a/, /t/, /i/, /p/, /n/, /c/, /k/, /e/, /h/, /r/, /m/.”
- Students have opportunities to add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.
- No evidence found
Materials include a variety of multimodal/multisensory activities for student practice of phonological awareness.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 53, when learning about the /b/ sound, one of the further ideas is to “Play bat and ball.”
- In Jolly Phonics DVD, A Fright in the Woods, 11:20, the characters model blending the words pen and ant.
- In Jolly Phonics DVD, A Fright in the Woods, 7:03, the characters model blending hat and pin.
- In Jolly Phonics DVD, A Rainy Day, 3:15, the characters discuss the following blending tip, “If there are two sounds the same, you only say one sound.” This hint is then applied to the word dress.
- Jolly Songs, page 8, students sing the U song and within the song students practice saying the isolated sound /u/: “/u/, /u/, up go umbrellas…(repeats twice)…when it starts to rain!” The Jolly Songs DVD contains a song for each sound. “Young students may also enjoy singing the songs linked to each letter sound (Phonics Teacher’s Book, page 8).
- Whiteboard Lessons, emphasize phonological awareness instruction through Jolly Jingles, Jolly Songs, stories, and an action. Teachers can click on the letter sound group, click on the day’s letter, and then the Whiteboard Lesson guides them through the lesson. For example, for the letter a, the Jolly Jingle says “When ants crawl on my arm I say ‘ah, ah, ah’ til they all fall away.” The Jolly Song for the letter a says “ah, ah, ants on my arm.” The story for the letter a mentions words with short a, for example, “Adam packs the apples” and “‘Ah, ah, ah, ants!’ shouts Annie.” The action for the letter a is presented on the Whiteboard Lessons and this states “Wiggle your fingers above the elbow, as if ants are crawling on you, and say ‘Ah, ah, ah!’” Ah is the reference for the short a sound in the above examples. Additionally, the Whiteboard Lessons provide opportunities to instruct and practice the newly taught sound and spelling pattern by forming the letters appropriately to make the spelling pattern. For the letter a, the Whiteboard shows a pencil at the top of the letter. After you click the dot next to the pencil, the pencil forms the letter by drawing a different color on top, in this case, the color blue. The teacher can repeat this multiple times, as needed, with the class. Later in the Whiteboard Lesson, there are multiple opportunities for students to practice writing the letter a on the Whiteboard.
Criterion 1.3: Phonics
Materials emphasize explicit, systematic instruction of research-based and/or evidence-based phonics.
The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the criterion for materials emphasize explicit, systematic instruction of researched-based and/or evidence-based phonics. The materials partially meet the criteria for materials emphasize explicit phonics instruction through systematic and repeated modeling. The materials do not meet the criteria for materials promote frequent opportunities for students to practice decoding phonetically regular words in a sentence nor do they meet the criteria for materials promote application and encoding of phonics in activities and tasks. The materials partially meet the criteria for materials include frequent practice opportunities for students to build/manipulate/spell and encode grade-level phonics, including common and newly-taught sound and sound patterns.
Indicator 1F
The Jolly Phonics materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for materials emphasize explicit phonics instruction through systematic and repeated modeling.
Kindergarten materials provide students opportunities to engage in frequent multimodal activities where they hear, say, write, and read newly taught sounds and spelling patterns. Activities include having students listen to a story that highlights the new sound, hear words with the new sound, practice writing the new associated grapheme, and then practice reading words with the new grapheme. In addition, the teacher materials provide some explicit and repeated modeling of grade level phonics standards. Rather than modeling skills first, the teacher is often told to do them with students. Opportunities are missed for students to associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
Materials contain limited explicit instructions for systematic and repeated teacher modeling of all grade-level phonics standards. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Students have opportunities to demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 45, students learn about the /r/ sound. During the lesson, the students hear the /r/ sound numerous times. Some of the activities include the following: The teacher reads a story with many r words. For example, one line from the story is, “Suddenly, Robert hears a loud ‘ruff, rrrrrrrrrr!’’ The teacher also blends the words rat, rip, ran, and rest with students and dictates sounds (including /r/) and the words rat and rip to students .
