1st Grade - Gateway 2
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Building Knowledge
Building Knowledge with Texts, Vocabulary, and TasksGateway 2 - Partially Meets Expectations | 50% |
|---|---|
Criterion 2.1 | 12 / 24 |
Criterion 2.2: Coherence | 4 / 8 |
Not all units in the program effectively build students’ knowledge on a topic. While text analysis is well-covered, including some analysis of knowledge and ideas within and across texts, not all questions and tasks compel students to return to the text to support their contentions and conclusions.
Students engage in frequent writing tasks across the year; however, since informational writing encompasses nearly half of writing instruction, students may not achieve the full balance of writing genres outlined in the standards.
The Inquiry projects that conclude each unit teach some research skills but due to student choice, do not provide adequate growth in those skills. These projects also fall short of demonstrating the growth of students’ knowledge, standards, and skills from the unit.
The materials provide coverage of the standards throughout all units and over the course of the year; however, the preponderance of repetitive, unaligned reading strategies throughout the program moves the focus of the instruction, questions, tasks, and assessments away from a tight focus on grade level standards alignment. The program also contains a large volume of material without a suggested daily schedule; therefore, a full and standards-aligned implementation could be challenging.
Criterion 2.1
Materials build knowledge through integrated reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language.
The Open Court Grade 1 materials include twelve units that are formed around a topic or theme related to the program theme. Each unit includes a big idea and question that is aligned to a vertical thread that runs across each grade level in the program. However, not all units work toward building knowledge on a topic as some work toward a unifying theme.
Within each unit, the questions and tasks lead students to analyze the key ideas, details, craft and structure of the texts they are studying. Students also engage in some analysis of knowledge and ideas within and across texts, however not all questions and tasks compel students to return to the text to support their contentions and conclusions.
Students engage in frequent writing tasks across the year; however, since informational writing encompasses nearly half of writing instruction, students may not achieve the full balance of writing genres outlined in the standards.
While the Inquiry projects provide an opportunity for students to extend their learning about the topic or theme of each unit, these projects fail to consistently incorporate the knowledge and skills students gain throughout the unit nor do they require the students to incorporate and demonstrate the integration of the knowledge and skills that align to the standards. Since the projects may be done in a group for every unit, they may fail to build each individual student’s research skills as required by the standards.
Indicator 2a
Texts are organized around a cohesive topic(s) to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently.
The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2a.
Most of the units in Grade 1 focus on a topic; some are tied together by broad themes. Topics in Grade 1 include Science Cycles, Light and Sound, Around Our Town, Around Our World, Roots and Seeds, Animals From Head to Toe, Red, White, and Blue, and Art in Motion. Themes found in the Grade 1 curriculum include Back to School and Be My Friend. Each lesson in a unit also includes two to three essential questions that are the focus for the text(s) during that week; however, at times, these essential questions do not consistently connect to the Big Idea in a way that helps build knowledge on a specific topic. Each unit includes three lessons, and within each lesson, students listen to up to three texts in a given week with up to three different essential questions, meaning students do not spend enough time on a topic to build knowledge. Most anchor texts within a given week are paired with a poem, as opposed to an informational text on the same topic that builds knowledge. According to the Program Guide, “Through the engaging themes that stretch across grade levels in SA Open Court Reading, students learn about universal truths, such as kindness and friendship, as well as about cross-curricular subject areas, such as life science and government.” The topics/themes across all grades are character, changes, communities, life science, government, and creativity.
