The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the criteria for materials supporting students’ increasing literacy skills over the course of the school year. (Series of texts should be at a variety of complexity levels appropriate for the grade band.)

Throughout the year students read a variety of texts and genres; however, not all of the text selections will help students’ increasing literacy skills over the course of the year. The qualitative measures are in the middle low range and eventually go to middle high. Over the course of the year, the texts do not build in quantitative measure, nor do the tasks associated with the texts increase in rigor. The complexity of texts are scattered throughout the year, with some lower leveled, less complex texts in the second half of the year through the last unit. There are  20-40 minutes a day of whole group reading to read complex texts.

Examples of how the materials support and do not support students’ increasing literacy skills over the course of the year include:

• In Unit 1, Week 2 students begin by reading Shaped by Tradition by Patricia Millman, which is labeled qualitatively middle high and has a Lexile of 690. Then students read Reviving an Ancient Tradition by Ellen Layne, which is labeled qualitatively middle low and has a Lexile of 1030. Both of the texts are labeled for teaching author’s purpose and preview and predict. The second text, is identified as a close reading text, and students work to examine the text structure from chronology.
• In Unit 3, Week 2, students read two texts that are considered qualitatively middle high. In "Tortillas Like Africa" by Gary Soto, students use details from the text to make inferences and ask questions about simile and metaphor. "Travel" by Robert Louis Stevenson is used as a close read to understand elements of a poem. Students then use the magazine article "Chile: Where Nature Goes to Extremes" by Nathan Sanchez, which is qualitatively middle low and has a Lexile of 930 and is used to teach details.
• In Unit 5, Week 4, students read two laboratory journals by Kayla Handler for close reading. They are both qualitatively middle low. Putting Ants on Ice has a Lexile of 830 and Snails! Who Needs Them? has a Lexile of 740. Questions ask students to explain the relationships among concepts, and they use a chart to compare.
• In Unit 7, students read a variety of texts about space. Texts vary qualitatively between middle low and middle high, but all of them have Lexiles of 700-900, which is the same range in the beginning of the year. Most of them are nonfiction texts including a blog, "Ask an Astronaut" by Jamal Holmer (Lexile 760), "Building for Space Travel," which is a science article by Anastasia Suen (Lexile 790), and The Lunar Landing (Lexile 930), which are first and secondhand accounts by Neil Armstrong, Walter Cronkite, and Edwin Aldrin.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the criteria that anchor texts and series of texts connected to them are accompanied by a text complexity analysis and rationale for purpose and placement in the grade level.

The materials provide a qualitative measure in the form of Complexity Rubrics found under the Resource list tab; however, the rubrics do not share the rationale for why the specific text was chosen. Additionally, the qualitative measure provided is very broad such as middle low, with no explanation of what makes the text qualitatively middle low. The program materials give a general rationale for why all of the texts were chosen for the program, but none are specific. The materials state that the Student Edition include National Geographic content and authentic literature worth reading and rereading and that the units are four weeks long, built around a science or a social studies topic.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the criteria for having sets of high-quality sequences of text-dependent/specific questions and tasks build to a culminating task that integrates skills (may be writing, speaking, or a combination).

The culminating tasks are Unit Projects, some of which are in relation to the texts read throughout the unit; however, some are connections and other projects that do not require comprehension of the unit materials. Students are given choices at the end of each unit to demonstrate their understanding of the unit Big Question. The options include Write It! which addresses the writing standards, Talk About It! which addresses the speaking and listening standards, and Do It! which also addresses the speaking and listening standards. Examples of these project choices include:

• In Unit 2, students can design and build a maze and explain how the maze might test animal intelligence, decide on the smartest animal and research it and share findings in a group, write a comic strip that tells a trickster tale, or make puppets for the characters in Love and Roast Chicken and then perform a puppet show.
• In Unit 3, students learn about different places and can show their understanding by writing an advertisement for a place they think is amazing, build a model of an amazing place they have learned about, play a guessing game by giving each other clues about famous places, or write a pretend postcard for a friend about an amazing place. These activities do not all require students to have answered a set of high-quality sequences of text-dependent questions to build to the task that integrates skills.
• In Unit 4, students can choose to create a poster to try and persuade people to conserve water using evidence of what happens when you do and do not conserve, review sensory details, and then make notes or a map of their favorite park. Students describe the park to a partner, watch a weather report and discuss the importance of visuals in the report, or review figurative language and then write poems using figurative language. Many of these project choices involve skills learned in the unit.
• In Unit 5, students are given the choice to write a short play based on the story, The Fungus That Ate My School, plant different kinds of seeds and log which one grows the fastest, make-up a story about an invasive plant or animal, or write instructions for an experiment and include drawings. Not all of these choices require understanding and integration of the material or content presented in the unit.
• In Unit 7, students learn about space and write a story about a fast moving creature, give step-by-step instructions to show how the Earth moves around the sun, give an interview pretending they were the first person on the moon, or write a packing list as if they were going to the moon for a week. Some of these choices are text-based options, while others require no understanding or integration of skills from the unit.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the criteria for materials supporting students’ listening and speaking about what they are reading and researching (including presentation opportunities) with relevant follow-up questions and supports.