- Phonics Teacher Book, Book 1, page 47, students learn the /d/ sound. Students hear the /d/ sound numerous times during the lesson. Some of the activities include the following: The teacher reads a story with numerous /d/ words. For example, one line from the story is, “He pulls out his teddy, his old donkey and a duck.” The teacher reads aloud four words, dog, hen, hand, and drum and students cross out the corresponding picture that does not have the /d/ sound in their workbook page .
- Whiteboard Lessons, Book 1, Teachers Help, page 4, /y/ sound, the teacher can have students listen to the Jolly Jingle and Jolly Song on this page. The Jolly Jingle is as follows, “Yummy, yellow yogurt. Yum, yum, yum, yumm! Tastes so delicious as it goes down in my tummy!” The Jolly Song is as follows, “I like to eat, eat, eat, yogurt and bananas. I like to eat, eat, eat, yogurt and bananas. I like to eat, eat, eat, yogurt and bananas. /y/, /y/, /y/, /y/, /y/!”
- Students have opportunities to associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
- No evidence found
- Students have opportunities to distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, Page 72, students learn about the /ue/ sound. The opportunities to say the spelling pattern consist of learning the action. In this case, “The students point to each other and say, “ue, ue, ue.” The students also practice orally blending the words fuel, statue, value, and rescue. If the teacher chooses to complete the further ideas activity, students will also sing a song from the Jolly Songs CD that goes with the lesson.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, Page 94, students learn about the -ck sound. The students and teacher read the following words together: duck, bricks, sack, peck, black, sock, jacket, tick, kick, clock. The students also practice tracing over the letters in the following words: stick, black, socks, rocket, duck, brick, neck. The students then practice blending the words bedroom, beetroot, cricket, haddock, and packing. The students also practice reading four sentences; however, these don’t focus on the spelling pattern and instead focus on tricky words. For example, “You are very clever indeed.”
Lessons provide teachers with limited systematic and repeated instruction for students to hear, say, encode, and read each newly taught grade-level phonics pattern. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 49, students learn about the /o/ sound. Students say the sound when learning the action. “The students point their finger, as if pushing a switch on and off, saying “/o/, /o/, /o/.”’ Students also say the sound when blending the words hot, mop, pots, and dog. If the teacher chooses to complete the further ideas activity, students will also sing the corresponding song from the Jolly songs CD
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 63, students learn about the two sounds /oo/ can produce. The teacher reads a story with many words that contain these sounds. The teacher then teaches students an action to go with the new sound and students practice blending words with the new sounds. Students also complete a sounding activity where the teacher reads aloud six words and the students identify the two words that do not contain either /oo/ sound. The teacher also dictates four /oo/ words to students and students complete an activity where the teacher calls out an /oo/ word and students count the number of sounds in each word.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 66, the teacher reads a story that includes many /ch/ words. The teacher teaches students an action to go with the /ch/ sound. The teacher blends /ch/ words with students (chops, chips, bunch, chain) and reads aloud four words. Students identify the word without /ch/ (cheese, chimney, butterfly, chick) and then complete a dictation activity where the teacher calls out /ch/ words, such as much, such, chat, and chin for students to write down. Also, under further ideas, the following activities are suggested: “Sing the song from the Jolly Songs and pin up the /ch/ section of the Wall Frieze. Pretend to be a train and chuff around saying ‘/ch/, /ch/, /ch/!’”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 67, students learn about the /sh/ sound. Students say the sound when learning the action. “The students place their finger over their lips, saying, ‘/shhh/!’” Students also say the /sh/ sound when blending the words shop, fish, sheep, and brush.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 73, students learn about the /er/ sound and practice writing the letters /er/. Students also practice writing the previously taught sounds qu, ou, oi, and ue. Students complete a dictation activity where the teacher is instructed to “Call out the sound /er/ and some other sounds already covered for the students to write.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 74, students learn about the /ar/ sound. The teacher reads a story to introduce the sound. The story contains many /ar/ words. The teacher also teaches students an action to go with the sound. Students practice orally blending words with the sound, complete a sounding activity where they listen for the word without /ar/ and complete a dictation activity where the teacher says /ar/ words. Students count the number of sounds in the word. As an additional idea, students can sing a song from the Jolly Jingles or Jolly Songs CDs that corresponds to the lesson.
