The instructional materials for Grade 1 meet the expectations of including shared and read-aloud texts in terms of quality and engagement. Many of the texts are engaging and represent a wide range of cultures. Through the read alouds, students gain knowledge as well as literary skills, making them worthy of careful listening.

Examples of publishable quality texts that are worthy of careful listening include:

• In Unit 1, students hear Papa and Me by Arthur Dorros, which is an engaging realistic fiction story about a boy and the different things he does with his dad. It represents Hispanic culture and has colorful photos. The book was nominated for the Pura Belpre Award for Illustration.
• In Unit 2, students hear Michael Fay and the Giant Redwoods by Gabrielle Burns, which is a nonfiction article about a man who studies the tall trees of the Redwood Forest. It has exciting photography and social studies and science content.
• In Unit 3, students hear Markets, which is a social studies article about shopping at markets. It has colorful photography and age-appropriate language and vocabulary about money and shopping.
• In Unit 4, students hear Ruby in Her Own Time by Jonathan Emmett, which is a story about a family of ducks where smallest grows up to be the biggest and most independent. It is an animal story with pleasing illustrations and a lesson that students should learn at an early age.
• In Unit 5, students hear For Pete’s Sake by Ellen Stoll Wash, an animal fantasy story about an alligator who feels different from his flamingo friends and wants to be more like them. The moral of the story is that everyone is different even though they have similar qualities.
• In Unit 6, students hear A Year for Kiko by Ferida Wolff which is a realistic fiction text with age-appropriate sensory vocabulary about the weather and the seasons. It follows the course of the main character’s year and her experiences with the weather of each season.
• In Unit 7, students hear Communication Then and Now by Robin Nelson which is a high-interest history article that looks at communication from written and printed word to modern communication like e-mails and computers. There are colorful engaging photographs and a timeline for reference.
• In Unit 8, students hear Caperucita Roja by Argentina Palacios, which is a modern multicultural version of a classic fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood. There are colorful and engaging illustrations and it reinforces directional words.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials reflecting the distribution of text types and genres required by the standards at each grade level. The whole group and read aloud texts include a mix of nonfiction and fictional texts with a variety of genres including folktales, science articles, how-to books, fantasy, social studies stories, and poems. Students are exposed to various texts throughout the program.

Examples of various fiction texts throughout the curriculum include:

• Unit 1: Papa and Me by Arthur Durros- realistic fiction
• Unit 2: The Daisy by Lada Josefa Kratky- folktale
• Unit 3: “Delivery” by Anastasia Suen- poem
• Unit 4: Ruby in her own Time by Jonathan Emmett- animal fantasy
• Unit 5: For Pete’s Sake by Ellen Stoll Walsh- animal fantasy
• Unit 6: A Year for Kiko by Ferida Wolff- realistic fiction
• Unit 7: The Messy Invention by Carmen Osorio- historical fiction
• Unit 8: “Haiku” by Richard Wright- poem

Examples of various informational texts throughout the curriculum include:

• Unit 1: Families in Many Cultures by Heather Adamson- photo book
• Unit 2: "Michael Fay and the Giant Redwoods" by Gabrielle Burns- project notebook
• Unit 3: "Markets" by Cassie Mayer- social studies article
• Unit 4: "Turtles: From Eggs to Ocean" by Marlana Fuentes- science article
• Unit 5: My Critter Cam Journal by Greg Marshall- photo journal
• Unit 6: Chasing Storms with Tim Samaras by Jennifer Tetzloff- interview
• Unit 7: "My Space Adventures" by Constance Adams- blog
• Unit 8: "How to Make a Compass" by Michael DiSpezio- how-to article

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that anchor and support materials for the core text(s) provide opportunities for students to engage in a range and volume of reading to support their reading at grade level by the end of the school year.

Throughout the year, students engage in a broad range of text types and disciplines as well as a volume of reading to achieve grade-level reading proficiency. Throughout the week, students hear a read aloud and participate in small reading groups. There are also learning stations that students go to where students may listen to a text, read a text in unison with a group of other students, or read with a partner.  Students also read independently at various times throughout the week.

Students are exposed to a broad range of text types and disciplines throughout the year during read alouds, small groups, learning centers, and independent reading. Units have a shared reading and a close reading pairing each week with additional supplemental texts. There are also leveled readers related to the topic of each unit for small group and independent reading.

