The materials include a detailed scope and sequence with an evidence-based rationale for the sequence of phonics instruction. Instruction is logically grouped into high-utility patterns, beginning with letter groups and working up to phonetic skills instruction focused on syllable types. Phonics instruction moves from simple to more complex.

Materials contain a clear evidence-based explanation for the expected sequence for teaching phonics skills. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Research Base, Phonics, the materials indicate that the phonics instructional sequence is informed by the following:  

  • Utility: the materials introduce high-utility letters and at least one vowel to support word building. Short vowel sounds are introduced first to enable students to encode and decode closed syllables, the most common syllable type. 

  • Continuous sounds: the materials introduce some continuous sounds, including /s/ and /m/, early to support blending and connected phonation. 

  • Common errors: the materials separate easily confused phonemes and graphemes, including i/e, b/d, and p/q. 

  • Rules of orthography: the materials introduce c and k last so that students will have learned all vowels, enabling them to identify the correct orthographic spelling of the /k/ sound at the beginning of a word. 

• In Research Base, Phonics, the materials indicate that phonics instruction moves from letter groups, to digraphs because they produce a single sound, to two-phoneme blends, to double l patterns, then glued sounds because they are letter combinations that introduce new sounds. Then the instructional focus shifts to syllable types, which are taught in the context of the Five Phonetic Skills. 

• In Program Overview, Scope and Sequence, it states that “the sequence is logical and intentional, building from the simplest concepts to the more complex. The skills are intentionally grouped together to reduce cognitive load, allowing students’ brains to process and store information more efficiently. Syllable types and syllable division are presented in a simple framework of Five Phonetic Skills and Two Decoding Skills, which provides a more accessible and meaningful structured and organized approach.

Materials clearly delineate a scope and sequence with a cohesive, intentional sequence of phonics instruction, from simpler to more complex skills, and practice to build toward the application of skills. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Scope and Sequence follows an intentional sequence of phonics instruction from simpler to complex skills. Chapter 1 includes Letter Group Lessons. Chapter 2 includes digraphs, consonant blends, double l patterns, and glued sounds. Chapter 3 includes short and long vowels, Phonetic Skills 1-5, trigraphs and three-letter blends, and vowel families. Chapter 4 includes suffixes, r-controlled vowels, special vowel sounds, jobs of y, Decoding Skills 1-2, and multisyllabic words. 

  • Chapter 1: Letter sounds in letter groups: 

    • Letter Group 1: Aa, Mm, Ss, Tt, Pp

    • Letter Group 2: Ii, Ff, Nn, Gg, Bb

    • Letter Group 3: Oo, Rr, Hh, Vv, Jj

    • Letter Group 4: Ee, Ww, Dd, Ll, Yy

    • Letter Group 5: Uu, Qu, Zz, Xx, Cc, Kk

    • Spelling with c and k

• Chapter 2: Digraphs th, ch, sh, wh, ph; L-Blends bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl;  R-Blends br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr; S-Blends sc, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp, st, sw, final s-blends; W-Blends tw, sw, dw; Plurals -s, Doubles ss, ll, ff, Plurals -es, Double l all, oll, ell, ill, ull; -NG Glued Sounds -ang, -ing, -ong, -ung, -NK Glued Sounds -ank, -ink, -onk, -unk; Suffixes -ed and -ing

• Chapter 3: Short and Long Vowels; Phonetic Skill 1- single consonant ending, digraph ending; Spelling with -ck; Trigraph -tch Phonetic Skill 2 - blends and two-consonant endings, consonant digraph endings; Three-letter S-Blends scr, str, spr, spl, squ; Phonetic Skill 3; Phonetic Skill 4 - vowels a, o, i, u, e, nce; Trigraph -dge; Phonetic Skill 5 - ai, ay, ea, ee, oa, oe, ui, ue, ie; Spelling with -ke and -k; Vowel Family O -old, -ost, -olt; Vowel Family I -ind, -ild. 

• Chapter 4: Suffixes -ed and -ing; R-Controlled Vowel - ar, or, ir, er, ur; Special Vowel Sounds - au, aw, ou, ow, oi, oy, oo; Jobs of Y; Suffixes -er and -est; -igh and -ight; Digraph Blends thr and shr; Decoding Skill 1 - single consonants, blends and digraphs; Decoding Skill 2 - two consonants, blends and digraphs; Multisyllabic Words - the schwa, prefixes, final -le; Adding suffixes; Silent letters kn, wr, gn, ign; Decoding exceptions

• Chapter 5: Sounds of /zh/, Suffixes -tion, -tial, -ous, -us, -sion; Spelling with -ss, -ce, -se; Sounds of eu, ew, ea, ie, ei; Reversed Vowels ai/ia, oe/eo, oa/ao, au/ua, ui/iu, oi/io; Practicing multisyllabic words 

Phonics instruction is based in high utility patterns and/or common phonics generalizations. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Chapter 1, the Scope and Sequence indicates instruction on consonants and vowels, thus reviewing reading CVC words with short vowel sounds. 

• In Chapter 2, the scope and sequence indicates instruction on digraphs, two-letter blends, plurals, double consonant patterns, and glued sounds. According to the Research Base document, the instruction moves from the simplest, as digraphs make one sound, to more complex as glued sounds have letter combinations that introduce new sounds. 

• In Chapter 3, the scope and sequence indicates instruction on short and long vowels, spelling with -ck, trigraphs and three-letter blends, and Phonetic Skills 1-5, which includes instruction in syllable types, moving into vowel teams and vowel families. 

• In Chapter 4, the scope and sequence indicates instruction on affixes, r-controlled vowels, special vowel sounds, multisyllabic words, Decoding Skills 1-2, and silent letters. Instruction moves into more complex phonics patterns and application to multisyllabic words. 

• In Chapter 5, the scope and sequence indicates instruction on more complex suffixes and vowel team sounds, including application in multisyllabic words.

Materials do not contain elements of instruction that are based on the three-cueing system.

• Materials do not contain lessons or resources that include the three-cueing system.

The materials provide ample practice and review opportunities in a reasonably paced manner. Each lesson provides opportunities for student practice in the context of the teacher-guided lesson, in small groups using the Student Transfer Book, and independently using the learning software. Skill groups of instruction are followed by regular Review and Transfer days, which provide review of the newly-taught phonics skills and also incorporate review of previously-taught skills. Instructional timing is included in each daily lesson and includes 40 minutes of instruction: Part 1: Phonemic Awareness, 5 minutes, Part 2: Phonics and Spelling, 27 minutes, Part 3: Whole Class Transfer: 8 minutes.

Materials include reasonable pacing of newly-taught phonics skills. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lessons 1-6, the materials reintroduce all 26 letters, organized into working groups. Each working group contains 5-6 letters. The lesson structure includes one working group per lesson and a lesson on spelling with c and k, followed by a review and transfer day. 

  • In Lesson 1, the materials group the following letters: a, m, s, t, p. The lesson focuses on explicitly teaching each letter and its corresponding sound. The final portion of the lesson guides students to use the taught letter sounds in slides. 

  • In Lesson 2, the materials group the following letters: i, f, n, g, b.The lesson focuses on explicitly teaching each letter and its corresponding sound. The final portion of the lesson guides students to use the taught letter sounds to build words. 

• In Lessons 7-27, the materials indicate instruction on digraphs, blends, double consonants, and glued sounds. Over the course of 20 lessons, the teacher reviews or introduces five digraphs, 27 blends, eight double consonant patterns, and eight glued sounds. One to two digraphs are taught and practiced per lesson, six to eight blends are taught and practiced per lesson, two to three double consonant patterns are taught and practiced per lesson, and two glued sounds are taught and practiced 2 per lesson. Lesson structure also includes three lessons on plurals and suffixes and four Review and Transfer days, one focused on each major phonics focus - digraphs, blends, double consonant patterns, and glued sounds. 

