2nd Grade - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 2a.

The materials include a well-defined teacher resource for content presentation, which includes a detailed scope and sequence and a weekly planner. The teacher resource contains detailed information and instructional routines that help the teacher to effectively implement all foundational skills content (i.e. phonological awareness, print concepts, letters, phonics, HFW, word analysis, decoding) through session-specific teacher-scripted lessons along with sidebars prompting for when and how to use the digital articulation videos and slides. The technology pieces provide support and guidance for the teacher and do not create an additional layer of complication around the materials.

Materials provide a well-defined teacher resource (teacher edition, manual) for content presentation. For example:

• The Teacher Guide contains the key objectives for each session. There is information for phonics, word analysis, high-frequency words, fluency, and differentiated supports for learners. The Teacher Guide provides a weekly scope, sequence, and detailed daily lesson plans, called sessions. The session plans are explicit and detailed. The sessions provides explicit instruction for the teacher to follow. The lesson supports the teacher with a check for understanding annotation containing a scaffold to use if needed. 

• The Tools for Instruction includes a teacher resource that contains detailed information and instructional routines to help the teacher implement all foundational skills content effectively. The Instructional Routines guide is found in Tools for Instruction and contains detailed information on routines.   

The teacher’s manual provides a weekly scope and sequence in addition to a detailed daily lesson plan. For example:

• The Instructional Routines Guide, located in the front matter A40–47 and in the Program Implementation section of the digital Teacher Toolbox, introduces and defines the instructional routines found in the program. The routines include scripting for the specific skill being taught and routines for: 

  • Phonological Awareness

    • Recognize Letter Sounds Routine

    • Isolate Sounds Routine

    • Identify Sounds Routine

    • Blend Sounds Routine

    • Segment Sounds Rouitne

    • Delete Sounds Routine

    • Add Sounds Routine

    • Change Sounds Routine

  • High-Frequency Words

    • See and Say the Word Routine

    • Spell the Word Routine

    • Write the Word Routine

  • Phonics

    • Decoding Blend Words Routine

    • Encoding Spell It Routine 

  • Corrective Feedback

    • Decoding Corrective Feedback Routine

    • Encoding Corrective Feedback Routine

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Session 1–5, the Teacher Guide contains a detailed scope and sequence followed by daily lesson plans referred to as sessions. The session plans are explicit and detailed. The plan provides instruction that tells the teacher what to say explicitly. The lesson supports the teacher with a useful check for understanding annotation that contains a scaffold to use if needed.

• In Unit 6, Week 26, Session 1–5, Weekly Planner, the weekly planner includes daily plans and maps out each section of the program the teacher will be using with students. Session 5 information outlines the weekly assessment and the cumulative review. Each session contains the unit words, the standards being taught, and the materials the teacher will need for the week. 

The teacher resource contains detailed information and instructional routines that help the teacher to effectively implement all foundational skills content (i.e., phonological awareness, print concepts, letters, phonics, HFW, word analysis, decoding). For example:

• In Unit 3, Week 17, Session 1, guidance directs the teacher to say the image name and to have students say /or/ with them as a model. The teacher then explains that /or/ can be spelled two different ways. The teacher has further guidance to explain to students that r-controlled vowels are changed so the vowel is neither long nor short. 

• In Unit 5, Week 26, Session 1, the Tools for Instruction explains to teachers how a student can decode two-syllable words. There are then explanations of two ways the teacher can teach the words and checks for understanding. There is guidance on how to support students depending on what they do during the check for understanding.

Any technology pieces included provide support and guidance for the teacher and do not create an additional layer of complication around the materials. For example:

• In Unit 2 Week 7, Sessions 1–5, in the Tools for Instruction, the teacher can access slides that accompany the lesson, articulation videos, and interactive tutorials from the digital toolbox. Session Slides provide teachers with an easy-to-use and helpful technology tool based on foundational skills content.

• In Unit 5, Week 25, Sessions 1–5, Articulation videos allow the teacher to see how to pronounce the following digraphs clearly,:/ i/ (i, y);/ e/ (e, ea) and /u/(u, o, ou). The video also includes words that begin and include these vowel sounds.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 2b.

The materials include complete detailed adult-level explanations for each of the foundational skills. Materials are designed to provide the teacher with additional information to help them understand why the skills are important or to provide tips on how to meet the diverse student needs. Detailed examples of the grade-level skills concepts are provided to the teacher throughout the lesson as part of the explicit instruction format.

Complete, detailed adult-level explanations are provided for each foundational skill taught at the grade level. For example: 

• The Instructional Routines defines phonological awareness as “an understanding that spoken words are made up of sounds. It states that phonological awareness lessons help children recognize and manipulate spoken sounds before learning to attach each sound to a grapheme or letter.” The Foundational Skills Terms to Know defines foundational skills words including, but not limited, to consonant blends, continuous sounds, phrasing and prefix. 