Some texts are connected by a grade-level appropriate topic. Some texts build knowledge and the ability to read/listen and comprehend complex texts across a school year. Examples include:
In Unit 3, Science Cycles, the Big Idea is “What is a cycle?” and the texts included in each lesson in this unit focus on a different aspect of science cycles such as time, seasons, and life cycle. Students progress quickly through each text and essential question, which doesn’t provide students with adequate time to build knowledge on the topic. Three texts and three different essential questions are included in each of the three lessons within the unit. For example, in Lesson 1, students listen to the informational text, Time is When with the essential question, “What measurements of time can you think of?” Within this week, students also listen to the myth, The Reason for Four Seasons with the essential question, “What changes do you see when the seasons change?” and the poem, “The Months,” with the essential question, “What is your favorite time of year? Why do you like it?” In Lesson 2, students listen to a realistic fiction text, Jake’s Tree, with the essential question, “What changes in nature can you see?”, a narrative nonfiction text, Journey of a Raindrop with the essential question, “What happens to water after it rains?”, and a poem, “Spring Rain,” with the essential question, “Why is springtime rain important for nature?” In Lesson 3, students listen to an explanatory text, From Seed to Flower, with the essential question, “What changes do you see when watching a flower grow?”, an informational text, Insects Grow and Change, with the essential question, “How do animals change as they grow older?”, and a poem, “Cycles of Life” with the essential question, “How do living things change as they grow?”
In Unit 8, Animals From Head to Toe, the Big Idea is “Why do animal bodies have different features?” and the texts focus on how animals use different parts of their bodies; however the texts and essential questions within the unit do not consistently build knowledge pertaining to the Big Idea. For example, in Lesson 1, students listen to a fantasy text, George Makes Friends, with the essential question, “How do animals' body parts help them in their environments?”, an informational text, Gecko Toes and Dragonfly Eyes, with the essential question, “How do animals taste, touch, smell, see, or hear?”, and a fable, The Fable of the Lion and the Mouse, with the essential question, “How might a small animal help a bigger animal?” In Lesson 2, students listen to an explanatory text, Grow, Ladybug, Grow!, by Ursula Cook, with the essential question, “What types of physical changes happen as babies grow into adults?”, and a fantasy text, Just Like My Mother, with the essential question, “In what ways are you similar to the people in your family?” In Lesson 3, students listen to a photo essay, “How Animals Move” with the essential question, “Which parts of your body help you move?”
Some texts in a unit are connected by a theme, as opposed to building knowledge on a topic. Examples include:
In Unit 1, Back to School, the Big Idea is “Why do we go to school?” Students listen to texts such as First Grade Stinks!, which is a story about the transition from Kindergarten to Grade 1 (Lesson 1) and What Will I be?, which tells about different jobs (Lesson 3). The texts in this unit are tied together by a broad theme of school. The unit does not provide an opportunity for students to build knowledge on a specific topic.
In Unit 2, Be My Friend, the Big Idea is “What does it take to be a good friend?’ Students listen to texts about friendship such as Molto’s Dream, which is about a tiger who does not want to share with his friends (Lesson 1) and Far Away Friends (Lesson 3), which is about how children can make friends all across the globe by becoming pen pals. The texts in this unit are tied together by a broad theme of friendship, but there are limited opportunities for students to build knowledge.
Indicator 2b
Materials require students to analyze the key ideas, details, craft, and structure within individual texts as well as across multiple texts using coherently sequenced, high-quality questions and tasks.
The materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria of Indicator 2b.
Materials include multiple opportunities for students to interact with anchor texts within a week. During a Shared Reading session, questions on key ideas, details, craft, and structure are modeled and/or prompted by the teacher. Shared reading prompts transition from teacher modeling in the early units to modeling and prompting in the middle of the year, to just prompts by the end of the year. Following a reading, Discussion Starter questions ask students to recall ideas from the text. On a subsequent day, students read or listen to the text again in order to analyze Writer’s Craft or to use an Access Complex Text strategy. The Look Closer section at the end of each selection specifically asks students to analyze the key ideas and details, the writer’s craft, and the text structure of the selection. The type of questions asked in this section require students to delve deeper into the text to help them access the complex text and to make sense of the text.
While most questions and tasks are high-quality, provide a logical sequence, and build in rigor throughout the year, some questions engage students in practices that do not align to the grade-level standards. The teacher models tasks at the beginning of the year and gradually releases more of the task to the students.
