The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 fully meet the expectations for reflecting the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards. The Common Core State Standards recommend that there be a 50-50 balance between informational and literary texts in Grades K-2. The Journeys literacy materials for Grade 1 are divided into anchor texts, read-alouds, and paired selections. Though the read-alouds are more heavily weighted toward literary selections, the balance is achieved by working across all three categories. It is also important to note that many of the literary selections support the topics covered by informational texts. This balance is represented in the list below:

• Anchor texts- 14 informational texts to 16 literary texts.
• Paired selections- 19 informational to 11 literary texts
• Read-alouds- 8 informational to 22 literary
• Total: 41 informational to 49 literary

The standards in Grade 1 call for students to be reading stories, poetry, and a wide range of texts. The materials reflect a distribution of genres by including realistic fiction, fantasy, poetry/song, fables/folktales/fairy tales, reader's theater, and biographies. The titles below represent a sample of genres reflected in the materials.

• “The Storm” by Raul Colon (realistic fiction)
• “Gus Takes the Train” by Russell Benanti (fantasy)
• “Back to School” Big Book (informational text)
• “Jack and the Wolf” by Anonymous (fable)
• “Dr. Seuss” by Helen Lester (biography)
• “Seasons” by Pat Cummings (informational text)
• “The Garden” from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel (fantasy)
• “The Ugly Duckling” by Anonymous (folktale)

• “Pet Snake” by Rebecca Kai Dotlich (poetry)
• “The Wind and the Sun” (readers’ theater)

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the expectations that the read aloud texts have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and relationship to their associated student task. Identifying text complexity ranges for K-1 is less specific than upper grades based on the different purposes for literacy instruction: guided reading, shared reading, read-alouds, and independent reading practice.

Many of the read-aloud texts are at a higher lexile level usually recommended for grades 2-3, but the shared reading texts begin at readability levels that are more accessible to readers and increase throughout the year. Most Lexile and Guided Reading levels for these tests are provided by the publisher. The teacher materials also provide a “Why This Text?” section that explains why the selected text is useful for reader’s learning and task performance. Teacher materials also outline planned scaffolding to ensure that these texts are accessible for students. For guided reading materials and the vocabulary readers, the quantitative information according to leveled readers is also provided. In Unit 1, guided readers begin at level B or C (60L) and move to levels F to K (370L) by the end of Unit 6. The vocabulary readers for independent reading also range from a score of 20L to 420L. Texts for teacher read-alouds begin at a low readability level (190L) of the second to third grade lexile band and advance to higher end of the range (420L) of Unit 6. Shared reading passages identified as paired selections begin with a score of 320L and end with a 480L.

Texts for read-alouds and shared reading are also reviewed with a qualitative analysis based on criteria as outlined in Appendix A in the CCSS: purpose/levels of meaning, text structures, language features, and knowledge demands. Like the quantitative progression, the texts used at the beginning of Unit 1, fell into the lowest level of qualitative complexity but by Unit 6 the texts scored middle to high on each of the categories of the qualitative complexity analysis.

The evidence listed below exemplifies the quantitative and qualitative complexity across the year.

Unit 1: Lesson 3

Guided Reading Leveled Readers: Level B to I, 60L to 280

Vocabulary Reader: 20L

Anchor Text: Curious George at School

• Readability Level: 10L
• Qualitative analysis: low range of complexity

Paired Selection: “School Long Ago” by Stephen Schaffer

• Readability level: 430L
• Qualitative analysis: low to middle level of complexity

