1st Grade - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria for scope and sequence clearly delineate the sequence in which phonological awareness skills are to be taught, with a clear, evidence-based explanation for the expected hierarchy of phonemic awareness competence.

The Fountas & Pinnell materials delineate a hierarchy for teaching phonological awareness skills by early, middle, and late grade one. The Master Lesson Guide indicates the order in which phonological awareness skills should be taught. While the program cites some research, in general, supporting the explicit teaching of these phonological awareness skills, the program does not present a research-based or evidence-based explanation for the teaching of these skills or for the particular hierarchy in which the skills are presented. 

Examples of materials that include a cohesive phonological awareness sequence include but are not limited to the following:

• Materials do not contain a clear, evidence-based explanation for the expected hierarchy for teaching phonological awareness skills.
• In Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, page 3, the materials provide a clear definition of the terms phonological awareness and phonemic awareness and their relationship to early literacy skills. 
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, the materials identify that “phonological awareness refers to both explicit and implicit knowledge of the sounds in language” and “it includes the ability to identify and make rhymes, hear syllables in words, hear the parts of words (onsets and rimes), and hear individual sounds in words” (page 95). 
• Materials contain a phonemic awareness sequence of instruction and practice based on the expected hierarchy.
• In Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, there are 11 phonological awareness lessons taught based on early, middle or end-of-year student knowledge.
• In Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, the materials contain the Master Lesson Guide with suggestions on the order the phonological awareness lessons should be taught. 
• In Comprehensive, Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Guide, the materials  identify a hierarchy for teaching phonological awareness skills in Kindergarten. On pages 18-20, the progression is clearly sequenced on an instructional chart as the following: rhyming words, words, syllables, onsets and rimes, and phonemes.
• Materials have a cohesive sequence of phonemic awareness instruction based on the expected hierarchy to build toward students’ application of the skills.
• Within the Phonological Awareness lessons in Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, the instruction builds toward students’ application of skills by providing an “Apply” section within each of the 11 lessons. 
• In Phonological Awareness Lesson 1, page 99, the Apply section says, “For each pair of rhyming words, invite children to draw a picture representing a third word that rhymes with the pair, e.g., children might draw a picture of a snake to go with the picture cards of rake and cake.” 
• In Phonological Awareness Lesson 5, page 115, the Apply section says, “Have pairs of children use the picture cards to play the game. Partners take turns choosing a picture (e.g., ball), saying the word the picture represents, and then changing the first sound to make new words, possibly including nonsense words: e.g. fall, hall, tall, zall. You can help children think about whether the new words are real or made up, but the substitution of beginning sounds is the primary goal.” 
• In Phonological Awareness Lesson 9, page 131, the Apply section says, “Have a small group of children play Follow the Path. Show the game board and game pieces. Then explain that a player tosses a die to determine the number of spaces to move a game piece forward. When the player lands on a space, she says the word that represents the picture and then says the first part and the last part of the word, e.g., swing, sw - ing. Then the next player takes his turn.” 

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria for scope and sequence clearly delineate an intentional sequence in which phonics skills are to be taught, with a clear explanation for the order of the sequence. 

Fountas & Pinnell Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1 delineates a suggested intentional sequence for the teaching of phonics skills. The Master Lesson Guide explains the order in which phonics lessons should be taught. The teacher references The Fountas and Pinnell in Literacy Continuum for specific Letter-Sound relationships, Spelling Patterns (which include phonogram patterns such as: CVC, VC, VCe patterns), Word Structure, and Word Solving Actions. While Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1 cites studies supporting explicit teaching of phonics skills, the program does not present a research-based or evidence-based explanation for the sequence of phonics. 

Materials clearly delineate a scope and sequence with a cohesive, intentional sequence of phonics instruction and practice to build toward application of skills.