• In Unit 2, Week 5, the teacher is provided with an adult-level explanation: ”Listening for the phoneme (sound) helps children understand the connection between the sound and letter(s) used to represent that sound.”

Detailed examples of the grade level foundational skill concepts are provided for the teacher. For example: 

• In Unit 2, Week 7, Session 2,  the Teach, Model, and Apply lesson includes detailed examples of grade-level phonics skills related to segmenting syllables. Materials state: “Have children chorally read each syllable in the left column and then the word in the right column. Point out the final e and soft c spelling the words:  ad -vice – advice; ex-cite - excite; brace-let - bracelet; prin-cess - princess.”

• In Unit 6, Week 29, Session 1, the materials include a detailed example of grade level skills concept related to the final syllable pattern for -sion or -tion. Materials state, “Tell children that when a word ends in -sion or -tion, it is usually the last syllable in the words. These syllables are called final stable syllables, which means these spellings never change. The -sion, and -tion syllable sound like either /shan/ or /zhun/. “ 

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 2c.

The materials include content that can reasonably be completed within a regular school year, and the pacing allows for maximum student understanding. The program utilizes lesson plans that are research-based, including foundational concepts, such as phonological and phonemic awareness, alphabetic principles, phonics, and high-frequency words. The program materials have lessons and guidance for both the whole group and small group. The session documents have multiple sections but do not have time frames for each section of phonological awareness; rather, materials note the total time of the entire session. Materials provide assessments to identify how small group lessons should be done and what skills should be reinforced. Sessions 1–4 are designed to be taught in whole group for 45 minutes. There are a total of six units with 30 weeks of instruction and five sessions each week. 

Lesson plans utilize effective, research-based lesson plan design for early literacy instruction. For example: 

• In the Teacher Toolbox, Program Implementation Guide, the Instructional Routines provide a detailed explanation of the program design. The Teach, Model, and Apply model provides a structure and instructional routine for lessons on phonological awareness, phonics, high-frequency words, handwriting, and phonics. 

• In Unit 6, Week 26, Session 2, the lesson provides a teacher model to demonstrate how to blend syllables to say the word rocket. Then uses Word Building Card to spell and blend the word jacket. Students use the routine to build the following word pairs, invent, insect; napkin, pumpkin; magnet, bonnet; and bottom, symptom. 

The effective lesson design structure includes both whole-group and small-group instruction. For example: 

• In Program Implementation, the Flexible Pacing Options document states that whole group instruction is meant to be 45 minutes for Sessions 1–4 with 10–15 minutes of small group instruction using Magnetic Readers.

• In Unit 2, Week 6, Sessions 1–4, materials present lesson activities in each session in a whole group, direct instruction format. Small Group Differentiation for the week includes six Interactive Tutorials designed to extend and reinforce prior instruction. Interactive tutorials include Long and Short Vowels: a; Long and Short Vowels: e; Long and Short vowels; Long and Short Vowels: o; and Long and Short Vowels: u, and Read Two-Syllable Words and VCe Syllables. 

The pacing of each component of daily lesson plans is clear and appropriate. For example: 

• In the Teacher Toolbox, Weekly Planner, the Flexible Pacing Options are:  Phonological Awareness and Phonics, 20 minutes; Read Aloud Together and Concepts of Print, 10 minutes; Letter formation, 15 minutes. This results in a total of 45 minutes for whole group instruction. 

• In Unit 2, Week 7, Session 1, the teacher models the blend sound routine, and students apply it. Students will then isolate phonemes and apply it, and then there are sections for building words, word-level fluency, and high-frequency words. Time limits for each section are not outlined. 

The suggested amount of time and expectations for maximum student understanding of all foundational skill content (i.e., phonological awareness, print concepts, letters, phonics, HFW, word analysis, decoding) can reasonably be completed in one school year and should not require modifications. For example: 

• The How Magnetic Reading Foundation Works document states there are six units with 30 weeks of instruction (approximately 150 days).

• The Scope and Sequence show pacing for all units across 30 weeks in concepts of phonological awareness, phonics, word analysis, spelling, letter formation, high-frequency words, fluency, and unit words. 

For those materials on the borderline (e.g., approximately 130 days on the low end or 200 days on the high end), evidence clearly explains how students would be able to master ALL the grade level standards within one school year. For example:

• N/A

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 2d.ii.

The Magnetic Reading Foundations Grade 2 materials provide a clear research based explanation for the instructional sequence of phonics skills that are taught. The scope and sequence of phonics instruction is based in high utility patterns and/or common phonics generalizations. Phonics skills move from simple to complex, with some review of previously learned phonics skills.

