The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for anchor texts being of publishable quality and worthy of especially careful reading and consider a range of student interests.

The read-aloud modeled reading texts are of publishable quality and worthy of careful reading; however, other texts, including those found in shared reading and interactive reading are not high quality. The students spend the majority of the time in the program with interactive readers and these are the texts that the students do the most independent reading with, though the majority of these texts are not high quality. Examples of high quality texts include:

• Theme 1: Learning is Fun with Mrs. Perez by Alice K Flanagan. The content is clear and the photographs illustrate a day in the life of a Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Perez.
• Theme 2: When Kangaroo Goes to School by Sonia Levitin. The content is engaging to students as it describes the first day of school.
• Theme 5: The Way I Feel by Janan Cain. This texts contains a series of rhymes that are matched with illustrations featuring children which would be highly engaging for Kindergarten students. .
• Theme 10: My Little Brother by David McPhail. This engaging story portrays the relationship between an older brother and a little brother.

Many of the well-known anchor texts are only included as modeled reading in the teacher's edition. These are strictly read-alouds, where the students do not see the text or the illustrations. Many of the texts were written or rewritten for this curriculum series.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade partially meet the expectations for materials reflecting the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards.

Each theme contains both informational and literary texts. Most small group readers also contain both types of texts for each level. Many texts are included, resulting in a wide distribution of genres and text types as required by the standards that include historical fiction, poetry, fairy tales, nonfiction, biographies, data, journal articles, fables, tall tales, dictionaries, encyclopedias, diaries, guides, science fiction, social studies, memoirs, plays, and mysteries. However, the majority of texts are written in a narrative text structure. Students have few opportunities to read texts written in an informational text structure.

The following are examples of literature found within the instructional materials:

• Theme 1: Learning is Fun with Mrs. Perez by Alice K. Flanagan
• Theme 2: When Kangaroo Goes to School by Sonia Levitin
• Theme 3: Three Bags Full by Ragnhild Scamell
• Theme 7: Lazy, Lonely Roley by Jeanne Willis
• Theme 9: Be Polite and Kind by Cheri J. Meiner
• Theme 11: Circle of Season by Gerda Muller
• Theme 15: The Underground Dance by Tony Mitton

The following are examples of informational text found within the instructional materials:

• Theme 3: Eating Well by Melanie Mitchell
• Theme 4: A Picture Dictionary of Mammals by Rebecca Matil
• Theme 6: Families One and All by Marilee Robin Burton
• Theme 10: Helping Hands by Eric Christopher Mayer
• Theme 13: I am America by Charles R. Smith Jr.
• Theme 16: Amazing Animals by David Drew

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria that 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 Kindergarten are above the complexity levels of what most students can read independently. Examples of text that are at appropriate level of complexity according to quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and a relationship to their associated student task include:

• Theme 1: Learning Is Fun with Mrs. Perez by Alice K. Flanagan (490L)
• Theme 4: Three Bags Full by Ragnihild Scamell (AD 550L)
• Theme 6: Apple Pie Fourth of July by Janet Long (730L)
• Theme 8: Sink or Float by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (430L)
• Theme 11: The Four Boxes by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (490L)
• Theme 15: Just the Right Size by Brenda Parles (400L)

There are additional texts that also present ideas, vocabulary, and themes; however the tasks associated with these texts do not always allow the texts to align to the appropriate level of complexity. A teacher would need to adjust the associated task to meet grade level complexity expectations.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the expectations for materials to 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 curriculum focuses on skills for reading such as main idea, details, and sequencing. The skills are the main focus of the lessons with the text used as a reference for the skills. The text is not used as a focus for comprehension and does not support students' literacy skills over the course of the school year, nor does the application of the strategies increase in sophistication throughout the year. Tools and graphic organizers are provided for the skills the reading and writing materials include; however these skills are taught as isolated areas so that students may understand the skills rather than how the skills can help them unlock the complexity of the text. The text does not appear to become more complex over the course of the school year. Leveled readers are available at a variety of levels from AA to N within the Small Group Reading Workshop. Students can read at their level, which is assessed and monitored by the teacher during Reading Workshop. As students increase their reading skills, the teacher may move them up or down levels as needed. “In Kindergarten, children are introduced to key comprehension strategies and encouraged to explore and discuss these concepts” (T19, Comprehensive Teacher’s Guide Program Overview). As the year progresses, however, questions and tasks do not build literacy skills and student independence. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Theme 1, students are introduced to making connections. Students make connections about people they see every day in their class. They Turn and Talk during listening to the text and discuss activities that the teacher from the text, Mrs. Perez, does in her class that they also do in their class. Throughout the week, students discuss making connections. An activity associated with this comprehension strategy uses a comprehension organizer of making connections with a Whole Class Chart. During the writing, students are working on learning about the writing process, however, they do not use the text, Learning with Mrs. Perez by by Alice K. Flanagan to show their understanding of the text.
• In Theme 3, students are introduced to inferring, another comprehension strategy. Students connect to prior knowledge about eating well in the read aloud, Eating Well by Melanie Mitchell. The teacher models the reading and students are charged with turning and talking to their partners to discuss one healthy food they know about. Throughout the week, students discuss making connections. An activity associated with this comprehension strategy uses a graphic organizer to synthesize with a Whole Class Chart. During the writing, students are working on the writing stories. They do not use the text, “Eating Well” in their writing. They are introduced to a story organizer to remind students that a story has characters, and a beginning, middle and end.
• In Theme 7, students are introduced to synthesizing as a comprehension strategy. Students connect to prior knowledge about the animals in the pictures of the text, Fast, Faster, Fastest by Michael Dahl. Students turn and talk during listening to the text and discuss why they think the author talked about the cheetah after the pronghorn. After the teacher models synthesizing by announcing they “noticed each new animal I learn about moves faster than the one before.” Throughout the week students discuss making connections. An activity associated with this comprehension strategy uses a comprehension organizer of synthesizing with a Whole Class Chart. During the writing, students are working on the writing trait of voice. They do not use the text in their writing.
• In Theme 15, students are introduced to synthesizing and sequencing for the comprehension strategies. Students connect to prior knowledge about how they are different now versus when they were a baby with the text, I’m Growing! by Aliki. They turn and talk during listening to the text and discuss some of the things that happen as a person gets older. After the teacher models synthesizing by telling the students they “understand the author is talking about how your body changes as you get bigger….it makes sense to tell about these events in the order that they happened.” Throughout the week students discuss making connections. An activity associated with this comprehension strategy uses a comprehension organizer of synthesizing with a Whole Class Chart. During the writing, students are working on the writing presentations. They do not use the text, I’m Growing!, to show their understanding of the text. The synthesis activity and chart remain static throughout the year in terms of scaffolding and instruction.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the expectations that anchor texts (including read-aloud texts in K-2) and the series of texts connected to them are accompanied by a text complexity analysis.