Students practice their speaking and listening daily, though it is not always connected to the texts that they hear in read alouds. Some of the specific opportunities come before the text is read during a vocabulary lesson or during an opportunity to make predictions. There is also a Speaking and Listening Learning Station that does use texts, but not the anchor texts from the unit.

Examples of opportunities for students to practice their speaking and listening, though not always in conjunction with a text include:

• In Unit 1, Week 2, students work with a partner to report on a biography. They use the practice master to guide their oral report.
• In Unit 3, Week 4, during the Speaking and Listening Learning Station, one option is for partners to paraphrase parts of Photographing the World. One student chooses a paragraph and reads it aloud and then the partner paraphrases the paragraph.
• In Unit 5, Week 1, during the Speaking and Listening Learning Station, one option is for partners to summarize a video about snails. One student summarizes the first half of the video while his or her partner listens, and makes corrections. Then the second student summarizes the second half while the other listens and makes corrections.
• In Unit 7, Week 3, students use a plot diagram from the text in order to retell a favorite story to a partner.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the criteria for materials providing opportunities for students to address different text types of writing that reflect the distribution required by the standards.

The materials provide opportunities across the school year for students to learn, practice, and apply narrative, opinion, and informative/expository writing; however, the majority of writing prompts focus on expository writing, and the teacher may need to supplement to assure students have comprehensive practice with other types. Students are often asked to respond to the text. Narrative writing focuses on process writing and students have few opportunities for opinion writing. Materials provide tasks for students to use different modes of writing. Students write arguments, opinion pieces, persuasive essays, informative texts, interviews, letter or emails, reports, procedural texts, explanatory texts, narratives, stories, character sketches, poems, tall tales, myths, trickster tales, folktales, science fiction stories, and responses to texts. The instructional guide provides supports for teachers to assist students as they progress throughout the year, such as graphic organizers, checklists, and rubrics.  

Each week focuses on a different writing genre, appropriately aligned to the text. Mini-lessons are scaffolded throughout the week in order to support student outcomes. Model writing samples and other instructional supports accompany each unit.

Students write narrative writings such as:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, students write a trickster tale. The writing project prompt explains to students that they are writing a short story for a magazine and they must include a sketch of their main character.  
• In Unit 4, Week 4, students write a tall tale about someone who battles a force of nature.
• In Unit 6, Week 1, students write an adventure story about a treasure seeker over the course of five days.
• In Unit 8, Week  1, students write a realistic fiction story.

Students write expository writings such as:

• In Unit 1, Week 1, students write a biographical paragraph about a partner and his/her favorite kind of music by developing a set of questions, interviewing the person, and then preparing a presentation after writing the paragraph.
• In Unit 3, Week 3, students write a research report. The writing project prompt explains that students will report about one of the most extreme places in the United States.
• In Unit 4, Week 1, student write about natural energy by choosing either solar energy, hydropower, or wind power, and sharing three facts about how people use that energy.
• In Unit 5, Week 2, students evaluate how well the text and the features work together to help their understanding of what they should do and what they should expect during the experiment.
• In Unit 6, Week 3, students write a paragraph using their timelines and sequence of events from the story.
• In Unit 7, Week 1, students write an informational essay about an animal of their choice using at least three sources.

Students write opinion writings such as:

• In Unit 4, Week 2, students write a persuasive article. Students are prompted to write an article for a school newspaper to convince students to help protect the environment.
• In Unit 8, Week 2, students write a persuasive essay about either their favorite animal, plant, or place and try to persuade other students to agree with them.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the criteria for materials including frequent opportunities for evidence-based writing to support careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information appropriate for the grade level.

