1st Grade - Gateway 3

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 include opportunities for teachers to effectively plan and utilize materials with integrity and to further develop their own understanding of the content. Each module includes an accompanying Family Letter that is found in each module’s companion website. The letter provides the module title and information about the final module challenge, asks the family for feedback on the student experiences relevant to the module, and provides sample prompts family members can use to foster conversations at home about the module to provide student sensemaking. While the digital materials for Kindergarten also include a Family Letter translated into Spanish, there is a missed opportunity to include a translated letter in Grade 1. 

Example of a Family Letter used to communicate to stakeholders:

• In Grade 1, Earth and Space Science, How Can We Predict When The Sky Will Be Dark?, parents are asked: “Does your child have experience being outside before sunrise or after sunset? What was the occasion/reason? Has your child observed the Moon in the sky?” They are encouraged to ask some questions at home to help students make sense of what they are doing at school: “Did you learn about a girl who had trouble seeing her toys outside? Why do you think this happened? Did you hear a story about a girl observing the Moon? What questions did you have about it?”

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 are feasible and flexible for one school year but do not provide guidance for adjusting instruction and/or pacing based on local contexts.

There are four modules in the Grade 1 materials and each module consists of 10 lessons. Most lessons are estimated to take 30 minutes, but some lessons span two days. The materials list how many class periods comprise each lesson in the lesson planner, but do not include a comprehensive pacing guide that provides the total number of class periods and expected duration of each module at a glance. However, based on the lesson planner, Grade 1’s 56 anticipated class periods are feasible for a single year.

The materials do not contain any other pacing guidance or suggestions on how to modify instruction and/or pacing when there is not sufficient time to implement the full program.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 do not include assessments that offer accommodations that allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills without changing the content of the assessment. However, the program uses the universal design approach where assessments are offered in multiple modalities (e.g. drawings with verbal responses), use a large font, and provide picture-based or simple text. In addition, Spanish materials are available both in print and digitally. The materials miss the opportunity to provide specific examples for access or accommodation for the assessments for disabled students or multilingual learners beyond Spanish speakers.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 include varied approaches to learning tasks over time and variety in how students are expected to demonstrate their learning with opportunities for students to monitor their learning. 

The materials provide multiple multi-modal approaches to presenting and engaging with the material throughout the grade. Students engage with content by reading, listening to reading, watching videos, and making first-hand observations. Students participate and respond through writing, discussion, oral presentation, drawing, and building models. The materials also utilize a variety of participation structures and students engage in whole-group instruction and discussions, small-group work, and partner work. For instance:

• In Grade 1, Earth and Space Science, How Can We Light Our Way In The Dark?, Lesson 7: Signal and Response, students follow along listening to “Lighting the Way” and then share new vocabulary words they heard in the story. After watching a video about a lighthouse, students share with a partner what they learned that might be helpful in their solutions.

• In Grade 1, Engineering Design, How Can We Send A Message Using Sound?, Lesson 5: Vibration and Sound, students engage in a class discussion comparing instruments in the story they read to investigations they did. They listen to a recording of a song and discuss what they heard. Then, they refer back to “Our Questions about Vibration and Sound Chart” to see if the reading answered any of their questions. Students then apply what they have learned in designing a model of a device that makes sound to solve a problem. 

The materials also provide students with multiple opportunities to share, revise, and reflect on their thinking. Instruction typically begins with a phenomenon or problem, and students share or record their initial thinking on the phenomenon. They often return to the phenomenon or problem multiple times and adjust their thinking based on new activities or instruction. For instance:

• In Grade 1, Earth and Space Science, How Can We Predict When The Sky Will Be Dark?, Lesson 5: Sunset, students talk to their shoulder partners about what pattern they see as the seasons change from summer to winter and revisit their ideas about the time of year that Ada looked for her toys in each of the images. Students revise their ideas or start over based on the evidence from patterns they have seen.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 include opportunities for teachers to use a variety of grouping strategies. 

Throughout the modules, lessons include teacher directions to have students work independently, in pairs, in small groups, or to conduct lessons as a whole-class. Students frequently work with a  partner for reading, turn-and-talks, brainstorming, conducting investigations, and designing solutions to problems. Examples include:

• In Grade 1, Engineering Design, How Can We Send A Message Using Sound?, Lesson 3: Signal Ideas, the teacher is prompted to explain that students often work in pairs for activities and that working with others is one way that scientists share work and ideas during investigations to gather new information from people with different abilities. 

• In Grade 1, Earth and Space Science, How Can We Predict When The Sky Will Be Dark?, Lesson 5: Sunset, students work with a partner to practice sentence frames about the phenomenon. After working with a partner, students share their ideas with the whole class. 

Rationale for increased pair collaboration in Grade 1 is provided in the front matter of each teacher guide in the Curriculum Overview: Group Work section, citing that paired collaboration increases engagement as well as vocabulary use and development. Teacher guides provide clear instructions for what type of grouping to use for each activity within the activity’s instructions. However, there is a missed opportunity to provide guidance for teachers about needs-based pairing or grouping, or to offer adaptations for different student needs. Examples include:

• In Grade 1, the Curriculum Overview, Group Work, provides rationale for teachers about the importance of student group work. The rationale explains that scientists regularly work with others so engaging in structured collaboration is important for students. It explains that in lower elementary, students are often paired to provide increased opportunities for growth in communication skills and vocabulary use. 