Unit 3: Lesson 11

Guided Reading Leveled Readers: Level D to L, 360 L to 520L

Vocabulary Reader: Level D, 20L

Anchor text: “At Home in the Ocean” by by Rozanne Lanczak Williams

• Readability level: 400L

• Qualitative analysis: low to middle range complexity

Paired Selection: “Water” no author listed

• Readability level: 460L

• Qualitative analysis: low to middle range complexity

Unit 6: Lesson 28

Guided Reading Leveled Readers: Level F to K, 340L to 370L

Vocabulary Reader: Level F, 440L

read-aloud text: “The Kite” by Arnold Lobel

• Readability level: 420L
• Qualitative analysis: middle range complexity

Paired Selection: “Measuring Weather” no author listed

• Readability level: 480L
• Qualitative analysis: middle range of complexity

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for for anchor texts (including read-aloud texts in K-2) and series of texts connected to them are accompanied by a text complexity analysis. Texts are identified as having an appropriate level of complexity for the grade according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and relationship to their associated student task. Identifying text complexity ranges for K-1 is not specified due to the foundational skill-building focus of literacy instruction: guided reading, shared reading, read-alouds, and independent reading practice.

Each lesson series is preceded by a “Prepare for Complex Text” page in the Teacher Edition that offers quantitative and qualitative information for anchor texts and paired selections.. Anchor texts and paired selections are scored for readability by a quantitative Lexile measure as well as a guided reading level. For accompanying guided reading materials and the vocabulary readers, the quantitative information according to leveled readers or DRA scores is provided.

The teacher materials also provide a “Why This Text?” section that explains why the selected text is relevant for the reader’s learning. Teacher materials also select key features and academic language focus for the anchor texts and paired selections that adhere to the qualitative or quantitative complexities in the text and offer suggestions for reader support and tasks. The bottom row of the “Prepare for Complex Text” page provides reader and task considerations that offers a generic statement about teacher judgement and directs teachers to a section in the Teacher Edition for information on breaking down anchor texts.

Texts for read-alouds and shared reading are also reviewed with a qualitative analysis based on criteria as outlined in Appendix A in the CCSS: purpose/levels of meaning, text structures, language features, and knowledge demands. Below is an example from the “Prepare for Complex Text” page:

Unit 3: “Let’s Go to the Moon” by Stephen Swinburne

Genre: Informational Text

Why This Text?

• Children will regularly encounter informational text in textbooks, one the internet, and through other media. This text gives information about something observable in nature, the Moon. It provides a close-up look at the surface of the Moon with photographs taken by the astronauts who went there.

Key Learning Objectives:

• Identify main idea and supporting details
• Discuss the author’s reason for writing the text, and identify details that support that purpose
• Identify reasons the author gives for points about the topic

Quantitative Measures: 440L/ Level H

Qualitative Measures: Low-Mid Complexity

• Purpose/Level of Meaning:
  • Density and Complexity: 2/4 The text has a single topic that is clearly explained. The topic may be new to children.
• Text Structures:
  • Organization: 2/4 The text is organized into sections that each provide details that support the main idea.
  • Use of Images: 2/4 The text is supported by actual paragraphs of Moon missions. Children use essential information in the photos along with the text to understand the information.
• Language Features:
  • Vocabulary: 2/4 The text includes academic and domain-specific vocabulary that will be unfamiliar to some children.
  • Sentence Structure: 2/4 The text has longer sentences with complex patterns.
• Knowledge Demands
  • Subject Matter Knowledge/Prior Knowledge: 3/4 Specialized science content about space travel and the Moon will be unfamiliar to many children.

Reader/Task Considerations:

Determine using the professional judgement of the teacher. This varies by individual reader, type of text, and purpose and complexity of particular texts. See Reader and Task Considerations for some suggestions for Anchor Text support.

The instructional materials for Grade 1 meet the expectations for providing opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to achieve grade level reading over the course of the school year. Though some of the big books used are below the complexity level recommended, they provide knowledge-building opportunities for some of the lesson series. There are many opportunities for students to practice with different texts in and out of the topics being studied at the time. The core materials contain read-alouds, anchor texts, and paired reading selections. Supporting materials include big books, guided readers, vocabulary readers, student textbooks, blend-it books, close readers, decodable readers, trade books, high-frequency word cards, and biliteracy resources in Spanish which offer students access to multiple texts daily for shared, guided, and independent reading. Materials also provide a Common Core ELA Exemplar Text Resource that provide teachers close reading support, pacing, and tasks for texts found in the K-1 CCSS Exemplar texts. These are texts offered beyond the curriculum for extended shared or independent reading practice.