The publisher does not provide a rationale for the placement of the texts in Kindergarten. There is no text complexity analysis provided. Quantitative and qualitative measures are not included, nor discussed in the instructional materials. The only rationale given is that the texts are chosen for the social studies and science content. The Program Overview states, “Whole class materials for Learning by Design feature fiction and nonfiction selections linked to science and social studies themes based on national standards for each grade level. The focus of instruction is on listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the context of content area themes.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten meet the expectations that support materials for the core texts provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to achieve grade level reading proficiency.

Students engage in a range of text types and disciplines, as well as a volume of reading. Students interact with texts during teacher read-alouds, shared readings, and interactive readings. Leveled readers and decodable readers are also provided for small groups, at their reading level. Additional texts across a range of levels are provided in the Book Nook during Reading Workshop. Connect to Literature Books are also listed in the theme. For example, in Theme 3, Good Foods to Eat:

• Teacher Read Aloud: Eating Well by Melanie Mitchell
• Shared Reading: The Monster Pet by Jan Pienkowski
• Reading Workshop: Book Nook: We Like Fruit by Olga Ulloa, Barnyard Baseball by Michael Smith, A Smiling Salad by Michael Smith
• Decodable Books: “Tom and Me”, “Cal and Cam”
• Leveled Readers: “I See Dad” by Lisa Trumbauer, “What Do I See?” by Lisa Trumbauer, “What Is Wet?” by David Bauer; “Stop!” by Ellen Catala, “Look at This!” by Lisa Trumbauer, “Casey’s Lamb” by Dr. J. Helen Perkins, “Animals Go Home” by Patricia Brennan
• Connect to Literature: “Sweet Tooth” by Margie Palatini, “Little Pea” by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, “The Seven Silly Eaters” by Mary Ann Hoberman

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not 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).

Questions throughout the curriculum are largely personal connection questions related to themes and events in the texts. During the modeled reading portion of each text, there are some focus questions that rely on the text for students to answer orally. There are also comprehension questions after reading the text. In addition, comprehension questions are listed inside of the small group reading guides. Many of the questions prompt the students to compare a personal experience with something that happened in the text and are labeled in the Teacher’s Guide as Make Connections. The materials reviewed contain multiple questions and tasks that do not directly require students to ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. Though each text has comprehension questions listed, most of them are text-to-world questions and ask students to rely on their senses to create answers.

Some questions are related directly to the text and others can be answered without exposure to the text. There are only a limited amount of text-based questions throughout the themes that require students to return to the text. Overall, the majority of questions, tasks, and assignments are not text-based. Examples of questions, tasks, and assignments include, but are not limited to:

• In Theme 1, Lesson 1, Under Precise Listening page 10, students are asked, “Listen to find out what Mrs. Perez teaches the children in her class. What are some of the things she teaches?” Under Precise Listening, page 11, students are instructed to “Turn and talk, and tell your partner if you think Mrs. Perez likes being a teacher. Why do you think so?”
• In Theme 3, Lesson 1, students are asked to connect with prior knowledge with questions such as, “What kinds of food are good for you? What is your favorite healthy food?.” Students then answer one question that is somewhat connected to the text with, “What does the author say about food that you already knew? What is one thing you learned about food?”
• In Theme 6, Lesson 6, under Think and Respond: Turn and Talk, “What rhyming words are your favorite? Why?" These questions are not text-dependent. Under Think and Respond: Critical Thinking, “What actions from the poem were your favorites? What body parts do you need to do each of the actions?" These questions are not text-dependent.
• In Theme 9, Lesson 1, under Modeled Reading: Listening Comprehension, Turn and Talk, “What words or phrases could you picture in your mind? What in your own life did the words or phrases make you think about?”
• In Themes 13, in Lesson 1, in the text, “I am America” by Charles R. Smith, Jr., the only question asked is “Listen for words that make you feel happy as they are reading. Which words do you notice?” These questions are somewhat text dependent, however, students are not being asked to draw knowledge from the texts
• In Theme 15, Lesson 2, under the Strategic Listening-Focus Question students are told to, “Listen for how the boy changes as he grows. What was he like as a baby? What is he like as a child?”
• In Theme 8, Lesson 6, after rereading the song “Over the River”, students are asked how the people in the song traveled to Grandfather’s house and what weather they faced on their trip. Students were asked to “create a list of ways they would get to a grandfather’s home in modern times, such as airplane, car, bus, train, or boat.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the expectation for the inclusion of 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 questions are primarily literal, recall in nature and are rarely sequenced into further, high-quality questions. The protocol is similar in each theme; students read the text, talk about it, complete a graphic organizer, learn an organizational pattern or form for writing, but lack opportunities to build to a culminating task. The instructional materials include a majority of turn and talk discussions about making a connection to the text but do not build towards a culminating task.