• Comprehensive Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Guide Grades PreK-8, it identifies a progression for teaching Letter-Sound Relationships (LSR), Spelling Relationships (SP), Word Structure (WS), Word-Solving Actions (WSA) in Grade 1. On pages 26-83, the progression is sequenced on an instructional chart as the following: consonants, vowels, and letter-sound representations. Within each of the categories of phonics, behaviors and instructional language is provided to pinpoint specific standards and expectations.
• IPhonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, pages 54-55, #17-18, WSA lessons begin. There are two WSA lessons for students to recognize and read known words quickly and to use knowledge of letter-sound relationships to monitor word solving accuracy.
• Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, pages 56-57, #25-27, there are three WSA lessons. In these lessons, students learn to change the beginning sound or sounds to make and solve a new word.
• Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, page 57, #28-29, there are two WS lessons. In these lessons, students learn to identify syllables in one- or two-syllable words.
• Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, page 59-60, #36-41, there are six LSR lessons. Students learn to:
• Understand that some letters represent consonant sounds.
• Recognize beginning consonant sounds and the letters that represent them.
• Recognize the same beginning consonant sound and the letter that represents the sound.
• Understand that some letters represent vowel sounds.
• Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, pages 60-61, #42-45, there are four SP lessons. Students learn to:
• Recognize letter patterns.
• Recognize and use the CVC pattern.
• Recognize and use phonograms: -at, -an.
• Recognize and use phonograms with a VC pattern: -ap, -ay.
• Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, page 63, #52-54, there are three WSA lessons. Students learn to use onsets and rimes to read words.
• Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, page 64-65, #57-62, there are six SP lessons. Students learn to:
• Recognize letter patterns.
• Recognize and use more common phonograms with a VC pattern.
• Recognize and use phongrams: -an, -at, -ay, -ate, -ake, -ame.
• Recognize and use phonograms that end with a double consonant.
• Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, pages 65-66, #63-67, there are five LSR lessons. Students learn to recognize and say consonant clusters that blend two or three consonant sounds.
• Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, page 67, #71-73, there are three LSR lessons. Students learn to hear and identify long vowel sounds, including words with silent e.
• Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, page 68, #74-76, there are three WSA lessons. Students learn to change the ending sound or sounds to make and solve a new word.
• Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, pages 69-70, #77-81, there are five LSR lessons. Students learn to:
• Recognize and use long vowel sounds in words with silent e.
• Contrast short and long vowel sounds in words.
• Recognize and use consonant digraphs at the beginning of a word
• Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, pages 70-72, #82-88, there are seven WSA lessons. Students learn to:
• Make a first attempt to spell an unknown word.
• Use letter-sound relationships to help spell an unknown word.
• Change a middle-sound to make and solve a new word.
• Change an onset or rime to read or write other words.
• Add a letter to the beginning or end of a word to read and write other words.
• Take apart a compound word to read two smaller words.
• Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, pages 72-73, #91-92, there are two LSR lessons. Students learn to recognize and use consonant digraphs at the end of a word and to recognize and use consonant letters that represent two or more different sounds.
• Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, pages 73-75, #93-100, there are eight WS lessons. Students learn to:
• Recognize and use plurals that add -s, -es.
• Recognize and use the ending -ing, 
• Recognize and use contractions with not, am, is.
• Materials do not contain a clear research-based explanation for the order of the phonics sequence.  
• Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, page 3, states, “We have identified nine areas of learning about phonics, spelling, and word study; for each area of learning, lessons are provided in this book. The continuum is based on research in language and literacy learning; we have asked linguists, researchers on literacy education, and many teachers to provide feedback on the phonics and word study section. We found surprising agreement on the knowledge needed to become an expert word solver.” 
• Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, pages 2-3, the materials generally cite researchers to support the need for explicit teaching of phonics skills identified in the nine areas of learning about phonics, spelling, and word study. 
• Phonics instruction is based in high utility patterns and/or common phonics generalizations.  For example, in Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, students learn CVC patterns for short vowel sounds. Students learn phonograms (VC and VCe).
• Patterns and generalizations are carefully selected to provide a meaningful and manageable number of phonics patterns and common generalizations for students to learn deeply.  For example, the Grade 1 materials focus on consonant sounds, the CVC pattern, phonograms (VC and VCe).

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria for materials include decodable texts with phonics aligned to the program’s scope and sequence and opportunities for students to use decodables for multiple readings.

The Fountas & Pinnell materials contain poems from Sing a Song of Poetry Grade 1 for students to read during Shared Reading in lessons of the Nine Areas of Learning about Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study. Poems are suggested in each lesson, but the poems are not consistently aligned to the program’s scope and sequence and do not consistently provide practice of the decodable element from the lesson. Poems can be used for repeated readings for the following reasons: expand oral language and/or help students to notice features of print such as letters, letter patterns, or words. The materials do not suggest when to reuse poems for repeated readings.