The lesson plan design allots time to include sufficient student practice to work towards automaticity. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 99, Part 2, Phonics and Spelling, the phonics objective is for students to decode and encode words with silent letters kn and wr. During the Dictation for Encoding portion of the lesson, students write the dictated word knight on their boards and mark the word, using an x with a macron to indicate the long vowel, an arc under kn to indicate the silent letter pair, and a line through the letters k, g, and h to indicate they are silent. Students repeat the process with the word wrap. Then, students play the Eraser Game, in which they identify then decode the words wrap, knight, and write using clues given by the teacher. Then students use the remaining word, knob, to practice word building, changing letters to make the following word chain: knob/knot/know/known/grown. Students read the list of created words aloud. Student practice occurs during the Phonics and Spelling portion of the lesson, for which 27 minutes is allotted to include instruction, modeling, and guided practice. 

• In Lesson 100, Part 2, Phonics and Spelling, the phonics objective is for students to decode and encode words with silent letters gn and ign. During the Dictation for Encoding portion of the lesson, students write the dictated word align on their boards and mark the word, using an x with a macron or breve to indicate the short and long vowels, an arc under ign to indicate the silent letters, a line through the letter g to indicate it is silent, and a syllable division line. Students repeat the process with the word gnarl. Then, students play the Eraser Game, in which they identify and decode the words gnome, align, and gnarl using clues given by the teacher. Then, students use the remaining word, design, to practice word building, changing letters to make the following word chain: design/resign/sign/sat/gnat. Students read the list of created words aloud. Student practice occurs during the Phonics and Spelling portion of the lesson, for which 27 minutes is allotted to include instruction, modeling, and guided practice. 

• In Lesson 101, Part 2, Phonics and Spelling, the phonics objective is for students to prove, decode, and encode multisyllabic words that change long vowel sounds to short vowel sounds. During the Dictation for Encoding portion of the lesson, students write the dictated word never on their boards and mark the word, using x’s for the vowels, an arc under the r-controlled vowel, a syllable division line, and both a macron and a breve above the first e to indicate the long vowel is read as a short vowel. Students repeat the process with the word city. Then, students play the Eraser Game, in which they identify then decode the words salad, never, and city using clues given by the teacher. Then, students use the remaining word, cabin, to practice word building, changing letters to make the following word chain: cabin/cab/cob/rob/robin. Students read the list of created words aloud. Student practice occurs during the Phonics and Spelling portion of the lesson, for which 27 minutes is allotted to include instruction, modeling, and guided practice. 

• In Lesson 102, Part 2, Phonics and Spelling, the phonics objective is for students to prove, decode, and encode multisyllabic words when the syllable is divided after the consonant x. During the Dictation for Encoding portion of the lesson, students write the dictated word exist on their boards and mark the word, using x’s for the vowels, an arc under the blend, a syllable division line, and a breve above both vowels to indicate short vowels. Students repeat the process with the word expose. Then, students play the Eraser Game, in which they identify then decode the words exile, exist, and expose using clues given by the teacher. Then, students use the remaining word, expert, to practice word building, changing letters to make the following word chain: expert/expect/exact/exam/exams. Students read the list of created words aloud. Student practice occurs during the Phonics and Spelling portion of the lesson, for which 27 minutes is allotted to include instruction, modeling, and guided practice. 

Materials contain distributed, cumulative, and interleaved opportunities for students to practice and review all previously learned grade-level phonics.

Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• In Lesson 7, Part 3: Whole Class Transfer, Student Transfer Book, students engage in the following mixed review words that include sounds taught in previous lessons: cup, kid, cab, quiz, tug, kib, zip. After mixed review, students practice decoding a passage using the Skill Words, Mixed Review Words, and Most Common Words.

• In Lesson 19, Part 3: Whole Class Transfer, Student Transfer Book, students engage in the following mixed review words that include sounds taught in previous lessons: call, fall, roll, poll, foxes, passes, fizzes, axes. After mixed review, students practice decoding a passage using the Skill Words, Mixed Review Words, and Most Common Words.

• The materials include a Review and Transfer day at the end of each working group. For example:

  • In Review and Transfer Day 13, after lesson 63, students take Multi-Skill Check 13, aligned with previously-taught lessons on r-controlled vowels. The materials provide resources for teacher-led small-group lessons, differentiated based on the results of the Multi-Skill Check. Materials include student choice boards focused on review and transfer of decoding of r-controlled vowels. Lessons and activities also include previously-taught digraphs, trigraphs, and suffixes. Review work includes student choice boards that feature decoding speed drills, encoding practice, and passage decoding using passages from Weeks 58-63 and the decodable book Norm’s Sister Returns from the Moon. 

  • In Review and Transfer Day 24, after lesson 116, students take Multi-Skill Check 24, aligned with previously taught lessons on the sounds of eu/ew and other sounds of ea. The materials provide resources for teacher-led small-group lessons, differentiated based on the results of the Multi-Skill Check. Materials include student choice boards focused on review and transfer of decoding of words with eu, ew, and ea. Lessons and activities also include previously taught suffixes and vowel teams. Review work includes student choice boards that feature decoding speed drills, encoding practice, and passage decoding using passages from Weeks 112-116 and the decodable book Heather’s Necklace.

The materials include systematic and explicit phonics instruction with repeated routines for teacher modeling. The lesson structure includes teacher scripts for explicit instruction with consistent routines for teacher modeling for all grade-level phonics standards. 

Materials contain explicit instructions for systematic and repeated teacher modeling of all newly-taught phonics patterns. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words.

  • In Lesson 28, Part 2, the teacher tells students, “Vowels are important because every syllable must have a vowel sound. We have been working with one-syllable words with one vowel sound. In this lesson, you are going to learn two types of vowel sounds that the vowels can spell.” The teacher then reviews the short sounds that the vowels make with the students. Then, the teacher asks students to say the name of each vowel and explains that when they say the vowel’s name, that is the long sound of that vowel. The teacher then displays the vowels and slides with a breve or macron and has students read them using the correct vowel sound. 

  • In Lesson 29, the teacher explains that Phonetic Skill 1 tells them that when a vowel is followed by a single guardian consonant, the vowel sound is short. The teacher displays the word gum, then models marking the word, using an x for the vowel and an asterisk to indicate the Guardian Consonant m. The teacher tells students that since there is one vowel followed by a Guardian Consonant, we know the vowel sound is short, then puts a short vowel mark above the u. The teacher reads the word gum. The teacher repeats the process with the word swish, telling students that a digraph acts as one Guardian Consonant. 

  • In Lesson 36, the teacher explains that Phonetic Skill 4 tells them that when a vowel is followed by a consonant and a silent e, the first vowel sound is long. The teacher displays the word game, then models marking the word, using an x for the vowels, a vertical line through the final e to indicate the letter is silent, and adding a horizontal line above the first vowel to indicate the vowel is long. The teacher says, “The e is silent but strong. Silent e makes the first vowel spell its long vowel sound.” The teacher reads the word game. The teacher repeats the process with the word slope. 

• Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams.

  • In Lesson 42, Part 2, the teacher says, “Phonetic Skills 5 tells us that when two vowels are adjacent, the second vowel is silent, and the first vowel sound is long.” The teacher displays the Adjacent Vowels Poster, which shows the nine most common adjacent vowels. The teacher tells students they will begin practicing this skill with adjacent vowels ai, which make the long a sound. The teacher displays the word rain and models marking it, using an x for the vowels, drawing a vertical line through the i to indicate that it is silent, and adding a horizontal line above the a to indicate the vowel is long. The teacher reads the word rain. The teacher repeats the process with the word aim. 

  • In Lesson 43, Part 2, The teacher explains that adjacent vowels ay makes the long a sound at the end of a word. The teacher explains that when vowels are adjacent, the second vowel is silent, and the first vowel sound is long. The teacher models how to decode the word play by placing a slide arc under pl and marking the two vowels. The teacher then marks the a as a long sound and shows that the y is silent. 

