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 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 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.