Examples of the various disciplines a student might listen to in various units include:

• In Unit 1 students listen to or read:
• Tortillas and Lullabies by Lynn Reiser - realistic fiction
• Families in Many Cultures by Heather Adamson - photo book
• "The World is Your Family" by Josh Thorne - magazine article
• "Our Community Garden" by Aria Gomez - e-mail
• Mystery Bottle by Kristen Balouch - fantasy story
• Papa and Me by Arthur Dorros - realistic fiction
• "Postcard Pals" by Jay Patel - postcard
• In Unit 3, students hear or read:
• Wen-Mei and Her Clay Pot by Grace Lin - fable
• "Markets" by Cassie Mayer - social studies article
• "Flower Power" by Stefanie Boron - online article
• Special Delivery! by Geneva Martinez - humor story
• Farfallina and Marcel by Holly Keller - animal fantasy
• Ruby in Her Own Time by Jonathan Emmett - animal fantasy
• "Turtles: From Eggs to Ocean" by Marlena Fuentes - science article
• "A Frog’s Life" by Todd Silva - science article
• In Unit 5, students hear or read:
• What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page - fact book
• For Pete’s Sake by Ellen Stoll Walsh - animal fantasy
• "Alligators" by Julie Larson - science article
• "The World of Tide Pools" by Ben Keller - science article
• A Bird Can Fly by Douglas Florian - fact book
• Slither, Slide, Hop, and Run by Katharine Kenah - fact book
• My Critter Cam Journal by Greg Marshall - photo journal
• "Greg Marshall and Critter Cam" by Jenna Kwon - science article
• In Unit 7, students hear or read:
• Now and Ben by Gene Barretta - biography
• "Communication Then and Now" by Robin Nelson - history article
• "My Space Adventures" by Constance Adams - blog
• "Life in Outer Space" by Kevin Hand - online article
• Grandma Blanca’s Blackout Barbecue by Argentina Palacios - realistic fiction
• A New Old Tune by Pat Comings - realistic fiction
• "Invention Poems: Vacuum Cleaner" by Carles Mericle Harper - poem
• The Messy Invention by Carmen Osorio - historical fiction story

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria that most questions, tasks, and assignments are text-based, requiring students to engage with the text directly (drawing on textual evidence to support both what is explicit as well as valid inferences from the text).

The materials include opportunities for students to discuss the text through text-dependent and text-specific questions. Students are asked specific questions related to the text and at times, are asked retell questions. These questions are found for both shared reading and decodable texts. Students are asked questions about the text, but also about the text features including the visuals.

Examples of text-dependent questions include:

• In Unit 1, Week 2, students hear "The World is Your Family" and using the visuals, students determine the important message and explain why that message is important.
• In Unit 2, Week 3, students hear Ant and the Grasshopper and answer what surprising event happens at the start of the story, how they know that Zina is not a real gift, and what happens when Zina lies.
• In Unit 3, Week 3, students read the decodable book, The Egg Range, and answer what is the first thing that happens at the egg ranch, what do hens eat, and why do they think hens need nests.
• In Unit 4, Week 1, students hear the story, Ruby in Her Own Time, and after the second reading, students answer if Mother Duck sits on the eggs for one day or many days and explain how they know. Similarly, they have to explain how Ruby is like Rufus, Rory, Rosie, and Rebecca.
• In Unit 5, Week 3, after hearing Slither, Slide, Hop, and Run students share what they read about the sloth and what body parts the sloth has that helps it hold onto the tree.
• In Unit 6, Week 1, students hear the story, I Face the Wind, and answer what is one effect of the strong wind and what the wind does to the trees.
• In Unit 7, Week 4, students read the decodable book, Airplane, and answer what do all airplanes have, who flew the first airplane, and why did the 1920s pilots wear a heavy suit.
• In Unit 8, Week 1, students read the decodable book, The Tallest Falls, and answer what happens when water reaches the end of a cliff, why does not much water reach the bottom of a waterfall, and how are waterfalls presented in the story the same and different.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials providing frequent opportunities and protocols for evidence-based discussions (small groups, peer-to-peer, whole class) that encourage the modeling and use of academic vocabulary and syntax.