There are no culminating activities at the end of each theme. Most questions are discussion based, rarely requiring students to write or work independently. There are some Enrichment Activities in the margin of the Comprehensive Teacher Guide that asks the students to do independent writing, and present their ideas and findings to the class. There is no teacher guidance for these activities. There are no culminating tasks or activities that provide a synthesis of texts, information, or skills taught throughout a theme, and no rubric is included for standard alignment or mastery. Culminating tasks do not relate to coherent sequences of text-based questions. A generic rubric for writing is provided in the Appendix, however, there is no reference to it in the curriculum for teachers to know to reference it. There is a separate assessment book, but these are a mix of multiple choice questions and extended response questions. These are not consistently text-based questions.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not 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.

The Think Aloud! teacher modeling occurs in the first lesson of every theme. It includes modeling with specific listening skills such as active or precise listening. Then, students are asked to think about the focus questions prior to reading. Students answer the focus questions during turn and talk, with a partner after reading the text. Focus questions do not provide any indication of what answer the teacher should expect or guide the teacher to model the answer for the students.

There are no protocols for evidence-based discussions. There is some modeling of speaking with correct syntax and academic vocabulary, but this is not consistent throughout materials. Throughout the curriculum, students have opportunities for turn and talks. However, these discussions are often not evidence-based. Students are asked to make connections they had while reading with a partner and/or to reflect on their application of the comprehension strategy. There is no evidence of the teacher modeling discussions or protocols. There is an explanation of the turn and talk model in the Comprehensive Teacher’s Guide Professional Handbook section (pg. T63), but there is no protocol or modeling of the structure for the students. The teacher is often instructed to say “Discuss with a partner...” but how to do this is not evident in the curriculum. There are not opportunities embedded in the curriculum for the teacher to model the use of academic vocabulary and syntax that are connected to a text.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not 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 limited opportunities for students to practice their speaking and listening skills throughout the curriculum. Students are asked to share their thoughts about vocabulary words, parts of the text, personal text connections, and a few times, specific details from the text. In Lessons 1 and 2 of each theme, there is a modeled reading lesson that focuses on a listening skill. The five listening skills are discriminative listening, precise listening, strategic listening, critical listening, and appreciative listening. The teacher reads the text aloud and stops throughout to ask questions about the text which are usually about connections, vocabulary words, and the reading strategy of the day. In addition, questions are asked before the text is read to build background knowledge and again after the text is read. During the last lesson of each week, students participate in an interactive reading where they answer questions with a partner. For example:

• In Theme 3, students discuss the photos on Whole Class Charts by asking questions such as “Name one thing you see in all of the pictures. Where are people buying and eating food in each picture? How can you tell?” Students pass a potato while sitting in a circle and say a word that is related to food or eating before passing the potato on to the next child.
• In Theme 5, Lesson 1, using the story, The Way I Feel written and illustrated by Janan Cain, students are asked to use their precise listening skills to discuss things that they notice. Directions state that when students are reading or listening to someone read aloud, they are to listen carefully for details such as when and why. The turn and talk opportunity has the partners to tell another detail that was heard that tells when and why something happened, but the activity lacks facilitation, monitoring, and instructional supports for teachers.
• In Theme 7, Lesson 1, Build Reading Skills, students have the opportunity to discuss photos on the whole class chart by answering questions the teacher asks such as, “When do you move fast? When do you move slowly?”. These types of questions are used to introduce the theme to students and requires them to use their background knowledge to connect with text. Speaking opportunities are evident throughout this series.
• In Theme 8, Lesson 1, Modeled Reading While reading the story, Sink or Swim with students, teachers are ask “What do the characters do in the story that makes you laugh?” and “Tell your partner which character you think is the funniest in the story so far.” Question types do not encourage evidence based discussions.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria for materials including a mix of on-demand and process writing and short, focused projects. Materials include process writing that covers a year’s worth of instruction, but lack on-demand writing pieces. Opportunities for students to revise and edit are provided. Materials do not include digital resources.

A writing resource guide is provided and regular writing experiences are present throughout the year. The writing resource guide includes writing organizers and writing craft lessons. The writing organizers are used during explicit writing instruction to model the prewriting process and provide exposure to all of the writing tools. Before students use the writing organizers, they participate in the shared writing process with teachers using writing charts. There is no evidence of on-demand writing opportunities. Examples of process writings include:

• Theme 1:
  • In Lessons 1 and 2, “Tell children that writing a story doesn't happen all at once. Good writers use the writing process to help them draw and write about their ideas. While kindergarten children are not likely to use all steps in the writing process, the purpose of this lesson is to expose them to the idea that there is a writing process.”
  • In Lesson 3, Under Build Writing Skills, pg 17, “Remind children that the Big Book is a realistic story. Review what happens in the beginning, middle, and end as you page through Is This My Classroom? Explain to children that the story seems real, but that the characters and events are made-up.”
  • In Lesson 4, Under Build Writing Skills, p. 19, “Tell children that stories have a beginning, middle, and end, as well as a character or characters.
  • In Lesson 5, under Build Writing Skills, Review Writing Chart 2, students are instructed to “Display your shared writing from the previous day and review the notes with children. Explain that you will write a collaborative story together based on yesterday's graphic organizer. On chart paper, write the title, Sam Makes a New Friend. With the students, discuss the pictures and notes you wrote to get ready for writing. Display the graphic organizer and model using the prewriting ideas to write a draft. Say, " remember that stories have a beginning, middle, and an end. I'll start at the beginning. One day, Sam was drawing a picture. He wanted a friend to draw with him. Ask the class to help you write the middle and end, using the prewriting notes. Construct well-formed sentences in a logical sequence as you continue to write on chart paper. Read the draft aloud with children. Tell them that you will be able to return to the story to make changes later.”
  • In Lesson 6, the teacher reviews the steps of the writing process using writing chart 1. “Explain that when you revise, you can add words, take words out, or change parts of your writing. Apply the writing process. Subsequent lessons continue the writing process.