For some texts (read-aloud texts K-1 and anchor texts Grade 2), students analyze key ideas and details and craft and structure (according to grade-level standards).
The materials contain coherently sequenced questions and tasks that address key ideas and details; however, the bulk of the questions and tasks address reading strategies that steer students' focus away from the text. Examples include:
In Unit 2, Lesson 1, after listening to Chicken Chickens Go to School by Valerie Gorbachev, students are asked questions such as, “Why will Beaver, Rabbit, and Frog not talk to the little chickens when they say hello? How does Mrs. Heron help the little chickens make friends with the other chickens?”
In Unit 5, Lesson 2, during Access Complex Text, students discuss the sequence for the text Sam’s Map by Miguel Navarro. Students are asked questions such as, “What is happening on page 5? What is happening on page 6? What happens in the end?” Students are also asked questions that do not address craft and structure nor are text-based such as, “What would you put on a map of your neighborhood?”
In Unit 7, Lesson 1, during a reread of Plant Life Cycles by Julie K. Lundgren, students discuss cause and effect. Students respond to questions such as, “What happens when seeds are ready? What is the cause? What is the effect?” Prior to this students are asked a series of connection questions such as, “Can anyone make any connections with your own life? Have you watched a plant grow from a seed?”
In Unit 9, Lesson 2, after listening to Veterans: Heroes in our Neighborhood by Valerie Pfundstein, students are asked to tell the main idea and some details that support the main idea.
In Unit 12, Lesson 2, students read Dance, a Balanced Art by Kathleen Defede, and are asked, “What is the main idea of these pages? Which supporting details does the author give?”
The materials contain some coherently sequenced questions and tasks that address craft and structure. Examples include:
In Unit 2, Lesson 1, students listen to Chicken Chickens Go to School by Valeri Gorbachev, and after the second read the teacher asks questions about the author's craft such as, “How does the author make the little chickens seem like real students on their first day of school? How does the author make Mrs. Heron seem like a real teacher?”
In Unit 4, Lesson 1, after reading Me and My Shadow by Amy Tao, the teacher reminds students that authors use text features such as illustrations, photos, captions, and charts to help readers make sense of what they are reading. The teacher asks students to tell what the illustrations on pages 16 and 17 show. Additional questions include, “What information do the signs on the tree stump on page 16 tell? Why is this important?” Students also respond to questions such as, “The next time you are outside on a sunny day, how will you experiment with your shadow?”
In Unit 6, Lesson 3, Day 1 after reading A Trip to Peru by Chandler Tyrrell, students are asked four questions, none of which address craft and structure. The questions include, “How does the land of Peru contribute to the culture of the people who live and lived there? What part of Bailey’s trip sounds the most exciting to you?”
In Unit 11, Lesson 1, after reading Crayons by Jane Yolen, students review point of view and then answer the questions, “Who is telling the story or poem when it is told from the first-person point of view? Who is telling the story or poem when it is told from the third-person point of view?” Students reread the poem and explain from which point of view the poem is told and how they know.
Indicator 2c
Materials require students to analyze the integration of knowledge within individual texts as well as across multiple texts using coherently sequenced, high-quality text-specific and/or text-dependent questions and tasks.
The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2c.
In the Grade 1 materials, students have opportunities to analyze the integration of knowledge within a single text; however, materials provide limited opportunities for students to analyze the integration of knowledge across multiple texts on a topic. Questions that provide students opportunities to analyze the integration of knowledge mostly occur during the Access Complex Text portion of the lesson plan. Materials also include questions within a given week that focus on comprehension strategies such as making connections, predicting, and visualizing, as opposed to questions that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge. Some sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze across multiple texts as well as within single texts.
Sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze within single texts. Examples include:
In Unit 3, Lesson 1, students listen to “Time is When” by Beth Bleick, and are asked questions about cycles such as, “How is a week a cycle? How is the time from your last birthday to your next birthday a cycle? What is time?”