The materials provide practices and protocols for opportunities to discuss and interact with the curriculum content and vocabulary. The Best Practices Routines, speaking and listening protocols, are located in the front of the Teacher Guide. There are protocols for partner discussions, group conversations, and presentations. Clear directions and protocols are provided and supported by the Academic Talk Flip Chart. Group conversations are scaffolded with roles that are clearly defined and supported with sentence stems to help students fulfill their role in the discussion.

The partner discussion protocol includes sentences stems and opportunities for each partner to talk. The group conversation protocol includes roles for each student including a facilitator, encourager, timekeeper, and note taker. There are also sentence stems to help students with the discussion. At the end of the discussion, the class comes back together and a few students share what their groups discussed.

The presentation protocols are outlines for students and include criteria such as stand up tall, speak clearly and loud enough for everyone to hear, and introduce the presentation. The protocol also includes directions for listeners such as listen attentively, ask questions if you do not understand something, and make eye contact. The Cooperative Learning suggestions in the text also provide support for partner and group discussion configurations that can be used with the protocols.

Examples of opportunities for evidence-based discussions include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 1, Week 3, Day 4, the students use the 3-Step Interview process to share with each other and report to the class what their partner shared describing the settings in the story without giving the actual location. They predict where the characters from the story will go next. The teacher reminds the students to take turns speaking and listening to each other.
• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 2, the Academic Talk section has students discuss living and nonliving things using the Inside-Outside Circle technique to talk about facts they learned in Life in the Forest. Students on the inside of the circle use keywords such as eat, drink, and alive to share what they have learned about living and nonliving things.
• In Unit 4, Week 4, Day 5, the Academic Talk section directs the teacher to split the students into three groups (one for each of the three texts: Delivery, Money, and Farmers Get a Chance) to prepare for a Jigsaw activity. Children recall what each text was about and discuss the main idea of the text.
• In Unit 5, Week 1, Day 2, students use the Jigsaw technique to talk about different animal body parts. Each expert group is assigned one body part: nose, tail, feet, and mouth. The groups think of animals they have read about and seen with the body part. Students use the keywords from the week, including alike, body, different, feature, and look.  The experts report back to the group after their discussions. The Teacher Guide reminds the teacher to remind students to listen attentively to what the other  student experts say.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials including a mix of on-demand and process writing (e.g. multiple drafts, revisions over time) and short, focused projects, incorporating digital resources where appropriate.

Materials include multiple opportunities for both on-demand and process writing tasks that span the year’s worth of instruction. Students regularly write in class, either in response to the text or by using the text as a model. In each unit, during Week 4, there is a different writing project that spans throughout the week to teach the students about the writing process.

Students engage in many on-demand writing assignments including responding to texts. Examples of this include:

• In Unit 1, Week 4, Day 5,  students write a sentence about their home or any place. Students illustrate the sentence and then each sentence gets assembled into a class book.
• In Unit 2, Week 2 Day 1, students work in small groups to discuss reasons that they know a hat is nonliving. They then write a sentence about why a hat is nonliving and illustrate their sentence.
• In Unit 3, Week 2, Day 2, students work in pairs to write one question to ask Cid Simoes and Paola Segura in Flower Power.
• In Unit 5, Week 2, Day 3, students write a sentence telling why they would or would not like to explore a tide pool. Students are encouraged to use the Key Words in their Sentences.
• In Unit 8, Week 2, Day 2, students write a Haiku about a neighborhood after reading Haikus in class.

Students also engage in some writing projects that occur over the course of the week. These occur during Week 4 in the units. For example:

• In Unit 2, Week 4, students organize and write a how-to article over the course of the week. After studying a model, students prewrite using a graphic organizer. Then students draft, revise, edit, publish and present their articles.
• In Unit 4, Week 4, students write a story with a beginning, middle, and end. They begin by studying a model and then prewrite using a graphic organizer. Students then draft their story, revise and edit their work, and finally publish and present their story.
• In Unit 6, Week 4, students work to write an expository paragraph. They begin by reading an exemplar and then brainstorm using a cause and effect chart. Students then draft, edit and revise, and finally publish and present their paragraphs.
• In Unit 7, Week 4, students organize and write a descriptive letter using the writing process. They study and analyze a model, then plan using a graphic organizer. Students then write their letter, check their work, and finish their letter and share it with the class.

Students also write during their small group reading time. They are given some on-demand choices such as:

• In Unit 1, students can either create a book page or write a journal entry.
• In Unit 2, students can either write a description or write a journal entry.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials including regular opportunities for evidence-based writing to support recall of information, opinions with reasons, and relevant information appropriate for the grade level.

