Kindergarten - Gateway 2

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten 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 that 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 “Toys and Play.” The Required Trade Books include the following titles: Llama Llama Time to Share by Anna Dewdney, Have Fun Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell, Toys Galore by Peter Stein, and Playing with Friends by Rebecca Rissman. In this Module, students build their literacy and citizenship skills as they engage in a study of toys and play. In Unit 1, Lesson 2, students listen to and read Llama Llama Time to Share and consider why one character, Llama Llama, shares a toy with another character, Nelly Gnu. Throughout the Module, students read texts that build their knowledge about toys and play, adding to a word wall that is referenced throughout the units. For example, the word “imagination” is added in Unit 3, Lesson 1.

In Module 2, students engage in a study on the topic of “Weather Wonders.” The Required Trade Books include the following titles: RI- Weather Words and What They Mean by Gail Gibbons, RI- Weather (National Geographic Readers Series) by Kristin Rattini, RI- On the Same Day in March by Marilyn Singer, RL- Come On, Rain! by Karen Hesse, RL- Umbrella by Taro Yashima, RL- One Hot Summer Day by Nina Crews, RL- Brave Irene by William Steig, and RL- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. In this module, students build their literacy and science knowledge as they engage in a study of the weather. In Unit 1, Lesson 3, students participate in a close read aloud of the text, Weather Words and What They Mean. The teacher informs students that now they are going to explore more closely one of the four components that make up weather. Then, the teacher reviews the definition of temperature with students. The teacher introduces the Weather Word Wall by saying, “Remember how we had a special place in the room to collect our toys and play words? We will have a special spot for our weather words, too. Let’s add our first important word: weather!”

In Unit 2, Lesson 6, students participate in a close read-aloud of the text, Come on, Rain!. The teacher directs students’ attention to the posted learning targets and read the first learning target aloud: “I can name the characters and setting in the text Come On, Rain!” Students review the definition of characters and setting. Then, the teacher shares that students will hear a story read aloud about a little girl, Tess, who is waiting for a rain shower to come in her city. The teacher reminds students that, in previous lessons, they have studied weather around the world and how people everywhere are affected by different kinds of weather. Today, students will begin learning about weather in one place and how it affects the people in that place. In Unit 3, Lesson 1, students listen to The Snowy Day, and the teacher reviews the definition of “meteorologist,” defines an “expert,” and shares that because students are becoming expert meteorologists now; they are ready to work together to create an expert meteorologist chart.

In Module 3, students engage in a study on the topic, “Trees Are Alive.” In this module, students explore the big ideas that all living things in the natural world have needs in order to survive and grow. In Unit 1, Lesson 3, students listen to a close read aloud of What’s Living and What’s Not and use the signal for food and water as they listen. Teachers fluently read each page and pause to define specific words in context. When reading page 20, the teacher shows students the Living Things Word Wall cards for “nutrients” and “sunlight.” Then, the teacher provides their definitions, claps out their syllables, uses them in a sentence, and places the Word Wall cards and pictures for them on the Living Things Word Wall.