Indicator 1G
Materials include frequent practice opportunities for students to decode words that consist of common and newly-taught sound and spelling patterns and provide opportunities for students to review previously taught phonics skills.
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria for materials include frequent practice opportunities for students to decode words that consist of common and newly-taught sound and spelling patterns and provide opportunities for students to review previously taught phonics skills.
Materials provide students with opportunities to review previously taught grade-level phonics skills through the Flash Card activity where students see letter graphemes previously introduced, then say the sound as they perform the associated body action. Students also practice decoding words by segmenting and blending sounds previously introduced, as well as by incorporating the new letter sound in words.
Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to decode (phonemes, onset and rime, and/or syllables) phonetically spelled words. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 51, students learn about the /l/ sound. Students blend the words leg, lips, help, and plan.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 53, students learn about the /b/ sound and blend the words bag, bug, cub, and crab.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 55, students learn about the /j/ sound and blend the words jam, jog, just, and jump.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, page 67, the teacher instructions read, “Blend the words shop, fish, sheep and brush. Say the sounds with the students. Then blend the sounds together, and read the words. Encourage the students to point to the dot underneath each sound as they say it.”
- Jolly Phonics DVD, Episode Index, A Fright in the Woods (TS 11:38), the character, Phonic, says an onset and rime (i.e., /p/ - /en/ for /pen/).
Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to read complete words by saying the entire word as a unit using newly taught phonics skills. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, page 17, the teacher instructions read, “Blending skills can be improved if the students practice saying initial consonant blends in isolation. The students are encouraged to work the word out by saying the blend, followed by the individual sounds. For example, /pl-a-n/, and not /p-l-a-n/.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 62, the teacher instructions read, “Blend the words van, vim, vat, vest. Say the sounds with the students. Then blend the sounds together and read the words.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 74, the teacher instructions read, “Blend the words jar, dark, shark, scarf. Say the sounds with the students. Then blend the sounds together and read the words.”
- Jolly Phonics DVD, About Using Jolly Phonics, Blending (TS 3:39), the narrator talks about having students sound out words silently in their heads, then saying the words. A teacher models this with students in a classroom.
Materials contain frequent opportunities for students to review previously learned grade level phonics. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 10, the teacher instructions state, “As well as holding up flash cards, there are lots of activities that will help the students to learn the letter sounds. Large letters could be placed in the corners of the room and the students told to run to the correct corner when they see or hear one of the letter sounds.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 35, the teacher instructions note, “The reading activities on these pages help students to consolidate their letter-sound and tricky word knowledge and provide them with the opportunity to practice their blending skills.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 40, under Flashcards, the teacher instructions read, “Practice the sounds /s/, /a/, /t/, and /i/.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 41, Letter Sound /n/, “Flashcards: students practice the sounds /s/, /a/, /t/, /i/, /p/.” These sounds are previously introduced sounds.
Materials contain a variety of methods to promote students’ practice of previously taught grade level phonics. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 59, the teacher instructions state, “Practice some of the sounds already learned.” Blending: Blend the words zap, buzz, fizz, zigzag. Say the sounds with the students. Then blend the sounds together and read the words. Dictation: Call out the sound /z/ and some other sounds already covered for the students to write.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 66, the teacher instructions read, “Practice some of the sounds already learned. Blending: Blend the words chops, chips, bunch, chain. Say the sounds with the students. Then blend the sounds together and read the words. Dictation: Call out the sound /ch/ and some other sounds already covered for the students to write. Dictate the words much, such, chat, and chin.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 70, under Flashcards, the teacher instructions note, “Practice some of the sounds already learned.” Phonics Teacher’s Book, page 71, Letter Sound /oi/ Flashcards Routine, the teacher instructions state, “Practice some of the sounds already learned. Blending: Blend the words soil, joint, point, void. Say the sounds with the students. Then blend the sounds together and read the words. Dictation: Call out the sound /oi/ and some other sounds already covered for the students to write. Dictate the words oil, boil, join, and coin.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 77, the teacher instructions read, “Practice some of the basic 42 sounds already learned. Use the flashcards, or the Tricky Word Wall Flowers, to practice the tricky words: the, he, she, me, we and be.”