Students have an opportunity to draw or write about the text that they listened to or read. In each unit, students write about the text by being given sentence frames or vocabulary words to include in their sentences. Many opportunities require students to work with a partner or a group and at times, the teacher works with the whole class to create a larger writing piece, such as a summary.

Examples of this include:

• In Unit 1, Week 2, students read a magazine article and then use the sentence frame, “We want to know more about ______. One thing we want to know is ______.” They use these sentence frames to write about people in the magazine article that they read.
• In Unit 2, Week 3, students write about the character Zina from their read aoud. They will write one sentence that describes her as a puppet, and then another sentence that describes her as a real girl.
• In Unit 3, Week 1, students write about the message or lesson in the fable. They are given three sentence frames to complete this writing task.
• In Unit 4, Week 1, students write about the characters in Ruby in Her Own Time by Jonathan Emmett. They use sentence frames, such as "How do we know that Mother Duck and Father Duck feel that Ruby is special?"
• In Unit 5, Week 2, half of the students write the main idea of World of Tidepools, and the other half write the details. They use these to write a collective summary.
• In Unit 6, Week 2, students compare the two characters’ experiences from Wind Eagle and The Story of Lightning and Thunder and then write one or two sentences about their experiences.
• In Unit 7, Week 3, students write one or two sentences about how a character in Grandma Blanca’s Blackout Barbecue reminds them of someone they know.
• In Unit 8, Week 3, groups of students write the story of Larry’s adventures after hearing Larry Gets Lost in Seattle. Each student writes two sentences about Larry’s adventures in one location and then gives the paper to the next child.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 1 meet the criteria for materials including explicit instruction of the grammar and conventions standards for grade level as applied in increasingly sophisticated contexts, with opportunities for application both in and out of context.

In each week of each unit, there is a five-day grammar lesson sequence. The lessons begin with finding the grammar skill in text. The teacher then introduces the skill and the rule. On Day 4, there is a writing activity where the teacher models the skill in writing. The skill is often practiced using a Practice Master.  Additionally, in Ready, Set..., materials provide opportunities for students to review all 26 letters (upper- and lowercase) for letter formation.

Students have opportunities to print all upper- and lowercase letters. For example:

• In Ready, Set, Week 1, Day 1, m, s, f, and h letter formation are reviewed and produced by students.
• BP41 through BP44 is the Scripts for Letter Formation for all lower and uppercase letters.

Students have opportunities to use common and proper nouns. For example:

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher explains that a noun names a person, place, or thing. The teacher reads a Big Book and points out the common nouns as the book is read.
• In Unit 1, Week 2, Day 2, students identify common nouns in “The World is Your Family.”
• In Unit 1, Week 3, Day 1, the teacher introduces proper nouns and explains that they begin with a capital letter. On Day 2, the teacher explain that proper nouns name special people and animals. On Day 3, the teacher introduces proper nouns that name special places. On Day 4, the teacher models common and proper noun usage in writing. On Day 5, the teacher assesses students identification of common and proper nouns.

Students have opportunities to use singular and plural nouns with matching verbs in basic sentences. For example:

• In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 2, the teacher introduces singular and plural nouns. The teacher explains that most plural nouns end with -s.
• In Unit 1, Week 2, Day 2, the students identify plural nouns on page 30 of their Anthologies and identify whether the noun has an -s or -es. The teacher reviews the rules for using -s and -es.

Students have opportunities to use personal, possessive, and indefinite pronouns. For example:

• In Unit 4, Week 2, Day 1, the teacher reviews the personal pronoun I and introduces the rule for personal pronoun me. On Day 2, the teacher introduces personal pronoun she and her. On Day 3, the teacher introduces personal pronoun it, they and them.
• In Unit 4, Week 3, Day 1, the teacher introduces singular possessive pronouns and how they are formed. On Day 2, the teacher introduces plural possessive pronouns and how they are formed. On Day 3, the teacher introduces subject-verb agreement with indefinite pronouns and teaches the rule. On Day 4, the teacher models the use of indefinite pronouns in writing.
• In Unit 5, Week 4, Day 1, the teacher introduces singular indefinite pronouns, teaches the rule and explains that singular indefinite pronouns do not refer to a specific person or thing but refers to any person or thing. On Day 2, the teacher introduces plural indefinite pronouns and then teaches the rule.

