2019

Imagine Learning EL Education K-5 Language Arts

Publisher
Imagine Learning f/k/a LearnZillion
Subject
ELA
Grades
K-5
Report Release
05/31/2019
Review Tool Version
v1.0
Format
Core: Comprehensive

EdReports reviews determine if a program meets, partially meets, or does not meet expectations for alignment to college and career-ready standards. This rating reflects the overall series average.

Alignment (Gateway 1 & 2)
Meets Expectations

Materials must meet expectations for standards alignment in order to be reviewed for usability. This rating reflects the overall series average.

Usability (Gateway 3)
Meets Expectations
Key areas of interest

This score is the sum of all points available for all foundational skills components across all grades covered in the program.

The maximum available points depends on the review tool used and the number of grades covered.

Foundational Skills
78/84

This score represents an average across grade levels reviewed for: integrated reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language, and promotion of mastery of grade-level standards by the end of the year.

Building Knowledge
182/192
Our Review Process

Learn more about EdReports’ educator-led review process

Learn More

Note on review tool version

See the top of the page to confirm the review tool version used for this report:

Report for 1st Grade

Alignment Summary

The instructional materials for Grade 1 meet the expectations of alignment. The materials include high quality, rigorous texts for students to engage with questions and tasks. The materials support development of foundational skills and provide support for teachers to attend to students' literacy growth. The materials also support building knowledge and growing academic vocabulary as student demonstrate their integrated skills.

1st Grade
Gateway 1

Text Quality

57/58
0
27
52
58
Alignment (Gateway 1 & 2)
Meets Expectations
Gateway 3

Usability

33/34
0
23
30
34
Usability (Gateway 3)
Meets Expectations
Overview of Gateway 1

Text Quality & Complexity and Alignment to Standards Components

EL Language Arts Curriculum for Grade 1 meet the expectations for text quality and complexity and alignment to the standards. The instructional materials include texts that are worthy of students' time and attention and that support students’ advancing toward independent reading. The materials provide opportunities for rich and rigorous evidence-based discussions and writing about texts to build strong literacy skills. Materials meet the criteria for materials supporting ongoing and frequent assessment to determine student mastery and inform meaningful differentiation of foundational skills and provide high-quality lessons and activities that allow for differentiation of foundational skills, so all students achieve mastery of foundational skills.

Criterion 1.1: Text Complexity & Quality

19/20
Texts are worthy of students' time and attention: texts are of quality and are rigorous, meeting the text complexity criteria for each grade. Materials support students' advancing toward independent reading.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria that anchor texts are of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading/listening and consider a range of student interests and reflect the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards. Materials have the appropriate level of complexity and support students’ literacy skills over the course of the school year. The materials provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to support their reading at grade level by the end of the school year.

Indicator 1A
04/04
Anchor texts (including read-aloud texts in K-2 and shared reading texts in Grade 2 used to build knowledge and vocabulary) are of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading/listening and consider a range of student interests.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for anchor texts (including read aloud texts in K-2 and shared reading texts in Grade 2 used to build knowledge and vocabulary) are of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading/listening and consider a range of student interests.

The texts provide content that is relevant and interesting to students. Anchor texts across the yearlong curriculum are of publishable quality. Anchor texts consider a range of student interests and are well-crafted and content-rich. Examples include:

  • Module 1:
    • The Little Red Pen by Janet Stevens is a clever twist on the Little Red Hen. After no other school supplies will help the little red pen grade papers, they must work together to save the pen after she falls into the trash can. The text has engaging text features, such as speech bubbles and bolded, colorful font.
    • Use Science Tools by Kelli Hicks is an informational text and has appealing photographs of students and scientists showing a range of diversity in race, gender, and age. The photos demonstrate the use of the tools as used in science with children conducting the demonstrations.
  • Module 2:
    • Sun and Moon by Lindsey Yankey is a text that engages students in the story by using simple sentences and pictures that are student-friendly. The content of the text has a different perspective and helps students to see that while something may seem better it may not be always what it seems.
    • Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle tells the story of Monica, who stretches her arms but is unable to grab the moon. How Papa gets the moon for the daughter is imaginative, especially with Carle’s illustrations, and will engage students at this grade level.
  • Module 3:
    • Flight School by Lita Judge captures students’ attention because the cover portrays an owl that is dressed up. Students in the story learn about how other birds are not able to fly, which birds are able to fly, and what it takes for birds to learn to fly. The text includes pictures that engage students in learning. There is a rich quality of vocabulary words provided, such as “immediately,” “flap,” and “broken-hearted.” The pictures are kid-friendly as evidenced by their vivid colors.
    • Beaks by Sneed Collard III is an informational picture book that looks at the adaptations of bird beaks, beak qualities, and specific beak uses. The text poses questions that students will find engaging, and the illustrations are realistic as they demonstrate how the beaks appear in reality.
  • Module 4:
    • City Hawk: The Story of Pale Male by Meghan McCarthy allows for a variety of learning to occur, such as what it’s like to move, how to settle into a new life, and the path that the bird takes in order to make a new friend. The illustrations engage students in learning since the text is based on a true story of a bird in New York City.
    • Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers portrays the friendship between a boy and a penguin that he believes to be lost. The boy tries to take the penguin back to its Antarctic home, which is an engaging idea. The illustrations add to the humor of the text.


Indicator 1B
04/04
Materials reflect the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards at each grade level.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the expectations of indicator 1b. Materials reflect the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards at each grade level.

There is balance of literary and informational text in time spent on different types of texts. The majority of required texts for the Grade 1 Modules are literary texts, which include stories and poetry. To supplement the texts types and genres, educators can use the Grade 1 Recommended Texts and Other Resources List. According to the Module 1 Teacher Guide, “Throughout the module, to support a volume of reading on this topic, see the Recommended Texts and Other Resources list” (p. 43). During the Labs, there are recommended texts for Storytime. The majority of these recommended texts are also literary texts. Examples of the Module required texts include:

  • Literature Texts:
    • Module 1: The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires andThe Little Red Pen by Janet Stevens
    • Module 2: Summer Sun Risin’ by W. Nicola-Lisa and Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle
    • Module 3: Birds by Kevin Henkes and A Place for Birds by Melissa Stewart
    • Module 4: City Hawk: The Story of Pale Male by Meghan McCarthy and Lost and Found by Penguin Young Readers
  • Informational Texts:
    • Module 1: A Chef’s Tools by Holden Strauss and I Use Science Tools by Kelli Hicks
    • Module 2: Does the Sun Sleep?: Noticing Sun, Moon, and Star Patterns by Martha E.H. Rustad and Sun and Moon by Lindsay Yankey
    • Module 3: Birds by Penelope Arlon and Beaks by Sneed Collard
    • Module 4: The Lion and the Bird by Marianne Dubuffet and “What’s Best? The Debate about Pale Male?” by EL Education


Indicator 1C
04/04
Texts (including read-aloud texts and some shared reading texts used to build knowledge and vocabulary) have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade level according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and a relationship to their associated student task. Read-aloud texts at K-2 are above the complexity levels of what most students can read independently.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for texts (including read-aloud texts and some shared reading texts used to build knowledge and vocabulary) that have the appropriate level of complexity for the grade level according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and a relationship to their associated student task. Read-aloud texts at K-2 are above the complexity levels of what most students can read independently.

Grade 1 read-aloud texts are two to three grade levels higher in complexity according to quantitative and qualitative analysis and the relationship to their associated student task. Anchor texts are placed at the appropriate grade level. Examples of text that demonstrate the appropriate complexity include:

  • Module 1:
    • The Little Red Pen by Janet Stevens has a Lexile score of 300. The text has moderately complex meaning/purpose, text structure, and language features. Readers have to infer the central message and the plot is told through dialogue. The knowledge demands are slightly complex as the experience is imaginative but includes familiar objects and settings.
  • Module 2:
    • What Makes Day and Night by Franklyn Branley falls in the K-1 Lexile band with a Lexile score of 230. This illustrated science book explains what makes day and night using simple language and clear diagrams. Meaning/purpose, text structure, language features, knowledge demands are all moderately complex. The text is structured to logically build an understanding of the scientific concepts needed to understand what makes day and night, using diagrams and labeled illustrations. The vocabulary is mostly familiar and not overly technical. The text includes a mix of simple and more complicated ideas.
  • Module 3:
    • Just Ducks by Nicola Davies falls in the 4-5 grade Lexile Band with a Lexile score of 940. The purpose/meaning of the text is moderately complex since students will need to infer some of the meaning throughout the text by following the storyline and using information from the captions. The text structure is moderately complex with chronological order, but contains different fonts. The language features are moderately complex since the vocabulary used throughout the text is more complex as is the punctuation used, such as ellipsis, exclamation points and dashes. The knowledge demands are slightly complex, most students will have the appropriate background knowledge needed to understand the story.
  • Module 4:
    • City Hawk: The Story of Pale Male by Meghan McCarthy falls in the 4-5 grade Lexile band with a Lexile score of 880. The meaning/purpose and language features are moderately complex. There are multiple levels of meaning and some vocabulary may be unfamiliar. The text structure and knowledge demands are slightly complex with a clear, chronological storyline and the experiences will be familiar to many readers.


Indicator 1D
04/04
Materials support students' literacy skills (comprehension) over the course of the school year through increasingly complex text to develop independence of grade level skills (leveled readers and series of texts should be at a variety of complexity levels).

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials supporting students’ literacy skills (comprehension) over the course of the school year through increasingly complex text to develop independence of grade level skills (leveled readers and series of texts should be at a variety of complexity levels).

Complex texts are read aloud to Grade 1 students during the Module lessons to guide students to understand the Guiding Questions and Big Ideas. Students are guided to understand increasingly complex texts to develop independence of grade level skills.

  • In Module 1, the teacher uses Close read-aloud, Focused read-aloud to read complex texts aloud to students. In Unit 1, students play with tools and draw and label various tools (cooking, math, best for the job) to develop language about tools. The teacher reads complex texts about tools and shows students pictures from the texts. Sentence starters are provided for students to use to share their understanding. When the teacher reads aloud The Most Magnificent Thing, students co-create a Frayer model and students use a Magnificent Thing recording form to document.
  • In Module 2, the teacher uses Close read-aloud and Focused read-aloud to read complex texts to students. To help students understand Summer Sun, Risin’, and Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me, and Sun and Moon, the students participate in role playing for characters, setting, and events. To scaffold student understanding of the informational text, Does the Sun Sleep? Noticing Sun, Moon, and Star Patterns, there are science videos, experiments, demonstrations, and simulations.
  • In Module 3, the teacher reads aloud complex texts to students. Students use a Birds Research notebook to document their learning from the read alouds (Birds and Just Birds). Students participate in Science Talks to discuss what they learned from the complex read-alouds. By Unit 3, students gain background knowledge from the complex text read-alouds to independently read text in order to research birds.
  • In Module 4, the teacher uses Close read-aloud and Focused read-aloud to read complex texts to students. In Unit 1, the teacher reads aloud The Lion and the Bird and Pierre the Penguin. To help students comprehend and compare the texts, students participate in role-playing. The teacher leads students through shared writing to compare the characters’ experiences. In Unit 2, students participate in more role-playing to understand the Focused read-aloud complex text, City Hawk: The Story of Pale Male. To help students understand the complex text, “What’s Best? The Debate about Pale Male’s Nest,” students participate in a text-based discussion and pair share.

During Storytime in the Labs, students hear texts read aloud for an additional 10 minutes. These read-alouds and Labs help scaffold student learning of the module topics and texts.

Indicator 1E
01/02
Anchor texts (including read-aloud texts in K-2) and series of texts connected to them are accompanied by a text complexity analysis.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that anchor texts and series of texts connected to them are accompanied by a text complexity analysis and rationale for purpose and placement in the grade level.

Text complexity analyses and rationales are included in the program in the Curriculum Tools. However, text complexity analyses and rationales are not provided for each anchor text. The text complexity analysis is not provided for the read-aloud texts used during the Labs.

Most anchor texts (including read-aloud texts in K-2) and the series of texts connected to them are accompanied by a text complexity analysis and rationale. Examples include:

  • In The Little Red Pen by Janet Stevens, the analysis includes text description, placement, quantitative measures, qualitative measures, considerations for reader and task, and rationale. The analysis includes a summary of the text within the text description. Within the placement, the analysis includes the following information: “Contemporary language, detailed illustrations and the familiar setting of this book support students as they explore the more complex central message of the text. The book is read aloud, providing adult guidance with the unusual use of text style, size, layout, and color throughout the text. When quantitative level, qualitative level, and task are considered, this is an appropriately complex read-aloud for first graders. ”For quantitative measures, the text has a AD 300L with an associated band level that is not applicable. For qualitative measures, the text complexity analysis includes meaning/purpose, text structure, language features, and knowledge demands. The following guidance is provided for considerations for the reader and task: 'This text builds upon students’ literary and character analysis as they continue to analyze how the characters’ actions and words reveal habits of character and how those habits help the characters accomplish the ultimate goal of the story. The less-scaffolded, focused read-aloud serves as the Unit 2 Assessment: Students continue to engage in asking and answering questions specific to the characters’ words and actions, vocabulary from the text, and the connection between illustrations and the text. Students write in response to the final focusing questions: “How are the characters showing collaboration in this part of the text? What work does this help them do? Use evidence to support your answer.' The Little Red Pen supports students in working toward their performance task, in which they must work together in small groups toward the common goal of designing and creating their own magnificent thing.” The rationale states that this text helps students’ understand tools, work, and habits of characters. The illustrations, details, vocabulary, and story elements support the students in completing their performance task.
  • In Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Steward, the analysis includes text description, placement, quantitative measures, qualitative measures, considerations for reader and task, and rationale. The analysis includes a summary of the text within the text description. Within the placement, the analysis includes the following information: “Although the text relies on similes, once students are taught this complex sentence structure, these sentences are fairly easy to understand and serve to clarify science concepts. Illustrations support understanding, making this text appropriate for first graders when read aloud with guidance.” For quantitative measures, the text has a 910L with an associated band level of 4-5. For qualitative measures, the text complexity analysis includes meaning/purpose, text structure, language features, and knowledge demands. The following guidance is provided for considerations for the reader and task: “Although the text uses figurative language, most of the similes chosen connect feathers to familiar objects and serve to clarify the science concept being addressed. Because of this, fairly abstract concepts can be explained using a minimum of domain specific words and phrases.” The rationale states that Feathers: Not Just for Flying introduces students to the fact that birds need feathers to survive. The text prepares students for Science Talk and a class research project by building vocabulary and background knowledge.


Indicator 1F
02/02
Anchor text(s), including support materials, provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to achieve grade level reading.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that support materials for the core text(s) provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to support their reading at grade level by the end of the school year.

There is a Required Trade Book Procurement List and a Recommended Texts and Other Resources List. These lists contain a range and volume of informational and literary texts that students read or have read to them during Module lessons. Other opportunities for engaging in reading include daily ten-minute read-alouds in the Labs, decodables in the Skills Block, and Accountable Independent Reading in the Skills Block. The instructions for Grade 1 independent reading are not explicit, teachers will need to plan for independent reading.

Instructional materials identify opportunities and supports for students to engage in reading (and reading aloud) a variety and volume of texts to become independent readers and/or comprehenders as they grow toward reading independence at the grade level. Examples include:

  • During Module lessons, students hear a variety of read-aloud texts about the following topics: tools and work; the sun, moon, and stars; birds’ amazing bodies; and caring for birds. Students hear texts read aloud by the teacher. Texts include I Use Science Tools, Kitten’s First Full Moon, and Beaks!.
  • During the K-2 Reading Foundations Skills Block, students have the opportunity to read decodable readers. For example, in Module 3, Part 2, Cycle 15, Lesson 77, students read “James and Sam Make a Flame.”
  • During Independent Rotations, students participate in Accountable Independent Reading (AIR), which requires students to choose books to read independently. AIR is a time for “students to apply the skills and build stamina, automaticity, and comprehension by reading a large volume of texts of their own choice, with a specific focus on their own personal reading goals."
  • During the Lab Storytime, students hear ten minutes of a read aloud text at the beginning of the Lab. The teacher selects a read aloud text from the Recommended Texts and Other Resources List, and the teacher provides a focus question for students to think about as the teacher reads the text aloud. Students participate in a Research Lab, which allows students to select appropriate texts from a range of levels about content literacy.


Criterion 1.2: Alignment to the Standards with Tasks and Questions Grounded in Evidence

16/16
Materials provide opportunities for rich and rigorous evidence-based discussions and writing about texts to build strong literacy skills.

The instructional materials reviewed meet the criteria that most questions, tasks, and assignments are text-based, requiring students to engage with the text directly. The materials offer many opportunities for students to engage with text-based questions and activities that build to a culminating task and meet the criteria for materials, providing frequent opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax. There are many opportunities for students to discuss what they are reading by asking relevant follow-up questions and providing teacher support, as well as for on-demand writing, process writing, and short, focused projects through a variety of instructional tasks. The materials offer opportunities for students to engage in writing tasks across the text types required in the standards and regular opportunities for evidence based writing. Opportunities to learn language standards are in the Module Lessons and in the Foundational Reading Skills Block. Grammar and convention standards are predominantly taught and learned through context instruction.

Indicator 1G
02/02
Most questions, tasks, and assignments are text-based, 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).

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that most questions, tasks, and assignments are text-based, 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).

The materials contain questions and instructional tasks designed to encourage understanding of key ideas of texts and determine the most important learning from the readings. Text-dependent questions and tasks are specifically included in the anchor text and through close reading sessions that occur in lessons and support explicit as well as valid inferences. As stated in Your Curriculum Companion on page 275, “In each session, students are lifted to greater understanding of the text through purposeful text-dependent questions and activities.” These text-dependent questions are typically found in activities with structured protocols requiring discourse such as: Back-to-Back, Face-to-Face, Think-Pair-Share, and Pinky Partners. Additionally, text-dependent questions are found on Unit Assessments and Student Response Sheets. Text-dependent questions would be stronger if they prompted students by asking, “What evidence from the text helped you answer this question.”

Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • In Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 2, students listen to the story, The Most Magnificent Thing. After hearing page 2, students are asked explicit questions from the text such as, “What did the girl decide to do?” After listening to pages 4 and 5, students are asked, “Whom does she pick to help her? Why do you think she did this?”
  • In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 3, students listen to Summer Sun Risin'. After listening to pages 5 and 6, students are asked to answer the following questions from the text, “What is the boy doing? What is the sun doing? Where is the sun?”
  • In Module 3, Unit 2, Lesson 2, students listen to Feathers: Not Just for Flying. After listening to the story, the teacher asks a question about main idea and text features: “How might some of these jobs help birds survive?” Students are expected to provide a response that connects directly to the text (The heron’s feathers create shade so that the bird can find fish and frogs to eat. The heron must eat to survive.) After reviewing specific structures throughout the book, the teacher prompts, “If we understand how the pages are organized, how would that help us find the information we need?” Students are to respond with direct evidence from the book such as, “The heading tells us the feather’s job, the text box gives more explanation, the caption tells us what kind of bird has that kind of feathers, and the pictures show us the feathers and the birds.”
  • In Module 4, Unit 3, Lesson 2, during the Focused Read Aloud of A Place for Birds, the teacher briefly reviews author’s point of view using key details and illustrations. After a short picture walk, the teacher reads pages 1-2 and then stops to ask, “Based on these pages, what do you think the author’s point is?” The students are expected to respond with something similar to, “People do things to hurt birds, but people can do things to help birds, too.” The teacher then extends the conversation asking students, “Do you agree or disagree with what your classmate said? Why? I’ll give you time to think.” After reading pages 5-6, the teacher stops again to ask, “How does the illustration show what this page is about?” Students are expected to respond with something similar to, “It shows the birds using a small birdhouse.” The teacher prompts, “How does this support the author’s point?” Again, students are expected to respond with something similar to, “It shows how birds need houses and birdhouses help them with a place to live.”


Indicator 1H
02/02
Materials contain sets of high-quality sequences of text-based questions with activities that build to a culminating task which integrates skills to demonstrate understanding (as appropriate, may be drawing, dictating, writing, speaking, or a combination).

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials containing sets of high-quality sequences of text-based questions with activities that build to a culminating task which integrates skills to demonstrate understanding (as appropriate, may be drawing, dictating, writing, speaking, or a combination).

Materials offer numerous opportunities for students to engage with text-based questions and activities that build to a culminating task. The close reading/read aloud sessions in the Module lessons are taught across five lessons to support comprehension and knowledge building from the text. Following these lessons, students demonstrate their understanding of the text through a variety of activities involving writing, drawing, and speaking. Students also have daily opportunities to participate in collaborative conversations and the teacher records ideas on an Anchor Chart displayed in the classroom. In addition, students complete written responses in notebooks and journals that require reference back to the text and give the teacher usable information about students’ readiness to complete the culminating task. The culminating task for each module is found in Unit 3 and is called a performance task. This task gives students the opportunity to demonstrate their content and literacy knowledge from the module through a combination of literacy skills including reading, writing, drawing, and speaking and listening.

The Module 1 Performance Task requires students to incorporate their knowledge about tools to create a magnificent work in a small group that fulfills a need or solves a problem within the classroom. Students independently write a description of what their group created, why they created it, and how they used tools to create it. Lessons throughout the Module prepare students to complete the culminating task. In Unit 2, Lesson 6, the teacher displays The Most Magnificent Thing Recording Form and reads the following prompt: “How was the little girl able to make such a magnificent thing?" Students must show examples from the story and are reminded that it may be helpful to them as writers to first draw and then write. In the Unit 2 Assessment, students engage in a focused read-aloud of The Little Red Pen. Students ask and answer questions about the characters’ words and actions, use context to determine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary from the text, and make connections between the illustrations and the text. Students write to show their understanding of the text by responding to the final focus question using text evidence: “How are the characters showing collaboration in this part of the text? What work does this help them do?”

The Module 2 Performance Task requires students to incorporate their knowledge about the sun, moon, and stars to use feedback from peers and from the teacher to revise and edit their “What the Sun Sees” poems from the Unit 3 Assessment. Students are expected to use the High-Quality Work Anchor Chart and the High-Quality Narrative Poem Checklist to create a quality final piece of writing. Lessons throughout the Module prepare students to complete the culminating task. In Unit 1, Lesson 3, Close Read/Read Aloud Session 3, the teacher invites students to turn and talk with an elbow partner after reading Summer Sun Risin’ to discuss the following question: “Why did the author decide to use different words to describe what the sun is doing on this page? Why did the author use the words pauses and waits?” In Unit 3, Lesson 2, Work Time A, after rereading the text, What the Moon Sees, the teacher displays the What the Moon Sees Anchor Chart and informs students that they are going to review the illustrations to generate ideas of what the moon sees at night during this story.

The Module 3 Performance Task requires students to create two cards to demonstrate their expertise about how a bird uses specific body parts to survive. The Expert Bird Riddle card contains an informational riddle that teaches the reader about a specific bird’s key body parts and how those parts aid in survival. The Expert Bird Scientific Drawing card contains a black-and-white scientific drawing of the expert bird that accurately depicts the bird’s external anatomy. Lessons throughout the Module prepare students to complete the culminating task. In Unit 2, Lesson 6, students discuss the guiding question, “How do birds use their body parts to survive?”, using the Pinky Partners protocol. In Unit 3, Lesson 1, students use Little Kids First Big Book of Birds to begin their research to write riddle cards. Students work with a partner to explore the pages of this book, listening for a question and then looking through the book to find the answer. Students use text features such as illustrations, headings, captions, and labels to help them to read each page and locate information.

The Module 4 Performance Task requires students to create a piece of artwork titled “Feathered Friends Saver” along with writing that serves an authentic need in their school or local community. Students create a scientific drawing of a local bird and write an informational paragraph about birds. Students are asked to display the Feathered Friends Savers in the school or deliver them to a local organization, so that they can be hung to prevent birds from flying into window. Lessons throughout the Module prepare students to complete the culminating task. In Unit 1, Lesson 2, Culminating Task, students are partnered with a reading buddy to read their notes about the problem in The Lion and the Bird from their Stories of Bird Helpers response journal. Using a total participation technique, students state the problem using a complete sentence. If necessary, students are supported with the following sentence stem: “The problem in The Lion and the Bird is...” The process is repeated for discussing the story’s solution and author’s message with the following sentence stems: “The problem in The Lion and the Bird is solved when... The author’s message in The Lion and the Bird is...” In Unit 1, Lesson 2, students complete their Stories of Bird Helpers Response Journal after reading The Lion and the Bird, Part I. students use evidence from the text to support their thinking by answering the following questions: “What happens to the bird? Why is this a problem?”

Indicator 1I
02/02
Materials provide frequent opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions (small group, peer-to-peer, whole class) that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials providing frequent opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions (small groups, peer-to-peer, whole class) that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax.

Protocols are provided for evidence-based discussions. These protocols give each task structure and provide supportive scaffolds. The Your Curriculum Companion Guide provides the rationale for program protocols and the importance of modeling and using sentence frames to deepen student discourse for all students, including ELL and struggling students. Protocols are provided for Think-Pair-Share, Back-to-Back, Face-to-Face, and Pinky Partners discussion activities. Several protocols also exist to promote language and academic vocabulary development such as the Frayer Model, Interactive Word Walls, and Contextual Redefinition. Students utilize these protocols to analyze and synthesize author’s intent and understand the syntax of the text. The teacher is provided multiple anchor charts and answer keys to support teaching the protocols effectively. A companion book, Classroom Protocols, provides protocols for facilitating evidence-based discussions, encouraging the modeling and usage of academic vocabulary, emphasizing the learning and usage of new vocabulary, and conducting informal checks of understanding. While these strategies are utilized throughout the program they are listed in one area as an efficient tool for educators to use to differentiate instruction.

Text-based discussions are emphasized in the Close Read/Read Aloud lessons. Each of these sessions provides an opportunity for students to discuss their responses to questions that are largely based on the text itself, looking closely at words, sentences, and ideas presented in the text. Language Dives help guide conversations among students about specific words, phrases, and sentences to better understand complex syntax. Total participation techniques such as Turn-and-Talk, Cold-Call and Equity Sticks are also utilized to engage all students in responding to text-based questions and prompts.

Examples of protocols and opportunities for evidence-based discussions that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax include, but are not limited to:

  • In Module 1, Teacher Guide Overview, students build their literacy and citizenship skills as they engage in a study of tools and work. Students first learn about how tools help to do a job. They then extend their understanding of what it takes to do a job when they learn how the “habits of character” ofinitiative, collaboration, perseverance, and responsibility help them do work. Throughout the Module, students are introduced to hand tools through a series of "tool challenges" where they are presented with a dilemma and the following question: "Which tool is best for the job?" Students engage in a series of focused read-alouds about how tools are used throughout the world along with character studies to allow students to consider the habits of character that they may build as they face challenges. Students then use their classroom tools and habits of character to work together to create a "magnificent thing" for their classroom. Students share, discuss, and reflect on their creation.
  • In the Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 2, Close Read/Read Aloud, Session 2 of the text, The Most Magnificent Thing, the teacher invites students to look at the illustrations at the top of page 3. The teacher asks, “What is the girl doing in these pictures?” While drawing students’ attention to the last illustration of the girl on page 3, the teacher asks, “Let’s look closely at the girl’s face and body.” Students respond using Think-Pair-Share to the following prompt: “What do you notice?”
  • In Module 2, Unit 2 Assessment, Teacher Guide, page 252, students engage in a Science Talk to discuss possible answers to the unit’s guiding question, “What patterns can we observe in the sky?” During the class discussion, students use sentence starters to share information that they have learned or add on to other student’s comments to enhance the explanation.
  • In Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 10, students participate in a science talk protocol with the central question posed, “What makes a bird a bird?” In reviewing the expectations the teacher asks, “What does it mean to add onto someone’s ideas?” With possible answers including, “listen to what they say; add new or different details.” Sentence frames are provided for students if they need them (“I think he/she means... I’d like to add... This makes me think __________ because...”) Students sit in their triads on the carpet while bringing their What Makes a Bird a Bird student notes as the teacher poses the question, “What makes a bird a bird?” As triads converse, the teacher utilizes the Speaking and Listening Checklist to gather anecdotal notes. In closing, students share their insights and new information is added to the Ideas About Birds anchor chart.
  • In Module 4, Unit 3, Lesson 3, the teacher displays a previously read book, A Place for Birds. The teacher recaps the main points of the book by asking questions: “What was the author’s main point of this book?” With elicited student responses possibly including “People harm birds but can find ways to help them.” The teacher asks, “What does the author use to support her point?” Student responses vary depending on the evidence the students cite from the text. The teacher inquires, “What is the author’s point in this text?” A possible response is included: “Birds have problems, but people can find ways to help them.” The teacher refers to the Vocabulary Strategies chart and poses the following questions with possible student responses during a structured Think-Pair-Share format: “What does the word 'sandy' mean?” (with sand) “What strategy did you use to help you figure out its meaning?” (I found the base word, sand, and noticed that the word has an extra part on the end, -y. The ending -y means “made up of.” The word sandy must mean to be made up of sand.) To extend the conversation, the teacher prompts, “Do you agree or disagree with what your classmate said? Why?”


Indicator 1J
02/02
Materials support students' listening and speaking about what they are reading (or read aloud) and researching (shared projects) with relevant follow-up questions and supports.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials supporting students’ listening and speaking about what they are reading (or read aloud) and researching (shared projects) with relevant follow-up questions and supports.

There are many opportunities for students to discuss what they are reading by having teachers ask relevant follow-up questions and provide support. The Focused Read Aloud and Close Read/Read Aloud sessions incorporate numerous opportunities for students to listen to their teacher, listen to their peers, and speak about what they are thinking and have learned about the text. Think-Pair-Share, Back-to-Back, Face-to-Face, and Pinky Partners are lessons strategies used to encourage these collaborative discussions. Specific Speaking and Listening lessons are strategically placed before and after Read Aloud or Close Reading lessons. While all lessons provide opportunities for student discourse, these lessons are focused on providing structured opportunities for students to use new vocabulary, gain background knowledge prior to reading, and engage with text that has been read independently and then shared with a partner or read as a class and then shared with a partner or group. Research is implemented in the Read-Think-Talk-Write Cycle and begins as shared class research discussed by all. K-2 Labs, which are scaffolded experiences connected to the Module Lessons, place an emphasis on research to help students expand their content knowledge.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • In Module 1, Unit 3, Lesson 1, Close Read/Read Aloud Session 3, after reading the text, Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon, students participate in a Think-Pair-Share. Students go back to the text with their partner and answer the question, “What did Molly Lou Melon learn from Grandma?”
  • In Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 6, Close Read/Read Aloud Session 3 after reading The Invisible Boy, the teacher rereads the first sentence on page 11. Students participate in Think-Pair-Share to discuss, “Why does Brian choose to draw instead of playing board games with the other kids?”
  • In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 2, Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky, during work time, the teacher facilitates a structured discussion using the Speaking and Listening Checklist to informally assess students’ conversational skills and comprehension. After pointing to the text and rereading, the teacher asks, “What will you use to help you infer?” Then, the teacher asks for the meaning of the following sentence from the text: “We use things we learn from Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky to guess why people write about the sun, moon, and stars.”
  • In Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 2, the teacher reviews the Classroom Discussion Norms anchor chart at the beginning of session B and hones in on “Respond to others’ ideas by adding on or asking questions.” The teacher displays the Ideas About Birds anchor chart and reads the question, “What makes a bird a bird?” Students preview bird video links and bird photographs in small groups. As students work, the teacher walks around the room and encourages, and, if necessary, facilitates dialogue between partnerships about the research pieces. The teacher provides specific, positive feedback on their ability to build onto others’ ideas during the conversation.
  • In Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 10, students work with the text and discuss opinions about what to do about Pale Male’s nest in What’s Best? The Debate about Pale Male’s Nest. After reviewing the two opinions of the text (take the nest down/leave it up), the teacher facilitates the Turn-and-Talk protocol to gain a deeper understanding of the perspectives by asking, “What do the birdwatchers want?” Students are expected to answer that they want to leave the nest up. The teacher probes and inquires, “Why?” Expected responses will vary, but may include “Tall buildings are good places for nests. Pale Male could find food. The birds are fun to look at.” Then, the teacher facilitates the other opinion that was shared in the text by asking, “What do the people who live in the apartment building want?” Students are expected to respond, “They want the nest to be taken down.” Again, the teacher probes deeper thinking by inquiring, “Why?” Expected responses will vary, but may include that the nest is messy or that the area is becoming crowded. The teacher concludes the discussion by asking, “How did our discussion add to your understanding of the debate about Pale Male’s nest? I’ll give you time to think and discuss with a partner.” Expected student responses will vary based upon student opinion. Students transition into Reading Independently to Research part of the lesson where they use their research notes and the conversation that just occurred to answer the question, “What should happen to Pale Male’s nest?”


Indicator 1K
02/02
Materials include a mix of on-demand and process writing (e.g. multiple drafts, revisions over time) and short, focused projects, incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials including a mix of on-demand and process writing grade-appropriate writing (e.g. grade-appropriate revision and editing) and short, focused projects, incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

There are opportunities for on-demand writing, process writing, and short, focused projects through a variety of instructional tasks. On-demand writing addresses a variety of text types and purposes and is included in each module’s end-of-unit assessment. To demonstrate understanding of the text, students on-demand write and draw in response to text through instructional tasks in the Module Lab Lessons.

The Skills Block lessons provide more opportunities for on-demand writing utilizing content that is directly related to the phonic skills/spelling skills that are being taught. Shared writing activities address several genres and are completed during whole group instruction time with students doing the thinking and the teacher doing the writing and modeling of the Revising and Editing Checklist. Writing of research projects is supported through the Read-Think-Talk-Write Cycle and the Writing for Understanding Framework and students engage with text to identify information that will help them answer a research question. The curriculum recommends the use of a variety of digital resources throughout the Module lessons. Additionally, the curriculum provides anchor charts and exemplar writing samples to support instruction.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • In Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 6, students use the Cutting/Farming Tools Student Response Sheets to label pictures of tools and respond to the prompt, “What job does the tool help to do?” Suggestions for drawing apps are provided.
  • In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 9, students use pictures and words to share their cloud facts with a reader, using the Cloud Fact page in their Meteorologist’s notebook.
  • In Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 2, the teacher reviews the definition of observations and tells students that they will look at images of the sun and moon and then record their observations using pictures and words. During this whole group activity, the teachers asks, “How would you describe the sun in this photograph? What adjectives could you use to describe it? How would you describe the moon in this photograph? What adjectives could you use to describe it?” Ideas from students are then used to create a class shared writing piece.
  • In Module 2, the Process Writing Tasks prompts students to revise and edit “What the Sun Sees” Narrative Poems. Students use feedback from peers and from the teacher to revise and edit their poems. Students also use the High-Quality Work anchor chart and the High-Quality Narrative Poem Checklist to create a revised final product.
  • In Module 3, Unit 2, Lesson 11, students begin a process writing piece after spending the first 10 lessons reading and taking notes about birds. In Lesson 11, students are able to analyze a model/exemplar. In Lesson 12, students draft their focus statement for their My Beaks informative paragraph. Lesson 13 requires students to take it a step further and draft detail sentences. In Lesson 14, students prepare a writing organizer. Lessons 15-16 require a performance task independent of both a focus statement and detail sentences with a conclusion statement. Students cap off the project in Lesson 17 by sharing their informative writing with peers.
  • In Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 8, students work to complete an on-demand writing experience of an opinion statement plus a reason from the text of what to do with Pale Male’s nest.


Indicator 1L
02/02
Materials provide opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials providing opportunities for students to address different text types of writing (year long) that reflect the distribution required by the standards.

Materials offer opportunities for students to engage in writing tasks across the text types required in the standards. Students use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose many types of writing, including opinion, informational, and narrative, utilizing the writing process. Writing opportunities are scaffolded, so students move from drawing, to labeling, to writing. There is a balance of short writing pieces and longer writing pieces that are worked on over the span of a unit. By incorporating a variety of writing tasks in multiple formats, students experience independent writing, partner writing, the writing process, and a balance of genres. The Writing for Understanding framework and the Read-Think-Talk-Write Cycle support students as they engage in writing tasks throughout the Module Lab lessons. To provide instructional support Writing Checklists are available for informational, narrative and opinion writing in the Teacher Guide Supporting Materials.

  • In Module 1, students write an informational writing piece about habits of character along with an informational writing piece about creating a magnificent thing. Module 1 Performance Task: In this two-part performance task, students create a magnificent thing in a small group and then independently write a description of what their group has created, why they created it, and how they used tools to create it. Students complete a scaffolded writing task during which they learn about the steps of the writing process and produce an informative piece of writing.
  • In Module 2, students write a narrative poem titled “What the Sun Sees.” Students use feedback from peers and the teacher to revise and edit their previously written “What the Sun Sees” narrative poems. Students then use the High-Quality Work anchor chart and the High-Quality Narrative Poem Checklist to revise their poems into a high-quality final product.
  • In Module 3, students write an informational writing piece through keeping a birds research notebook and explaining how birds’ body parts help them to survive.
  • In Module 4, students write an opinion writing piece about leaving the nest up along with an informational writing piece through keeping a bird helpers response journal.