  • In Lesson 49, Part 2, the teacher says, “Phonetic Skills 5 tells us that when two vowels are adjacent, the second vowel is silent, and the first vowel sound is long.” The teacher displays the Adjacent Vowels Poster, which shows the nine most common adjacent vowels. The teacher tells students they will practice this skill with adjacent vowels ie, which make the long i sound. The teacher displays the word tie and models marking it, using an x for the vowels, drawing a vertical line through the e to indicate that it is silent, and adding a horizontal line above the i to indicate the vowel is long. The teacher reads the word tie. The teacher repeats the process with the word vie. 

• RF.2.3c Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels.

  • In Lesson 82, Part 2, the teacher tells students that a syllable is a word or part of a word that has one vowel sound or one working vowel. The teacher says, “When words have more than one working vowel, that means they have more than one syllable.” The teacher displays the nonsense word mo and models marking and reading the open syllable word. The teacher models adding a t to the end of the word, then models marking and reading the closed syllable word mot. The teacher models adding an e to the end of the word, then models marking and reading the word mote. The teacher adds an l to the end of the word, then models marking and reading the word motel. The teacher repeats the process with the word record. 

  • In Lesson 84, Part 2, the teacher displays the word baby and models marking the word, using a x to indicate each vowel. The teacher models using Decoding Skill 1 to divide the word into syllables, then models using Phonetic Skill 3 to mark the first vowel as long. The teacher puts a small e with a macron above the y to indicate the long e sound, then reads the word baby. The teacher repeats the process with the word spicy. 

  • In Lesson 101, Part 2, the teacher explains that in two-syllable words, the first syllable typically has a long sound. The teacher models how to mark the syllable types in the word robin. The teacher marks the vowels and shows that because the consonant /b/ goes with the second syllable, the o in robin should be long. The teacher explains that robin is pronounced with a short vowel because “long vowels can become short, but short vowels cannot become long.” 

Lessons include blending and segmenting practice using structured, consistent blending routines with teacher modeling. 

• In Lesson 2, Part 2, the teacher models marking the word fit using an x to mark the vowel and an arc to indicate the blend. As the teacher marks each slide and word, the teacher models blending the sounds to read the slide or word. 

• In Lesson 8, Part 2, the teacher models marking the slides cha, chi, cho, che, chu, sha, shi, sho, she, shu and the words chin and shed, using an x to mark the vowel and arcs to indicate the digraphs. As the teacher marks each slide and word, the teacher models blending the sounds to read the slide or word.

• In Lesson 59, Part 2, the teacher models marking the r-controlled vowel or and the words torn and orb, using an x to mark the vowel and arcs to indicate the r-controlled vowel. As the teacher marks each word, the teacher models blending the sounds to read the word.

Lessons include dictation of words and sentences using the newly-taught phonics pattern(s). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Review and Transfer Day 2, Activity 2, the teacher-led transfer activity includes guided dictation of words and sentences. The materials provide a word bank of words and sentences that include the newly-taught digraphs. The materials indicate that teachers can choose the words and sentences that meet students’ needs to differentiate for each group. The dictation bank includes 12 sentences and 68 words organized into the following categories: th, ch, sh, final ch and sh, wh, and nonsense words. 

• In Review and Transfer Day 23, Activity 2, the teacher-led transfer activity includes guided dictation of words and sentences. The materials provide a word bank of words and sentences that include the newly-taught spelling with -ss, -ce, and -se, and letter combinations that split. The materials indicate that teachers can choose the words and sentences that meet students’ needs to differentiate for each group. The dictation bank includes 12 sentences and 210 words organized into the following categories: -ss, -se, -ce, blends, gn, double l, glued sounds. 

• In Lesson 39, Part 2, the teacher tells the students to get ready to practice reading and spelling words that follow the skill. The teacher tells the students, “I will spell a word. You will spell it back to me. Then, you will write and prove the word on your board. The teacher then says and spells the words fence and since to practice decoding. The teacher then says but does not spell the words mince, glance, chance, and the nonsense word tonce for encoding practice. 

Materials include teacher guidance for corrective feedback when needed for students. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Corrective Feedback Guide, Phonics, the materials offer the following corrective feedback suggestions if a student inaccurately connects a phoneme to a corresponding grapheme: use the Lesson Toolkits to provide explicit instruction on problem phoneme(s), use visual and auditory drills in a structured manner to connect phoneme and grapheme. 

• In Corrective Feedback Guide, Phonics, the materials offer the following corrective feedback suggestions if students inaccurately decode words: use the Lesson Toolkits to provide explicit instruction in decoding with identified skills, model, and practice blending sounds without pausing between sounds, use a blending board for practice, use decodable texts for additional practice, and provide practice in isolation vowel sounds for students with consistent vowel sound errors in decoding. 

• In Corrective Feedback Guide, Phonics, the materials provide a sample script for the teacher to use: Identify the error, Confirm the expectation, Confirm the correction, Guide Correction, Provide specific praise. Each box in the cycle provides an example of what the teacher might say. For example, in Identify the error, the sample script is “Listen to/Look at the way you read/wrote this word/sound.”

The materials include consistent instructional routines that contain regular opportunities for students to practice decoding and encoding words using common and newly taught sound and spelling patterns. The materials indicate that Part 2 of the lesson, Phonics and Spelling, as well as the Whole Group Transfer Card in Part 3, are focused on accuracy. The student practice in these sections includes marking words to support accurate decoding and encoding. The decodable passage and decodable texts contain opportunities for students to practice decoding with a focus on automaticity. 

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to decode phonetically spelled words. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 17, Part 3, students read the Whole Class Transfer Card, which contains the words passes, foxes, classes, twin, swish, desk, the nonsense word frashes, and the sentences There are six red foxes and He tosses dressed in boxes.  

• In Lesson 33, Part 3, students read the Whole Class Transfer Card, which contains the words scrub, split, squish, the nonsense word strug, and the sentences Stran can strum the string and The squid will splish and splash.

• In Lesson 68, Part 2, in the Warm Up, students identify the vowel sound and then read the words shone, float, go, broke, toe, and groan.  

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to encode phonetically spelling words. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 22, Part 2, students encode the words rang, fang, bang, king, wing, and the nonsense word lang. Students spell the word and mark it, using an x for the vowels and an arc for any -ng glued sounds.

• In Lesson 30, Part 2, students encode the words black, check, and sack and the nonsense word greck. Students spell the word and mark it, using an x for the vowel, an arc under ck, an asterisk over ck to indicate a Guardian Consonant and a short vowel mark over the vowel. 

• In Lesson 84, Part 2, students encode the words tidy and phony. Students spell the word and mark it, using an x for the vowels, a syllable division line, an e with a long vowel symbol over the y, and an arc for any digraphs.

• In Lesson 89, Part 2, students encode the words total, human, carpet, and final. Students spell the word and mark it, using an x for the vowels, a line to separate the syllables, an arc under the R-controlled vowels, and a schwa mark over the second syllable. 

Lessons include student-guided practice and independent practice of blending words using the sound-spelling pattern(s) in an instructional sequence.  Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 46, Part 2, in Dictation for Decoding, students write the words coat and road as the teacher dictates letter by letter. Students mark the words using an x to indicate the vowels, a vertical line through the second vowel to indicate it is silent, and a long vowel mark to indicate the first vowel is long. Students read the word twice. 

• In Lesson 75, Part 2, in Dictation for Decoding, students write the words by, hype, spy, tyke, byte, and the nonsense word quy. Students mark the words, using an x to denote the vowels, a vertical line through the vowel e, write an i above the y, and put an arc under blends or digraphs. Students read each word twice. 

• In Lesson 99, Part 2, in Dictation for Decoding, students write the words write and knob as the teacher dictates letter by letter. Students mark the words, using an x to indicate the vowels, an arc under wr or kn, a line through the silent letter(s), a long or short vowel mark over the vowel, and an asterisk over the Guardian Consonant in knob. Students read the word twice. 

Materials provide opportunities for students to engage in word-level decoding practice focused on accuracy and automaticity. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 11, Part 3, students read the lesson’s decodable passage, consisting of seven sentences using the newly taught r-blends. Students read the passage chorally, then the teacher reads the passage aloud, then students read the passage with a partner. The materials indicate that the instructional focus is automaticity, rate, and prosody. 