Materials clearly delineate a scope and sequence with a cohesive, intentional sequence of phonics instruction and practice to build toward the application of skills. For example:

• Unit 1: Short Vowels; Review: Double Final Consonants; Digraph -ck;  Digraphs: ch-, sh-, th-, wh-; Digraphs: -ch, -tch, -sh, -th, -ng; Beginning r-Blends: br-, cr-, dr-, fr-, gr-, tr-; Beginning l-Blends: bl-, cl-, fl-, gl-, pl-; Beginning s-Blends: sc-, sk-, sl-, sm-, sn-, sp-, st-, sw-; Ending Blends: -nt, -mp, -sk, -st, -nd

• Unit 2: ​​Final e: a_e, i_e, o_e, u_e, e_e; Short and Long Vowels; Soft c,g; Three-Letter Blends: str-, spl-, spr-, scr-, thr-, shr-; Long a: a, ai, ay, ea, eigh, ey; Long e: e, ee, ea, ie, y, ey 

• Unit 3: Long i: i, y, igh, ie; Long o: o, oa, ow, oe; Long u: ue, u, ew, u_e; Silent Letters: wr, kn, gn, mb, sc; r-Controlled Vowel: ar

• Unit 4: r-Controlled Vowels: er, ir, ur, or; r-Controlled Vowels: or, ore, oar; r-Controlled Vowels: eer, ere, ear; r-Controlled Vowels: are, air, ear, ere; Diphthongs: ou, ow

• Unit 5: Diphthongs: oi, oy; Variant Vowels: oo, ou, u; Variant Vowels: oo, ou, u_e, ew, ue; Variant Vowels: aw, au, a(l); Short Vowel Digraphs: ea, ou, y 

• Unit 6: Closed and Open Syllable Patterns; Final e Syllable Patterns; r-Controlled Vowel Syllable Patterns; Final Stable Syllable Patterns: -sion, -tion, -le, -el, -al; Vowel Team Syllable Patterns

Materials have a clear research-based explanation for the order of the phonics sequence. For example:

• The Magnetic Reading Foundations Research Rationale outlines that Grade 2 has additional graphemes and a full unit of syllable patterns for multi-syllabic reading. Archer states, that throughout Grade 2 students read multisyllabic words because research shows that, “teaching strategies to decode longer words improves students' ability to decode” (Archer, et al, 2006).

• The Magnetic Reading Foundations K–2 phonics scope and sequence begins with letter recognition, in which students are steeped in letter learning and heavily scaffolded into decoding words with the simplest sound spellings, such as short vowels, progresses through consonant digraphs, and advances into more complex sound spellings, like blends and vowel teams (Guthrie & Seifert, 1977; Pirani-McGurl, 2009). Students then learn spelling patterns that help them recognize larger, distinct representations of spoken sounds. This helps students develop their word attack skills for decoding multisyllabic words and use knowledge of spelling patterns to accurately encode, or write, the combination of letters to represent the sounds they hear in spoken words (Ehri, 2020; National Reading Panel, 2000; Petscher et al., 2020).

Phonics instruction is based in high utility patterns and/or common phonics generalizations. For example:

• The Grade 2 Phonics Scope and Sequence has nearly the same overall sequence of concepts as Grade 1 (Grade 1 concepts in italics): short vowels, consonant digraphs, consonant blends, CVCe vowels, soft c and g, three-letter blends, long vowel patterns, silent letters, r-controlled vowels, diphthongs, variant vowels, short vowel digraphs, syllable patterns. Some skills are condensed (e.g., short vowels, digraphs), some are expanded (e.g., long vowel patterns, r-controlled vowels), and some are new (e.g., silent letters, short vowel digraphs, syllable patterns). The two main differences in the Grade 2 phonics scope and sequence are additional graphemes and a full unit of syllable patterns for multisyllabic word reading. These differences illustrate the principles of skills that are taught systematically across years and give students time for practice and application. In Grade K, there is one unit on long vowels with CVCe words (e.g., base, hope, like). In Grade 1, long vowels are the focus at two different times of the year: three weeks of CVCe pattern at midyear and a unit with two to three long vowel patterns each lesson (e.g., claim, say, go, boat, snow). In Grade 2, there are also two rounds of long vowels: an early one-week review of the CVCe pattern and five weeks of long vowels with every additional spelling. Long a and long e have six additional graphemes (i.e., a, ai, ay, ea, eigh, ey; e, ee, ea, ie, y, ey), and long o has four (i.e., o, oa, ow, oe). Six graphemes are appropriate because two are a review from Grade 1, and the concept of long vowels is known from Grade K. 