Students have opportunities to use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future. For example:

• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 2, the teacher points out present tense verbs in the Big Book. The teacher then introduces present tense verbs. The teacher and students complete the Practice Master together. Week 2 continues work with present tense verbs in the five-day grammar focus.
• In Unit 7, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher points out past tense verbs in the Big Book. The teacher explains that past tense verbs tell about an event that happened in the past. The teacher tells about the rule that you can add -ed to a verb to show that it already happened. On Day 2 and Day 3, the teacher explains how the based word can change when adding -ed. For example, stop to stopped and carry to carried.
• In Unit 7, Week 4, Day 1, the teacher points out the future tense verbs in the Big Book. The teacher introduces the future tense and explains that one way to talk about the future is to add the word will in front of the verb.

Students have opportunities to use frequently occurring adjectives. For example:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher points out adjectives in the Big Book as it is read aloud. The teacher explains that adjectives describe or tell about a noun. On Day 4, the teacher models the use of adjectives to make writing more interesting. In Week 2, students learn that adjectives can tell age, size, color and shape. They also learn that adjectives can have shades of meaning. On Day 5, the teacher models using the adjectives in writing.

Students have opportunities to use frequently occurring conjunctions. For example:

• In Unit 7, Week 3, Day 1, the teacher introduces the use of the conjunction because to join two simple sentences. On Day 2, the teacher introduces the use of the conjunctions before and after to join sentences. On Day 3, the teacher reviews expanding sentences using the conjunctions because, before, and after. On Day 4, the teacher models using the conjunctions to expand sentences in writing.

Students have opportunities to use determiners. For example:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, Day 2, the teacher introduces the determiners this and that. On Day 3, the teacher introduces the plural determiners these and those.

Students have opportunities to use frequently occurring prepositions. For example:

• In Unit 8, Week 4, Day 1, the teacher introduces prepositions and teaches the rules using location of items in the classroom. On Day 2, the teacher introduces prepositions of direction and teaches the rules. On Day 3, the teacher introduces prepositions of time. On Day 4, the teacher models the use of prepositions in writing.

Students have opportunities to produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences in response to prompts. For example:

• In Unit 5, Week 3, Day 2, the teacher introduces exclamatory sentences and then teaches the rule that it expresses strong emotion and ends in an exclamation point. On Day 3, the teacher explains how to expand command and exclamatory sentences by adding words to the naming and telling part. On Day 4, the teacher models the use of end marks in command and exclamatory sentences.
• In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 1, the teacher reminds students that a simple sentence has one subject and one predicate, then introduces compound sentences that use and. On Day 2, the teacher introduces compound sentences that use but. On Day 3, the teacher introduces the compound sentences that use or. On Day 4, the teacher models the use of compound sentences to avoid choppy writing.
• In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 1, the teacher introduces students to question sentences that can be answered with yes or no. The teacher explains that question sentences end with a question mark. On Day 2, the teacher introduces information sentences and explain that they can begin with who or what. On Day 3, the teacher explains that information sentences can also begin with where or when. On Day 4, the teacher models the use of question sentences in writing.
• In Unit 6, Week 4, Day 3, the teacher explains how to make compound question sentences using and or or.

Students have opportunities to capitalize dates and names of people. For example:

• In Unit 1, Week 4, Day 2, the teacher introduces the capitalization of dates and teaches the rule.

Students have opportunities to use end punctuation for sentences. For example:

• In Unit 5, Week 2, Day 1, the teacher explains that a sentence has a naming part, a telling part, begins with a capital letter and ends with an end mark.

Students have opportunities to use commas in dates and to separate single words in a series. For example:

• In Unit 1, Week 4, Day 4, the teacher introduces the use of commas in dates and then teaches the rules. On Day 5, the teacher models writing dates. Students complete the Practice Master.

Students have opportunities to use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words. For example:

• In Unit 8, Week 4, Day 2, during the Phonics portion of the lesson students practice writing words with C plus -le. The teacher says a sentence. The students write the sentence. The teacher writes the sentence on the board and students check and correct their spelling.

Students have opportunities to spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and spelling conventions. For example:

• In Unit 8, Week 3, Day 3, students write a sentence that the teacher repeats several times during the Spell Words with prefixes un- and re-. The teacher writes the sentence on the board. The students check and correct their spelling.