Materials do not consistently provide opportunities for students to learn, practice, and apply writing using evidence. Many writing prompts are related to the texts, but do not require students to use text evidence. Additionally, many prompts use the text as a model or they may use the reading skill as the writing skill such as if the author uses a lot of dialogue in their writing, then the writing assignment will be to incorporate dialogue in a paragraph.

Daily writing skills and writing lessons are not consistently evidence-based writing opportunities. For example:

• In Unit 2, Week 1, students review the weekly writing skill by collaborating with a partner to write a short passage that includes two characters. Students include both dialogue and actions that give clues to each character’s traits. This requires no text evidence.
• In Unit 4, Week 3, the writing skill introduced is introductory sentences. Students use a model of an introductory sentence, practice introductory sentences using sentence stems, and work together to write introductory sentences for an original story.
• In Unit 6, Week 1, students write a paragraph about the character in their character map.
• In Unit 7, Week 2, students write their response to the idea of living in a spaceship such as TransHab for months or years.
• In Unit 8, Week 2, after reading Saving Bison From Extinction, students write their opinions about whether they think the bison would have been left alone if the railroad had not come.

Most weekly writing projects are not connected to texts and do not require students to provide evidence to support analysis or claims. For example:

• In Unit 1, Week 3, the writing project has students write an extra scene from a story that they like. While this takes some understanding of a text, it does not require text evidence.
• In Unit 5, Week 4, the writing project has students write an essay that persuades people to take action on an important issue.

Some writing prompts during small group reading ask students to find text evidence; however, most choices do not require students to return to the text for evidence. In addition, not all students receive the same small group instruction  For example:

• In Unit 3, Week 2, students read the text, England: The Land by Erinn Banting. Student options include writing an e-mail to a student in England where they share interesting information they learned about the country, ask questions, and give details about their own lives, or write a creature brochure that highlight historic, mysterious, or industrial England, or write a journal entry describing a job they would like if they grew up in England.
• In Unit 6, Week 1, students read the text, The Stowaway by Kristiana Gregory. Student options include write a message that Carlito might put in a bottle that he sets afloat on the sea, write a journal entry from the perspective of a character, or write about their favorite adventure movie or story.

Weekly learning stations include a writing station. These stations rarely ask students to find evidence from texts. Examples include:

• In Unit 7, Week 4, students are given the options of writing a few lines of dialogue for a given picture or writing what would happen if they were the first humans to walk on the moon.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the criteria for materials, questions, and tasks address grade-level CCSS for foundational skills by providing explicit instruction and assessment in phonics and word recognition that demonstrate a research-based progression.

Foundational skills across Grades 3-5 contain a focus on similar skills rather than focusing on skills for the grade level standard. For example, in Unit 3 of all three grade levels, there is a focus on long vowel and making plural words with -s and -es. While the level of the word gets longer, the skill is similar in all three grade levels.

Materials contain phonics and word work instruction based in prior grade level phonics learning rather than providing explicit instruction in Grade 4 phonics and word recognition. Examples include:

