2nd Grade - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2a.

The texts in some units focus on a Big Idea that identifies a specific topic. Other units are tied together by a broad theme. The topics include Earth in Action, My Community at Work, Plants and Animals, and Citizenship. Some units are focused on a theme such as Teamwork and Story Time. Each lesson in a unit also includes an essential question that is the focus for the text(s) included 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. Within a given week, the majority of anchor texts 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 SRA 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 2, Earth in Action, the Big Idea is, “In what ways can Earth’s surface change?” The eight texts are organized in a way to help students progress through the concept. For example, students read the informational text, A River of Ice (Lesson 2) with the essential question, “In what ways can frozen water change the shape of the land?”, which introduces the concept of glaciers and slow changes to the Earth’s surface. Then they read an informational text about earthquakes called, All About Earthquakes!  (Lesson 4) with the essential question, “How do earthquakes change Earth’s surface?”

  • In Unit 4, Plants and Animals, the Big Idea is, “How do plants and animals help each other?” Students read texts that help build their knowledge of how plants and animals help each other. For example, students read the fantasy, Hungry Little Hare with the essential question, “Why do some animals need to blend into their environment?” (Lesson 2) and the informational text, Busy Bees with the essential question, “In what ways do honeybees and plants help each other?” (Lesson 4).

• Some texts in a unit are connected by a theme, as opposed to building knowledge on a topic. Examples include:

  • In Unit 1, Teamwork, the Big Idea is, “How can you work better with others?” Some texts in this unit include a fantasy text, The Mice Who Lived in a Shoe (Lesson 1) with the essential question, “ How can families work together as a team?” and a fable, The Bat, Birds, and Beasts (Lesson 3) with the essential question, “How can you show loyalty to your teammates?” This broad theme does not provide students with the opportunity to build knowledge on a topic over the length of the unit. 

  • In Unit 6, Story Time, the Big Idea is, “Why do you enjoy stories?” Students listen to texts that address the elements of quality stories and learn how people use storytelling in their lives. The stories in this unit expose students to different types of stories, but opportunities to build knowledge in a sequential manner is limited. Examples of texts include the folktale, One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, Part Two (Lesson 1) with the essential question, “What are some qualities that make a story exciting?” and the informational text, Storytelling: A Zulu Tradition (Lesson 5) with the essential question, “What are some of the reasons why people tell stories to one another?”

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2c.

Throughout the Grade 2 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.  Naterials 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 1, Lesson 4, after looking at and reading the map of The Appalachian Trail (no author), students work with a partner to answer questions such as, “How many states does the Appalachian Trail cross? How can you tell what the total distance is of the Appalachian Trail? How can you determine the geography of the Appalachian Trail?” 

  • In Unit 2, Lesson 1, students read Mattland by Hazel Hutchins and Gail Herbert, and are asked, “What are some of the ways, big and small, that people can change the surface of the Earth?” 

  • In Unit 4, Lesson 4, after reading Busy Bees by Brighid Lowe, students tell what they learned on page 86 about how bees help plants and then on page 87 students tell how bees help people. 

  • In Unit 5, Lesson 2, students read the poem “Statue of Liberty,” and are asked questions such as “What is the difference between a natural-born citizen and a naturalized citizen of the United States? How can people become naturalized citizens?” 

• Some sets of questions and tasks provide opportunities to analyze across multiple texts. Examples include:

  • In Unit 1, Lesson 3, after reading The Bat, Birds, and Beasts retold by Chad Clark, students compare that story to other versions of the same story by different authors, such as the traditional Aesop’s Fables. The students discuss why each author might have written it differently. 

  • In Unit 4, Lesson 4, students recall what they learned about pollination from Flower Power and then compare and contrast it to Busy Bees by Brighid Lowe.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2e.

Grade 2 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 occurs after each close reading of a text. However, a minority of tasks throughout the entire year 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 provides graphic organizers, including 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:

  • Writing to inform process writing tasks are present in the beginning, middle, and end of the year. In Unit 2, students write four short informational writing pieces. The first one is a class shared-writing piece and the second one is planned in pairs. The third and fourth writing opportunities are done independently. In Unit 4, students write to inform again, but this time they use a compare and contrast structure. 

  • Students write a narrative in the middle and end of the year. In Unit 3, students write four short narratives. The first one is a shared writing piece and the second piece is planned in pairs. The third and fourth ones are done independently. In Unit 5, students write a narrative again, but this time they choose what narrative genre they would like to use to write.

  • Throughout the year, students learn prewriting strategies. There is no real progression of skills for this step of process writing. In Units 1, 3, and 6, the teacher models how to use the graphic organizer for prewriting before students complete it independently. 

• Instructional materials include a variety of well-designed lesson plans, models, and protocols for teachers to implement and monitor students’ writing development. Examples include:

  • In Unit 2, Lesson 4, students review the purpose and benefits of using a TREE graphic organizer to plan the writing. The TREE graphic organizer has students write a Topic sentence, Reasons with an Explanation, and an Ending to wrap it up. This same graphic organizer is used throughout 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 read aloud his or her work, 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 work. This process is the same throughout the entire year. 

  • 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 17, which is a checklist to help students edit and revise their writing. 

  • In Unit 6, Lesson 1, the teacher uses the writing rubrics to evaluate students’ poems.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2f.