• In Lesson 69, Part 3, students read the lesson’s decodable passage, consisting of seven sentences using the newly taught special vowel sound oi. Students read the passage chorally, then the teacher reads the passage aloud, then students read the passage with a partner. The materials indicate that the instructional focus is automaticity, rate, and prosody. 

• In Lesson 95, Part 3, students read the Whole Class Transfer Card, which includes decoding the words bake, flake, poke, pie, glue, suit, need, and read, and the sentences Luke would like to bake a cake and Deke rode his bike at the lake. Students read the second sentence twice. 

Materials contain frequent opportunities for students to review previously learned grade-level phonics. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Review and Transfer Day 5, after Lesson 27, students build words with recently taught glued sounds -nk and -ng and endings -ed and -ing, as well as previously taught digraphs th, sh, wh, ph, and ch.  

• In Review and Transfer Day 15, after Lesson 73, students read the words toy, void, choice, boot, moon, book, look, boy, loose, bloom, soothe, moist, coin, shook, stood, brook, and point. The words review recently taught special vowel sounds oy, oi, and oo, and previously taught blends and digraphs. Students write the word that makes sense in the following fill-in-the-blank sentences: “The boy took a at the toy in the . The mound of is found _ of town."

• In Review and Transfer Day 23, after Lesson 111, students read the words unless, advice, lettuce, cosmic, whisper, hunger, promise, across, recess, signal, entrance, finger, pronounce, village, and yellow. The words review recently taught spellings with -ss, -ce, and -se and letter combinations that split as well as previously taught sound spellings.

The materials contain spelling rules and generalizations that align to the phonics scope and sequence. The materials include explanations for spelling of specific words or spelling rules. Detailed information about articulation and morphology is provided for the teacher in the form of Teacher Tips and scripting. Students have sufficient opportunities to practice spelling rules and generalizations. Daily practice occurs in direct instruction and in Daily and Post Skills Checks. The Skill Checks provide students with digital activities that allow for practice of phonics skills from the lesson. Practice opportunities are also present in Part 4 of daily instruction in the small group setting.

Spelling rules and generalizations are aligned to the phonics scope and sequence. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 6, the Scope and Sequence indicates a phonics focus on words with c and k. Students spell words with c and k, such as kid, kit, cod, ket.

• In Lesson 16, the Scope and Sequence indicates a phonics focus Doubles s, f, and z. Students spell words with Double s, f, and z, such as bluff, grass, scoff, pazz.

• In Lesson 49, the Scope and Sequence indicates a phonics focus on ie.  Students spell words with ie such as tie, vie, pie, lies, ties, die, smile. 

• In Lesson 58, the Scope and Sequence indicates a phonics focus on r-controlled Vowel: ar. Students spell words with r-controlled Vowel: ar, such as art, scarf, smart, jar, car, farm, start, darf.  

Materials include explanations for spelling of specific words or spelling rules. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 55, Part 2, the teacher tells students that the suffix -ed is always spelled the same way, but it can spell three different sounds. When the sound /t/ or /d/ comes right before -ed, it will be pronounced /ĭd/.

• In Lesson 75, Part 2, the teacher describes the Jobs of Y: y as Long i: “If y is not the first letter in a word, it is a vowel.” The teacher explains that if y is the only working vowel in a word, it spells the same vowel sound as i.

• In Lesson 85, Part 2, the teacher provides instruction for the Last Job of Y: NFL Rule. The rule is that if a word is a verb and the consonants n, f, or, l come right before the letter y, then it spells the long i sound. The teacher explains that words with this pattern are called n-f-l words.

• In Lesson 125, Part 2, the teacher tells students, “When the adjacent vowels ui are reversed to iu, each vowel spells a sound. The vowel i spells /ē/, and the vowel u spells /ŭ/. We put a dot under each vowel to help us remember that each vowel spells a sound. In each word we prove, I am going to tell you what sound the reversed vowels are spelling. As you practice more words with reversed vowels, it becomes easier to recognize what sound each vowel spells. Watch as I prove this word with the reversed vowels iu, when the vowel i spells long e and the vowel u spells the short u sound.”

Students have sufficient opportunities to practice spelling rules and generalizations. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 53, Part 2, students practice spelling words with Vowel Family I: -ind and -ild. Students practice reading and marking the vowel for slides: ind, ild, kind, child. Then, the teacher uses the Guided Dictation routine for students to practice spelling and encoding words: find, mild, wild, mind, blind, spild. Students play the Eraser Game to practice segmenting and reading words: mind, splid, find, blind, wild. 

• In Lesson 84, Part 2, students practice spelling words with -y long e sound. Students use dry-erase boards to spell baby, spicy, navy, sleepy, tidy, phony. Students use the Student Transfer Book to spell lady, pony, and baby. 

• In Lesson 100, Part 2, students practice spelling and proving words with gn and -ign on dry-erase boards. Students repeat the word the teacher says and then write it on their board. Students then show the word to the teacher to check for accuracy. Words include align, gnarl, resign, sign, gnat.

• In Lesson 126, Part 2, students practice spelling by first saying the letters of a word out loud to their partner. Then, the other partner takes a turn. Lesson words include choice, coin, oil, point.

The materials feature decodable texts containing grade-level phonics skills aligned to the program’s scope and sequence. Each lesson includes a decodable passage that the teacher uses during Part 3. The materials include general lesson plans for repeated readings of decodable texts. Decodable books are used in the small group centers with direct teacher instruction. Reading practice occurs in decodable texts until students can accurately decode single syllable words.

Decodable texts contain grade-level phonics skills aligned to the program’s scope and sequence. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 43, the Scope and Sequence indicates a phonics focus on ai and ay. Part 3 includes a decodable passage featuring words with ai and ay, such as rain, train, faint, paint, wait, day, may, plain, grey. 

• In Lesson 47, the Scope and Sequence indicates a phonics focus on oa, oe. Part 3 includes a decodable passage featuring words with oa, oe, such as Joan, goat, Joe, oats, moan, groan, toes, and foe.

• In Lesson 99, the Scope and Sequence indicates a phonics focus on Silent Letters: kn and wr. Part 3 includes a decodable passage featuring words with Silent Letters kn and wr, such as knight, wrapped, knapsack, knot, wrists, knuckles, knees, knife, knave, wrong, kneel, wrath, write, knights. 

• In Lesson 107, the Scope and Sequence indicates a phonics focus on -sion. Part 3 includes a decodable passage featuring words with -sion, such as mission, division, impression, confusion, discussion, and explosion.

Materials include detailed lesson plans for repeated readings of decodable texts to address acquisition of phonics skills. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 69, Part 3, students read the decodable passage three times, focusing on the oi pattern. Students read the passage together. Next, the teacher reads the passage, and students listen. Finally, students read the text with a partner. Upon completing the rereadings of the decodable passage, the lesson plan connects back to the targeted skill by asking students the following questions: Today, we learned to read and spell words with the Special Vowel Sound oi. What is the new vowel sound that the letters oi spell?

• In Lesson 80, Part 3, students read the decodable passage three times, focusing on digraph blends. Students read the passage together. Next, the teacher reads the passage, and students listen. Finally, students read the text with a partner. Upon completing the rereadings of the decodable passage, the lesson plan connects back to the targeted skill by asking students: “Which digraph is part of the digraph blend thr? (th) Which digraph is part of the digraph blend shr? (sh) Which digraph is part of the digraph blends phl, phr, and sph? (ph)” 

• In Lesson 87, Part 3, students read the decodable passage three times, focusing on Blends and Digraphs within multisyllabic words. Students read the passage together. Next, the teacher reads the passage, and students listen. Finally, students read the text with a partner. Upon completing the rereadings of the decodable passage, the lesson plan connects back to the targeted skill by asking students the following questions: “Today, we learned to read and spell words that follow Decoding Skill 2 with blends and digraphs, what is the short way to say this rule? (Two must split.)”