In Module 4, students engage in a study on the topic of “Enjoying and Appreciating Trees.” In this module, students build on their scientific knowledge of trees from Module 3 through exploring the importance of trees to people and their communities. In Unit 1, Lesson 4, students continue the close read-aloud of A Tree for Emmy and use the information gathered about the characters, setting, and major events to compare and contrast the experiences of Emmy and her family. The task of comparing and contrasting is in preparation for the Unit 1 Assessment, during which students compare and contrast the experiences of characters in Oliver’s Tree. In Unit 1, Lesson 4, teachers ask students to look at the Word Wall card for “relax” and follow the protocol for adding it to the Trees Are Important Word Wall. Students are told that they may want to use this word as they write in their Enjoying Trees Journal, Part 1.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten 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 3, Lesson 6, while reading Have Fun Molly Lou Melon, the teacher places a finger by the following sentence from page 25: “On Friday, Gertie brought over a homemade doll with a frilly hollyhock skirt and violets for hair.” The teacher states, “There is a word in this sentence you might not know: hollyhock. Place your finger on hollyhock. A hollyhock is a kind of flower.” Then, the teacher states, “Next, we take the sentence apart, chunk by chunk. We figure out what each chunk means, and why it is important. Let’s talk about the first chunk of this sentence.”
• In Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 6, the teacher reads Come On, Rain! with minimal interruptions, stopping to provide word meanings as needed. The teacher reviews the main characters and setting in the story, helps students to make the connection that place in this text is local rather than global and shares that this text is set in a large city in America. Teachers are instructed to use Think-Pair-Share and have students discuss the following questions with an elbow partner: “Who are the main characters in this text? Where is the setting, or the place, that the story happens?”
• In Module 3, Unit 2, Lesson 3, the teacher completes a read aloud of pages 18-32 in Be a Friend to Trees with student assistance. The focus of this read aloud is to identify the main idea of the text. After reviewing the main idea, the teacher asks, “What information did we learn from this text when we read it in the previous lesson? So far, based on what we have read, what is this text mainly about?” Student answers vary based upon their chosen text example. During work time and prior to writing to respond, the teacher initiates a turn and talk experience, asking partners to discuss the following question: “How do living things depend on trees to meet their needs?”
• In Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 2, the teacher reads aloud the poem, “The Many Meanings of Words.” At the end, the teacher asks, “What type of text is this?” Students are expected to answer, “A poem.” The teacher then asks, “How do you know?” After looking back at the poem and explicitly teaching vocabulary, the teacher ends the session with asking, “What is this poem about?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten 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 throughout 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 creates 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 1, the Close Read/Read Aloud prompts teachers to introduce the text and say, “Today we are going to read a new book, and in it you are going to meet two animals. The two animals are the main characters in the book. Characters are the people in a book. Sometimes characters are humans, like us, and sometimes they are animals. In this book, the animals are characters.” Next the teacher shows a photo of a llama and a gnu and asks, “Does anybody have any experience with these animals? What do you call these animals in the languages you speak at home?” Then in the Unit 1 Assessment, after students have been presented with a variety of scenes from the text, Llama Llama Time to Share, students choose the illustrations that best answer the focus question, “What does Llama Llama learn about playing with others?” Then, using the pictures they chose, students engage in a conversation with a partner to explain their work. This assessment builds on experiences of reading, speaking, and listening from previous lessons.
• In Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 2, the Close Read/Read Aloud of Weather Words and What They Mean instructs teachers to read pages 2–5, first reading the text at the bottom of the page, then reading the text in the bubbles, and then reading the text included in the illustrations. Teachers then ask, “What are the four things the author says make up the weather?” The teacher explains that we can observe temperature, moisture, and wind in our own weather and the class will use this book to learn more about each of them over the next few days. Then in the Unit 2 Assessment, students listen to and answer questions about basic story elements in the text, One Hot Summer Day by Nina Crews. Students are expected to use words and pictures to demonstrate their understanding of character, setting, and major events using a storyboard graphic organizer.
• In Module 3, Unit 2, Lesson 4, teachers conduct a Close Read/Read Aloud of the text, “Who Depends on Trees?” After the text is read aloud, the teacher is prompted to reread each riddle and the students are asked to point out any adjectives they hear that describe the living things in the riddles. Then in the Unit 2 Assessment, students use their unit learning to write an informational booklet stating researched facts about different animals that get food from trees.
• In Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 4, Close Read/Read Aloud of the text, “A Tree for Emmy,” the teacher asks questions about the characters, setting, and major events in the text. Then in the Unit 1 Assessment, students listen to the read aloud of Oliver’s Tree and then discuss key details to compare and contrast Oliver to his friends Lulu and Charlie. In the first part of the assessment, students complete a note-catcher to gather key details from the text and compare and contrast the characters. In the second part of the assessment, students use their notes to engage in a small group, structured conversation to share ideas about how the characters in Oliver’s Tree are similar to and different from one another.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten 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 1, Unit 1, Lesson 1, The Magic Bow, teachers direct students’ attention to the posted learning targets and read the first one aloud, “I can participate in conversations with my classmates.” Teachers point out the word “participate” and explain that “to participate” means “to take part in a group activity; everyone takes a turn.” Teachers note the word “conversation” and explain that when you have a conversation, you talk to others. Teachers explain that “participating in a conversation” means that everyone gets a turn to talk and listens to others when they talk.
• Interactive Word Walls: In Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 5, teachers read pages 1–4 of Toys Galore. Then, teachers say, “I notice that the author doesn’t really use that many color words or shapes to describe these toys. He uses words that describe how the toys are played with. For example, here it says ‘bouncing-ball toy.’ The phrase he uses to describe the ball is ‘bouncing-ball’ because a ball bounces. Bounce means to go up and down, like a ball after it hits the ground.” The teacher places the word card and picture for “bounce” on the Toys and Play Word Wall.
