The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 do not meet the expectations that the materials support students’ literacy skills (comprehension) over the course of the school year through increasingly complex text to develop independence of grade level skills (leveled readers and series of texts should be at a variety of complexity levels).

The materials focus on skills for reading and the writing process such as introductions, sequencing, and reports. The skills are the main focus for the text. The text is not used as a focus for comprehension and does not support students' literacy skills over the course of the school year. Tools and graphic organizers are provided for the skill but not for comprehending text. Questions and tasks do not require students to use evidence from text to demonstrate understanding and to support their ideas about the text. The text does not become more intensive over the course of the school year. Leveled Readers are available at a variety of levels, from G 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. The teacher has ability and authority to change the levels of his or her students based on their level. The texts do not employ questions and tasks that are text-specific and accurately address the analytical thinking required by the grade-level standards.
Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Theme 1, students read, My Great Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston. Students are introduced to making connections and Turn and Talk during listening to the text to discuss something that they enjoyed in the story. 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. The text is not used to accomplish these tasks.
• In Theme 5, students read The Armadillo from Amarillo by Lynne Cherry. Students are introduced to inferring and fix-up strategies. They Turn and Talk during listening to the texts and discuss details that helped them understand what was taking place. 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. The text is not used to accomplish these tasks.
• In Theme 13, students read, Round and Round the Money Goes by Melvin and Gilda Berger. Students are introduced to the skills of inferring cause and effect. Students Turn and Talk during listening to the text and discuss how they have used money and what effect it had. 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. The text is not used to accomplish this task. The tasks do not grow in sophistication throughout the year.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 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 Grade 2. 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 materials reviewed for Grade 2 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 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 to students 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-dependent questions throughout the themes observed that require students to return to the text. Overall, the majority of questions, tasks, and assignments are not text-dependent. Examples of questions, tasks, and assignments include, but are not limited to:

• In Themes 3, Lesson 3, students are provided with limited opportunities to delve inside the text. In the text, Seeds of Fortune by Brenda Parkes students are asked to connect with their prior knowledge. They respond to questions such as: Why do people work? Why is it important to save money?
• In Theme 5, Lesson 1, under Modeled Reading, the focus questions include, “Listen to identify a part of a poem you really enjoy hearing. What do you like about the words in that part of the poem?” and “Which words help you create pictures in your mind of what it’s like to live in this city?”
• In Theme 5, Lessons 5 in the poem, “My New Savings Account”, students answer questions such as, “What do you know about banks? Why might a person open a savings account at a bank.” The writing task does not directly connect with the text.
• In Theme 14, Lesson 1, Abuela’s Weave by Omar Castaneda, students are asked “How do Esperanza’s feelings change during the text? What words help you understand how she feels at different times?”
• In Theme 13, in the poem, “My New Savings Account”, students answers questions such as, "What do you know about banks? Why might a person open a savings account at a bank? How can you find a cause? How can you find an effect? Are some causes or effects more important than others?"

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 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 Grade 2 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 Grade 2 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 few opportunities for students to practice their speaking and listening skills throughout the program. They 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 aloud the text 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 after the text is read. During the last lesson of each week, students participate in interactive reading where they answer questions with a partner. For example:

• In Theme 5, Lesson 1, under the Build Reading Skills, on page 140, students are required to discuss the photos on Whole Class Charts and answer the following questions: “Where do you live? Is it a big city or small town? Where can you find tall buildings like the one in the larger picture?” The conversations lack facilitation, monitoring and instructional supports for teachers.
• In Theme 5, Lesson 4, students have an opportunity to turn and talk. Students are to discuss, “How can you use what you already know to infer how Kitty feels about the city? “What can you infer about how Maria feels about the city? What makes you think that?”
• In Theme 5, Lesson 8 on page 160 students are asked to think and respond during a turn and talk exercise. They are required to turn to their partners to discuss the prompts and to listen actively with the following questions: “How do you know information is important or unimportant? What steps do you take to determine if something is important?” The questions do not require evidence from the text.
• In Theme 7, Lesson 5 on the Read and Comprehend Section, there is a “connect to prior knowledge” piece in every lesson that asks questions not related to the text such as “Why do people use cars?” and “If a car had feelings, how would it feel to be left sitting in a garage?”. These questions do not require students to engage with the text.
• In Theme 7 Lesson 8, on the Read and Comprehend section, students are to “turn and talk” about the text by asking questions like “How did looking at the picture help me understand the story?” and “If there were no pictures, what other fix-up strategy might have helped?”. This type of questioning occurs in every lesson throughout this series.
• In Theme 9, Lesson 2, during the Turn and Talk, students are required to tell their partner about a time when they said, “Thank you” and explain what the other person said. These types of questions do not encourage evidence-based discussions.
• In Theme 11, Week 2, students discuss the photos on the Whole Class Chart on page 91 and answer evidence-based questions related to the photos. “What do you see in each picture? What does a corn seedling need to grow into a cornstalk?” Under Modeled Reading, on page 338, students respond to “Let’s read to find out how rice is grown. Listen for words that show how the author feels about rice.” The Think Aloud on page 342 has the teacher model asking questions, “In this part of the text, the author talks about how the green kernels contain a liquid that will harden and become rice. I ask myself, “Why does she want me to know this?” I think she wants me to know this information so that I understand…” Under Turn and Talk, students partner discuss, “Why did the author write this story?”

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 2 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: Organization: Sequence, Process: Introduction
• Theme 2: Report, Trait: Introduction
• Theme 3: Story, Trait: Ideas
• Theme 4: Prewriting
• Theme 5: Drafting
• Theme 6: Trait: Organization
• Theme 7: Letter, Trait: Voice
• Theme 8: Revising
• Theme 9: Poem, Editing
• Theme 10: Trait: Word Choice Organization: Problem and Solution
• Theme 11: Trait: Sentence Fluency Organization: Compare and Contrast
• Theme 12: Report, Publishing
• Theme 13: Story, Prewriting
• Theme 14: Conventions
• Theme 15: Organization: Cause and Effect, Trait: Presentation
• Theme 16: Report

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 Theme 2, Lesson 4, students learn about writing reports using the pictures from Writing Chart 5 during shared writing. Prompts such as “What do you like to do most with your family? or “Make a list of the jobs they do at home in order from the most enjoyed to the least” are used. If the student is ready to use an organizer to begin writing a report, then the teacher and child look at the child’s Writer’s Notebook for ideas for a report.
• In Theme 7, Lesson 3, the Mentor Text, Robot-Cat is used to reference personal letters.
• In Theme 7, Lesson 4, shared writing is completed through students writing a letter to a family member using the picture from Writing Chart 20.
• In Theme 9, Lesson 3, the Mentor Text, Grace for President! is used to reference rhyming sentences to use in poems.
• In Theme 9, Lesson 4, shared writing is completed with a poem about the picture from Writing Chart 26.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 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 few opportunities for evidence-based writing. There are a few writing prompts that require students to pull evidence from texts. Additionally, no explicit instruction provided. Students are not taught how to support their 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 verses 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 five steps of the writing process. In Lesson 2, the teacher models thinking of a topic and then models going through the writing process. In Lesson 3, the text, “Asha in the Attic” is used to explain events in the order they occur. Then children focus on their own writing portfolios to draft one of their writings. The Theme Topic Prompts for Week 1 are about a bad day that turned out happy, or a time the student visited a relative or friend, making sure to put the events in order. The story for the week is called “My Great-Aunt Arizona”, but the writing task does not require students to produce evidence for their writing, or support recall of information.

In Lesson 4, the mentor text is reviewed. The teacher discusses elements of sequencing; using words such as first, next, then, and finally. Then, students use shared writing to think of responses to organize their ideas with the pictures on Writing Chart 2, page 19. 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 story for the week is called “Where People Live”, but the writing task does not require students to produce evidence for their writing or support recall of information. In Lesson 4, the story “Where is Kitty? is used to discuss the problem and solution in a story. Then, students use shared writing to think of a problem and a solution to go along with the pictures on Writing Chart 14, page 151.