Indicator 1H
The Jolly Phonics materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the criteria for materials promote frequent opportunities for students to practice decoding phonetically regular words in a sentence.
There are six lessons that include an activity called Reading Sentences. In this activity, teachers are directed to point out tricky words and blend unknown words with the students. The first instance of sentence reading in the Phonics Student Book 1 occurs in the last third of the lessons for the year. There is one lesson that directs students to read sentences on their own. The opportunities for students to independently practice decoding phonetically regular words in context are limited and infrequent.
Materials do not provide explicit, systematic practice for decoding phonetically regular words in a sentence. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Student Book 1, page 46, students read sentences and draw a picture in each frame to illustrate the sentence.
- Phonics Student Book 1, page 47, students read each sentence and write the missing word in the gap. Sentences include a learned tricky word (the), and phonetically regular words with sounds from the 42 already learned.
Lessons do not provide students with frequent opportunities to decode words in a sentence.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 80, students read six sentences incorporating previously introduced words. Additional sentences are read by the students via sentences written by the teacher on the board, with one example being, “Bring all the books to me.”
Indicator 1I
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for materials include frequent practice opportunities for students to build/manipulate/spell and encode grade-level phonics, including common and newly-taught sound and sound patterns.
Students have limited opportunities to spell words. The principal method for providing students opportunities to spell words includes students looking at pictures then writing the word that matches the picture, and writing words over dotted lines in the Phonics Student Book 1.
The materials contain limited teacher-level instruction/modeling for building/manipulating/spelling and encoding words using common and newly-taught sound and spelling patterns of phonics. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 70, teachers explain how the digraph ou is written. The students write over the dotted letters in their books.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 74, teachers are directed to call out the sound /ar/ and some other sounds already covered for the students to write. Teachers dictate the words art, card, star, and march. Students listen to the words and hold up a finger for each sound.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, Page 76, this is the first lesson where students write/spell phonetically regular words, such as chin, hen, sun, and ring. There is no guidance for the teacher to provide explicit instruction on how to spell words.
- Jolly Phonics DVD, Identifying Sounds In Words, TS 00:50, the teacher models segmenting sounds with students to determine how to spell a word.
Lessons provide students with limited opportunities to build/manipulate/spell and encode words in isolation based in common and newly taught phonics patterns. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Student Book 1, page 42, students look at the picture, listen for the sounds, and write the whole word on the lines provided. A line is provided for each sound in the words. A longer line indicates a digraph is needed. Words include hen, sun, ant, wood, six, ring.
- Phonics Student Book 1, page 44, students listen for the sounds in each word, and write the words underneath the pictures. A line is provided for each sound in the words. A longer line indicates a digraph is needed. Words include moth, tree, star, snail, flag, nest, fish, boat, moan.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, pages 75 and 77, these two lessons provide students opportunities to encode grade level phonics, including common and newly-taught sounds and spelling patterns. The phonetically irregular words across these lessons include: he, she, me, we, be, to, and do.
Indicator 1J
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the criteria for materials promote application and encoding of phonics in activities and tasks.
The Jolly Phonics Kindergarten materials do not provide opportunities for students to engage in encoding of phonics within authentic writing activities or tasks. Most of the lessons involve students tracing dotted graphemes. One opportunities is present at the end of Phonics Book 1 for students to write decodable words in sentences.
Materials include explicit, systematic teacher-level instruction of teacher modeling that demonstrates the use of phonics to encode sounds to letters and words in writing tasks.