Materials include decodable texts to address securing phonics. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Letter-Sound Relationships 19, page 280, students read, “She’ll be Coming ‘Round the Mountain” or "This Old Man.” Students underline or apply highlighter tape to the digraphs sh and th. 
• In Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Spelling Patterns 2, page 298, students read the poem, “The Clever Hen.” Students use highlighter tape to mark the CVC spelling pattern words. 
• In Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Spelling Patterns 3, page 302, students read the poems, “Aunt Maria,” and “Can you Can?” The students use highlighter tape to identify -at and -an pattern words. 

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

• In Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Letter-Sound Relationships 15, page 264, students read the poem, “I Know Something.” The poem contains CVCe words.
• In Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Spelling Patterns 6, page 336, students read the poem, “I’ve Got a Dog as Thin as a Rail.” The poem contains -og, -in, -op spelling patterns.
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Grade 1, Word Structure Lesson 3, students read the poem, “I Love the Mountains.” The poem has nouns with -s.

Materials include some detailed lesson plans for repeated readings of decodable texts to address securing phonics skills. 

• In Sing a Song of Poetry, page 13, there is a grid to help a teacher think about how to use 5 poems as a text to revisit.
• A teacher could revisit “How Much Dew?” to focus on:
• Phonogram Patterns: -ow, -ew, -op, -ey, -at, -en.
• Letter-Sound Beginning h, m, d, dr, th, wh.
• Letter-Sound Ending w, ch, s, p, f, y, t, n.
• One- and two-syllable words
• Assonance (/oo/)
• A teacher could revisit “The Little Plant” to focus on:
• Phonogram Patterns: -eed, -eep, -ay, -ine, -ose, -at, -ide.
• Letter-Sound Beginning th, h, s, b, d, l, p, f, w, cr, t, v, r, wh, m.
• Letter-Sound Ending n, t, f, d, p, r, l, k, c, s.
• Multisyllable words.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria for materials include decodable texts with high frequency words aligned to the program’s scope and sequence and opportunities for students to use decodables for multiple readings.

The Fountas & Pinnell materials include poems with high-frequency words for students to read during Shared Reading in the High-Frequency Words and Word Structure Lessons. The decodable texts/poems align to the scope and sequence of the Master Lesson Guide. While there are poems for high-frequency word reading in decodable texts, there are a limited number of prepared lesson plans for repeated readings of the poems. 

Materials include decodable texts that utilize high-frequency words. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, High-Frequency Words 4, page 348, students read the poem “Polly, Put the Kettle On,” or “Pumpkin Orange.” Students use highlighter tape to locate high-frequency words after reading the poem.
• In Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, High-Frequency Words 6, page 356, students read the poem, “My Aunt Jane.” The students find the high-frequency words. The teacher gives two clues to the students. Students use highlighter tape to highlight the words. 
• In Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, High-Frequency Words 8, page 364, students read the poem, “On Saturday Night.” Before reading the poem, the teacher covers three to four high-frequency words with sticky notes. When the teacher comes to a word that is covered up, the students guess what the word is. Then they tell the teacher what they notice about the word.

Decodable texts contain grade-level high-frequency/irregularly spelled words aligned to the program’s scope and sequence. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Grade 1 High-Frequency Words 1, students use highlighter tape to highlight one-, two-, and three- letter high-frequency words from the poem, “Mary’s Canary.” The poem contains two words from the lesson, had and was.
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, High-Frequency Words 2, page 340, students read “Sing a Song of Sixpence” or “The Man in the Moon” to practice words introduced in the lesson.
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Lessons Study Grade 1, Word Structure 2, students use poetry charts and highlighter tape to search for one-, two-, and three-letter high-frequency words. 

Materials include some detailed lesson plans for repeated readings of decodable texts to address securing reading high-frequency words/irregularly spelled words in context.