• In Unit 1, students are taught short vowel sounds in multisyllabic words and students learn commonly misspelled words.
• In Week 1, the teacher shows the word background and emphasizes the short /a/. The teacher states, “When a syllable with one vowel ends with a consonant, the vowel is usually short.” Students write the 15 words on index cards, cut out the letters, and mix-up the letters for a partner to put the words back together.
• In Week 3, the teacher displays inspire and humble. The teacher circles the short vowels and pronounces each word. The teacher states, “When a syllable with one vowel ends with a consonant, the vowel is usually short.” Students write the 15 words on index cards and sort the cards into words with short /i/ and words with short /u/.
• In Unit 2, students are taught short vowel sounds in multisyllabic words, digraphs, and consonant blends.
• In Week 2, the teacher displays the words flock and flourish. The teacher circles the digraphs ck and sh and reads aloud each word. The teacher explains what a consonant digraph is. Students write the words on strips of paper and categorize the words by digraph.
• In Week 4, the teacher displays ascend and brilliant. The teacher circles the letters nd and nt and reads each word aloud. The teacher explains a consonant blend. Students write the 16 spelling words on index cards and read the words to a partner. The partner spells the word and identify the consonant blend.
• In Unit 3, students are taught long vowels and plural words with -s and -es.
• In Week 1, the teacher displays the word meter and circles the e and pronounces the word. The teacher states, “When the first vowel sound in a word is long, you divide the word after the first vowel.” Students write the 15 words on index cards with different colors for the first vowel in the word.
• In Week 4, the teacher displays the words rivers, passes, and rushes. The teacher underlines the s and es and explains when to add -s or -es. Students write the words on index cards.
• In Unit 4, students are taught long vowels with vowel combinations, and students are taught verbs with endings.
• In Week 2, the teacher displays defeat, evergreen, and boast. The teacher circles ea, ee, and oa and pronounces each word. Students write the spelling words.
• In Week 4, the teacher displays cultivating, scar, and scarring and states, “When a word ends in a silent e, drop the e before adding -ing. Usually, when a word with a short vowel ends in a single consonant, double the consonant before adding -ing” Students write the words with -ing and cut the words apart at the ing.
• In Unit 5, students are taught long vowels with vowel combinations, and students are taught r-controlled vowels.
• In Week 1, the teacher displays blight and circles igh. The teacher shows tiebreaker and circles ie. The teacher explains that igh and ie make the long /i/. Students write the words on index cards to use the the cards for a practice game.
• In Week 2, the teacher displays bruise, circles ui, and pronounces the word. The teacher displays avenue, circles ue, and pronounces the word. Students write the spelling words on card leaving out the ui or ue
• In Unit 6, students are taught r-controlled vowels, words with y, words with oi, oy, ou, ow, and words with oo, ew, au, aw, al, all.
• In Week 1, the teacher shows words with r-controlled vowels. The teacher circles each r-controlled vowel and states, “When a vowel is followed by an r, the vowel blends with the r to make a new sound.” Students write the r-controlled words on index cards and then sort the cards by the r-controlled vowel.
• In Week 3, the teacher displays hoist and annoy. The teacher circles each vowel digraph and explains, “A vowel digraph is two vowels that together make one sound.” Students sort words into two groups.
• In Unit 7, students are taught words with hard and soft /c/ and /g/, words with oo, words with VCV pattern and VCCV pattern, and multisyllabic words with VCCV pattern and VCCCV pattern.
• In Week 1, the teacher displays circuit and circles each c and states, “When the letter i, i, or y comes after c, c has a soft sound: /s/. When a, o, u, or a consonant comes have c, the c has a hard sound: /k/. Students write words on index cards in order to play a game.
• In Week 4, the teacher displays attitude and underlines a, l, t, i and circles the two consonants. The teacher explains, “When two consonants come between vowels, you usually divide the word between the two consonants.” Students print the spelling words in order to focus on the VCCV pattern.
• In Unit 8, students are taught words with prefixes and words with suffixes. Students also learn about syllable types and multisyllabic words.
• In Week 3, the teacher displays abandon, treaty, and gentle. The teacher states, “When the last syllable of a word ends in -y or -le, or when the first syllable is a-, that syllable is not stressed. The teacher pronounces each word, and students echo the word.
• In Week 4, the teacher explains, “In multisyllabic words, some syllables are stressed, or given more emphasis. You can use a dictionary to check which syllable is stressed.” Students write the words on index cards and draw vertical lines when syllable breaks should be.

Some tasks and questions are sequenced to application of grade-level work (e.g., application of prefixes at the end of the unit/year, decoding multisyllable words). Examples include:

• In Unit 3, Week 2, Day 2, during Vocabulary Practice, students learn to read words with the roots popul, equa, graph, cycl. Students use a chart to talk about how the meaning of the root gives a clue to each word’s meaning.
• In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 2, during Vocabulary Strategy, students learn the prefixes inter-, multi-, and un-. Partners use the chart to talk about how the prefix gives a clue to each word’s meaning.
• In Unit 8, Week 1, Day 2, during Daily Spelling & Word Work, students learn words with un- and re-. Students write the words on index cards and practice identifying the prefix.
• In Unit 8, Week 4, Day 2, during Daily Spelling & Word Work, students check a partner’s work on syllable breaks. Students use a dictionary to help them break multisyllabic words into syllables.

Minimal assessment opportunities are provided over the course of the year to inform instructional adjustments of phonics and word recognition to help students make progress toward mastery. Examples include:

• In the Reach for Phonics Foundations, there are the following assessments: Placement/Summative Test and Mastery Progress Checks.
• The materials contain a Phonics and Decoding Test for reading placement.
• At the end of a week, there are spelling tests for assessing the phonics and word work skill for the week. If students need additional practice, there are reteach opportunities.