- No evidence found
Lessons provide students with one activity and task to promote application of phonics as they encode words in sentences or in phrases based on common and newly taught phonics patterns.
- In Phonics Teacher’s Book, Page 81, Missing Words, students write/spell a phonetically regular missing words in a sentence. Example sentences include, "The tent is big" and "I see the green tree."
Criterion 1.4: Word Recognition and Word Analysis
The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criterion for materials and instruction support students in learning and practicing regularly and irregularly spelled high-frequency words. The materials partially meet the criteria for materials include systematic instruction of high-frequency words and practice opportunities of high-frequency words to develop automaticity, as well as for materials provide frequent practice opportunities to read and write high-frequency words in tasks. The materials partially meet the criteria for materials explicitly teach word analysis strategies based on the requirements of the standards and provide limited opportunities for students to apply word analysis strategies.
Indicator 1K
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for materials include systematic instruction of high-frequency words and practice opportunities of high-frequency words to develop automaticity.
Materials provide instruction on 12 tricky (high frequency) words in Phonics Student Book 1. The method for teaching the spelling of Tricky Words is focused on the students identifying the word and identifying each word’s tricky aspects. The instruction of high frequency words is grounded in the look, copy, cover, write, and check as its principal method. In this method, the primary instruction is through teacher modeling. There are limited opportunities to practice sight-based recognition of high frequency words in multimodal/multisensory ways, though students do have opportunities to air write Tricky Words in the Jolly Phonics DVD.
Materials include limited systematic and explicit instruction of high-frequency words (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does). Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Students have opportunities to read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does).
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 75, the teacher is directed to “Explain that some words are not written exactly as they sound, and that we call these words ‘Tricky Word.’” The following words are introduced: the, he, she, me, we, and be.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 77, the teacher is directed to do the following: “When introducing the Tricky Word was, say it first by blending its sounds and tell the students that was (pronouncing it to rhyme with mass), says /woz/.”
- Jolly Phonics DVD: Episode, “A Rainy Day” (Timestamp 7:22): The first Tricky Word is introduced /are/. Inky talks about writing the word in the air. No letter names are verbalized. /said/ is also introduced.
Materials do not include a sufficient quantity of grade-appropriate high-frequency words for students to make reading progress. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 35, 12 Tricky Words are introduced in Phonics Student Book 1. The Tricky Words introduced in Student Book 1 are as follows: the, he, she, me, we, be, I, was, to, do, are, all.
Materials include limited frequent opportunities for the teacher to model the spelling and reading of high-frequency words in isolation. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 75, the teacher introduces the words the, he, she, me, we, be. The teacher points out that the /ee/ sound at the end of each word is written with only one e, even though it sounds like it is written with two.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 79, the teacher looks at the Tricky Word flowers surrounding the word search and reads the Tricky Words with the students in Phonics Student Book 1, page 45.
- Phonics Student Book 1, page 41, the teacher uses the look, copy, cover, write, and check method with students to look at the first word, the. The teacher models saying the letter names in the word. Students write over the dotted word the. Students cover all instances of the word and try writing the word in the next column and check their spelling. Steps are repeated with the other words he, she, me, we, be.
- Jolly Phonics DVD: Episode, “A Rainy Day” (Timestamp 7:22): Inky says the letters of a Tricky Word and writes the word in the air. No letter names are verbalized.
Students practice identifying and reading high-frequency words in isolation. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Student Book 1, page 45, on a Tricky Words word search, Tricky Words are in word flowers surrounding the word search. The teacher and students read the Tricky Words together. Students have to find each Tricky Word in the word search, and lightly shade the squares blue.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 77, the teacher writes four sentences on the board, pointing out the Tricky Words and blending any unknown words with the students.
Indicator 1L
The Jolly Phonics materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for materials provide frequent practice opportunities to read and write high-frequency words in tasks (sentences).
The Phonics Student Book 1 includes Reading Sentences activities that direct teachers to read sentences including high-frequency words with the students and to point out these Tricky Words and blend unknown words.