In Unit 7, Lesson 1, after reading Plant Life Cycles by Julie K. Lundren, students use illustrations in the text and answer questions such as, “Why are there arrows between each step? Why is there an arrow from the fourth step back to the first step?”
In Unit 10, Lesson 1, after listening to Uncle Sam by Helen Iepp, students respond to questions such as, “Why is Uncle Sam a symbol of the United States? How are Uncle Sam and Samuel Wilson the same? What is the connection between Samuel Wilson and James Montgomery Flagg?”
Some sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze across multiple texts. Examples include:
In Unit 1, Lesson 3, students are asked to think about the previously read texts including The Little School Bus by Carol Roth, What Will I Be? By Jill Johnson, and We Couldn’t Wait by Maggie Smith-Beehler. Students answer questions such as, “Who rode the little school bus to school? What did the students in We Couldn’t Wait learn in school?” There is no opportunity provided to analyze across multiple texts in Unit 1.
In Unit 3, Lesson 1, after reading Time is When by Beth Gleick, students are asked to think about the Read-Aloud on Day 1, The Reason of Four Seasons, and the teacher asks, “How is The Reason for Four Seasons different from Time is When?”
In Unit 7, Lesson 1, while reading Plant Life Cycles by Julie K. Lundren, the teacher pauses and asks, “What connections can you make between this selection and From Seed to Flower in Unit 3?” This question does not provide students with an opportunity to integrate knowledge between the two texts.
Indicator 2d
Culminating tasks require students to demonstrate their knowledge of a unit's topic(s) through integrated literacy skills (e.g., a combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).
The materials reviewed for Grade 1 do not meet the criteria of Indicator 2d.
Materials do not include culminating tasks that demonstrate students’ knowledge of a topic through integrated skills. At the end of each unit, students complete an Inquiry Project, but these are not evaluated on any specific reading or writing standards and do not require demonstration of knowledge accumulated through the unit. The Inquiry Projects do relate to the theme or topic of the unit, but text-dependent questions and tasks prior to the Inquiry Projects do not necessarily help students complete the project. Some tasks may be considered culminating in units; however; they are not found consistently throughout the year.
Culminating tasks are not found across a year’s worth of material nor are they multifaceted, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of several different standards (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) at the appropriate grade level. Examples include:
Inquiry Projects at the end of each unit are related to the theme of the unit, but do not require students to demonstrate mastery of several standards. According to the Program Guide, the Inquiry Projects require students to “conduct an investigation into something related to the theme that interests them.”
In Unit 1, Lesson 3, students begin by discussing what they enjoyed most about the unit and what they have learned from the texts. Then the students draw and write a sentence about what they have learned about school in the unit. This type of culminating task is not found in most units.
Culminating tasks are not varied across the year and do not provide students the opportunity to demonstrate comprehension and knowledge of a topic or topics through integrated skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening). For example:
The end-of-unit Inquiry Projects allow students to choose the modality in which they present. There is no integration of skills required.
Inquiry Projects do not ask for any demonstration of comprehension or knowledge of the topic.
Examples of tasks include, in Unit 5, that students research the theme Around Our Time. Options for presenting include dressing up as a community worker and explaining what they do, creating a mural of people or places in the community, or writing job descriptions of the community workers that were interviewed.
Indicator 2e
Materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to achieve grade-level writing proficiency by the end of the school year.
The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2e.
Grade 1 students participate in writing tasks across the entire year. The majority of student writing is process writing, which occurs daily and includes a variety of genres, though it focuses more on informational writing. On-demand writing only occurs in the second half of the year and the majority of writing tasks do not rely on information students have read, making it difficult for students to achieve grade-level writing proficiency by the end of the school year. The program includes graphic organizers, a range of rubrics, and sample responses.
Materials include some writing instruction aligned to the standards for the grade level, and writing instruction spans the whole school year. Examples include:
Students learn how to write opinion pieces during process writing instruction in Units 5, 7, and 8. There is little variation in the task itself and teacher directions to draft their pieces is general.