Reading practice occurs in decodable texts (i.e., an absence of predictable texts) until students can accurately decode single syllable words. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 22, Part 3, the text is decodable based on prior content introduced in this lesson on words with -ang and -ing and does not contain predictable text: “The king got a big dog. The king will sing with joy! He will call the dog Fang. Fang can zip and zing by the king. Do not bang into the king, Fang!” The passage contains regularly-spelled single-syllable words containing previously taught sound spellings, including the oy sound-spelling introduced in Grade 1, and the previously taught high-frequency words the, he, and by. 

• In Lesson 65, Part 3, the text is decodable based on prior content introduced in this lesson and Lesson 97 in Grade 1(i.e., Special Vowel Sounds: aw) and does not contain predictable text: “It is dawn, and I go outside. A fawn is on the lawn. I crawl to gawk at the fawn, but I snap a twig. When the fawn saw me, she held her jaw taut. The fawn is quick and jaunts away!”

• In Lesson 39, Part 3, the text is decodable based on prior content introduced in this lesson on words with -nce and previous lessons and does not contain predictable text: “The prince had a tall stance. At the ball, the prince must dance. Since he made a glance at me, it was my chance. I went to dance with the prince, but then he made a wince.” The passage contains regularly-spelled single-syllable words containing previously-taught sound spellings and the previously taught high-frequency words the, he, me, was, and my. 

• In Lesson 97, Part 3, the text is decodable based on prior content introduced in this lesson on adding suffixes to words ending with y in multisyllabic words and previous lessonsand does not contain predictable text: “Addo is studying for his math test. Adding numbers is the easiest, but multiplying is the trickiest for him. Addo is worrying that he will fail the test. There is no denying that multiplying numbers is hard. He is brave and keeps studying. Addo is applying tricks from math class when multiplying. Now he is happier. Multiplying numbers is now easier.” The passage contains regularly spelled single syllable and multisyllabic words containing previously taught sound spellings and the previously taught high-frequency words the and there.

The materials provide resources and tools to collect formative and summative data about students’ progress in phonics. Multiple assessment tools are provided for the teacher to administer throughout the year to measure student progress toward mastery of phonics skills. Materials also provide teacher tools to generate overview and progress reports at the student and classroom level. Varied assessments include Readiness Checks at the start of the year, Daily Skill Checks after each lesson, Student Observation Checks, Multi-Skill Checks offered three times for each skill set, a Mid-Year Cumulative Skill Check, and an End-of-Year Cumulative Skill Check. 

Materials regularly and systematically provide a variety of assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence in phonics. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Reading Horizons Discovery Program Overview, Assessments, page 38 describes formative and summative assessments for students to demonstrate mastery and independence with phonics. Assessments include Readiness Check, Mid-Year Cumulative Skill Check, End-of-Year Skill Check, Single Skill Check, Student Observation Check, Multi-Skill Check. 

• In the Assessments Guide, Technical Summary (Digital Download), page 9 states that the Skill Check is administered at the end of each Whole-Class Lesson Delivery and a second time after the student completes the assigned differentiated activities. These daily skill checks enable the teacher to immediately evaluate the impact of their instruction. The Post-Skill Check gives teachers the impact of whole-group instruction plus differentiated learning activities.

• In the Assessment Guide, the Cumulative Skills Check on page 5 is described as a “check for retention and transfer of a sample of key skills learned throughout the semester.” The Skills Check is given at the middle and end of the year and is meant to do the following: 

  • Evaluate the impact of teaching RH Discovery during a specified time period (about half of the academic year),

  • Identifies the contribution of RH Discovery to external measures

  • Helps rule out decoding skills as an inhibitor to performance on external measures (e.g., if students perform well on the Cumulative Skill Check but poorly on external measures, teachers can explore other causes of lower performance).

• In the Observation Checkpoint Guide, the materials state that there are multiple assessment opportunities embedded within lessons to monitor student performance: Observation Checkpoints during phonemic awareness, dictation, transfer, and small group routines. The same monitoring options are available during formal assessments. Formative and summative data is collected and analyzed in the Student Observation Panel within the Lesson Delivery Tool.

Assessment materials provide the teacher and students with information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of phonics. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Materials provide teacher tools to generate overview and progress reports at the student and classroom level. For example, “The Student Skill Progress Report provides overall data looking at the Whole-Group Instruction recorded observations, Initial Skill Check, Small-Group Instruction recorded observations, and Post Skill Check to determine effectiveness of instruction and practice. The report “tells the overall account of the Daily Skill Check data. It uses the average score across all Skill Checks to determine if the student needs support, practice, or enrichment.”

• In Program Overview, page 29, it states, “After Whole-Class Lesson Delivery is complete, students take a quick five-question Skill Check in the software based on the content just taught in the lesson. The Skill Check empowers teachers to check for students’ understanding of each day’s Skill lesson and inform small groups for differentiated learning activities for Extended Transfer.

• In Reading Horizons Discovery Program Overview, Reports, page 41 describes the reports available to teachers and administrators for aggregation of data. Reports detail a “high-level overview of district and school performance and detailed data of class and individual student performance.” Reports available to provide teachers with information about students’ current level of understanding of phonics are Student Skill Progress Report, Class Multi-Skill Check Report, Class Readiness/Cumulative Check Report. The Student Skill Progress Report includes information from each lesson in the areas of Whole-Group observation status (red, yellow, green), Initial Skill Check score, Small Group Observation status (red, yellow, green), Post Skill Check score, Recorded errors. The report gives an overall account of where the student is, what the student frequently struggles with, and how many times the student has been in the Needs Support group during Groups and Centers time.

• In Lesson 63, teachers are provided with a summary page, starting with “What’s the Impact?” and gives teachers the breakdown of percentage of students placed in the Enrichment, Practice, or Support Groups. In the “What’s Next?” section, it tells the teachers which students should take the Skill Check and to Proceed to Lesson 64. On the next page, the teacher can see each group that was automatically generated based on lesson observations and data. It tells which students are in each group, their color rating, and percentage of mastery. Each group has a downloadable Transfer Routine page that gives directions for instruction.

• In Lesson 46, Ready Made Centers, students are automatically grouped using observations and Skill Check data and displayed in the Lesson Delivery tool. The teacher is provided with “Final Student Observations,” which shows individual student scores for Whole Class (green, yellow, red), Group (green, yellow, red), Skill Check percentage, Post Skill Check percentage. The teacher must view this page before pressing “Confirm” to end the lesson.

• In Lesson 59, Part 3, Check for Understanding, the students use a rating system to determine their level of understanding of the phonics skill taught in the lesson today about r-controlled vowel -or. 

Materials support teachers with instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in phonics. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Reading Horizons Discovery, Program Overview, page 33 describes data-driven decision-making. It states that “upon completion of Groups and Centers, the teacher will make a data-driven decision for the next day. The teacher can determine if the class is ready to move on to the next lesson, needs instruction on the same skill in a teacher-led small group during intervention, or if the entire class needs another day of instruction and practice.” Data and observations for each lesson are compiled on the Final Student Observations page of each lesson, which guides the teachers’ next steps.

• In the Reading Horizons Accessing the Digital Tool and Additional Resources PDF it shows how teachers can click on the complete instruction button once the lesson has been delivered and students have completed the digital Skills Check for that lesson. Teachers can view a Lessons Insight Page where teachers can then click on Groups and Centers, which takes them to Transfer Routine activities for students in need of Enrichment Group Instruction versus Support or Practice Group Instruction.

• In Lesson 52, Transfer Routine, Grade 2/3 Groups and Centers Routines, the teacher is provided with instruction for each group. Each group has instructional routines for the next steps of additional support using Word Mapping, Skill Transfer: Echo Reading and Skill Review, Sentence Reading, Decodable Passage: Choral and Repeated Reading, Independent, and Partner Transfer.