• In Sing a Song of Poetry, page 13, there is a grid to help teachers think about how to use five poems as a text to revisit.
• A teacher could revisit “Bat, Bat” to focus on high-frequency words: come, my, and, you, a, of, when, I, if, am, not.
• A teacher could revisit “If You’re Happy and You Know It” to focus on high-frequency words: if, and, you, it, your, then, will.
• A teacher could revisit “Little Robin Redbreast” to focus on high-frequency words: little, a, went, his.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria for materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress through mastery of print concepts (K-1), letter recognition (K only), and printing letters (as indicated by the program scope and sequence) (K-1). 

In Fountas and Pinnell Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1 materials, there are suggested daily opportunities to assess students’ skills of print concepts during Assess. There are curriculum-based assessment protocols provided in the online resources, which are directly correlated to the nine areas of literacy instruction included in the program. Each assessment explains what is being tested, why it is important, and how to complete the assessment. These opportunities provide the teacher with information about students’ skills; however, there is no guidance or next steps based on assessment results provided for the teacher once the teacher has conducted the assessment. There are Extend learning sections the teacher can do if a student has mastered a content area or if a student needs reteaching.

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 print concepts.

• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons, Early Literacy Concepts 3, page 89, during Assess, the teacher is asked to notice whether children are composing complete sentences in their independent writing.
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons, Letter Knowledge 5, page 161, during Assess, the teacher observes whether children can find letters quickly and match and check them. The teacher also observes the students working with letters and be aware of how students are using them.
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons, Letter Knowledge 7, page 169, it is recommended that the teacher may want to use Letter Knowledge Assessment A (Recognizing Letters and Stating Their Names) or Assessment D (Individual Record).

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of print concepts. 

• In Early Literacy Concepts Assessment C (Locating Letters and Punctuation), the teacher is provided with information about what letters students can identify and if students can locate a period.
• In Letter Knowledge Assessment B (Recognizing and Matching Uppercase and Lowercase Letters), the teacher is provided with what letters each student can recognize.
• In Letter Knowledge Assessment C (Forming Letters with Writing Tools), the teacher is provided with what letters each students form.

Materials do not support teachers with instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in print concepts.

• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons, Letter Knowledge 10, during Extend, the teacher is told to repeat the lesson with uppercase letters that children are making in an inefficient way or are finding difficult.
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons, Letter Knowledge 14, page 197, during Assess, students match uppercase letters placed on a table to their lowercase forms. The teacher is prompted to observe which letters are confusing to the student. 
• In Letter Knowledge Assessment A (Recognizing Letters and Stating Their Names), the students name letters. The teacher is to look at the letters known and unknown and identify students who need more work on letters. 
• "If your entire class or most of them know 20-plus letters, you will use only one or two lessons in the letter knowledge section. Meet with the children who need more work in small groups."

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria for materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress of phonological awareness (as indicated by the program scope and sequence). (K-1)

In Fountas & Pinnell Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1 materials, there are opportunities to assess students’ skills in phonological awareness during Assess of the Phonological Awareness lessons. There are curriculum-based assessment protocols provided in the online resources, which are directly correlated to the nine areas of literacy instruction included in the program. Each assessment explains what is being tested, why it is important, and how to complete the assessment. These opportunities provide the teacher with information about students’ skills; however, there is no guidance or next steps based on assessment results provided for the teacher once the teacher has conducted the assessment. There are Extend learning sections the teacher can do if a student has mastered a content area or if a student needs reteaching. 

Examples of materials that include phonological awareness assessments include but are not limited to the following:

• 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 phonological awareness.
• There are five assessments and an individual record form found in the Online Resources for Phonological Awareness. A teacher is prompted during Assess to use particular assessments. The assessments are:
• Assessment A: Hearing and Saying Rhyming Words
• Assessment B: Hearing and Saying Beginning Consonant sounds
• Assessment C: Hearing and Saying Ending Consonant Sounds
• Assessment D: Hearing and Saying Sounds in Words
• Assessment E: Hearing and Dividing Word Parts
• Assessment F: Blending Word Parts
• Assessment G: Individual Record
• In Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Phonological Awareness 7, page 123, during Assess, the assessment asks teachers to notice whether students can identify the cards that represent words with /a/ in the middle. 
• In Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Phonological Awareness 11, page 139, during Assess, it is recommended to observe whether students are able to produce each sound in a word distinctly and in the correct order. It is recommended that the teacher may wish to use online assessment D or G. 
• Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of phonological awareness.
• In Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Phonological Awareness 5, page 115, during Assess, the assessment asks whether students can create words by replacing the initial sound with a different sound. It states that one or two examples will tell the teacher if the students understand the concept or not. 
• In Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Phonological Awareness 9, page 131, during Assess, there are three assessment options.
• 1) Notice whether children can identify the first and last parts of words. A quick check of two or three examples will tell you whether children have grasped the concept. 
• 2) Notice whether children are using their awareness of the first part of words in order to figure out new words as they read and write. 
• 3) You may wish to use Phonological Awareness Assessment E or G.
• In Phonological Awareness Assessment A, Online Resources, the materials state that the assessment will help the teacher know which students are able to hear and make connections in rhyming words. There are four things the teacher is listening to see if students can do: 
• numbers of rhyming words the child can make
• ability to hear and repeat a word 
• ability to hear a rhyming part of a word
• ability to connect rhyming words to parts
• Materials do not support teachers with instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in phonological awareness.
• In Phonological Awareness Assessment D (Hearing and Saying Sounds in Words), after administering the assessment and recording the students' results on Assessment G (Individual Record), the teacher is to score the word correctly if the child taps the right number of sounds even if he cannot tell the teacher the number. Next steps are not provided.
• In Phonological Assessment F, after administering the assessment and recording each student’s response on Assessment G (Individual Record), the teacher can view the What to Notice section of the assessment. The teacher is to notice the following, but there are no steps for what the teacher should do next based on the assessment and What to Notice:
• Ability to blend the first part and last part of a word
• Number of words for which the child can blend parts
• Ability to articulate each word

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria for materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress of phonics (as indicated by the program scope and sequence). (K-2)

In Fountas & Pinnell Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1 materials, there are opportunities to assess students’ skills in phonological awareness during Assess of the Letter-Sound Relationships, Spelling Patterns, and Word-Solving Actions Lessons. There are curriculum-based assessment protocols provided in the online resources, which are directly correlated to the nine areas of literacy instruction included in the program. Each assessment explains what is being tested, why it is important, and how to complete the assessment. These opportunities provide the teacher with information about students’ skills; however, there is no guidance or next steps based on assessment results provided for the teacher once the teacher has conducted the assessment. There are Extend learning sections the teacher can do if a student has mastered a content area or if a student needs reteaching. 

Materials provide resources and tools to collect ongoing data about students’ progress in phonics. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Throughout the Letter-Sound Relationships (LSR), the following assessment opportunities are provided within the Online Resources: Assessment A: Saying and Identifying Sounds in Words, Assessment B: Matching Beginning Consonant Sounds with the Letters that Represent Them, Assessment C: Matching Beginning Sounds with the Letters that Represent Them, Assessment D: Matching Beginning Sounds with the Consonants Digraphs that Represent Them, Assessment E: Matching Ending Sounds with the Consonant Digraphs that Represent Them, Assessment F: Matching Short Vowel Sounds with the Letters that Represent Them, Assessment G: Matching Long Vowel Sounds with the Letters that Represent Them, Assessment H: Writing Words, Assessment I: Individual Record (Saying and Recording Sounds in Words), Assessment J: Individual Record (Letter-Sound Knowledge), Assessment K: Class Record (Consonant Clusters), and Assessment L: Class Record (Consonant Digraphs).
• Throughout the Sound Patterns (SP), the following assessment opportunities are provided within the Online Resources: Assessment A: Matching Phonogram Patterns in Words, Assessment B: Reading Names with Phonogram Patterns, Assessment C: Reading Words with Phonogram Patterns, Assessment D: Reading and Writing Names (Phonograms), Assessment E: Individual Record (Reading), Assessment F: Class Record (Reading), Assessment G: Individual Record (Reading and Writing), and Assessment H Individual Record (Spelling).
• Throughout the Word-Solving Actions (WSA) set of lessons, the following assessment opportunities are provided within the Online Resources: Assessment A: Sorting Words, Assessment B: Using Known Words to Solve New Words, Assessment C: Solving Unknown Words While Reading a Text, Assessment D: Monitoring Word-Solving Accuracy with a Familiar Text, Assessment E: Changing Sounds to Make and Solve New Words, and Assessment F: Taking Apart a Compound Word to Read Two Smaller Words.