• Theme 5:
  • In Lesson 1 students work on the writing process while teaching students to write an introduction.
  • In Lesson 2, students apply the skill when writing a draft.
  • In Lesson 3, under Build Writing Skills, sequencing is discussed using a Big Book.
  • In Lesson 5, writing chart 14 is reviewed and the teacher and students write a collaborative sequence piece together based on the graphic organizer from the previous lesson. The class helps the teacher writes the rest of the sequence piece. Their ideas are turned into well-formed sentences as the teacher continues to write on chart paper. Then the children read the finish sequence piece aloud, making revisions for words to add and parts that don't seem to fit. Subsequent lessons continue with steps of the writing process.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade K do not meet the opportunities for students to address different genres/modes of writing that reflect the distribution by the standards.

Materials provide multiple opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply different genres/modes/types of writing, but they do not reflect the distribution required by the standards. In addition, materials provide opportunities for students/teachers to monitor progress in writing skills for a whole year’s use. Although students are given the opportunity to build their writing skills through writing forms each week, practicing different modes of writing is not evident. Each theme focuses on one genre or organizational structure. For example:

• Theme 1: Story
• Theme 2: Trait: Introduction
• Theme 3: Story, Trait: Ideas
• Theme 4: Prewriting
• Theme 5: Drafting
• Theme 6: Report, Trait: Organization
• Theme 7: Trait: Voice, Organization: Problem and Solution
• Theme 8: Report, Trait: Revising
• Theme 9: Story, Editing
• Theme 10: Trait: Word Choice, Organization: Main Idea and Details
• Theme 11: Story, Trait: Sentence Fluency
• Theme 12: Publishing
• Theme 13: Prewriting
• Theme 14: Report, Trait: Conventions
• Theme 15: Letter, Trait: Presentation
• Theme 16: Editing

Students are required to write daily, however, opinion writing is not included in the studied texts. Three opinion writing lessons are included in the Essential Resources booklet.

• In Themes 6, 8, and 14, students complete a shared writing to complete a report about a topic from the writing chart provided by the teacher.
• In Themes 2, 4, and 5, students are required to participate in shared or interactive writing where they are to complete a graphic organizer to write in sequential order using transitional words such as first, next, then and last.
• Students do not write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten do not meet the criteria for materials including frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information appropriate for the grade level.

There are limited opportunities for evidence-based writing. There are a few writing prompts that require students to pull evidence from texts. Explicit instruction in not provided. Students are not taught how to support answers with evidence from the text. Writing tasks can often be answered without analysis of the text because the focus is more on the traits of writing versus understanding the topic or text. Many of the evidence-based questions are used as discussions, not when writing. For example, in Theme 1, Week 1, students learn about the writing process. The teacher uses a classroom book that is nonspecific to describe how the author used the steps of the writing process to write the book. For independent writing, children draw an idea that they would like to write about. The Theme Topic Prompt for Week 1 is about school helpers or places in a school. The story for the week is, "Faces and Places at School", but the writing task does not require students to produce evidence for their writing or support recall of information. In Lesson 4, the story, Is This My Classroom?, is used to discuss elements of beginning, middle, and endings in a story as well as characters. Then, students use shared writing to think of a story to go along with the pictures on Writing Chart 2, page 19. However, no recall of information, opinions or evidence-based writing is included. In Theme 5, Week 1, students learn about drafting for the writing process. The teacher uses the text, The Way I Feel, as a reference to describe how the author probably wrote a different text than what was published. For independent writing, students work on drafting with their Theme Topic Prompts, however, the writing task does not require students to use evidence from the text. In Lesson 4, the story, "Building Buddy", is used to discuss events in a story. Then, students use shared writing to think of a story to go along with the pictures on Writing Chart 14, page 151.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially 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.

Kindergarten materials address all of the language standards. The majority of the grammar and conventions standards are taught in a separate resource called, Writing Resource Guide. Convention standards are taught primarily out of context. Additionally, students do not learn the correct terminology for parts of speech. For example, for nouns students learn naming words: “A naming word names a person, a place, or a thing” (Writing Resource Guide, p. 3). The outline of grammar and convention lessons are not increasingly sophisticated in context. The teacher teaches the grammar and conventions lessons week to week using the same strategies. While the focus of the lesson changes, how the lesson is taught is a similar format with a similar expectation.

Materials include instruction of grammar and conventions standards for the grade level.

Students have frequent opportunities to print upper and lowercase letters. Examples include:

• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 2, students draw pictures of animals and then spells the word that describes the animal. Students write sentences about things they like using the sentence stem, “I like." Students then share which words they wrote with a partner.
• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 1, students learn Word Concept: Letters Make Words. Students learn to distinguish individual letters and that letters come together to make words. Students write the letters in their name. In Review Word Concept, students write the word bat on an index card. Students only write their name and bat.
• Throughout Themes 1-16, students learn each letter and practice writing each letter (uppercase and lowercase). For example, in Theme 11, Week 1, Lesson 3, students practice writing uppercase I. In Lesson 4, students practice writing lowercase i.

Students have opportunities to use frequently occurring nouns and verbs. Examples include:

• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 2, students learn naming words for animals. The teacher shows pictures of animals and writes the name under the picture. Students make the sounds each animal makes. The teacher defines a naming word as a person, place, or thing. Students draw a picture of an animal and label the picture with the correct animal naming word.
• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 4, students learn: “Action words can tell that someone or somethings acts, talks, or moves.” Students act out words when the teacher says specific action words such as jump and clap. Students draw a picture of themselves doing one of the following action words: read, jump, run.
• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 8, students review sentences that use nouns, verbs, and adjectives. The teacher reads a story and when students hear a naming word, they touch their finger to their nose.

Students have opportunities to form regular plural nouns orally by adding /s/ or /es/. For example:

• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 4, the teacher points to nouns found around the classroom. Students raise their hands when they hear /s/ or /es/ or words. The teacher then tells how plural nouns are formed. Students work with a partner to point to a noun in the classroom and name the plural noun.