Indicator 1M
02/02
Materials include regular opportunities for evidence-based writing to support recall of information, opinions with reasons, and relevant information appropriate for the grade level.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials including regular opportunities for evidence-based writing to support recall of information, opinions with reasons, and relevant information appropriate for the grade level.

Materials include regular opportunities for evidence-based writing. Activities require students to participate in collaborative conversations about text while the teacher records the ideas from these conversations on anchor charts. As students move through the module units, these charts are utilized during independent writing and drawing. Unit 1 of each Module builds background knowledge on the specific topic and students are engaged in tasks that require writing with evidence. Materials provide opportunities for students to recall information from text by drawing, dictating their understanding of the text in their own words, detailing elements of the text, and engaging in other writing tasks that represent each of the writing text types.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • In the Module 1, Unit 2 Assessment, students engage in a focused read-aloud of The Little Red Pen. Students ask and answer questions about the characters’ words and actions, using context to determine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary from the text, and to make connections between illustrations and the text. Students then write to show their understanding of the text by responding to the final focus question using evidence from the text, “How are the characters showing collaboration in this part of the text? What work does this help them do?”
  • In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 3, students have already participated in a close read of Summer Sun Risin’ in Lessons 1 and 2. In Lesson 3, students respond in the student workbook pages by writing and drawing about three parts of the boy’s day from sunrise to sunset. They are told to refer to the text to include what the boy is doing and what the sun is doing in the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Students must also use the sentence frame at the bottom of each box to tell in words what the picture shows.
  • In Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 4, students are working on completing a research project. Students add to their Birds Research notebook by creating a drawing of a great spotted woodpecker and labeling the parts of the bird. Students can utilize the previous read aloud and class conversation of the book, Birds, where the teacher leads students through discovering the physical characteristics about birds and the Physical Characteristics of Birds anchor chart to complete their labeling.
  • In Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 5, students write a solution and ending for the book, Pierre the Penguin, in their Stories of Bird Helpers response journal. The teacher prompts students during a think-pair-share to think about who helps Pierre and how the problem was solved. The teacher then concludes the conversation by asking, “What, in the text, makes you think so?” The students are then released to write a compound sentence in their response journal using information from the text.


Indicator 1N
02/02
Materials include 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 context.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials including 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 context.

Opportunities to learn language standards are in the Module Lessons and in the Foundational Reading Skills Block. Grammar and convention standards are predominantly taught and learned through in context instruction. Some of the conventions of standard English are contained in checklists and assessments with few opportunities to see the conventions of Standard English modeled.

  • L.1.1a
    • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 1, Cycle 3, Lesson 16, page 20, during Writing the Letter to Match the Sound lesson, students skywrite the words zip, chip, lip, kid, fish with proper letter formation.
    • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 2, Cycle 5, Lesson 26, students participate in the instructional practice Chaining. During this lesson, the teacher emphasizes proper letter formation as the students write each word on their whiteboards.
  • L.1.1b
    • In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 8, students participate in a Focused Read Aloud with the text, Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me. The teacher explains: “Tell students that nouns can be proper nouns or common nouns. A proper noun is a specific name and is always spelled with a capital letter like Ms. Adelia or San Jeronimo School (insert your name and your school name). A common noun is a word used for general people, places, or things like girls, boys, and school.”
      • Students answer the following questions: “Which of these words are proper nouns? Which of these words are common nouns? How do you know?” (Monica and Papa are names and spelled with a capital letter)
  • L.1.1c
    • In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 3, students participate in singing the “Sun, Moon, and Stars” song, while the teacher tracks the print with her/his finger or a pointer. The teacher tells the students that the song uses nouns and their matching verbs. The teacher underlines the nouns and verbs in the song while the students touch their head when they hear a noun and touch their feet when they hear a verb.
  • L.1.1d
    • In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 5, during the opening, students sing "Sun, Moon, and Stars" Version 2. The teacher tells students that the song includes pronouns and uses a marker to draw a box around the pronoun "it." Students sing the song aloud and touch their noses when they hear a pronoun and the teacher puts a box around it. Students learn the pronouns "it" and "them." Opportunities for all students to explicitly learn other pronouns are missed.
  • L.1.1e
    • In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 8, the teacher informs students they will use “Sun, Moon, and Stars” Version 2 to change verb tense in the song. “Tell students that they will try it today by singing the song as if they were singing about something that happened yesterday.” The teacher models singing in the past tense: “The sun shone over us all, I saw it sparkle like a ball...etc.” Students are invited to sing the song in the past tense.
  • L.1.1f
    • In Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 2, during the Opening, students read the poem, "What We See: The Sun, Moon, and Stars." The teacher defines adjectives for students and then reads each verse, stopping to ask what adjectives were found. The teacher circles or highlights the adjectives in each verse.
  • L.1.1g
    • In Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 4, students learn about compound sentences. The teacher states: “A conjunction is the special type of connecting word used in compound sentences. One conjunction you learned about in the last lesson is 'but.' Some familiar conjunctions are 'and,'' so,' and 'because'.” Students watch the teacher combine two simple sentences. Later in the lesson, students write a compound sentence in their response journal.
  • L.1.1h
    • In Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 3, the teacher tells students that determiners are used to talk about the number of things. The class is divided into two groups and the teacher models using this nest, these birds, that nest, those birds.” In Lesson 4, the teacher reviews the four determiners found on the anchor chart (this, that, these, those). Students play a matching game with determiner cards and noun picture cards.
  • L.1.1i
    • In Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 5, students learn a new poem: “Where Are They? The Sun, Moon, and Stars." The teacher reads the poem and introduces the idea of prepositions: “Tell students that words that describe where things are located in relation to other things have a special name, prepositions. Define preposition (a word that describes the location of one thing in relation to another thing).”
      • In Lesson 6, the teacher highlights/circles the prepositions in the poem. An anchor chart is created for prepositions.
  • L.1.1j
    • Materials include two checklists to assess students’ use of punctuation and sentence building:
      • The Snapshot Assessment can be used to assess students’ use of a period, a question mark, or an exclamation mark at the end of the sentence.
      • The Language Checklist can be used to assess students of producing and expanding complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to a prompt.
  • L.1.2a
    • In Module 1, Unit 3, Lessons 8, 9, and 10, students draft a focus statement for My Magnificent Thing Description in their Magnificent Thing Writing booklet. The expectation is that the capitalization rules are followed. An editing checklist is used for students to make sure they have correct capital letters in their writing.
  • L.1.2b
    • In Module 1, Unit 3, Lessons 8, 9, and 10, students draft a focus statement for My Magnificent Thing Description in their Magnificent Thing Writing booklet. The expectation is that punctuation rules are followed. An editing checklist is used for students to make sure they have correct punctuation in their writing.
    • In Module 2, Unit 3, Lesson 7, students analyze an example and non-example in “What the Moon Sees.” Students refer to the High-Quality Work anchor chart and the teacher asks, “What does it mean to follow conventions?” and after students answers, confirm that you should write with complete sentences, use end punctuation, and spell Word Wall words correctly. The non-example is missing periods (It is a poem).
  • L.1.2c
    • Materials contain checklists and rubrics to assess use of commas in dates and to separate single words in a series.
      • In Module 4, there is an Informative Writing Checklist, an Opinion Writing Checklist, an Opinion Writing Rubric, and Unit 2 Assessment Revise and Edit Checklist.
  • L.1.2d
    • In Module 1, Cycle 3, Lesson 18, on page 62, during the Spelling to Complement Reading lesson, the teacher pronounces the word "pit" and models stretching out the word. Students then stretch the word. After the teacher models stretching the word while counting the phonemes by thumb tapping, students do the same. Students then identify the phoneme for each sound and the teacher writes it on the board. This routine is repeated with students writing the words on their white boards: Pit, spin, spit, chin, grip, kin, is, this, inch, sip, sips, lip, flip, zip, zips, ship, kid, it.
  • L.1.2e
    • In Module 1, Cycle 4, Lesson 21, during the Phonemic Blending and Segmentation lesson, students make words using the sounds that they know. They segment and blend n-u-t to spell "nut" and "shut." Students then move to Writing the Letter to Match the Sound lesson. The teacher says a word, pronounces the phonemes and writes letter on the board while students skywrite the word.
  • L.1.6
    • In Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 2, students are given a sentence stem during a Think-Pair-Share, which provides students the opportunity to use a phrase with a frequently occurring conjunction: “I think the best tool for the job will be __ because __.”


Criterion 1.3: Tasks and Questions: Foundational Skills Development

22/22
Materials in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language targeted to support foundational reading development are aligned to the standards.

The instructional materials reviewed meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks directly teach foundational skills to build reading acquisition by providing systematic and explicit instruction in the alphabetic principle, letter-sound relationships, phonemic awareness, and phonological awareness (K-1), and phonics (K-2) that demonstrate a transparent and research-based progression for application both in and out of context. Materials meet the criteria that instructional opportunities are frequently built into the materials for students to practice and gain decoding automaticity and sight-based recognition of high-frequency words and having questions, and tasks that provide systematic and explicit instruction in and practice of word recognition and analysis skills in a research-based progression in connected text and tasks.Materials meet the criteria for materials supporting ongoing and frequent assessment to determine student mastery and inform meaningful differentiation of foundational skills and provide high-quality lessons and activities that allow for differentiation of foundational skills, so all students achieve mastery of foundational skills.

Indicator 1O
04/04
Materials, questions, and tasks directly teach foundational skills to build reading acquisition by providing systematic and explicit instruction in the alphabetic principle, letter-sound relations, phonemic awareness, phonological awareness (K-1), and phonics (K-2) that demonstrate a transparent and research-based progression with opportunities for application both in and out of context.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks directly teach foundational skills to build reading acquisition by providing systematic and explicit instruction in the alphabetic principle, letter-sound relationships, phonemic awareness, and phonological awareness (K-1), and phonics (K-2) that demonstrate a transparent and research-based progression for application both in and out of context.

Instruction of phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition occur during whole group, optional lessons, and small group lessons within a sixty minute block. Lessons supporting phonological awareness are concentrated in Module 1. Many of the phonological awareness lessons are added to phonics lessons. Lesson addressing the phonics and word recognition standards are more evenly distributed across all four modules. Opportunities are missed for whole group lessons that address all phonics skill as some of the lessons are optional or for smaller groups in Meeting Students’ Needs. Activities for teaching digraphs are found in the resource manual activities. EL Education has many components and can be confusing, and time-consuming for teachers to locate the skills/standards that are to be taught. There are routines for students to participate in to learn the standards, such as sound boxes.

Students have frequent opportunities to learn and understand phonemes (e.g. distinguish long and short vowels, blend sounds, pronounce vowels in single-syllable words, and segment single-syllable words). Examples include:

  • In the Reading Skills Block, Module 1, Cycle 1, Lesson 1, on page 21, students listen as the teacher reads the poem, "Open a Book, Unlock a Door." Students are asked what vowel sound is heard in the word "lands". This process is repeated throughout the poem. The option is given for students to complete a short vowel picture sort found in K-2 Resource Manual: Activity Bank page 161. Students sort twelve pictures by the long and short vowel sound.
  • In the Reading Skills Block, Module 1, Cycle 2 , Lesson 8, during Opening B, on page 134, students segment words before writing the words. The teacher says the words "van, path, math". Students segments each word pronouncing the phonemes.
  • In the Reading Skills Block, Module 1, Cycle 3, Lesson 18, during Work Time A, on page 62, the teacher pronounces a word and models stretching out the word, counting each phoneme using the thumb-tapping technique. Students then stretch out the word (pit, spin, spit, chin, grip, kin, is, this, inch, sip, sips, lip, flip, zip, zips, ship, kid, it) counting the number of phonemes.
  • In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 1, Cycle 4, Lesson 21, students blend a single-syllable word by blending sounds. The teacher shows the word "quit". The teacher points to each letter, making each sound and blending the sounds to pronounce the word. Students write the word on their whiteboards and they point to each letter from left to right, making each sound and blending the sounds to pronounce the word. The teacher removes the "t" and replaces it with a "z". The students erase the "t" and replace it with a "z"on their whiteboards. They point to each letter from left to right, making each sound and blending the sounds to pronounce the word.
  • In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 1, Cycle 4, Lesson 23, students spell single syllable words by pronouncing each phoneme separately, writing the appropriate grapheme in a sound box on their sound board. This is done with the words: shut, run, pun, lunch, quiz, quite. Then students write the first word from memory on their whiteboard by pronouncing the whole word, saying the separate phonemes, and writing the word below the boxes.
  • In the Reading Skills Block, Module 2, Cycle 5, Lesson 26, during Opening Option A, on page 19, the teacher models saying the phonemes /b/ /o/ /ks/ and blending them making the word "box". Students repeat this process to make the words shop, jog, now and wow.
  • In the Reading Skills Block, Module 3, Cycle 15, Lesson 76, during Work Time, on page 20, students identify how many vowel sounds are heard and when the teacher says the words pal, rag, tap, man, at, hop, kit and can and identifies the words as closed syllable words. The teacher writes the word on the board and adds a magic "e". Students say the words with a long vowel.

Lessons and activities provide students opportunities to learn grade-level phonics skills while decoding words (e.g. spelling-sound correspondences of digraphs, decode one-syllable words, know final-e and long vowels, syllable and vowel relationship). Examples include:

  • In the Reading Skills Block, Module 1, Cycle 2 , Lesson 6, during Work Time A, on page 101, the teacher shows the word "pat" with movable letters and students write the word on their white boards. Students point to each letter from left to right, making each sound and blending the word. The teacher removes the letter "p" and replaces with the letter "c" and students erase the "p" and write a letter "c". Students discuss how the word change and how it stayed the same. This is repeated for "hat". If students require more practice, students chain tap.
  • In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 1, Part 2, Cycle 3, Lesson 20 during Opening A, students read silly Martian words the teacher has written on the board (mig, lish, dap pip) using the sound that corresponds to the letter and digraphs. Student discuss with a partner how he or she was able to decode each word.
  • In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 1, Cycle 3, Lesson 19, students write the word "map". The teacher pronounces the word, segments the word into three phonemes and then asks: “What is the first sound you hear in /m/ /a/ /p/? The teacher writes the letters on the board as students write the letters on their whiteboard. The students are asked to read the word they have written.
  • In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 1, Cycle 3, Lesson 20, students write single syllable words with consonant digraphs. The teacher says a word aloud (chin, fish, or naps) the students spell the word together aloud. Students write the word on their whiteboard. This is repeated 2 to 3 times.
  • In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 2, Cycle 5, Lesson 27, students read a decodable book. The teacher models how to read an unfamiliar word (gift) by saying the sound that goes with each of the letters they see in the word and blending the sounds together to read the word. Students then read from the Decodable Reader: “Sam’s Box” with includes words with -s. (sees, lifts, likes, wants, pets, hugs).
  • In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 2, Cycle 5, Lesson 28, during Work Time A, on page 66, the teacher pronounces a word for students. Students stretch out the word and counting the phonemes. Student then print a letter in each box for each phoneme in the word on the student sound board.
  • In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 3, Part 1, Cycle 12, Lesson 61, during Work Time, on page 21, the teacher brings students together singing, “We’ve been workin’ on long words, sound by sound by sound. We’ve been workin’ on long words, so we can read more words aloud. We take a word like ‘exit’ and break it into parts. ‘Ex’ plus ‘it’ makes ‘exit,’ and now it’s time to start!” The teacher provides direct instruction on syllables requiring a vowel. Students are syllable sleuths and break longer words into parts in order to read them. Students underline the consonants and circle the vowels in each word part on their white boards.
  • In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 3, Part 2, Cycle 15, students read and spell words that have the long vowel sounds with the Magnanimous Magician: Magic “e” during the opening and work time. In Lesson 77, during Work Time B, on page 39, students read "James and Sam Make a Flame." The teacher models how to read the new word "fire", instructing students to say the sound that goes with each of the letters you see in the word and blend together.
  • In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 3, Cycle 12, Lesson 61, students participate in the Instructional Practice, Syllable Sleuth: Closed Syllables and are guided through identify the number of syllables in a multisyllabic word and determining that every syllable has a vowel. The teacher says the word "napkin". The teacher asks, "How many vowel sounds do you hear in ‘napkin’? How many vowels do you see? What kind of sound do these vowels make? What do you notice about the vowels in this word? How many parts do you see in our word? What do you notice about these two syllables? What do they both have?"
  • In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 3, Cycle 12, Lesson 63, students decode and write words with 2 syllables. Students have syllable boards, whiteboard markers, and whiteboard erasers. The teacher says the word “basket” and then pronounces each syllable separately. Students say the word and pronounce each syllable separately. The students point to the first line on their whiteboard while saying the first syllable and point to the second line on their whiteboard while saying the second syllable. Students print the first syllable on the first line and the second syllable on the second line. This process is repeated with the words: catnip, contest, magnet, pigment, tablet. Students then write the words from memory on their whiteboards by pronouncing the whole word by first saying the separate phonemes and writing the word below the boxes.
  • In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 4, Cycle 21, Lesson 106, students participate in the Instructional Practice Chaining: Encoding with Vowel Teams ai, oa, and ea. The teacher says the word “tail”. The students say the word. The teacher writes the letters for each on the sounds on a board. The teacher covers the word and the students write the word from memory. The teacher uncovers the word and the students check their spelling.
  • In the Reading Skills Block, Module 4, Part 2, Cycle 22 , Lesson 111, during Opening A, on page 19, the teacher says the long vowel "o" words: go, joke, boat. The words are written on the board and students examine how the sound /o/ is spelled. Students identify which word is open syllable, magic e, and first letter in the vowel team.
  • In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 4, Part 2, Cycle 22, Lesson 112, during Work Time, on page 39, students Partner Search and Read Pat’s Birthday. As students read, they are instructed to locate the vowels and notice what it is teamed with, look between vowels to find the consonants and divide before the consonant in order to pronounce the first and second syllable.

Materials have a cohesive sequence of phonemic awareness instruction to build toward application. For example, in the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Phonemic Blending and Segmentation are included in Module 1, Cycle 2, 3 and 4. In Module 2, Phonemic Blending and Segmentation are included in Cycle 5-11 and in Module 3, it is found in Cycle 12.

