The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for 1f.

In the Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2 lessons, some, but not all lessons, contain explicit instructions for systematic and repeated teacher modeling of all grade-level phonics standards. Many lessons do not have repeated teacher modeling over time. Several lessons only have the teacher model an example. The students practice with a few words/sounds and then move to worksheet practice. Many lessons do not have repeated teacher modeling over time. Some lessons ask students to figure out the letter-sound patterns rather than the teacher explicitly teaching the letter-sound patterns. There is no evidence for distinguishing long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words in the same lessons.

Materials contain some explicit instructions for systematic and limited repeated teacher modeling of all grade-level phonics standards.

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

  • No evidence was found.

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

  • In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 53, New Increment, page 3, the teacher asks students to echo the words speak, heat, and leak and identify the similar sound in all words. The teacher writes the three words on the board in a column. Next, the teacher asks students to identify the letters representing the sound and leads students to determine the letters representing a vowel digraph. Then, the teacher asks students to echo the words head, bread, and thread and identify the similar sound in all the words. The teacher writes the words head, bread, and thread on the board in a column and asks students to identify the letters representing the sound. The teacher leads students to determine the letters are a vowel digraph. The teacher repeats this process with the words break, great, and steak. 

  • In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 61, New Increment: Digraph ai, pages 2-4, the teacher says, “Echo these words and listen for a sound that they all have in common: mail, train, faint. What sound do you hear in all of these words? Look at these words and see what is making that sound.” The teacher writes the words on the board and says, “What is making the /ā/ sound? What do you think ‘ai’ is called? That’s right. ‘Ai’ is a digraph. Let’s review what a digraph is. A digraph is two letters (holds up one finger on each hand) that come together (moves the two fingers toward each other) to make one sound (holds up one finger to represent the one sound).” Students code the digraphs and then review Letter Card 60 (ai) and Picture Card 77 (rain).

  • In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 86, New Increment, page 3, the teacher asks students to echo the words goat, load, and roam and identify the similar sound in all three words. The teacher writes the words on the board, asks students to identify the letters representing the sound, and leads students to determine the letters representing a vowel digraph. Next, the teacher codes the words. The teacher repeats this process with the words toe, doe, and woe. 

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

  • In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 48, New Increment, page 3, the teacher asks students to echo the words candy, twenty, and clumsy and isolate and pronounce the final sound in words. The teacher writes the words on the board and asks students to identify the letter representing the sound. Next, the teacher asks students to determine the number of syllables in the words and codes the words for VCCV syllabication. The teacher codes the word candy according to coding rules in the program and asks an individual student to read the word. The teacher asks another student to define candy or use it in a sentence. The teacher repeats this process with the words twenty and clumsy. 

  • In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 49, pages 3 & 4, New Increment: Spelling the /ē/ sound, the teacher says, “In two-syllable words, when the /ē/ sound is in the initial or medial position, the sound is usually spelled with the letter e.” The teacher points to y and says, “When the /ē/ sound is in the final position of a two-syllable word, the sound is usually spelled with the vowel y.” Students code and read dandy, fifty, misty, and dusty.

  • In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 129, New Increment, page 3, the teacher writes the word neon on the board and asks questions about previous coding rules. Then, the teacher codes the word for VV syllabication and other coding rules in the program. Next, the teacher asks an individual student to read the word and another student to define the word or use it in a sentence. 

• Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes.

  • In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 73, New Increment, page 3, the teacher writes the words cartoonist, realist, organist, boyish, foolish, Turkish, golden, deepen, and lighten in columns on the board and asks if students can read the words. The teacher asks students to identify similarities in the words and discusses the definitions of the three suffixes. The teacher begins coding the words by drawing a box around each suffix then selects individual students to code, read, and use the words in a sentence. 

  • In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 109, New Increment, page 3, the teacher asks students to echo the words marvelous, glamorous, and hazardous. Students identify and pronounce the common sound in the words. The teacher writes the words on the board and asks students to identify the letters representing the sound. Next, the teacher begins coding the words by drawing a box around each suffix then selects individual students to code, read, and use the words in a sentence.

  • In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 126, New Increment: Prefixes over–, pre–, under–, pages 3-5, the teacher has students echo the words precook, premix, and preheat and listen for something that is the same in each of them. Students make a connection to prior learning of suffixes and the teacher tells them, “Prefixes are simply letters that are added to the beginning of root words that change the meaning of those words.” The prefixes over–, pre–, under– are coded, defined and practiced with the words precook, premix, preheat, underfeed, underpay, underpass, overfeed, overpay, overpass.

• Identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences.

  • In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 24, New Increment, page 3, the teacher asks students to echo the words dollar, collar, and tartar and identify and pronounce the final sound. The teacher writes the words on the board in a column and asks students to identify the letters representing the sound. Next, the teacher codes the words for the r-controlled vowels and VCCV syllabication. The teacher repeats the process with the words warm, swarm, and warp.

  • In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 32, New Increment: “Wild Colt” Words, pages 4 & 5, the teacher writes child, find, old, and mold on the board, and students volunteer to read them. The teacher asks if the words follow learned rules and points out that usually a vowel followed by a consonant is short, not long. The teacher tells students that “sometimes we have words in the English language that don’t follow this rule. In some words that contain the letters i or o followed by two consonants, the vowels are long instead of short. There are enough of these words that we put them in a category all by themselves and name them the ‘Wild Colt’ words. When you see a word like this, try the short vowel sound first. If it doesn’t sound right, try the long vowel sound.” The words wild and colt are used to further explain and students practice with the words child, find, old, and mold.

  • In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 106, New Increment: a After w or qu, pages 3 - 5, students echo the words wasp, watch, and wand and listen for a vowel sound that they all have in common. Next they echo squash, squat, and qualm and listen for a vowel sound that they all have in common. The teacher tells students that when the letter a comes after the letter w or the letters qu, it often makes a sound similar to a short /o/. The class codes the words, and students read and use them in sentences.

Lessons provide teachers with systematic and repeated instruction for students to hear, say, encode, and read each newly taught grade level phonics pattern.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 38, New Increment, page 4, the teacher asks students to echo the words feet, weep, and teen. They identify and pronounce the medial vowel sound. The teacher writes the words on the board and asks students to identify the letters representing the sound. Next, the teacher codes the vowel digraphs by underlining them. The teacher codes the words for the long /e/ sound and asks individual students to read and use the words in a sentence. Later, in the Spelling with Digraph ee section of the lesson on page 5, the teacher asks students to spell the words keep, green, and feeling on lines 8-10 of Spelling and High-Frequency Word Practice 38.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 1, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 79, New Increment: Spelling with ch and tch, pages 3-4, there are explicit instructions for the teacher. The lesson begins with coding the words catch, lunch, stitch, pooch, fetch, and march. Once the words are coded correctly, students read them. The teacher says, “Besides trigraph tch, do you see anything else these words have in common?” The teacher points to the words in the second column and asks, “Besides digraph ch, do you see anything else these words have in common?” After discussion, the teacher says, “When you spell the final /ch/ sound, you spell it with either the letters ‘tch’ or ‘ch.’ How do you think we will know to use the letters ‘tch’ instead of the letters ‘ch’?” After allowing time for the students to respond, the teacher introduces Spelling Rule Wall Card 8. “This rule says that the final /ch/ sound is spelled with the letters ‘tch’ when it follows a short vowel sound. Some examples include the words ‘match,’ ‘stitch,’ ‘notch,’ and ‘pitch.’ The final /ch/ sound is spelled with the letters ‘ch’ when it follows anything else, such as a long vowel sound, a digraph, a combination, or a consonant. Some examples include the words ‘lunch,’ ‘pooch,’ ‘ouch,’ and ‘bench.’ Some exceptions to this rule are the words ‘much,’ ‘such,’ and ‘rich.’” Those words are written on the board, and the teacher says, “These words have irregular spellings, so they should be memorized. I’m going to hang up this rule card so you can refer to it whenever you need help spelling the final /ch/ sound.” The lesson continues with spelling practice of the words itch, bunch, and pooch.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 108, New Increment, page 4, the teacher asks students to echo the words flue, blue, and clue and identify and pronounce the common sound. The teacher writes the words on the board and begins coding the words by underlining the digraph. Next, the teacher selects individual students to code, read, and use the words in a sentence. Later, in the New Deck Cards for Digraph ue section of the lesson beginning on page 4, the teacher uses Letter Card 74 to reinforce the digraph and writes three more words on the board. The teacher selects individual students to code, read, and use these words in a sentence. Then, in the Spelling with Digraph ue section of the lesson on page 6, students write the words due, clue, and glue on lines 8-10 of Spelling and High-Frequency Word Practice 108.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for 1g.

The Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2 materials provide students with opportunities to decode and read phonetically spelled words during New Increment Lessons, Application and Continual Review Lessons, and the Classroom Practice Lessons. In many lessons, a limited number of students are asked to decode words for the class. Students have the opportunity to practice reading complete words using the Reading Practice sheets and in the Classroom Practice section of lessons. However, lessons do not guide support and feedback for the teacher to monitor and correct students’ reading of the words. For example, the lessons suggest that the teacher check off a student’s reading of recently introduced words before sending home the Worksheet. Yet, the materials do not guide a teacher to successfully plan for this task with each student. The materials consistently use the Daily Letter and Sound Review sections of the lesson to review materials; however, depending on the lesson, the Letter Cards and Picture Cards do not align with grade-level standards. Various methods to promote students’ practice of previously taught grade-level phonics are provided, including Kid Cards, worksheets, and games such as Keyword and Sound. 

Lessons provide students with limited opportunities to decode (phonemes, onset and rime, and/or syllables) phonetically spelled words.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 12, Application and Continual Review, Boardwork, page 6, the teacher writes the words math, brick, insect on the board then asks individual students to code the words. Later, in the Worksheet section of the lesson on page 7, students use Worksheet 12 to code and read six words independently. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 19, pages 3-4, New Increment: Combination ir, students echo and code the words first, dirt, skirt. The teacher calls on students to read the words and use them in sentences.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 76, pages 3-4, New Increment, g That Sounds Like j, students echo, divide, and code the words germ, ginger, gym. The teacher calls on students to read the words and use them in sentences.

Lessons provide students with limited opportunities to read complete words by saying the entire word as a unit using newly taught phonics skills. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 21, page 5, Application and Continual Review, Worksheet 21, students code and read each word to themselves and draw a line to the matching picture (burn, curb, turn, shelter, turnip, curl). The teacher tries to have each student read some or all of the words on the worksheet during the day or lets students read and listen to each other.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 33, New Increment, page 3, the teacher writes dogs, cats, colts, blocks on the board. Individual students have the opportunity to help the teacher code, read, and use the words in a sentence. The teacher writes the words standing, hatless, landed on the board. Individual students have the opportunity to identify the suffix in each word. Students do not have the opportunity to code and read these three words. Next, the teacher writes the words belted and padded on the board. The teacher asks probing questions to have students code the words. Students do not have the opportunity to read the two words. The teacher writes the words filled and jumped on the board. The teacher asks individual students to code, read, and use these words in a sentence. In this section of the lesson, students see 11 words written on the board, and individual students can read six words. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 88, pages 5-6, New Increment: Digraph au, students echo and code the words fault, haunt, cause. The teacher calls on students to read the words and use them in sentences.

Materials contain opportunities for students to review previously learned grade-level phonics.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 9, Lesson Warm-up, Language/Alphabet Activity, students practice identifying accented syllables and how it sounds different depending on what part of the word is accented.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 81, Spelling Review, page 2, students write the letters that represent sounds the teacher poses. The teacher poses nine sounds. Students echo the sounds and write the letters representing the sound on lines 1-9 of Spelling and High-Frequency Word Practice 81. The teacher has the option of asking students to write words in cursive. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 101, page 7, students refer to Vowel Rule Wall Cards and explain previously learned vowel rules. Students are then selected to code the word, phrase, and sentence on the board (inclusion, my own fault, The doctor has a small son). Once the words are coded correctly, students read the sentence and use the word and phrase in sentences.

Materials contain a variety of methods to promote students’ practice of previously taught grade level phonics.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 4, page 8, Classroom Practice, there are games for practice in selected areas: review vowels and/or consonants, play any of the games listed in Lesson 3; difficulty blending, play Word Blend using the Blue Kid Cards; can blend but need extra practice, play Picture/Word Match using the Red and Purple Kid Cards. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 103, page 2, Daily Letter and Sound Review, the objective is to practice letter recognition, letter sounds, and sight words. The class plays a game called Keyword and Sound. The teacher holds up a letter card and asks students to tell the letter’s keyword(s) and sound(s). The teacher may divide students into groups and have the groups compete to see who can identify more keywords and sounds.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 109, Daily Letter and Sound Review, page 2, students play Letter Deck Select. The teacher divides the class into groups of four to six students. The teacher displays a letter card from the Letter Card Review Deck and asks each group to name a fact about the letter or letter combination.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for 1h.

The Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2 materials do not provide explicit, systematic practice for decoding phonetically regular words in a sentence. Students have the opportunity to decode words in a sentence in the Boardwork, Decodable Reader, Fluency Practice, Worksheet, and Homework sections of lessons. The materials provide practice opportunities for decoding words in a sentence in the Boardwork and Worksheet sections of lessons; however, the teacher does not model decoding and reading the words. Students first code two sentences during Boardwork in Lesson 22. In some paragraphs that students read on worksheets, the teacher reminds them to code words they do not know how to read. Students have daily opportunities to decode words in sentences during the Worksheet and Homework sections of lessons beginning with Lesson 13. Students have frequent opportunities to read sentences in their Decodable Readers, but there is no evidence that they are encouraged to use decoding skills while reading.

Materials do not provide explicit, systematic practice for decoding phonetically regular words in a sentence.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 44, Application and Continual Review, page 7, Worksheet 44, students read a paragraph to answer comprehension questions. The teacher says, “Read the paragraph and then answer the questions at the end. If you come to a word you don’t know, code the word before continuing. If you can read the entire paragraph without coding any words, then you don’t have to code anything today.”

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 83, Boardwork, page 9, the teacher writes two words and one sentence on the board. The teacher selects individual students to code the words and the sentence. Students read the words and the sentence. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 124, Application and Continual Review, page 7, Worksheet 124, students read a paragraph to answer comprehension questions. The teacher says, “Read the sentences and fill in the blanks with the words from the box at the bottom of the page. If you come to a word you don’t know, code the word and see if you can figure it out.”

Lessons provide students with opportunities to decode words in a sentence.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 42, Decodable Reader: Understanding the Story, page 9, students read Decodable Reader 7 independently before the teacher asks comprehension questions. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 91, Worksheet, page 6, students read a paragraph and answer comprehension questions using Worksheet 91.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 127, Application and Continual Review, page 6, Decodable Reader: Understanding the Story, students read the book independently and answer comprehension questions from the teacher orally. There is a possibility the student may use decoding skills to read the story, but the teacher does not request that decoding be used.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for 1i.

The Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2 materials contain limited teacher-level instruction/modeling for building/manipulating/spelling and encoding words using common and newly-taught sound and spelling patterns during New Increments and Spelling Review. The lessons include guidance for the teacher in the script, but guidance is student-focused instead of teacher-focused. The lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to build/manipulate/spell and encode words using common and newly-taught sound and spelling patterns and phonics during Application and Continual Review. Students use Vowel and Spelling Wall Cards, Spelling Deck, worksheets, letter tiles, and Spelling tests for review and practice. 

Materials contain limited teacher-level instruction/modeling for building/manipulating/spelling and encoding words using common and newly-taught sound and spelling patterns of phonics.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 14, New Increment ch, Part 1, Spelling with Digraph ch, it instructs the teacher to have students spell new words with the digraph ch and models with the word chin. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 33, New Increment, page 4, it provides information for the teacher about voiced coding in a word with a suffix -s. The guidance is in the Note subheading and connects to coding words with a voiced suffix -s in Grade 1.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 68, page 5, Spelling with Diphthongs oi, oy, students use their Spelling and High-Frequency Word Practice sheet. The teacher uses Spelling Card 44 and asks what position the diphthong oi is usually in and what position the diphthong oy is generally in.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to build/manipulate/spell and encode words using common and newly-taught sound and spelling patterns.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 53, page 1, Spelling Review, students play a game called Spelling Deck Perfection. The teacher quickly reviews Spelling Cards 1–42. The class is divided into four or five groups. The teacher gives a spelling-sound to each group. If the group echoes the sound and gives the correct response, they get a point. If the group provides the wrong answer, the teacher asks the next group to see if they can give the correct answer. Students may confer with their group members before answering, but only one student answers (a different student each time). One point is given to each group for each correct response. The group with the most points at the end of the game wins. After the game, students use Spelling and High-Frequency Word Practice Page 53 to practice spelling some words. (spring, fifty, sweet). If a student makes a mistake, they are to correct it. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 69, New Increment, Spelling with Suffixes, page 6, students use Spelling and High-Frequency Word Practice 69 to spell the words ringlet, slowly, quickly. All three words connect to the day’s skill. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 83, New Increment, Spelling with Final, Stable Syllable -tion, page 9, students use Spelling and High-Frequency Word Practice 83 to spell the words lotion, fiction, carnation. All three words connect to the day’s skill. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for 1j. 

Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2 materials do not include explicit, systematic teacher-level instruction with teacher modeling that demonstrates the use of phonics to encode sounds to letters and words in a sufficient amount of writing tasks. The materials ask the teacher to model coding letters to decode words, however the materials do not ask the teacher to model encoding words. Students can apply phonics knowledge by encoding words in sentences during the Lesson Warm-Up section of lessons using the accompanying Spelling and High-Frequency Word Practice worksheet. Students have the first opportunity to write sentences in Lesson 31, and the opportunity occurs approximately three lessons in a five-day lesson sequence. Students have almost daily opportunities to encode review and new words during the Lesson Warm-Up and Application and Continual Review sections of lessons using the corresponding Spelling and High-Frequency Word Practice worksheet. 

Materials do not include explicit, systematic teacher-level instruction of teacher modeling that demonstrates the use of phonics to encode sounds to letters and words in writing tasks.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 26, New Increment, page 2, the teacher asks students to echo the words torn, sort, pork before asking students to identify the medial vowel sound. The teacher writes the words on the board, codes the r-controlled vowel, and asks students to read the words and use them in a sentence. The materials do not direct the teacher to model writing words with the r-controlled vowel. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 51, New Increment, page 3, the teacher asks students to echo the words long, stung, tong before asking students to identify the final sound. The teacher writes the words on the board, codes the digraph, codes the rest of the word, and asks students to read the words and define them. The materials do not direct the teacher to model writing words with the digraph. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 102, New Increment, page 3, the teacher asks students to echo the words chew, flew, stew before asking students to identify the common sound. The teacher writes the words on the board, codes the digraph, and asks students to read the words and use them in sentences. The materials do not direct the teacher to model writing words with the digraph. 

Lessons provide students with some activities and tasks to promote application of phonics as they encode words in sentences or in phrases based on common and newly taught phonics patterns.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 42, Spelling Review, students write the following sentence on the lines on the bottom of their paper, “Mom said, ‘Where are the napkins we left for Dad?’”.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 54, Lesson Warm-Up, Spelling Review, page 2, the teacher dictates a sentence, and students write it on the lines: “Take the milk to the cats in the barn.” After allowing time for students to write the sentence independently, the teacher writes it on the board to check their work.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 129, Lesson Warm-Up, Spelling Review, page 3, the teacher dictates a sentence, and students write it on the lines: “A mule is a mix between a horse and a donkey.” After allowing time for students to write the sentence independently, the teacher writes it on the board to check their work.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for 1k.

The Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2 materials include limited systematic and explicit high-frequency word instruction. There are 10 sight word lessons where the teacher writes the word on the board and tells students what it is. The teacher shows students the word on a card, and the teacher reads the word. There is no explicit instruction about the spelling of the new word. Students place a checkmark next to the irregularly spelled word in their Student Spelling Dictionary and Reference Booklet, which has a pronunciation guide. Students practice identifying and reading high-frequency words in isolation when written on the board, when the teacher uses the Sight Word and High Frequency Word Card decks, and when students complete worksheets. It is optional for the teacher to have students individually read the High Frequency Words on the worksheet. The program includes 26 Decodable Readers, and occasionally the teacher tells students to circle the sight word if they see it in a Decodable Reader. The materials include a sufficient amount of grade-appropriate high-frequency words for students to make reading progress. There are 125 sight words which include 73 words from K and 1. 

Materials include limited systematic and explicit instruction of high-frequency words.

• Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.