Teacher guidance is given to indicate when and how students should be grouped. This guidance comes throughout the lesson as applicable.  Examples include:

• In Grade 1, Engineering Design, How Can We Send A Message Using Sound?, Lesson 5: Vibration and Sound, teacher guidance states, “When students have read through their section of text, bring the class back together. Facilitate a class discussion comparing the instruments in the story to the investigations they did.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 include a balance of images or information about people, representing various demographic and physical characteristics. The texts in the accompanying Smithsonian Science Stories include depictions from a range of ethnicities, genders, and demographics and content and stories connected to a range of cultures. This includes a range of people being positively depicted as scientists and engineers. There are also representations of a variety of family structures, including images of single-parent, two-parent, multi-generational, and multi-ethnic families. Examples include:

• In Grade 1, Engineering Design, How Can We Send A Message Using Sound?, the “Messages on a Wire” reading from the book Beats and Banjos includes images of children with diverse physical characteristics using cell phones. The accompanying vocabulary cards include a diverse group of people depicted as “engineers.”

• In Grade 1, Engineering Design, How Can We Send A Message Using Sound?, the “Messages on a Wire” reading from the book Beats and Banjos includes an image of a black male-presenting scientist using a microscope.

The materials provide limited guidance to encourage teachers to draw upon student home language to facilitate learning. With at least one instance found in each lesson across the units, various strategies are suggested including: discussions in both home language and English, pairing bilingual students with English language learners, and grouping students with a common home language. Examples include: 

• In Grade 1, Life Science, How Do Living Things Stay Safe And Grow?, Lesson 2: Cubs and Chicks, the EL strategy located in the callout box states, “Pair bilingual students with students with very limited English if possible, or group students with a common primary language to facilitate support. This will allow students to first discuss a concept in their primary language and then, together or individually, express their thoughts in English.”

Additionally, for Spanish speakers, the digital materials include text and a text-to-speech reader in English and Spanish, Spanish versions of student-facing materials, and family letters for each unit. Vocabulary cards with images are also included to support English language learners. Translations are not available in other languages.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 include limited guidance to encourage teachers to draw upon student cultural and social backgrounds to facilitate learning. The materials primarily support teachers to draw upon students’ backgrounds and funds of knowledge through the Family Letters and when introducing phenomena and problems. The EL Strategy callout boxes also occasionally contain questions related to students’ cultural backgrounds. The materials do not provide overall guidance on drawing upon student cultural and social backgrounds.

Each module includes a Family Letter that is sent home at the beginning of the unit. The Family Letter gathers background experiences with the science content and phenomenon and/or problem and provides students the opportunity to share their personal and cultural experiences. For example:

• In Grade 1, Engineering Design, How Can We Light Our Way In The Dark?, Lesson 1: Where are My Toys?, the teacher asks students to think to themselves if anything like this has ever happened to them and to share their experiences. They record student responses on the “Has This Happened to You?” chart. If students cannot think of a similar experience, teachers are directed to use responses to the Family Letter to help students remember a time they were outside in the dark. 

The materials also typically ask for students’ experience when introducing phenomena and problems. Sometimes the teacher prompts students for their experience and at other times this is embedded in the Ada Asks video that introduces the phenomenon and/or problem. For example:

• In Grade 1, Life Science, How Do Living Things Stay Safe And Grow?, Lesson 1: A Pair of Penguins, teachers facilitate a discussion about students’ initial ideas about why some penguins look alike and some look different. As a follow-up, students are asked, “Have you ever seen anything like this in your own lives that makes you think that?”

The EL Strategy callout boxes also occasionally include guidance for teachers to draw upon students’ cultural backgrounds. While the materials target these prompts to multilingual learners, the guidance is applicable to students of all backgrounds. For example:

• In Grade 1, Engineering Design, How Can We Light Our Way In The Dark?, Lesson 7: Signal and Response, teachers suggest that students discuss their design ideas in both their native language and in English to become more familiar with the potential similarities between English and their native language. 

There are also some instances where student activities and learning connect to traditions from non-dominant cultures. For example:

• In Grade 1, Earth and Space Science, How Can We Predict When The Sky Will Be Dark?, Lesson 3: Oksana, Issa, and Layla, students read a story about children observing the sky from Ukraine, Cameroon, and Lebanon. They use this story to make observations about when the sky is bright and when it is dark. Students share what these children see in the sky and when it is bright and dark. Students return to Oksana’s location when they address the problem of Oksana’s walk to school in the dark.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 include supports for different reading levels to ensure accessibility for students. Reading is primarily included through Smithsonian Science Stories. Lexile levels are provided for each reading in the Table of Contents. The Curriculum Overview in the front matter of each unit describes that each reader is, “carefully calibrated to grade-level appropriate Lexile measurements according to Common Core text complexity guidelines.” The digital versions of the texts have a text-to-speech function. This function is automated, however, and headings and captions are read out of order and the reading sometimes lacks fluency.