Materials contain some explicit instruction of word solving strategies (graphophonic and syntactic) to decode unfamiliar words in the Reach into Phonics Foundations. Examples include:

• In Script 1: Lessons 1-6, during Guided Practice 1, students identify letters and letter sounds in a word. During See it Say it Hear it Read it, partner B states the sounds of each letter and blends the letters into a real word.
• In Script 3: Replacement for Lessons 18-19, the teacher explains the schwa vowel sound. The teacher displays letter tiles for Word 1 and divides the word into syllables. Students use the schwa sound to decode the word.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the criteria for materials, lessons, and questions provide instruction in and practice of word analysis skills in a research-based progression in connected text and tasks.

Opportunities are provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to learn, practice, and apply word analysis skills in connected tasks. Opportunities for students to use word analysis skills are limited for applying the skills to connected texts.

Examples of students using word analysis in connected tasks are:

• In Unit 1, students are taught short vowel sounds in multisyllabic words  and students learn commonly misspelled words.
• In Week 1, students write silly sentences commonly misspelled words from the Watch-Out Words.
• In Week 3, students participate in an activity to called Oh No! After writing the 15 spelling words that contain short /o/, students shuffle cards, select a card, read the card, and have a partner spell the word on the card.
• In Unit 2, students are taught short vowel sounds in multisyllabic words, digraphs, and consonant blends.
• In Week 2, students participate in activities to practice ck and sh in words.
• In Week 4, students practice activities to learn consonant blends, such as nd, st, lt, mp, nt, fr, sm, sn, sl, cl, tr, pl, and dr.
• In Unit 3, students are taught long vowels and plural words with -s and -es.
• In Week 1, students participate in activities to practice long /e/, /i/, and /o/.
• In Week 4, students practice making plurals with words such as jacket, porch, and desert.
• In Unit 4, students are taught long vowels with vowel combinations, and students are taught verbs with endings.
• In Week 2, students participate in activities with long /a/, such as ai and ay. Students write a dialogue using spelling words that contain ai and ay.
• In Week 4, students participate in adding the ending -ing to verbs. Students create a slogan using one of the spelling words.
• In Unit 5, students are taught long vowels with vowel combinations, and students are taught r-controlled vowels.
• In Week 1, students practice words with long /i/ using ie and igh. Students create a song using words with ie and igh.
• In Week 2, students practice words with long /u/ that contain ui and ue such as fuel and hue. Students write and perform a skit with the spelling words with ui and ae.
• In Unit 6, students are taught r-controlled vowels, words with y, words with oi, oy, ou, ow, and words with oo, ew; au, aw, al, all.
• In Week 1, students write spelling words with ar, er, ir, or, ur into a poem.
• In Week 3, students learn words with ou and ow. Students write a letter using spelling words with ou and ow.
• In Unit 7, students are taught words with hard and soft /c/ and /g/, words with oo, words with VCV pattern and VCCV pattern, and multisyllabic words with VCCV pattern and VCCCV pattern.
• In Week 1, students create comic strips using spelling words.
• In Week 4, students do a word sort with a partner using the spellings words with VCCV and VCCCV patterns.
• In Unit 8, students are taught words with prefixes and words with suffixes. Students also learn about syllable types and multisyllabic words.
• In Week 3, students write act out the spelling words that contain the -le, -y, and a- syllable types.
• In Week 4, students write and perform skits using the multisyllabic words.

Students practice using prefixes and suffixes from Units 6 and 8 in connected tasks. Students learn about word origins in Unit 3. For example:

• In Unit 3, Week 2, Day 2, during Vocabulary, students learn the origin and meaning of part, imag, geo, bord, rangier. Students answer the two questions: “Which word has something to do with Earth? Which word has something to do with carrying an object?”
• In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 1, during Vocabulary Strategy, the teacher introduces three new prefixes: dis-, micro-, re-, and under-. The teacher is to model how to use the chart and context clues to determine the meaning of decompose.
• In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 2, during Vocabulary Practice, the teacher shows students more prefixes: inter-, multi, and un-.
• In Unit 6, Week 2, Day 2, during Read and Comprehend, the students do the following: “Read the first sentence. What do you think the word uninhabited means? What clues help you know the meaning of the word?"
• In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 1, during Vocabulary Strategy, students learn -al, -ation, -ist, -ly. Students practice figuring out the meaning of the works in sentences.
• In Unit 8, Week 1, students practice un- and re- by write and perform a skit about a natural habit using the un- and re- words from the spelling list.
• In Unit 8, Week 2, students learn three suffixes: -ly, -less, -ful. Students classify words into the following categories: common words and rare words.