• Throughout Grade 2, students apply phonics skills to reading multisyllabic words because research shows that teaching strategies for decoding longer words improves students’ ability to decode (Archer et al., 2006). The final unit (i.e., last five weeks) of the Grade 2 scope and sequence is devoted to six syllable patterns (i.e., open; closed; final e; r-controlled vowel; final -stable, -sion, -tion, -le, -el, -al; and vowel team). The spellings in these patterns were taught earlier in the scope and sequence, and students apply the syllable patterns in a routine as a strategy for reading multisyllabic words (Archer & Hughes, 2010). The syllable patterns were taught in the word analysis scope and sequence to coincide with the phonics skills. They are reviewed again here in the phonics scope and sequence so students can apply and practice the skill of multisyllabic word reading. This serves as a review of some of the more challenging graphemes in Grade 2 while students get the time to master reading longer words, which will prepare them for Grade 3 and authentic text

Patterns and generalizations are carefully selected to provide a meaningful and manageable number of phonics patterns and common generalizations for students to learn deeply. For example:

• The Teacher Guide includes the Scope and Sequence. The students review many of the concepts learned in Grade 1, including short vowels and digraphs along with beginning and ending blends. In Unit 2, students review long vowels in the consonant final e phonics pattern, three letters blends and the various phonics patterns for long a and long e.  In Unit 3, students review the various phonics patterns for long i, o, and u along with the r-controlled vowel ar.  In Unit 4, students review the rest of the r-controlled vowel phonics patterns along with diphthongs ou and ow. In Unit 5, students review and learn additional variant vowels. In Unit 6, students learn the six syllable types.

• The Teacher Guide explains the Structure of a Week. The program follows a predictable, five-session structure systematically designed to introduce a new phonics skill in the first session. In Session 2, students practice and extend what was introduced in Session 1 and review skills from the previous week. In Session 3, the teacher introduces a new phonics skill. In Session 4, students practice the new skill and review previous phonics skills. In Session 5, students complete an individual assessment. If a student has not mastered a skill, materials provide instructional guidance on next steps for teacher use.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 2f.i.

The materials include a variety of decodable texts that contain grade-level phonics skills aligned to the program’s scope and sequence to address securing phonics. Each week students read a decodable text designed to provide practice securing current and previously learned phonics skills. Materials include detailed lesson plans for repeated readings of decodable texts to address securing phonics skills. Students read from Connected Text and Magnetic Readers which contain decodable words for each target sound spelling. Detailed lesson plans are provided for the teacher that includes the student participating in multiple readings of the decodable text in Sessions 2 and 4.

Materials include decodable texts to address securing phonics. For example: 

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Sessions 1–4, students work on short vowels. They read a decodable text “Helpful Pals.” The text includes short vowel words o, i, a, u, and short vowel e. 

• In Unit 5, Week 22, Session 4, students read the decodable text “What Plan Saved Nome?”, which contains previously-taught sound spellings, Super Words, and the target sound spellings ou and u.  

Decodable texts contain grade-level phonics skills aligned to the program’s scope and sequence. For example: 

• In Unit 4, Week 17, Session 4, students read the decodable text “Life in the West,” which contains previously-taught sound spellings, Super Words, and the target sound spellings oar and ore. 

• In Unit 5, Week 22, Scope and Sequence, students work on variant vowels oo, ou and u. The decodable texts include “What Happened” and “What Plan Saved Name?”

Materials include detailed lesson plans for repeated readings of decodable texts to address securing phonics skills. For example: 

• In Unit 3, Week 14, Session 2, students read “A Grassland Trip,” which contains words with wr and kn. Students read the decodable words found in the passage. In the Apply section, students re-read the text in unison. 

• In Unit 5, Week 21, Session 2, students read the text “Who’s in the Band?” wich contains words with oi. Students read the decodable words found in the passage. In the Apply section, students re-read the text in student partner read or whisper read.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 2f.ii.

The materials include decodable texts that utilize grade-level high-frequency and irregularly spelled words that are aligned to the scope and sequence. In addition, the lesson materials include lesson plans to teach and review previously taught high-frequency/irregularly spelled words. Each week contains two Connected Text passages that contain the week’s high-frequency words. Connected Text lesson plans include a first and second read in Sessions 2 and 4. All weeks also include a Magnetic Reader that contains the week’s high-frequency words with detailed four-part lesson plans that include multiple readings. 

Materials include decodable texts that utilize high-frequency/irregularly spelled words. For example:

• In Unit 1, Week 2, Sessions 1–4, students read the Magnetic Reader “On the Playground.” It contains the high-frequency words see, what, they, her, of, and their.

• In Unit 6, Week 29, Session 4, students read the decodable text passage “The Little Volcano,” which includes the Super Words area, building, measure, and nothing. 

Decodable texts contain grade-level high-frequency/irregularly spelled words aligned to the program’s scope and sequence. For example: 

• In Unit 2, Week 9, Session 4, students read the decodable passage “Big Art, Big Space,” which includes the Super Words about, always, out, and were. 

• In Unit 5, Week 22, Session 2, students read the Connected Text passage “What Happened?”, which includes the Super Words above, almost, done, and upon. 