Lessons provide students with limited opportunities to read grade level high-frequency words in a sentence. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 75, the teacher is directed to “Write the following sentences on the board, pointing out the Tricky Words and blending any unknown words with the students.”
- The dog jumps on the cat.
- She is sleeping in the barn.
- We must not drop litter.
- The king had a red cloak.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 80, the teacher is directed to “Write the following sentences on the board, pointing out the Tricky Words and blending any unknown words with the students.”
- Bring all the books to me.
- We are to sit and wait on the bench.
- I ran to the helicopter.
- We are all about to jump in the pool.
Lessons provide students with limited opportunities to write grade level high-frequency words in tasks (such as sentences) in order to promote automaticity in writing grade appropriate high-frequency words. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 81, students read each sentence and write the missing word in the gap. Students can use a corresponding picture (semantic cues). Sentences include:
- The (pie) is hot.
- The (frog) is green.
- The (tent) is big.
- The (bee) flies.
Materials do not provide repeated, explicit instruction in how to use student friendly reference materials and resources and reading high-frequency words (e.g., word cards, word lists, word ladders, student dictionaries).
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 31, teachers are provided with brief guidance on using the Jolly Phonics Tricky Word Wall Flowers. The Teacher’s Book includes this guidance: “Each flower can be pinned to the wall once the Tricky Word it contains has been taught; in this way, the wall display builds up week by week.”
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 81, flashcards, or the Tricky Word Wall Flowers, are used to practice Tricky Words the, he, she, me, we, be, I, was, to, do, are, and all.
Indicator 1M
The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for materials explicitly teach word analysis strategies (e.g., phoneme/grapheme recognition, syllabication, morpheme analysis) based on the requirements of the standards and provide frequent practice opportunities for students to apply word analysis strategies.
The materials provide instruction for students to listen and identify all of the sounds in a word and to hold up a finger for each sound. Students are explicitly taught vowel phonemes and graphemes, but are not provided instruction on how to analyze long and short vowel phonemes. Students are not asked to distinguish between the long and short vowel sounds in words when the teacher says two words. Opportunities are missed for instruction on how to independently decode words (familiar or unfamiliar).
Materials contain limited explicit instruction of word analysis strategies (e.g., phoneme/grapheme recognition, syllabication, morpheme analysis). Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 46, the teacher introduces the sound /m/ using the story and the action. Immediately following, the teacher uses the Phonics Student Book 1, page 12, to explicitly explain how the letter m is written and students practice.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 67, the teacher blends and states the sounds with the students, then blends the sounds together, and reads the words shop, fish, sheep, and brush. The teacher encourages the students to point to the dot underneath each sound as they say the word.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 68, the teacher introduces the sounds for /th/ using the story and the action. Immediately following, the teacher uses Phonics Student Book 1, page 34, to explicitly explain how the letters th are written, and students practice.
- Phonics Student Book 1, page 22, the teacher says the sounds with the students, then blends the sounds together, and reads the words. Students are encouraged to point to the dot underneath each sound as they say it. For each word, there is a dot under the initial consonant /g/, a dot under the /oa/ and a dot under the final consonant /t/.
- Jolly Phonics DVD, Snake Writes a Book, TS 7:25, students are explicitly told the three ways to spell /ue/; /ew/, /u-e/, and /ue/ can also say /oo/.
Materials contain limited explicit instruction of word solving strategies to decode unfamiliar words.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 76, the teacher writes sentences on the board, pointing out the Tricky Words and blending any unknown words with the students.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 79, students read the words and join each word to the corresponding picture. By viewing a picture, students use semantic cues. All the words are CVC words.
Limited multiple and varied opportunities are provided over the course of the year for students to learn, practice, and apply word analysis strategies. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 76, the teacher writes a list of words on the board and blends them with the students: quit, throat, rubbish, ostrich, mix.
- Phonics Teacher’s Book, Book 1, page 79, students read the words and join each word to the corresponding picture. In viewing the picture, students use semantic cues. All the words are CVC words.