Students have opportunities to understand and use question words about texts when the teacher asks specific questions referring back to the text. For example:

• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 14, Sentence Types: Asking Sentences, students learn that asking sentences begin with question words: what, who, where, when, why, or how. The teacher writes the following question and answer pair on chart paper: “What color do you like best? I like red best.” A volunteer tells which sentence is an asking sentence and which is a telling sentence. Students draw a picture about something they wonder about, and students share their asking sentence with a partner.

Students have opportunities to use frequently occurring prepositions. For example:

• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 16, students learn about prepositions: in, on, by, for, under. The teacher uses a shoebox and a stuffed animal to illustrate the preposition words and write the preposition words on a chart. Students choose a preposition from the teacher made chart to draw and illustrate.

Students have opportunities to produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities. For example:

• In Theme 11, Week 1, Lesson 2, the teacher models drafting simple sentences for a Response to Literature. Students offer suggestions for additional sentences as the teacher scribes.
• In Theme 11, Week 1, Lesson 4, students view pictures and are asked to think of a story to go with the pictures. “With a shared writing technique, scribe their ideas on the chart.”

Students have opportunities to capitalize the first word in a sentence. Examples include:

• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 1, students learn to capitalize the pronoun I.
• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 9, students learn to capitalize the first word in a sentence. The students help identify capital letters in “We read.” The teacher explains: “The first word in a sentence always begins with a capital letter.” Students practice writing capital A on a sheet of paper.
• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 12, students are given an opportunity to work with sentences and learn about starting sentences with a capital letter.
• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 14, students write sentences that begin with a capital letter. The teacher gives students sentences and verbally reminds them that the sentences begin with a capital letter.

Students have opportunities to recognize and name punctuation. Over the course of the year, thirty-two lessons provide opportunities for students to recognize and name punctuation. However, none of these lessons include the recognizing and naming of the exclamation point. Examples include:

• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 9, students learn to put periods at the end of a sentence. The teacher uses a red marker to circle the period at the end of the following sentences: Dogs run. Cats nap. Birds fly. The teacher explains: “All sentences end with an ending mark. Many sentences use a period as the ending mark.” Students draw an animal picture, and volunteers help complete the sentence: I drew a ___. The teacher writes the sentences on chart paper and has volunteers use a red marker to circle the periods.
• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 12, students practice writing sentences with a period.
• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 14, students write sentences and learn about ending punctuation, question mark.

Students have opportunities to write letter(s) for most consonant and short-vowel sounds. Examples include:

• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 2, students name and write the word of animals, including pig, dog, and cat.
• In Theme 13, Week 1, Lesson 5, students listen to words read aloud and then write the words based on the phonemes they hear. Students hear the following words and attempt to write the words on their own: fun, gum, but, win, wig, wilt.

Students have opportunities to spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of letter-sound relationships. For example:

• In the Writing Resource Guide, Theme 4, Review Naming Words, students draw a picture of a naming word. Students are to label the picture. The directions to the teacher are: “Help children label their pictures with appropriate naming words. Provide assistance where needed.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Literacy by Design Kindergarten partially meet the criteria that 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.

Each daily lesson and small-group lesson includes phonemic awareness and phonics tasks included as part of the daily routine. Daily lessons include oral language activities; however, not all standards were addressed over the course of the school year. Opportunities are missed for students to learn about long vowels sounds and to distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ. Phoneme substitution and addition is addressed in a limited capacity at the end of the school year in Themes 14 and 16.

Students have opportunities to learn and understand phonemes (e.g., produce rhyming words, segment syllables, blend onsets and rimes, pronounce vowels in CVC words, and substitute sounds to make new words). Examples include:

• In Theme 1, Week 2, Lesson 7, students count the number of syllables in Sam. The teacher claps the number of syllables as the students repeat the word. Then the students count the number of syllables in silly. Students compare the number of syllables.
• In Theme 2, Week 1, Lesson 1, students do word rhyming. The teacher introduces rhyming words to students, “Say fun and run and have children repeat the words. Explain that fun and run are rhyming words because they have the same ending sounds. Say the following word pairs and have children clap if the words rhyme: Sam/am, fine/dine, hat/fin, fuss/us.”
• In Theme 3, Week 2, Lesson 8, during a writing lesson, the teacher reviews segmenting words into sounds. “Remind children to use what they know about letters and sounds as they write. Review segmenting a word into sounds (/c/-/a/-/t/) and write the letters (cat). Together decode and read aloud.”
• In Theme 4, Week 2, Lesson 6, students listen for the beginning sound of words. The teacher models pet. “Pet begins with /p/. Say it with me: /p/. What sound does pet begin with? (/p/) Repeat with pig, pat, pan.”
• In Theme 6, Week 2, Lesson 6, the teacher reviews counting syllables with students. “Tell children that a syllable is a word part. Explain that you will say words and clap the word parts. Say glitter and clap your hands two times. The word glitter has two word parts of syllables, so I clap two times.”
• In Theme 7, Week 1, Lesson 2, the teacher reviews rhyming words with students, “Remind children that rhyming words end with the same sounds. Say this rhyme and have children supply the rhyming word at the end: A big giraffe is very tall. A tiny bug is very (small).”
• In Theme 14, Week 1, Lesson 1, “Listen as I say this word part –ip. Now let’s add /z/ to the beginning of –ip. The word is zip.” The class practices this same routine with the words zig, zag, zap and zoom.
• In Theme 16, Week 2, Lesson 6, “Listen as I say this word: tan. The middle sound in tan is the short a sound. Let’s say the sound together: /a/. Now let’s change the short /a/ sound to a new sound: /e/. Say it with me: /e/. The new word is ten.”