• In Lesson 35, after completing instruction and Observation Checkpoints throughout the lesson, the teacher is provided with a summary page that indicates the percentage of students needing Enrichment, Support, and Practice. The “What’s Next?” section indicates which students are ready to take the Skill Check and directs the teacher to proceed to Lesson: Review and Transfer Day: Multi-Skill Check 7. The Groups and Centers button takes teachers to a Transfer Routine Download for Needs Support, Needs Practice, Needs Enrichment. Each practice group includes activities: Teacher-Led Transfer with Word Mapping, Skill Transfer activities, and Decodable Passage, Partner and Independent Transfer activities.

• In Lesson 80, when the teacher finishes the lesson, they are provided with a summary page. It starts with “What’s the Impact?” and gives teachers the breakdown of percentage of students placed in the Enrichment, Practice, or Support Groups. In the “What’s Next?” section, it tells the teachers which students should take the Skill Check and to Proceed to Lesson 81. On the next page, the teacher can see each group that was automatically generated based on lesson observations and data. It tells which students are in each group, their color rating, and percentage of mastery. Each group has a downloadable Transfer Routine page that gives directions for instruction.

• In Multi-Skills Check 4, Lessons 7-21, the teacher is provided with a report of students who need support, practice, and enrichment based on the skills covered in lessons 7-21: digraphs, blends, double s, f, z, x, and l, plurals, sounds of -ed.  

• In Multi-Skills Check 16, Lessons 64-76, the teacher is provided with a report of students who need support, practice, and enrichment based on the skills covered in lessons 64-76:special vowel sounds au, aw, ou, ow, oi, oy, oo, adding -ed and -ing, jobs of y.

The materials include systematic and explicit instruction in high-frequency words. The instruction includes identification of decodable, not yet decodable, and irregularly spelled words, as well as a routine for identifying the irregular spelling or not yet taught sound-spelling. The materials include a sufficient number of high-frequency words. The Lesson Toolkit includes a resource that groups the high-frequency words by phonetic skill.

Materials include systematic and explicit instruction of high-frequency words with an explicit and consistent instructional routine. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 37, Part 2, the teacher introduces the word large. The teacher explains that this word is not yet decodable. The teacher says the word and segments the sounds. The teacher uses the Project Slide with three lines or draws three lines on the board, displaying a line for each sound. The teacher works with the students to identify the sound for each line and how that sound is spelled. The teacher writes l on the first line, ar on the second line, and ge on the third line, circling the ar and g, which are the irregular part of the word. The teachers add the letter e at the end of the word, explaining that the e is silent, and circles the silent e to show it is also an irregular part of the word were. Each time the teacher circles an irregular sound, she says, “this is the part we need to remember.”

• In Lesson 64, Part 2, the teacher introduces the word animal. The teacher explains that this word is not yet decodable. The teacher says the word animal and segments the sounds. The teacher uses the Project Slide with six lines or draws six lines on the board, displaying a line for each sound. The teacher works with the students to identify the sound for each line and how that sound is spelled. The teacher writes the letter for the sound on each line, circling the second a, which is the irregular part of the word. Each time the teacher circles an irregular sound, she says, “this is the part we need to remember.”

• In Lesson 82, Part 2, the teacher introduces the word every. The teacher tells students that the word is not yet decodable, then guides students to segment the word and count the sounds. The teacher displays a blank line for each sound, then guides students to identify the first three sounds and name the letter(s) for that sound, displaying the letter(s) as students name them. The teacher tells students that the last sound /ē/ is spelled y. The teacher records the spelling on the last line, then circles the letter y and tells students this is a new spelling that we need to remember. The teacher says the word every twice. 

Materials include teacher modeling of the spelling and reading of high-frequency words that includes connecting the phonemes to the graphemes. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 48, Part 2, the teacher introduces the word men. The teacher tells students that the word is decodable and then guides students to segment the word and count the sounds. The teacher displays a blank line for each sound, then guides students to identify the sound and name the letter for each sound, displaying each letter as students name it. The teacher says the word men twice. 

• In Lesson 78, Part 2, the teacher introduces the word should. The teacher guides the students to segment the sounds, then uses the Project Slide with three lines to sound and spell the letters in the word should one sound/letter at a time. The teacher circles the irregular spelling of oul as the part that needs to be remembered. The teacher points to the word should and reads it two times.

• In Lesson 109, Part 2, the teacher introduces the word few. The teacher guides the students to segment the sounds, then uses the Project Slide with two lines to sound and spell the letters in the word few, one sound/letter at a time. The teacher circles the new spelling of ew as the part that needs to be remembered. The teacher points to the word few and reads it two times aloud.

Materials include a sufficient quantity of high-frequency words for students to make reading progress. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Program Overview, the Grade 2/3 Scope and Sequence indicates that the materials introduce a total of 127 high-frequency words. The materials introduce a new word during each lesson in Lessons 1-127. 

• In the Second Grade Most Common Words Toolkit, pages 3-5, is a table of Most Common Words Grapheme Mapping that indicates instruction of high-frequency words by lesson. Each word is identified as not yet decodable or irregular, and broken down by phonemes, and shows mapping of the graphemes. Words taught include: name, good, sentence, man, think, say, great, were, help, through, much, before, line, right, too, means, old, any, same, tell, boy, follow, came, want, show, also, around, form, three, small, set, put, end, does, another, well, large, must, big, even, such, because, turn, here, why, ask, went, men, read, need, land, different, home, us, move, try, kind, hand, picture, again, change, off, play, spell, air, away, animal, house, point, page, letter, mother, answer, found, study, still, learn, should, America, world, high, every, near, add, food, between, own, below, country, plant, last, school, father, keep, tree, never, start, city, earth, eyes, light, thought, head, under, story, saw, left, don’t, few, while, along, might, close, something, seem, next, hard, open, example, begin, life, always, those, both, paper, together, group.

The materials contain student practice identifying and reading high-frequency words in isolation. Students practice reading Most Common Words in isolation daily on the Whole Class Transfer Card. The lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to read high-frequency words in context. Students read high-frequency words in daily lessons using Decodable Text, Decodable Books, and the Whole Class Transfer Card. Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to write high-frequency words in tasks, such as sentences, in order to promote automaticity of high-frequency words. Students have daily opportunities to practice writing high-frequency words in the dictation part of each lesson.

Students practice decoding high-frequency words in isolation. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 71, Part 3, students read the Whole Class Transfer Card, which includes the high frequency words letter, page, and point in isolation.

• In Lesson 83, Part 3, students read the Whole Class Transfer Card, which includes the high frequency words near, every, and high in isolation.

• In Lesson 107, Part 3, students read the Whole Class Transfer Card, which includes the high-frequency words left, saw, and story in isolation. 

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to read high-frequency words in context. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 37, students read the Decodable Text The Magic Stick, which includes the previously taught high-frequency words and, be, his, make, no, she, with.

• In Lesson 61, students read the Decodable Text The Deer, which includes the previously taught high-frequency words went, want, then, could.

• In Lesson 107, students read the Decodable Text The Siege, which includes the previously taught high-frequency words could, these, other, have, then.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to write high-frequency words in tasks, such as sentences, in order to promote automaticity of high-frequency words. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 56, Part 2, students record the dictated sentence They try planning trees, which includes the high-frequency word they and try.

• In Lesson 87, Part 2, students record the dictated sentence I jog on my own concrete path. Students repeat the sentence, count the words, then write the sentence, which contains the newly-taught high-frequency word own.  

• In Lesson 103, Part 2, students record the dictated sentence My head had exposure to the sun, which includes the high-frequency words my, head, had.

The materials contain regular explicit instruction in word analysis. The program contains daily instructional routines of marking words, in which students code the different elements of a word as they are introduced (vowels, digraphs, blends, suffixes, etc.). This word marking lays a foundation for syllable division and decoding and encoding multisyllabic words. The materials include explicit instruction in Phonetic Skills, which is the study of syllable types, and Decoding Skills, which teach syllabication rules. 

Materials contain explicit instruction of syllable types and syllable division that promote decoding and encoding of words. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 32, Part 2, the teacher says, “Phonetic Skill 2 tells us that when a vowel is followed by two Guardian Consonants, the vowel sound is short. The teacher utilizes the Project Slide with the word lift to code i with an x, then codes f and t with a Guardian Star since those two letters are not a blend or a digraph. The teacher then says, “Phonetic Skill 2 tells us that when a vowel is followed by two Guardian Consonants, the vowel sound is short.” The teacher puts a breve above the i. This process is repeated for the words blast and bench while also arcing the blends and digraphs in the words.