- Phonics Student Book 1, page 10, the teacher says the words corresponding to the pictures on the page: star, arm, goat, car. Students listen for the word without the /ar/ sound (goat), and cross out its picture.
Criterion 1.5: Decoding Accuracy, Decoding Automaticity and Fluency
Materials provide systematic and explicit instruction and practice in fluency by focusing on accuracy and automaticity in decoding in K and 1, and rate, expression, and accuracy in mid-to-late 1st and 2nd grade. Materials for 2nd grade fluency practice should vary (decodables and grade-level texts).
The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the criterion for materials and instruction provide systematic and explicit instruction and practice in fluency by focusing on accuracy and automaticity in decoding. The materials do not meet the criteria for materials provide opportunities for students to engage in decoding practice focused on accuracy and automaticity nor do they meet the criteria for materials provide teacher guidance to support students as they confirm or self-correct errors.
Indicator 1N
The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the criteria for materials provide opportunities for students to engage in decoding practice focused on accuracy and automaticity in K and Grade 1.
Students do not engage in intentional listening activities for the purpose of listening to the teacher read words with accuracy and automaticity. In addition, the teacher is not prompted in the lessons to model decoding accuracy and automaticity as part of systematic instruction. While students do have daily opportunities to blend sounds into words containing previously introduced phonetic concepts and graphemes chorally with the teacher, students do not practice decoding words independently for accuracy and automaticity.
Materials provide systematic and explicit instruction and practice in fluency by focusing on accuracy and automaticity in decoding. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- No evidence found.
Materials provide opportunities for students in Kindergarten and Grade 1 to engage in decoding practice focused on accuracy and automaticity. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- No evidence found.
Indicator 1Q
The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the criteria for materials provide teacher guidance to support students as they confirm or self-correct errors.
The Jolly Phonics Kindergarten materials do not provide guidance to the teacher on how to provide systematic, explicit instruction in reading fluency, including teacher modeling of self-correction, confirmation of errors while reading, or providing students techniques for self-correcting.
Multiple opportunities are provided over the course of the year for students to read emergent-reader texts (K) for purpose and understanding. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Students have opportunities to read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.
- No evidence found
Materials contain explicit directions and/or think-alouds for the teacher to model how to engage with a text to emphasize reading for purpose and understanding. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- No evidence found
Overview of Gateway 2
Implementation, Support Materials & Assessment
Criterion 2.1: Guidance for Implementation, Including Scope and Sequence
Indicator 2A
Indicator 2B
Indicator 2C
Indicator 2D
Indicator 2D.i
Scope and sequence clearly delineate the sequence in which phonological awareness skills are to be taught, with a clear, evidence-based explanation for the expected hierarchy of phonemic awareness competence. (K-1)
Indicator 2D.ii
Scope and sequence clearly delineate an intentional sequence in which phonics skills are to be taught, with a clear explanation for the order of the sequence.
Indicator 2E
Criterion 2.2: Decodable Texts
Indicator 2F
Indicator 2F.i
Indicator 2F.ii
Criterion 2.3: Assessment and Differentiation
Indicator 2G
Indicator 2G.i
Materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress through mastery of print concepts (K-1), letter recognition (K only), and printing letters (as indicated by the program scope and sequence) (K-1).
Indicator 2G.ii
Materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress of phonological awareness (as indicated by the program scope and sequence). (K-1)
Indicator 2G.iii
Materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress of phonics in- and out-of-context (as indicated by the program scope and sequence). (K-2)
Indicator 2G.iv
Materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress of word recognition and analysis (as indicated by the program scope and sequence). (K-2)
Indicator 2H
Indicator 2I
Differentiation for Instruction: Materials provide teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of a range of learners so the content is accessible to all learners and supports them in meeting or exceeding grade-level standards.
Indicator 2I.i
Materials regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen in a language other than English with extensive opportunities for reteaching to meet or exceed grade-level standards.
Indicator 2I.ii
Materials regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen below grade-level with extensive opportunities for reteaching to meet or exceed grade-level standards.
Indicator 2I.iii
Materials regularly provide extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade-level.