Materials include few word analysis assessments to monitor student learning of word analysis skills. During the weekly vocabulary tests, students usually fill in a blank with a missing spelling word. This does not require students to analyze word parts. In Units 6 and 8, students do need to use prefixes and suffixes to analyze word parts to answer the assessment. For example, in Unit 6, Week 4, students are asked the following question: “What does bimonthly mean? This magazine is published bimonthly.” Students select from the following answers: in a short month, in under a month, every two months, at the end of the month.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 4 partially meet the criteria for instructional opportunities being frequently built into the materials for students to practice and achieve reading fluency in oral and silent reading, that is, to read on-level prose and poetry with accuracy, rate appropriate to the text, and expression.

Fluency is included almost daily, although some days the fluency practice lacks an explicit focus on fluency especially on Days 3 and 4. On Day 1, students hear the teacher model a fluency aspect, such as expression, phrasing, accuracy, and intonation. On Day 2, the teacher has partners read aloud a text while the teacher circulates and listens for fluency such as expression. On Day 3, students read the whole group text while the teacher monitors their expression, accuracy, and rate. On Day 4, students read the whole group text while the teacher monitors their expression, accuracy, and rate. On Day 5 of Weeks 1 and 3, students use the Comprehension Coach to practice reading fluently or students can use a Practice Master to read.

Multiple opportunities are provided over the course of the year in core materials for students to demonstrate sufficient accuracy and fluency in oral and silent reading. For example:

• Students have opportunities to read grade-level text with purpose and understanding. For example:
• In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 3, a student reads aloud the following purpose statement: “Find out why music and nature are important to the cultural traditions of Gabon.” The class discusses the purpose.
• In Unit 3, Week 1, Day 3, a student reads aloud the following purpose statement: “A family must leave home. Find out what happens.” The class discusses the purpose.
• In Unit 8, Week 1, Day 3, the teacher reads aloud the introduction and states: “Find out what ‘buffalo music’ means to the narrator of this story.”

Materials support reading or prose and poetry with attention to rate, accuracy, and expression, as well as direction for students to apply reading skills when productive struggle is necessary. Explanation to the teacher as to how to teach expression is not always specific besides general directions such as model expression and listen for intonation.  For example:

• In Unit 3, Week 3, Day 1, the teacher explains intonation: “Intonation is the rise and fall of your voice as you speak or read. Sometimes you voice is softer and sometimes it’s louder.” The teacher models reading aloud “Ethan’s Travels” and models intonation. Students practice intonation as they read aloud “My Travels.”
• In Unit 4, Week 3, Day 5, students can practice fluency by reading Practice Master 4.22. The teacher can assess expression, rate, and accuracy.
• In Unit 6, Week 1, Day 3, the teacher circulates and listens as students read a play. The teacher is to monitor students’ expression, accuracy, and rate.
• In Unit 8, Week 1, Day 4, the teacher circulates and listens as students read the main text. The teacher is to monitor students’ expression, accuracy, and rate.

Materials do not consistently support students’ fluency development of reading skills (e.g., self-correction of word recognition and/or for understanding, focus on rereading) over the course of the year (to get to the end of the grade-level band). Opportunities are limited to Phonics Games in Intervention and the instruction is not connected to texts.

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information of students’ current fluency skills and provide teachers with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery of fluency.

• During Day 5 of Week 1 and 3, there are opportunities for students to be assessed in fluency. Students can use the Practice Master to read and show fluency. The teacher evaluates expression, rate, and accuracy.
• In each unit, a teacher can use the Oral Reading Assessment to document student fluency. If a student needs to be retaught, the manual points the teacher to the Fluency Routines.
• In Fluency Routine 1, the focus is Choral or Echo Reading/Marking the Text. The teacher is directed to select a short passage. The teacher is to model reading the text or use an audio CD or MP3 format. Students mark the passage for the reader’s phrasing and intonation. Students chorally read the text or echo read the text. Students read the text multiple times with a partner until they can read the passage fluently.
• In Fluency Routine 2, the focus is Paired Reading. The teacher is directed to select an appropriate text. Students are paired with a partner or an adult. Partners alternate reading sentences. The teacher is to encourage students to read with prosody.
• In Fluency Routine 3, the focus is Recording and Tracking. The students use the Comprehension Coach to record and analyze their readings. Student are to re-recorded as needed. Student note their accuracy and rate.
• In Fluency Routine 4, the focus is Timed Reading. Students use the Comprehension Coach to record their reading. “The Comprehension Coach encourages students to read carefully and thoughtfully, repairing miscues, thinking about vocabulary, and actively comprehending. Students graph their WCO on a graph each time they use the Comprehension Coach.