Materials have a cohesive sequence of phonics instruction to build toward application. Examples include:

  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 1, instruction includes the following phonics focus:
    • Cycle 2: t, a, p, n, h, c, th, s, m, r, v, g
    • Cycle 3: i, ch, k, y, sh, z, d, l
    • Cycle 4: u, q
  • In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 2, instruction includes the following phonics focus:
    • Cycle 5: o, b, j, w, x, p, g
    • Cycle 6: e, short sound
    • Cycle 7: y as long i
    • Cycle 8: wh, ck
    • Cycle 9: ll, ss, ff, zz
    • Cycle 10: mastery of double and triple consonant clusters (initial), including bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl, sp, spl
    • Cycle 11: ou, continuation of consonant clusters
  • In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 3, instruction includes the following phonics focus:
    • Cycle 12: syllable type CV/VC
    • Cycle 13: syllable type VC/CV and compound words
    • Cycle 14: open syllable with long vowel sound
    • Cycle 15: CVCe with an emphasis on long a
    • Cycle 16, CVCe with a focus on long o and long i
    • Cycle 17, Continuation of CVCe with a focus on long u and long i
    • Cycle 18, Continuation of CVCe with two-syllable words and suffixes
  • In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 4, instruction includes the following phonics focus:
    • Cycle 19, r-controlled vowels a and o
    • Cycle 20, r-controlled vowels i, u and e
    • Cycle 21, vowel teams oa, ai, ea
    • Cycle 22, vowel teams ay, ow
    • Cycle 23, vowel team ee and -y as long e
    • Cycle 24, vowel team ie and spelling pattern igh, both producing the long i sound
    • Cycle 25, two-syllable words


Indicator 1P
02/02
Materials, questions, and tasks provide explicit instruction for and regular practice to address the acqusition of print concepts, including alphabetic knowledge, directionality, and function (K-1), structures and features of text (1-2).

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks provide explicit instruction for and regular practice to address the acquisition of print concepts, including alphabetic knowledge, and directionality (K-1), structures and features of text (1-2).

Students are provided the opportunity in each cycle to participate in an interactive writing lesson with the teacher to reinforce writing high-frequency words and words with the spelling pattern being learned at that time. During each interactive lesson, students are asked about the beginning letter, space between words, and ending punctuation. In Modules 1, 2, and 4, students have the opportunity to retell stories, including details about the central message and key details.

Materials include frequent, adequate lessons and tasks/questions about the organization of print concepts (e.g. recognize features of a sentence). For example:

  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 2, Cycle 10, Lesson 54, students participate in Interactive Writing. During the lesson, the teacher reads the chosen sentence aloud and taps out the words on the paper or whiteboard. The teacher asks, “What do we need to remember to do to this first letter so our reader will know that this is where our sentence starts? What comes after a word? What do we need to remember to put at the end so that our reader know we are done with this sentence?"
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 3, Cycle 12, Lesson 64, students participate in Interactive Writing. During the lesson, the teacher reads the chosen sentence aloud and taps out the words on the paper or whiteboard. The teacher asks, "What do we need to remember to do to this first letter so our reader will know that this is where our sentence starts? How do I begin my sentence? How do I let the reader know that this is the end of the sentence?"
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 4, Cycle 19, Lesson 99, students participate in Interactive Writing. During the lesson, the teacher and students edit sentences that need edits of capitalization and punctuation that may include question and exclamatory ending marks.

Students have frequent and adequate opportunities to identify text structures (e.g. main idea and details, sequence of events, problem and solution, compare and contrast, cause and effect). For example:

  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1, during Work Time, on page 35, after reading The Magic Bow, students are asked what the story was mostly about.
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 7, students are asked the following questions about the problem in the narrative story: "What is the problem in the story? Are they solving their problem?" The narrative text structure is not discussed.
  • In Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 7, students learn about story structure for the The Little Red Pen. The teacher asks, “What is the problem in this story?”
  • In Module 2, Unit 1, students identify literary story elements such as beginning, middle, and end, main character, setting, and central message.
    • In Lesson 3, students answer the following questions about Summer Sun Risin’: “Who is the main character? Where does the story take place?“
    • In Lesson 5, students answer questions about events that occurred in the middle of the text: “What time of day do you think the middle of the story takes place? Where do you think the sun will be in the middle of the story?”
    • In Lesson 9, the teacher defines central message as “the big idea or lesson it teaches the characters and readers.” The teacher provides an example of central message. After reading Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me, the teacher asks, "What was the central message of this story?”
  • In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 9, students use the sequence of events to assist them in retelling Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me.
  • In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 13, students use the sequence of events to assist them in retelling Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky.
  • In Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 6, students learn about compare (to find similarities between two or more things) and contrast (to find difference between two or more things). The teacher provides simple examples of comparing and contrasting. Using the icons on the Bird Helpers anchor chart, the teacher helps students compare characters’ experiences. Compare and contrast is listed in Module 4, Unit 1; however, the lesson focuses on comparing and contrasting two texts (Pierre the Penguin and Maggie the One-Eyed Peregrine Falcon) and not the structure of compare/contrast within a text.

Materials include frequent and adequate lessons and activities about text features (e.g. title, byline, headings, table of contents, glossary, pictures, illustrations). For example:

  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 7, during Work Time, the teacher models using the table of contents to find the chapter titled “The Moon” when reading Does the Sun Sleep? Noticing Sun, Moon, and Star Patterns.
  • In Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 3, students learn about headings (a group of words at the top of a page of writing that tells you what the section is about) and text features (parts of the text that help the reader understand the text better). The teacher asks students to find text features in Birds (Scholastic Discover More).
  • In Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 6, students find, locate, and identify text features. The teacher asks the following questions: “Do you see the heading ‘Feathers’ on this page? Give a silent thumbs-up if you see it. What text features do you notice on these pages?”
  • In Module 3, Unit 3, Lesson 1, the learning target is: “I can use text features and illustrations to answer questions using the text Little Kids First Big Book of Birds.” Students are told to use the text features such as illustrations, heading, captions, and labels to help them read the page.


Indicator 1Q
04/04
Instructional opportunities are frequently built into the materials for students to practice and gain decoding automaticity and sight-based recognition of high frequency words. This includes reading fluency in oral reading beginning in mid-Grade 1 and through Grade 2.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for instructional opportunities are frequently built into the materials for students to practice and gain decoding automaticity and sight-based recognition of high-frequency words. This includes reading fluency in oral reading beginning in mid Grade 1 and through Grade 2.

In the Reading Foundations Skills Block, students participate in the instructional practice: High-Frequency Word Fishing, which provides students the opportunity to apply decoding skills and growing knowledge of irregularly spelled words to review the high-frequency words. Students begin the process of committing high-frequency words to memory by using known letter-sound connections and context. Students are engaged in repetitive activities that may contribute to their understanding of high-frequency words; however, various opportunities to interact with the words in alternate formats are limited.

Opportunities are provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to purposefully read grade-level text. For example:

  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 2, Cycle 9, Lesson 47, teacher reads aloud the Engagement Text: “Sam and Nell Have a Ball.” The students are provided the following purpose for reading the decodable: “Before you read the book with your partner, we are going to be detectives. We are going to look for some of the high-frequency words. Remember, some of these words ‘don’t play fair,’ which means they are not easily decodable.”
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 3, Cycle 12, Lesson 62, students search for high-frequency words in the Decodable Reader: “A Sunset Picnic” with a partner. Students are provided the following purpose after searching for high-frequency words: “Now you are ready to read the Decodable Reader with your partner. Some of the words in the story will be familiar because you have learned them in previous lessons. And some of the words you will see for the first time, but don’t worry: The words you see for the first time are words with closed syllables. You just need to break the word into syllables and read each syllable, then blend them together to read the word.”
  • In Reading Foundations, Skills Block, Module 4, Cycle 19, Lesson 47, students have the purpose to search for high-frequency words in the Decodable Reader: “Looking for Mars” together and highlight in their own book. Then students read “Looking for Mars” with a partner. Partners take turns, read in unison, or both.

Opportunities are provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to demonstrate sufficient accuracy, rate, and expression in oral reading with grade-level text and decodable words. However, opportunities are missed for students to practice these skills independently and regularly during the Reading Foundations Skills Block. Fluency practice is contained in Module 3 Cycle 12-14 and Module 4 Cycle 19-21. There are optional fluency assessments in Reading Foundations, Module 1 and Module 2. Fluency opportunities include:

  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 1, Cycle 1, Lesson 4, the teacher displays the familiar poem, “Open a Book, Unlock a Door.” Students recite the poem aloud with expression while standing in place and making movements that reflect their interpretation of the words in the poem.
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 3, Cycle 12, Lesson 65, students practice reading fluently using a passage on a Student Sheet while the teacher assesses the student’s ability to read smoothly and with expression using a rubric.
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 3, Cycle 18, Lesson 94, teachers are encouraged to do ongoing assessments that have teachers observe students during Work Time to determine whether the students can read syllables separately and then blend them to read the word accurately.
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 4, Cycle 19, Lesson 105, the teacher reminds students that there are four important rules of fluency that were sung in the transition song.
    • “Teacher: 'Can you read this fluently? Smoothly, with expression, please. Can you read it smoothly with expression and with meaning?’ Students: ‘Yes, we’ll read it fluently. Not too fast and not too slow. Yes, we’ll read it fluently at just the right speed.’ All together: ‘So now we’ll read this fluently. Think about how smooth it will be. Now we’ll read this fluently at just the right speed.’”

Materials support reading of texts with attention to reading strategies such as rereading, self-correction, and the use of context clues.

  • In the K-2 Resource Manual, there is the Reader’s Toolbox Routine. The purpose of the Toolbox is provide strategies to use the meaning and syntax cueing systems. According to the K-2 Resource Manual, “the most efficient way for readers to solve an unknown word is to use the visual cueing system.”
    • Students learn to look at the pictures, use background knowledge, look at the sentence, and analogy.
    • To teach students to use the meaning and cueing systems, the teacher states: “Picture clues don’t always work because we don’t always have pictures when we read. And sometimes the pictures don’t really match the words. But if you’ve tried your first tool, looking at the letters, and you realize there are parts of the word that you aren’t sure how to decode/read, then you can try this tool.”

Students have opportunities to practice and read irregularly spelled words. For example:

  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 2, Cycle 5, Lesson 28, students participate in High-Frequency Word Fishing with the words: from, wants, says, see, he, had. Students pretend to throw a fishing line and ‘catch’ a fish. The student chooses one of the Word Cards, reads the high-frequency word from the card, puts it back into the pond and it becomes someone else’s turn.
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 4, Cycle 20, Lesson 103, students participate in High-Frequency Word Fishing with the words: about, around, again, your, does, knew, would, could, over, old. Students pretend to throw a fishing line and ‘catch’ a fish. The student chooses one of the Word Cards, reads the high-frequency word from the card, puts it back into the pond and it becomes someone else’s turn.


Indicator 1R
04/04
Materials, questions, and tasks provide systematic and explicit instruction in and practice of word recognition and analysis skills in a research-based progression in connected text and tasks.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks providing systematic and explicit instruction in and practice of word recognition and analysis skills in a research-based progression in connected text and tasks.

In each module, Student Decodable Readers are used as an instructional practice in each cycle. Texts consist of decodable words that are matched to the spelling patterns students are learning in each cycle. The teacher explicitly teaches all high-frequency words students will see in the Decodable Student Reader. Texts provide opportunities for students to decode and recognize words in context. Encoding in context is accomplished during Interactive Writing. Students work together to construct a sentence, crafting a shared sentence from the decodable text. Students spell words by segmenting the sounds (in sequence) of spoken words and match them to their letter(s). Sentences include words that reinforce the spelling patterns students are learning. They also include the high-frequency words that have been taught.

Materials support students’ development learn grade-level word recognition and analysis skills (e.g. spelling-sound correspondences of digraphs, decode one-syllable words, syllable and vowel relationship, decode two-syllable words, read words with inflectional endings) in connected text and tasks. For example:

  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 1, Cycle 2, Lesson 9, students apply what they have learned about each phoneme in this cycle to decode VC and CVC words in the Decodable Reader: “Pat’s Mess”. The Decodable Reader includes the singular and plural of “hat” which was introduced earlier in the cycle. Students partner read “Pat’s Mess” to each other, in unison, or both.
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 3, Cycle 12, Lesson 62, students apply what they have learned about closed syllables to decode multisyllabic words in the Decodable Reader: “A Sunset Picnic.”

Materials provide frequent opportunities to read irregularly spelled words in connected text and tasks. For example:

  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 1, Cycle 2, Lesson 9, students read high-frequency words (a, an, can, has, is, the, this) in the Decodable Reader: “Pat’s Mess”. The teacher displays the Enlarged Decodable Reader. Teacher models through think aloud how to find high-frequency words in the text and highlights them. Partners search and find high-frequency words in their individual books. The partners read “Pat’s Mess” to each other, in unison, or both.
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 3, Cycle 12, Lesson 62, students read high-frequency words (was, you, they) in the Decodable Reader: “A Sunset Picnic”. The teacher displays the Enlarged Decodable Reader. Teacher models through think aloud how to find high-frequency words in the text and highlights them. Partners search and find high-frequency words and highlight them in their individual books. The partners read “A Sunset Picnic” to each other, in unison, or both.

Lessons and activities provide students many opportunities to learn grade-level word recognition and analysis skills while encoding (writing) in context and decoding words (reading) in connected text and tasks. For example:

  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 2, Cycle 5, Lesson 29, students participate in an Interactive Writing activity for writing regular and familiar one-syllable words.
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 3, Cycle 12, Lesson 64, students participate in an Interactive Writing activity for writing regular and familiar two-syllable words. Suggested sentences from the Teacher Guide: “Dad got a big sandwich from the shop.” or “They got to the hill and saw the red sunset.”


Indicator 1S
04/04
Materials support ongoing and frequent assessment to determine student mastery and inform meantingful differentiantion of foundational skills, including a clear and specific protocol as to how students performing below standard on these assessments will be supported.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials supporting ongoing and frequent assessment to determine student mastery and inform meaningful differentiation of foundational skills, including a clear and specific protocol as to how students performing below standard on these assessments will be supported.

The Grade 1 materials provide teachers and students with frequent and ongoing assessment opportunities. The variety of assessment types (benchmark, informal, formal, summative, formative, daily, by cycle, etc.) demonstrate that assessment of K-2 foundational skills is necessary to determine student mastery to determine where students are struggling and to differentiate the instruction needed by the students. For example, students complete cycle assessments on a regular basis throughout the school year and, based on a student’s performance on the assessment, the teacher and the student can set a student goal.

Multiple assessment opportunities are provided over the course of the year in the core materials for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence of foundational skills. Examples include:

  • Benchmark assessments are administered at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year to assess Letter Name and Sound Identification, Phonological Awareness, Spelling, Decoding, and Fluency. These assessments help teachers group students based on whether or not students fall into the early, middle or late pre-alphabetic, partial alphabetic, alphabetic, or consolidated alphabetic stages.
  • The Benchmark Assessment for Decoding assesses the ability to decode words with automaticity.
  • In the K-2 Resource Manual, Assessment Overview, Types of Assessments Chart contains the following information about Benchmark assessments:
    • “Beginning-of-Year: Provide diagnostic information to help the teacher:
      • Determine the phase at which a student currently is reading and spelling
      • Determine the approximate cycles in the K–2 Continuum that would best fit that student’s instructional needs
      • Gauge whether the student is approximately on grade level (as defined by the CCSS)
    • Middle-of-Year 2
      • Track students’ progress toward the end-of-year goals (as determined by the grade-level Scope and Sequence)
    • End-of-Year:
      • Measure students’ mastery of the end-of-year goals”
  • Cycle assessments are administered more often than Benchmark assessments and provide information about students’ progress toward mastery of skills taught up to a particular point. These assessments can be differentiated based on student need.
  • Daily assessments are conducted in K-1 and called Snapshot Assessments. These assessments help a teacher quickly check on mastery of daily learning targets. For example:
    • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 3, Cycle 12, Lesson 64, the teacher observes students to see if students can: Use a capital letter for the first word in a sentence, Use a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point at the end of a sentence, Decode (read) two-syllable words by thinking about the syllable type, Use knowledge about common spelling patterns to correctly spell words with those common patterns. The teacher records students’ progress on the Snapshot Assessment, which is optional.
  • An Assessment Path is also provided for each grade level (Page 43 - Teacher Resource Manual). For example, in Grade 1, the following assessments are recommended:
  • Beginning of the Year
    • Spelling (begin with Partial Alphabetic Word List): If Spelling Assessment results show that the student is at least in Middle or Late Partial Alphabetic micro-phase
    • Decoding (begin with Partial Word List): If Spelling Assessment results show that the student is at the Early Partial or below: Letter Name and Sound Identification Phonological Awareness”
  • Middle of the Year
    • Spelling (begin with Full Alphabetic Word List)
    • Decoding (begin with Early Full Alphabetic Word List)
    • Fluency (begin with Passage 2)
  • End of the Year
    • Spelling (begin with Full Alphabetic Word List)
    • Decoding (begin with Middle Full Alphabetic Word List)
    • Fluency (begin with Passage 3)

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information of students’ current skills/level of understanding. Examples include:

  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 2, Cycle 5, Lesson 27, there is a Snapshot Assessment that the teacher can administer that assesses a student's ability to read the words from, wants, says, he, be, had in the Decodable Reader: “Sam’s Box.”
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 2, Cycle 8, Lesson 41, the teacher observes students during the Opening to determine whether students demonstrate one-to-one correspondence with words. The teacher observes students during Work Time to determine whether they can say the sounds for each letter correctly. The teacher records students’ progress on the Snapshot Assessment.
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 3, Cycle 12, Lesson 65, the teacher shows students the stack of Question Cards. The teacher states: “Each card will ask you a question that will help you practice what you’ve been learning.” Students respond individually using white boards to the question cards, so that the teacher can see their current understanding.