Materials include detailed lesson plans for repeated readings of decodable texts to address securing reading high-frequency words/irregularly spelled words in context. For example: 

• In Unit 3, Week 14, Session 2, the lesson plan focuses on the high frequency and irregularly spelled words after one, warm, your, which are included in the decodable text “A Grassland Trip.” Students then read the decdoable text in unison and reread it with a partner or independently. 

• In Unit 4, Week 16, Sessions 1–4, the materials outline a four-lesson process for guiding students to read the Magnetic Reader “The Big Trip.” The decodable text  includes the week’s Super Words move, other, water, and where. The lesson plans include two full readings of the text.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 2g.iii.

The materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress in word recognition and analysis, as indicated by the program scope and sequence. The materials provide phonics assessment materials and tools that include scoring and recording sheets to collect ongoing data about student progress in phonics. The materials help teachers determine student progress through the systematic implementation of the assessments. Materials include unit assessments, weekly assessments, and daily checks for understanding. The materials instruct teachers in scoring assessment results, and each assessment includes an Instructional Next Steps section that indicates the next steps if a student consistently makes errors in assessed phonics skills. 

Materials provide resources and tools to collect ongoing data about students’ progress in phonics. For example:

• The teacher and student materials include Unit and Weekly Assessments containing phonics skills assessment items for all weeks of Units 1–6, static and editable Unit and Weekly Assessment Trackers, and a Scoring Guide. 

• The Teacher Toolbox, Classroom Resources, Week 5, the Assess section of the Beginning r Blends, l blends, s blends Weekly and Unit Assessments provide the teacher with a variety of tools to collect ongoing data about students' progress in phonics. Tools include a teacher-facing Unit Assessment Tracker, an editable Unit Assessment Tracker, a student-facing Unit 1 Assessment, a Unit Assessment Answer Key, a teacher-facing Unit Assessment Alternate Text, a teacher-facing Unit Assessment, an Ending Blends Cumulative Review, and Session 5 Slides that include directions.

Materials offer assessment opportunities to determine students’ progress in phonics that are implemented systematically. For example:

• The Unit and Weekly Assessments offer consistent weekly and unit assessments that include decoding and encoding, both in and out of context. 

• In Unit 1, Week 5, Session 5, during the Ending Blends: -nt, -nd, and -mp Unit Assessment, students encode target sound-spellings. The teacher records student data on the Assessment Tracker and allows the teacher to identify phonics errors and form small differentiated groups.

Multiple assessment opportunities are provided regularly for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence with phonics. For example:

• In Units 1–5, during the Unit Assessment, students encode six sounds or sound pairs and six multisyllabic words, read a Connected Text passage that contains both previously-taught high-frequency words and the unit’s target sound-spellings. The Unit Assessments include an Encode Connected Text section, in which students encode two dictated sentences that contain some words with target sound-spellings. The Unit 6 assessment also requires students to encode multisyllabic words, encode sentences, and read connected text.

• In Units 1–6, during the Weekly Assessment, students encode three to six sound-spellings, encode four multisyllabic words, and decode two sentences selected by the teacher from a list of sentences containing words with target sound-spellings. The Unit 6 Weekly Assessments omit the Encoding Sound-Spelling items. 

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information that students’ current skills/level of understanding of phonics. For example:

• In Program Implementation, Assessment Resources, Scoring Guidelines, the Weekly Assessment Tracker is designed to provide information on current levels of understanding in phonics. The materials instruct teachers how to use the weekly and unit assessment trackers to score assessments and determine the next steps. For the individual word recognition and word analysis assessments, if students miss two or more items in any category, the materials instruct the teacher to consult the corresponding Instructional Next Steps. 

• In Unit 2, Week 6, Session 5, during the Final e: a_e, i_e, o_e, u_e, e_e Weekly Assessment, the teacher records student data using the Weekly Assessment Tracker. The tracker provides the teacher with information designed to track and monitor each student’s current skills/level of phonics understanding.

Materials genuinely measure students’ progress to support teachers with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in phonics. For example:

• In Program Implementation, Assessment Resources, Scoring Guidelines, the materials outline instructional next steps that correspond to the different phonics assessment items: 

  • If a student substitutes an incorrect letter for a given sound in the Encoding Sound Spellings and Encoding Target Words assessment, items in the materials instruct the teacher to look for patterns across Parts 1, 2, and 4 of the assessment, then to provide additional instruction in any sound-spellings with a pattern of errors across items. 

  • If a student adds or deletes sounds when encoding sound-spellings, the materials instruct the teacher to provide children with an anchor word to help children retrieve the sound-spelling. 