Students learn how to write narrative pieces during process writing only twice during the year -- in Units 2 and 12. Instruction is limited and similar in both units. For both units, students use their story map to draft their story.
Throughout the year, students learn how to draft during process writing. In Unit 1, students draft their autobiography. They are given a sentence frame to draft a sentence that goes with a picture. In Unit 11, students begin working on their drafts by following the model, the notes, and their sequence maps.
Instructional materials include a variety of well-designed lesson plans, models, and protocols for teachers to implement and monitor students’ writing development. Examples include:
Students learn to use the POW (P= pick an idea, O= organize my notes, W= write) Graphic Organizer, which is a mnemonic device to help students plan and draft any genre of writing. Students use this same organizer across the entire year.
The Program Overview explains how to conference with students to provide feedback. There is a basic procedure for conferencing, which has the student reading his or her work aloud using one or more of the strategies to help the student improve his/her work, and having the student add, delete, or rearrange something in the writing. This process is the same throughout the entire year.
The Resources Library provides graphic organizers, including a cluster web, a Venn diagram, and a story map.
Rubrics are provided for different genres. There is a four-point rubric for the writing process and a four-point rubric for writing traits.
The materials include Instructional Routine 18, which is a checklist to help students edit and revise their writing.
In Unit 3, Lesson 2, the teacher models how to use a list as a graphic organizer.
In Unit 11, Lesson 2, students engage in the Story Sharing Protocol for revising their biography. Students share their writing and then other students share suggestions on how to revise the story.
Indicator 2f
Materials include a progression of research skills that guide shared research and writing projects to develop students' knowledge using multiple texts and source materials.
The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2f.
Within each unit of the Grade 1 materials, students engage in research through the Inquiry Project. Students learn and apply the same six research steps across the year, with some shifting from teacher-led to student-led tasks. Five of the six are repeated from Kindergarten. In each unit, students have the opportunity to choose the research question and mode for presentation, making it difficult for the teacher to provide explicit instruction in research skills. As a result, research projects are not sequenced across the school year to include a progression of research skills according to the grade-level standards. Directions are vague and explicit instruction for research skills is not found throughout the program.
Research projects are not sequenced across a school year to include a progression of research skills that build to mastery of the grade-level standards. Examples include:
In each unit there is an Inquiry Project and according to the Program Overview “a gradual release from whole-class to small-group or individual inquiry structures” will happen. However, there is no specific guidance on how or when to make that shift.
The same steps for research and inquiry are taught throughout the year without a progression of skills. Five of the six skills are from Kindergarten. The steps are: (1) Generate Ideas (2) Develop Questions (3) Create Conjectures (4) Collect Information (5) Confirm or Revise Conjectures and (6) Share Presentations
Teacher language is very similar or even identical at various points in the year. In Unit 2, Lesson 1, the Teacher Guide states, “Ask students whether they have any wonderings or questions about friendship they might want to investigate.” Then in Unit 9, Lesson 1, the Teacher Guide says again, “Ask students whether they have any additional wonderings or questions about patriotism that they might want to investigate.”
Because students choose their research for each unit, there is no clear progression of skills. In Unit 3, Lesson 2, materials state, “If students are reading nonfiction selections about the water cycle, model for students how to take notes or draw pictures to record the sequence of the water cycle.” In Unit 9, Lesson 2, materials state, “If students are conducting surveys about patriots, help them generate who, what, when, where, why, and how questions to ask on the survey.” In addition, no explicit instruction is provided.
Materials support teachers in employing projects that develop students’ knowledge on a topic. For example:
In all units, there is a Concept/Question Board where students can display their ideas about the unit theme to help them generate research questions. For example, in Unit 5, students learn about the community and are encouraged to bring in and post items related to the community such as photos, maps, and local newspapers.