Materials offer some assessment opportunities to determine students’ progress in phonics that are implemented systematically. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Letter-Sound Relationships, Connect to Assessment, the materials state, “See related [optional] LSR Assessment tasks in Online Resources.”
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Letter-Sound Relationships 1, during Assess, the materials state, “You may wish to use Letter-Sound Relationships Assessment A, B, I, or J.”
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Spelling Patterns, Connect to Assessment, the materials state, “See related [optional] SP Assessment tasks in Online Resources.”
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Word-Solving Actions 1, during Assess, the materials state, “You may wish to use Word-Solving Actions Assessment A or G.”

Multiple assessment opportunities are provided regularly for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence with phonics. Examples include, but are not limited:

• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Letter-Sound Relationships 13, page 255, during Assess, the teacher checks whether students can categorize words with long vowels. 
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Spelling Patterns 10, page 329, the teacher observes students as they read to determine whether they are noticing and using -ell and -ill patterns to solve new words.
• In Phonics, Spelling and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Word-Solving Actions 8, page 453, the teacher gives students a list of three or four known words and ask them to underline the first part of each.

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

• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Letter-Sound Relationships 9, page 239, during Assess, the lesson lists three assessment opportunities:
• Observe children as they play the game, and make note of the children who need your help to understand and identify consonant clusters.
• Dictate five to ten words with beginning consonant clusters for children to write, and notice if children accurately represent each letter in the consonant cluster.
• You may wish to use Letter-Sound Relationships Assessment C, I, or K.
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Spelling Patterns 2, during Assess, the lesson lists three assessment opportunities:
• Ask individual children to make and read a CVC word with magnetic letters.
• Observe children as they read to determine whether they are noticing and using the CVC pattern to solve new words.
• You may wish to use Spelling Patterns Assessment A, B, C, D, E, F, G, or H.
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Word-Solving Actions 2, during Assess, the lesson lists four assessment opportunities:
• Observe the children’s reading behavior and record substitutions.
• Notice whether the children are using the first letter or more letters in the words to monitor their reading, correct themselves, and solve words.
• Notice the letters and sounds the children are using in their writing.
• You may wish to use Word-Solving Action Assessment C, D, or G. 

Materials do not genuinely measure students’ progress to support teachers with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in phonics.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria for materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress of word recognition and analysis (as indicated by the program scope and sequence). (K-2)

The Fountas & Pinnell Grade 1 materials contain assessments for word recognition and analysis in the Online Resources as well as assessments in the 100 lessons. Assessments within the lessons are administered at the end of lessons. Throughout the High-Frequency Words lessons, the following assessment opportunities are provided within the Online Resources to use over the course of the year: Assessment A: Reading High-Frequency Words, Assessment B: Recognizing and Writing High-Frequency Words. For word analysis, there are Word-Solving Action assessments provided such as Assessment A (Sorting Words), Assessment B (Using Known Words to Solve New Words), Assessment C (Solving Unknown Words While reading a Text), Assessment D (Monitoring Word-Solving Accuracy with a Familiar Text), Assessment E (Changing Sounds to Make and Solve New Words), and Assessment F (Taking Apart a Compound Word to Read Two Smaller Words). Each assessment provides recommendations for what teachers should analyze once the assessment has been administered. There are missed opportunities for assessments to provide the teacher with instructional guidance about next steps for all students.

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 (high-frequency words or irregularly spelled words) and analysis. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, High-Frequency Words 8, page 363, it is suggested that the teacher assess students with the high-frequency assessments (A, B, C or D). During the lesson, the teacher  should notice whether students are able to recognize high-frequency words with three or more letters quickly when reading. 
• In Assessment A (Reading High-Frequency Words), students are individually assessed over several days using five provided word lists. 
• In Assessment B (Using Known Words to Solve New Words), the students read each word card one at a time. The teacher can administer the assessment several times as students become more advanced.
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Word-Solving Actions 3, page 433, during Assess, the teacher is asked to notice whether students can figure out unknown words from known words. Next, students say three words. Lastly, the students change the first sound of each to make a new word. 
• In the Word-Solving Actions Online Assessment B, students read a list of words. If students are struggling, the teacher prompts the student to look for a part the student knows. 