  • If a student consistently makes errors with target sound-spellings when reading connected text items, the materials instruct teachers to compare results with assessment parts 1 and 2, in which students encode target sound-spellings. If a pattern emerges, the materials instruct teachers to reteach the target sound-spelling with which a student is struggling. The materials also suggest randomly displaying Word Building Cards and asking students to say the sound for each letter or letters on the card.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 2g.iv.

The materials include checks for understanding within the lessons, weekly formative assessments, and unit summative assessments that measure student progress in word recognition and analysis. Units 1–6 include a Read Connected Text unit assessment which measures students’ ability to decode known sound-spellings, read high-frequency words, and read words with target word analysis elements. Weekly assessments in Units 1–6 also include Read Connected Text assessments. The assessment materials then provide teachers with instructional steps designed to provide reteaching lessons and strategies designed to help ensure all students master word recognition and word analysis skills.

Materials regularly and systematically provide a variety of assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence of word recognition (high-frequency words or irregularly spelled words) and analysis. For example:

• In Unit 3, Week 11, Session 5, each student reads two sentences that each contain one high-frequency word and two to five target sound-spellings or word analysis target skills from the week. The teacher records any errors using the Assessment Tracker. 

• In Unit 3, Week 11, Session 5, , as part of the Long i, i, y, igh, ie, Part 3: Spell High-Frequency Words weekly assessment, students demonstrate their progress toward word recognition, analysis, and independence with word recognition by spelling good, also, too, very, been, look, and most.

• In Unit 5 Assessment, Weeks 21–25, students read aloud a connected text passage that contains two high-frequency words, 26 words with the unit’s target sound-spellings, and six word analysis words containing target word analysis skills. The teacher records any errors using the Assessment Tracker.   

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of word recognition and word analysis. For example:

• In Program Implementation, Assessment Resources, Scoring Guidelines, the Weekly tracker is designed to provide information on current levels of understanding of word recognition and word analysis. The materials instruct teachers how to use the weekly and unit assessment trackers to score assessments and determine next steps. For the individual word recognition and word analysis assessments, if students miss two or more items in any category, the materials instruct the teacher to consult the corresponding Instructional Next Steps. 

• In Unit 3, Week 15, Session 5, this portion of the r-Controlled Vowel ar: Part 5,  Read Connected Text Unit assessment is designed to provide the teacher with information related to each student’s current level of word recognition and word analysis skills.  

Materials support teachers with instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in word recognition and word analysis. For example:

• In Unit 2, Assessment, Weeks 6–10, the materials outline instructional next steps based on the Read Connected Text assessment results. If students consistently made errors across target sound-spellings, high-frequency words, and word-analysis skills, the materials instruct that students should choose a Magnetic Reader from the unit to reread for practice. The materials instruct the teacher to listen as the student reads aloud and to give corrective feedback using Fix-Up Strategies for expression, phrasing, and pacing. 

• In Unit 6 Assessment, Weeks 21–25, the materials outline instructional next steps based on the Read Connected Text assessment results. If students consistently made errors with target sound-spellings, the materials instruct teachers to compare results with assessment Parts 1, 2, and 4 in which students encode target sound-spellings. If a pattern emerges, the materials instruct teachers to reteach the target sound-spelling with which a student is struggling.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 2g.v.

The materials include multiple fluency assessment resources. The materials include benchmark assessments to be administered in the fall, winter, and spring. These benchmark assessments  provide teachers and students with information about students' current skills/level of understanding of fluency through the use of a scoring guide which provides guidance on calculating the mean words correct per minute and includes guidelines for determining proficiency based on these scores. The materials also provide fluency formative assessment and practice resources in the areas of rate, expression, phrasing, and intonation/inflection. The Administration of Fluency Guide provides teachers with materials and supports teachers with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in fluency.

Multiple assessment opportunities are provided regularly and systematically over the course of the year in core materials for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence of fluency. For example:

• In Fluency Practice & Assessment, Fluency Benchmarking, Administration Guide, the materials indicate that the Fluency Benchmark Assessment should be given in the fall, winter, and spring of second grade. Each assessment is administered one-on-one and consists of two benchmark passages. 

• In Fluency Practice & Assessment, Fluency Implementation Guide, the materials indicate that formative fluency assessments may be given at any point in Units 1–6 of second grade. 

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information about students' current skills/level of understanding of fluency. For example:

• In Fluency Practice & Assessment, Fluency Benchmarking, Administration Guide, the materials provide instructions for calculating students’ mean Words Correct per Minute (WCPM), mean accuracy, mean prosody, and mean comprehension score. The materials provide a WCPM Grade Level Percentile Ranges chart and instructs teachers to record students’ percentile range from the following options: 0–10, 11–24, 25–49, 50–75, 76–90+. The materials indicate that students meet grade-level expectations on the Benchmark Assessment if their Mean WCMP rate is in at least the 50th percentile on the Grade Level Percentile Ranges Chart, their mean accuracy is at or above 90%, and their mean comprehension and mean prosody score is a 3 or higher. 