Each lesson series follows a general format in which students engage in reading, re-reading, or having access to multiple texts each day. The typical lesson series for all 30 lessons features multiple texts and resources centered around the current topic. Guided and vocabulary readers are also used throughout the entire lesson series. The Audio Hub in Teacher Resources provides audio versions of the big books and texts in the student books.

For example, a week of instruction may include:

Day 1: Big/blend-it book, read-aloud text, decodable reader, vocabulary reader, word cards

Day 2: Anchor text, decodable reader, student textbook, word cards

Day 3: Paired selection, decodable reader, cold read, student textbook

Day 4: Reread anchor text, decodable reader, student textbook, word cards

Day 5: Close reader, reader’s notebook, word cards

Each lesson also includes interactive literacy visuals and projectables to aid in literacy development. While maintaining a close balance between informational and literary texts, the materials also provide students a range of genres such as illustrative texts, narratives, realistic fiction, fantasy, poetry/song, fables/folktales, fairy tales, reader’s theater, and biographies. Texts are organized by topics such as friends, animals, real-life situations, sports, school, weather/seasons, adventures, life lessons, music, biographies, space, food, and plants. Students are also exposed to multicultural characters and texts.

Materials provide suggestions for teachers that give attention to oral reading skills and offer ways for teachers explicitly teach foundational skills. Differentiation options are provided which includes extra reading materials, audio recordings, and fluency practice.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the expectations of questions, tasks, and assignments being text-based and requiring students to engage with the text directly (drawing on textual evidence to support both what is explicit as well as valid inferences from the text).Students are asked text-based questions throughout the daily lessons. These questions are included in the teacher read-aloud, anchor text, and the paired selection read.

The following are examples of text-based questions:

• In Unit 1, Lesson 3, students are asked, “What are some ways the author makes George seem like a person?”
• In Unit 2, Lesson 9, students are asked, “The texts says, ‘Ted was a funny man.’ Look at the picture of Ted on page 113. Describe how it shows that he is funny.”
• In Unit 3, Lesson 13, students are asked, “The selection says ‘We play a lot.’ Why can the children ‘play a lot’?”
• In Unit 4, Lesson 16, students are asked, “What is the most important idea this selection is about? What text evidence in the words and pictures helps you know?”
• In Unit 5, Lesson 23, students are asked, “Read this sentence about Peter from the story. ‘So instead he began to turn himself. Around-around and around he whirled…’ What is another way to describe what Peter did? Why does Peter turn round and round?”
• In Unit 5, Lesson 25, students are asked, “Which words does the narrator use to talk about himself? How do the kids know a new family will soon live in the house?”
• In Unit 6, Lesson 30, students are asked, “Which detail BEST shows you that Mia hates to lose? Which detail BEST shows that Lovdy is a good goalie?How do you know that Mia is mad?”
• In Unit 6, Lesson 30, students are asked, “Look at the pictures and think about the words. What makes Mia happy? What reasons does the author give for why Mia likes soccer? What does Garrett say and do when Mia doesn’t make a goal? What does this tell you about Garrett?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the expectation of materials, including a mix of on-demand and process writing and short, focused projects incorporating digital resources where necessary. The Common Core standards for Grade 1 call for students to write short opinion, informative/explanatory, and narrative pieces in which they are able to introduce, support, and close their topic. Each weekly lesson provides students the opportunity to meet these standards by moving from shared writing to guided writing and culminating with an independent writing task. Students perform tasks such as responses to literature, drawing and writing about the topic, literacy centers, a writer’s handbook, and a reader’s notebook. Lessons provide Teach/Model sections for students to engage with the teacher in learning or reviewing the writing process before working independently or with a group. Students also use their Reader’s Notebook and Writer’s Handbook frequently to complete lesson-aligned and text-based writing tasks. Rubrics for the major writing tasks are included as well.