• Collaborative Conversations: In Module 3, Unit 2, Lesson 4, the teacher rereads page 13 in the text, Be A Friend to Trees. Students are shown the Living Things Word Wall cards for the following words: fruit, nut, and seeds. Students are provided definitions, clap out their syllables, use them in a sentence, and the word cards and pictures are placed on the Word Wall. Then, using a total participation technique, teachers invite responses from the group to answer, “How do the labels help us understand the pictures?”
• Language Dives: In Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 2, students learn about words with multiple meanings using the poem, “The Many Meanings of Words.” The teacher tells students that the poem teaches us that some words have more than one meaning. For example, bark covers a tree, but it is also the sound a dog makes.
• Writing: In Module 1, Unit 3, Lesson 9, students begin their final writing performance task. In this task, students take what they have learned about various toys, including vocabulary words from the unit, and interview a classmate about their favorite toy. Vocabulary words taught in the module such as ”imagined,” “preference,” and “create” are expected to be used in the final writing project about their classmate’s favorite toy.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten 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 draw a picture that presents their idea for how to make playing together fun using the Making Playing Together Fun Response Sheet. In Unit 3, Lesson 5, students use pictures and words to draw an imagined toy on paper.
• The Module 1 Performance Task requires students to incorporate their Module learning about toys to write an informational piece about a classmate’s preferred toy. Students use information from collaborative conversations, anchor charts, and information they obtained from interviewing their classmate. Students draw and label their classmate’s preferred toy and write an accompanying sentence. Then, they create a drawing and write a sentence about how their classmate plays with their preferred toy.
• In Module 2, Unit 2, Lesson 3, the teacher engages the students in a collaborative conversation about the text, New York City and China, to create an anchor chart. While the teacher records, students discuss the following questions: “What is the weather like in this place? What do the people wear and do because of the weather?”
• The Module 2 Performance Task requires students to incorporate their Module learning about weather to write an imaginary narrative about a character’s experience with the weather, using The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats as a mentor text. Students’ narratives reflect how the weather affects the choices that the character makes about what to wear and what to do. Students use group notes, puppets, and oral planning as scaffolding to illustrate their stories. They revise, edit, and practice reading their original narratives in preparation for sharing them.
• In Module 3, Unit 2, Lesson 6, the teacher engages students in a read aloud of a portion of Be a Friend to Trees. The teacher encourages students to use the predetermined signal for food and water as the teacher reads. After reading, the teacher engages students in the turn and talk protocol by asking, “How do animals depend on trees for food?” As students discuss the question with their partner, the teacher encourages them to take notes.
• The Module 3 Performance Task requires students to incorporate their Module learning about trees to create an informational collage to demonstrate their expertise about a tree, its needs, and the animals for which it provides food. The students create a collage, containing an informational writing piece that describes the tree and its needs while sharing information about one animal that depends on the tree for food, and an accurately colored animal puppet that represents the animal from students’ writing.
• In Module 4, Unit 2, Lesson 3, the teacher and students work to identify and discuss the reason that the author gives to support points in pages 7-14 of the text, A Tree is Nice. As the teacher completes a focused read aloud, the teacher stops to engage students through the turn and talk protocol: “Using the illustrations and text, what is one reason that trees are nice and that people should plant trees that the author gives on this page?” Students can refer back to any of the pages discussed during the focused read aloud.
• The Module 4 Performance Task requires students to incorporate their Module learning about enjoying and appreciating trees to create a piece of artwork and write an opinion piece. Student opinion writing begins with the sentence frame “Trees are nice because...” Students create a piece of artwork to showcase a specific part of a tree to match their writing. These two parts (opinion writing and high-quality artwork) come together to create a Tree Appreciation card.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten 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 Kindergarten 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 Kindergarten 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 “What kind of weather is the most powerful? How can I use photographs to research extreme weather events?” In the Research Lab, students learn about extreme weather by studying photographs and asking and answering questions about the extreme weather events. Students further their understanding of the science of weather and how weather affects people as they learn in the module lessons about extreme weather events and the impact these events can have. Students should connect their learning about extreme weather to the Module 2 performance task when they write a narrative about a character’s experience with weather.
• In Module 4, K-2 Labs, the guiding question is “How can I discover more about the trees near me?” In the Research Lab, students apply their research skills and use a variety of resources (realia, images, texts, and technology) to learn more about local trees. After researching the trees, students create surveys to learn more about how the people in their school community interact with those trees. Students then analyze the data from their surveys. During the module lessons, students study how and why trees are important to communities in a broad way. Students extend their learning about how and why trees are important to communities and apply it by studying trees specific to their local context. Students should connect their learning about trees to the Module 4 performance task requires them to incorporate all their module learning about enjoying and appreciating trees to create a piece of artwork and write an opinion piece.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten 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. The curriculum provides 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 on page 7, Grades K-2: Reading Foundations Skills Block Resource Manual. Teachers are encouraged to observe and confer with students around their reading goals. Accountable Independent Reading 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 on page 8, Grades K-2: Reading Foundations Skills Block Resource Manual. The Kindergarten decodable 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: Teachers observe students reading and/or go over reading response sheets with the student. Teachers provide 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.