Materials support teachers with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in foundational skills. Examples include:

  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 2, Cycle 7, Lesson 37, the teacher is prompted, “Students in the early to middle Partial Alphabetic (PA) phase may need to spend more time with each short vowel than the whole group lessons provide. Those working within the middle to late PA phase may be comfortable using the phonemes introduced in this cycle and small group time can be utilized in order to support in this area.”
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Cycle 8, Assessment for Lesson 45, assess students’ decodable phase in order to help the teacher develop better support during lessons. The assessment analyzes students in the decodable phase, partial, full or consolidated phase. Students are also assessed in high frequency words, spelling and sentence dictation. There is an optional fluency assessment and then once the students are assessed the teacher has a goal setting foundational table to help determine where students are at and what support they need.
  • Based on how a student performs on the assessments, the teacher is directed to a chart in K-2 Skills Block Resource Manual that provides lessons to use for additional supports based on whether a student in in the early, middle or late range of the pre-alphabetic, partial alphabetic, full alphabetic or consolidated alphabetic ranges. For example:
    • A student that is Middle Partial Alphabetic should work on the following skills/lessons:
      • GKM4, C19–22: decoding CVC words and beginning to decode CVCC; comparing long and short vowel sounds
      • C19: all short vowels; words with digraphs
      • C20: “-am” and “-an” words
      • C21: “-ank” and “-ink” words
      • C22: “floss” words (double consonants)
    • A students in the Early Full Alphabetic range, should receive the following lessons for support.
      • G1M3, C12–17: syllable types: closed- syllable, open syllable, and CVCe syllable-type words
      • C12: two-syllable with closed syllables
      • C13: repeat C12 with double consonants in middle and compound words
      • C14: open syllables
      • C15: CVCe (mostly /ā/)
      • C16: CVCe (mostly /ō/ and /ī/)
      • `C17: CVCe (mostly /ū/ and /ē/)
  • A chart is provided in the Resource Manual with Activity Bank materials and their uses to help teachers choose what to use with students to assess their learning needs. For example, Blending Boxes helps students “mark” each phoneme they hear in a word with a penny and then blend the phonemes to say the word.


Indicator 1T
04/04
Materials, questions, and tasks provide high-quality lessons and activities that allow for differentiation of foundational skills.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks providing high-quality lessons and activities that allow for differentiation of foundational skills, so all students achieve mastery of foundational skills.

Numerous differentiation opportunities were provided throughout the Grade 1 materials. During whole group lessons, teachers have the option to differentiate lessons through the Meeting Student Needs portion of the lessons. Students are provided with small group differentiation based on their needs. For students below level, small group differentiated instruction occurs on a daily basis. For students at or above grade level, small group differentiated instruction occurs once or twice a week. Students have multiple practice opportunities within each cycle to master grade level foundational skills. The same format for differentiation was present in all three grade levels, making for a coherent transition from grade level to grade level.

Materials provide high-quality learning lessons and activities for every student to reach mastery of foundational skills. Examples include:

  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block each day 40-45 minutes is allotted for small group differentiated instruction. “Teacher meets with two or three differentiated small groups, based on phase. Each group meets with the teacher for 10-12 minutes while other students do purposeful independent work.” Groups are formed based on how a student scores on the benchmark assessments.
  • For differentiation lessons and instructions, the teacher can refer to:
    • Reteaching or extending the whole group lesson
    • Activity Bank
    • Differentiation Pack
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 1, Cycle 2, the differentiated small groups instruction begins.
    • In Lesson 7, the students in the Partial Alphabetic group complete exit ticket, read the Decodable Reader: “Sam Rides the Subway Train” and highlight each word that contains the spelling patterns from the current cycle: “ay” and “ai.” The teacher can select from three lessons for students in the Full Alphabetic group. 1. Students read the Decodable Reader: “Sam Rides the Subway Train” then highlight each word that contains the spelling patterns from the current cycle: “ay” and “ai.” 2. Students work with teacher to write a new page in the Decodable Reader: “Sam Rides the Subway Train” using words with spelling patterns from the current cycle: “ay” and “ai.” 3. Students work with teacher or in pairs to provide a written response to the prompt: "How do you think Sam felt after he rode the subway train by himself?" With the teacher, students look over the exit tickets to analyze words that were more challenging and discuss why.

For students in the Consolidated Alphabetic group, students read the Engagement Text: “New Subway Train Stop Opens.” Students provide a written response to the prompt: "What is something that you would work to improve in your neighborhood?" Students should try to use words with the spelling patterns “ay” and “ai.” Students should use a Writing Checklist (example found in supporting materials) to self-check or partner-check writing conventions. With the teacher, students look over the exit tickets to analyze words that were more challenging and discuss why.

Materials provide guidance to teachers for scaffolding and adapting lessons and activities to support each student’s needs. Examples include:.

  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 4, Cycle 23, Lesson 117, students begin a read aloud of the story, The Little Seed, during the story the teacher is prompted for struggling readers and ELL learners to use picture cards for the nouns in order to help them comprehend the story.
  • Teachers are also provided with additional activities in lessons, under the heading, Meeting Students’ Needs, that are designed to further understanding. For example:
    • In Reading Foundations Skills Block Cycle 1, Lesson 1, teachers are instructed, “If students are not familiar with the word 'recite,' explain that the word describes what a person is doing when they are speaking aloud a written piece (such as a poem) from memory.”
    • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Cycle 1, Lesson 4, on page 58, “Consider deepening the analysis of words during this shared writing experience by asking students to identify the long and short vowel sounds in the words during step 11. Share with them the spelling that represents the sound in that word.”

Students have multiple practice opportunities with each grade level foundational skill component in order to reach mastery. Examples include:

  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 2, Cycle 6, students learn about short "e" words. Students will focus on this skill over the course of five lessons and will complete activities such as segmenting, blending and spelling words with short "e".
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 2, Cycle 8, students learn about /w/ and /k/ spelled wh and -ck. Students practice these skills over the course of five lessons through activities such as blending, segmenting, chaining, sorting and spelling words with wh and -ck.
  • In Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 3, Cycle 12, students have five lessons to learn that every syllable has a vowel and identify the two, three, and four phoneme words they have been working on as closed syllables.
  • There are decodable readers throughout that help students read and apply grade level phonics. For example, in Reading Foundations Skills Block, Module 3, Cycle 16, students read the Decodable Reader: “James and Same Take a Hike.” In Module 4, Cycle 19, Lesson 97, students read the Decodable Reader: “Looking For Mars.”


Overview of Gateway 2

Building Knowledge with Texts, Vocabulary, and Tasks

Grade 1 EL Language Arts instructional materials meet the expectations for building students' knowledge and vocabulary to support and help grow students’ ability to comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently. Texts are organized around a topic/topics to build students knowledge and vocabulary which will over time support and help grow students’ ability to comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently. Materials build an understanding of content in science, social studies, and literature. Students acquire an understanding of that content while they work to acquire the grade-level literacy standards of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Materials contain sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language (words/phrases), key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts in order to make meaning and build understanding of texts and topics and contain coherently sequenced text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to rely on the knowledge built over the course of the module. The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic through integrated skills (e.g. combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening). Specific tasks are designed to build academic vocabulary within the curriculum during multiple readings of context-based texts. The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria that materials contain a year long, cohesive plan of writing instruction and tasks and also provide opportunities for focused research and writing projects to support the development of knowledge and understanding of the Module topic. Materials provide a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

Criterion 2.1: Building Knowledge with Texts, Vocabulary, and Tasks

30/32
Materials build knowledge through integrated reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that texts are organized around a topic/topics to build students knowledge and vocabulary which will over time support and help grow students’ ability to comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently. Materials build an understanding of content in science, social studies, and literature. Students acquire an understanding of that content while they work to acquire the grade-level literacy standards of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Materials contain sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language (words/phrases), key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts in order to make meaning and build understanding of texts and topics and contain coherently sequenced text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to rely on the knowledge built over the course of the module. The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic through integrated skills (e.g. combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening). Specific tasks are designed to build academic vocabulary within the curriculum during multiple readings of context-based texts. The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the criteria that materials contain a year long, cohesive plan of writing instruction and tasks and also provide opportunities for focused research and writing projects to support the development of knowledge and understanding of the Module topic. Materials provide a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

Indicator 2A
04/04
Texts are organized around a topic/topics to build students knowledge and vocabulary which will over time support and help grow students' ability to comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that texts are organized around a topic/topics to build students knowledge and vocabulary which will over time support and help grow students’ ability to comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently.

Materials build an understanding of content in science, social studies, and literature. Students acquire an understanding of that content while they work to acquire the grade-level literacy standards of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Within each Module, Unit 1 is designed to ensure students acquire content knowledge. In Unit 2 and Unit 3, teachers use close reading to engage students with complex text that deepens their knowledge of the Module topic. Lessons within the units provide complex text, students response pages, and anchor charts that support students’ ability to comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently in order to complete a culminating task.

The modules are based on topics with required and recommended text to support multiple reads for each topic. The K-2 Labs use of Storytime increases the amount of time that students spend with complex text through read-alouds while connecting to the content taught within the Module lessons. Vocabulary is introduced and reviewed throughout each module. Academic and Domain-Specific vocabulary are addressed through multiple reads of complex text along with the Language Dives. The words that have been selected fall into the categories of lesson specific, text specific, or vocabulary used in writing. The curriculum defines whether a word is newly introduced or is a review word, so the teacher can adjust instruction to meet the needs of the students. Multiple texts are used to build student knowledge and vocabulary, and they support students’ ability to comprehend complex text independently and proficiently.

In Module 1, students engage in a study on the topic of “Tools and Work” as they build their literacy and citizenship skills. In Unit 2, Lesson 2, teachers tell students that they will spend time today to make sure they understand the word “magnificent,” which is important because it is in the title of the book. Students view the Frayer Model with “magnificent” in the center, and the parts of the chart are explained with supporting examples and non-examples. Students learn that “magnificent” means “something that is very beautiful to look at, or spectacular” and record this definition on their sheet. In Unit 2, Lesson 1, students and the teacher work to create an anchor chart listing and defining the Habits of Character. Vocabulary words include: “initiative,” “collaboration,” and “perseverance.”

In Module 2, students build their literacy and science skills as they engage in a study on the topic of “The Sun, Moon and Stars.” In Unit 1, Lesson 3, students participate in a close read aloud of Summer Sun Risin’. Teachers utilize a total participation technique to answer the following questions: “What is the sun doing? How do you know? What do you think the word ‘arisin’ means? What does that word have to do with what the sun is doing?” Teachers display the Summer Sun Risin’ word card for “arisin’” informing students that it means to appear or emerge. In Unit 2, Lesson 2, after reading page 14 of What Makes Day and Night, students participate in a Language Dive. Teachers encourage conversation among students about the meaning of each of the sentence strip chunks, what the academic phrases within each chunk mean, and how they relate to the sentence and the text overall. Teachers monitor and guide conversation with total participation techniques and Conversation Cues.

In Module 3, students build their literacy skills as they engage in a study on the topic of “Birds' Amazing Bodies.” In Unit 1, Lesson 3, students read Birds (Scholastic Discover More). Throughout the reading, students participate in Language Dives using the following protocol for vocabulary: “What do we think this word means? What is the translation of this word? Is there a familiar word or affix in this word? How does that help us understand the unfamiliar word? What are some synonyms of this word? How are they different in meaning?” In Unit 3, Lesson 6, students participate in the Interactive Word Wall Activity using the following the protocol: “Face your group members and label yourselves A, B, and C. Put the word cards and arrow cards in the middle. Partner A chooses one word to connect with another word using an arrow card. Partner A explains the connection by answering the question, ‘Why do the words belong together?’ Steps 2–3 are repeated for partner B and partner C and steps 2–4 are repeated until all words are connected.”

In Module 4, students engage in a study on the topic of “Caring for Birds.” In this Module, students build on their knowledge of birds from Module 3 to deepen their literacy skills and explore the guiding question: “Why should we care about birds?” In Unit 1, Lesson 2, students reread the text on page 22 of The Lion and The Bird. Teachers are instructed to have students determine the meaning of the word “snug.” The teachers state the following, “The first strategy tells me to look for clues in the sentence to help me figure it out.” Then, students reread the first part of the sentence and perform a turn and talk to answer the following question: “What is this part of the sentence saying?” In Unit 1, Lesson 5, while reading Pierre the Penguin, students participate in a Language Dive to determine the meaning of the sentence: “One day aquatic biologist, Pam, observing the penguins, saw one in a jam.”

Indicator 2B
04/04
Materials contain sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language (words/phrases), key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts in order to make meaning and build understanding of texts and topics.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials contain sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language (words/phrases), key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts in order to make meaning and build understanding of texts and topics.

During every session of the Close Read Aloud, teachers utilize a variety of techniques to engage students in answering text-dependent questions such as Think-Pair-Share and Back to Back-Face to Face. Conversation Cues encourage conversations about the text. Language Dives explore chunks of text to determine author’s meaning. Additionally, students are taught how to use text features to locate information and strategies to determine the meanings of words.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • In Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 5, the teacher displays and reads aloud the following chunk: “Can’t see the MAGNIFICENT thing.” The teacher then asks, “What can’t the admirers do?” and point to the illustration on page 15 to ask, “What does she have in her hand? Is it the magnificent thing? and It says they can’t see the magnificent thing. Why?” The teacher concludes by asking, “Why do you think the author wrote MAGNIFICENT in all capital letters?”
  • In Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 2, students read What Makes Day and Night. The teacher reads aloud the word “daylight” and shows the Sun, Moon, and Stars Word Wall card for “daylight.” The teacher uses a total participation technique to invite responses to the following prompts: What two words do you see in the word daylight? What does daylight mean?”
  • In Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 3, the teacher completes a Read Aloud for the text, Birds. As the teacher reads the text, they stop and point out headings and titles and explicitly teach the vocabulary for text features. The teacher asks, “Why is a heading an important text feature?” The teacher releases pairs of students with the text to continue to explore the text, looking for text features. The teacher circulates and asks, “What is the heading on this page? What are the pictures/photographs showing?” After 8-10 minutes, the teacher refocuses the group and asks them about the text features that they located and specifically asks, “How do these text features help readers?”
  • In Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 4, the teacher reads aloud pages 13-28 in Pierre the Penguin. The teacher stops on page 13 to ask, “What does the word ‘wetsuit’ mean?” and “How do you know?” Students are expected to be able to use text evidence from the pictures and words to formulate an answer. The teacher continues this practice on page 17 with the word “featherless” by asking, “What might the extra word ‘-less’ mean?” and then further inquiring, “So if we know what the base word ‘feather’ and the extra piece ‘-less’ mean, what does ‘featherless’ mean?”


Indicator 2C
04/04
Materials contain a coherently sequenced set of text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials contain a coherently sequenced set of text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas across both individual and multiple texts.

Materials contain coherently sequenced text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to rely on the knowledge built over the course of the module. Text-dependent questions and tasks are specifically included in the anchor text and through close reading sessions that occur in lessons. “In each session, students are lifted to greater understanding of the text through purposeful text-dependent questions and activities” (Your Curriculum Companion, page 275).

Unit 1 of each module builds the foundational knowledge for the topic, Unit 2 requires students to analyze and synthesize information, and Unit 3 requires students to apply their learning to complete a culminating task which requires reading, writing, listening and speaking as well as reflecting on the learning that has occurred. Each close read aloud text and questions create an understanding of the text and the module topic. Each module has a topic focus with required and recommended text to support building knowledge on that topic.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • In Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 2, after the read aloud of A Chef's Tools, the teacher uses a document camera to display A Chef’s Tools text and shares with students that they can learn about cooking tools from this book. Then the teacher asks, “What was this book mostly about? Can you teach the class about any other tools your family uses to cook, that we didn’t see in this book?” Finally, the teacher synthesizes the read-aloud by having students Think-Pair-Share to “Name one new cooking tool you learned about today. What job does this tool help to do?” Then in the Unit 1 Assessment, students listen to an excerpt of Tools by Ann Morris. Next, students work with a partner to discuss the text and sort photographs from the excerpt into categories. Then students closely study two photographs and listen to their corresponding captions (each caption describes a specific tool and how that tool makes work easier). After some quick turn and talks, students label the tool being used in the text and write a complete sentence answering the question, “What job does the tool help to do?”
  • In Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 3, during the Close Read/Read Aloud of Summer Sun Risin’, the teacher tells students as they read the text, and use a chart to keep track of answers. Using a total participation technique, the teacher asks, “What is the boy doing? How do you know?” Then in the Unit 2 Assessment, students engage in a Science Talk to discuss possible answers to the unit guiding question: “What patterns can we observe in the sky?” During the conversation, students use sentence starters to share information they have learned and to add on to and say more about explanations from their peers.
  • In Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 1, after the Read Aloud of the text, Birds, the teacher uses a total participation technique and asks, “What was this book mostly about? (birds) Has anyone ever seen a bird? What did it look like? What was it doing? What is the name for bird in your home language?” In the Unit 1 Assessment, students are provided a copy of the text, Birds, and students follow along as the teacher rereads pages 20 and 21. Then the students respond to several short response questions using the text and illustrations to help them.
  • In Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 4, the students participate in a Focused Read Aloud of the text, Pierre the Penguin. The teacher is instructed to use a total participation technique and ask the questions, “What are the penguins doing? Why are the penguins swimming? Do you agree or disagree with what your classmate said? Why?” Then in the Unit 1 Assessment, students use the icons from the Stories of Bird Helpers anchor chart to compare and contrast the texts, Pierre the Penguin and Maggie the One-Eyed Peregrine Falcon. Students use the icons to compare and contrast the experiences from both texts, and they will also use evidence from the texts to write a sentence about the similarities and differences.


Indicator 2D
02/04
The questions and tasks support students' ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic (or, for grades 6-8, a theme) through integrated skills (e.g. combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic through integrated skills (e.g. combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).

Materials offer opportunities for students to demonstrate their content and literacy knowledge through questions and instructional tasks across the three units within each of the four modules. Students participate in close reads, collaborative conversations, and journal and notebook tasks related to texts they have read. Students engage in tasks that require a combination of literacy skills including reading, writing, drawing, and speaking to demonstrate their knowledge of a topic. These tasks are consistently placed at the end of each close read/read aloud session, referred to as a culminating task. The performance task for each module is found at the end of Unit 3 and includes completion of narrative, informational writing, and opinion writing that is shared with peers or families. The culminating tasks in Module 1, which represents one quarter of the school year, do not demonstrate the same quality as the tasks in Modules 2-4, and therefore, do not meet the criteria for this indicator. Though Module 1 has students integrating skills, the culminating task does not demonstrate students building knowledge of a topic.

In Module 1 students build their literacy and citizenship skills as they engage in a study of tools and work. Students first learn about how tools help to do a job through informational text and hands-on experiences. They then extend their understanding of what it takes to do a job when they learn how the “habits of character,” including initiative, collaboration, perseverance, and responsibility, help them do work. Students also analyze how various characters from literary texts use these habits of character to help them make work easier and solve dilemmas. In Unit 2, Lesson 6, following the close read of The Most Magnificent Thing, students use drawing and writing to explain one thing the girl did to make a magnificent thing (with dictation, only if needed). The Module 1 Performance Task requires students to create a magnificent thing in a small group that fulfills a need or solves a problem within the classroom. Students then independently write a description of what their group created, why they created it, and how they used tools to create it. Students share, discuss, and reflect on their creation. Though this Module has students integrating skills, the culminating task does not demonstrate students building knowledge of a topic.