• In Lesson 86, Part 2, the teacher tells students that Decoding Skill 2 tells us that when there are two consonants between two vowels, the consonants split. The teacher displays the word campus, marks both vowels with an x, counts the consonants between them, and explains how to divide the syllables. The teacher displays the syllable division line, identifies both syllables as closed, and adds breves to each vowel to indicate the vowels are short. The teacher repeats the process with the word subject. 

• In Lesson 127, Part 2, the teacher reminds students of the steps involved when spelling a word with more than one syllable. The teacher says, “First, pronounce the word syllable by syllable. Second, spell each syllable using the skills you have learned. And third, check the word to see if it looks like it sounds according to what you have learned. Remember, if you are still uncertain about any part of a word, you can ask your teacher or look up the word in a dictionary to confirm the spelling to help you remember it the next time you spell it.” The teacher dictates the word “important” two times while the students write it on their whiteboards. The students mark and read the word. The teacher then puts the word into a sentence: “​​It is important that you stay with your group and do not wander off.” The students repeat this routine for the following words: available and circular.

Materials contain explicit instruction in morpheme analysis to decode unfamiliar words. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 15, Part 2, the teacher tells the students, “Today, we are going to learn about plural words. If something is plural, it means there is more than one.” The teacher displays the word dot next to a picture of one dot and tells students dot is a singular word because there is one dot. The teacher displays the word dots next to a picture of two dots. The teacher explains that when the letter s is added dot, it becomes dots to show there is more than one. The teacher models underlining the -s ending. This process is repeated with cat to cats and sled to sleds.

• In Lesson 77, Part 2, the teacher says, “We can add the suffix -er to the end of some words to compare two things. Adding -er means there is more of something.” The teacher shows the Project Slide that has a picture of two apples and explains that one apple is bigger than the other. The teacher says, “When a word follows Phonetic Skill 1 and ends in a single consonant, we double the consonant before adding a suffix that begins with a vowel. A suffix that begins with a vowel is called a vowel suffix.” The teacher uses the Project Slides to model changing hot to hotter. The teacher then moves on to the suffix -est, following the earlier process using the words hot/hotter/hottest and rich/rich/richest. The teacher says, “The suffix -est is also added to the end of a word to help us compare. It is used to compare three or more things. Adding -est means that something is the most of all the things we are comparing.” When coding the words, the teacher draws a line under the suffix -er or -est.

• In Lesson 111, the teacher defines base words, root words, prefixes, and suffixes. The teacher displays the word hats, then removes the suffix and displays the word hat with a picture of one hat. The teacher tells students that removing the suffix makes the word singular, then displays the word hats again with a picture of two hats, explaining that the suffix -s changes the meaning of the base word hat. The teacher models using the base word help to make the words helper, helpful, and helpless, marking the words and underlining the suffixes. The teacher explains how each suffix changes the meaning of the base word and guides students to decode the new words. 

Multiple and varied opportunities are provided over the course of the year for students to learn, practice, and apply word analysis strategies. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 55, Part 2, in Dictation for Decoding, students write the word fund as the teacher dictates letter by letter. Students practice word analysis skills by marking the word, using x’s for the vowel, stars above the two Guardian Consonants, and a breve to indicate the vowel is short. The students repeat the process with the word funded, recording it next to the base word fund and underlining the suffix. Students read the word twice. Students repeat the process with the words list and listed. 

• In Lesson 59, Part 2, Dictation for Decoding, students write the letters in the word short one at a time after listening to the teacher say and spell the word. The students then mark the o with an x, then put an arc under the letters or since it is an r-controlled vowel, and put an arc under the letters sh since they are a digraph. The students then read the word short two times. Students repeat the process for the word for.

• In Lesson 99, Part 2, Dictation for Encoding, students repeat the word knight after hearing the teacher say the word twice, and then students spell and prove the word. Students arc the letters kn as they go together, then draw a vertical line through the k since it is silent. The students put an x under the letter i and then code it with a macron since it is long. The students draw a vertical line through the letters g and h since they are silent. Students read the word twice. Students repeat the spelling and proving process for the word wrap.

The materials offer regular and systematic assessment opportunities in the areas of word recognition and word analysis. The program uses the student observation checkpoints, Skill Checks, and Multi-Skill Checks to regularly measure student progress. The materials include information to determine students’ current understanding and instructional suggestions for supporting growth based on assessment data. 

Materials regularly and systematically provide a variety of assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence of word recognition and analysis. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Multi-Skill Check 2, students spell and mark words from the row 1 or 2 that, with, chap, bath, ship, wish, chat, which, when, math, much, chip, fish, then, dish, shop. Students prove their words by drawing an arc under the digraph and putting an x under the vowel.

• In Multi-Skill Check 9, students read the Most Common Words how, their, if, will, and up in isolation. Students read the sentence How will she grip the clip? which includes the Most Common Words how, will, she, and the. 

• In Multi-Skill Check 14, students spell and mark words from the row 1 or 2 aunt, cause, count, ouch, draw, flown, our, hawk, straw, cloud, brown, snow, south, shout, town, mouse. Students prove their words by drawing an arc under the vowel team and digraph and putting an x under the vowel.

Assessment materials provide the teacher and students with information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of word recognition and word analysis. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Print Multi-Skill Check Overview, Most Common Words, the materials indicate that teachers calculate the accuracy percentage for reading the 3-8 Most Common Words included on each Multi-Skill Check. The materials indicate that teachers may use the box on the data sheet to record Most Common Words that students struggle to read, or teachers may track mastery of irregular and not yet decodable words using the tracking sheet in the Most Common Words Toolkit.

• In Observation Checkpoint Guide, Scoring Criteria, the materials provide guidance for determining student performance levels. A student is scored in the Needs Support category (red) when they are unable to perform the task accurately, even with teacher support or scaffolding. A student is scored in the Needs Practice category (yellow) if they are able to perform the task accurately with teacher support or scaffolding or if a student is unable to perform the task with automaticity. A student is scored in the Needs Enrichment category (green) if they are able to perform the task accurately, independently, and with automaticity.

• In Program Overview, the materials state that “upon completion of groups and Centers, the teacher will make a data-driven decision for the next day.” The data that supports the teacher in making this decision is compiled in the Lesson Delivery Tool and appears on the Final Student Observations page, guiding teachers next actionable steps. Data from the Daily Skill Check determines student and class proficiency on each skill.

Materials support the teacher with instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in word recognition and word analysis. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Corrective Feedback and Next Steps Guide, the materials make the following recommendations for students who do not recognize words immediately or easily: 

  • Repetition: use lesson materials, Student Transfer Books, Decodable Books, Groups and Centers Routines, Most Common Words Toolkits, and Lesson Toolkits to repeat transfer routines. 

• In Lesson 88, Ready Made Centers provides the teacher with three group options based on the student’s performance throughout the lesson. The three groups are for students with Needs Support, Needs Practice, or Needs Enrichment. The students in the Needs Support Group have a list of activities generated for the teacher to complete. This list of activities for the Needs Support group states, “The priority for students in the Needs Support group is the Teacher-Led Transfer activities aligned with the Student Transfer Book. Their next priority should be completing the Independent Transfer: RH Discovery Software activities and the final Skill Check. If time allows, these students can complete the Partner or Independent Transfer activities.”

The materials contain varied, frequent opportunities over the course of the year in core materials to gain automaticity and prosody. The materials contain daily instruction in decoding with a focus on automaticity in the Whole Class Transfer activities. The materials provide practice opportunities for word reading fluency in a variety of settings, namely the Whole Class Transfer Card and Whole Class Decodable Passage. Students read words in isolation, sentences, and passages to develop automaticity and prosody with decodable words and familiar spelling patterns. The materials provide practice opportunities for word reading fluency in a variety of settings. Students practice fluency by reading independently, with partners, and with the teacher. The materials include general guidance and corrective feedback suggestions to the teacher for supporting students’ gains in oral reading fluency.