The digital editions of the Smithsonian Science Stories are available both on-grade and below-grade level to ensure accessibility for all students. Options for above-grade readers are not offered in Grade 1. 

As an additional support, vocabulary card sets are available for all units. They are explained in the Teacher’s Guide in the Curriculum Overview to be used in supporting vocabulary acquisition for multilingual learners and struggling readers. These cards can also be used to create a word wall in the classroom for student access.

The materials also embed strategies to support comprehension into the lessons themselves. Reading is supported throughout each module by scaffolding expectations for students using read-alouds, comprehension prompts, jigsaw activities, annotation, discussion, and other strategies. Examples include:

• In Grade 1, Engineering Design, How Can We Send A Message Using Sound?, Lesson 5: Vibration and Sound, teachers read the first three pages of the reading “The Science of Music” then students continue reading one of two sections with a partner. The teacher is guided to circulate and assist students as necessary. Then, the class comes back together to discuss the reading and investigations they did in the lesson. 

• In Grade 1, Engineering Design, How Can We Send A Message Using Sound?, Lesson 2, Activity Steps 5-7, the students work in a reading pair. They are given about eight sticky notes. Students use the Table of Contents to find the reading “What’s the Sound?” Before reading, pairs use the sticky notes to mark any devices they see that they think are used to communicate information. Reading pairs then read the story and are given time after to move or add any sticky notes based on the reading. Students then suggest new communication devices from the reading to add to the class chart of Human Communications.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 integrate limited interactive tools that support student engagement in the three dimensions when applicable. In a small number of lessons, students use digital simulations, interactive maps, or digital games to support sensemaking. Some of the interactive tools are used in the optional Extension activities. When digital tools are used, guidance for teachers is centered around the facilitation of the tools for students to use in context with the lesson. There are no options to customize simulations for local use. Examples include:

• In Grade 1, Earth and Space Science, How Can We Predict When The Sky Will Be Dark? Lesson 6: Sunlight on the National Mall, students view the arc of the sun as it moves throughout the day over the Smithsonian Castle. They see how the arc of the sun changes in two separate seasons: Winter and Spring. They may view the National Mall in full 360°. Students then use the Sun Data Sheet to record their observations and describe the pattern of how the Sun appeared to move in the sky.

• In Grade 1, Physical Science, How Can We Light Our Way In The Dark?, Lesson 7: Signal and Response, there is an extension activity where students pair together to use an interactive map to explore lighthouse locations and map them on a classroom map.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 do not include or reference digital technology that provides opportunities for teachers and/or students to collaborate with each other, when applicable. The materials are consistently designed for in-person student collaboration.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 include visual design that supports students in engaging thoughtfully with the subject, and is neither distracting nor chaotic. The printed student materials across the series are visually appealing and support thoughtful engagement in the subject. There are no distracting images or unnecessary designs. Color-coding is deliberate and helpful as are icons and call-out boxes that remain consistent across all modules. 

Student materials are consistent in layout with minimal worksheets for each unit. They are clear with a title followed by instructions in a legible font. There is ample space for student work with boxes or other scaffolds drawn for student use. Where writing is necessary, wide-spaced lines are provided. Graphics and icons are bold and easily recognizable. However, the difference between Activity Sheets and Notebook Sheets is not clearly marked for student use.

Student digital resources are offered on a separate website that houses links for the lesson videos and PDFs for images. Videos are hosted through YouTube and are easy to navigate. Simulation links are also hosted on the separate website and are easy to find with directions that are clear and visually appealing. The student digital resources are not linked on the teacher digital resources page, they are a separate URL printed within the Teacher’s Guide. 

The printed teacher guides are arranged uniformly across each module. Each guide includes: Curriculum Overview, Module Overview, Lesson Planner, Guide to Module Investigations, individual lesson plans, and blackline masters. Teacher guides consistently use clear, purposeful color coding and iconography.

Digital materials for Grade 1 are generally easy to navigate. However, some of the resources have inconsistent or unclear labeling and filtering. Additionally, the online teacher guide can be cumbersome to navigate because it lacks a clickable table of contents.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 provide teacher guidance for the use of embedded technology to support and enhance student learning, when applicable. Every lesson contains a Preparation section that tells teachers which digital resources should be used and how to prepare them for each lesson. There is also teacher guidance around using the simulations or videos and how to facilitate the related activities. It offers suggestions for how to assist students with the outcomes (making observations, asking questions, collecting data, discussions, etc). It also includes suggestions for how students should view the technology (as a class, in pairs, repeated viewings, when to stop the video, etc). Examples include:

• In Grade 1, Engineering Design, How Can We Send A Message Using Sound?, Lesson 1: Time To Go!, after a short introduction, teachers share a video with the class and are told to pause it after Ada says, “But there was a problem. Can you guess what it was?” Students are given time to discuss and predict. Then, teachers are directed to restart the video and play it in its entirety. Students then share experiences and ideas about problems they have faced that are similar to Ada’s problem.