In Module 2, students build their literacy skills and science knowledge as they engage in a study of the sun, moon, and stars. Students begin their study through various narrative texts and begin to understand how and why the sun, moon, and stars inspire authors. Then students focus their study on the scientific concepts of observable patterns of the sun, moon, and stars. Students read informational texts and make observations and take notes in a sky notebook to learn about these patterns. In Unit 1, Lesson 3, following the close read of Summer Sun Risin’, students write and draw about three parts of the boy’s day from sunrise to sunset. Students are expected to include what the boy is doing and what the sun is doing in the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Sentence stems are provided: “In the beginning, in the middle, in the end, the boy is, the sun is”. The Module 2 Performance Task requires students to incorporate all their module learning about the sun, moon, and stars to use feedback from peers and from the teacher to revise and edit their “What the Sun Sees” poems from the Unit 3 Assessment. Students are expected to use the High-Quality Work Anchor Chart and the High-Quality Narrative Poem Checklist to create a quality final piece of writing.

In Module 3, students build their literacy skills as they engage in an in-depth study of birds’ bodies. The module focuses on the following big ideas: Animals have physical features that help them survive, and animals behave in ways that help them survive. Students begin their study by considering the guiding question: “What makes a bird a bird?” They then build research skills and background knowledge about birds through reading, talking, and representing (through scientific drawing, writing, role-play, music, and movement). Students participate in both whole group and small group research to learn more about the form and function of key bird parts: beaks and feathers. Students show their learning by writing an informational paragraph that describes how beaks or feathers help birds survive. In Unit 2, students use their Expert Birds Research Notebook to research information about their expert birds using the text, Little Kids First Big Book of Bird and record information in their Research Notebook. The Module 3 Performance Task requires students to create two cards to demonstrate their expertise about how a bird uses specific body parts to survive. The Expert Bird Riddle card contains an informational riddle that teaches the reader about a specific bird’s key body parts and how those parts aid in survival. The Expert Bird Scientific Drawing card contains a black-and-white scientific drawing of the expert bird that accurately depicts the bird’s external anatomy. In Module 3, students build deep knowledge about the scientific topic of living things, and trees, specifically. In Module 4, they then apply this knowledge to make a meaningful contribution to their community.

In Module 4, students continue to build on their knowledge of birds from Module 3 to deepen their literacy skills and explore the guiding question: “Why should we care about birds?” Students begin to consider this question by reading a variety of literary texts with characters that care for birds. They then learn about writing opinions as they investigate a specific bird, Pale Male, who built its nest in the heart of New York City. Students read about people’s differing opinions about this nest and then write their own opinions in response to the evidence they gather. Students also learn about some of the problems birds face more generally, and what humans can do to help them live and grow. They learn about the myriad ways birds are helpful to plants, animals, and people. In Unit 1, Lesson 2, following the close read of The Lion and the Bird, students discuss the author’s message with a partner. Sentence stems are provided, “The problem in The Lion and the Bird is, The problem in The Lion and the Bird is solved when, and The author’s message in The Lion and the Bird is.” The Module 4 Performance Tasks requires that students create a piece of artwork and writing that serves an authentic need in their school or local community, a Feathered Friends Saver! Students create scientific drawing of a local bird, and write an informational paragraph about birds. Students are asked to display the Feathered Friends Savers in the school or deliver them to a local organization so they can be hung to prevent birds from flying into window.

Indicator 2E
04/04
Materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts.

Specific tasks are designed to build academic vocabulary within the curriculum during multiple readings of context-based texts, such as unpacking learning targets, interactive word walls, collaborative conversations, use of Frayer models, language dives, writing tasks, and explicit teaching of habits of character language. The Labs also provide opportunities for students to use content-specific and academic vocabulary while applying the speaking and listening skills taught in the module lessons. Additionally, vocabulary is highlighted at the beginning of each lesson with reference to whether it is new or review and whether it is taught within the lesson or with the use of text. Students are given opportunities to learn vocabulary using strategies that target all learning modalities through the use of movement, song, poetry, drawing, and writing.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • Unpacking Learning Targets: In Module 2, Unit 3, Lesson 3, teachers are instructed to focus student attention on the learning target, “I can define what it means for work to be ‘high quality.’ I can analyze models of high-quality work.” The teacher underlines the words "high quality" in the learning target and invites students to turn and talk with an elbow partner, “What does it mean if something is high quality?” The teacher defines high quality as something that is viewed as excellent. Teachers then share a piece of high-quality student writing.
  • Interactive Word Walls: In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 3, after rereading Summer Sun Arisin', teachers tell students that the sun is at its highest midday. Teachers provide the definition for “midday,” use it in a sentence with an accompanying gesture, and place the Word Wall card and picture on the Sun, Moon, and Stars Word Wall.
  • Collaborative Conversations: In Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 3, students read Birds (Scholastic Discover More). Throughout the reading, students participate in collaborative conversations about text vocabulary to answer, what they think the words mean, the translation of the word, a synonym for the word, and any possible other meanings.
  • In Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 5, students place their finger by the sentence from page 15, “Her hard work attracts a few admirers, but they don’t understand. They can’t see the MAGNIFICENT thing that she has in her mind,” and chorally read it aloud with the teacher. Then, students discuss the sentence meaning.
  • Use of Frayer Models: In Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 2, teachers tell students that they will spend time today to make sure they understand the word “magnificent.” They show students the Frayer Model with “magnificent” in the center and explain the parts of the chart to them. Students record the definition, draw a picture to help remember it, record examples of things that are “magnificent,” and record things that are not.
  • Writing: In Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 7, students create a shared writing on the importance of leaving Pale Male’s nest up. Students use Unit vocabulary to create the opinion sentence, “Leave the nest up!”


Indicator 2F
04/04
Materials include a cohesive, year-long plan to support students' increasing writing skills over the course of the school year, building students' writing ability to demonstrate proficiency at grade level at the end of the school year.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials contain a year long, cohesive plan of writing instruction and tasks which support students in building and communicating substantive understanding of topics and texts.

In Unit 1 of each Module, background knowledge is built on the specific topic. In Module 2, students are engaged in more reading, writing, and research opportunities around the Module topic. In Module 3, the extended writing is more extensive and scaffolded support is provided for students.

Throughout the Modules, students have multiple opportunities to use text-based evidence to respond to prompts about the text that they are reading in notebooks, journals, and response sheets. Students participate in daily collaborative conversations about texts, and teachers compile the knowledge and information gained from those conversations on Anchor Charts. The smaller writing tasks throughout the Module lead the student to use the compiled information to complete the writing performance task at the end to demonstrate understanding of the topic. Each Unit has a standards-based assessment allowing students to read, write, or speak with increasing independence about the texts that they have read.

Examples from each Module include, but are not limited to:

  • In Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1, students use their What Do You Know about Tools? Response Sheet to draw or write their responses to meet the learning target, “I can show what I know about tools through drawing and writing.” In Unit 3, Lesson 5, students use their Magnificent Thing Notebook to write one or two sentences about the work that was completed so far on their magnificent thing.
  • The Module 1 Performance Task requires students to incorporate their Module learning about tools to create a magnificent thing in a small group that fulfills a need or solves a problem within the classroom. Students independently write a description of what their group created, why they created it, and how they used tools to create it.
  • In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 2, students use the Unit 1 Guiding Question Response Sheet to answer the following question: “Why do authors write stories about the sun, moon, and stars?” In Unit 2, Lesson 4, students look at a set of sun and moon pictures and write about these pictures using adjectives from the anchor chart in their very own Sky notebook. Students discuss and write the answers to the following prompts: “What adjectives describe the sun? What adjectives describe the moon?”
  • The Module 2 Performance Task requires students to incorporate their Module learning about the sun, moon, and stars to use feedback from peers and from the teacher to revise and edit their “What the Sun Sees” poems from the Unit 3 Assessment. Students use the High-Quality Work Anchor Chart and the High-Quality Narrative Poem Checklist to create a quality final piece of writing.
  • In Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 5, the teacher uses the texts, Birds and Just Ducks, to compare and contrast different kinds of bird beaks. Both books have been read before, and the teacher returns to them to explore the photographs and captions to learn about different kinds of beaks and why they are the way they are. The teacher refers to text features by asking, “How did we use the captions to help us learn about the different beaks of birds?”
  • The Module 3 Performance Task requires students to create two cards to demonstrate their expertise about how a bird uses specific body parts to survive. The Expert Bird Riddle card contains an informational riddle that teaches the reader about a specific bird’s key body parts and how those parts aid in survival. The Expert Bird Scientific Drawing card contains a black-and-white scientific drawing of the expert bird that accurately depicts the bird’s external anatomy.
  • In Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 3, students utilize their Pale Male Research Notebook to write about their opinion about Pale Male as to whether his nest should stay up or come down. Students use their notes from previous lessons to provide text evidence for either choice.
  • The Module 4 Performance Task requires that students create a piece of artwork and writing that serves an authentic need in their school or local community, a Feathered Friends Saver. Students create a scientific drawing of a local bird, and write an informational paragraph about birds. Students display the Feathered Friends Savers in the school or deliver them to a local organization, so that they can be hung to prevent birds from flying into the window.


Indicator 2G
04/04
Materials include a progression of focused research projects to encourage students to develop knowledge in a given area by confronting and analyzing different aspects of a topic using multiple texts and source materials.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials include a progression of focused, shared research and writing projects to encourage students to develop knowledge and understanding of a topic using texts and other source materials.

Materials provide opportunities for focused research and writing projects to support the development of knowledge and understanding of the Module topic during the K-2 Labs, which are designed to extend student learning from the Grade 1 Module Lessons. There are opportunities in the Research Lab for students to engage with materials and increase their skills in order to pursue answers to questions related to the content in the Grade 1 Module lessons. Students expand their understanding and knowledge of the topic through a range of research activities. As stated in the Your Curriculum Companion, page 77, “students study pictures and photographs, watch videos, and conduct original research based on their own questions.” Also, each unit within the modules contain lessons that require students to answer text-based questions and demonstrate knowledge of the topics using total participation techniques, anchor charts, language dives, notebooks, journals, and student response sheets. The artifacts produced during each lesson are compiled throughout the modules to complete a culminating project.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • In Module 2, K-2 Labs, the guiding question is, “How can I use research skills to learn and wonder about our sky?” In the Research Lab, students use research skills to learn new information and ask questions about the sky. The Research Lab culminates in a creation of a Sky Riddle Book in which students use the researched notes. Students build upon their knowledge of the sky, sun, moon, and stars as they research new information and ask questions about the sky as they collect facts to create a Sky Riddle Book during the module lessons. Students should connect their learning about the sky with their module learning about the sun, moon, and stars to complete the Module 2 Performance Task by using feedback from peers and from the teacher to revise and edit their “What the Sun Sees” poems from the Unit 3.
  • In Module 4, K-2 Labs, the guiding question is, “How can I discover more about the birds near me?” In the Research Lab, students apply their research skills and use a variety of resources (images, texts, and technology) to learn more about local birds. After researching the birds, students create surveys to learn more about how the people in their school community interact with those birds. Students then analyze the data from the local bird surveys. In the module lessons, students research birds in a broad way. Students extend their learning about birds and apply it by studying birds specific to their local context. Students should connect their learning about birds in the Research Lab and Module lessons to complete the Module 4 Performance task which requires students to create a piece of artwork and writing that serves an authentic need to save feathered friends in their school or local community.


Indicator 2H
04/04
Materials provide a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials provide a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

Materials provide opportunities for the teacher to incorporate 45 minutes of independent reading time during the Skills Block portion of the lesson while other students are completing differentiated tasks or working with the teacher. Materials provide the teacher with a document titled, K-5 Recommended Texts and Other Resources, that lists multiple books per grade level and module that students can utilize during independent reading time. This list provides a variety of texts based on student interest and reading goals.

During the independent reading rotation, students choose books to read independently and complete Reading Response sheets. The focus of this independent reading time is to build stamina, automaticity, and comprehension by reading a large volume of student selected texts, with a specific focus on personal reading goals (page 7, Grades K-2: Reading Foundations Skills Block Resource Manual). Teachers are encouraged to observe and confer with students around their reading goals. AIR is the only time set aside (other than during the Reader’s Toolbox instructional practice) for students to apply all they are learning in both the Skills Block (decoding and fluency skills) and Integrated Block (comprehension and vocabulary skills) while independently reading a wide range of texts of their choice (page 8, Grades K-2: Reading Foundations Skills Block Resource Manual). The reading routine also includes an independent whisper read, followed by an echo or choral read and student responses to comprehension questions and questions about individual words.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • Independent Reading: Students choose a text (book, poem, magazine, etc.) and read independently. Students track books, read, connect to their goals, and demonstrate comprehension by filling out a Reading Response Sheet.
  • Conferences: Teacher observes students reading and/or goes over reading response sheets with the student. Teacher provides guidance, teaching points, encouragement, or celebrations based on observations and student response sheets.
  • Accountable Independent Reading Resources: Teachers create a collection of decodable texts, texts that approximately align to a group’s current phase, required complex texts from integrated Module lessons, and recommended texts on the module topic. Lists to complete these text collections are provided.
  • Decodable Student Reader Routine: Students learn to whisper-read the text independently while teacher listens in and notes who might need more support. If the teacher notices that the majority of the group needs more support reading some words or pages with automaticity and fluency, the teacher might choose to echo read the text, choral read as a group, and/or revisit a specific word or group of words in the text and remind students of the spelling pattern and pronunciation of the high-frequency word. Students then respond to basic comprehension questions and respond to questions about individual words in the text.
  • Reading Response Sheets: Teachers are given a Reading Response Sheet template to provide for students to complete during their independent reading on page 22-25 in the Grades K-2: Reading Foundations Skills Block Resource Manual.


Overview of Gateway 3

Usability

Grade 1 EL Language Arts Curriculum materials meet the criteria for being well designed. Materials take into account effective lesson structure and pacing. Materials can reasonably be completed within an academic year. There are ample resources as well as publisher produced standards alignment documentation.

Criterion 3.1: Use & Design

08/08
Materials are well designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing.

Materials meet the criteria for being well-designed and utilize effective lesson structure and pacing. Daily lessons include structures and resources for both whole group and small group literacy instruction. The program allows flexibility for teachers to rely on professional judgment to modify pacing. Materials include trade books, text collections, scaffolded strategy activities, performance tasks, a Life Science Module, homework that includes additional strategies for family support and practice, and the ALL Block that contains Modules for study and practice in independent reading, fluency, grammar/usage/mechanics, writing practice, word study/vocabulary, and additional practice with complex text. Daily lessons, tasks, and assessments specifically denote the standards to which the lessons and tasks are aligned. The student materials have clear instructions and have simple designs that do not distract the student.

Indicator 3A
02/02
Materials are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing.

Grade 1 instructional materials are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing that span a school year. The materials include a Curriculum Plan and a Curriculum Map containing four content-based modules, each with three units that are designed for eight to nine weeks of instruction. Module 1 provides six weeks of instruction to allow for the development of classroom routines and procedures.

The materials utilize three hours of instruction per day. Module Lessons provide one hour of content-based literacy instruction built around close read alouds of complex text, explicit focus on the listening and speaking standards, daily goal setting, reflection, and culminating performance task. Lab lessons, also part of the content-based literacy block, contain one hour of instruction to deepen and enhance learning and foster student independence by giving students an opportunity to explore, engineer, create, and imagine. Labs also contain two weeks of Flex Days if additional time is needed to meet student needs. The Reading Foundations Skills block provides a third hour of instruction with five components including independent reading, additional work with complex text, reading and speaking fluency, writing practice, and word study and vocabulary.

All modules are designed around the Four T’s framework (topic, task, targets, and text). Compelling topics are chosen that bring the content to life. Learning targets are centered around ELA standards. On-demand tasks are scaffolded to support the culminating performance task. Each of 4 Modules contains Three Units with lessons spanning 1-2 weeks. Each Unit contains A Key Understanding, A Focus Question, Supporting Language and Engagement, and a Culminating Task. Each Lesson includes an Opening (5 Minutes), Work Time (45 Minutes), Closing and Assessment (5 Minutes)

An Additional Language and Literacy Block (ALL Block) operates parallel to the three units of the Module and has five components including independent reading, additional work with complex text, reading and speaking fluency, writing practice, and word study and vocabulary. Two hours per day of content-based literacy includes one hour for module lessons and one hour for Labs, plus one hour of structured phonics.

Indicator 3B
02/02
The teacher and student can reasonably complete the content within a regular school year, and the pacing allows for maximum student understanding.

The instructional materials for Grade 1 meet the criteria that the teacher and student can reasonably complete the content within a regular school year, and the pacing allows for maximum student understanding. The Curriculum Plan and Curriculum Map recommend three hours of instruction per day. Module and Lab Lessons contain two hours of content-based instruction. A separate Reading Foundations Skills block provides a third hour of instruction. There are four content-based modules, containing a total of twelve Units, which accounts for approximately 32 to 36 weeks of instruction.

The Grade 1 Lab lessons complement the Module. Lessons and are designed for six weeks of instruction within the eight to nine week module giving teachers flexibility in meeting the needs of all students. This time may be utilized to reteach skills and concepts, solidify routines and structures, support ELL students, and/or provide time to confirm understanding of the module topic. The one hour Lab lesson is intentionally designed to allow more time for students to increase their content knowledge, literacy skills, and build student independence.

Each module contains a culminating performance task that allows students to synthesize their content learning. Each module contains three assessments, one per unit, that scaffold to the culminating task. The reading assessment is based on ELA standards, the writing assessment is based on K-5 writing rubrics, and the speaking and listening assessment is based on checklists.

Indicator 3C
02/02
The student resources include ample review and practice resources, clear directions, and explanation, and correct labeling of reference aids (e.g., visuals, maps, etc.).