The Writer’s Handbook provides instructional materials to teach the writing process and traits and structured response sheets for students. The Teacher’s Guide for the Writer’s Handbook also offers instructional support and strategies that follow a gradual release of responsibility (I Do/We Do/You Do/Evaluate) pattern. The lessons typically end with students sharing their work with a peer or the class for the evaluation portion which is equivalent to a revision/editing process. Most writing lessons have a Focus Trait included as well. The handbook also provides information for students on using the computer and performing research. In addition to the handbook, lessons are accompanied by projectables that offer further models/examples and texts for student writing.

Lessons are accompanied by a digital platform called myWriteSmart in which students can play game-like writing activities and answer prompts provided or constructed by the teacher. The writing is published to the teacher’s dashboard to be reviewed/scored.

The following are examples of the writing expectations to build independence across the units.

Unit 1 focuses on a review of Kindergarten with narrative writing in the form of writing labels, captions, and sentences. This unit focuses heavily on teaching/modeling the writing process from prewriting to drafting, revising and publishing. The Focus Traits are proofreading and elaboration. Since the emphasis is on modeling the process the major performance task for the unit follows the entire writing process as a class: “Work with your teacher to write a class story about something fun your class did together.” This can be published digitally.

Unit 2 focuses on informative writing in which students review building descriptive sentences, then work on writing poetry, thank-you notes, and a piece of descriptive writing following the full writing process from prewriting to revision and publishing. The topic for one of the unit’s lesson series is simply “Writing” in which students read texts about writing. The Focus Traits for this unit are elaboration, organization, and evidence. Students work toward the culminating performance task of writing a description of the main character in A Cupcake Party by using graphic organizers to prepare for writing descriptive sentences and short paragraphs.

Unit 3 also focuses on informative writing with students writing informative sentences, instructions, and finally an explanatory report. The Focus Traits are evidence, organization, and proofreading, which students also practice during grammar lessons. Students complete the full writing process about topics they have studied such as marine life, seasons, and citizenship. The unit culminates with a research task in which students engage in research to collect evidence, using graphic organizers, to complete a research report on a chosen animal. Students spend ample time proofreading and revising their pieces and publish them digitally.

Unit 4 returns to narrative writing in which students write about themselves, compose a friendly letter, and publish a personal narrative. After practicing with modeling and on-demand writing about personal experiences, students spend two weeks working through the full writing process to complete this prompt: “Write a personal narrative about something special or unusual that you did or saw.” The Focus Traits for this unit are purpose, conventions, and organization, and students spend time on word choice to be more descriptive.

Unit 5 continues with narrative writing, but this time students will practice crafting story sentences based on texts they are reading then develop a fictional story that is not personal. In addition to a focus on dialogue, the Focus Trait for Unit 5 is development, which includes character development. Students work as a class and then individually to practice writing a variety of narratives before moving more extensively throughout the writing process to “write a story about a character who has had a big change in his or her life” and then publish a final draft digitally.

Unit 6 focuses on opinion writing as students craft opinion sentences based on their readings and personal experiences. Each lesson series helps students learn how to use details or reasons to support their opinions as well select words that show feelings. After viewing models from the teacher and other students, students finish the year by publishing an opinion paragraph in response to a prompt from their reading: “Is Fly Guy a good pet? Write an opinion paragraph that tells why or why not.” The Focus Traits for this unit are conventions, evidence, and organization.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the expectation for Indicator 1l because materials provide opportunities for students to address different text types of writing (year long) that reflect the distribution required by the standards. The Common Core standards for Grade 1 call for students to write short opinion, informative/explanatory, and narrative pieces in which they are able to introduce, support, and close their topic. Each lesson consists of a daily writing component with a process of shared, guided, and independent practice in a mode of writing. Students begin the year reviewing how to write complete sentences, but, by the end of the year, they are expected to compose full paragraphs in all three text types. The distribution of the types of weekly writing tasks are fairly balanced with two units (10 lessons) per type of writing: narrative, informative, and opinion. Rubrics for all three types of writing tasks are included as well.