• In Fluency Instruction and Formative Practice, Rate and Accuracy WCPM Tracker, the Corrective Feedback section notes that if a student is very stilted or monotone, the teacher should model reading one or two sentences with prosody and have the child repeat them.

Materials support teachers with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in fluency. For example:

• In Fluency Practice & Assessment, Fluency Skill: Rate and Accuracy, the materials instruct teachers to identify students in need of targeted practice with rate. The materials provide student passages and teacher directions and administration scripts. The materials instruct the teacher to repeat the activity with the same passage until the student achieves a proficient rate on that passage. 

• The Implementation Guide for Fluency Practice and Formative Assessment suggests that if children are below level that the teacher should determine what the primary problem is for the student within rate, and accuracy. It then suggests that if a child regularly spends more than one full second between each word, the teacher should focus on the Rate and Accuracy resources. Guidance prompts the teacher to choose the skill that corresponds to the weekly skill from the program scope and sequence. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 2h.

The materials include standards alignment resources for both formative and summative assessments inclusive of tasks, questions, and assessment items, along with specific standards covered in lessons. The materials include two Standards Correlation documents. One document outlines where in the program each standard is addressed by unit and the page number. The other document breaks down each item on the weekly and unit assessments by standard addressed. Additionally, the weekly materials include a list of standards addressed in the week’s lessons. While these embedded standards lists do not provide a breakdown of individual activities and tasks aligned to specific standards, that level of detail can be found in the Standards Correlation Lesson document by cross-referencing the unit and the page number. 

Materials include denotations of the standards being assessed in the formative assessments. For example:

• In Program Implementation, Standards Correlations, Weekly and Unit Assessments, the materials provide a Standards Correlation chart that shows the CCSS standard that corresponds to each assessment item in the weekly formative assessments.  

• In Unit 1, Week 4, Weekly Assessment, the Standards Correlation chart indicates that Part 2 of the assessment correlates with standard L.2.2d, “Generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words.” The assessment item requires students to encode the following words: crunched, sticking, traffic, snatching.

Materials include denotations of standards being assessed in the summative assessments. For example:

• In Program Implementation, Standards Correlations, Weekly and Unit Assessments, the materials provide a Standards Correlation chart that shows the CCSS standard that corresponds to each assessment item in the summative unit assessments.  

• In Unit 6, Unit Assessment, the Standards Correlation chart indicates that Part 4 of the assessment correlates with standard RF.2.4b, “Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.” The assessment item requires students to read a connected text passage aloud. 

Alignment documentation is provided for all tasks, questions, and assessment items. For example:

• In Program Implementation, Standards Correlations, Weekly and Unit Assessments, the materials provide a Standards Correlation chart that shows the CCSS standard that corresponds to each assessment item in the weekly and unit assessments.  

• The Instructional Materials include a list of standards addressed in the week’s lesson in the Weekly Planner and as a drop-down menu attached to the Teacher Lessons, Student Workbook, and other weekly materials. The Standards Correlations: Lessons document in Program Implementation outlines specific standard correlation to activities and tasks. 

Alignment documentation contains specific standards correlated to specific lessons. For example:

• In Program Implementation, Standards Correlations: Lessons, the materials provide a Standards Correlation chart that shows the CCSS standard that corresponds to each lesson. This document is organized by standard and provides the unit with a page number for lessons that correspond to the standard. 

• Several pages of the Grade 2 CCSS Correlations lists RF.2.3c in the Teacher Guide for Units 2, 3, and 6. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 2i.i.

The materials provide regular support for students who read, write, speak, or listen in a language other than English. The Program Implementation materials provide an overview of supports and the rationale as well as a Language Transfer Chart for sounds and sound-spellings in five languages (Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Arabic, and Haitian Creole). Within the lessons, materials preview specific supports for each session of each week in the Weekly Planner and Unit Overview. Materials embed support strategies and examples specific to activities and tasks in the lesson plans.

Materials provide support for English Language Learner (ELL) students. For example:

• The Program Implementation Guide includes English Learner materials. It includes the Universal Design for the Learning approach of the curriculum, and explains how this design benefits all students. The document includes a chart of Strategies and Scaffolds for English Learners that outlines the program’s types of support, related strategies, and examples from lessons. Supports include identifying sound and sound-spelling transfers, using visual and aural supports, using kinesthetics and rhythms, leveraging home languages, explaining idioms and expressions, analyzing words, and partnering. 

• The Program Implementation Guide includes a Language Transfers Chart. The chart compares English sounds and sound-spellings in the top five home languages spoken in the United States: Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Arabic, and Haitian Creole. The materials instruct teachers to point out existing transfers and to use EL support strategies in the lessons where transfer does not exist. 