In Unit 11, several texts from the unit are provided to help develop students’ knowledge of the unit topic of art such as, Cave Paintings: Messages from Long Ago by Sarah Ward Terrell, and Henri’s Scissors by Jeanette Winter.
Materials include minimal shared research projects to help develop students’ research skills. Whole-class experiences guide students through research. For example:
In Unit 3, students study the science cycles and the teacher models taking notes from nonfiction selections. As students research, they place their findings on the Concept/Question board to share their research.
The Inquiry Project Rubric includes two areas for collaboration, though examples of shared research are not found throughout the program.
Criterion 2.2: Coherence
Materials promote mastery of grade-level standards by the end of the year.
The materials provide coverage of the standards throughout all units and over the course of the year, however, the preponderance of repetitive, unaligned reading strategies throughout the program moves the focus of the instruction, questions, tasks, and assessments away from a tight focus on grade level standards alignment. The program also contains a large volume of material without a suggested daily schedule; therefore, a full and standards-aligned implementation could be challenging.
Indicator 2g
Materials spend the majority of instructional time on content that falls within grade-level aligned instruction, practice, and assessments.
The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2g.
Materials include instruction that is aligned to grade-level standards; however, a great deal of time is also spent on reading comprehension strategies that are not connected to the standards, such as predicting and making connections. Because of this, some instructional questions and tasks do not focus on grade-level standards. During the first read of a text, the teacher models comprehension strategies. The bulk of this instruction and corresponding questions are not aligned to the standards. During a second read of the text, with Access Complex Text topics and Writer’s Craft, instruction and tasks tend to be standards-aligned. Similarly, some assessment questions align to the grade-level standards, while others focus on reading comprehension strategies and other areas that are not part of the grade-level standards.
Over the course of each unit, some instruction is aligned to grade-level standards. For example:
In Unit 1, students are taught three reading comprehension strategies, which include asking and answering questions (RL/I.1.1), as well as making connections and predicting, which are not aligned to the standards.
In Unit 7, students are taught various ways to access complex texts such as compare and contrast (RI.1.9) and main idea and details (RI.1.2), but also sequence, classify, and categorize, which are not aligned to the standards.
In Unit 8, students focus on the comprehension strategies of asking and answering questions, clarifying, making connections, and summarizing. For each of them, two of the three lessons are standards-aligned.
In Unit 11, students focus on various reading comprehension strategies including asking and answering questions (RL/I.1.1), as well as making connections, predicting, clarifying, visualizing, and summarizing, all of which are not connected to a grade-level standard.
In Grade 1, students read a variety of unique text types, which meets the Standard for RL.1.5. Some of the text types include realistic fiction, myths, biographies, and rhyming fiction.
Standard SL.1.1 states that students should have “collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts.” Students are taught how to do this in the Handing-off Strategy and it is used in later units including Unit 7, Lesson 2, Day 3, Unit 9, Lesson 2, Day 3, and Unit 11, Lesson 2, Day 3.
Over the course of each unit, most questions and tasks are aligned to grade-level standards. Examples include:
In the materials, students work on the Writing Standards W.1.1, W.1.2, and W.1.3; however, there is not an equal distribution of time spent on writing opinion, narrative, and informative/explanatory writing pieces.
Throughout the year, students learn about text features (RI.1.5), including in Unit 5, Lesson 1 where students locate and discuss heading and captions, and in Unit 11, Lesson 3, where the students review photographs and their purpose.
After a first read of a text, there are discussion questions that mostly align to grade-level standards. In Unit 8, Lesson 1, students are asked, “Why does the mouse beg the lion to let her be free? How are the characters different? Which words or phrases in the story tell how the mouse and the lion feel?” These questions align to RL.1.1, RL.1.2, RL.1.3, and RL.1.4.
Over the course of each unit, some assessment questions are aligned to grade-level standards. For example,
In Unit 1, Lesson 2, students are asked to look at three words and listen to a story and then draw a line under the answer that shows what caused Hank to fail. This is assessing cause and effect, which is not aligned to the standards.