Varied, frequent opportunities are provided over the course of the year for students to gain automaticity and prosody. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson 54, Part 3, Whole Class Transfer, Whole Class Decodable Passage, the students practice reading sentences from Vowel Family O: -old, -ost, -olt. First, the students read chorally with the teacher. Then students listen to the teacher read the passage using their voice to make the reading interesting. Last, students take turns reading the passage with a partner.

• In Lesson 75, Part 3, Whole Class Transfer Card, students read words and sentences from the Whole Class Transfer Card together. Extension ideas include students reading the sentence and using different punctuation at the end of the sentence, students rephrasing the sentence as a question, and students turning to a partner and reading the skills words.  

• In Lesson 97, Part 3, Whole Class Decodable Passage, students choral read the passage together at the just right speed. Students take turns rereading the passage with a partner. 

• In Review and Transfer Day Routines, on the Partner or Independent Transfer - Multi-Skill Choice board in box 5, students read the words from each row listed with a partner. Students are reminded to read the words accurately, at the correct speed, and with expression. 

Materials provide practice opportunities for oral reading fluency in a variety of settings (e.g., repeated readings, dyad or partner reading, continuous reading). Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Lesson Toolkit, Trigraph tch, Lesson 31, students participate in one of the following transfer activities: Choral Read, Partner Read, or Modeled Echo Read.

• In Lesson 114, Part 3, Whole Class Transfer, Whole Class Decodable Passage, the students practice reading sentences with Other Sounds for EA: Long e and Long a. First, the students read chorally with the teacher. Then students listen to the teacher read the passage using their voice to make the reading interesting. Last, students take turns reading the passage with a partner.

• In Lesson 94, Ready Made Centers, Transfer Book 2, Page 74 contains a page of decodable words based on the lesson’s targeted Skill Words and Mixed Review Words. This is done during centers as part of the “Teacher-Led Transfer” center. 

• In Lesson 107, Ready Made Centers, Transfer Book 2, Page 104 contains a page of decodable words based on the lesson’s targeted Skill Words and Mixed Review Words. This is done during centers as part of the “Teacher-Led Transfer” center. 

Materials include guidance and corrective feedback suggestions to the teacher for supporting students’ gains in oral reading fluency. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In Corrective Feedback and Next Steps Guide, Fluency, the materials provide the teacher with a Corrective Feedback Sample Script for students inaccurately reading text:

  • “Lesson Toolkits: Target specific decoding skills.

  • Continuous/Successive Blending: Sound out words with no pausing or stopping between sounds.

  • Blending Boards: Use blending boards to provide additional practice in accuracy.

  • Decodable Texts: Use decodable passages or books to provide additional practice in accuracy.” 

• In Corrective Feedback and Next Steps Guide, Fluency, the materials provide the teacher with a Corrective Feedback Sample Script for students inaccurately attending to punctuation:

  • “Sound Cues: Read along with the student and tap the table twice for every period and once for every comma. This provides a concrete cue for the timing of pauses at punctuation.

  • Physical Cues: Have your students take an emphasized breath at commas or periods. This overemphasis is a physical connection to punctuation and draws concrete attention to the punctuation mark.

  • Punctuation Reading: Have students practice reading the same sentence with different punctuation and discuss changes in intonation and changes of meaning conveyed (e.g., Cows eat grass., Cows eat grass!, Cows eat grass?). 

  • Highlighting: Have the student highlight or circle the punctuation in their writing. This visual reinforcement can make them more aware of the punctuation marks.”

The materials include regular and systematic opportunities for assessment over the course of a year in order for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence of oral reading fluency. Assessment materials provide the teacher and students with information about students’ current skills/level of understanding of oral reading fluency. Additionally, the materials support the teacher with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in oral reading fluency through the Corrective Feedback tool, Lesson Toolkits, and lesson plan suggestions. 

Multiple assessment opportunities are provided regularly and systematically over the course of the year for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence of oral reading fluency. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The Program Overview explains that fluency is assessed through the Print Multi-Skills Check utilized after each chapter of lessons. This assessment allows teachers to assess student skills, including fluency. Students are given a one-minute decodable fluency passage to determine accuracy, rate, and prosody.

• In the Assessment Guide: Technical Summary, Reading Horizons Discovery Assessment Suite, page 5 states that Fluency is assessed through Student Observation Checks that “inform instructional support decisions during individual instruction, reteaching, or small-group routines.” This Assessment Guide also states that Fluency is assessed through Multi-Skills Checks by “Grouping students by target skills for the Review and Transfer Day, grouping students for small-group instruction, and identifying differentiated learning activities for each student.”

• In Lesson 50, Part 4, Whole Class Transfer, Observation Checkpoint, the teacher can assess each student’s reading fluency through Observation Checks as the lesson plan directs teachers to “record students needing additional support in the Student section of the tool.”

• In Lesson 126, Part 4, Needs Practice Group, Teacher-Led Transfer, Skill Transfer, Independent Read, directs the teacher to have students read the Skill Transfer independently from left to right and top to bottom as the teacher listens for accuracy.

Assessment materials provide the teacher and students with information about students' current skills/level of understanding of oral reading fluency. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• In the Observation Checkpoint Guide, Scoring Criteria, the materials provide guidance for determining student performance levels. A student is scored in the Needs Support category (red) when they are unable to perform the task accurately, even with teacher support or scaffolding. A student is scored in the Needs Practice category (yellow) if they are able to perform the task accurately with teacher support or scaffolding or if a student is unable to perform the task with automaticity. A student is scored in the Needs Enrichment category (green) if they can perform the task accurately, independently, and with automaticity. The materials that teachers should use these categories to determine current fluency levels based on lesson and small group observations. 

• In Supplemental Resources, Print Multi-Skill Checks, Resource Overview, the materials include a Print Multi-Skill Check Fluency Data Sheet. The form includes data collection points for total words, errors, words correct per minute, accuracy percentage, expression, and phrasing. 

• In the Program Guide, reports available from data on the Multi-Skills Check group the students as needs support (red), needs practice (yellow), and needs enrichment (green). The report does not specifically give fluency data but rather an overall data point from the entirety of the assessment. The materials indicate that teachers should use the Print Multi-Skill Check Fluency Data Sheet to record scores and determine student groupings until the digital fluency assessment in development becomes available. 

Materials support the teacher with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in oral reading fluency. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Corrective Feedback and Next Step Guide, Fluency, pages 7-8 provide corrective feedback sample scripts for fluency errors. The following suggestions are offered to teachers to address students who inaccurately attend to punctuation while reading: 

  • “Sound Cues: Read along with the student and tap the table twice for every period and once for every comma. This provides a concrete cue for the timing of pauses at punctuation.

  • Physical Cues: Have your students take an emphasized breath at commas or periods. This overemphasis is a physical connection to punctuation and draws concrete attention to the punctuation mark. 

  • Punctuation Reading: Have students practice reading the same sentence with different punctuation and discuss changes in intonation and changes of meaning conveyed (e.g., Cows eat grass., Cows eat grass!, Cows eat grass?). 

  • Highlighting: Have the student highlight or circle the punctuation in their writing. This visual reinforcement can make them more aware of the punctuation marks.”

• In the Lesson Toolkit, Supplemental Resources, Phonetic Skill 5: ea Toolkit, Recommended Transfer activities provide the teacher with instructional adjustments using the Decodable Passage. The lesson toolkit directs the teacher to “give corrective, immediate feedback to students to support fluent reading. Preview words in which students may need vocabulary or language support.” The following are the skills practiced for Grade 2, Lessons 44-45:

  • Skills Practiced: Decoding, Fluency, Comprehension 

  • Choral Read: Students read the passage with the teacher. 

  • Partner Read: Students read the passage with a partner. 

  • Modeled Echo Read: The teacher reads, and then students repeat, like an echo. This serves as a model of fluent reading.