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

The student materials offer students opportunities to demonstrate thinking and learning through a variety of tasks such as Guiding Question Response Sheets, Module Reflection Response sheets, Journals, Notebooks, Note-Catchers, Graphic Organizers and Anchor charts. Students demonstrate knowledge of content through writing. The student materials for each module are clearly labeled and provide clear directions for each instructional activity. For example:

  • In Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 5, students use a Response to Illustration Recording Form to demonstrate their thinking related to the accompanying text. The prompt states, “During this section of the text, is the girl using habits of character? Why or why not?”
  • Each Module contains a Big Idea and lessons contain Guiding Questions. For example, the big idea for Module One is “How do we create a Magnificent Thing?”
  • Each lesson within Module 1 contains a response sheet for students to demonstrate learning using drawing and labeling about tools. In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 2, students answer the question,”Why do authors write about the sun, moon, and stars?”
  • Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 5 contains a response to illustration form where students discuss whether the character in the story is using habits of character and describing why or why not. In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 3, students read Summer Sun Risin' and use a response sheet to write about literary elements as the story is read, such as main characters, setting, beginning, middle, and end plot elements.
  • In Module 1, Unit 3, Lesson 2, students complete a notebook about a magnificent thing.
  • In Module 2, Unit 1, Lesson 1, students complete a two-column table about prior knowledge and desired knowledge about the moon, stars, and sun. In Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 2, students complete a culminating task using a diagram to demonstrate knowledge of what causes day and night on Earth.
  • Anchor charts are utilized throughout each module to demonstrate procedures and protocols such as Think-Pair-Share. Additional charts are created during whole group times to document what students know and have learned in the Module.
  • In Module 3, Unit 1, Lesson 2, students utilize their Birds Research Notebook to sketch a picture of a bird, label its feathers, and write a caption that describes the color of the feathers.
  • In Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 2, students use the graphic organizers provided to construct an opinion statement about why Pale Male’s nest needs to be taken down.


Indicator 3D
02/02
Materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for including publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment items. Alignment to the Common Core State Standards is documented throughout the materials. The materials are comprehensive and include the teaching and assessing of all strands of the CCSS. The learning targets for each lesson are designed with the CCSS as a primary source of guidance. Module Lessons were developed using a framework called the Four T’s (topics, tasks, targets, texts). In the context of the Four T’s framework, “targets” refers to the ELA Standards.

Alignment information can be found in the Curriculum Plan, Curriculum Map, and individual modules through the Expeditionary Learning website. For example, standards are noted for each lesson in the Purpose and Alignment to Standards. section Also found in each lesson are Standards-Based Learning Targets that are written in student-friendly language.

The Assessment Overview for each module describes the Module Performance Task, each Unit Assessment, and the Assessment Checklists. These descriptions also document the standards addressed by these tasks and assessment items. The Assessment Checklists are designed to help track students’ progress toward a variety of standards over the course of this module. These formative assessment opportunities are noted throughout the module lessons.

Indicator 3E
Read
The visual design (whether in print or digital) is not distracting or chaotic, but supports students in engaging thoughtfully with the subject.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that the visual design (whether in print or digital) is not distracting or chaotic, but supports students in engaging thoughtfully with the subject.

The materials contain many visual aids to support student learning, including Anchor Charts, Graphic Organizers, Response Sheets, and Real Images that accompany text related to the content of the module. Additionally, illustrations and clipart utilized on student workbook pages are uncomplicated and appealing to the eye. The design of the materials is simple and consistent across grade levels. The font, margins, and spacing provided for student work are appropriate. Other examples include:

  • Information on each page of the student workbook is clear and consistent.
  • There is enough space for students to draw and write responses effectively.
  • Pages are labeled clearly so students can follow along with teacher directions.
  • The fonts and margins are reasonable.
  • Posters and anchor charts describing procedures and protocols are clear and easily understandable for students to refer back to throughout the year.


Criterion 3.2: Teacher Planning

08/08
Materials support teacher learning and understanding of the Standards.

The materials meet the criteria that materials contain a Teacher Guide with ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student edition and in the ancillary materials. A text analysis tool is provided for every central text in the curriculum. Materials contain a Teacher Guide that explains the role of the specific ELA/literacy standards in the context of the overall curriculum. A rationale of the research that impacted the design of the curriculum, including explanations of the instructional approaches of the program, is provided. Materials reviewed meet the criteria that materials contain strategies for informing all stakeholders, including students, parents or caregivers about the ELA/literacy program and suggestions for how they can help support student progress and achievement.

Indicator 3F
02/02
Materials contain a teacher's edition with ample and useful annotations and suggestions on how to present the content in the student edition and in the ancillary materials. Where applicable, materials include teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning.

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

Suggestions on how to present the content are contained in the Week at a Glance in each Overview, including Lessons, CCSS, Agenda, Daily Learning Targets, Ongoing Assessments, Anchor Charts, and Protocols. There are Teaching Notes for each unit that provide guidance on how to present the content.

Materials include a Teacher Guide for each Module and state on page vii, “The curriculum is intended to act as a professional development resource for users.” The beginning of each lesson contains Teaching Notes that provide information about the purpose of the lesson and alignment to standards. These notes support lesson preparation along with making informed adjustments to best meet the needs of students. There is an Overview that lists the Big Idea, Guiding Questions Standards, Instructional Focus, Culminating Tasks, and Assessments that are addressed within each Module. The Overview contains an agenda listing each Lesson component which includes the following: Opening (10 minutes), Work Time (35 minutes), and Closing and Assessment (10 minutes).

The Meeting Students’ Needs section in each Module provides additional considerations for students who may require further supports or extended learning opportunities. Strategies presented in the Universal Design for Learning section provide suggested tools and scaffolded support for all learners.

Teacher guidance for the use of technology is provided for each lesson in the Technology and Multimedia section that gives recommendations on how to extend student learning into digital experiences. Other examples include the following:

  • The 4 T’s table in the Module and Unit Overview unpack how each Module engages students in compelling topics, texts, and tasks, working towards mastering the specific standard or target.
  • The At a Glance summaries, marked by a calendar icon, give the gist of a Module, a Unit, or the Assessment structure before beginning a new topic.
  • The Teaching Notes at the beginning of the lessons provide scaffolds for teaching and professional development. Teaching Notes are intentionally highly scaffolded to support lesson preparation and empower teachers to make informed decisions and adapt the curriculum to meet student needs.
  • Meeting Students’ Needs provides additional adaptations for students who may require extensions or supports to reach the rigor of the grade level lesson. There are specific supports for English Language Learners and for different learning modalities from the Universal Design for Learning framework.
  • The Universal Design for Learning framework emphasizes differentiation. Tools and scaffolding support all learners, and teachers have flexibility in the manner in which they present information, ask students to respond, and engage with students.
  • A complete set of classroom protocols, including all of the protocols used in Lessons are available in the Classroom Protocols pack on Curriculum.ELeducation.org. The book Management in the Active Classroom is a rich resource for protocols and classroom management strategies, available on ELeducation.org.
  • Instructional videos showing the curriculum at work in real classrooms can be accessed at Curriculum.ELeducation.org.


Indicator 3G
02/02
Materials contain a teacher's edition that contains full, adult-level explanations and examples of the more advanced literacy concepts so that teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject, as necessary.

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

Each Module includes a Teacher Guide utilized as a resource to improve professional knowledge, practice and successful implementation of the materials. Detailed explanations are provided throughout the guide for each instructional task, its purpose, and alignment to the standards. In addition the Your Curriculum Companion is designed to provide guidance on the delivery of the Language Arts Curriculum and serve as a resource to build professional knowledge in the areas of standards- and research-based best practices. Finally, the guidance document, Implementing the K-2 Labs, is intended to help teachers understand the why, what, and how of the K-2 Labs. Other examples include:

  • In the Your Curriculum Companion, on pages 141-145, teachers are provided Module lesson planning task cards. Each task card has guiding questions and provides specific information for teachers to help build their knowledge in order to plan for each part of the Module.
  • Chapter 5, section 5A of the Your Curriculum Companion provides teachers with guidance on text complexity. Teachers are given information on what makes a text complex, how to determine text complexity, and the rationale behind the importance of text complexity (pages 260-262).
  • Chapter 6 of the Your Curriculum Companion provides teachers with information on writing. Specifically, evidence-based writing, the writing cycle, and strengthening student writing. It provides charts that correlate the reading and writing CCSS standards, student examples, and evidence-based instructional strategies.
  • Each chapter in the Your Curriculum Companion provides a Frequently Asked Questions section, which builds teacher knowledge by providing information on the standards, how the program addresses the standards, and best practices for implementation. The Your Curriculum Companion includes notes that give adult-level explanations and examples.
  • The “Engaging Students with Protocols” section of Chapter 3 in Your Curriculum Companion states that “[p]rotocols are an important feature of our curriculum because they are one of the best ways we know to engage students in discussion, inquiry, critical thinking, and sophisticated communication. A protocol consists of agreed-upon, detailed guidelines for reading, recording, discussing, or reporting that ensure equal participation and accountability in learning.”


Indicator 3H
02/02
Materials contain a teacher's edition that explains the role of the specific ELA/literacy standards in the context of the overall curriculum.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials contain a Teacher Guide that explains the role of the specific ELA/literacy standards in the context of the overall curriculum.

The Your Curriculum Companion serves as a guide in combining content-area standards and CCSS language to create a target with the goal of meeting and contextualizing the standard. Each lesson contains a learning topic that addresses priority content standards and targets that combine the content with ELA/literacy standards.

The Module Overview clearly connects the learning for the day to the intended CCSS. Standards are explicitly taught and, as students move through the program, standards cycle back through, allowing for review and solidification of concepts. The curriculum provides direct standards correlation at the beginning of each Module in the Skills Block Teacher Guide for quick reference as teaching begins.

  • The Teacher Guide for each Module lesson contains a Teaching Notes section that provides the purpose of the lesson and standards alignment and explains the role of the specific ELA/literacy standards in the context of the overall curriculum. For example, in the Grade 1, Module 2, Unit 3, Lesson 7, “Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards: This lesson invites students to analyze the “What the Moon Sees” class poem based on criteria for high-quality work. This analysis helps students to build their understanding and ability to produce high-quality narrative writing (W.1.3).”
  • On page 9, the Your Curriculum Companion states, “We believe the standards invite us to build in our students critical skills for life--for career success and civic contribution. What is important is not just what the standards say, but how they are used.” On pages 25-27, it explains how the curriculum addresses each CCSS shift in the aspect of reading, writing, language, and speaking/listening. The Your Curriculum Companion provides more specific details in pages 29-35 by explaining how the backwards design approach to the curriculum connects to each CCSS shift.
  • In the Module Overview in the Teacher Guide for each Unit, all standards covered in the entire Module are listed, separated into Reading-Literature, Reading-Informational Text, Foundational Skills, Speaking and Listening, Language, and Writing. It further provides information regarding which standards are assessed per unit, the instructional focus for each unit, and the assessments and performance tasks for each unit. An explanation is provided for the emphasis on reading, writing, language, and speaking and listening standards.


Indicator 3I
02/02
Materials contain explanations of the instructional approaches of the program and identification of the research-based strategies.

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

Materials identifiy the five elements of literacy instruction most critical for addressing literacy: vocabulary, knowledge building, syntax, fluency, and decoding. Research surrounding these five elements influenced the design of the curriculum. The Skills Block Teacher Guide provides an in-depth year-at-a-glance, or scope and sequence, document teachers utilize to ensure students have multiple exposures to content to gain a deeper understanding. This guide clearly explains the connections between learning and the CCSS Reading Foundation Standards and provides the research that informed the creation of the curriculum.

The Skills Block Teacher Guide includes an assessment overview and a specific Module overview. The Cycle at a Glance component found in the Skills Block Teacher Guide, provides research-based resources for the teacher to access while planning throughout the year. It also encourages teachers to utilize specific videos created by curriculum of modeled teaching strategies and instruction.

The Your Curriculum Companion provides an in-depth rationale for the delivery method of the entire program, in addition to the research based strategies that have been chosen to deliver the content. Such as:

  • Chapter 1B of Your Curriculum Companion explains how research impacted the design of the curriculum. Page 19 provides an analysis of the research on the literacy achievement gap and page 20 uses charts to explain what is already known about the literacy achievement gap and how the EL Curriculum addresses it. The Your Curriculum Companion continues to provide this for the research behind knowledge building, syntax, fluency, and decoding making the connection to the EL Curriculum. It provides information regarding the five elements of literacy instruction most critical for addressing the literacy achievement gap: vocabulary, knowledge-building, syntax, fluency, and decoding. This is based on the presentation by David Liben, Student Achievement Partners, July 2015.
  • Page 27 of Your Curriculum Companion states that the design of the curriculum uses the guiding principles of backward design, which required curriculum designers to consider three questions: “1. At end of a sequence of instruction, what will students know and be able to do? 2. What will proficiency look and sound like? 3. How will we know when students are proficient?”
  • Pages 83-85 in Your Curriculum Companion explain how the parts of the ALL Block promote proficiency and growth in students. These explanations cite research to support the curriculum, such as the following explanation: “Research tells us that readers in intermediate grades benefit from a more contextualized approach to teaching phonics and word recognition” (pg. 85).
  • The Research Behind EL Education Language Arts Curriculum and Professional Services Guide provides a “high level summary of the research that informed the Language Arts curriculum design (e.g., content-based literacy, phonics, supports for ELLs) and our professional development (e.g., focus on leadership, coaching, common implementation challenges).”
  • The Language Dives in the K-5 Language Arts Curriculum Overview contains an explanation of the language dive and the research behind this instructional technique. The guide “describes what a language dive is, criteria for a good language dive sentence, when students do language dives, what the benefits of language dives are, and the principles and research base that underlie language dives.”


Indicator 3J
Read
Materials contain strategies for informing all stakeholders, including students, parents, or caregivers about the ELA/literacy program and suggestions for how they can help support student progress and achievement.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 contain strategies for informing all stakeholders, including students, parents, or caregivers about the ELA/literacy program and suggestions for how they can help support student progress and achievement.

Each Module contains an Overview for Families, explaining what students will be learning, including Daily Learning Targets, Common Core State Standards Alignment, an Agenda, Ongoing Assessment, and Anchor Charts/Protocols.

  • In each Teacher Guide, there is a section titled Optional: Experts, Fieldwork, Service, and Extensions. This section provides teachers with suggestions of ways to connect the learning to the community.
  • The curriculum includes sample letters that teachers can send home to describe what students will learn during a given Module and Unit, and how guardians can support student learning and specific homework assignments. Students are encouraged to share what they are learning with their family. For example, in Module 4, Unit 1, parents are informed,

"What will your student be learning?

  • Students will analyze literature to compare and contrast the characters and their experiences in different stories. The learning will be focused on these ideas:
    • Sometimes birds get into trouble and need help.
    • There are specific things characters do to help birds. Students will also practice these reading foundation skills.
    • Segment (break apart) and identify the syllables within words and blend them back together.
    • Decode (read) and encode (write) words with different preffixes and suffixes (un-, re-, -ly).
  • Throughout the unit, your student will read, think, listen, talk, write, draw, and ask questions about the topic of bird helpers. Students will participate in these activities, among others, to build their literacy skills:
    • Listening to read-alouds and independently rereading a variety of texts about bird helpers
    • Singing songs and reading poetry about birds in trouble and bird helpers
    • Engaging in collaborative conversations with classmates
    • Writing to describe birds in trouble and how people help them
  • Participating in role-plays to understand events in stories about animal helpers

What can you do to support your student’s learning at home?

  • Here are a few activities that you can do at home with your student to support his or her learning:
    • Ask your student to talk with you about these questions: Why should we care about birds? How do characters in stories help care for birds?
    • Read books and sing songs about birds in trouble and bird helpers.
    • Identify different types of birds around your yard or neighborhood; observe them closely to describe their body parts and behaviors.
    • Encourage your student to read the weekly Decodable Student Reader or a letter book to you every night.
    • Practice reading and spelling words with similar-sounding endings (strange, bridge, truck, spark)."


Criterion 3.3: Assessment

08/08
Materials offer teachers resources and tools to collect ongoing data about student progress on the Standards.

Materials meet the criteria that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress. Assessment materials clearly denote which standards are being emphasized. The Assessment Overview in the Teacher Supporting Materials and the Assessment Overview in the Teacher Guide contain the standards addressed within each unit. Materials provide teachers with guidance for administering assessments, ways to scaffold assessments, areas of focus, connections to learning building towards the assessment, and suggestions for lessons in the future. Each assessment is broken down into sections to help support teacher understanding. Materials include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress and indicate how students are accountable for independent reading based on student choice and interest to build stamina, confidence, and motivation.

Indicator 3K
02/02
Materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress.

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

Materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress. The curriculum offers numerous opportunities for assessment of student learning and emphasizes formative assessment, daily learning targets and checking for understanding techniques, and opportunities for formal assessments and performance tasks.

The Reading Foundational skills block contains benchmark assessments, cycle assessments, and daily assessments. Benchmark Assessments include letter name and sound identification, phonological awareness, spelling decoding, and fluency. These are giving at the beginning of the year to form differentiated small groups and are reused during the middle and end of year to provide targeted instruction. Cycle assessments are given once per cycle and are tied to module targets. Snapshot Assessments are given daily and provide a quick check on mastery of daily learning targets.

The Content-Based Literacy Instruction contains formative assessments: assessment checklists, text-dependent questions, and writing routines. Checklists are provided for reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language skills. In Grade 1, text-dependent questions are answered through multiple choice or short constructed responses. Throughout the module, students write in research notebooks, journals, note-catchers, and graphic organizers which can be used for teachers to gather evidence.

The Content-Based Literacy Instruction also contains summative assessments: end of unit assessments and on-demand writing. End of unit assessments may include written responses, completed graphic organizers or selected responses. On-demand writing tasks are at the end of each unit found in the module and address the module’s anchor writing standard.

Indicator 3L
Read
The purpose/use of each assessment is clear:
Indicator 3L.i
02/02
Assessments clearly denote which standards are being emphasized.