Lessons and activities provide students opportunities to learn grade-level phonics skills while decoding words (e.g., one-to-one correspondences, short sounds with common spellings). There is no evidence of instruction in distinguishing between similarly spelled words by identifying sounds of the letters or long vowel sounds. Examples include:

• In Theme 1, Week 1, Lesson 1, students learn Mm and /m/. “Underline the letter m in my. Explain that m stands for /m/ in words. Have children repeat /m/ with you, stretching out the sound.” In Theme 2, Week 1, Lesson 1, students learn Ff and /f/. “Write the letter f on the board. The letter f stands /f/ at the beginning of fin.” The teacher explains that the letter f makes the /f/ sound. The class then listens for words with the /f/ sound using the whole class charts Page 15.
• In Theme 3, Week 1, Lesson 1, students are asked to “listen for the beginning sound as you say tap.” The teacher is directed to focus on the t and its sound. Students are then asked to generate “other words that begin with /t/” and the teacher will “write their words on the board, pointing to the letter t each time.
• In Theme 5, Week 1, Who I Am, Lesson 2, “Write upper and lowercase Aa on the board. Explain that the letter a makes the short /a/ sound. Ask children to say /a/ with you.” The teacher also has students practice placing sticky notes under short /a/ words such as: Ann, can catch, bat, am, having, Dad.
• In Theme 8, Week 1, Lesson 1, the teacher introduces the short /o/ vowel sound to students, “The letter o stands for /o/ in the word top. As I say some word pairs, raise your hand when you hear /o/: mop, pat, pit, job, nap, pop.”

Materials have a cohesive sequence of phonemic awareness instruction to build toward application. For example: Mirrors the phonics sequence. Starts with /m/, /s/, /f/, /h/, /t/, /k.

The instructional materials reviewed for Literacy by Design Kindergarten 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).

Instructional materials provide students with opportunities to acquire print concepts in both whole group and small group instruction. Students practice concepts of print in a variety of centers including the writing center and phonics center. Instruction in the formation of letters is found in the phonemic awareness/phonics part of the whole group lesson.

Materials include lessons and activities for students to learn how to identify and produce letters. Examples include:

• In Theme 1, Week 1, Lesson 3, students review and write the letter Mm. Students practice writing the letter on primary paper. “Tell children to make the two short slanted lines meet in the middle.” Lesson 4 has students writing the lowercase m.
• In Theme 3, Week 2, Lesson 7, during the phonemic awareness activities, the teacher begins by having students identify why pup and cup are rhyming words. They then identify other rhyming words from a list. The teacher then works on students identifying that C can make a /k/ sound. During the whole group activity, students place a sticky note under the skills word on a chart that start with a c but make a /k/ sound.
• In Theme 3, Week 2, Lesson 8, students review and write the uppercase letter C. Students practice writing the letter on their own primary paper.
• In Theme 8, Week 1, Lesson 4, students learn to write the lowercase letter o. Students practicing writing the letter on their own primary paper. “Show children how to make the O in one continuous motion without lifting the pencil.”
• In Theme 12 on page 366, for the outline, students are engaged in the listening center, technology center, writing center, book nook, and the phonics center throughout the week. During the phonics center, students are provided consonant and vowel tiles so they can create a variety of words with the letters b and j. Students work in partners to write down all of the words they can create.

Materials include frequent and adequate tasks and questions about the organization of print concepts (e.g., follow words left to right, spoken words correlate sequences of letters, letter spacing, upper- and lowercase letters). Examples include:

• In Theme 1, Week 2, Lesson 7, students learn book-handling skills. After modeling book-handling skills, students point out the cover of another classroom book. “I usually read a book from beginning to end. I turn to the first page, I start reading at the top on the left side of the page, and I read from the top to the bottom. Then I start and the top of the next page. When I get to the bottom of the page, I turn to the next page. Then I read the rest of the book in the same way.” Students volunteer to share which page to read first, the direction, and what page to read next.
• In Theme 5, Week 2, Lesson 7, students learn parts of a book. Students learn the title, cover, title page, and author of a book. Students point out parts of the a read aloud book.
• In Theme 8, Week 1, Lesson 5, students learn uppercase and lowercase letters. “Uppercase letters are also used at the beginning of words in a title or name. The other letters in these words are usually lowercase.” Students look at another Big Book and identify uppercase and lowercase letters.
• In Theme 14, Week 1, Lesson 5, students learn that spacing exists between words. The teacher tells students that a printed word corresponds to a word that is spoken. The teacher points out that written words have spaces between them on each side. Students view another Big Book and watch as the teacher tracks his/her reading of spoken words to print.

The instructional 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. This includes reading fluency in oral reading beginning in mid Grade 1 and through Grade 2.

The materials contain opportunities for students to purposefully read text, practice reading decodable words, and learn to read high-frequency words. Students participate in shared reading of nursery rhymes and poems. Students practice reading decodable words in whole group and during small-group instruction. High-frequency words are taught every week.

Multiple opportunities are provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to purposefully read emergent-reader texts. Examples include:

• In Theme 2, Week 2, Lesson 6, students echo read The Clock with the teacher.
• In Theme 9, Week 1, Lesson 4, students choral read Kakadu Jack.
• In Theme 10, Week 2, Lesson 6, students echo read the nursery rhyme, Polly, Put the Kettle On.
• In Level A, Small Group Reading, Fiction, Lesson 1, the purpose for reading the story is clearly stated in the lesson objectives. For example, in the text, I See Dad, the comprehension strategy is “Use Fix-Up Strategies: Pictures.” The Skill Focus is phoneme isolation, short vowel a and words about travel.
• In Level B, Small Group Reading, Non-fiction, Lesson 1, Bananas on my Table, the purpose for reading is clearly stated in the lesson objectives. For this text, students focus on the comprehension strategy, synthesizing. For skills the focus is on phoneme segmentation, /ip/ word family and words about transporting produce.