The majority of the weekly writing tasks are not text dependent; however, they are connected to the topics studied in the read-alouds and big books. The shared and guided practice tasks are generally more text-dependent as students engage with what they are reading. For example, after reading and working with multiple texts about characters who deal with changes, students then develop a character who faces a big change and write their own story.

The Common Core Writing Handbook contains 60 additional writing mini lessons for teachers to use. Note: this is a supplemental resource and is not part of the Teacher Edition’s weekly planning. There are 20 mini lessons of each type of writing.

The following are examples of the writing expectations to build independence across the units.

Unit 1 (narrative writing) Students revisit writing labels, captions, and sentences as well as walk through the entire writing process with practice in proofreading.

Unit 2 (informative writing) Students descriptive sentences and write poetry, thank-you notes, and descriptive writing following the full writing process from prewriting to revision and publishing.

Unit 3 (informative writing) Students write informative sentences, instructions, and an explanatory report which requires that students perform research and collect evidence with graphic organizers before writing and publishing.

Unit 4 (narrative writing) Students write about themselves, compose a friendly letter, and publish a personal narrative with a focus on word choice and conventions.

Unit 5 (narrative writing) Students craft story sentences, develop characters, and write a fictional story. This is a shift since much of their writing has been personal.

Unit 6 (opinion writing) Students practice writing opinion sentences, select details/reasons, and publish an opinion paragraph based on a text-dependent prompt.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet expectations for explicit instruction of the grammar and conventions standards for grade level as applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts, with opportunities for application both in and out of the context. Each unit has a daily direct instruction lesson specifically titled “Grammar.” Each week focuses on specific grammar skills and conventions as well as language features such as figurative language. The lessons meet the requirements of the language standards for Grade 1 as well as reviewing Kindergarten standards.

Each day explicit grammar instruction takes place, and students practice the skill in context with the texts/writing types used in class as well as complete tasks in the Reader’s Notebook and Writer’s Handbook. There are also supporting materials labeled Projectables that teachers can click right from the digital Teacher Edition that provide examples, images, and tasks to practice the grammar lesson. Most of the grammar lessons extend across several days and may be reviewed in later units. Students also focus on revising sample and peer writing drafts that incorporate conventions and language skills they are learning.

The following grammar and convention topics covered in each unit:

• Unit 1: Nouns; word categories; possessives; action verbs; punctuation, adjectives for shape, color, and number; synonyms
  • Lesson 1, the teacher reviews nouns that name people, animals, places, and things.
  • Lesson 3, students are reminded to use periods at the end of sentences when drafting narrative writing.
• Unit 2: Building complete sentences; action verbs; commas; commas; adjectives; word categories; plurals; antonyms/synonyms; articles
  • Lesson 6, students practice their best handwriting using ball-and-stick and continuous stroke handwriting models.
  • Lesson 6, students practice writing and spelling words with common spelling patterns.
  • Lesson 7, students are taught to use commas in a series.
  • Lesson 8, students learn how to produce and expand sentences during Language Detective.
  • Lesson 10, students learn articles.
• Unit 3: Proper nouns; titles; adjectives; commands; punctuation; homophone; verb tense; subject/verb
  • Lesson 11, students are taught proper nouns and learn to capitalize proper nouns.
  • Lesson 13, students are taught subjects and verbs.
  • Lesson 15, students learn prepositional phrases as part of Language Detective.
• Unit 4: Question words; punctuation, suffixes; Compound sentences; capital letters (holidays, months, days); commas in dates; synonyms; past/present/future l verb tenses
  • Lesson 17, students are taught compound sentences.
  • Lesson 19, students are taught future tense.
• Unit 5: Pronouns (possessive, indefinite, naming self); prefix -re; dialogue; dictionary/thesaurus usage; multiple meaning words; contractions; commas; synonyms
  • Lesson 21, students are taught subject pronouns.
• Unit 6: exclamations; idioms; sentence types; using because; compound sentences; adjectives for taste, smell, sound, and texture; homographs; adverbs (where, when, how, how much); prefix -un; comparative adjectives; suffix -ly
  • Lesson 29, students are taught adjectives.