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

Assessment materials clearly denote which standards are being emphasized. The Assessment Overview in the Teacher Supporting Materials and the Assessment Overview in the Teacher Guide contain the standards addressed within each unit. These documents allow the educator to see how assessments and standards build on one another throughout the curriculum. In the Supporting Materials document, educators are provided with checklists and specific unit assessments that have clearly matched standards. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • In the Teacher Guide, Grade 1, Module 1, pg 3, it is clearly noted which standards are being emphasized for each assessment. For example, for the final performance task, it states, “In this two-part performance task, students create a magnificent thing (a product that fulfills a need or solves a problem within their classroom) in a small group and then independently write a description of what their group has created, why they created it, and how they used tools to create it. Students create their magnificent things over several lessons by applying what they have learned about tools and habits of character (i.e., initiative, responsibility, perseverance, collaboration), using The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires as a mentor text, and debriefing at the close of each lesson to consider how to build, finish, and revise something that serves a need in their classroom. After creating their magnificent things, students complete a scaffolded writing task during which they learn about the steps of the writing process and produce an informative piece of writing. Students’ creations and written work are presented orally to classroom visitors at the end of the module. This task centers on CCSS ELA W.1.2 and SL1.1.”
  • The end of unit assessments specifically note the standards that are addressed. For example, students complete the Module 2, Unit 3 end-unit assessment, which “centers on CCSS ELA W.K.2, W.K.7, and W.K.” In this assessment, they plan and write a narrative poem with a beginning, middle, and end describing the sun and what the sun “sees.” This three-verse narrative poem, titled “What the Sun Sees,” is modeled closely after the structure of the text, "What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees." Students plan, draft, and independently write one verse per lesson across Lessons 8–10. Each verse focuses on a specific time of day, describing the sun and its position at that time of day, as well as the movements and actions of people and animals during that time of day.”
  • In Module 2, the Grade 1 Explore Lab Checklist for Explore Lab: I can create shadow pictures using my hands and other materials, assesses the following standards: SL.1.1a, c; SL.1.4; L.1.1b, c, d, f, i, j. In Module 3, Assessments and Performance Task, Unit 2 Assessment, Part I; Research Writing: How Birds’ Bodies Help Them Survive addresses the standards: W.1.2, W.1.7 and the Formative Assessment: Shades of Meaning with Verbs assesses L.1.5d.
  • In Module 4, Unit 1, Assessments and Performance Task, Unit 1 Assessment: Comparing and Contrasting Pierre the Penguin and Maggie the One-Eyed Peregrine Falcon addresses the standards RL.1.1, RL.1.3, RL.1.9.


Indicator 3L.ii
02/02
Assessments provide sufficient guidance to teachers for interpreting student performance and suggestions for follow-up.

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

Materials provide teachers with guidance for administering assessments, ways to scaffold assessments, areas of focus, connections to learning/building towards the assessment, and suggestions for lessons in the future. Each assessment is broken down into sections to help support teacher understanding. The first section is titled “Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards.” The EL curriculum refers to assessments as an additional lesson, so in this section it explains which standards the assessment aligns to, the purpose behind the assessment, and information about tracking progress. The second section is titled “How it builds on previous work.” This section explains how the unit and lessons have build upon each other in order to bring students to this place of learning. The third section is titled “Areas where students might need additional support.” This section anticipates barriers that students may face and offers suggestions to teachers on how to move students past the barriers. The fourth section is titled “Assessment guidance.” In this section, the assessment is broken down for teachers, typically by standard and explains how the assessment addresses each standard. There is also additional information regarding feedback for students. The last section is titled “Down the Road.” This section explains how the knowledge students have now will be used as they move forward in the curriculum.

In Your Curriculum Companion, pgs. 396-397, there are examples of student work and how they should be graded using the rubric found in the Teacher Guide. Further guidance is provided on the following:

  • Choosing evidence for analysis, pg. 401
  • Organizing the evidence, pg.403
  • Identifying the patterns and trends that can inform instruction, pg. 403
  • Creating an action plan based on the data (next steps), pg. 404


Indicator 3M
02/02
Materials should include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress.

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

Materials include routines and guidance that point out opportunities to monitor student progress. There are informal checklists to help collect evidence of progress as you observe students working. Progress monitoring formative assessments are integrated within every module by using mid and end unit assessments, performance tasks, ongoing assessment suggestions within each lesson, scaffolded instruction. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • In the Your Curriculum Companion, on pgs. 393-395, there is an overview of how the curriculum supports ongoing progress monitoring. For example, pg. 393 has a description of how each lesson within the module includes formative assessments that align with the learning targets.
  • In the Your Curriculum Companion on pg. 394, it describes the use of informal checklists. The informal checklist is a tool that provides teachers with a way to track student progress while making observations. In Grade 3, informal checklists include reading fluency, writing process, collaborative discussions, presentation of knowledge and ideas, and speaking and listening comprehension.
  • The curriculum uses text-dependent questions as an ongoing progress monitoring tool. This takes place by having students answer the questions independently while reading additional text.
  • Writing routines are built with ongoing formative assessments with exit tickets, note-catchers, and graphic organizers to assess student learning.
  • On pg. 394 in Your Curriculum Companion, it states that writing routines are repeated and appear frequently throughout the modules. Exit tickets, note-catchers, and graphic organizers are repeated multiple times in a unit.
  • In Your Curriculum Companion, p. 395, there is an explanation on Tracking Progress Forms. It states, "students review their assessments for evidence of mastery of standards and add sticky notes to their work to point to this evidence. After students track their progress, the teacher then reviews and adds to the form."


Indicator 3N
Read
Materials indicate how students are accountable for independent reading based on student choice and interest to build stamina, confidence, and motivation.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials indicate how students are accountable for independent reading based on student choice and interest to build stamina, confidence, and motivation.

Materials indicate how students are accountable for independent reading based on student choice and interest to build stamina, confidence, and motivation. Independent Reading is built into the K-2 Reading Foundation Skills Block. The Your Curriculum Companion, page 231, explains that each day students who are not working directly with the teacher will engage in purposeful independent rotations.

During the AIR station, students choose from a variety of texts based on interest and reading goals. During this time, a teacher can observe or confer with students on reading proficiency goals and to monitor fluency and comprehension. Response Sheets for Independent Reading can be found in the Independent and Small Group Work document.

Criterion 3.4: Differentiation

09/10
Materials provide teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of a range of learners so that they demonstrate independent ability with grade-level standards.

The materials meet the criteria that materials provide teachers with strategies for meeting the needs of range of learners so the content is accessible to all learners and supports them in meeting or exceeding the grade-level standards. The Teacher Guide for each module provides a section supporting English Language Learners that includes various scaffolds and levels of support recommendations, which often include allowing students to grapple with complex texts and tasks before providing necessary adjustments based on targeted observation. The materials partially meet the criteria that materials regularly include extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade level and meet the criteria that materials provide opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies.

Indicator 3O
02/02
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 the grade-level standards.

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

In the Module Blocks in each lesson, there is a section called Universal Design for Learning. It is divided into three different parts: Multiple Means of Representation (MMR), Multiple Means of Action and Expression (MMAE), and Multiple Means of Engagement (MME). The Teacher Guide for each module anticipates areas where students might need additional support and provides a section geared toward supporting English Language Learners that includes various scaffolds and levels of support recommendations. Each lesson includes a section on Universal Design for Learning, an educational framework based on research in the learning sciences that promotes the use of flexible learning environments in order to accommodate individual learning differences.

The Skills Block is a one hour block consisting of 15-20 minutes of whole group instruction and 40-45 minutes of differentiated small group instruction.This systematic instruction for all students followed by differentiated small group instruction, eliminates the need for additional interventions for struggling readers.The Skills Block is structured, so that students that are the furthest behind will meet with the teacher daily to receive additional explicit instruction. Guidance for more advanced students can be found in the Teacher’s Notes, Meeting Students’ Needs sections of the Skills Block.

Embedded within the lessons as teachers move from the Reconstruct to the Practice section of the lesson, teachers are given instruction on the type of support to provide. For example, in Module 1, Unit 3, Lesson 6, teachers are given instructions that before reading My Math Toolbox, teachers should activate background knowledge and provide the questions that will be asked, so that students have a purpose while listening.

Indicator 3P
04/04
Materials regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level, or in a language other than English, with extensive opportunities to work with grade level text and meet or exceed grade-level standards.

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

The Teacher Guide for each module provides a section supporting English Language Learners that includes various scaffolds and levels of support recommendations, which often include allowing students to grapple with complex texts and tasks before providing necessary adjustments based on targeted observation. There are Eight High-Leverage Approaches to Supporting English Language Learners in the Supporting English Language Learners section of Module. The Supporting English Language Learners section in the Unit Overview tells where support practices like Language Dives and Conversation Cues are placed in each unit. Protocols for Conversation Clues and Language Dives are scaffold for English Language Learners and students who may need additional support in that specific skill to meet or exceed the grade-level standard. In lessons, the Supporting English Language Learners sections are found at the start of the lesson and are embedded throughout in the Meeting Students’ Needs section of the daily lesson plan and provide differentiated levels of support for students with different levels of language proficiency needed for that day’s work.

The Meeting Students Needs section provides additional adaptations for students who may require extensions or support to reach the rigor of the grade level lessons. There are specific supports provided for ELL students.

The Supporting English Language Learners section can be found at the start of the lesson and includes differentiated levels of support for students with different levels of language proficiency needed for that day’s work.

Language Dives provide students with strategies to analyze, understand, and use the language. During a Language Dive, teachers and students slow down the reading of a text to deeply analyze the meaning, purpose, and structure of a specific part of the text. The Language Dive supports ELL students to acquire language and deconstruct complex text (Your Curriculum Companion pages. 99-100).

Conversation Cues engage ELL students and their peers in thoughtful and academically focused discussions based on questions asked by the teacher. The goal for ELL students during these conversations is to be understood, listen carefully and seek understanding, deepen their thinking, and think of ways to extend the conversation (Your Curriculum Companion pages 100-101).

Indicator 3Q
01/02
Materials regularly include extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade level.

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

Within the material itself, there are multiple modalities of learning addressed as well as multiple exposures to content. Teacher notes throughout the curriculum rarely offer extensions or opportunities for advanced learners. Each unit includes ways to extend the learning beyond the classroom linking home, community, and experts in their fields to share their experiences. However, there are no specific extensions or opportunities to compact the curriculum.

Grade 1, Module 2, extensions include:

  • Seek out and read others’ stories that were inspired by objects in the sky.
  • Listen to songs inspired by the sky and gather evidence for the guiding question in relation
    to musicians: Why do musicians write songs about the sun, moon, and stars?
  • Create a story map to track the major events from the beginning, middle, and end of each story read aloud.
  • Have students role-play or write their own narrative stories inspired by what they observe in the sky.
  • Create props and costumes to be used during the Role-Play protocol.
  • Take part in the storytelling of a text read in this unit and present it to other classes, friends,
    or families.
  • Track the sun’s movement by tracing shadows with chalk outside in the same location each day.

Grade 1, Module 4, extensions include:

  • Consider offering opportunities for the class to act on other ways to help birds mentioned in the text, A Place for Birds.
  • Invite students to write letters to Olivia Bouler, author of Olivia’s Birds: Saving the Gulf, to tell her how her work inspired them as bird advocates.


Indicator 3R
02/02
Materials provide opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies.

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

Materials provide collaborative structures that are used consistently throughout the module lessons. The curriculum also encourages educators to teach total participation techniques to increase student engagement and opportunities to respond during whole group discussions. Additionally the materials provide opportunities for teachers to use both homogeneous and heterogeneous grouping strategies. Students participate in partner and small group Think-Pair-Share, Whole Class Discussion, Small Group Discussion, Read Alouds, Shared Reading, Independent Reading, and Language Dives for both informational and literary texts. Teachers are encouraged to use information gained from the ongoing assessments in the lessons to help determine where students need additional supports or extensions during small groups. In the modules, a variety of grouping strategies are encouraged where students work in pairs or triads and are strategically paired in advance to create productive and supportive work time. In the Labs, student groupings are dependent on activities that are differentiated based on student need. Examples of groupings include, but are not limited to:

  • Think-Pair-Share: promotes productive and equitable conversations, giving all students the opportunity to share and consider the views of others.
  • Back-to-Back and Face-to-Face: designed to give students the opportunity to hear several different perspectives on a topic and/or to engage in critical thinking about a topic.
  • Pinky Partners: designed as a fun way for students to find a partner to engage in conversation. For example, in Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 3, after a whole group Close Read/Read Aloud lesson the teacher asks comprehension questions for discussion with the partner. The teacher asks, What does it look like to look closely at the illustrations? What does it look like to reread the text?”

An Approaches to Flexible Grouping in the K-5 Curriculum chart is included. This chart explains all the grouping strategies for each component of the curriculum. For the module lessons, teachers are given suggestions to group students based on similar needs. Ongoing assessments throughout the module lessons are used to make grouping decisions about who should be grouped together. In the ALL Block, students are grouped in either below grade level, on grade level, above grade level, or English Language Learner groups. These groups are formed for a two-week period using the data from the module lessons. Students then rotate through the activities and are provided the necessary scaffolds or enrichment depending on the group (Your Curriculum Companion page 113).

Criterion 3.5: Technology Use

Read
Materials support effective use of technology to enhance student learning. Digital materials are accessible and available in multiple platforms.

The instructional materials meet the criteria that digital materials are web-based, compatible with multiple internet browsers , “platform neutral”, follow universal programming style, and allow the use of tablets and mobile devices.The Teacher Guide for module lessons provides a Technology and Multimedia section that supports teachers in extending lessons into digital experiences to deeply engage students in their learning. Materials partially meet the criteria that digital materials include opportunities for teachers to personalize learning for all students, using adaptive or other technological innovations. Curriculum components contain student materials that can be downloaded in Microsoft Word and customized for individual learners or classroom use. The Teacher Guide for module lessons provide a Technology and Multimedia section that supports teachers in extending lessons into digital experiences to deeply engage students in their learning which include technology platforms that facilitate collaboration among students and teacher as well as students with each other.

Indicator 3S
Read
Digital materials (either included as supplementary to a textbook or as part of a digital curriculum) are web-based, compatible with multiple Internet browsers (e.g., Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, etc.), "platform neutral" (i.e., are compatible with multiple operating systems such as Windows and Apple and are not proprietary to any single platform), follow universal programming style, and allow the use of tablets and mobile devices.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that digital materials (either included as supplementary to a textbook or as part of a digital curriculum) are web-based, compatible with multiple internet browsers (eg. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, etc.), “platform neutral” (ie., Windows and Apple and are not proprietary to any single platform), follow universal programming style, and allow the use of tablets and mobile devices.

The instructional materials include suggestions to enhance lessons with the use of technology and multimedia. Located in each Module Overview, the Technology and Multimedia section gives general recommendations for how to utilize resources on the internet for classroom projects, such as the production of student work or to research a topic further. In a review of the suggested activities, it appears that different internet browsers and operating systems would not prove to be a challenge for accessibility. For example, in Module 1, Teacher Guide, Module Overview, the Technology and Multimedia section suggests using Google Drawings, Seesaw, and provides website recommendations to research the topic of “Tools and Work” in further detail.

The curriculum materials are available online. An educator may access and download teacher materials and student materials for each unit along with the assessments, protocols, and videos modeling the protocols.The optional Life Science module and components of this module are also available on the site and contain similar parts as the ELA module. These teacher and student materials include: the big ideas, the Four T’s, texts, assessments, performance task, materials, and Module-at-a-glance.

Accessibility was tested successfully on Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, Windows, Mac Air, iPhone, and iPad.

Indicator 3T
Read
Materials support effective use of technology to enhance student learning, drawing attention to evidence and texts as appropriate.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials support effective use of technology to enhance student learning, drawing attention to evidence and texts as appropriate.

The Teacher Guide for Module Lessons provides a Technology and Multimedia section that supports teachers in extending lessons into digital experiences to deeply engage students in their learning. Within this section, teachers are given suggestions on methods to incorporate technology, along with websites to utilize and an explanation of the manner in which technology can be used to scaffold instruction. For example, in Module 1, Teacher Guide, Module Overview, the Technology and Multimedia section suggests using Google Drawings and Seesaw. It provides website recommendations to research the topic of “Tools and Work” further and suggests using an interactive whiteboard or document camera to display lesson materials. The Teacher Guide also makes suggestions such as creating the word wall in an online format so that vocabulary words can be shared with families.

Indicator 3U
Read
Materials can be easily customized for individual learners.
Indicator 3U.i
Read
Digital materials include opportunities for teachers to personalize learning for all students, using adaptive or other technological innovations.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria that digital materials include opportunities for teachers to personalize learning for all students, using adaptive or other technological innovations.

Digital materials include a digital planning guide, step-by-step lesson plans and online materials with additional support for differentiated instruction. However, while digital materials include opportunities for teachers to personalize learning for students through the use of Microsoft Word, it is limited in accessibility to innovative technology. The Teacher Guide for module lessons provides a Technology and Multimedia section that supports teachers in extending lessons into digital experiences to engage students in their learning which include adaptive technology; however, opportunities for creativity and innovation with technology were not widely present. Many of the resources can only be viewed or printed and, therefore, do not allow for differentiation of content to meet the needs of learners. While in-class experiences are highly personalized as evidenced through the lab experiences, independent work, and opportunities to adjust curriculum based on assessment results, the digital resources do not aid in providing differentiated experiences to meet the needs of all students.

  • In Module 1, teachers are instructed to display a copy of the story using the document camera and read it aloud. The Teacher Guide states that without visual support, students may find the language in The Magic Bow to be challenging. So, teachers should display a picture of a bow and arrow before reading the story and model pretending to use a bow and arrow to shoot at things around the room.
  • The curriculum materials are available online. Teachers may download the materials in .pdf or .doc form. When using .doc form, teachers can edit, change, add to documents to customize the materials as needed for students. However, utilizing these customized materials in conjunction with additional technology is not included as part of this program.


Indicator 3U.ii
Read
Materials can be easily customized for local use.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials can be easily customized for local use.

The Module and Lab curriculum components contain student materials that can be downloaded in Microsoft Word and customized for individual learners or classroom use. In Your Curriculum Companion, Chapter 3, strategies are provided to customize the lessons for local use. For example, on page 127, under the Refining Lessons heading, teachers are informed that “you can spend time preparing the materials in such a way that your students, who have been struggling with transitions, will have them at their desks when they come in from recess.”When accessing resources on curriculum.eleducation.org, teachers can download the materials in .pdf or .doc form. When using the .doc form, teachers can edit, change, or add to documents to customize the materials as needed for students.

Indicator 3V
Read
Materials include or reference technology that provides opportunities for teachers and/or students to collaborate with each other (e.g. websites, discussion groups, webinars, etc.).

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that materials include or reference technology that provides opportunities for teachers and/or students to collaborate with each other (e.g. websites, discussion groups, webinars, etc.).

The Teacher Guide for module lessons provide a Technology and Multimedia section that supports teachers in extending lessons into digital experiences to deeply engage students in their learning which include technology platforms that facilitate collaboration among students and teacher as well as students with each other. Teachers are often prompted to use collaborative documents such as Google Docs to collaborate during class.

Professional development videos are available on curriculum.eleducation.org; however, the videos are not linked to the resources. Teachers need to search through video topics for specific videos.

On the EL Education website under Resources, teachers are provided with digital tools to connect with other educators via online Professional Development (PD Packs).