Materials support students’ development of automaticity and accuracy of grade-level decodable words over the course of the year. Examples include:

• In Theme 3, Week 2, Lesson 8, during Spotlight on Phonics, students practice decoding and encoding words. The teacher reviews segmenting cat and writing the letters. Together, students decode and read aloud.
• In Theme 4, Week 2, Lesson 8, during Spotlight on Phonics, students practice decoding and encoding words. The teacher segments pan and writes the letters on chart paper. Together, students decode and read aloud.
• In Theme 11, Week 2, Lesson 7, students decode words by blending letter sounds together. Students decode: pig, Tim, dig, and is.

Students have opportunities to read and practice high-frequency words. Examples include:

• There are five high-frequency word activities available in both the Comprehensive Teacher’s Guide and the Small Group Reading Teacher’s Guide. They are: Concentration, Board Game, High-Frequency Word Bingo, Say It! Match It!, and, Word Search.
• In Level B, Small Group Reading, Fiction, Lesson 1 of Bugs in the Garden, students learn the high frequency word red. Students work with short /a/ words, and identify words fan, tap, pat, rat and ran.
• In Level C, Small Group Reading, Fiction, Lesson 1 of Olga’s New Mobile, students learn come and a. Students write the words on index cards and participate in one of the five high-frequency word activities.
• In Theme 1, Week 1, Lesson 3, students learn two high-frequency words a and the. The teacher writes the words on index cards and the students spell each word aloud with the teacher. Students copy the word and reread it to practice word automaticity. Students echo read page 5 of the Whole Class Charts page 5.
• In Theme 3, Week 1, Lesson 3, students learn two high-frequency words we and can. Students spell the word aloud with the teacher, write the word on their own paper, and read the words to practice automaticity.
• In Theme 11, Week 1, Lesson 3, students learn two high-frequency words: baby, many. Students spell the word aloud with the teacher, write the word on their own paper, and read the words to practice automaticity.

The instructional materials reviewed Kindergarten partially meet the criteria that 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.

Instructional materials consistently include the application of word analysis and word recognition skills in connected text and tasks. Skills are taught through the use of small guided reading group phonics lessons and are also addressed in writing lessons that incorporate texts the teacher has read aloud to students. High-frequency words are also taught on a consistent basis and are incorporated into each small guided reading group book. Instruction for teachers on how to implement decodable readers is not explicit. Additionally, opportunities are missed for students to apply long vowel sounds and to distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ in context in connected text and tasks.

Materials support students’ development to learn grade-level word recognition and analysis skills. For example:

• In Theme 1, Week 2, Lesson 7, the teacher reads the big book story, All Around School, and students learn about one- to-one correspondence.
• In Theme 5, Week 2, Lesson 6, students work on blending short vowel a words, including Sam, Hat, and cap.
• In Theme 7, Week 1, Lesson 1, students differentiate between the letters i and u and j and g using the words, fig, pig, bug, hug, and jug.
• In Theme 8, week 1, Lesson 2, students practice segmentation with the short vowel letter o. Students practice with the words hot, pop, top and job.
• In Theme 11, Week 1, Lesson 1, students work on phoneme segmentation by listening for the middle sound i in words. Students use Elkonin boxes to model the words pig, hid, and sit.
• In Theme 16, Week 1, Lesson 1, students practice blending with the word pen. Students then practice blending with hen, pet, get, ten. They connect sounds and symbols by raising their hand when the teacher says words with e in the middle. The word list is: men, cot, set, mop, pen, leg, bun.

Materials provide frequent opportunities to read high-frequency words in connected text and tasks. Examples include:

• In Level A, Small Group, Fiction, Lesson 1 of A Rainy Day, students practice writing high frequency words the and we on index cards.
• In Level B, Small Group, the teacher reviews the high frequency words said and school to students. “Write on chart paper or point to the words said and school on the word wall. Have children copy these high frequency words on index cards. As they review the book ask children to make a tally mark each time they notice the words.”
• In Level C, Small Group, Fiction, Lesson 1 of Stop!, students review the high frequency word not. “Write on chart paper or point to the word not on the word wall. Have children copy this high frequency word on an index card. As they review the book, ask children to make a tally mark each time they notice the word.”
• In the Small Group Reading Teacher’s Guide, Appendix, there are five high-frequency word activities:
  • Concentration requires two sets of high-frequency word cards. Students take turns flipping over the high-frequency word cards. Students match the identical high-frequency words.
  • Board Game requires a numbered spinner, button marker, and a “follow the path” grid. Students spin, move the number of spaces, read the high-frequency word, and use the word in context. If successful, the student’s marker stays on the space.
  • High-Frequency Bingo requires a set of high-frequency cards and bingo cards with grid. Students write random high-frequency words on the grid squares and play bingo in the typical manner.
  • Say It! Match It! requires two students each with a set of high-frequency words. Students turn cards over at the same time and if the words match, students shout “Match!”
  • Word Search requires a 5x5 boxed grid with a high-frequency word in each of the 25 boxes. A set of high-frequency cards must match the words in the grid. A student selects a card, reads the word, and places a marker on the grid to the matching word.

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

• In Theme 9, Week 1, Lesson 3, students read the text, "Kakadu Jack". During the reading, students practice decoding words with the letter D.
• Through the use of “Spotlight on Phonics” portion of the writing lessons, students have the opportunity to apply word analysis skills to their writing tasks. For example:
  • In Theme 5, Lesson 3, “We can use letters and sounds to help us spell words correctly in our writing. Review /a/ and model stretching out the sounds in words to hear as you write each one: fat /f/-/a/-/t/; map /m/-/a/-/p/.” This lesson also ties into the Big Book where students are learning about story sequence.
  • In Theme 7, Lesson 3. “Good writers use letters and sounds to help them spell words they will use in their writing. Review /j/ and model saying /j/ as you write gym. Repeat with /g/ and go.” This writing lesson also ties into the mentor text "Lazy, Lonely Roley", where students learn about problem and solution.
  • In Theme 15, Lesson 3, “Good writers use letters and sounds to help them spell the words they will use in their writing. Review /kw/ and model stretching out the sounds in words to hear as you write each one: quit /kw/-/i/-/t/, quiz /kw/-/i/-/z/.” This lesson also ties into the mentor text, “Just the Right Size.”