General statements about ELL students or strategies are noted at the beginning of a unit or at one place in the Teacher Edition are then implemented by the materials throughout the lessons. For example:

• The Teacher Guide provides a detailed overview of the Universal Design for Learning which indicates strategies and scaffolds for English Learners. Materials embed supports designed to support foundational skills learned at the first encounter with the text. Materials provide point of use supports to help English Language Learners acquire grade-level phonological awareness, phonics, and reading skills.

• In Unit 1, Week 5, Weekly Planner, the Weekly Planner outlines specific English Learner Supports for Sessions 1–5, including identifying sounds-spelling transfers, using visuals, vocabulary supports, and review. Lesson materials include English Learner symbols that identify sections that provide teacher guidane on implementating support strategies specific to the lesson or task. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 2i.ii.

The materials provide regular support for differentiation and reteaching to  students needing additional support. The Program Implementation resources offer guidance to teachers for scaffolding and adapting lessons and activities to support students who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level in opportunities to learn foundational skills at the grade-level standards. The Program Implementation resources include an Instructional Routines document that outlines specific strategies for adapting lessons to support all learners. Within the Classroom Materials, a Small-Group Differentiation section offers reteaching lessons in the skills addressed each week. Teacher lesson plans also include formative checks, which offer reteaching strategies. Each week’s Weekly Planner instructs teachers to use assessment data to support students in need of reteaching and points teachers to the location of Instructional Routines and Instructional Next Steps. 

Materials provide opportunities for small group reteaching. For example:

• The Program Implementation includes a Flexible Pacing Options Guide. The  materials outline options for implementing small-group instruction when needed. The document indicates teachers should prioritize small-group instruction if there is a large variation in children’s skill proficiency. The materials instruct teachers to vary the frequency with which they meet with different small groups, meeting more frequently with students who would benefit from reteaching. The document indicates that Session 5 can be used weekly for reteaching and assessment. It also provides sample small-group pacing schedules to incorporate small-group teaching and information on using digital resources, alphabet books, and magnetic readers in small-group instruction. 

• Materials include Small-Group Differentiation each week. The Tools for Instruction section provides small-group reteaching lessons for the specific skills taught that week. Each plan includes step-by-step directions for teachers and suggested modifications for instruction if the teacher observes specific student errors. 

Materials provide guidance to teachers for scaffolding and adapting lessons and activities to support students who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level in extensive opportunities to learn foundational skills at the grade-level standards.  For example:

• In Program Implementation, the Instructional Routines Guide includes an Options for Differentiation box for each instructional routine. The Options for Differentiation provide guidance on how to differentiate specific activities and tasks, including adding manipulatives, visuals, and movement; incorporating games; using Sound Spelling and Articulation and Word Building cards; and teaching and sharing tools for learning and self-checking, including sound-spelling and articulation cards. Each week’s Weekly Planner instructs teachers to use assessment data from the previous week to plan modifications and review the support for learner variability in the Instructional Routines to support students. 

• In Unit 3, Week 12, Session 2, following an analysis of the Whole-Class and Individual Assessment, materials provide the teacher with If-then scaffolded reteaching activities designed to target specific grade-level foundational skill gaps.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 meet the criteria for 2i.iii.

The materials provide opportunities for students to have advanced opportunities using a challenge set for students. The Program Implementation materials offer pacing suggestions for incorporating increased small-group instruction for classes with a large variation in proficiency. Program Implementation materials include Options for Differentiation for recurring instructional routines, which include some challenge options. Classroom Resources includes small-group instruction supports for above-level students. Many of the extension activities are based on comprehension and writing activities and are not always specific to foundational skills.

Materials provide multiple opportunities for advanced students to investigate grade-level foundational skills at a greater depth. For example:

• The Small Group Differentiation section included in the Tools for Instruction provides small-group lessons for the specific skills taught that week. Tools for Instruction lessons include a range of content, allowing use for extension lessons for students working above grade level. Instructional Routines include an Options for Differentiation box for each instructional routine. These provide guidance to differentiate specific activities and tasks, including adding manipulatives, visuals, and movement and incorporating games.

• In Unit 3, Week 14, Session 1, the Word Level Reading Fluency task includes a sixth line of words intended for students who are ready for a challenge. This line includes the following words: wrinkle, wrongful, knocker, doorknob, wristwatch. 

There are no instances of advanced students simply doing more assignments than their classmates. For example:

• In Unit 3, Week 11, Extension Session, materials provide advanced opportunities to read the Magnetic Reader, “In the Woodland.” Students engage in comprehension activities, respond to a writing prompt, and create an illustration.

• In Unit 2, Week 6, Extension Session, materials provide advanced opportunities to read the Magnetic Reader, “Landforms.” Students engage in comprehension activities, respond to a writing prompt, and create an illustration.