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

• In the online Ready Resources: Assessment: High-Frequency Words Grade 1, it suggests starting with individually assessing the five provided high-frequency word lists, which consist of 100 high-frequency words. The assessment indicates to “administer this assessment individually to achieve an inventory of the high-frequency word each child knows and the words that will be productive to use in lessons and application activities.” 
• For high-frequency words, Online Assessment A is an assessment to evaluate matching phonogram patterns in words. There is an individual record form for the teacher to collect student data. The assessment includes students saying a word and then matching the words with the same rime. The teacher is asked 
• to notice the following skills:
• the number of patterns students complete correctly
• the number of spelling patterns written correctly
• the ability to hear and connect spelling patterns. 
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study Lessons Grade 1, Word Structure 5, pages 397-400, it suggests the teacher may want to use the Letter-Sound Relationships Assessment D, Recognizing and Using Simple Affixes. 
• After administering the assessment, it recommends the teacher analyze students’:
• number of words with -ed, -ing endings that the student can say accurately
• number of words with a affixes the student can say accurately
• ability to read words with -s, -ed, or -ing ending.
• For Word-Solving Actions, Online Assessment E is an assessment to evaluate students’ skills in manipulating the letters in words. Each student builds a known word with magnetic letters. The teacher asks the student to change the word by  changing a letter or letters. In What to Notice on the assessment, teachers find out:
• Number of words the child can read and write accurately.
• Flexibility in reorganizing and using word parts.
• Ability to connect known parts to unknown words to solve them.

Materials do not support teachers with instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in word recognition and word analysis. 

• In the online Ready Resources: Assessment: High-Frequency Words Grade 1, advice is provided in the “Why Use It” section of the assessment. It says: “This assessment will give you information about children’s knowledge of high-frequency words as well as the particular words they know. Looking across the class profile will help you decide which high-frequency words to include in words games such as Lotto, Follow the Path, and Concentration. Of course, word knowledge will vary, and some children will be working with words that are familiar. In general, however, you will always want children to work with many words they nearly know and some words that are new.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria for assessment materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment and assessment materials clearly denote which standards are being emphasized.

In the Fountas and Pinnell materials, standards alignment documentation is not available for formative and summative assessments. The assessments are aligned to the topics listed in the Nine Areas of Learning about Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study. There is limited documentation or correlation provided for specific lessons to indicate how the lessons align with standards. The documentation provided includes some example lessons that correlate to the foundational skills standards.

The materials reviewed for Grade 1 partially meet the criteria for materials regularly provide extensions and/or more advanced opportunities for students who read, write, speak, or listen above grade level. 

In the Fountas & Pinnell materials, all students participate in Teach, Apply, and Share for instruction and practice. No advanced opportunities are provided for students to work on while the teacher is providing reteaching to students who have not acquired the skills being taught. Each lesson contains Extend opportunities, which can provide advanced students with the opportunity to learn grade-level foundational skills at greater depth. In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Lessons Grade 1, page 34, the materials describe Extend as “If children need more experience, you can repeat the lesson format using these suggestions for variation, different examples, or more challenging activities.”

Materials provide some opportunities for advanced students to investigate grade-level foundational skills at a greater depth. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Lessons Grade 1, Phonological Awareness 9, page 132, during Extend, the teacher is asked to have students play Follow the Path with other pictures or picture cards on the path.
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Lessons Grade 1, Letter Knowledge 5, during Extend, page 162, the teacher is asked to: 
• Repeat this lesson with different letters.
• Repeat this lesson and mix in uppercase letters.
• After children understand the procedures for finding and grouping specific letters, increase the challenge by having a larger group of distracting letters. Encourage the children to work quickly and check their grouping.
• In Phonics, Spelling, and Word Lessons Grade 1, Spelling Patterns 9, page 326, during Extend, the teacher is asked to repeat the lesson with other VCe phonograms, such as -ace, -ade, -ale, -ane, -ape, -ide, -ile, -ine, -ive, -oke 

There are no instances of advanced students simply doing more assignments than their classmates. Activities presented as challenge activities are all additional assignments located in the Extend Learning section of each lesson plan.