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially 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.

Instructional materials include assessments in phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, high-frequency words, and READs diagnostic assessments. Materials also include a READs teacher manual that helps support the teacher in determining progress for students. However, there is a lack of support for teachers in using assessment results to inform instruction and remediation. For example, the Fluency Assessment Rubric provides data to the teacher about students’ fluency; however, next steps are not provided for what the teacher should do to help students make progress in fluency.

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

• Rigby READS (Reading Evaluation and Diagnostic System) Beginning Reader Test (Form A) is administered midyear.
  • This provides teachers with information about students’ instructional levels.
  • It provides diagnostic data about visual and auditory discrimination, letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and phonics.
• Theme Progress Tests provide assessment of students’ level of mastery for phonics and word study. The mid-year and end-of-year tests are cumulative.
• Fluency Software contains automatic calculation of words per minute.
• In the Appendix of Small Group Reading Teacher’s Guide the following assessments can be found:
  • A Fluency Assessment Rubric and a Fluency Assessment Tracking Form to track each student’s fluency progress.
  • An Oral Reading Record to analyze each student’s oral reading.
  • A Kindergarten Screener for Initial Level Placement. It contains three questions about print concepts, letter naming, and letter sounds.

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

• Fluency Assessment instructions are provided on page A38 of the Small Group Reading Teacher’s Guide Appendix. Teachers are instructed to give the fluency assessment by using one of the leveled readers that students have read at least two times. The teacher then conducts a one minute fluency assessment on a section of text from the book. Teachers are instructed not to begin fluency assessment until at least Level F. A Fluency Assessment Rubric is also included for the teacher to score a student on a scale of 1-4 in the following areas: expression, accuracy, punctuation, phrasing, pace and comprehension. The teacher then comes up with a total prosody rating score.
• A Kindergarten Screener for initial placement is provided on pages A52-A54 on the Small Group Reading Teacher’s Guide Appendix. Based on how a student performs on the screener, the student will start with Small Group Reading Levels AA, A, B or C. The screener includes questions such as, “2. Write the letters m, a, s and u on a sheet of paper. Ask the child to name each letter. Can the child name each letter? ___Yes ____ No.”
• An oral reading Record is available on page A41. It evaluates how many errors/miscues a student has, how many times they self-correct, meaning, structure, visual, accurate reading, rereading or repetition, omission or whether teacher assistance was needed.

Materials provide limited support to teachers for instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in foundational skills.

• The program contains a program assessment overview on page A12 for the teacher. It tells which type of assessments the program contains, how often you give it, and where to find it. There is a Rigby READs diagnostic Test form A and Test form B, which supports the reading level a student is on at the end of the year.
• In the Kindergarten Screener for Initial Level Placement, if a student cannot answer the three questions, the student should be placed in small group Level AA. If a student responds correctly to one or more of the questions, the teacher is to administer the Screener Passage. Based on the Screener Passage, the teacher can place each student in either Level A, Level B, or Level C.
• Theme Progress Tests provide a scoring rubric with the tested elements with re-teaching follow-ups.

The instructional materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially 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.

Kindergarten materials provide a scope and sequence that follows a plan where students are exposed to high frequency words, phonics, and phonemic awareness in a variety of ways to learn new skills. Students practice reading decodable readers, big books, and texts at their level in order to build foundational skills. There are 56 leveled readers in Kindergarten levels AA-C with 6 copies per set. Prior to reading the leveled readers, students practice phonemic awareness and phonics lessons in whole group instruction. Weekly lessons provide multiple opportunities for students to learn and master a foundational skill such as short vowel sounds. The materials provide minimal guidance to a teacher as to how to differentiate the core lessons or small group lessons when students are struggling or understanding the foundational skill learning. There is a Skills Master that includes additional practice to extend lessons through decodable stories.

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

• In the Small Group Reading Teacher’s Guide, struggling readers have the opportunity to access differentiated instruction of foundational skills such as phonemic awareness and phonics.
  • In Level AA, Lesson 2, Phonemic Awareness, students at that level have the opportunity to clap word parts/syllables. Students clap the syllables for: panda, lost, window, poor, girl.
• The materials contain Learning Stations for students to rotate through. The Writing Center station contains high-frequency word cards to use as a resource for their writing. The Phonics Center contains letter tiles for students to create words.
• In the Small Group Reading Teacher’s Guide, students on track and students ready for acceleration can access phonics instruction. There are different lessons with levels for students to learn foundational skills at their instructional level.

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

While extra opportunities are provided in the Small Group Reading, the guidance provided to teachers for scaffolding and adapting the small group lesson is not detailed. For example in Level AA, Lesson 2, the sidebar contains “Assess Progress Phonemic Awareness: Phoneme Blending Assess Whether children are able to blend three sounds and say the word.” No guidance is provided as to how to adapt the Small Group Reading Lesson 2, Phonemic Awareness, based on the quick assessment of phoneme blending.

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

• Over a week, students have the opportunity to learn a particular phonemic awareness and phonics skill. Small Group Reading also contains further lessons in phonemic awareness and phonics skills.
  • In Theme 5, Week 2, students learn short a words. In Lesson 6, students watch the teacher blend sounds to make short a words. In Lesson 7, students decode short a words in sentences. In Lesson 8, students identify short a words on page 50 of the Whole Class Chart.
  • In Small Group Reading Level A, Lesson 1, students watch the teacher use the magnetic board and tiles to make the word dad. Students say the sounds of each letter title. Students decode other short a words such as map, pat, bag.