In Unit 3, Lesson 1, students look at three pictures and listen to a story and then draw a line under the picture that shows what happens next. This assessment focuses on sequencing, which is not aligned to the standards.
In Unit 9, students are assessed on grade-level standards such as vocabulary (RI.1.4) and narrative writing (W.1.3).
By the end of the academic year, standards are addressed within and across units, however the focus on unaligned strategies throughout may not allow students to fully master the depth and breadth of the standards. For example:
Some standard are covered consistently throughout the year such as:
RL/I.1.1, which is found in every unit.
RL.1.2, which is found in Units 1 - 6, 8-9, and 11-12.
RL.1.3, which is found in every unit.
W.1.8, which is found in every unit
SL.1.1 and SL.1.5 which are found in every unit
Some standards are not covered within each unit; however, they are spread out throughout the year. For example,
RL.1.9 is found in Units 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, and 12.
RI.1.9 is found in Units 3 - 12.
W.1.2 is found in Units 3, 4, 9 - 12
Indicator 2h
Materials regularly and systematically balance time and resources required for following the suggested implementation, as well as information for alternative implementations that maintain alignment and intent of the standards.
The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2h.
Materials include implementation schedules that align to core learning and objectives. However, there are 190 full lessons in the Grade 1 materials and no guidance is provided on how to implement the program when there are not 190 days of instruction available. In addition, individual lessons do not indicate how much time is spent on a topic in a day. Lessons are written in a linear way with suggested activities in the core lesson and alternative options below as teacher tips. Optional tasks support core learning and are flexible in order to meet the needs of all students.
There are no suggested implementation schedules and alternative implementation schedules found in the program. For example:
The Scope and Sequence outlines units, lessons, and instruction. Lessons are broken down by days; however, within the day, there is no approximate teaching time for each area of study or information on how to complete the topics in one day.
The program guide gives suggestions on when small group instruction can be offered. The Teacher Edition states, “Whatever the case may be, workshop should be flexible and work well for both you and your students.”
In Unit 1, there is a Getting Started Section which is included in order to provide teachers with an opportunity to observe students and evaluate their levels prior to the start of instruction. This is a ten-day lesson plan, and gives teachers the ability “to spend more or less time on a specific lesson, depending on the needs” of the students.
Suggested implementation schedules cannot be reasonably completed in the time allotted. For instance:
There are 190 days of planned instruction for Grade 1. This includes two weeks of a Getting Started section at the beginning of the year, and 12 units with three weeks of lessons (each week with five days of instruction) for each unit.
There are no recommendations provided to accommodate school schedules that have fewer than 190 days of instructional time.
Daily lessons do not include time frames for individual activities, nor do the program materials indicate a total literacy block time frame. In a typical lesson, there are 27 distinct activities in one day (15 in Foundational Skills, six in Reading and Responding, and six in Language Arts). This does not include the additional 15 - 30 minutes for Workshop time.
Optional materials and tasks do not distract from core learning. For example:
Workshop is part of core learning, but the activities and resources in each area (reading, writing, listening, phonics, and fluency) are up to the teacher. This time is meant for extra practice with core content, individualized learning, or small-group time.
There is a suggested timeline for what Workshop will look like in each unit based on the grade level.
There are additional lessons for intervention that can be used flexibly and taught to individual students or used during small group instruction during Workshop. The materials review and reinforce skills being taught to the whole group.
Optional materials and tasks are meaningful and enhance core instruction. For example:
Workshop time is when teachers can work with small groups or individual students. All students are either working on independent material or working with the teacher, which can focus on preteaching, retreating, or engaging in enrichment activities. Students not working with the teacher have options such as reading a decodable, completing writing assignments, or practicing skills with eGames.
Teacher tips and notes on differentiation are used liberally throughout the Teacher Edition and are always options. Sometimes they are reminders or activities to include in the moment to enhance core instruction and other times they are suggestions for Workshop time.