Within each unit of the Grade 2 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. Materials include the same six steps from Grade 1. However, 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. 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. For example, in Unit 1, the teacher chooses the class investigation question, and then in Unit 3, students lead the class discussion. By Unit 6, students choose their preferred question and form like-minded groups to conduct research. 

  • The same steps for research and inquiry are taught throughout the year without a progression of skills. Instruction for these skills is very similar to the instruction provided for Grade 1 students. The steps are: (1) Develop Questions (2) Create Conjectures (3) Collect Information (4) Revise Conjectures (5) Develop Presentations and (6) Deliver Presentations. 

  • Throughout the year, the teacher models note-taking strategies so that by the end of the year students have learned six different note-taking strategies and can choose which one to use for their research project. 

  • In Unit 2, Lesson 3, the teacher models how to use a Venn Diagram. The materials state, “Use Venn diagrams to compare and contrast, where useful.” Not all students are given this instruction since the teacher has discretion to provide instruction or not based on each students’ project.

• Materials support teachers in employing projects that develop students’ knowledge on a topic. For example: 

  • Unit texts used in Unit 1 help students with the Inquiry Project about why humans and animals work together as a team including, The Mice Who Lived in a Shoe by Rodney Peppe and Ant and Aphids Work Together by Martha E.H. Rustard.

  • In Unit 5, students are given unit texts to support their Inquiry Project about citizenship such as A New Life in America by Elsa Hale and A Brand-New American Family by Karen E. Martin.

• Materials include minimal shared research projects to help develop students’ research skills. Whole-class experiences guide students through research. For example: 

  • In Unit 1, Lesson 3, students review the question and conjectures they are researching as a class and share information The teacher makes a list of students’ findings and models using a graphic organizer to organize the information. The class completes the organizer together as a group. 

  • In Unit 5, the teacher models how to collect information but students do not engage in a shared research project. The teacher states, “I need to learn more about democracies and why the Founding Fathers made America a democracy. I will look in books and online.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria of Indicator 2g.

The materials include instruction that is aligned to the grade-level standards, as well as instruction that is not aligned to the grade-level standards, and instead focuses on reading comprehension strategies such as predicting and making connections. During the first read of a text, the teacher models comprehension strategies, and this instruction and corresponding questions are mostly not aligned to 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. Because of this both questions and tasks and assessment questions are not always aligned to the standards. 

• Over the course of each unit, some instruction is aligned to grade-level standards. For example:

  • In Unit 1, students focus on reading comprehension strategies including asking and answering questions (RL/I.2.1) as well as making connections, clarifying, visualizing, summarizing, and making predictions, which are not aligned to the standards.

  • In Unit 3, when focusing on writer’s craft, students learn about the use of declarative sentences, descriptive words, and alliteration (RL.2.4) and story elements (RL.2.7). 

  • In Unit 5, when focusing on accessing complex text, instruction is focused on comparing and contrasting (RL.2.9) and main idea and detail (RL/I/2.1) as well as classify and categorize and cause and effect, which are not aligned to the standards.

  • In Grade 2, students read a variety of text types including fables and folktales, which supports the standard RL.2.2: Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson or moral. 

  • Standard SL.2.1 includes participating in collaborative conversations, which is taught in the Management Routine A: Handing-off. This is found throughout the program including in Units 2, 4, and 6, during Lesson 1, Day 2, and Lesson 6, Day 2. 

• Over the course of each unit, most questions and tasks are aligned to grade-level standards. For example:

  • Students write narrative, opinion, and informative pieces, which is part of the standards; however, there is not an equal amount of time spent on each type of writing. 

  • Throughout the materials, students spend a lot of time on standard R.L. 2.1 (ask and answer questions) such as in Unit 4, Lesson 4, where students are asked, “Why do honey bees store honey? What are two different ways that honeybees can communicate with one another? What are the differences between the three types of honeybees in a hive? How does an earthworm using soil help the roots of a plant grow?” 

  • Students answer Discussion Starter questions after the first read of a text. In Unit 6, Lesson 3, students are asked, “How does Aesop make learning fun for the children who come to hear him? Why do you think Aesop made up stories with animal main characters rather than human ones?” These questions are tagged to RL.2.1, SL.2.1b., SL.2.1.c, and SL.2.6. 

• Over the course of each unit, some assessment questions are aligned to grade-level standards. For example:

  • In Unit 1, Lesson 1, students respond to reading comprehension questions such as, “Which of these predictions can you make from reading the beginning of the story? What was the effect of the merchant’s visit?” Neither of the questions are aligned to grade-level standards. 

  • In Unit 2, many comprehension questions align to the standards R.L.2,1 R.L.2.3, and RL.2.5; however, students are also assessed on synonyms, which is not part of the standards. 

  • In Unit 6, Lesson 4, students are asked to compare and contrast two characters and select the reason Zanyaya is different from Cinderella and Yeh-Shen, which is part of the standards. 

• 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: 

  • RL.2.2 is only found in Unit 6 .

  • R.I.2,3 is found in Units 2, 4, and 5.

  • RL.2.5 is only found in Units 4 and 6.

  • RL.2.6 is only found in Unit 6.

  • RL.2.7 is found within all six units.

  • RL.2.10 is found within all six units. 

  • W.2.1 is only found in Units 1 and 6.

  • All speaking and listening standard are covered in every unit.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 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 2 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 2. This includes two weeks of Getting Started at the beginning of the year and six Units with six weeks of lessons with five days of instruction each 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 18 distinct activities in one day (six in Foundational Skills, six in Reading and Responding, and three 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.