  • In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 31, New Increment: Sight Words, Part 1, page 4, the teacher writes the following sight words on the board and asks students to read them: could, don’t, should, something, their, there, were, won’t, would, your. The teacher says, “These words are some of the hardest words in the English language to spell and to read because they do not follow the rules we have been learning. We call these words sight words. Sight words are words that do not follow the spelling and pronunciation rules we have been learning. I have a deck of cards with these words on them. We’ll use this deck to practice these words as often as we can so you will learn them by sight.” The teacher shows the students Sight Word Cards 26–35, one at a time asks them to read the words. The teacher directs students to their Student Spelling Dictionary and Reference Booklet and has them notice that pages 40-44 alphabetically lists all the sight words they will be learning. The teacher points out Sight Word Posters A and B, including all of the Second Grade Sight Words. The teacher tells students that they may refer to these posters whenever they need help spelling these words.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 41, New Increment, page 3, the teacher writes the words been, bush, does, full, goes, pull, push, put, says, and want on the board and asks if students can read the words. The teacher tells students the words are sight words, and they must memorize them. Next, the teacher shows Sight Word Cards 36-45 and asks students to read the words. Then, the teacher asks students to turn to page 40 of the Student Spelling Dictionary and Reference Booklet to review the phonetic spelling of each word. The lesson’s directions ask the teacher to tell students they can use the phonetic spelling of the sight words to read the words. The teacher references Sight Word Posters A and B and informs students they should spell the words correctly because they can use the Student Spelling Dictionary and Reference Booklet and Sight Word Posters A and B as resources. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 64, New Increment: Sight Words, Part 4, page 4, the teacher writes the following sight words on the board and asks students to read them: again, against, answer, enough, friend, gone, guess, ocean, question, young. The teacher says, “These are some more sight words. Who remembers what a sight word is? (a word that doesn’t follow the normal spelling rule) I have some cards for these words to add to our Sight Word Deck. We’ll practice and play games with these cards as often as we can so you will learn them by sight.” The teacher shows Sight Word Cards 56-65 one at a time and has students read them. The teacher directs students to their Student Spelling Dictionary and Reference Booklet and has them notice that pages 40-44 alphabetically lists all the sight words they will be learning and tells students they may look at these pages whenever they need help reading or spelling these sight words. The teacher points out Sight Word Posters A and B, including all of the Second Grade Sight Words. The teacher says, “The new sight words are on these posters, too. From now on, I’ll expect these words to be spelled correctly. If you see a sight word when you’re reading, you might want to circle it to help you remember that it’s a sight word.”

Materials do not include opportunities for the teacher to model the spelling and reading of high-frequency words in isolation.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 8, Spelling Review, page 3, students use Spelling and High Frequency Word Practice 8 worksheet and write the words what, where, and they. The teacher spells each word aloud after students have time to write it to check their work and make corrections immediately. The teacher reminds students that they may refer to any of the wall cards when spelling. The teacher provides help to students who have difficulty.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 66, Spelling Review, page 2, students write against and friend. The teacher spells each word out loud after students have had time to write it to check their work immediately.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 113, New Increment: Final, Stable Syllables –cious, –tious, pages 3-4, students listen to the teacher say the words infectious, cautious, and suspicious. The teacher writes the words on the board, asking what is making the /shus/ sound. The teacher covers the letters -tious in the word infectious and asks if a root word is left after the letters are covered. This is repeated with the words cautious and suspicious. As the lesson proceeds, the teacher asks what letters typically make the /sh/ sound. The teacher says, “The letters ‘sh’ normally make the /sh/ sound, but in these final, stable syllables, the letters ‘ci’ and ‘ti’ are making the /sh/ sound. Just remember when you are reading that these letters can make the /sh/ sound, too, especially when they are found in the middle of longer words.”

Students practice identifying and reading high-frequency words in isolation.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 28, Homework Worksheet 28, page 5, the teacher tells the students to remember to read and spell the words in the High Frequency Word Box to someone at home and bring the practice sheet back to school. The words in the High Frequency Word Box are when, they, from, what, went, said, which, together.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 34, Daily Letter and Sound Review, page 2, all students read words from the Sight Word Deck as the teacher presents the deck to the class. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 84, Application and Continual Review, Worksheet, page 3, students read the sight words on Worksheet 84 and use them to complete seven fill-in-the-blank sentences. 

Materials include a sufficient quantity of grade-appropriate high-frequency words for students to make reading progress.

• There are 125 sight words in the Sight Word Card Deck. Of the 125 words, 21 words appear in the Saxon Phonics and Spelling K Sight Word Deck, and 52 words appear in the Saxon Phonics and Spelling 1 Sight Word Deck. This results in 52 new sight words introduced in Grade 2. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Review Deck, Sight Word Deck, students learn the first sight word in Lesson 1 and the last sight word in Lesson 124. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for 1l.

The Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2 materials provide 26 Decodable Readers, optional fluency readers and passages, and a limited number of sentences written on the board for students to read grade-level irregularly spelled words in a sentence. Students have the opportunity to read irregularly spelled words in a sentence during the Boardwork section of 44 lessons. During these lessons, students have the opportunity to read 16 sight words. Of the 16 sight words, 11 are in Grade K, and five are in Grade 1. There are no sight words introduced in Grade 2 in sentences in the Boardwork section of lessons. Students have the opportunity to write sentences during the Spelling Review section of lessons as dictation sentences. However, the opportunity to write sight words in dictated sentences does not occur until Lesson 31, which is approximately six weeks into the school year. In addition, students do not have the opportunity to write all the Grade 2 sight words in sentences. The Student Spelling Dictionary and Reference Booklet and Sight Word Posters are the student-friendly reference materials included in the program. Lesson 4 introduces the Student Spelling Dictionary and Reference Booklet. Lesson 31 introduces the Pronunciation Guide for Sight Words section of the booklet. The teacher does not explain how to use this section of the booklet after Lesson 31. The program introduces and uses Sight Word Posters as student-friendly reference materials beginning in Lesson 31. The teacher does not explicitly instruct on how to use the posters after Lesson 31, but the teacher does remind students to use the resource.

Lessons provide students with frequent opportunities to read grade-level high-frequency words in a sentence.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 25, Optional Fluency Practice, page 6, the teacher writes two sentences on the board: “Crying is NOT part of the fun! So they play peek-a-boo.” After discussing the word NOT and the use of the hyphen, the teacher tracks the print as students chorally read the two sentences. Students then read independently or in groups from their leveled Fluency Reader 3.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 41, Application and Continual Review, Boardwork, page 5, the teacher writes two sentences on the board. One sentence includes the word said. The teacher selects a student or students to code the sentences then asks students to read the sentences. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 72, Application and Continual Review, Decodable Reader: Understanding the Story, page 6, Decodable Reader 26, the students chorally read the title. Students and the teacher chorally read pages 1-2. Students independently read pages 3-5. After discussing what was read, students independently finish reading the book. The decodable reader is kept at school for practice and sent home when the student can read it easily.

Lessons provide students with some opportunities to write grade-level high-frequency words in tasks (such as sentences) in order to promote automaticity in writing grade-appropriate high-frequency words; however, not all Grade 2 sight words are practiced.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 41, Lesson Warm-Up, Spelling Review, the teacher dictates this sentence for students to write: “When a big job is finished, it feels wonderful.” The teacher writes the sentence on the board for students to check their work.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 104, Spelling Review, page 2, students write a dictation sentence using Spelling and High Frequency Word Practice 104. The dictation sentence includes the word guess, which is a sight word specific to Grade 2.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 137, Lesson Warm-Up, Spelling Review, the teacher dictates this sentence for students to write: “The bird sat in an elm tree.” The teacher writes the sentence on the board for students to check their work.

Materials provide some instruction in how to use student-friendly reference materials and resources and reading high-frequency words (e.g., word cards, word lists, word ladders, student dictionaries).

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Instructional Overview, page 24, each student receives a Student Spelling Dictionary and Reference Booklet to use as an at-desk resource. The booklet is divided into four sections. The first is a spelling dictionary, an alphabetized list of words frequently used for writing or spelling activities. The booklet’s remaining three sections contain a list of irregular spelling words organized by sound; a pronunciation guide with an alphabetized sight word list and information from the Numbers and Colors Posters; and the vowel, spelling, and syllable division rules. Students use their booklets at any time, including during spelling tests and assessments. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 34, New Increment: Floss Rule, page 5, students locate the Sight Word Chart in their Student Spelling Dictionary and Reference Booklet. The teacher reminds students to refer to the chart on pages 40-44 when they need help spelling Sight Words.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 54, New Increment, page 3, the teacher provides prompting questions for students to locate new sight words in the Student Spelling Dictionary and Reference Booklet. The teacher references Sight Word Posters A and B.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria for 1m.

The Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2 materials contain some explicit instruction of word analysis strategies. Some lessons introduce a skill, explicitly teach the skill using one example, and then ask students to apply the skill. There is limited explicit instruction of word solving strategies to decode unfamiliar words. For decoding unfamiliar words, the teacher states the unfamiliar word before writing it. Therefore students do not have the opportunity to apply word analysis strategies to decode unfamiliar words. Students have multiple and varied opportunities over the course of the year to learn, practice, and apply word analysis strategies during Boardwork, Worksheets, and Decodable Readers and other Application and Continual Review activities or Warm-Up activities. 

Materials contain limited explicit instruction of word analysis strategies (e.g., phoneme/grapheme recognition, syllabication, morpheme analysis).

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 48, New Increment, page 3, the teacher asks students to echo the words candy, twenty, and clumsy and isolate and pronounce the final sound in words. The teacher writes the words on the board and asks students to identify the letter representing the sound. The teacher asks students to determine the number of syllables in the words and codes the words for VCCV syllabication. The teacher codes the word candy according to coding rules in the program and asks an individual student to read the word. The teacher asks another student to define candy or use it in a sentence. The teacher repeats this process with the words twenty and clumsy. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 81, New Increment, page 2, the teacher asks students to echo the words lady, cater, and basin and identify the similar sound in words. The teacher writes the words on the board, asks students to determine the number of vowels, and codes the words for VCV syllabication. The teacher codes the word lady according to coding rules in the program and asks an individual student to read the word. The teacher asks another student to define the word or use it in a sentence. The teacher repeats this process with the words cater and basin. The teacher reinforces the VCV syllabication rule using Syllable Division Wall Card 4. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 121, New Increment: New Increment: Dropping Rule, pages 3-6, the teacher writes on the board: ice + y = icy; bake + ed = baked; serve + ing = serving. The teacher first points out the root words and then the suffixes. Students share what they remember about both. The teacher uses the word icy to work with the Dropping Rule. The teacher says, “Let’s look at what is happening here. We start with the root word ‘ice.’ Then the plus sign tells us to add vowel suffix –y. Who notices something unusual in the new word that is formed? [the ‘e’ is dropped before adding the suffix] That’s right! The final ‘e’ was dropped before adding the suffix. When you encounter words like this, the ‘e’ does not have to be a sneaky ‘e,’ it just has to be silent.” The procedure is repeated for the words baked and serving. 

Materials contain limited explicit instruction of word solving strategies to decode unfamiliar words.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 19, New Increment, page 3, the teacher asks students to echo the words first, dirt, and skirt and identify and pronounce the common sound in all three words. The teacher writes the words on the board and asks students to identify the letters representing the sound. The teacher codes the r-controlled vowels by drawing an arc and asks individual students to read the words and use them in a sentence. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 53, New Increment, page 3, the teacher asks students to echo the words speak, heat, and leak, identify the similar sound in all words, then writes the three words on the board in a column. The teacher asks students to identify the letters representing the sound and leads students to determine the letters representing a digraph. The teacher asks students to echo the words head, bread, and thread and identify the similar sound in all the words. The teacher writes the words head, bread, and thread on the board in a column and asks students to identify the letters representing the sound. The teacher leads students to determine the letters are also a digraph. The teacher repeats this process with the words break, great, and steak. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 113, New Increment: Final, Stable Syllables –cious, –tious, pages 3-4, students listen to the teacher say the words infectious, cautious, and suspicious. The teacher writes the words on the board, asking what is making the /shus/ sound. The teacher covers the letters -tious in the word infectious and asks if a root word is left after the letters are covered. This is repeated with the words cautious and suspicious. As the lesson proceeds, the teacher asks what letters typically make the /sh/ sound. The teacher says, “The letters ‘sh’ normally make the /sh/ sound, but in these final, stable syllables, the letters ‘ci’ and ‘ti’ are making the /sh/ sound.”

Multiple and varied opportunities are provided over the course of the year for students to learn, practice, and apply word analysis strategies.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 1, Lesson 33, Application and Continual Review, page 9, Worksheet, students box the suffix and code each root word for charms, mashing, hatless, blurted, slippers, and turned.

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 52, Decodable Reader, page 9, students have the opportunity to apply word analysis strategies to Decodable Reader 9. Students read selected pages of the book with the teacher before the teacher asks comprehension questions. 

• In Saxon Phonics and Spelling 2, Teacher’s Manual, Volume 2, Lesson 118, Spelling Review, page 2, students play Bingo using Spelling and High Frequency Word Practice 118 to practice phoneme/grapheme matching, sight words, and final syllables.